SS-Standartenführer Walther Rafelsberger

[Michal78]

I'm looking for any info about Walther Rafelsberger. (source onb)
Thx.
G.

[freddiefro]

Goofy,

This is what I have on Walter Rafelsberger from the 1942 DAL (note the spelling of his name):

Rafelsberger, Walter
Born: 4. Aug. 1899
NSDAP Nr.: 1.616.497
SS Nr.: 293.726
SS-Oberf. 20.04.1941
b. Stab Oa. Donau

Here is a short bio from the book “Holocaust: Critical Concepts in Historical Studies” (Routledge: 2004, David Cesarani, Sarah Kavanaugh, p. 54):
“Walter Rafelsberger was born in 1899 in Vienna. He studied chemistry at the Technical University and joined the Nazi Party in 1933. In Styria he soon became a leading functionary of the illegal party and was arrested by the Austrian authorities in 1935. After he was amnestied in 1936 he fled to Germany, to return to Ostmark in March of 1938. In the same month, he joined the SS and was quickly promoted. In July of 1938 his rank was SS-Standartenführer.”

There are several things on him if you Google it, including a short bio on Wikipedia: (http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walter_Rafelsberger)

Fred

[Igor Karpov]

He also was Abschnittsleiter der NSDAP.

Regards,
Igor

[radevich]

SS-Oberführer: 20. Apr. 1941

[Phil Nix]

Joined the SS as Sturmbannführer 21.3.1938, Obersturmbannführer 20.4.38 Standartenführer 25.7.1938
Phil Nix

[Viktoria Hiesberger]

UNDERGROUND IN VIENNA BROKEN

VIENNA, March 8. The Austrian Interior Ministry announced today that a large Nazi undergi’ound movement had been smashed and that 57 “Nazi leaders,’ including a former S.S. general, were under arrest. American troops aided Austrian police in rounding up the gang. Former S. S. General Walter Rafelsberger was found living under an assumed name. An Interior Ministry spokesman said today’s arrests “killed the gang while it was still a germ.” Officials said the group had conducted “huge” black market operations and had attempted to contact as many other Nazis as possible. Rafelsberger was said to have been the leader. The operation was carried out with military secrecy. The first report was limited to the official announcement. Army quarters refrained from comment for the time being. The roundup followed 1 by less than two weeks a similar operation in Germany. Whether the plans for the two were coordinated was not disclosed immediately.

https://cdnc.ucr.edu/cgi-bin/cdnc?a=d&d=MT19470308.2.21

[Michael Miller]

Thank you for sharing this, Ms. Hiesberger. Fascinating information.

Best wishes,
~ Mike

[Viktoria Hiesberger]

Walter Rafelsberger...with nice Swastika on his tie
http://www.kulturpool.at/plugins/kultur ... xt=default


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[Viktoria Hiesberger]

http://www.bildarchivaustria.at/Pages/I ... dID=352681



Ratsherrensitzung im Wiener Rathaus Reichsstatthalter Bürckel bei seiner Ansprache, , v.l.: Staatskommissar Raffelsberger und Bürgermeister Neubacher.
Datierung 11.05.1939

[Viktoria Hiesberger]

The Nazis in the Balkans: A Case Study of Totalitarian Politics
Author Dietrich Orlow

"If Heinrichsbauer typifies the political opportunist in the third Reich, Rafelsberger is one of the totalitarian fanatic.
He is one of the most interesting and least known personalities in the Society. At the time of the SOEG's establishment, Rafelsberger was about 40 years of age. His specific connections with the National Socialists before 1938 are not clear, but it would appear that he was an ardent advocate of the movement long before the Anschluss. After March 1938, Rafelsberger was appointed the provincial economic expert of the National Socialist Party (Gauwirtschaftsberater) im Vienna, an SS-Oberführer and head of the Vienna office for the control of Jewish Property (Vermögensverkehrstelle). He handled the reorganization of the industrial structure in Austria, that is, he was responsible for carrying out the aryanizations. The vize-presidend Rafelsberger was one of the really convinced in the National Socialist myth of the innate superiority of Aryans among the chief officials of the SOEG. In April 1941 even when von Schirach was beginning to have some doubts  as to the wisdom and chances of success of Hitlers' policies, Rafelsberger commented that the war aims for 1941 as set by the Führer would undoubtedly be accomplished: "the entire Balkans, Russia to Caucasus, the Near East, and North Africa! “
This sort of fanatical, amoral approach to politics and plans for the future of Europe pervaded all of Rafelsberger's thinking.
Heinrichsbauer's personal secretary reports that on several occasions she "was afraid of him (hatte Angst vor ihm)."

[Viktoria Hiesberger]

Source: Chronik des Geschlechtes Raffelsberger
Herausgeber: Dr. E. F. Raffelsberger

Ing. Walter Rafelsberger *1899 also mentioned...