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The whole court case was a huge challenge. I was assigned to the case of Ernst Kaltenbrunner, meaning I had to investigate the murder of millions of Jews. Kaltenbrunner took over from Reinhard Heydrich as the head of Reich security and was in charge of tens of thousands of Gestapo agents, police and security forces. I did not have the slightest idea of the scale of genocide that had taken place in Germany.

Ernst Kaltenbrunner#70

TrialGenocideInvestigationRealizationScale

About this quote

What does it mean?
The speaker reflects on the challenge of investigating Kaltenbrunner and realizing the scale of genocide.
In plain terms
He had to investigate mass murder and did not initially grasp the scale.
What can you take from it?
Understanding the scale of crimes takes time and investigation.

Where it applies

  • legal investigation
  • historical research
  • war crimes trials

Putting it to work

  • investigating crimes
  • learning scale
  • documenting genocide

Questions to consider

  • How is genocide measured?
  • What impacts understanding?

Another view

Personal realization of scale may vary among investigators.

More from Ernst Kaltenbrunner

  1. As early as January 1934, Dr. Kaltenbrunner was jailed by the Dollfuss Government on account of his Nazi views and sent with other leading National Socialists …

    Permalink to quote #69
  2. A security chief who was of the impression that the policing functions of his Gestapo and SD were somewhat on the order of directing traffic.

    Permalink to quote #71
  3. Himmler regarded the accused Ernst Kaltenbrunner as the most suitable successor of the deceased Heydrich, who was executed by Czech Patriots. On January 30, 19…

    Permalink to quote #68

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