Ernst Kaltenbrunner was an Austrian Nazi leader who headed the Austrian SS and eventually all German police forces. A close associate of SS chief Heinrich Himmler, Kaltenbrunner was prosecuted for war crimes by the International Military Tribunal (IMT). He was convicted in 1946 after his trial at Nuremberg.

Kaltenbrunner was born on October 4, 1903 in Ried im Innkries, Austria-Hungary. He studied law at the University of Prague and joined the Austrian Nazi Party in 1932 and the SS, a Nazi paramilitary group, a few months later. By 1935 he had become the leader of the Austrian SS. Kaltenbrunner, like most Austrian Nazis, called for the union of Austria with Germany. After Adolph Hitler coerced Austrian leaders into this Anschluss, Kaltenbrunner's career advanced. In 1938 he was appointed minister of state security, a position that allowed him to delve into intelligence activities. He held this position until 1941.

In January of 1943 Himmler promoted Kaltenbrunner to...