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Published online by Cambridge University Press: 10 February 2009
Friedrich Rainer (1903-50?) personified the semiautonomous chieftain who served the Third Reich so well. Born in Carinthia, he worked his way into major party positions in Austria and then, after the Anschluss, moved into crucial posts in the Ostmark. After leading the party in Salzburg, he highlighted his Nazi career by serving as Gauleiter of his native province. Simultaneously he governed the occupied regions in northern Slovenia (Carniola) and later added a role as Hitler's deputy on the Adriatic coast (Istria, Trieste, and environs). He was extremely ambitious, well connected in party circles, a capable administrator, a pronounced Pan-German, and a Hitler loyalist to the end. He also revealed himself as a keen observer of his surroundings, an active propagandist, and an able politician. In short, as a leader of consequence in the Third Reich, he did not differ much from other key Nazi lieutenants.
1 “Every historical event in the world is nothing more nor less than a manifestation of the instinct of racial self-preservation”; Adolf, Hitler, Mein Kampf, trans. James, Murphy (New York, 1939), 167.Google Scholar
2 Ibid. ,19.
3 Evan, Bukey, “Nazi Rule in Austria,” Austrian History Yearbook 23 (1992): 202–33 (the quotation is on 233).Google ScholarBukey, seconds the similar assertion of Volker Dürr in the introduction to Coping with the Past: Germany and Austria after 1945 (Madison, Wis., 1990).Google ScholarDürr, compares the German (East and West) and Austrian investigations into their respective Nazi pasts, especially their role in the crimes. While West Germany accepted “responsibility for the deeds of the Third Reich” and East Germany, at least, “acknowledged its … responsibility for the criminal persecution of the Jews,” Austria largely ignored its role in the Hitlerite regime: “No comparable developments have taken place in Austria, since that country was allowed to consider itself a victim. Of course, it is impossible to say … whether Austria can continue to disregard, if not blot out, their complicity in Nazi crimes” (120).Google ScholarAnton, Pelinka, in an essay in the same book, argues vigorously that the Second Austrian Republic “must come to terms with its past” (“The Great Austrian Taboo: The Repression of the Civil War,” in Coping with the Past, ed. Dürr, 64).Google ScholarSince the appearance of Bukey's article some of the gaps he mentioned have begun to fill. There have been regional studies and some biographical work. Researchers, mainly Austrian, have made valuable contributions to the study of fascism and its place in modern Austria.Google ScholarSee, for example, the regional studies by August, Walz, ‘Als erster Gau …’; Entwicklung und Strukturen des Nationalsozialismus in Kärnten (Klagenfurt, 1992);Google ScholarUlfried, Burz, “Vom Kampf für das Deutschtum zum Kampf für den Führer. Die nationalsozialistische Bewegung in Kärnten 1918-1933” (D.Phil, diss., Universität Klagenfurt, 1995);Google Scholar and Horst, Schreiber, Die Machtübernahme. Die Nationalsozialisten in Tirol 1938/39 (Innsbruck, 1994).Google ScholarA new book by Alfred, Elste and Dirk, Hänisch also deals with the party's history in Carinthia up to 1938: Auf dem Weg zur Macht. Beiträge zur Geschichte der NSDAP in Kärnten von 1918 bis 1938 (Vienna, 1996).Google ScholarElste, has also published another book containing twenty biographical sketches of Carinthia's “Old Fighters” (Alte Kämpfer). He has written all the articles except the one on Odilo Globocnik, which comes from Siegfried Pucher (based on Pucher's much longer Diplomarbeit):Google ScholarAlfred, Elste, Kärntens braune Elite. Zwanzig biographische Skizzen der ‘Alien Kämpfer’ der NSDAP (Klagenfurt, 1997).Google ScholarPucher, has published a revised version of his Diplomarbeit: “… in der Bewegung führend tätig”; Otto Globočnik—Kämpfer für den “Anschluss,” Vollstrecker des Holocaust (Klagenfurt, 1997).Google Scholar
4 Dr. jr. Friedrich, Rainer, Jan. 8, 1942, Archiv für publizistische Arbeit, Arbeiterkammer für Wien (AKW);Google Scholar“Die Ahnenheimat unseres Gauleiters Dr. Rainer,” Wochenblatt der Landesbauernschaft Kärnten (Klagenfurt), 07 22, 1944, 1, Re. 1,Google ScholarReichslandbund, Pressearchiv 356, Rainer ,Bundesarchiv, Abteilung Potsdam.Google Scholar
5 Vernehmungsniederschrift (Rainer interrogation before trial), 1947, Arhiv Republike Slovenije (ARS), Ljubljana, Slovenia, Inv 761, 80-4, II-8, 549 (hereafter cited as Rainer interrogation).Google Scholar
6 Vernehmungsniederschrift (Rainer on Martin Wutte), n.d. (before July 1947), ARS, Inv. 761, II-8, 683-86;Google ScholarRainer, , “Über die Kärnrner Slovenen-Frage,” n.d. (after Jan. 26, 1948), ARS, Inv. 761, II-18-b, 1378.Google Scholar
7 Rainer interrogation, 685.Google Scholar
8 Rainer, , “Über die Kärntner Slovenen-Frage,” 1376.Google Scholar
9 Ibid. ,1389.
10 Lebenslauf, , Personalnachweis Friedrich Rainer, Aussenstelle Berlin-Zehlendorf (AB-Z) (formerly Berlin Document Center) (hereafter cited as Rainer Lebenslauf).Google Scholar
11 Rainer, , üUber die Kärntner Slovenen-Frage,” 1389.Google Scholar
12 Rainer, Lebenslauf.Google Scholar
13 Kienast, K., “Der Grossdeutsche Reichstag,” June 1938, AKW; Nikolaus von Preradovic, Österreichs Höhere SS-Führer (Berg am See, 1987), 65;Google ScholarPersonenstandsangaben, Hubert Klausner, Österreichisches Staatsarchiv, Archiv der Republik, Pers. Akt. 332.919.Google Scholar
14 Rainer, was arrested in August 1935 for treasonous activity. Sentenced to a year in jail, he was released early in March 1936 because of health problems; Kienast, “Der Grossdeutsche Reichstag.”Google Scholar
15 Maurice, Williams, “Delusions of Grandeur: The Austrian National Socialists,” Canadian Journal of History 14 (12. 1979): 423, 427–28;Google ScholarKienast, , “Der Grossdeutsche Reichstag”;Google ScholarRainer, F., “Report on the event in the NSDAP of Austria,” 07 16, 1939, Document PS812, in Nazi Conspiracy and Aggression, 10 vols. (Washington, D.C., 1946-1948), 3:593–95;Google Scholaruntitled memo (Odilo Globocnik?), May 1938, U.S. National Archives (USNA), T84, R16, 44270.Google Scholar
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20 Ernst, Hanisch, Nationalsozialistische Herrschaft in der Provinz Salzburg im Dritten Reich (Salzburg, 1983), 112–13;Google ScholarWalther, Schmitt, “Salzburg und sein Gauleiter Dr. Rainer,” Völkischer Beobachter (Vienna), 07 3, 1938,Google ScholarAB-Z, Rainer File; Preradovich, Österreichs Höhere SS-Führer, 66.Google Scholar
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23 Rainer an Bormann, Sept. 15, 1941, USNA, T175, R123, 648587;Google ScholarKarl, Höffkes, Hitlers Politische Generale (Tübingen, 1987), 260.Google Scholar
24 Thomas, Barker, The Slovene Minority of Carinthia (Boulder, Colo, 1984), chap. 1;Google Scholar“Erinnerung des Zionisten Erich Röger in Jerusalem 1980 an die zwanziger Jahre in Kärnten” in August Walzl, Die Juden in Kärnten und das Dritte Reich (Klagenfurt, 1987), 113.Google Scholar
25 Amtseinführung des Gauleiters (Rainer), durch den Reichsleiter Dr. Robert Ley am 29. und 30. Nov. 1942, NSDAP Hauptarchiv, Reel 6, Folder no. 143—Kärnten; “Dr. Ley in Klagenfurt,” Kärntner Grenzruf, Dec. 1, 1941, Österreichische National Bibliothek (ÖNB).Google Scholar
26 Wilhelm, Frick, in Trial of the Major War Criminals before the International Military Tribunal, 42 vols. (Nuremburg, 1947-1949), 20:363Google Scholar (main entry hereafter cited as Trial Major War Criminals).Google Scholar
27 “Die Ansprache des Reichsstatthalters,” Kärntner Grenzruf, Dec. 1, 1941, ÖNB.Google Scholar
28 Tone, Ferenc, “The Interests of the Third Reich in Slovenia in the Spring of 1941," in The Third Reich and Yugoslavia, 1933-1945 (Belgrade, 1977), 503;Google ScholarDietmar, Larcher, “The Slovenes in Austria,” in Razprave in Gradivo—Treatises and Documents (Ljubljana, 1986), 378–79, 401.Google Scholar
29 Tone, Ferenc, “The Austrians and Slovenia during the Second World War,” in Conquering the Past: Austrian Nazism Yesterday and Today, ed. Fred, Parkinson (Detroit, Mich., 1989), 216;Google ScholarBarker, , Slovene Minority ofCarinthia, 195-96;Google ScholarStefan, Karner, Kärntens Wirtschaft 1938-1945 (Klagenfurt, 1976), 120, 123–25.Google Scholar
30 Ferenc, , “Austrians and Slovenia,” 216-17;Google ScholarFriedrich, Rainer, Verordnung über die deutsche Schreibweise von Vor- und Familiennamen in den besetzten Gebieten Kärntens und Krains, Feb. 10, 1942, in Verordnungs- und Amtsblatt des Chefs der Zivilverwaltung in den besetzten Gebieten Kärntens und Krains, no. 3, 02. 11, 1941, ARS;Google ScholarBarker, , Slovene Minority of Carinthia, 194;Google ScholarLarcher, , “The Slovenes in Austria,” 383.Google Scholar
31 Gendarmerieunterabschnitt Prävali, an den Einsatz-Abschnitt I in Bleiburg u. den Gendarmeriekreisführer in Völkermarkt, Lagebericht, June 1943, Prävali, July 6, 1943, Dos. br. 3077, 342-16, Yugoslav Archives, Belgrade;Google ScholarRainer, F., Appell an alle durch die Bolschewisten in die Wälder verschleppten Oberkrainer, Klagenfurt, Sept. 1, 1943, Karton 33, 11/1, Yugoslav Military Institute, Belgrade.Google Scholar
32 Lammers an die Obersten Reichsbehörden, Berlin, Sept. 11, 1943, in Die Operationszone ‘Alpenvorland’ und ‘Adriatisches Küstenland’ 1943-1945, ed. Karl, Stuhlpfarrer (Vienna, 1969), 137–39;Google Scholarcross-examination of Friedrich, Rainer, July 1947, Fourth Yugoslav Army, Ljubljana, ARS, Fasc. 924/III, str. 59, 12 (hereafter cited as cross-examination, F. Rainer).Google Scholar
33 For further discussion of this issue, see Dennison, Rusinow, Italy's Austrian Heritage, 1919-1946 (Oxford, 1969), chap. 1;Google Scholar and John, Arnez, Slovenia in European Affairs (New York, 1958), chap. 1.Google Scholar
34 On September 19, 1943, Wutte wrote Rainer advising him to act carefully in the new portions of Slovenia. The policies in Upper Carniola in 1941 and 1942 had been dangerous and were not to be repeated in the newly occupied regions. The advice to move cautiously, however, did not mean abandoning the long-range desire to make the region German in its culture, economy, and outlook;Google ScholarWutte an, Rainer, Klagenfurt, Sept. 19, 1943, in Martin Wutte (1876-1948) zum Gedächtnis, ed. Wilhelm, Neumann (Klagenfurt, 1988), 30–32.Google Scholar
35 Rainer, F., “Osnivanje i djelatnost organa vrhovnog komesara u operativnoj zoni ‘jakranska obala’ ” (The structure and activity of the authorities of the high commissioner in the operation zone “Adriatic Coastland”), n.d. (after Jan. 1948?), ARS, Inv. 761, 80-4, 11-30, 1602-4;Google ScholarRainer, F. “Der deutsche Nachrichtendienst im Adriatischen Küstenland vor der Besetzung durch die deutschen Truppen,” n.d. (late 1947?), ARS, Inv. 761, 11-33, 1744. For a more detailed examination of the ambiguities of Rainer's Slovene policy,Google Scholar see Maurice, Williams, “The Nazis, German Nationalism, and Ethnic Diversity: The Adriatic Coastland under Friedrich Rainer,” Slovene Studies 17 (1995; published 08 1998).Google Scholar
36 Cross-examination, Rainer, F., str. 39, 4, 7-8;Google ScholarReport on the Crimes of Austria and the Austrians against Yugoslavia and Her People (Belgrade, 1947), 140;Google ScholarNiederschrift Friedrich, Rainer, Nuremberg, Nov. 30, 1945, in Preradovich, Österreichs Höhere SS- Führer, 70-71; Stuhlpfarrer, ed., Die Operationszonen, 61;Google ScholarFerenc, , “Austrians and Slovenia,” 218;Google ScholarRusinow, , Italy's Austrian Heritage, 307;Google ScholarClaus, Gatterer, Im Kampf gegen Rom (Vienna, 1968), 808.Google Scholar
37 Cross-examination, Rainer, F., str. 62, 13, str. 66,16 (quote); Stuhlpfarrer, ed., Die Operationszonen, 64;Google ScholarRusinow, , Italy's Austrian Heritage, 301;Google ScholarReport on the Crimes of Austria, 140.Google Scholar
38 Cross-examination, Rainer, F., str. 68, 16-17;Google ScholarAugust, Walzl, Kärnten 1945 (Klagenfurt, 1985), 43–44;Google ScholarRainer an Bormann, Klagenfurt, Dec. 18, 1944, AB-Z, Globocnik.Google Scholar
39 Rainer, F., “Organizacija komisarja za drzavno obrambo,” ARS, Inv. 761, 80-4, H-35,1780-84;Google ScholarJosef, Vogt, “Karakteristika in delovanje Gauleiterja Rainerja,” ARS, Inv. 761, 80-4, II-2, 398-405; interrogation of Josef Vogt before July 1947 trial, Ljubljana(?), May 1947(?), ARS, Inv. 761, 80-4, III-6, 3579.Google Scholar
40 Maurice, Williams, “Friedrich Rainer e Odilo Globocnik. Ľamicizia insolita ed i ruoli sinistri di due nazisti tipici,” Qualestoria 25 (1997): 169-75;Google Scholarreport on conversations between Rainer, F. and Uiberreither, S., CSDIC Austria, Sept. 16, 1945, 1 SC/CSDIC/X 9, Public Record Office (PRO), WO 204/11505.Google Scholar
41 Rainer, F., “Meine Verrtehmungen durch Engländer und Amerikaner,” n.d. (1947?), ARS, Inv. 761, 80-4, 11-53;Google ScholarRainer, testimony, Trial Major War Criminals, 16:123–49;Google ScholarHoffkes, ,Google ScholarHitlers Politische Generate, 262; material from Rainer's 1947 trial in Ljubljana, ARS, Inv. 761, 80-4.Google Scholar
42 Federativna Ljudska Republika Jugoslavia, Izpisek iz mrliške matične knijige, Apr. 1, 1952, and Dr. A. Wiehs an Dr. Leopold Jungfer, Vienna, Oct. 2, 1975,Google Scholar both reproduced in Lo sterminio mancato: La dominazione nazista nel Veneto orientale 1943-1945, ed. Pier Arrigo, Carnier (Milano, 1982);Google ScholarElio, Apih, “Tre documenti sulla politica nazista nel litorale adriatico,” Movimento di Liberazione in Italia 34 (1972);Google ScholarHöffkes, , Hitlers politische Generate, 262-63;Google ScholarPreradovic, Österreichs Höhere SS-Fiihrer, 73; interview with Mag. Ljuba Dornik Svbelj, Archivist, ARS, Oct. 1996.Google Scholar
43 Austria, Joint Weekly Intelligence Summary, Nov. 16, week ending Oct. 27, 1945, PRO, FO 1007/300.Google Scholar
44 Rainer, , “Meine Vernehmungen,” 2847.Google Scholar
45 Report of conversations of F. Rainer, S. Uiberreither, and others, CSDIC Austria, July 1, 1945, CSDIC/CMF/X 188, PRO, WO 204/11505; report of conversations between F. Rainer, S. Uiberreither, and others, Aug. 3-8, 1945, CSDIC Austria, Aug. 15, 1945, 1 SC/CSDIC/X 4, PRO, WO 204/11505; Rainer, SC/CSDIC/X 9.Google Scholar
46 Vogt, , “Karakteristika,” 398-405.Google Scholar
47 Report on conversation between Rainer, F. and Uiberreither, S., CSDIC Austria, Aug. 20, 1945, 1 SC/CSDIC/X 5, PRO, WO 204/11505. Karl Renner was the head of the provisional government in Austria after the collapse of the Third Reich; he later became the first president of the Second Republic.Google Scholar
48 Gauleiter Rainer bei einer Tagung politischer Leiter am 18. April, 1945 in Krainburg, in Walzl, , Kärnten 1945, 78;Google Scholarreport on conversation between F. Rainer and S. Uiberreither, CSDIC Austria, Aug. 2, 1945, 1 SC/CSDIC/X 1; Rainer, CSDIC/X 9; F. Rainer, “Über nationalsozialistische Propaganda,” n.d. (after June 15, 1948), ARS, Inv. 761, 80-4, 11-40, 1915, 1923f.Google Scholar
49 Passant, E., Research Department, Foreign Office, Nov. 20, 1945, PRO, FO 371/46682.Google Scholar See also Rainer, , “Meine Vernehmungen,” 2836-37, 2841, 2845, 2851.Google Scholar
50 Rainer, , “Meine Vernehmungen,” 2835-36;Google Scholar see also Rainer, , CSDIC/X 5, p 3.Google Scholar
51 Rainer, , “Über nationalsozialistische Propaganda,” 2160. See also Rainer, F., “Über die Kärntner Slovenen-Frage,” 1405;Google ScholarRainer, , CSDIC/X 1, 4, and CSDIC/X 7, 5.Google Scholar
52 Report of conversations between F. Rainer and S. Uiberreither, CSDIC Austria, Aug. 9, 1945, 1SC/CSDIC/X 3, PRO, WO 204/11505; CSDIC/X 4, 4; and CSDIC/X 9, 3.Google Scholar
53 Rainer, , “Uber nationalsozialistische Propaganda,” 2160.Google Scholar See also Rainer, , CSDIC/X 197, 8, and CSDIC/X 5, 5.Google Scholar
54 Rainer, , CSDIC/CMF/X 188; CSDIC/X 1, 5; CSDIC/X 3, 2; CSDIC/X 11, 6; and CSDIC/X 13, 6. Later, after his trial, he had another motivation: the desire to live, or at least, a desire to die honorably. Rainer was condemned to death by hanging. As long as he continued to write for the Yugoslavs he was useful and death could be deferred. Postponement might bring a change of circumstances that could modify his condition (Rainer, CSDIC/X 4,3; CSDIC/X 7, 2; CSDIC/X 9, 3; and CSDIC/X 13, 7). Or if he was going to die, at least Rainer hoped the method would shift from the rope to a firing squad (Gesichtspunkte für ein Gnadengesuch [Dr. Rainer], ARS, Inv. 761, II-5, 419).Google Scholar
55 These writings do not include written answers to questions that were formulated during his pretrial interrogation. See material for Rainer's trial, Ljubljana, July 1947, ARS, Inv. 761, 80-4.Google Scholar
56 Rainer, F., “Der Nürnberger Kriegsverbrecherprozes und seine Begleiterscheinungen,” n.d. (after July 1947?), ARS, Inv. 761, 80-4, 11-55 (80 typed pages).Google Scholar
57 Paper by Dr. Rainer, ex-Gauleiter of Carinthia, on the Reconstruction in Austria, Aug. 1945, enclosure in W. H. B. Mack to Foreign Office, Vienna, Oct. 3, 1945, PRO, FO 371/46682.Google Scholar
58 Comments on Reconstruction in Austria, PRO, FO 371/46682.Google Scholar
59 Rainer, F., “Gesichtspunkte einer positiven Deutschlandpolitik des Ostens,” n.d. (late 1947?), ARS, Inv. 761, 80-4, II-44. The quotation is from 2450.Google Scholar
60 One can speculate that this faith in Stalin and the Soviet Union may have contributed to Rainer's execution. The Yugoslavs were obviously using him for their own purposes. According to ARS archivists, when his usefulness ended the authorities probably carried out the sentence of death. Perhaps that execution was aided by the Tito-Stalin split in the late 1940s. When the split was obvious, Rainer's advocation of Stalin and the Soviet Union as the friend was not politically correct and may have estranged him from his Yugoslav captors. Rainer was probably executed sometime in or after 1950. My inquiries to the Slovene intelligence service (Slovenska obveščevalno-varostna agencija “SOVA”) about the death of Rainer were not fruitful. Director Drago Fers says that his agency has no record of Rainer or the date of Rainer's death (Drago Fers, SOVA, to the author, April 11, 1996, and May 21, 1996).Google Scholar