Karl Friedrich Otto Wolff

Karl Wolff was a German SS functionary who served as Chief of Personal Staff Reichsführer-SS (Heinrich Himmler) and an SS liaison to Adolf Hitler during World War II. He ended the war as the Supreme SS and Police Leader in occupied Italy and helped arrange for the early surrender of Axis forces in that theatre, effectively ending the war there several days sooner than in the rest of Europe. He escaped prosecution at the Nuremberg Trials, apparently as a result of his participation in Operation Sunrise. In 1962, Wolff was re-arrested and prosecuted in West Germany for the deportation of Polish Jews, and he was sentenced to 15 years in prison for being an accessory to murder in 1964. He was released in 1971 due to his failing health, and died 13 years later. He was also involved in several plots to overthrow or assassinate Hitler, but never acted on them. He claimed to have been unaware of the Holocaust and other atrocities committed by the Nazi regime, but his role and responsibility remain controversial. He converted to Islam shortly before his death and was buried in a Muslim cemetery.