Karl Jäger
| Karl Jäger | |
|---|---|
.jpg) |
|
| Born |
20 September 1888 Schaffhausen, Switzerland |
| Died | 22 June 1959 (aged 70) Hohenasperg, Germany |
| Allegiance |
 German Empire Nazi Germany
|
| Service/branch |
 Waffen-SS
|
| Years of service | 1914–1918 1933–1945 |
| Rank | Standartenführer (Colonel) |
| Unit | Einsatzkommando 3 |
Karl Jäger (20 September 1888 – 22 June 1959) was a Swiss-born mid-ranking official in the SS of Nazi Germany and Einsatzkommando leader who perpetrated acts of genocide during the Holocaust.
Jäger was born in Schaffhausen, Switzerland. In World War I he received the Iron Cross (1st Class) and other awards. After World War I, Jäger, an orchestrion maker by profession, obtained a managerial position with the Weber orchestrion factory in Waldkirch. He joined the Nazi Party in 1923 (serial no. 359269) and founded the local party chapter, as a result of which he became known as "Waldkirch's Hitler". The Weber company went bankrupt in 1931, and he was unemployed for several years, but – according to his own claims – he spurned unemployment support from the government of the Weimar Republic, which he despised. By 1934, he had used up all his savings, and his wife Emma separated from him, though their divorce was not formalized until 1940. He joined the SS as early as 1932 (serial no. 62823), but his rise within the SS under Heinrich Himmler began only in 1935.
He was assigned to Ludwigsburg, then to Ravensburg in 1935, and to Münster in 1938, where he was named head of the local office of the Sicherheitsdienst (SD). During the invasion of the Netherlands on 10 May 1940, Jäger was named commander of Einsatzkommando 3, a unit of Einsatzgruppe A.
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