Roschmann, Mathesius and Kainer

[Researcher]

This is for Schmauser but it's so incomplete if anybody can add to it then please do.

Eduard Roschmann (25/11/1908) - Escaped from an 'American' extradition Train on 8 Jan 1948 losing 5 toes through frost bite.
Fled to South America. Died in Paraguay 10 August 1977.

Erwin Kainer - Suicide in 1943

Kurt Mathesius - Suicide in American custody May 1947

Regards
Researcher

[dylan]

for schmausser

ss untersturmfuhrer roschmann representative of the head of security
police and the security service in riga

dont sure of this kurt mathesius born 19 sept 1910
ss obersturmfuhrer

regards dylan

[JohnRayTaylor]

Roschmann was also attached to a labor camp called Salopis? (not sure of the spelling will check it later my book is paccked away just moved).
JohnRayTaylor

[Simon]

I have some info on Eduard Roschmann somewhere. He was some sort of commander at Riga Ghetto.

I'm looking for more info tonight..

[michael mills]

Roschmann was also attached to a labor camp called Salopis? (not sure of the spelling will check it later my book is paccked away just moved).

The name is Salaspils. It is near Riga. A small camp, it was used mainly for holding anti-German Latvians, captured partisans etc. Although the camp was built by Jews deported from Germany, it was not primarily a camp for Jews.

[JohnRayTaylor]

Thank you Michael for the right spelling of the camp. I was not sure about how it was spelled but I do know Roschmann had done some sort of work at the camp. Do you have any info on that camp? If so would you be willing to share it?
JohnRayTaylor

[Mikedc]

This is what I've found on the internet(of course there's alot more, but this was a pretty official website)about
Eduard Roschmann.

Roschmann, Eduard. Kommandant des Ghettos von Riga
* 25.11.1908 Graz. 1927-34 in der Vaterländischen Front des Steirischen Heimatschutzes. 1938 NSDAP/SS, Hauptscharführer. Januar 1941 im Reichssicherheitshauptamt beim SD, anschließend Abt. IV (Gestapo) beim Kommandeur der Sicherheitspolizei und des SD Lettland.
1947 Verhaftung in Graz. Flucht bei Überstellung nach Dachau. 1948 mit Paß des Roten Kreuzes auf den Namen Federico Wegener Flucht von Genua nach Argentinien. Gründer einer Holz-Import-Exportfirma. 1958 mit illegal angetrauter zweiter Ehefrau Niederlassung in BRD. Anzeige seiner Ehefrau beim LG Graz wegen des Verbrechens der zweifachen Ehe. Rückkehr nach Buenos Aires. 1968 argentinischer Staatsbürger. Juli 1977 argentinischer Haftbefehl aufgrund eines Auslieferungsansuchens der StA Hamburg. Flucht nach Paraguay. + 10.8.1977 Assunción Paraguay.

Apparently he was only SS-Hauptscharführer and another forummember confirms this in another post about Roschmann
at this forum.

Greetings,
Mike

[chrish]

Kurt Mathesius was one of creators Durchgangslager (later Zivilgefangenlager, Sonderlager and KL) Stutthof as platoon leader and Cdr. Unterlager Westerplatte (ex - polisch fortification zone in Sept 1939). Next (1941, 1942) he was Cdr 2 Company Sonderlager Stutthof (Cdr. 1 was Erich Gunst, Cdr 3 was Ehle).

Source: Stutthof. Hitlerowski obóz koncentracyjny, Warszawa 1988, S, 84, 87,

chrish

[Ludger]

Here is Eduard Roschmann.

Source: Welt am Sonntag, 14.08.1977

Greetings from

Ludger

[Larry D.]

ROSCHMANN, Eduard. Kommandant des Ghettos von Riga.

Herr Roschmann was the villian in the 1971 movie The Odessa File with Jon Voight and Maximilian Schell. In the movie, Roschmann returns to Germany from South America and becomes a wealthy and powerful industrialist who takes charge of the Odessa ratline used by former SS. Jon Voight plays a highly moral German reporter from Hamburg who gets wind of Roschmann's re-emergence in West Germany and begins a relentless and extremely dangerous pursuit by infiltrating Odessa disguised as a former SS man who wants to get out of Europe. He finally tracks down Roschmann at his estate outside of Heidelberg. I won't reveal the ending in case anyone wants to pick up a DVD of The Odessa File. The movie is set in 1963, I believe, and the sound track is a Perry Como Christmas song that was very popular in Germany that year. I know because I was there. P.S.: Jon Voight is the real life father of present day super star Angelina Jolie.

--Larry

Juli 1977 argentinischer Haftbefehl aufgrund eines Auslieferungsansuchens der StA Hamburg. Flucht nach Paraguay. + 10.8.1977 Assunción Paraguay.

Mikedc: this looks like a suicide to me. Fearing extradition to Hamburg, he flees to Assunción and commits suicide.

[DXTR]

I have once heard a rumour that SS Captain Eduard Roschmann was actually given the cold shoulder by the Odessa community in South America when the book by Forsyth came out. In the book the father of the main character a wehrmacht captain who have received a knights cross 1. degree gets shot by Roschmann when he tries to board a ship escaping the bailtic states (as far as I can recall its been a while since i read the book) and then after reading about this incident the odessa community took it for a fact and thereby gave Roschmann the cold shoulder -is this true?

(edited since I failed to disclose my entire question)

[Ian Hulley]

DXTR, :- http://www.oradour.info/appendix/ssrank01.htm

SS-HauptSCHARführer = Battalion Sergeant-Major
SS-HauptSTURMführer = Captain

Ian.

[Larry D.]

DXTR -

Yes, that's right. I read the book before I saw the movie. The part about the Hauptmann with the Ritterkreuz supposedly happened on the docks at Libau (Liepaja) or one of the other Latvian or Lithuanian ports, and this scene was reproduced in the movie. IIRC, it has some basis in fact, but whether or not the perpetrator was SS-Hauptsturmführer Eduard Roschmann I cannot say.

[DXTR]

Larry D:

I realised that I had failed to complete my initial question (I have now edited it above) but let me just repeat it. This scene factous or fictional was later rumoured to have made the german community in latinamerica freeze out Roschmann since they would not tolerate that he had shot a wehrmacht officer who held such a high award. Apparantly since Forsyth based his book on real events and had real characters playing a part, and since Wiesenthal had sanctioned the book the 'Odessa germans' could not tell whether this too was a fact, just like all the other allegations that fitted Roschmann perfectly.

But it is a rumour someone told me quite a few years ago when I debated the holocaust with a co-worker. I have tried to search the web as well as this site but have so far come up empty handed, i suspect that it is just a rumour....

[Helly Angel]

Yes is just a rumor.

The history complete is in "Justice, not revenge" by Wiesenthal.

BTW I know Wiesenthal is not a true source in his books but he wrote how he made an help to Forsyth in the writing of the book.

These days Wiesenthlas was looking for Rotschmann and he said the name to Forsyth with the hope the people cut the help to the real Rotschmann. The scene of the Wehrmacht murder by Rotschman is fake.

All the book is just a novel. The version of Richard Glücks ("Ricardo Suertes") is between patetical and ridiculous knowing the personality of the real Glücks.

Best regards,