The mass gassing of Jews did not begin until the summer of 1942, after Heydrich's death and it took place under the aegis of his successor, Kaltenbrunner, the Austrian lawyer who, at Nuremberg, did not know anything about anything.
About this quote
- What does it mean?
- The speaker claims ignorance of mass killings despite oversight.
- In plain terms
- I did not know about the gassing even though I was in charge.
- What can you take from it?
- Denial of knowledge can occur despite clear oversight.
Where it applies
Putting it to work
Questions to consider
- Can leaders truly be unaware of their organizations' actions?
- How is accountability assigned?
Another view
Claiming ignorance may be an evasion of proven responsibility.
More from Ernst Kaltenbrunner
Kaltenbrunner, the grand inquisitor, took up the bloody mantle of Heydrich to stifle opposition and terrorize compliance, and buttressed the power of National …
Permalink to quote #73 Hitler remained in his closely-guarded suite. It was long after midnight when he left the Imperial Hotel in the company of Heinrich Himmler to make the long-aw…
Permalink to quote #75 Who would Hitler say deceived him about conditions in concentration camps if not Kaltenbrunner, even as he would deceive us?
Permalink to quote #72
Related quotes
I accept responsibility for the camps, but as far as measures against the Jews, I had nothing to do with them. Those orders came from the RSHA. Himmler sent or…
Oswald PohlOswald Pohl quote #3 Eichmann was in every respect a painstaking bureaucrat. He at once recorded in the files every discussion he ever had with any of his superiors. He always told…
Dieter WislicenyDieter Wisliceny quote #1 We must not be squeamish when we learn that a total of 17,000 have been shot. We are now duty bound to hold together we, who are gathered together here figure …
Hans FrankHans Frank quote #4