well known because of his recollections published in 1836, Portofo-
glio eines deutschen Journalisten (Portfolio of a German Journalist).
Beginning in May 1838, his reports were submitted from Hanover,
Berlin, and Dresden, while after June 1840, he was based principally
in Leipzig. Contemporaries noted Singer’s rather bizarre appearance,
querulous manner, and a need for admiration. Nevertheless, in the
view of Austrian chancellor Klemens von Metternich, his reports
possessed “the ring of truth and were free from [his] usual exaggera-
tions.” Singer worked for the MIB until its dissolution in 1848, dying
shortly thereafter in Munich.SIX, FRANZ (1909–1975). A leading SS functionary and academic,
Franz Six was born in Mannheim on 12 August 1909, the son of a
furniture dealer. A student of sociology and political science at the
University of Heidelberg, he received his doctorate in 1936, fol-
lowed by positions at the University of Königsberg and the Univer-
sity of Berlin (where he was the first dean of the faculty for foreign
countries). Drawn to the Nazi Party, Six joined the SA in 1930 and
became a member of the Sicherheitsdienst in 1935. His chief func-
tion was to conduct research into opponents of the Nazi regime,
which included the creation of a comprehensive card index. Despite
friction with Reinhard Heydrich, Six was appointed head of Office
VII (Research and Evaluation of World Views) of the newly formed
Reichssicherheitshauptamt in 1939. He also trained with an artil-
lery unit of the Waffen-SS in Berlin-Lichterfelde.
Following the Nazi invasion of the Soviet Union in June 1941, Six
was appointed chief of the Moscow Advance Command of one of
the Einsatzgruppen—a motorized unit of some 30 men—and was to
secure all the official documents in the capital with the arrival of Ger-
man troops. While in Smolensk, he participated in the killing of more
than 200 civilians, including 38 Jewish intellectuals. During the final
two years of the war, he headed the cultural-political department of
the German Foreign Office. His wartime activity in the Soviet Union
was examined at the Einsatzgruppen Trials in 1948. Unable to link
him with certitude to any of the atrocities, the court sentenced Six to
20 years in prison. Released from Landsberg (Bavaria) in 1952 by a
clemency court, he became a marketing director and private business
consultant in the Federal Republic of Germany.
SIX, FRANZ • 421