Otto Ohlendorf - Profile and Modus Operandi

Biographical Data

• Born: 4 February 1907, Hoheneggelsen, Province of Hanover, Prussia
• Died: 7 June 1951 (executed by hanging at Landsberg Prison)
• Education: Two doctoral degrees - Economics and Law

- University of Leipzig

- University of Göttingen

- University of Pavia (scholarship 1931)

Professional Background

• 1925: Joined Nazi Party (age 18)
• 1926: Joined SS
• 1930: Already giving lectures at economic institutions
• 1933: Research directorship at Kiel Institute for World Economy
• 1936: Joined SD (Sicherheitsdienst) as economic consultant
• 1938: Manager in Trade section of Reich Business Board (Reichswirtschaftskammer)
• 1939: Head of Amt III (SD-Inland) of RSHA - responsible for intelligence and security within Germany
• 1943: Deputy director-general in Reich Ministry of Economic Affairs
• 1944: Promoted to SS-Gruppenführer
• 1945: De facto economics minister under Dönitz in Flensburg Government

Key Characteristics (The "Desk Murderer" Profile)

1. Intellectual Credentials

• One of few Nazis with TWO doctoral degrees (economics and law)
• Recruited by SD "talent-scouts" alongside other academics
• Taught at Nazi Party school in Berlin
• Participated in major economic policy debates

2. Economic Expertise

• Shaped Nazi economic doctrine "in an ethnic context"
• Collected data and scientifically examined social, cultural, and economic issues
• Concerned with post-war currency stabilization
• Believed expertise invaluable for post-war reconstruction

3. Bureaucratic Methods

• Assembled reports for Nazi government superiors
• Conducted routine public-opinion surveys
• Methodical documentation of activities
• Kept headquarters informed of "progress"

4. Operational Style

• Preferred "military in character and humane under the circumstances" operations
• Forbade individual actions - enforced group mentality
• Limited contact between perpetrators and victims
• Explicitly instructed men NOT to take victims' valuables
• Disliked crude methods - preferred systematic approaches

5. Legal/Legalistic Mindset

• At trial, insisted he "acted properly and done nothing wrong"
• Defended actions by comparing to Biblical precedents
• Compared operations to atomic bomb - "press-button killers"
• Attempted to present operations as "securing territory" rather than racist extermination
• Expressed no remorse - maintained loyalty to Nazi cause

6. Post-War Planning

• Hoped to shape post-war reconstruction "along National Socialist lines"
• Convinced some form of Nazism would survive
• Offered services for post-war Germany
• Worked with Ludwig Erhard on currency stabilization

Modus Operandi Summary

• Legal Framework: Used law degrees to create bureaucratic legitimacy
• Economic Manipulation: Shaped economic doctrine for ethnic purposes
• Intelligence Gathering: Collected data on social/cultural/economic issues
• Systematic Documentation: Kept meticulous records and reports
• Institutional Positioning: Held multiple simultaneous positions of power
• Post-War Survival Strategy: Planned for continuation under new identity/structure

Nazi Aryanization Methods (The Blueprint)

Phase 1: "Voluntary Aryanization" (1933-1938)

• Encouraged Jewish businessmen to sell at radically reduced prices (20-30% of actual value)
• Used combination of terror, propaganda, boycott, and legislation
• Two-thirds of Jewish businesses eliminated or transferred by 1938

Phase 2: "Forced Aryanization" (1938-1945)

• Trustee System: Assigned non-Jewish trustee to oversee forced sale
• Trustee's fee often nearly equal to sale price - paid by former owners
• Profits went to Office of Four Year Plan (Hermann Göring)

Key Mechanisms

• The Trustee (Treuhänder): Legal intermediary who "manages" the transfer
• Blocked Accounts: Funds paid into supervised bank accounts with limited access
• Flight Tax: Exorbitant tax on Jews leaving Germany
• Fine System: One billion RM fine after Kristallnacht
• Insurance Confiscation: State seized insurance payments
• Asset Registration: 1938 law forced Jews to register all wealth over 5,000 RM

The "Legal Theft" Pattern

• Everything done through legal mechanisms and bureaucratic processes
• Victims forced to pay for their own dispossession
• Multiple layers of extraction (taxes, fees, fines, blocked accounts)
• Documentation created appearance of legitimate business transactions
• Trustees provided "plausible deniability" for ultimate beneficiaries