Braune Diplomaten
Horst Wagner und Eberhard von Thadden als Funktionäre der "Endlösung"
Description:... Details the activities of the German Foreign Office, and especially its department for Jewish affairs, Inland II, in expediting the Final Solution between 1943-45. Inland II took the place of Martin Luther's Department D. Wagner was its director; Thadden was his assistant and the more active of the two. Both men were careerists: Wagner was a Ribbentrop protégé, without any ideological motivation; Thadden had a conservative antisemitic background and was convinced that the Jews were a danger to Germany, especially in wartime. Both were members of the SS and formed the link between Himmler and Ribbentrop. With the cooperation of other departments of the Foreign Office, they spread antisemitic propaganda and they refuted rumors abroad about the fate of the Jews. Meanwhile, their men in the German embassies pressured allied countries and puppet states to permit the deportation of their Jews, and finally cooperated actively with Eichmann's staff in the deportation of the Jews of Hungary. After the war, both claimed that they had not known that the aim of the deportations was to murder the deportees, but Weitkamp shows that they must have known this at the latest in 1943. They evaded prosecution until the late 1950s-early 60s, when they were called in for interrogation regarding their actions during the Nazi regime. Thadden died in a car accident in 1964, during the preliminary investigation; Wagner died of illness in 1977 during his protracted trial.
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