Who was Arthur Seyss-Inquart? Everything You Need to Know

Quick Facts

Also Known As: Arthur Seyß-Inquart

Died At Age: 54

Family:

Spouse/Ex-: Gertrud Maschka

father: Emíl Seyss-Inquart

mother: Augusta Hirenbach

children: Dorothea Seyss-Inquart, Ingeborg Seyss-Inquart, Richard Seyss-Inquart

Born Country: Czech Republic

Political Leaders Austrian Men

Died on: October 16, 1946

place of death: Nuremberg, Germany

Ancestry: Czech Austrian

Cause of Death: Hanged

More Facts

education: University Of Vienna

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Childhood & Early Life

Born on July 22, 1892, in Stannern, Margraviate of Moravia, Austria-Hungary (now Stonařov, Vysočina Region, Czech Republic), Seyss-Inquart was the youngest of six children of Emil Seyss-Inquart and Augusta Hirenbach.

His father was a school principal. In 1907, his family came to live in Vienna. He later enrolled at the University of Vienna and obtained his law degree in 1917, while he was recovering from the wounds received during World War I.

In 1911, Seyss-Inquart became acquainted with Gertrud Maschka. They exchanged wedding vows in December 1916. Their three children were Ingeborg Carolina Augusta Seyss-Inquart (born 18 September 1917), Richard Seyss-Inquart (born 22 August 1921), and Dorothea Seyss-Inquart (born 7 May 1928).

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Military Career

When the First World War broke out, Arthur Seyss-Inquart joined the Austro-Hungarian Army and served with the Tyrolean Kaiserjäger in Russia, Romania, and Italy. He received several military honours for bravery.

Legal Career & Early Years in Politics

Following the conclusion of World War I, Seyss-Inquart opened a law practice in 1921. In the next few years, his business became quite successful, and he had become friends with some of the most powerful men in the country.

In the initial years of the Austrian First Republic, he was associated with the Fatherland Front and was offered a position in the cabinet of Chancellor Engelbert Dollfuss in 1933.

Dollfuss was murdered in 1934, and Seyss-Inquart started serving as a State Councillor under Kurt Schuschnigg in 1937. It was during this period that he developed a near-fanatic devotion towards Heinrich Himmler's concepts of racial purity. After becoming a member of the Austrian National Socialist Party, he quickly became a leading figure in their ranks.

The Anschluss

Schuschnigg made Seyss-Inquart the Austrian Minister of the Interior in February 1938 after Adolf Hitler warned him of military consequences if Austria failed to comply with the German “request”.

Confronted by the impending German invasion, Schuschnigg resigned in favour of Seyss-Inquart, who assumed the office of the Chancellor of Austria on March 11, 1938.

On March 13, 1938, Germany annexed Austria, which became a province of the former country, named Ostmark. Afterwards, Seyss-Inquart became a member of the Nazi Party and was subsequently appointed as the first Reichsstatthalter/Governor of the new province. He held the position from March 15, 1938, to May 1, 1939.

Southern Poland

After the German invasion of Poland in late 1939, Seyss-Inquart was made the administrative chief for Southern Poland. However, it was only after the General Government was formed that he assumed office, serving as a deputy under the Governor-General Hans Frank. He completely supported the severe policies that Frank implemented. He also knew about the Abwehr's murder of Polish intellectuals.

Reign of Terror in the Netherlands

After Germany occupied the Low Countries during World War II, Seyss-Inquart became Reichskommissar of the Occupied Netherlands in May 1940. He subsequently established a close economic relationship with Germany and took all steps to protect the interests of the Reich.

The Dutch had a derogative name for him, “Zes en een kwart" (six and a quarter), which was a pun on his name as well as a reference to the fact that he had a limp.

He introduced several brutal measures to counter resistance. The Germans operated three concentration camps in the Netherlands. Over 500,000 Dutch civilians were forced to work for the Germans. Nearly half of them were made to go to Germany to work in the factories.

A staunch anti-Semite, his actions led to the deaths of approximately 110,000 out of 140,000 registered Dutch Jews.

Trial & Execution

Arthur Seyss-Inquart became the Reich Minister of Foreign Affairs on April 30, 1945, a position he held until his arrest on the Elbe Bridge at Hamburg by two members of the Royal Welsh Fusiliers.

At the Nuremberg trials, he was found guilty on the charges of planning, initiating and waging wars of aggression; war crimes; and crimes against humanity, and was sentenced to death.

Before his execution, he was accepted back into the Catholic Church and granted absolution in the sacrament of confession from prison chaplain Father Bruno Spitzl.

Seyss-Inquart was executed by hanging at the Nuremberg prison on October 16, 1946. His body was subsequently cremated at the Ostfriedhof in Munich alongside those of nine other men who were executed along with him. Their ashes were dispersed into the river Isar.

Arthur Seyss-Inquart Biography