10 Facts About Walter Reder

Walter Reder was an Austrian SS commander and war criminal during World War II.

Walter Reder served with the SS Division Totenkopf and the SS Division Reichsfuhrer-SS.

Walter Reder joined the SS-Verfugungstruppe and was granted German citizenship in December 1934.

In December 1943, Walter Reder was transferred to the newly formed 16th SS Panzergrenadier Division Reichsfuhrer-SS and served in Italy until 1945.

In 1943, Walter Reder became the commander of the SS-Panzer-Aufklarungsabteilung 16, which committed several massacres in 1944.

Walter Reder was taken into custody by US soldiers, who then handed him over to British forces near Klagenfurt.

Walter Reder was extradited to Italy in May 1948 to stand trial for war crimes.

Walter Reder was tried by an Italian military court in Bologna for ordering the destruction of town of Marzabotto and other villages near Bologna in August and September of 1944 during so-called anti-partisan sweeps, and for ordering the execution of 2,700 Italian civilians in Tuscany and Emilia during the same period.

Years later, a group of SS men whom Walter Reder had commanded in 1944 were tried and convicted for their role in the Sant'Anna di Stazzema massacre.

Walter Reder was paroled in January 1985, after which he returned to Austria.