Austrian police officer, SS officer and Nazi politician (1886–1947)
August von Meyszner
August Meyszner wearing the rank of SS-Oberführer in 1938
Birth name
August Edler von Meyszner
Born
(1886-08-03)3 August 1886 Graz, Austria-Hungary
Died
24 January 1947(1947-01-24) (aged 60) Belgrade, PR Serbia, FPR Yugoslavia
Cause of death
Execution by hanging
Allegiance
Austria-Hungary Austria Germany
Service/branch
Austrian Gendarmerie Ordnungspolizei Allgemeine SS
Years of service
1906–1945
Rank
SS-Gruppenführer and Generalleutnant of the Police
Commands held
Higher SS and Police Leader, German-occupied territory of Serbia (1942–44)
Awards
Iron Cross 1st Class War Merit Cross 1st Class with Swords
Spouse(s)
Pia (née Gostischa)
August Edler von Meyszner (3 August 1886 – 24 January 1947) was an Austrian Gendarmerie officer, right-wing politician, and senior Ordnungspolizei (order police) officer who held the post of Higher SS and Police Leader in the German-occupied territory of Serbia from January 1942 to March 1944, during World War II. He has been described as one of Reichsführer-SS Heinrich Himmler's most brutal subordinates.
Meyszner began his career as an officer in the Gendarmerie, served on the Italian Front during World War I and reached the rank of Major der Polizei by 1921. He joined the Austrian Nazi Party in September 1925 and became a right-wing parliamentary deputy and provincial minister in the Austrian province of Styria in 1930. Due to his involvement with the Nazis, Meyszner was forcibly retired in 1933 and arrested in February 1934, but released after three months at the Wöllersdorf concentration camp. That July, he was rearrested following an attempted coup, but escaped police custody and fled to Nazi Germany, where he joined the Ordnungspolizei (Orpo) and then the Allgemeine SS. After police postings in Austria, Germany and occupied Norway, Himmler appointed Meyszner as Higher SS and Police Leader in Serbia in early 1942. He was one of few Orpo officers to be appointed to such a role.
Meyszner's time in Belgrade was characterised by friction and competition with German military, economic and foreign affairs officials, and by his visceral hatred and distrust of Serbs. During his tenure, he oversaw regular reprisal killings and sent tens of thousands of forced labourers to the Reich and occupied Norway. His Gestapo detachment used a gas van to kill 8,000 Jewish women and children who had been detained at the Sajmište concentration camp. In April 1944, his outspoken complaints about a reduction in reprisals against civilians allowed his enemies within the German occupation regime in Serbia to have him removed. Himmler transferred him to Berlin with the task of establishing a Europe-wide Gendarmerie. After the war, he fell into the hands of the Allies and was interrogated by the United States Chief Counsel for the Prosecution of Axis Criminality. Extradited to Yugoslavia, he was tried for war crimes, along with many of his staff from his time in Serbia. He was found guilty by a Yugoslav military court and executed by hanging in January 1947.
August Edler von Meyszner (3 August 1886 – 24 January 1947) was an Austrian Gendarmerie officer, right-wing politician, and senior Ordnungspolizei (order...
August Schmidhuber (8 May 1901 – 19 February 1947) was an SS-Brigadeführer who commanded two Waffen-SS divisions in occupied Yugoslavia and Albania during...
portrayed in the film Schindler's List by Ralph Fiennes). August Eigruber AugustMeyszner Wilhelm Höttl Otto Skorzeny Browder 1996, pp. 205–206. Rosmus...
1944 Serbien, Montenegro und Sandschak Serbia Montenegro Belgrade AugustMeyszner Hermann Behrends January 1942 – April 1944 April 1944 – October 1944...
proposed to Felix Benzler of the Reich Ministry of Foreign Affairs and AugustMeyszner of the Schutzstaffel (SS) that he should be entrusted with the creation...
22, 1946, and executed by hanging in Belgrade on January 24, 1947. AugustMeyszner – The Higher SS and Police Leader in German-occupied Serbia, he was...
convicted of war crimes for his role in the Ardenne Abbey massacre. AugustMeyszner (1886–1947), Higher SS and Police Leader in the German-occupied territory...
painter (b. 1867) Roy Geiger, American general (b. 1885) January 24 – AugustMeyszner, Austrian-born SS officer (executed) (b. 1886) January 25 – Al Capone...
in Serbia could not be easily achieved because of the opposition of AugustMeyszner, the recently appointed Higher SS and Police Leader in Serbia. Löhr...
lost control of the State Guard, when, on 22 January 1942, General AugustMeyszner, the Higher SS and Police Leader in Serbia, took command of it. The...
und Polizeiführer) Obergruppenführer und Generalleutnant der SS AugustMeyszner. Meyszner was replaced in April 1944 by Generalleutnant der SS Hermann Behrends...
Meissner-Diemer (1841-1919), journalist and writer AugustMeyszner (1886–1947), SS officer executed for war crimes August Musger (1868–1929), invented slow motion...
SS-Obergruppenführer und Generalleutnant der Polizei (Police General) AugustMeyszner. After the initial rush of Volksdeutsche to join, voluntary enlistments...
thought that unit was "too used to Balkan methods" On insistence of AugustMeyszner, Bader ordered additional measures against resistance on October 5...
Gestapo officials, and was sentenced to death by hanging, along with AugustMeyszner, Wilhelm Fuchs, Josef Hahn, Ludwig Teichmann, Josef Eckert, Ernst Weimann...
SS-Obergruppenführer und Generalleutnant der Polizei (SS-General of Police) AugustMeyszner, regarding the maintenance of law and order in the occupied territory...
it was under the direct command of the Higher SS and Police Leader AugustMeyszner and the Commanding General in Serbia. During operations, its units...
Richard Kaaserer (21 August 1896 – 24 January 1947) was an Austrian SS-Oberführer and Oberst of Police who served in the Waffen-SS, and as an SS and Police...
death Josef Eckert Wilhelm Fuchs Josef Hahn Hans Helm Richard Kaaserer AugustMeyszner Friedrich Polte Ludwig Teichmann Ernst Weimann imprisoned Ernst Hesterberg...
death Josef Eckert Wilhelm Fuchs Josef Hahn Hans Helm Richard Kaaserer AugustMeyszner Friedrich Polte Ludwig Teichmann Ernst Weimann imprisoned Ernst Hesterberg...
death Josef Eckert Wilhelm Fuchs Josef Hahn Hans Helm Richard Kaaserer AugustMeyszner Friedrich Polte Ludwig Teichmann Ernst Weimann imprisoned Ernst Hesterberg...
Global Information
Austria-Hungary
Austria
Germany