Alberto Hartel

Alberto Hartel
Born	(1971-06-18)18 June 1971 Buenos Aires, Argentina
Died	28 November 2024(2024-11-28) (aged 53) Tuvanaka, Tanoa
Cause of death	Killed in combat
Era	Vriend Era
Known for	Fish Trap
Height	1.73 m (5 ft 8 in)
Father	Oskar Hartel
Military career
Allegiance	Tanoa Einsatzgruppen
Branch	Wehrmacht (1989–1999) Allgemeine SS (1999–2024)
Service years	1989–2024
Rank	SS-Standartenführer
Unit	SS Fischjägergruppen (2021–2024)
Awards	Eisernes Kreuz 1. Klasse (2021) Eisernes Kreuz 2. Klasse (2020) Ehrenkreuz 1. Klasse (2015) Ehrenkreuz 2. Klasse (2014) Nahkampfspange in Bronze (2021)

Alberto Hartel (18 June 1971 – 28 November 2024) was an Argentine officer of the Allgemeine SS of the Tanoa Einsatzgruppen. He served in the Wehrmacht from 1989 to 1999 before joining the SS, where he eventually attained the rank of SS-Standartenführer. Hartel developed the Fish Trap, a device intended to capture Mark Hugerinus Paap that killed Indigenous Tanoans attempting to escape through the jungles. He also personally executed an Indigenous detainee in 2014 and received an SS decoration for the killing. Hartel was killed during the collapse of the Tanoa Einsatzgruppen in November 2024.

Early life

Hartel was born on 18 June 1971 in Buenos Aires, Argentina. His father, Oskar Hartel, was a German who had fled to Argentina after the Second World War. Oskar brought money from Germany and invested it in apartment buildings in Buenos Aires, supporting his family through rental income. Alberto grew up in a wealthy household and regularly accompanied his father on property inspections from around 1982. He asked Oskar about repairs and disagreements with tenants, and his father explained how he handled them.

Among Oskar's acquaintances was an officer of the Allgemeine SS who occasionally visited the Hartel home. Alberto became interested in the organization's treatment of minority populations and questioned the officer about the regulations used to control them. Around 1986–1987, the officer brought him written regulations, which Hartel studied on his own. His interest in the SS continued during his adolescence, although he began neglecting his schoolwork. He left secondary school in 1987, aged sixteen, despite Oskar's objections.

Military career

Hartel first attempted to join the Allgemeine SS shortly after turning eighteen in 1989. He applied for an administrative position, but recruiters rejected him because he had not completed secondary school. He subsequently enlisted in the Wehrmacht and was posted to Comodoro Rivadavia, where he guarded access to military installations.

Hartel began questioning civilian passengers about their identity documents during vehicle inspections, exceeding the instructions given to his patrol. A superior reprimanded him, and he stopped the unauthorized questioning. He remained at the installation, where he was placed in charge of an evening guard shift in 1993. When one of his guards admitted a supply truck without checking its entry documents, Hartel reported the soldier to their superior and ordered the other guards to examine vehicle permits before allowing entry.

An Allgemeine SS recruiting officer visited the Comodoro Rivadavia garrison in 1998, looking for experienced Wehrmacht soldiers for internal-security assignments. Hartel volunteered and was interviewed about his military service and political views. His application was accepted after screening, and he transferred to the Allgemeine SS in 1999.

The SS sent Hartel to Tanoa, where he joined a security detachment operating outside Georgetown. During a search for an escaped detainee in 2000, his patrol followed the man into the forest but lost his trail. Further escapes led Hartel to examine security at detainee-transfer facilities. He proposed physical barriers at transfer locations in 2008, and his superiors approved a trial the following year. Guards complained that the temporary barriers obstructed vehicles and delayed transfers. Hartel revised his proposal to use permanent barriers at the main transfer yard. The SS accepted the revised arrangement but did not introduce it at other facilities.

Hartel was promoted to SS-Hauptsturmführer in 2010 and SS-Sturmbannführer in 2013. In 2014, SS guards recaptured an Indigenous Tanoan detainee who had escaped into the forest and returned him to custody. Hartel personally shot the prisoner without a trial or execution order. His commanding officer approved the summary execution and recommended him for the Ehrenkreuz 2. Klasse. Hartel received the decoration that year.

The same commander supported Hartel's promotion to SS-Obersturmbannführer in 2015. Hartel was subsequently appointed to supervise security at several SS detention-transfer facilities near Georgetown. Following two attempted escapes in 2016, he inspected the facilities and ordered changes to prisoner escort procedures.

Fish Trap

The Allgemeine SS headquarters reassigned Hartel to the SS Fischjägergruppen in 2021, when he was promoted to SS-Standartenführer. He was responsible for searches for fugitives and resistance members on Tanoa. After reviewing reports of people escaping patrols in the Southern Jungles, Hartel proposed a trapping device adapted from an animal trap. The Fischjägergruppen command authorized a trial.

The device became known as the Fish Trap and was intended to capture Mark Hugerinus Paap, whom the SS Fischjägergruppen had been pursuing. The unit was commanded at the time by Carlos Gustavo Schweitzer, who remained in that position until his death in 2023.

The traps were deployed in the jungles, where Indigenous Tanoans attempting to flee were caught and killed by them. Hartel received reports of these deaths but refused to withdraw the devices. He authorized their continued use despite knowing that people other than Mark were being killed. Mark himself was never caught in a Fish Trap.

Death

Following the death of Eef Paap on 24 November 2024, Hartel remained at the SS Fischjägergruppen headquarters on Tuvanaka as resistance forces continued their offensive against the Tanoan regime.

On 28 November, resistance fighters overran the defensive positions around the headquarters. Hartel ordered the surviving SS guards to attempt a breakout and joined them in the fighting outside the building. He was killed during the attempt, aged 53.

The remaining central command of the Tanoa Einsatzgruppen surrendered on 30 November 2024, two days after Hartel's death.

See also

• SS Fischjägergruppen
• Fish Trap
• Carlos Gustavo Schweitzer