In 1942, Battel was a 51-year-old reserve officer with the rank of lieutenant stationed in Przemyśl in southern Poland. He was the adjutant to the local military commander, majorMax Liedtke. When the SS prepared to launch its first large-scale "resettlement" (liquidation) action against the Jews of Przemyśl on 26 July 1942, Battel, in concert with his superior, ordered the bridge over the River San, the only access into the Jewish ghetto, to be blocked. As the SS commando attempted to cross to the other side, the sergeant-major in charge of the bridge threatened to open fire unless they withdrew. The events occurred in broad daylight, to the amazement of the local inhabitants.
Later that same afternoon, an army detachment under the command of Oberleutnant Battel entered the cordoned-off area of the ghetto and used army trucks to evacuate approximately 100 Jews and their families to the barracks of the local military command. These Jews were placed under the protection of the Wehrmacht and were thus sheltered from deportation to Belzec. All the remaining ghetto inmates, including Judenrat head Dr. Duldig, were sent to the gas chambers in the next few days.
SS investigation
After the incident, the SS authorities began a secret investigation into Battel's conduct. Battel, though himself a member of the Nazi Party since May 1933, had attracted notice in the past because of his friendly behavior toward the Jews. Before the war, he had been indicted before a party tribunal for having extended a loan to a Jewish colleague. Later, in the course of his service in Przemyśl, he was officially reprimanded for cordially shaking Dr. Duldig's hand.
The affair reached the attention of the highest level of the Nazi hierarchy. Heinrich Himmler, the Reichsführer-SS, took an interest in the results of the investigation and sent a copy of the incriminating documentation to Martin Bormann, chief of the Party Chancellery and Adolf Hitler's right-hand man. In the accompanying letter, Himmler vowed to have the lawyer expelled from the Nazi Party and arrested immediately after the war.[2][3]
In 1944, Battel was discharged from military service because of heart disease. He returned to his hometown Breslau, only to be drafted into the Volkssturm and fall into Soviet captivity. He was released in 1946.[4]
Post-war
After his release, Battel settled in West Germany but was prevented from returning to practice law by a denazification court. He instead worked in a glass factory.[4]
Battel’s stand against the SS would not be recognized until years after his death, most notably through the tenacious efforts of the Israeli researcher and lawyer Dr. Zeev Goshen.
