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{{Short description|Slovenian Nazi, SS officer, and Holocaust perpetrator}}
{{redirect|Globocnik|other uses|Globočnik (disambiguation)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2021}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| name                = Odilo Globočnik
| image               = Bundesarchiv Bild 146-2007-0188, Odilo Globocnik.jpg
| image_size          = 
| image_upright       = 
| alt                 = 
| caption             = 
| office              = Chief of [[Operation Reinhard]]
| term_start          = October 1941
| term_end            = October 1943{{efn|Although Operation Reinhard only began in March 1942, Globocnik received the order to murder all Jews in the [[General Government]] as early as October 1941. Operation Reinhard was declared over in October 1943.}}
| birth_date          = {{Birth date|df=yes|1904|04|21}}
| birth_place         = [[Trieste]], [[Austria-Hungary]] (now [[Italy]])
| death_date          = {{Death date and age|df=yes|1945|05|31|1904|04|21}}
| death_place         = [[Paternion]], [[Allied-occupied Austria]]
| death_cause         = Suicide by [[cyanide poisoning]]
| party               = [[Nazi Party]]
| otherparty          = 
| spouse              = 
| education           = 
| signature           = Odilo Globocnik Signature.svg
<!--Military service-->
| allegiance          = [[Republic of German-Austria]]<br/>[[Nazi Germany]]
| branch              = [[Schutzstaffel]]
| serviceyears        =
| rank                = ''[[Gruppenführer|SS-Gruppenführer]]''
| unit                = 
| battles             = [[Austro-Slovene conflict in Carinthia|Carinthian War]]<br>[[World War II]]
| mawards             = 
}}
'''Odilo Lothar Ludwig Globočnik'''{{efn|name=surname|His surname is often spelled '''Globocnik''', without the [[caron]], especially in [[German language|German]] sources. Alternativelly, it may be [[Germanisation|Germanised]] to '''Globotschnigg''' (or '''Globotschnig''').<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.oei-dokumente.de/JGO/Rez/Friedrich_SR_Olesiuk_Kranz_Weiser.html |title= Jahrbücher für Geschichte Osteuropas (Yearbook for the History of Eastern Europe) |last1=Friedrich |first1=Klaus-Peter |date=2011 |access-date=13 November 2014}}</ref>}} (21 April 1904 – 31 May 1945) was a [[Nazi Party]] official from [[Austria-Hungary|Austria]] of Slovenian descent and a perpetrator of [[the Holocaust]]. A high-ranking member of the [[Schutzstaffel|SS]], Globočnik was the leader of [[Operation Reinhard]], the organized murder of around one and a half million Jews, mostly of Polish origin, during the Holocaust in the [[Majdanek concentration camp|Majdanek]], [[Treblinka extermination camp|Treblinka]], [[Sobibor extermination camp|Sobibór]] and [[Belzec extermination camp|Bełżec]] [[extermination camp]]s.<ref name="ToWalkWithDevil">{{cite book |last=Kranjc |first=Gregor Joseph |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1nVurhv7wwMC&q=Globocnik&pg=PA124 |title=To Walk with the Devil: Slovene Collaboration and Axis Occupation, 1941-1945 |date=February 22, 2013 |publisher=University of Toronto Press |isbn=978-1442613300 |page=124 |authorlink=}}</ref><ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=F6doPwxjeCsC&dq ''Under His Very Windows: The Vatican and the Holocaust in Italy''], Susan Zuccotti. Yale University Press, 2002. {{ISBN|0-300-09310-1}}, {{ISBN|978-0-300-09310-0}}. p. 287</ref><ref>Mazower, Mark (2008) ''Hitler's Empire,'' pages 382, 384–387, {{ISBN|978-1-59420-188-2}}.</ref> Historian Michael Allen described him as "the vilest individual in the vilest organization ever known".<ref name="ToWalkWithDevil"/> Globočnik killed himself shortly after his capture and detention by British soldiers.

==Early life==
Odilo Lothar Ludwig Globočnik was born on 21 April 1904 in the Imperial Free City of [[Trieste]], then the capital of the [[Austrian Littoral]] administrative region of the [[Austro-Hungarian Empire]] (now in Italy). He was the second child of Franz Globočnik, a [[Slovenes|Slovenian]] cavalry [[lieutenant]] in the [[Austro-Hungarian Army]].<ref>Poprzeczny, ''Odilo Globocnik'', p. 11.</ref> Because Globočnik was a leading Nazi official, and perpetrator of not only the Holocaust but the [[Expulsion of Poles by Nazi Germany|ethnic cleansing of millions of Poles]] and other Slavs, historians have been interested in accounts of Globočnik's Slavic ancestry – his surname is Slovenian – with his father being Slovenian while his mother was half-[[Serbs|Serbian]] and half-[[Croats|Croatian]].

His father was unable to save enough money required to get an officer's marriage permission and had to leave the service. As was the practice at this time, he was given a job in the Imperial and Royal Mail. Odilo's mother Anna, née Petschinka, was born in Versecz, [[Kingdom of Hungary]] (now [[Vršac]], Serbia); she was half-Serbian and half-Croatian. In 1914, the family left Trieste for [[Bernolákovo|Cseklész]], where Franz Globočnik was recalled to active duty after the outbreak of the First World War.<ref>Poprzeczny, ''Odilo Globocnik'', pp. 9–14.</ref>

The same year, Globočnik joined the army, via a [[military school]]. The war ended his military education prematurely. He moved with his family to [[Klagenfurt]] in [[Carinthia (state)|Carinthia]]. There as a teenager, he joined the pro-Austrian volunteer militia fighting Slovene volunteers and, later, the Yugoslav Army during the [[Austro-Slovene conflict in Carinthia|Carinthian War]] (1918–19).<ref>Siegfried J. Pucher: „… in der Bewegung führend tätig“. Odilo Globocnik. Kämpfer für den „Anschluß“. Vollstrecker des Holocaust. Drava, Klagenfurt 1997, p. 18</ref> In 1920, he worked as an underground propagandist for the Austrian cause during the [[Carinthian Plebiscite]].<ref>Siegfried J. Pucher: „… in der Bewegung führend tätig“. Odilo Globocnik. Kämpfer für den „Anschluß“. Vollstrecker des Holocaust. Drava, Klagenfurt 1997, p. 19</ref>

He later enrolled at the Höhere Staatsgewerbeschule (a higher vocational school for mechanical engineering), where he passed his [[Matura]] (the Austrian equivalent of the German [[Abitur]]) and graduated with honours.<ref name="Michael D. Miller 1945, p. 245">Michael D. Miller & Andreas Schulz: Gauleiter: The Regional Leaders of the Nazi Party and Their Deputies, 1925–1945, Volume 1 (Herbert Albrecht - H. Wilhelm Hüttmann), R. James Bender Publishing, 2012, p. 245, {{ISBN|978-1-932-97021-0}}.</ref> He worked as a porter at the railway station, among other jobs, to help financially support his family.

Globočnik first became politically active in 1922, when he became a prominent member of pre-Nazi [[Carinthia (state)|Carinthian]] [[paramilitary]] organisations and was seen wearing a [[swastika]]. At the time, he was a building tradesman, introduced to his job while engaged to Grete Michner. Her father, Emil Michner, had talked to the director of KÄWAG (''Kärntner Wasserkraftwerke'' AG), an electricity distribution company of Carinthia, and secured Globočnik a job as a technician and construction supervisor.<ref>Poprzeczny, ''Odilo Globocnik'', pp. 24–25.</ref>

===Slavic ancestry===
After he entered politics, Globočnik faced ridicule from the German and international media for his Slavic surname and ancestry,<ref>Poprzeczny, ''Odilo Globocnik'', p. 12.</ref> in light of the Nazis' ([[Internalized racism|including Globočnik's]]) extreme racism against Slavs. Globočnik would assiduously maintain that he was of "Germanic ancestry". This was important since Slavs were considered sub-human (''[[Untermenschen]]'') and eventually subjected to [[Forced labour under German rule during World War II|slave labour]] and [[Generalplan Ost|genocide]] by Nazi Germany. He said that his paternal grandfather was an "Aryan" who was "culturally Slavicized", but maintained his "Germanic blood". Historians have often dismissed this as a ruse. 

In his 2004 biography of Globočnik, historian [[Gregor Joseph Kranjc]] devoted the entire first chapter to the debate concerning Globočnik's ancestry. He says that Globočnik was ridiculed by other Nazis for his surname, because the Nazis classified Slavs as sub-human (''Untermenschen'').<ref name="Poprzeczny">{{cite book |author=Joseph Poprzeczny |title=Odilo Globocnik, Hitler's Man in the East |publisher=McFarland |year=2015 |isbn=978-0-7864-8146-0}} p. 47.</ref> However, with Globočnik having a powerful and high-ranking ally such as [[Heinrich Himmler]], he was protected from other Nazis, and Himmler defended him by claiming that he was of [[Aryan race|Aryan]] origin and that his surname was a result of "Slavicization".<ref name="Poprzeczny"/>

In 2004, historian Joseph Poprzeczny argued in his biography of Globočnik that the story might have been credible, citing Austro-Hungarian census data from 1910 indicating that the Globočniks were ethnic Germans.<ref>Poprzeczny, ''Odilo Globocnik'', p. 16.</ref> However, this claim is dubious as Austro-Hungarian censuses did not record ethnicity from its inhabitants but rather native languages to exaggerate how much German was spoken and subsequently downplay non-German languages and ethnicities within the Empire, which meant that the Globočniks may have just been German-speaking Slavs, especially considering they were living under [[Habsburg rule]] and their proximity to Austria. At the time of his birth, the [[Slovene Lands]] were ruled directly from Vienna and divided into parts of the duchies of [[Duchy of Carniola|Carniola]] and [[Duchy of Styria|Styria]] and the [[Austrian Littoral]].

==Nazi Party and SS career==
[[File:Bundesarchiv Bild 183-S41858, Odilo Globocnik.jpg|thumb|Gauleiter of Vienna, 1938]]
In August 1933, Globočnik was arrested for the first time, for his attempt to contact imprisoned Nazis in Klagenfurt. In the same year, he became a member of the [[Austrian SS]]. He was arrested due to his public support for the [[Nazi Party]] (NSDAP), as he had become a member of the party in 1931 while he was in Carinthia. Although he was arrested four times between 1933 and 1935, he served just over a year in jail on various political charges.<ref>Poprzeczny, ''Odilo Globocnik'', pp. 28–29.</ref> [[Heinrich Himmler]] intervened on his behalf, after two years of arguments between Globočnik and the authorities.

His first documented activity for the NSDAP occurred in 1931 when he was documented as distributing propaganda for the party. By then, he had nearly abandoned his work as a building tradesman, and attached himself very closely to the NSDAP. He was assigned to develop a courier and intelligence service for the NSDAP, which channelled funds from the [[German Reich]] into Austria. In June 1933, in Vienna, Jewish jeweller {{ill|Norbert Futterweit|de}} was killed when a bomb was thrown at his shop. This was among the earliest murders in Austria attributable to the Nazis, and a number of historians believe that Globočnik was involved in the attack.<ref>Poprzeczny, ''Odilo Globocnik'', pp. 32–34.</ref>

Globočnik joined the ''[[Schutzstaffel]]'' (SS) on 1 September 1934. His devotion to the Nazi cause paid off, as he was quickly promoted in the party apparatus in Austria. He became a Deputy ''[[Gauleiter]]'' briefly in Vienna and then in Carinthia between January and May 1933. He was appointed as the head of the party intelligence apparatus in Carinthia, serving from 1934 to 1936. From September 1936 to May 1938, he served as the Chief of Staff of the National Leadership of the Austrian Nazi Party under [[Hubert Klausner]].<ref>Michael D. Miller & Andreas Schulz: Gauleiter: The Regional Leaders of the Nazi Party and Their Deputies, 1925–1945, Volume 1 (Herbert Albrecht - H. Wilhelm Hüttmann), R. James Bender Publishing, 2012, pp. 246–247, {{ISBN|978-1-932-97021-0}}.</ref>

Globočnik was a key player in the [[Anschluss|usurpation of the Austrian government]] by the Nazis.<ref>Poprzeczny, ''Odilo Globocnik'', pp. 45–59</ref> With the ''[[Anschluss]]'', Nazi Germany annexed Austria on 12 March 1938.<ref>William L. Shirer; ''The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich;'' Secker & Warburg; London; 1960; pp. 325–329</ref> He was rewarded with an appointment as a [[State Secretary]] in the Nazi government, established by Chancellor [[Arthur Seyss-Inquart]] on 15 March. At the [[1938 German parliamentary election and referendum|parliamentary election of 10 April]], he was elected as a Nazi deputy to the ''[[Reichstag (Nazi Germany)|Reichstag]]'' from the newly renamed [[Ostmark (Austria)|Ostmark]].<ref>Michael D. Miller & Andreas Schulz: Gauleiter: The Regional Leaders of the Nazi Party and Their Deputies, 1925–1945, Volume 1 (Herbert Albrecht - H. Wilhelm Hüttmann), R. James Bender Publishing, 2012, pp. 248–249, {{ISBN|978-1-932-97021-0}}.</ref> Next came his appointment as ''[[Gauleiter]]'' of Vienna on 22 May 1938 by [[Adolf Hitler]].<ref>Poprzeczny, ''Odilo Globocnik'', pp. 45–59.</ref>

<blockquote>In his early tenure as ''Gauleiter'', Globočnik espoused Nazi anti-Jewish philosophy: "I will not recoil from radical interventions for the solution of Jewish questions." Later that same year he opened Vienna's first anti-Semitic political exhibition, which was attended by 10,000 visitors on the first day. Prominent at the exhibition and received enthusiastically by the public was the film, ''"[[The Eternal Jew (1940 film)|The Eternal Jew]]"''.<ref>Robin O'Neill, ''The Belzec Death Camp and the Origin of Jewish Genocide at Galicia'' (Hebrew and Jewish Department, University College, London: 2002), Chapter IV, cited in Poprzeczny, ''Odilo Globocnik'', p. 64.</ref></blockquote>
 
Early gestures of accommodation to the new government by [[Cardinal Innitzer]] did not assuage the Austrian Nazi radicals, foremost among them being Globočnik.<ref name="Hitler pp.51-52">[[Mark Mazower]]; ''Hitler's Empire – Nazi Rule in Occupied Europe''; Penguin; 2008; {{ISBN|978-0-7139-9681-4}}; pp. 51–52</ref> He launched a crusade against the Church, and the Nazis confiscated property, closed Catholic organisations and sent many priests to [[Dachau]].<ref name="Hitler pp.51-52"/> Anger at the treatment of the Church in Austria grew quickly, and in October 1938 the first act of overt mass resistance to the new regime took place. A rally of thousands left Mass in Vienna chanting "Christ is our Führer", before being dispersed by police.<ref>[[Mark Mazower]]; ''Hitler's Empire – Nazi Rule in Occupied Europe''; Penguin; 2008; {{ISBN|978-0-7139-9681-4}}; p.52</ref> A Nazi mob ransacked Cardinal Innitzer's residence, after he denounced Nazi persecution of the Church.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fpFbuCKOLKwC&pg=PT698 |first=William L. |last=Shirer |title=The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich |date=23 October 2011 |publisher=Secker & Warburg |location=London |page=698 |isbn=9780795317002 }}</ref>

Globočnik was relieved of his posts and stripped of his party honours on 30 January 1939, when it was discovered that he was involved in illegal foreign currency speculation. As punishment, Himmler transferred Globočnik to the [[Waffen-SS]], in the rank of junior sergeant (Unterscharführer), where he served with SS Standarte "Germania" during the [[Invasion of Poland|Polish campaign]].<ref>Poprzeczny, ''Odilo Globocnik'', pp. 76–80.</ref> Himmler liked Globočnik and recognised his value. In late 1939, Globočnik was pardoned, promoted to SS-''[[Brigadeführer]]'', and assigned to [[Lublin]] province.<ref>Poprzeczny, ''Odilo Globocnik'', pp. 80, 83.</ref>

===Crimes in occupied Poland===
On 9 November 1939, Himmler appointed Globočnik as [[SS and Police Leader]] in the Lublin district of the [[General Government]] territory. After the initially disappointing party career, Globočnik now had a second chance in the ranks of the SS and the police.<ref>Poprzeczny, ''Odilo Globocnik'', p. 90.</ref> On 16 February 1940, Globočnik declared: "The evacuated Jews should feed themselves and be supported by their countrymen, as these Jews have enough [food]. If this does not succeed, one should let them starve."<ref>[[Saul Friedländer]]. ''[[The Years of Extermination: Nazi Germany and the Jews, 1939-1945]]'', p. 35.</ref><ref>{{interlanguage link|Dieter Pohl (historian)|de|Dieter Pohl (Historiker)}}.  ''Von der "Judenpolitik" zum Judenmord: Der Distrikt Lublin des Generalgouvernements, 1939–1944''.  Frankfurt am Main, 1993, p. 52.</ref>

In the following years, Globočnik was responsible for:
#'Liquidating' the [[Warsaw Ghetto]], which contained about 500,000 Jews, the largest Jewish community in Europe and the second-largest in the world after New York City.
#[[Białystok Ghetto Uprising|Liquidating the Białystok Ghetto]], which had strongly resisted German occupation.
#Resettling a large number of Poles under the premise of '[[ethnic cleansing]]'.
#Implementation and supervision of the [[Lublin reservation]], to which 95,000 Jews were deported, with its adjacent network of [[forced labour camps]] in the Lublin district. He was also in charge of over 45,000 Jewish labourers.
Globočnik is reported to have taken great joy in killings and organizing killings of Jews, stating that, in Höss' rendition, Globočnik "wanted to be in the forefront with his exterminations"<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.holocausthistoricalsociety.org.uk/contents/aktionreinhardt/hossonglobocnik.html | title=Holocaust Historical Society }}</ref> even when transportation capacities did not allow for it and then he "carried out executions at his own discretion"<ref>Höss on Globocnik. https://www.holocausthistoricalsociety.org.uk/contents/aktionreinhardt/hossonglobocnik.html</ref>

===Extermination camps===
[[File:Bus Hartheim Foto Niedernhart Prozess.jpg|thumb|[[Action T4]] bus for the transport to [[Hartheim Euthanasia Centre]]]]

There are indications that Globočnik, along with a chief accomplice [[Christian Wirth]], may have originated the concept of the [[extermination camp]] and industrialised murder, and suggested the concept to Himmler. At a two-hour meeting with Himmler on 13 October 1941, Globočnik received verbal approval to begin construction of the [[Belzec extermination camp]], the first such camp in the [[General Government]].<ref>[[Saul Friedländer]]. ''[[The Years of Extermination: Nazi Germany and the Jews, 1939-1945]]'', p. 283.</ref><ref>[[Heinrich Himmler]]. ''Der Dienstkalender'', pp. 233-34 n. 35.</ref><ref name="ReferenceA">[[Christopher Browning]]. ''The Origins of the Final Solution'', pp. 359–360.</ref> Shortly beforehand, in September 1941, Globočnik had been visited by [[Philipp Bouhler]] and [[Viktor Brack]], the top officials in the Fuhrer Chancellery responsible for the ''[[Aktion T4]]'' "euthanasia" program, which had been using gas chambers disguised as shower rooms to execute many of its victims.<ref>[[Henry Friedlander]]. ''The Origins of Nazi Genocide, From Euthanasia to the Final Solution'', pp. 86–98, 110.</ref><ref>[[Yitzhak Arad]]. ''Belzec, Sobibor, Treblinka, The Operation Reinhard Death Camps'', p. 9.</ref>  On or about 1 October 1941, Globočnik wrote a memorandum to Himmler containing proposals for actions against the Jews "of a security policy nature," and the 13 October meeting was held to discuss this memorandum and related subjects.<ref>[[Peter Longerich]]. ''Holocaust, the Nazi Persecution and Murder of the Jews'', p. 294</ref><ref name="ReferenceB">[[Peter Longerich]]. ''Heinrich Himmler'', p. 547.</ref>

A colleague's contemporaneous letter reflects Globočnik's state of mind at the time of the 13 October meeting: Globočnik said it was necessary to undertake a "cleansing of the entire [General Government] of Jews and Poles" and was "full of good and far-reaching plans" to achieve this objective.<ref name="ReferenceA"/><ref>[[Peter Longerich]]. ''Holocaust, the Nazi Persecution and Murder of the Jews'', pp. 294–95.</ref>  There are indications that Globočnik may have begun a crude experimental gassing facility in the woods near Belzec shortly before his mid-October meeting with Himmler.<ref>Christopher Browning. ''The Origins of the Final Solution'', pp. 364–365.</ref> At the 13 October 1941 meeting with Himmler, Globočnik proposed exterminating the Jews in assembly-line fashion in a concentration camp, using gas chambers.<ref name="ReferenceB"/><ref>Christopher Browning. ''The Origins of the Final Solution'', p. 360.</ref> On 14 October 1941 – the day after he had met with Globočnik – Himmler held a five-hour meeting with [[Reinhard Heydrich]] to discuss "executions", following which other extermination camp gassing sites were built.<ref>Christopher Browning. ''The Origins of the Final Solution'', pp. 365–366.</ref>  Days later, Himmler forbade all further Jewish emigration from Reich territory "in view of the forthcoming 'Final Solution' to the Jewish question."<ref>Christopher Browning. ''The Origins of the Final Solution'', pp. 368–369.</ref>
    
The gassing facilities that Globočnik established at Belzec soon after his 13 October meeting with Himmler were designed by T4 programme personnel assigned to him. They used carbon monoxide, as the T4 programme had done.<ref>[[Peter Longerich]], ''Holocaust, the Nazi Persecution and Murder of the Jews'', p. 280</ref><ref>[[Henry Friedlander]] ''The Origins of Nazi Genocide, From Euthanasia to the Final Solution'', pp. 96, 99</ref> Before it became an extermination camp, Belzec had been part of Himmler's and Globočnik's [[Nisko Plan#Burggraben project|Burggraben project]]. The construction of three more death camps, [[Sobibor extermination camp|Sobibor]] and [[Majdanek concentration camp|Majdanek]] in the Lublin district and [[Treblinka extermination camp|Treblinka]] at [[Małkinia Górna]], followed in 1942. Globočnik was complicit in the extermination of more than 1.5 million Jews of Polish, Czech, Dutch, French, Russian, Slovak, German, Portuguese, Turkish, Spanish and Austrian origin, as well as a smaller number of non-Jews, in the death camps under his control.

He exploited Jews and non-Jews as slave labourers in his own [[Nazi concentration camps|forced labour camps]]. He was responsible for seizing the properties and valuables of [[murder]]ed [[Incarceration|inmates]] while in charge of [[Operation Reinhard]]. Although other arms of the Nazi state were also involved in the overall management of the greater concentration camp system, Globočnik had control over the ''Aktion Reinhard'' camps, and any orders that he received came directly from Himmler.<ref>Saul Friedländer. ''[[The Years of Extermination: Nazi Germany and the Jews, 1939-1945]]'', p. 346.</ref> From 1942 to 1943, he also oversaw the beginning of the [[Generalplan Ost]], the plan to [[expulsion of Poles by Germany|expel Poles from their lands]] and resettle those territories with German settlers (see [[Zamość Uprising]]). On 9 November 1942, Globočnik was promoted to ''SS-[[Gruppenführer]]'' and ''Generalleutnant der Polizei''.<ref name="Michael D. Miller 1945, p. 245"/>

On November 4, 1943, Globočnik reported to Himmler from [[Trieste]] that he had concluded Operation Reinhard, as of October 19, 1943, and that all camps had been dissolved. He also sent a final report.<ref>Document 4024-PS in: [[International Military Tribunal|IMT]]: ''The Nuremberg Trial against the Major War Criminals...'', photomechanical reprint Munich 1989, Vol. 34, ISBN 3-7735-2525-7, pp. 58–92.</ref> In his reply, Himmler thanked Globočnik and expressed his gratitude and appreciation for the great and unique services he had rendered to the entire German people in carrying out "Operation Reinhard."

===Activities in Italy===
After the [[Armistice of Cassibile]], Globočnik was appointed as [[SS and police leader|Higher SS and Police Leader]] of the [[Operational Zone of the Adriatic Littoral]] of Italy on 13 September 1943.<ref name=Klee2>[[Ernst Klee|Klee, Ernst]]: ''Das Personenlexikon zum Dritten Reich. Wer war was vor und nach 1945?'', p. 187. Fischer Taschenbuch Verlag, Zweite aktualisierte Auflage, Frankfurt am Main 2003 {{ISBN|3-10-039309-0}}</ref>

After the completion of [[Operation Reinhard]] in Poland, he was sent to Trieste, his hometown.<ref name="retecivica"/> 
{{blockquote|With him he brought to Trieste a large number of experienced killers who had distinguished records from various extermination operations in Germany, the [[Soviet Union]] and the death camps in occupied Poland at [[Belzec extermination camp|Belzec]], [[Sobibor extermination camp|Sobibor]] and [[Treblinka extermination camp|Treblinka]]. They included the 92 specialists of ''Einsatzkommando'' Reinhard, many of whom were Ukrainian SS troops, male and female... ''Einsatzkommando'' Reinhard was divided into three geographical areas, the headquarters for each of which was officially denoted with a variation of the letter R – R1 for Trieste, R2 for Udine and R3 for Fiume.<ref name="retecivica">{{cite journal|url=http://www.retecivica.trieste.it/triestecultura/new/musei/risiera_san_sabba/brochure/Risiera%20inglese%20per%20e-brochure.pdf |title=Risiera di San Sabba. History and Museum |publisher=International Committee of the Nazi Lager of Risiera di San Sabba, Trieste |journal=With Selected Bibliography |date=2009 |access-date=2 May 2015 |author=San Sabba |pages=3 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120907014927/http://www.retecivica.trieste.it/triestecultura/new/musei/risiera_san_sabba/brochure/Risiera%20inglese%20per%20e-brochure.pdf |archive-date=7 September 2012 }}</ref>}}

Having looted assets stolen from Holocaust victims at [[death camp]]s in [[occupied Poland]], Globočnik went to Italy with a number of his men who had taken part in ''[[Action T4|Aktion Tiergarten 4]]'' including [[Franz Stangl]] from Treblinka and [[Franz Reichleitner]] from Sobibor. A few days after 8 September 1943 (when the Armistice  between Italy and the Allies signed on 3 September had come into force), [[Christian Wirth]] arrived in Trieste. Together, they converted an old rice mill on the outskirts of the city into a detention centre complete with a [[crematorium]], known as [[Risiera di San Sabba]] (in [[Slovene language|Slovene]]: ''Rižarna''). At San Sabba, thousands of [[Italian Jews]], partisans and other political dissidents were interrogated, tortured and murdered under the direction of these men after the 1943 downfall of [[Benito Mussolini]] and the German takeover of the country.<ref name=Klee2/>

In [[Slovene Littoral]], [[Slovene Partisans]] were fought both by Germans and by the [[Slovenian National Defense Corps|Littoral Home Guard]], which was also under Globočnik's direct command. It provided Germans with lists of locations of [[Liberation Front of the Slovene Nation]] hideouts and suspicious individuals (described as ''propagandists'').<ref name="ToWalkWithDevil_b">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yMBL6HsVZvAC&dq=%22Slovene+National+Security+Corps%22&pg=PT172|title= To Walk with the Devil: Slovene Collaboration and Axis Occupation, 1941-1945|first= Gregor Joseph |last=Kranjc|date= 22 February 2013|authorlink= Gregor Joseph Kranjc|publisher= University of Toronto Press|isbn=978-1442613300}}</ref>

With the advance of Allied troops, Globočnik retreated into Austrian Carinthia and finally went into hiding high in the mountains near [[Weissensee, Austria|Weissensee]], still in the company of his closest staff members.

==Death==
Globočnik was tracked down and captured by a British armoured cavalry unit on 31 May 1945 in [[Carinthia]], Austria. A unit from the [[4th Queen's Own Hussars]], found him on the Möslacher Alm, a {{convert|1250|m|abbr=on}} mountain in the [[Eastern Alps]], with seven other wanted Nazis: [[Georg Michalsen]], [[Friedrich Rainer]], [[Ernst Lerch]], [[Hermann Höfle]], Karl Hellesberger, Hugo Herzog and Friedrich Plöb.<ref>[http://www.fold3.com/page/285925090_procecuting_nazi_war_criminals Prosecuting Nazi War Criminals], fold3.com; accessed 20 January 2016.</ref> Globočnik was taken to [[Paternion]] in [[Villach-Land District]] to be interrogated. However, before he was questioned, Globočnik committed suicide by biting on a [[cyanide]] capsule.

His body was taken to be buried in a local churchyard, but the priest reportedly refused to have "the body of such a man" resting in consecrated ground. A grave was dug outside the churchyard, next to an outer wall, and the body was buried without ceremony.<ref>Poprzeczny, ''Odilo Globocnik'', pp. 366–82</ref>

Contemporary photographs of Globočnik's corpse and reliable reports, such as the ''Regimental Diary and Field Reports'' of the 4th Queen's Own Hussars, detailed the circumstances of his capture and suicide. Some{{who|date=February 2025}} speculated that his death came at the hands of either partisans or a Jewish revenge squad, or that he was turned over alive to US intelligence by the British.{{cn|date=February 2025}} The latter claim is based on an "official US document signed by US CIC S/A Operations Officer Andrew L. Venters, dated 27 October 1948, ''more than three years after his supposed death"''. However, this document was exposed as a forgery in the 1980s by the investigative writer and historian, [[Gitta Sereny]]; she gives all details in a long article in ''The Observer'' newspaper.<ref>"Spin Time For Hitler", ''The Observer'', London, 21 April 1996.</ref>

==Portrayal in media==
Globočnik is a key antagonist in the [[Robert Harris (novelist)|Robert Harris]] alternative-history novel ''[[Fatherland (novel)|Fatherland]]''; in the book set in 1964, a character based on Globočnik is still alive and a top SS official. In the [[Fatherland (1994 film)|1994 television film adaptation]], Globočnik was played by [[John Shrapnel]].

In the [[Harry Turtledove]] alternate-history novel ''[[In the Presence of Mine Enemies]]'', set in 2010, a former [[Reichskommissar]] for [[Reichskommissariat Ostland|Ostland Affairs]] called Odilo Globočnik (likely an analogue rather than the historical figure) is briefly installed as Führer in an SS-backed ''coup d'état'' against the reformist Heinz Buckliger; after the coup fails due to popular opposition, Globočnik is lynched.

In 2018, Slovenian theatre director [[Dragan Živadinov]] created and directed a theatre performance titled ''Odilo. Zatemnitev. Oratorij.'' (''Odilo. Obscuration. Oratorio.'') about Globočnik, his many crimes and his complicated place in Slovenian history. The theatre piece was devised as a ritualistic killing of Globočnik’s name, and the obstruction of the resurrection of his acts, with a firm anti-Nazi stance.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Odilo. Obscuration. Oratorio. |url=https://mladinsko.com/en/program/30/odilo-obscuration-oratorio/ |access-date=2025-10-30 |website=mladinsko.com |language=en}}</ref>

== See also ==
* [[List of Nazi Party leaders and officials]]
* [[List of SS personnel]]

==Notes==
{{notelist}}

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Further reading==
{{See also|Bibliography of The Holocaust}}
* {{cite book | last=Arad |first=Y. | date= 2018 | title=The Operation Reinhard Death Camps, Revised and Expanded Edition: Belzec, Sobibor, Treblinka | publisher=Indiana University Press | location=Bloomington |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctv3dnq8z | doi=10.2307/j.ctv3dnq8z|jstor=j.ctv3dnq8z |s2cid=186631599 }}
* {{cite journal | last=Black |first=P. R. | journal=Central European History | title=Rehearsal for "Reinhard"?: Odilo Globocnik and the Lublin Selbstschutz | volume=25 | issue=2 | pages=204–226 | publisher=[Cambridge University Press, Central European History Society] | date= 1992 |doi=10.1017/S000893890002032X |s2cid=146248149 | issn=0008-9389}}
*{{cite book|first=Charles|last=Hamilton|title=Leaders and Personalities of the Third Reich Vol.2|publisher=Bender|location=San Jose|year=1996}}
* {{cite book | last=Kay |first=A. J. | date= 2021 |chapter=Holocaust by Gas: Operation Reinhardt |title=Empire of Destruction: A History of Nazi Mass Killing | publisher=Yale University Press | url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctv1z9n1qs | doi=10.2307/j.ctv1z9n1qs |jstor=j.ctv1z9n1qs | isbn=978-0-300-23405-3}}
* {{cite book | last=Mędykowski |first=W. W. | date= 2018 | title=Macht Arbeit Frei?: German Economic Policy and Forced Labor of Jews in the General Government, 1939-1943 | publisher=Academic Studies Press | url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctv75d8v5 | doi=10.2307/j.ctv75d8v5 |jstor=j.ctv75d8v5 | isbn=978-1-61811-596-6}}
* {{cite book | last=Miller |first=M. D. | date=2006 | title=Leaders of the SS and German Police, Vol. 1 | publisher=R. James Bender Publishing | edition=1st | isbn=978-93-297-0037-2}}
*{{cite book |last1= Miller |first1= Michael D. |last2= Schulz |first2= Andreas |title=Gauleiter: The Regional Leaders of the Nazi Party and Their Deputies, 1925–1945 |volume=1 (Herbert Albrecht - H. Wilhelm Hüttmann) |publisher=R. James Bender Publishing |year=2012 |isbn= 978-1-932-97021-0}}
* {{cite book | last=Moehrle |first=R. | date= 2014 | title=Judenverfolgung in Triest während Faschismus und Nationalsozialismus |location=Berlin | publisher=Metropol Verlag | isbn=978-3-86331-195-7|pages=305–460|language=de}}
*{{cite book|first=Joseph|last=Poprzeczny|title=''Odilo Globocnik, Hitler's Man in the East''|publisher=McFarland & Company|location=Jefferson and London|year=2004|isbn=0-7864-1625-4}}
*{{cite book|first=Siegfried J.|last=Pucher|title=... in der Bewegung führend tätig". Odilo Globocnik – Kämpfer für den "Anschluss", Vollstrecker des Holocaust|publisher=Drava Verlag|location=Klagenfurt/Celovec|year= 1997|isbn=3-85435-278-6}}
*{{cite book|first=Berndt|last=Rieger|title=Creator of Nazi Death Camps. The Life of Odilo Globocnik |publisher=Vallentine Mitchell|location=London/Portland OR|year=2007|isbn= 978-0-85303-523-7}}
*{{cite book|first=Louis L.|last= Snyder|title=Encyclopedia of the Third Reich|url=https://archive.org/details/encyclopediaofth00snyd|url-access=registration|publisher=Paragon House|location=New York|year=1989|isbn= 9781557781444}}
* {{cite book | vauthors=((Wulf, J.)) | date= 1989 | title=Das Dritte Reich und seine Vollstrecker. Die Liquitation der Juden im Warschauer Ghetto. Dokumente u | isbn=978-3-925037-47-4|publisher=Fourier Verlag|location=Berlin|language=de}}

==External links==
*{{ReichstagDB|119166631}}
*{{Commons category-inline}}
*{{wikiquote-inline}}

{{Holocaust Poland}}
{{Holocaust Italy}}
{{Treblinka extermination camp}}
{{Sobibor extermination camp}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Globocnik, Odilo}}
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