Helmut Knochen

Helmut Herbert Christian Heinrich Knochen (March 14, 1910 – April 4, 2003) was the senior commander of the Sicherheitspolizei (Security Police) and Sicherheitsdienst in Paris during the Nazi occupation of France in World War II.

After his sentences were commuted and reduced a few times, he was pardoned by President Charles de Gaulle and released in 1962.

In 1942, the jurisdiction under his control stretched from northern France to Belgium and he was promoted to the rank of Standartenführer.

Knochen was involved in deporting French Jews to concentration camps and was responsible for the execution of thousands of Frenchmen.

After he obtained a presidential pardon in 1958, Knochen was released on November 28, 1962, by President Charles de Gaulle, simultaneously with his former chief Carl Oberg.