Modern/Post-War Photos

Rudolf Kerner

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Rudolf_Kerner_1945.JPG

Born in 21 February 1910 in Saarbrücken, he became a member of the Staatspolizei in 1937 (after first working in the shoe shop of his parents). 1939 he was delegated to the Staatspolieziamt in Linz (Austria) and was later an auxiliary case handler for the department head of the Staatspolizei. On 01 February 1940 he was promoted to "Kriminalkomissar" and became the head of an own department. In July 1940 he was appointed a SS-Obersturmführer (he was a member of the NSDAP since 1935) and was sent to Metz and Thionville. In September 1941 he was sent to Oslo. From 1942 to the end of the war he was the local Gestapo chef of Kristiansand. In the "Arkiv", the building of the city archive of Kristiansand, the Gestapo interrogated Norwegians who were accused of being members of the resistance against the Nazis. 367 persons were tortured by several Gestapo members, 12 died of the injuries. Kerner himself actively participated several times. Furthermore he was responsible for the torture and execution (without trial) of 37 Russian POWs. After the war Kerner was arrested and sentenced to death on the 16. June 1947 by a Norwegian court. 1948 his sentence was commuted to life imprisonment. Since West Germany became an important ally of the Western Forces, also Norway amnested many war criminals. Kerner was released on 16. October 1953 and was pushed off to Germany. His further fate is unknown. -------------------- Evillittlekenny