12 Facts About Franz Reichleitner

Franz Karl Reichleitner was an Austrian member in the SS of Nazi Germany who participated in Operation Reinhard during the Holocaust.

Franz Reichleitner joined the Nazi Party in 1936 as member number 6,369,213 and the Schutzstaffel in 1937 as member number 357,065.

Franz Reichleitner began his career as a Kriminalsekretar of the Gestapo in Linz.

Later Franz Reichleitner was assigned to work in the Action T4 euthanasia program at the nearby Hartheim Euthanasia Centre.

Franz Reichleitner first served as an assistant supervisor under officer Christian Wirth before assuming Wirth's position of chief supervisor at Hartheim.

Franz Reichleitner was partly responsible for getting Stangl a supervising job in T-4.

Franz Reichleitner rarely showed his face in the camp, and it has been claimed that he was a heavy drinker, but his command at Sobibor was even more strict than that of his predecessor.

Franz Reichleitner did not have direct contact with the Jews and the transports.

Franz Reichleitner knew that he could rely on his subordinates, who were very frightened of him.

On one occasion, when an old man from the transports slapped SS officer Karl Frenzel, Franz Reichleitner took the man aside and shot him on the spot in front of his family and the entire convoy of people.

Franz Reichleitner was on leave on the day of the successful Sobibor revolt, 14 October 1943.

Franz Reichleitner was killed by partisans on 3 January 1944 at Fiume, Italy.