Karl Hass (5 October 1912 – 21 April 2004) was an SS Hauptsturmführer and German spy who helped deport more than 1,000 Italian Jews to Auschwitz.
After the downfall of Benito Mussolini and the occupation of Italy by Nazi Germany, he was sent to Rome to set up a network of radio operators and to organize saboteurs behind the invading Allied lines.
[1] Hass had Princess Mafalda of Savoy, the daughter of King Vittorio Emanuele III of Italy, placed into German military custody, which eventually resulted in her death.
Hass returned to Italy to testify against Priebke, but decided against it and attempted to flee from his hotel room by climbing down from an outside balcony.
In the court records, Hass admitted the execution of two civilians, but defended his actions by claiming he was only following orders, a defence which has been ruled invalid since the Nuremberg trials.
Considered to be in poor health, he was held under limited house arrest in what was described as "a retirement villa in his favourite area of Switzerland" until his death in 2004.