GB 1556 WL 619 - Rauff, Walter (1906-1984)

Identity area

Reference code

GB 1556 WL 619

Title

Rauff, Walter (1906-1984)

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

Related descriptions

Notes area

Alternative identifier(s)

Access points

Place access points

Name access points

Genre access points

Description control area

Description identifier

Institution identifier

Wiener Library

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

Script(s)

    Sources

    Accession area