Kurt Asche (11 October 1909 in Hamburg – 16 April 1997 in Hamburg) was SS-

Obersturmführer __NOTOC__ (, ; short: ''Ostuf'') was a Nazi Germany paramilitary ranks, Nazi Germany paramilitary rank that was used in several Nazi organisations, such as the Sturmabteilung, SA, Schutzstaffel, SS, National Socialist Motor Corps, NSKK and the ...

and an officer in German-occupied Belgium. Asche was appointed head of the Office of Jewish Affairs in occupied Belgium. He was one of a number of these so-called "Jewish experts" sent by

Adolf Eichmann Otto Adolf Eichmann ( ;"Eichmann"
''Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary''. ; 19 March 1906 – 1 Ju ...

to occupied countries and client states to take charge of deportation of the local Jewish populations. He was involved in the

Holocaust The Holocaust (), known in Hebrew language, Hebrew as the (), was the genocide of History of the Jews in Europe, European Jews during World War II. From 1941 to 1945, Nazi Germany and Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy ...

and, from 1942 to 1944, was responsible for the deportation of 26,000 Jews and Gypsies to

Auschwitz Auschwitz, or Oświęcim, 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 consisted of Auschw ...

. In May 1944, an SS police court sentenced him one year and four months in prison for enriching himself from the assets of Belgian Jews. In January 1945, he was released from prison and transferred to an SS combat unit. Asche was eventually brought to trial in

Kiel Kiel ( ; ) is the capital and most populous city in the northern Germany, German state of Schleswig-Holstein. With a population of around 250,000, it is Germany's largest city on the Baltic Sea. It is located on the Kieler Förde inlet of the Ba ...

for his part in the 26,000 deaths. After a mammoth trial that lasted eighteen years Asche was eventually sentenced to seven years imprisonment in 1981. The perceived leniency of the sentence, as well as Asche being allowed to leave the court free following sentencing as the sentence had to be ratified, led to widespread condemnation. Asche began serving his sentence in 1983. He was released from prison in 1987.Bernard Wasserstein, ''Vanishing Diaspora: The Jews in Europe Since 1945'', Harvard University Press, 1996, p. 112

References

1909 births 1998 deaths Holocaust perpetrators in Belgium Romani genocide perpetrators German military personnel of World War II SS-Obersturmführer Military personnel from Hamburg {{Germany-mil-bio-stub Nazis convicted of war crimes People convicted of embezzlement Prisoners and detainees of Germany