Identity area
Reference code
Title
Date(s)
- 1938-1983 (Creation)
Level of description
Extent and medium
3 files
Context area
Name of creator
Biographical history
Walter Rauff was a professional naval officer until 1937 when he began working for the Nazi Sicherheitsdienst (security service) in which service he became head of the technical affairs section of the Reichssicherheitshauptamt (Reich Security main office). In this capacity, during 1941 and 1942 he supervised the outfitting and despatch of some 20 gas vans in which at least 200,000 people were murdered. Rauff left Berlin to lead an SD Einsatzkommando in Tunis in late 1942. He became district SS und Polizeiführer (SS and police leader) for Northern Italy in September 1943. After the war, having escaped from a prisoner of war camp he eventually settled in Chile where he managed to evade extradition and died in 1984.
Repository
Archival history
The papers in this collection are part of the material used by John Ware for his documentary 'Colonel Rauff's Refuge', Granada, World in Action, broadcast on 8 Aug 1983, 8.30 pm GMT.
GB 1556 WL 619 1938-1983 Collection level (fonds) 3 files Ware , John , fl 1983 , film maker
Walter Rauff was a professional naval officer until 1937 when he began working for the Nazi Sicherheitsdienst (security service) in which service he became head of the technical affairs section of the Reichssicherheitshauptamt (Reich Security main office). In this capacity, during 1941 and 1942 he supervised the outfitting and despatch of some 20 gas vans in which at least 200,000 people were murdered. Rauff left Berlin to lead an SD Einsatzkommando in Tunis in late 1942. He became district SS und Polizeiführer (SS and police leader) for Northern Italy in September 1943. After the war, having escaped from a prisoner of war camp he eventually settled in Chile where he managed to evade extradition and died in 1984.
The papers in this collection are part of the material used by John Ware for his documentary 'Colonel Rauff's Refuge', Granada, World in Action, broadcast on 8 Aug 1983, 8.30 pm GMT.
John Ware
Papers relating to Walter Rauff, 1938-1983, including contemporary biographical and autobiographical accounts of both Rauff and his second wife, Edith Knacke; copies of correspondence between Gaubschat (the company contracted to design and manufacture the gas vans) and Rauff; copies of transcripts of personal statements and declarations of Rauff regarding his involvement in Nazi atrocities, (generated during the course of legal proceedings against Rauff and his former colleagues).
Chronological by subject matter and material type.
Open
Copies can be made for personal use. Permission must be sought for publication.
German, French, Spanish and English
Description exists to this archive on the Wiener Library's online catalogue www.wienerlibrary.co.uk
Entry compiled by Howard Falksohn.
Compiled in compliance with General International Standard Archival Description, ISAD(G), second edition, 2000; National Council on Archives Rules for the Construction of Personal, Place and Corporate Names, 1997.
November 2007 Broadcasting Chile Concentration camps Gaubschat Genocide Holocaust Humanitarian law Nazism Political doctrines Rauff , Walter , 1906-1984 , SS officer , Colonel South America Television Television programmes Third Reich Totalitarianism War crimes Ware , John , fl 1983 , film maker
Immediate source of acquisition or transfer
John Ware
Content and structure area
Scope and content
Papers relating to Walter Rauff, 1938-1983, including contemporary biographical and autobiographical accounts of both Rauff and his second wife, Edith Knacke; copies of correspondence between Gaubschat (the company contracted to design and manufacture the gas vans) and Rauff; copies of transcripts of personal statements and declarations of Rauff regarding his involvement in Nazi atrocities, (generated during the course of legal proceedings against Rauff and his former colleagues).
Appraisal, destruction and scheduling
Accruals
System of arrangement
Chronological by subject matter and material type.
Conditions of access and use area
Conditions governing access
Open
Conditions governing reproduction
Copies can be made for personal use. Permission must be sought for publication.
Language of material
- English
Script of material
- Latin
Language and script notes
German, French, Spanish and English
Physical characteristics and technical requirements
Finding aids
Description exists to this archive on the Wiener Library's online catalogue www.wienerlibrary.co.uk
Allied materials area
Existence and location of originals
Existence and location of copies
Related units of description
Notes area
Alternative identifier(s)
Access points
Subject access points
- Broadcasting
- Humanitarian law » War crimes » Concentration camps
- Humanitarian law » War crimes » Genocide
- Humanitarian law
- Political doctrines » Totalitarianism » Nazism
- Political doctrines
- Broadcasting » Television
- Broadcasting » Television » Television programmes
- Political doctrines » Totalitarianism
- Humanitarian law » War crimes
Place access points
Name access points
Genre access points
Description control area
Description identifier
Institution identifier
Rules and/or conventions used
Compiled in compliance with General International Standard Archival Description, ISAD(G), second edition, 2000; National Council on Archives Rules for the Construction of Personal, Place and Corporate Names, 1997.
Status
Level of detail
Dates of creation revision deletion
Language(s)
- English