English source-aligned edition
Karl Pütz
Karl Pütz served as commander of the Security Police and SD in Rivne, subsequently in Lublin. The profile reconstructs the person’s function in Rivne, Volhynia–Podolia, Lublin and the Lublin District through documented office, decisions, supervision or operational conduct. It does not assign every crime committed by an institution or region to one individual.
Confirmed findings
- Pütz headed KdS Rivne from 1942 and KdS Lublin from autumn 1943 to July 1944; both offices performed regional Security Police and SD functions.
- An official notice dated 4 July 1944 and signed by Pütz as KdS Lublin announced the shooting of 60 Poles from Bilgoraj County; the signature documents his personal role in communicating and legitimising the execution of hostages.
- The USHMM encyclopaedia states that, in preparing Aktion Erntefest, the SS and Police Leader placed Karl Pütz's KdS in the chain of execution alongside the Order Police and Waffen-SS.
- Museum documentation concerning Mizoch attributes the massacre of the local Jewish population to a unit subordinate to Pütz's KdS; this establishes the line of command, not his personal presence at the shooting.
Place in the chain of responsibility
The profile shows a regional commander connecting a Security Police office to mass-murder operations and hostage terror. The strongest personal trace is the signed notice; for Erntefest and Mizoch the wording must refer to his documented place in the chain of command, not to killing with his own hands.
Key events and mechanisms
- heading KdS Rivne in 1942–1943
- taking charge of KdS Lublin in autumn 1943
- the participation of Pütz's office in the execution chain for Aktion Erntefest in November 1943
- signing the notice of 4 July 1944 announcing the execution of 60 hostages
The circle records authority, function and agency. Several profiles may describe different parts of the same persecution chain, so profile-level totals must not be added together.
Postwar accountability
Pütz never stood trial. On 6 May 1945, near St. Märgen, he died by suicide by shooting himself with his service pistol; this finding rests on a surviving police report and a photograph of his body.
Limits of the evidence
The signature on the notice proves official responsibility for announcing the execution, not that Pütz alone made the entire decision. Subordination of units does not justify attributing every one of their acts to him. The circumstances of the suicide are established by a later police report and photographic documentation, not by criminal proceedings against Pütz.
Sources
The source set combines institutional, archival, trial or scholarly material from at least two independent publishers.
