Arnold Strippel
Encyclopedia
Arnold Strippel was an SS
-Obersturmführer
and a member of the SS-Totenkopfverbände
who while assigned to the Neuengamme concentration camp was given the task of murdering the victims of a tuberculosis medical experiment conducted by Kurt Heissmeyer
.
Strippel served in various concentration camps starting in 1934 when he joined the SS. His first assignment was at Sachsenburg his next was Buchenwald concentration camp
, where he participated in the shooting of 21 Jewish inmates on November 9, 1939 following the failed assassination attempt of Adolf Hitler
in Munich
. While in Buchenwald, Strippel caught an inmate who was using a rope and paper to alleviate heavy loads he was carrying on his work detail. This was against the regulations in camp (stealing Third Reich property), so Strippel decided to make an example out of him. "You used this rope; you'll hang on a rope. And the whole camp will watch as you twist in the wind." The inmate's hands were tied behind his back and he was lifted two feet off the ground from a tree. The weight of his body was all on the shoulder joints and the pain was "excruciating beyond all description."
Strippel's next assignment from March – October 1941 was the Natzweiler-Struthof
concentration camp in Occupied France. Strippel then served in Majdanek near Lublin
Poland, Ravensbruck
, then at Peenemünde
on the Usedom
peninsula, in the Karlshagen II forced labor camp, the site of V-2 rocket production and launches. From there the Hertogenbosch concentration camp in Vught
the Netherlands more commonly known as Camp Vught. His final assignment was at Neuengamme, where he would oversee the murders of the twenty Jewish children involved in Kurt Heissmeyer's experiments, their four adult caretakers and twentyfour Soviet P.O.W.'s. They were all hung in the basement of the Bullenhuser Damm
school, the adults from overhead pipes and the children from a hook on the wall.
He was convicted of war crimes for his actions at Buchenwald in Frankfurt
District Court. (Case no. 145 & 616).
Schutzstaffel
The Schutzstaffel |Sig runes]]) was a major paramilitary organization under Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party. Built upon the Nazi ideology, the SS under Heinrich Himmler's command was responsible for many of the crimes against humanity during World War II...
-Obersturmführer
Obersturmführer
Obersturmführer was a paramilitary rank of the Nazi party that was used by the SS and also as a rank of the SA. Translated as “Senior Assault Leader”, the rank of Obersturmführer was first created in 1932 as the result of an expansion of the Sturmabteilung and the need for an additional rank in...
and a member of the SS-Totenkopfverbände
SS-Totenkopfverbände
SS-Totenkopfverbände , meaning "Death's-Head Units", was the SS organization responsible for administering the Nazi concentration camps for the Third Reich....
who while assigned to the Neuengamme concentration camp was given the task of murdering the victims of a tuberculosis medical experiment conducted by Kurt Heissmeyer
Kurt Heissmeyer
Kurt Heissmeyer was a Nazi physician involved in medical experimentation on concentration camp inmates including children. He was involved in an infamous tuberculosis experiment conducted on 20 Jewish children at Neuengamme concentration camp...
.
Strippel served in various concentration camps starting in 1934 when he joined the SS. His first assignment was at Sachsenburg his next was Buchenwald concentration camp
Buchenwald concentration camp
Buchenwald concentration camp was a German Nazi concentration camp established on the Ettersberg near Weimar, Germany, in July 1937, one of the first and the largest of the concentration camps on German soil.Camp prisoners from all over Europe and Russia—Jews, non-Jewish Poles and Slovenes,...
, where he participated in the shooting of 21 Jewish inmates on November 9, 1939 following the failed assassination attempt of Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler was an Austrian-born German politician and the leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party , commonly referred to as the Nazi Party). He was Chancellor of Germany from 1933 to 1945, and head of state from 1934 to 1945...
in Munich
Munich
Munich The city's motto is "" . Before 2006, it was "Weltstadt mit Herz" . Its native name, , is derived from the Old High German Munichen, meaning "by the monks' place". The city's name derives from the monks of the Benedictine order who founded the city; hence the monk depicted on the city's coat...
. While in Buchenwald, Strippel caught an inmate who was using a rope and paper to alleviate heavy loads he was carrying on his work detail. This was against the regulations in camp (stealing Third Reich property), so Strippel decided to make an example out of him. "You used this rope; you'll hang on a rope. And the whole camp will watch as you twist in the wind." The inmate's hands were tied behind his back and he was lifted two feet off the ground from a tree. The weight of his body was all on the shoulder joints and the pain was "excruciating beyond all description."
Strippel's next assignment from March – October 1941 was the Natzweiler-Struthof
Natzweiler-Struthof
Natzweiler-Struthof was a German concentration camp located in the Vosges Mountains close to the Alsatian village of Natzwiller in France, and the town of Schirmeck, about 50 km south west from the city of Strasbourg....
concentration camp in Occupied France. Strippel then served in Majdanek near Lublin
Lublin
Lublin is the ninth largest city in Poland. It is the capital of Lublin Voivodeship with a population of 350,392 . Lublin is also the largest Polish city east of the Vistula river...
Poland, Ravensbruck
Ravensbrück concentration camp
Ravensbrück was a notorious women's concentration camp during World War II, located in northern Germany, 90 km north of Berlin at a site near the village of Ravensbrück ....
, then at Peenemünde
Peenemünde
The Peenemünde Army Research Center was founded in 1937 as one of five military proving grounds under the Army Weapons Office ....
on the Usedom
Usedom
Usedom is a Baltic Sea island on the border between Germany and Poland. It is situated north of the Szczecin Lagoon estuary of the River Oder in Pomerania...
peninsula, in the Karlshagen II forced labor camp, the site of V-2 rocket production and launches. From there the Hertogenbosch concentration camp in Vught
Vught
Vught is a municipality and a town in the southern Netherlands. It is a town where lots of commuters live and has recently been named "Best place to live" by the Dutch magazine Elsevier.-Politics:...
the Netherlands more commonly known as Camp Vught. His final assignment was at Neuengamme, where he would oversee the murders of the twenty Jewish children involved in Kurt Heissmeyer's experiments, their four adult caretakers and twentyfour Soviet P.O.W.'s. They were all hung in the basement of the Bullenhuser Damm
Bullenhuser Damm
Bullenhuser Damm School is located at 92–94 Bullenhuser Damm, a street in the Rothenburgsort section of Hamburg, Germany. During heavy air raids many portions of Hamburg were destroyed including the Rothenburgsort section which received heavy damage. The school was only partly damaged. By 1943 the...
school, the adults from overhead pipes and the children from a hook on the wall.
He was convicted of war crimes for his actions at Buchenwald in Frankfurt
Frankfurt
Frankfurt am Main , commonly known simply as Frankfurt, is the largest city in the German state of Hesse and the fifth-largest city in Germany, with a 2010 population of 688,249. The urban area had an estimated population of 2,300,000 in 2010...
District Court. (Case no. 145 & 616).