Archive/File: people/g/globocnik.odilo/globocnik.odilo
Last-Modified: 2001/08/28

Gutman, Israel; Encyclopedia of the Holocaust, ISBN 0-02-864527-8
Macmillan Publishing Company, New York. 1990.
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GLOBOCNIK, ODILO (1904-1945), senior SS commander; a principal participant
in the extermination of Polish Jewry. Born in Trieste to an Austrian-Croat
family of minor officials, Globocnik was a contractor by profession. He
joined the Nazi party in Austria in 1931 and the SS in 1934. His illegal
activities on behalf of the party led to a number of short spells of
imprisonment. Before ANSCHLUSS (the annexation of Austria to Germany in
1938), Globocnik was already active in the formation of Nazi factory cells
in the provinces, and in 1936 he was appointed provincial party leader in
Carinthia. He earned rapid promotion in 1938, in March to SS
_Standartenfuehrer_, and in May to state secretary and _Gauleiter_ of
VIENNA. He lost his position in January 1939 on account of illegal
currency dealings, but was pardoned by Heinrich HIMMLER, and in November
1939 was appointed district _SS- und Polizeifu"hrer_ (SS and Police
Leader) for the Lublin district of Poland and promoted to
SS-Brigadefuehrer und Generalmajor.

In 1941 Himmler entrusted Globocnik with the planning and establishment of
police and SS-fortified strongpoints in Poland, and in 1942, with the
implementation of AKTION REINHARD. For this purpose Globocnik was put in
charge of special SS troops, subordinate only to Himmler. He used the
camps of BELZEC, SOBIBOR, TREBLINKA, and MAJDANEK to carry out a fourfold
task: the exploitation of the Jewish work force, the extermination  of
Jews, the aquisition of the real estate of the murdered Jews, and the
seizure of their valuables and moveable property. More than two million
Jews were killed during Aktion Reinhard, and property to the value of 178
million reichsmarks was seized for the benefit of the Reich.

In August 1943, as a result of differences with other party and SS
leaders, Globocnik, was transferred to Trieste. He was taken captive by
British troops at the end of the war and committed suicide in May 1945.

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