Horst von Wächter
Otto von Wächter was born in Vienna in July 1901, but lived in various parts of the Austro-Hungarian Empire before enrolling at the law faculty at the University of Vienna in October 1919. He joined the Nazi party in 1923, graduated a year later and started to practice law. By the time Hitler took office in Germany in January 1933, Wächter had married Charlotte Bleckmann, joined the SS and worked as a lawyer for the Austrian Nazi Party. In 1934 he played a role in the assassination of Austrian chancellor Dollfuss and was forced into exile in Germany. He returned to Vienna on March 13 1938, the day after the Anschluss, and soon got a job working with his friend, the leading Austrian Nazi, Arthur Seyss-Inquart. In 1939 Wächter became Nazi governor of Krakow, working with Frank and Seyss-Inquart. In January 1942, Hitler appointed him governor of the recently conquered Galicia, describing him as “the best man” for the job. Wächter remained in Lemberg (L'viv, Ukraine) until July 1944, a few days after receiving Himmler’s birthday book, when he left the city. Identified as a war criminal since 1942, he evaded capture, went into hiding in Rome, protected by the Austrian bishop Alois Hudal, and died there of kidney disease in July 1949. [Various sources]
Copyright Holder: Horst von Wächter
folder 1 8,677 digital images, JPEG
Arranged in ten series: Series 1: Correspondence, 1944‐1945 Series 2: Letters and postcards, 1929‐1949 Series 3: Photo albums, 1920‐1938 Series 4: Photographs from Lemberg (Lviv, Ukraine) Series 5: Miscellaneous photographs Series 6: Miscellaneous notes and correspondence, 1948‐1949 Series 7: Collection of negatives, 1937‐1965 Series 8: Private documents, 1901‐1961 Series 9: Diaries, 1923‐1984 Series 10: Collection of newspapers and clippings, 1949‐1961
Correspondence, letters, postcards, photographs, private documents, diaries and other archival material created by the donor's parents, Otto von Wächter and Charlotte von Wächter (b. Bleckmann), and family members. Otto von Wächter (born July 8, 1901 in Vienna, Austria‐ died July 14, 1949 in Rome, Italy) was an early supporter of the Nazi party and an SS officer who rose to the ranks of the District Governor of Kraków, Poland and later District Governor of Galicia.
Archiv Horst von Wächter