Execution of 'Frankenstein' Josef Blosche

[Von Schadewald]

Josef Blosche, holding the rifle in the photo, was executed by neckshot by the East Germans in 1969.

Blosche was nicknamed "Frankenstein" by the Warsaw Ghetto Jews for his raping and then killing of women

How many other Germans were formally executed at the hands of East or West Germans after WW2?

Was Blosche the last Nazi war criminal to have been executed?

[Hans1906]

Good evening, Von Schadewald

First, the name was Josef Blösche, not Josef Blosche.

Wikipedia (D) https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Josef_Blösche

And secondly, absolutely everything about the man in the last decades has been meticulously discussed and written.
Why posting another well known photo, to me, this makes absolutely no sense.

The term "Frankenstein" also makes no sense, this term was used in several documentary films about/for Josef Blösche.

Hans1906

P.S. As a german citizen, I write as neutral as possible about Blösche, everything else would be wrong.
I know the man's story, but I was born in 1956, that's the small difference.
I don't want to explain that any further.

* You may be interested about the so called "Stroop Report". https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stroop_Report
A lot of historic photos, Josef Blösche included.

A forum user from the state of Israel, with 1990? postings, writing such nonsense, incredible, terrifying, renders speechless...

[George_W]

The thread about executed war criminals in East Germany (DDR):
viewtopic.php?f=6&t=142540&hilit=schwerhoff

George

The list of executed war criminals in East Germany with the dates of the execution (page 6 of that thread):

Executed in DDR for warcrimes:
01.10.1945 Heinrich Frings (03.12.1919) AEL Radeberg, Gestapo Dresden
01.10.1945 Rudolf Schelenz (19.02.1917) AEL Radeberg, Gestapo Dresden
21.08.1946 Karl Kieling (1890) Oberpostinspektor, member NSDAP Ortsgruppe Berlin-Friedenau
22.12.1946 Johannes Kleine (26.11.1890) assistant of executioner Alfred Roselieb
19.06.1947 Andréas Rose (01.04.1880) assistant of executioner Alfred Roselieb
12.12.1947 Friedrich Willy Koch (15.02.1896) Haftstättenpersonal Gefängnis Dresden
12.12.1947 Reinhard Ernst Schäfer (05.11.1884 in Reichenau) Haftstättenpersonal Gefängnis Dresden
25.03.1948 Erhardt Karl Gäbler (15.11.1888 in Rosenthal) Pflegepersonal Sonnenstein
25.03.1948 Ernst Schmidt (04.08.1912 in Weissenfels) SS-Rottenführer in Lichtenburg, Buchenwald, Dachau
25.03.1948 Paul Hermann Nitsche (25.11.1876 in Colditz) Direktor hospital Leipzig-Dösen + Pirna-Sonnenstein
08.12.1948 Heinz Adrian (18.03.1898 in Berlin) SS-Scharführer KZ Sonnenburg, KZ Hammerstein
18.10.1949 Paul Waitz (19.11.1899 in Lemsdorf) Blockältester + Kapo in Buchenwald
19.10.1949 Bruno Erwin Fritz Malitz (20.06.1905 in Berlin-Lichtenberg) NSDAP-Kreisleiter in Görlitz
19.10.1949 Hans Meinshausen (23.02.1889 in Eschwege) Oberbürgermeister von Görlitz
16.03.1950 Reinhard Hermann Neumerkel (21.03.1899 in Crimmitschau) staff HASAG Kamienna
16.03.1950 Arthur Alwin Rost (01.10.1905 in Lentzke) staff HASAG Kamienna
16.03.1950 Willi Ernst Seidel (23.06.1901 in Jaucha) staff HASAG Kamienna
16.03.1950 Alfred Richard Paul Wagner (29.7.1903 in Borsdorf) staff HASAG Kamienna
23.05.1950 Paul Spiecker (29.03.1905 in Forstenau) staff in Flossenbürg
04.11.1950 Friedrich Beyerlein (04.11.1899 in Dresden) member Gestapo Dresden + Krakau, KL Hohnstein
04.11.1950 Paul Coijanovic (29.06.1908 in Untersuhl) Informant der Gestapo
04.11.1950 Friedrich Duda (30.07.1896 in Wiessweinen) Polizeioberleutnant in Warschau
04.11.1950 Karl Erhard Geppert (08.01.1894 in Kreuzburg) member NSDAP
04.11.1950 Hermann Erhard Hahn (03.05.1882 in Kaiserslautern) Generalstaatsanwalt in Naumburg
04.11.1950 Kurt Johann Hentschel (05.09.1891 in Neustadt/Pirna) Gendarmeriemeister im Kreis Pirna
04.11.1950 Alfred Robert Herzog (15.03.1892 in Leipzig) Amtsrichter in Pirna
04.11.1950 Friedrich Heinicke (07.06.1892 in Chemnitz) Kommandant im Wehrmachtsgefängnis Torgau-Brückenkopf
04.11.1950 Ernst Karl Johann Heinicker (17.11.1906 in Leipzig) deputy commander KL Hohnstein
04.11.1950 Ernst Kendzia (02.04.1893 in Breslau) SS-Standartenführer“Treuhänder der Arbeit“ in Danzig
04.11.1950 Wilhelm Klitzke (20.03.1899 in Jüterbog) Staatsanwalt beim Landgericht Berlin, Volksgerichtshof
04.11.1950 Heinrich Koplowitz (26.06.1885 in Oppeln) staff jüdische Irrenanstalt, Ordnungsdienst in Berlin
04.11.1950 Arthur May (15.06.1918 in Chemnitz) Informant der Gestapo
04.11.1950 Paul Müller (27.05.1892 in Delitzsch) Polizeimeister
04.11.1950 Wilhelm Karl Rudolf Niejahr (04.08.1889 in Stralsund) Oberlandesgerichtsrat beim OLG Stettin
04.11.1950 Hellmut Friedhelm Peitsch (18.11.1906 in Oberzetzscha) staff Konzentrationslager Hohnstein
04.11.1950 Erich Willi Pietsch (30.01.1905 in Hartha) Kreisleiter der NSDAP in Zittau, Sonderführer in Borisovo
04.11.1950 Horst Rechenbach (01.10.1912 in Mühlhausen) Oberfeldrichter
04.11.1950 Heinz Martin Rosenmüller (15.09.1903 in Dresden) Staatsanwalt beim Sondergericht in Dresden
04.11.1950 Kuno Schneider (29.09.1896.Zella-Melhlis) Leiter der Kartenstelle Zella- Mehlis
04.11.1950 Karl Steinberg (27.10.1897 in Atzendorf) SS-Unterscharführer in KL Auschwitz
04.11.1950 Helmut Uhlig (07.01.1921 in Aue) member Waffen-SS, Außenkommando Sachsenhausen + Buchenwald
04.11.1950 Gerhard Wischer (01.02.1903 in Berlin) Direktor der Heil- und Pflegeanstalt Waldheim
15.11.1950 August Hübscher (05.03.1909 in Morren/Warthe) guard in Buchenwald
18.12.1950 Kurt Noritsch (05.09.1914 in Frankfurt/Oder) member Kripo in Berlin
20.02.1951 Wilhelm Beyer (10.03.1886 in Zullichau) member SA
20.02.1951 Gustav Erpel (06.08.1901 in Berlin) member SA
20.02.1951 Erich Haller (27.01.1895 in Köpenick) member SA
20.02.1951 Fritz Letz (07.07.1903 in Berlin) member SA
20.02.1951 Friedrich Plönzke (16.02.1910 in Berlin) member SA
20.02.1951 Paul Thermann (31.03.1908 in Weißensee) member SA
23.06.1951 Max Ernst Gröschel (29.09.1892 in Dresden) SS-Oberscharführer in Flossenbürg, Neuengamme, Stutthof
30.10.1951 Johannes Schiller (14.09.1888) member Polizei Gendarmerie in Neusalza-Spremberg
07.05.1952 Walter Lemm (01.01.1900) V-Person Gestapo Stettin
26.07.1952 Willi Hack (26.03.1912 in Reutlingen) SS-Obersturmführer in Arbeitslager Berga / Elster
22.08.1952 Herbert Franz Robert Fink (27.01.1925 in Ratibor) SS-Oberscharführer in Auschwitz-Birkenau
30.08.1952 Julius Bergmann (02.06.1909) SS-Sturmbannführer
30.08.1952 Emil Nitz (29.05.1888 in Groß-Mantel) Kapo in Neuengamme
01.10.1952 Siegfried Erbe (14.10.1923 in Berlin) V-Person Gestapo Berlin + Gestapo Königsberg
30.05.1953 Paul Böhm (07.08.1892 in Eichwerder) member Gestapo Berlin
26.09.1953 Johannes Ernst Wilhelm Walk (06.02.1908 in Blindow) member Wehrmacht Heer Inf.Rgt.172
10.08.1954 Felix Kurt Wittig (15.08.1902 in Schönheide) staff HASAG Kamienna
12.08.1954 Georg Oswald Döring (18.07.1914 in Leipzig) staff HASAG Kamienna
12.08.1954 Horst Erhard Waldemar Spalteholz (13.08.1911 in Rutschenwalde) staff HASAG Kamienna
26.08.1954 Walter Kurt Linzner (22.05.1896 in Ponitz) staff HASAG Kamienna
15.04.1955 Wilhelm Wolff (21.02.1911) Selbstschutz Rehwalde
13.05.1955 Friedrich Robert Max Lepach (06.05.1896 in Breslau) Gendarmeriemeister in Semmenstedt
10.06.1955 Karl Helmuth Theiner (19.05.1914 in Waldenburg) SS-Unterscharführer,Dachau,Sachsenhausen,Gusen
15.01.1960 Otto Friedrich Hermann Bergemann (20.03.1903 Jüterborg) member in Sonderkommando
14.10.1960 Emil Hellmann (17.06.1908 in Asbach) member Reichsbahn Bahnschutz Warschau
14.10.1960 Georg Ludwig (29.12.1896 in Plauen) member Reichsbahn Bahnschutz Warschau
14.10.1960 Kurt Theodor Obenaus (04.04.1909 in Buchholz) member Reichsbahn Bahnschutz Warschau
16.06.1961 Kurt Otto Goercke (08.12.1907 in Bahndon) member Einsatzkommando 4b of Einsatzgruppe C
16.06.1961 Wilhelm Schäfer (20.10.1911 in Obhausen) SS-Hauptscharführer in Buchenwald und Lichtenburg
02.03.1962 Christian Kunst
21.06.1962 Martin Bründel
12.12.1962 Horst Petri (18.04.1913 in Pfuhlsborn) Betriebsleiter des SS-Gutes Grzenda
15.04.1964 Roland Puhr (21.01.1914 in Alt-Ehrenberg) SS-Unterscharführer in Sachsenhausen
08.07.1966 Horst Fischer (31.12.1912 in Dresden) SS-Hauptsturmführer, SS-Arzt in Auschwitz-Birkenau
28.04.1969 Kurt Willi Wachholz (10.08.1909 in Calau) SS-Oberscharführer Gestapo Prag, Theresienstadt
29.07.1969 Josef Blösche (05.02.1912 in Friedland) SS- Rottenführer Einsatzkommando 8 of Einsatzgruppe B
16.09.1971 Hans Baumgartner (24.09.1910 in Znaim) member KdS- Außenstelle Libau
03.11.1972 Hubert Schwerhoff (24.12.1913 in Gross Reken) SS-Oberscharführer
08.05.1973 Paul Feustel (30.07.1899 in Lengenfeld) SS-Obersturmführer, member Gestapo in Kolin + Beneschau
31.05.1973 Albert Hugo Schuster (15.02.1912 in Plauen) SS-Obersturmführer
30.01.1975 Karl Gorny (17.10.1913 in Biessellen) member Geheimen Feldpolizei Gruppe 580
21.10.1978 Johannes Ernst Kinder (03.10.1912 in Einsiedel) Einsatzkommando 10a of Einsatzgruppe D

Unknown execution date:
Kurt Marten 04.12.1905 in Arnswalde Trial 1948 in Potsdam death sentence (executed in Potsdam)
Adolf Titel 10.04.1908 in Kolberg Trial 1948 in Potsdam death sentence (executed in Potsdam)
Max Ernst Rottluff (09.03.1900 in Chemnitz) Kapo in Sachsenhausen

[Hans1906]

Thank you George_W,

I was not aware about the thread you mentioned kindly.

Hans1906

[Max]

"Von Schadewald" posted some background material.
"Von Schadewald" asked 2 questions.
"George_W " posted material in answer to at least one question.
"Hans1906" posted ???

No doubt Blösche is the correct spelling but Blosche is acceptable on this forum.
For example; Göring is also often spelt Goring and Goering.
Such spellings are not usually the cause of any misunderstanding .
So far so good.

What I do not understand is the reason for the aggressive post by "Hans1906" which did nothing to answer the questions.
Perhaps I am missing something?

As for this.

A forum user from the state of Israel, with 1990? postings, writing such nonsense, incredible, terrifying, renders speechless...

WTF ?

[sekudlyda]

Good question, Max. I, too, wondered about the unnecessarily aggressive post from "Hans1906." Some Germans, apparently, continue to be hyper-sensitive about the crimes of the Third Reich. When the truth hurts, say "ouch" and move on, "Hans1906." As far as his post about Israel goes, he writes with all the clarity of a Trump tweet; in other words, complete gibberish.

[Von Schadewald]

In this article an American woman describes the bureaucratic difficulty she had this year in getting to view in person in the American National Archives the original report by Jurgen Stroop of his destruction of the Warsaw Ghetto. Her relatives are in the photo. I believe she misidentifies the officer facing them as Stroop, as according to wikipeida it is Klaustermeyer.

She quotes from the report: "Most of the Polish population agrees with the steps taken against the Jews. Approval was granted to the Polish police to receive a third of the possessions of all the Jews, and the Poles are making every effort to bring to my office any Jews they find in the city. They are full of ambition to earn the premiunm".

[Hans1906]

I ask you to excuse my contribution to the topic of Josef Blösche.

Hans1906

P.S. I am not deep enough into all this horrible Scheisse, that went on over there...
Blösche to me a victim of the time.
An insane character lived out his now incomprehensible mind.

All this is still possible, and there are more examples than we are comfortable with.

Homo homini lupus

[Poot]

Blösche to me a victim of the time.

Please explain.

[history1]

In this article an American woman describes the bureaucratic difficulty she had this year in getting to view in person in the American National Archives the original report by Jurgen Stroop of his destruction of the Warsaw Ghetto. Her relatives are in the photo. I believe she misidentifies the officer facing them as Stroop, as according to wikipeida it is Klaustermeyer.
[...]

As would it make a difference to see the original or digital copies. A lot of phantasy and propaganda in this article, eg. Hitler´s birthday, present as it wouldn´t the Jews have iniciated the ghetto uprising. And which Gestapo -law did prohibit them to wear orthodox clothing in the ghetto? None.
The same is valid for the nonsense claim that Stroops photographer added the most humiliating photos to the paper. As would a photos showing an SS-men questioning a group of Jews be humiliating. Or the information "the greatest Rabbis did shave off their beards and peyos so that the Nazis wouldn´t be able to identify them." As like other Jews collaborating with the latter wouldn´t have recognised them. And why she writes permanently about "the Nazis/the Nazi murderer" but not about the Trawniki men participating in the suppression of the uprise? Lack of knowledge I guess. And what is she rabbiting about "the Rabbis show no fear in the photo, such courage. Heroes...."? She better se what is there in the images, not what she likes to read in them.
And yes, she did even confuse Stroop, that tells a lot.

[Hans1906]

Good afternoon Poot,

what to explain about a person like Blösche, difficult...

Murderers and sadists like Blösche, for example, do not fall from the sky onto our world.
These people are the product of their own childhood, their upbringing, or non-education, like any of us.

There is good in all of us, as well as evil.
And of course, yes, the monstrous murderer Blösche was rightly convicted, and executed, no question.
And I want to repeat, the man was a victim of his time, of the circumstances of the time, and he was guilty.

"Who is without guilt throw the first stone".

Difficult, like I wrote further above...


Hans1906

P.S. A life sentence would have been appropriate without a subsequent pardon.
The death penalty was not hard enough as a punishment, but that is only my very personal opinion.

* Last, I wouldn't want to shoot a man, not even a sick murderer like Blösche.
I grew up after 1956, and that's what distinguishes murderers from children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren.
Punish yes, but not murder, not even a murderer!

[steve248]

I just looked up Blösche on wikipedia (not always accurate) to remind myself about him. His wikipedia page has this from his trial:

Judge: "You were with a submachine gun...against a small boy that you extracted from a building with his hands raised. How did those inhabitants react in those moments?"

Blösche: "They were in enormous dread."

Judge: "This reflects well in that little boy. What did you think?"

Blösche: "We witnessed scenes like these daily. We could not even think."

People have always found it easy to say Blösche and others like him were brought up like that, their childhood or lack of education (see Hans1906) were the causes of their later sadism. If only it was as simple as that. For every one with a similar child- and adulthood like Blösche, there will be another who did not commit crimes. I am not a great fan of Browning's "Ordinary Men" story of the men Police Battalion 101, some of whom were able to avoid joining the firing squads.

Let me add something about Reserve Police Battalion 9 that came from Berlin-Spandau. Many of the reservists, Polizei Wachtmeister d.Reserve, were called up from their civilian jobs (painters and decorators, plumbers, and similar occupations) in March 1941 to join a core of professional Schupo Führer and Unterführern. Four Kompanien were formed and in June 1941 each Kompanie assigned to an individual SS-Einsatzgruppe for the Russian campaign. 4.Kompanie under Hauptmann Hans Gabel came to Einsatzgruppe D; about 120 men. By the time they crossed into "enemy territory" most of these "new" policemen in Schupo green uniforms were divided among the Kommandos of EG D. Each Kommando (5 of them) received about 20 of these men. Gabel had lost control of his men to the individual Kommandoführern. Those men became the firing squads at executions large and small. Between July and December 1941, when they were withdrawn, they shot around 85,000 mostly Jewish men, women and children. From a civilian occupation in March 1941 to firing squads some 4 months later. Those men at first did like what they were being ordered to do; Kommandoführern threatened anyone who did not take their place in the firing squads, with the SS- and Police courts. In the end they became inured to the shootings. As Blösche said, "We witnessed scenes like these daily. We could not even think." This resonates with how those "new" policemen recalled the events when questioned after the war. Was it duty to Germany, was it because there was no one to appeal to that they carried on shooting. They were not sadists, they were not brought up to act like that, most were not members of the NSDAP, they were simply police conscripts of the lowest rank. It certainly was not peer pressure (as advocated by Goldhagen) because they were all in the same position. Is the simple reason "orders are orders"?

Incidentally, when Res Pol Batl 9 was withdrawn in December 1941, they were replaced by another Res Pol Batl (R P B 3) who did the same duties until EG D was dissolved in 1943.

[Poot]

People have always found it easy to say Blösche and others like him were brought up like that, their childhood or lack of education (see Hans1906) were the causes of their later sadism. If only it was as simple as that. For every one with a similar child- and adulthood like Blösche, there will be another who did not commit crimes.

This.

Poverty is frequently invoked by apologists for the actions of others. That is a slap in the face to those who rose from poverty to become productive, law abiding men and women. That same mentality lumps the poor into one homogeneous mass, which they clearly are not. They have a sense of honor, ethics and right vs. wrong, and know when a line has been crossed into evil.

The same holds for blaming a 'lack of education.' It never fails to shock me how so many can assume that a lack of education somehow damns people to be unhappy and unsuccessful. Some of the wisest, most intelligent and most innovative people I have ever met lacked formal education beyond high school, or had very little of it. They relied instead on acquiring technical and social skills, gaining experience and being willing to learn at all stages of their career. Making excuses for the poor and 'uneducated' and treating them as wayward little children also reveals a particular type of paternalism, one that assumes that the poor simply can't succeed or lift themselves out of poverty without the help of their well to do, properly educated 'betters.'

Blosche chose his path, and took his actions. He is solely responsible for what he did, not anyone else. It's called responsibility and accountability, and they're not new concepts.

[history1]

[...]
Blosche chose his path, and took his actions. He is solely responsible for what he did, not anyone else. It's called responsibility and accountability, and they're not new concepts.

The Jews who organised the Uprising and brought with this unlawful action also fellow Jews in danger knew very well what can and will happen to them when being caught. Instead to report themself and prepare for the "Umsiedlung" they choose to fight and kill lawful/legal combatants.
It's called responsibility and accountability, and they're not new concepts. One can compare it with the USA Army fighting the Vietcong in Vietnam. With the only difference that their soldiers were not held accountable.