Karl Malle
The Carinthian Police under National Socialism
Hitler's executive
27 February 1896 in Talsdorf, St. Georgen am Längsee – 30 September 1974 in Klagenfurt
In 1938, Karl Malle was the gendarmerie commander of St. Martin near Klagenfurt. The NSDAP rejected his application for membership because they considered him a supporter of the Christian Social regime. Until May 1945, he served with the criminal police in Klagenfurt, where he was responsible for "crime prevention" until 1943. In 1946, he became head of the Klagenfurt criminal police, but he concealed his application to join the NSDAP. At the same time, the state government classified him as a resistance fighter. In 1947, the Communist Party of Austria reported him as being responsible for the persecution of the Carinthian Sinti. Attached was a report from August Sommer. His 13-year-old foster daughter came from a Sinti family and was taken away from him in 1941 and deported. Malle is said to have told him that, like all other "gypsies", she would not come back. The investigations against Malle were soon discontinued. Today, only 26 pages of the original 105-page criminal file remain. His personnel file was also destroyed. His role in the persecution of the Sinti can therefore only be partially reconstructed.