Benno Martin Explained

Honorific Prefix:SS-Obergruppenführer
Benno Martin
Birth Date:12 February 1893
Branch: Schutzstaffel
Serviceyears:1914 – 1945
Rank:SS-Obergruppenführer

Benno Martin (12 February 1893 – 2 July 1975) was a German SS functionary during the Nazi era. He served as Gestapo chief and Higher SS and Police Leader in Nuremberg. Martin was a member of the Nazi Party, joining in 1933.

Career

Martin fought in the German Imperial Army in the First World War in which he was awarded Iron Cross first and second class. After Germany's defeat, he joined the paramilitary Freikorps in 1919.[1] He obtained his Juris Doctor after the war ended and then joined the police department in Nuremberg in 1923, rising through the ranks to chief of police in Nuremberg. After World War II ended in Europe, he was indicted and tried for complicity in the deportation of Franconia Jews to Auschwitz. Martin was acquitted of the charges.[2]

Notes and References

  1. Das Personenlexikon zum Dritten Reich. Wer war was vor und nach 1945? ("The Encyclopedia of People in the Third Reich. Who was What before and after 1945?") by Ernst Klee Frankfurt am Main: S. Fischer, 2003; 2nd edition. 2005. .
  2. The Hitler Book: The Secret Dossier Prepared for Stalin from the Interrogations of Otto Guensche and Heinze Linge, Hitler's Closest Personal Aides byHenrik Eberle, Matthias Uhl p. 316