As the Nazi security chief, Kaltenbrunner outranked Eigruber. He had been in the bunker and knew Hitler’s mind. And he had many personal traits the gauleiter would doubtlessly admire. A native Austrian, he was well known for his violent adherence to Hitler’s most vile practices: the establishment of concentration camps, the execution of prisoners of war, and the disappearance of thousands of “undesirables” from German-occupied territories.
