Carl Zenner

Carl Peter Zenner (11 June 1899 – 16 June 1969) was a German Nazi Party politician and an SS-Brigadeführer who served as SS and Police Leader in Generalbezirk Weißruthenien during the Second World War. An active participant in the Holocaust, he was convicted and jailed for crimes against humanity. Zenner was born in the village of Oberlimberg, the son of a quarry manager. He attended Volksschule in Brohl and Gymnasium in Andernach. He joined the Imperial German Army in 1917 and fought in the First World War with the 9th Foot Artillery Regiment, earning the Iron Cross, 2nd class. After the war, he became a member of the Freikorps between January and the end of September 1919, serving in the Baltic, and in Hamburg to suppress disorders associated with the Spartacist uprising. He studied economics and business administration at a commercial college in Cologne beginning in October 1920 and graduating in December 1921 with a degree in business administration. He then worked in business in Brohl until the end of 1931. Zenner joined the Nazi Party in August 1925 (membership number 13,539). He then worked for the party until 1928 as the Ortsgruppenleiter (local group leader) in Koblenz and the Bezirksleiter (district leader) of the Koblenz-Trier district.