Ludwig Plagge (13 January 1910 – 24 January 1948) was an SS-''

Oberscharführer __NOTOC__ ''Oberscharführer'' (, ) was a Nazi Party paramilitary rank that existed between 1932 and 1945. ''Oberscharführer'' was first used as a rank of the ''Sturmabteilung'' (SA) and was created due to an expansion of the enlisted positions ...

'' and member of staff at

Auschwitz Auschwitz concentration camp ( (); also or ) was a complex of over 40 Nazi concentration camps, concentration and extermination camps operated by Nazi Germany in Polish areas annexed by Nazi Germany, occupied Poland (in a portion annexed int ...

Buchenwald Buchenwald (; literally 'beech forest') was a Nazi concentration camp established on hill near Weimar, Germany, in July 1937. It was one of the first and the largest of the concentration camps within Germany's 1937 borders. Many actual or sus ...

Sachsenhausen Sachsenhausen () or Sachsenhausen-Oranienburg was a German Nazi concentration camp in Oranienburg, Germany, used from 1936 until April 1945, shortly before the defeat of Nazi Germany in May later that year. It mainly held political prisoners ...

, and Majdanek

concentration camp Internment is the imprisonment of people, commonly in large groups, without charges or intent to file charges. The term is especially used for the confinement "of enemy citizens in wartime or of terrorism suspects". Thus, while it can simpl ...

s. He was prosecuted at the

Auschwitz Trial The Auschwitz trial began on November 24, 1947, in Kraków, when Poland's Supreme National Tribunal tried forty former staff of the Auschwitz concentration camps. The trials ended on December 22, 1947. The best-known defendants were Arthur Lie ...

, and executed for war crimes.

Life

Born in

Landesbergen Landesbergen is a municipality in the district of Nienburg, in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated on the right bank of the Weser The Weser () is a river of Lower Saxony in north-west Germany. It begins at Hannoversch Münden through t ...

, Plagge completed eight years of school and became a farmer. 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 ...

on 1 December 1931, and the SS in October 1934, with the membership number 270620. On 20 November 1939 he began active service and was assigned to

Sachsenhausen concentration camp Sachsenhausen () or Sachsenhausen-Oranienburg was a German Nazi concentration camp in Oranienburg, Germany, used from 1936 until April 1945, shortly before the defeat of Nazi Germany in May later that year. It mainly held political prisoner ...

where he stayed until the end of June 1940.Winter, ''Winter time'', p. 128. He was subsequently posted to

in July 1940, and was one of the first SS men there. He remained there until 4 October 1943. His roles included ''Blockführer'' (Block leader) (including in

Block 11 Block 11 was the name of a brick building in Auschwitz I, the ''Stammlager'' or main camp of the Auschwitz concentration camp network. This block was used for executions and torture. Between Block 10 and Block 11 stood the "Death Wall" (reconstr ...

, the death block) and SS ''Rapportführer''. In the gypsy camp in

Birkenau Auschwitz concentration camp ( (); also or ) was a complex of over 40 concentration and extermination camps operated by Nazi Germany in occupied Poland (in a portion annexed into Germany in 1939) during World War II and the Holocaust. It c ...

he had the role of deputy roll call leader from its opening through autumn 1943, and in the summer was also acting protective custody leader (''Schutzhaftlagerführer''). From Auschwitz he was posted to the Majdanek camp in

Lublin Lublin is the ninth-largest city in Poland and the second-largest city of historical Lesser Poland. It is the capital and the center of Lublin Voivodeship with a population of 336,339 (December 2021). Lublin is the largest Polish city east of ...

, then in 1944 he was in

Flossenbürg concentration camp Flossenbürg was a Nazi concentration camp built in May 1938 by the SS Main Economic and Administrative Office. Unlike other concentration camps, it was located in a remote area, in the Fichtel Mountains of Bavaria, adjacent to the town of Flo ...

. From 19 March to 23 April 1945 he was the senior command leader of the

Regensburg subcamp The Regensburg satellite camp (''KZ-Außenlager Regensburg'') ( Stadtamhof, Regensburg, Bavaria, Germany), also known as the Colosseum subcamp (''Außenkommando Colosseum'') in the vernacular at the time, was established in 1945 as the last sub ...

of Flossenbürg.

Ernst Klee Ernst Klee (15 March 1942, Frankfurt – 18 May 2013, Frankfurt) was a German journalist and author. As a writer on Germany's history, he was best known for his exposure and documentation of medical crimes in Nazi Germany, much of which was concer ...

: '' Das Personenlexikon zum Dritten Reich'' (The Encyclopedia of Persons of the Third Reich"): ''Wer war was vor und nach 1945'' ("Who Was What Before and After 1945"). S. Fischer Verlag,

Frankfurt Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , " Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on it ...

, 2003, p. 462. Encyclopedia of the "social elite" from the time of National Socialism. He was also a member of

Lebensborn Lebensborn e.V. (literally: "Fount of Life") was an SS-initiated, state-supported, registered association in Nazi Germany with the stated goal of increasing the number of children born who met the Nazi standards of "racially pure" and "hea ...

. Plagge was noted for his brutality, particularly to Jews.Świebocki, ''London wurde informiert''. p. 147. He participated in the gassing of thousands of

Sinti The Sinti (also ''Sinta'' or ''Sinte''; masc. sing. ''Sinto''; fem. sing. ''Sintesa'') are a subgroup of Romani people mostly found in Germany and Central Europe that number around 200,000 people. They were traditionally itinerant, but today o ...

and

Roma Roma or ROMA may refer to: Places Australia * Roma, Queensland, a town ** Roma Airport ** Roma Courthouse ** Electoral district of Roma, defunct ** Town of Roma, defunct town, now part of the Maranoa Regional Council * Roma Street, Brisbane, a ...

people, and Jews from Theresienstadt.IDC, ''Dachauer Hefte''. p. 163. He was known for submitting prisoners to punishment in the form of physical exercises, known as "sport" in the camp.Buszko, ''Auschwitz, camp hitlérien d'extermination''. p. 108. Prisoners in

quarantine A quarantine is a restriction on the movement of people, animals and goods which is intended to prevent the spread of disease or pests. It is often used in connection to disease and illness, preventing the movement of those who may have been ...

were also made to do these exercises. On demand, a group of prisoners were expected to undertake any action, such as walking, singing, running, crawling on one's elbows and tips of the toes, roll around on the ground covered with gravel and crushed bricks, etc. Plagge was a specialist in the invention of these exercises, which were to be performed very quickly without any regard to the age and health of the prisoners. He would make prisoners run for hours while carrying his pipe between his teeth, and hit those who fell, forcing them to carry on. Prisoners nicknamed him ''das Pfeifchen'' (the little pipe).

Trial

Plagge was prosecuted by the

Supreme National Tribunal The Supreme National Tribunal ( pl, Najwyższy Trybunał Narodowy TN}) was a war-crime tribunal active in communist-era Poland from 1946 to 1948. Its aims and purpose were defined by the State National Council in decrees of 22 January and 17 Oc ...

at the Auschwitz Trial in

Kraków Kraków (), or Cracow, is the second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula, Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city dates back to the seventh century. Kraków was the official capital of Poland un ...

. During the trial he admitted to only beating prisoners. Hoping his life would be spared, he told the court that after atonement for his crimes, he will be regarded as a good man, but was sentenced to

death Death is the irreversible cessation of all biological functions that sustain an organism. For organisms with a brain, death can also be defined as the irreversible cessation of functioning of the whole brain, including brainstem, and brain ...

due to the overwhelming evidence against him. He was executed on 24 January 1948 by

hanging Hanging is the suspension of a person by a noose or ligature around the neck.Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed. Hanging as method of execution is unknown, as method of suicide from 1325. The ''Oxford English Dictionary'' states that hanging ...

Montelupich Prison The Montelupich prison, so called from the street in which it is located, the ''ulica Montelupich'' ("street of the Montelupi family"),Ulica Montelupich or "street of the Montelupis" itself is named after the Montelupi manor house (Kamienica (arch ...

, Kraków.

Bibliography

* Cyprian T., Sawicki J., ''Siedem wyroków Najwyższego Trybunału Narodowego'', Poznań 1962 * Klee E., ''Das Personenlexikon zum Dritten Reich: Wer war was vor und nach 1945. Fischer-Taschenbuch-Verlag'', Frankfurt am Mein 2005 * Winter, Walter Stanoski., Robertson, Struan. ''Winter time: memoirs of a German Sinto who survived Auschwitz''. University of Hertfordshire Press, 2004, * International Dachau Committee, ''Dachauer Hefte – Konzentrationslager – Lebenswelt und Umfeld''. Verlag Dachauer Hefte, Volume 12, 1996. * Świebocki, Henryk. ''London wurde informiert--: Berichte von Auschwitz-Flüchtlingen''. University of Michigan, published by

Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum The Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum ( pl, Państwowe Muzeum Auschwitz-Birkenau) is a museum on the site of the Auschwitz concentration camp in Oświęcim (German: ''Auschwitz''), Poland. The site includes the main concentration camp at Auschwit ...

, 1997, * Buszko, Józef. ''Auschwitz, camp hitlérien d'extermination'', Indiana University, published by Editions Interpress, 1986, 2nd edition.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Plagge, Ludwig 1910 births 1948 deaths People from the Province of Hanover Auschwitz trial executions Executed people from Lower Saxony SS non-commissioned officers Auschwitz concentration camp personnel Buchenwald concentration camp personnel Majdanek concentration camp personnel Sachsenhausen concentration camp personnel Flossenbürg concentration camp personnel People from Nienburg (district) Holocaust perpetrators in Poland Romani genocide perpetrators Waffen-SS personnel German people convicted of crimes against humanity Executed mass murderers