Heinz Röthke
Heinz Röthke was a German lawyer and SS-Obersturmführer who, together with Theodor Dannecker, was one of the persons most responsible for the deportation of French Jews, between 1940 and 1944, during the Holocaust.Biography
Röthke studied theology, but decided to change studies, instead graduating with a doctorate of law from the University of Berlin. During the German occupation of France, he was initially in Brest, where he worked as a , before becoming the deputy of Theodor Dannecker in spring 1942. He eventually succeeded him as chief of the Department of Jewish Affairs in France for the Eichmannreferat in July of the same year. Röthke served in this role until August 1944. His assistants were Ernst Heinrichsohn and Horst Ahnert. The active role of Röthke in the deportations of Jews to Auschwitz was teletyped on 5 November 1942 to the RSHA:
After the war, Röthke lived in Wolfsburg and worked unmolested as a legal counsel. In October 1961, he received a monthly pension from the Free State of Bavaria. Röthke died in July 1966 in Wolfsburg. According to Serge Klarsfeld, Röthke was convicted in 1945 in France and sentenced to death in absentia.
