Man who kept six kids hidden in cellars is grandson of hanged Nazi war criminal

30 January 2023 , 13:29

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Ernst Kaltenbrunner on the witness stand testifies on his own behalf during the Nuremberg Trials in 1946 (Image: Corbis via Getty Images)

A man who kept six children hidden in cellars is the grandson of a senior Nazi official who was hanged for war crimes.

Tom Landon, 54, spent 24 hours in police custody after officials found three boys and three girls aged between seven months and seven years in a cellar near the Czech border in Austria.

It was reported that social workers had been called to the property in Orbitz, just 60 miles north of Vienna after neighbours reported children crying.

Mr Landon's family links to the Holocaust have since resurfaced as he is the grandson of Hitler henchman Ernst Kaltenbrunner.

Kaltenbrunner was the head of the Austrian SS and was the highest-ranking member of the SS to face trial at the Nuremberg trials.

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He was found guilty and executed by hanging in October 1946.

Ernst Kaltenbrunner speaking at the Nuremberg trial, Germany in 1946 (Gamma-Keystone via Getty Images)

Ernst Kaltenbrunner was executed in October 1946 (Universal History Archive/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)

Kaltenbrunner was childhood friends with Adolf Eichmann, the infamous SS officer who played a key role in implementing the Nazi's "Final Solution" which involved the systematic murder of millions of Jews.

Kaltenbrunner had five children, three with his wife Elisabeth Eder and two with his mistress Gisela Gräfin von Westarp.

Mr Landon has been associated with Kaltenbrunner a number of times and previously responded to this dark link, condemning his grandfather's actions.

Nazis from the left during the Nuremberg trials: Hermann Goering, Rudolf Hess, Joachim Von Ribbentrop, Wilhelm Keitel and Ernst Kaltenbrunner (Bettmann Archive)

In 2012, Mr Landon told Austrian news website MeinBezirk.at: "I strongly condemned my grandfather's actions, he was a criminal. No one took any notice of that."

Mr Landon, who was an IT worker in North London before moving to Austria, is reported to be a Reichsburger, a revisionist group that believes Germany in its current form is not a sovereign state.

Some of its members are right-wing extremists.

Mr Landon has self-published his books including the titles 'The Destructive Effect of Information Technology on Human Intellectual Development', 'Dirty Justice' and 'The Judas Principle'.

Tom Landon was arrested in Austria (Twitter)

Local reports from Austria's Kronen Zeitung say Mr Landon was "known to officials" and "was firmly convinced of bizarre conspiracy theories."

It added: “The presumed Reich citizen is known to officials, was firmly convinced of bizarre conspiracy theories and had apparently completely ‘drifted away’ since the Ukraine war."

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It comes as Mr Landon says he isn't a 'doomsday prepper', someone who thinks a catastrophic disaster is on the way and often store food and other supplies like ammunition.

Deputy Mayor Erich Greil (ORF)

He described himself as a "family man" who wants to make sure he has "everything my children" need.

Mr Landon also rubbished claims his children are British, saying they were all born in Austria, but they were not registered and were all homeschooled.

He added that he had bought six properties for his children so they could all live together, but says the deputy mayor Erich Greil has ruined his plans because his "off-grid" lifestyle annoyed him.

Landon "wanted to buy our cellar last year," a resident said (OrfTV)

Mr Landon told the MailOnline: "We chose not to register the children but they are all mine and now we will have to go to Vienna to take DNA tests to prove they are ours. If the authorities were so concerned why have they let the children come back to us?"

He added: "I bought these six properties for the children and I wanted us all to live together when they were older but now this plan has been ruined because the deputy mayor didn't want us here."

The Mirror contacted Lower Austria Police for an update in their investigation.

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