Eduard Strauch (17 August 1906 – 15 September 1955) was a German lawyer, SS-'' Obersturmbannführer'' and convicted war criminal. During the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, he served as the commander of ''

Einsatzkommando During World War II, the Nazi German ' were a sub-group of the ' (mobile killing squads) – up to 3,000 men total – usually composed of 500–1,000 functionaries of the SS and Gestapo, whose mission was to exterminate Jews, Polish intellect ...

'' 2 during the invasion of the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

and participated in the

Rumbula massacre The Rumbula massacre is a collective term for incidents on November 30 and December 8, 1941, in which about 25,000 Jews were murdered in or on the way to Rumbula forest near Riga, Latvia, during World War II. Except for the Babi Yar massacre in ...

. He was also the local ''Kommandeur'' of the security police (German:

Sicherheitspolizei The often abbreviated as SiPo, is a German term meaning "security police". In the Nazi Germany, Nazi era, it referred to the state political and criminal investigation security agency, security agencies. It was made up by the combined forces of ...

), or Sipo, and the security service (German:

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

, or SD), first in the '' Generalbezirk Weißruthenien'' and later in

Brussels Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium#Regions, region of Belgium comprising #Municipalit ...

. In October 1944, he was transferred to the

Waffen-SS The (; ) was the military branch, combat branch of the Nazi Party's paramilitary ''Schutzstaffel'' (SS) organisation. Its formations included men from Nazi Germany, along with Waffen-SS foreign volunteers and conscripts, volunteers and conscr ...

. After the end of the war, Strauch was convicted for

crimes against humanity Crimes against humanity are certain serious crimes committed as part of a large-scale attack against civilians. Unlike war crimes, crimes against humanity can be committed during both peace and war and against a state's own nationals as well as ...

in the Einsatzgruppen Trial and sentenced to death. Extradited to Belgium, he was again convicted and sentenced to death for

war crimes A war crime is a violation of the laws of war that gives rise to individual criminal responsibility for actions by combatants in action, such as intentionally killing civilians or intentionally killing prisoners of war, torture, taking hos ...

. However, he was not executed, as he was judged mentally ill. He died in a Belgian hospital in 1955.

Early life

Strauch was born in

Essen Essen () is the central and, after Dortmund, second-largest city of the Ruhr, the largest urban area in Germany. Its population of makes it the fourth-largest city of North Rhine-Westphalia after Cologne, Düsseldorf and Dortmund, as well as ...

, the son of a factory foreman. In his youth, he joined the

nationalist Nationalism is an idea or movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the State (polity), state. As a movement, it presupposes the existence and tends to promote the interests of a particular nation,Anthony D. Smith, Smith, A ...

and

antisemitic Antisemitism or Jew-hatred is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who harbours it is called an antisemite. Whether antisemitism is considered a form of racism depends on the school of thought. Antisemi ...

Young German Order and remained a member until 1927. He first studied

theology Theology is the study of religious belief from a Religion, religious perspective, with a focus on the nature of divinity. It is taught as an Discipline (academia), academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itse ...

at the universities of Erlangen (now Erlangen-Nuremberg) and

Münster Münster (; ) is an independent city#Germany, independent city (''Kreisfreie Stadt'') in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is in the northern part of the state and is considered to be the cultural centre of the Westphalia region. It is also a ...

, but changed his course of studies and graduated with a degree in

law Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior, with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been variously described as a science and as the ar ...

. He passed his first state law examination in 1932 and his second state law examination in 1935. On 1 August 1931, he joined the

Nazi Party The Nazi Party, officially the National Socialist German Workers' Party ( or NSDAP), was a far-right politics, far-right political party in Germany active between 1920 and 1945 that created and supported the ideology of Nazism. Its precursor ...

(membership number 623,392) and its

paramilitary A paramilitary is a military that is not a part of a country's official or legitimate armed forces. The Oxford English Dictionary traces the use of the term "paramilitary" as far back as 1934. Overview Though a paramilitary is, by definiti ...

unit, the ''

Sturmabteilung The (; SA; or 'Storm Troopers') was the original paramilitary organisation under Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party of Germany. It played a significant role in Adolf Hitler's rise to power, Hitler's rise to power in the 1920s and early 1930s. I ...

'' (SA). On 1 December 1931, he transferred to become a member of the ''

Schutzstaffel The ''Schutzstaffel'' (; ; SS; also stylised with SS runes as ''ᛋᛋ'') was a major paramilitary organisation under Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party in Nazi Germany, and later throughout German-occupied Europe during World War II. It beg ...

'' (SS membership number 19,312). As of December 1934, he began working for the SS intelligence service, the SD, headed by

Reinhard Heydrich Reinhard Tristan Eugen Heydrich ( , ; 7 March 1904 – 4 June 1942) was a German high-ranking SS and police official during the Nazi era and a principal architect of the Holocaust. He held the rank of SS-. Many historians regard Heydrich ...

Crimes against humanity

Some months after the German invasion of the

in June, 1941, Strauch on 4 November assumed command of ''

'' 2, a component of ''

Einsatzgruppe (, ; also 'task forces') were (SS) paramilitary death squads of Nazi Germany that were responsible for mass murder, primarily by shooting, during World War II (1939–1945) in German-occupied Europe. The had an integral role in the impl ...

'' A, which was under the command of Franz Walter Stahlecker. On 30 November 1941, Strauch and 20 men under his command participated in the

in which 10,600 Jews of

Riga Riga ( ) is the capital, Primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Latvia, largest city of Latvia. Home to 591,882 inhabitants (as of 2025), the city accounts for a third of Latvia's total population. The population of Riga Planni ...

were murdered in the Rumbula forest near the city.Einsatzgruppen judgment, at 563-567. In February 1942, he was promoted to ''Kommandeur der Sicherheitspolizei und des SD'' (KdS), commanding all security police and SD units in the '' Generalbezirk Weißruthenien'', with headquarters in

Minsk Minsk (, ; , ) is the capital and largest city of Belarus, located on the Svislach (Berezina), Svislach and the now subterranean Nyamiha, Niamiha rivers. As the capital, Minsk has a special administrative status in Belarus and is the administra ...

. In July 1943, the Nazi ''Generalkommissar'' for White Russia,

Wilhelm Kube Wilhelm Kube (13 November 1887 – 22 September 1943) was a German Nazi politician and official who served as the '' Generalkommissar'' of '' Generalbezirk Weißruthenien'' in the ''Reichskommissariat Ostland'' from 1941 to 1943. Kube was invol ...

, reported on having had a conference with the "extremely capable … chief of the SD, SS-'' Obersturmbannführer'' Dr. jur. Strauch", who had caused "the liquidation of 55,000 Jews in just the past 10 weeks alone." However, Strauch and Kube reportedly did not get along and, on July 25, 1943, Strauch denounced Kube for not taking vigorous enough action against the Jews. Strauch also was criticized within the SS for alleged alcohol abuse. Strauch's promotion to SS-'' Standartenführer'' was denied. On 31 May 1944, he was transferred to the post of KdS for

. In October 1944, Strauch was transferred to the

Post-war trials and convictions

Despite an effort to sham mental illness, Strauch was convicted by a US military tribunal in the Einsatzgruppen Trial for playing a key role in the Rumbula massacre and a number of other mass murders in Eastern Europe. On 9 April 1948, Presiding judge Michael Musmanno pronounced the tribunal's sentence on Strauch: Unlike his co-defendants

Otto Ohlendorf Otto Ohlendorf (; 4 February 1907 – 7 June 1951) was a German Schutzstaffel, SS functionary and Holocaust perpetrator during the Nazi era. An economist by education, he was head of the Sicherheitsdienst#Inland-SD, (SD) Inland, responsible ...

and Paul Blobel, Strauch did not hang. Instead, he was

extradited In an extradition, one jurisdiction delivers a person accused or convicted of committing a crime in another jurisdiction, into the custody of the other's law enforcement. It is a cooperative law enforcement procedure between the two jurisdic ...

for trial to authorities in Belgium. The court in Liege convicted him of killing prisoners of war and he was sentenced to death, but this sentence likewise was never carried out since the Belgians were convinced that he was indeed mentally ill. Strauch died in custody on 15 September 1955 in a hospital in

Uccle Uccle (French language, French, ) or Ukkel (Dutch language, Dutch, ) is one of the List of municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region, 19 municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region, Belgium. Located in the southern part of the region, it ...

, Belgium.Eduard Strauch, biography and photo at Olokaustos.org
.

Notes and references

References

*

also available at ttp://www.mazal.org/NMT-HOME.htm Mazel library(well indexed HTML version)

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Strauch, Eduard 1906 births 1955 deaths Einsatzgruppen personnel German police officers convicted of crimes against humanity German prisoners of war in World War II held by the United States German prisoners sentenced to death Holocaust perpetrators in Belarus Holocaust perpetrators in Belgium Holocaust perpetrators in Latvia Lawyers in the Nazi Party Military personnel from Essen Nazis who died in prison custody People from the Rhine Province People sentenced to death by the United States Nuremberg Military Tribunals Prisoners sentenced to death by Belgium Prisoners who died in Belgian detention SS-Obersturmbannführer Sturmabteilung personnel University of Erlangen–Nuremberg alumni University of Münster alumni Waffen-SS personnel Young German Order members