Eugen Steimle (8 December 1909 – 6 October 1987) was a German SS commander in the ''

Sicherheitsdienst ' (, ''Security Service''), full title ' (Security Service of the '' Reichsführer-SS''), or SD, was the intelligence agency of the SS and the Nazi Party in Nazi Germany. Established in 1931, the SD was the first Nazi intelligence organization ...

'' (SD) during the Nazi era. He commanded ''Sonderkommando'' 7a and ''Einsatzkommando'' 4a of the '' Einsatzgruppen'', both of which were responsible for mass killings in the Soviet Union. Steimle was found guilty in 1947 in the Einsatzgruppen Trial and sentenced to death in 1948. His sentence was commuted to 20 years in prison.

SS career

Steimle was the son of a

pastor A pastor (abbreviated as "Pr" or "Ptr" , or "Ps" ) is the leader of a Christian congregation who also gives advice and counsel to people from the community or congregation. In Lutheranism, Catholicism, Eastern Orthodoxy, Oriental Orthodoxy and ...

and came from a strict pietistic family and studied history, German and French at the

University of Tübingen The University of Tübingen, officially the Eberhard Karl University of Tübingen (german: Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen; la, Universitas Eberhardina Carolina), is a public research university located in the city of Tübingen, Baden-W� ...

and

University of Berlin Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin (german: Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, abbreviated HU Berlin) is a German public research university in the central borough of Mitte in Berlin. It was established by Frederick William III on the initiative ...

. In May 1935, he passed his teaching exams. He joined the

Nazi Party The Nazi Party, officially the National Socialist German Workers' Party (german: Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei or NSDAP), was a far-right political party in Germany active between 1920 and 1945 that created and supported t ...

in 1932 and the

National Socialist German Students' League The National Socialist German Students' Union (German: ''Nationalsozialistischer Deutscher Studentenbund'', abbreviated NSDStB) was founded in 1926 as a division of the Nazi Party with the mission of integrating University-level education and aca ...

(NSDStB), where he devoted himself to teaching ''

Volksdeutsche In Nazi German terminology, ''Volksdeutsche'' () were "people whose language and culture had German origins but who did not hold German citizenship". The term is the nominalised plural of '' volksdeutsch'', with ''Volksdeutsche'' denoting a sin ...

'' students of the Sudetenland. He joined the SS (no. 272,575) as well in 1932, and then joined the SD in 1935 at the instigation of NSDStB chief

Gustav Adolf Scheel Gustav Adolf Scheel (22 November 1907 – 25 March 1979) was a German physician and Nazi Party official. He served as a "multifunctionary" in Nazi Germany, including posts as the Reich Student Leader leading both the National Socialist German Stu ...

. In September 1936, Steimle directed the SD office in Stuttgart. First, he headed the SD subsection Württemberg, and from 1939 until 1943, the SD-Leitabschnitt Stuttgart. From 7 September to 10 December 1941, he succeeded Walter Blume as the commanding officer of ''Sonderkommando'' 7a in ''Einsatzgruppe'' B, which was led by

Arthur Nebe Arthur Nebe (; 13 November 1894 – 21 March 1945) was a German SS functionary who was key in the security and police apparatus of Nazi Germany and from 1941, a major perpetrator of the Holocaust. Nebe rose through the ranks of the Prussia ...

. Under Steimle's command, his unit murdered 500 Jews within two months. From August 1942 to January 1943, he replaced Erwin Weinmann as leader of ''Einsatzkommando'' 4a in ''Einsatzgruppe'' C, which was led by Otto Rasch.Christian Ingrao op. cit. p. 367 After returning to Germany, he became head of Group VI B (German-Italian sphere of influence in Europe, Africa and the Middle East) in the RSHA. In 1944, he was promoted to ''SS- Standartenführer''.

Trial and conviction

Steimle was arrested by the Allies in 1945. He was found guilty in 1947 in the Einsatzgruppen Trial and sentenced to death in 1948. His sentence was commuted to 20 years in prison based upon recommendations of the " Peck Panel". He was released from

Landsberg Prison Landsberg Prison is a penal facility in the town of Landsberg am Lech in the southwest of the German state of Bavaria, about west-southwest of Munich and south of Augsburg. It is best known as the prison where Adolf Hitler was held in 1924, af ...

in June 1954 and then taught German and history in Wilhelmsdorf, Baden-Württemberg. He retired in 1975.Ernst Klee: ''Das Personenlexikon zum Dritten Reich'', Frankfurt am Main 2007, p. 599 Eugen Steimle died on 6 October 1987.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Steimle, Eugen 1909 births 1987 deaths People from Calw (district) SS-Standartenführer Reich Security Main Office personnel 20th-century German educators University of Tübingen alumni Humboldt University of Berlin alumni Einsatzgruppen personnel Holocaust perpetrators in Russia People convicted by the United States Nuremberg Military Tribunals German prisoners sentenced to death Prisoners sentenced to death by the United States military Language teachers German schoolteachers