29 Facts About Leonardo Conti

Leonardo Conti was involved in the planning and execution of Action T4 that murdered hundreds of thousands of adults and children with severe mental and physical handicaps.

On 19 May 1945, after Germany's surrender, Conti was imprisoned and in October hanged himself to avoid trial.

Leonardo Conti was born to a Swiss Italian father, Silvio, and a German mother, Nanna Pauli; his mother later became the Reich Midwifery Leader in Nazi Germany.

Leonardo Conti attended elementary school in Switzerland and the Friedrich Wilhelm Gymnasium in Berlin.

Leonardo Conti was active in the national student movement and in right-wing politics.

Leonardo Conti became involved in the volkisch movement and co-founded the antisemitic combat association, Deutscher Volksbund.

Leonardo Conti took part in the Kapp Putsch in 1920 as a member of the Marinebrigade Ehrhardt.

Leonardo Conti was involved with the Deutschvolkischer Schutz- und Trutzbund, the largest and most active antisemitic organization in Germany.

Leonardo Conti passed his state medical examinations in November 1923 and joined the Sturmabteilung in Erlangen that year, becoming their first physician in Berlin.

Leonardo Conti obtained his license to practice medicine in 1925 and moved to Munich where he worked as a general practitioner and a paediatrician.

In 1927, Leonardo Conti moved back to Berlin and joined the Nazi Party on 20 December.

Leonardo Conti was appointed the SA physician for Standarte V and was placed in charge of organizing the SA medical services in Berlin.

Leonardo Conti founded the Berlin branch of the National Socialist German Doctors' League,.

However, in September 1930, Leonardo Conti, who had reached the rank of SA-Oberfuhrer, was expelled from the SA when he came into conflict with Walter Stennes, at that time the commander of SA-Gruppe Ost.

Leonardo Conti joined the SS on 16 November 1930 and became the senior doctor for SS-Gruppe Ost.

In May 1932, Leonardo Conti was elected as a Nazi deputy to the Landtag of Prussia where he served until it was dissolved on 14 October 1933.

Leonardo Conti was placed in charge of all medical arrangements for the 1936 Berlin Olympics.

In 1937 Leonardo Conti was elected to the presidency of the FIMS, the International Federation of Sports Medicine.

Leonardo Conti played a role in the banning of Jewish physicians from medical practice.

On 20 April 1939, Leonardo Conti was appointed Reich Health Leader, President of the NSDAB and head of the Main Office of Public Health; he was granted the Party rank of Hauptdienstleiter.

Leonardo Conti attempted to have the use of the methamphetamine Pervitin restricted by the Wehrmacht, which had been issuing millions of tablets to their soldiers and airmen.

In July 1941 Leonardo Conti succeeded in having Pervitin added to the list of restricted substances but only a warning was issued to the military.

Leonardo Conti was a staunch promoter of a public medical administration strongly controlled by the Nazi state.

Leonardo Conti worked with Dr Karl Brandt to draft plans for the extermination of all Germany's mental patients along with those suffering from severe physical handicaps.

Leonardo Conti was initially placed in charge of this initiative but soon was replaced by Philip Bouhler.

Leonardo Conti was involved in the forensic investigation into the Katyn massacre, and received a detailed report, known as the Katyn Commission on the discovery from an international team of experts.

On 19 May 1945, after Germany's surrender, Leonardo Conti was arrested by the British in Flensburg and was imprisoned and held as a witness for the Nuremberg trials.

Leonardo Conti would have been brought to the Doctors' Trial for his involvement in Action T4.

However, on 6 October 1945, Leonardo Conti hanged himself in his Nuremberg cell.