Allied intelligence hunts down top Nazi fugitives after VE Day
After Germany's surrender, U.S. and British intelligence teams tracked and apprehended several senior Nazis, including Kaltenbrunner and Goering, while Himmler died by suicide.
Following the end of combat in Europe, Allied Counter-Intelligence Corps and British military intelligence launched a rapid pursuit of Nazi leaders who remained at large. Teams composed largely of German-born Jews, including Henry Kissinger and other veterans, infiltrated Alpine regions and mountain villages to locate fugitives. They arrested SS chief Ernst Kaltenbrunner after a tip about his mistress led them to a cabin, and forced Hermann Goering to surrender his convoy to Lieutenant Jerome Shapiro.
Heinrich Himmler was caught by a British sentry, Arthur Britton, and later ingested a cyanide pill in his cell, ending his life. Separate squads identified Robert Ley living under an alias and Julius Streicher, whose home yielded a large collection of pornographic material. Rudolf Hess, disguised as a farm laborer, was beaten by German-born British soldiers before being moved to a temporary camp where he confessed to mass murder. These captures set the stage for the subsequent Nuremberg trials.
Why it matters
The manhunt prevented many senior Nazis from escaping justice and laid groundwork for the post-war trials.
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