Ernst Kaltenbrunner (4 October 1903 – 16 October 1946) was an Austrian senior official of Nazi Germany during World War II.
An Obergruppenführer (general) in the Schutzstaffel (SS), he held the office of Chief of the Reich Main Security Office (Reichssicherheitshauptamt; RSHA) between January 1943 and May 1945.
Kaltenbrunner joined the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in 1930 and the SS in 1931, and by 1935 he was considered a leader of the Austrian SS.
In 1938, Kaltenbrunner assisted in the Anschluss and was given command of the SS and police force in Austria.
In January 1943, Kaltenbrunner was appointed a chief of the RSHA, succeeding Reinhard Heydrich, who was assassinated in June 1942.
A committed anti-Semite and fanatical Hitler loyalist, Kaltenbrunner oversaw a period in which persecution of Jews intensified.
He is considered a major perpetrator of the Holocaust during the final years of the war.
Kaltenbrunner was the highest-ranking member of the SS to face trial at the first Nuremberg trials, where he was found guilty of war crimes and crimes against humanity.
He was sentenced to death and executed by hanging in October 1946.