"Unworthy Behavior": The Case of SS Officer Max Taubner

The only known case in which an SS officer was punished for killing Jews isdiscussed below. Max Täubner and his men carried out thousands of killings without orders and in a particularly savage way. Their rogue actions, however, might have gone unimpeded had the perpetrators not boasted and sent photographs to friends and relatives. The potential for publicity and embarrassment, as well as other considerations, formed the crux of the legal case: the unauthorized murder of thousands of Jews otherwise would have constituted to Täubner's superiors little more than instances of excessive zeal.