Bruno Streckenbach
Encyclopedia
Bruno Heinrich Streckenbach (7 February 1902 – 28 October 1977) held the rank of SS-Brigadeführer
(Major General), when he was the head of Amt I (Department I): Administration and Personnel of the Reichssicherheitshauptamt (Reich Main Security Office or RSHA), but eventually achieved the rank of SS-Gruppenführer
(Lieutenant General) both in Allgemeine-SS and Waffen-SS
. He was responsible for many thousands of murders committed by Nazi mobile killing squads known as Einsatzgruppen
.
He served in the last year of World War I
and was a member of the Freikorps
between the wars.
political police after it had been swallowed by the SS
as Heinrich Himmler
and Reinhard Heydrich
took over one state police force after another in their plan to control the national police of Nazi Germany.
He was transferred to Poland after the Nazi occupation of 1939; being concerned with the arrest of the professors at Cracow University, and was one of the architects of the effective implementation of the Extraordinary Pacification Action. When Streckenbach's work was finished in Poland, he was ordered to return to Berlin for administrative duties.
Without warning, Streckenbach received a top secret order to proceed immediately to the police barracks at Pretzsch on the Elbe. He was met there by hand-picked members of the SD
, the Gestapo
and the Orpo police.
Bruno Streckenbach was tasked with the training and indoctrination of these men before the onset of the Russian campaign. Veterans of many a Polish atrocity became members of one of four newly constituted Einsatzgruppen
destined for Soviet Russia.
Streckenbach detailed the mission of the Einsatzgruppen, they were to seize and destroy all political and racial enemy groups, such as Bolshevik
s, gypsies, partisans and Jews. In addition, the Einsatzgruppen were to report on and evaluate material gained in every field of Russian operations and collect information from agents and spies from among the Russian population.
SS-Brigadeführer Streckenbach further ordered that all enemies of the Third Reich were to be deported to concentration camps and executed. Jews were especially singled out for Sonderbehandlung
("special treatment"), meaning extermination.
On 9 November 1941 he was promoted to SS-Gruppenführer und Generalleutnant der Polizei.
( First or senior Lieutenant) der Reserve - members of Allgemeine-SS (General SS) weren't necessarily allowed to keep their ranks in the Waffen-SS. He trained with anti-tank units and joined the SS Kavallerie Division
as SS-Hauptsturmführer
(captain) in March 1943.
By April 1943 he was in command of the division's anti-tank battalion, SS Panzerjägerabteilung. In that position he was able to prove his bona fide talents as a military leader, receiving rapid promotions to SS-Sturmbannführer
(Major), SS-Obersturmbannführer
(Lieutenant Colonel) and SS-Standartenführer
(colonel), this last in August 1943. Later in the autumn he replaced Hermann Fegelein
as a divisional commander, and was promoted to SS-Oberführer
(Brigadier General) on 30 January 1944.
On 13 April 1944 he was appointed commander of the 19th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS (2nd Latvian)
, taking over from deputy commander SS-Standartenführer Friedrich-Wilhelm Bock
(former leader of the unit, SS-Oberführer Hinrich Schuldt
, had been killed in action when visiting the frontlines in March). Streckenbach held this post to the end of the war, and in battles of 1944 - 1945 on Eastern Front serving with his crack Latvian unit enabled him to earn further advancement in rank to SS-Brigadeführer in July and finally to SS-Gruppenführer und Generalleutnant der Waffen-SS in November '44. General Streckenbach was awarded the Knight's Cross, and later the Oak Leaves.
, defendant SS-Brigadeführer Otto Ohlendorf
stated that Streckenbach, in mid-June 1941, had transmitted the extermination order, at a meeting concerning the missions of the Einsatzgruppen.
The West German government eventually brought Streckenbach to trial in 1973 but the case was dismissed due "to the defendant's poor health". He died on 28 October 1977, at home, in his birthplace Hamburg.
Brigadeführer
SS-Brigadeführer was an SS rank that was used in Nazi Germany between the years of 1932 and 1945. Brigadeführer was also an SA rank....
(Major General), when he was the head of Amt I (Department I): Administration and Personnel of the Reichssicherheitshauptamt (Reich Main Security Office or RSHA), but eventually achieved the rank of SS-Gruppenführer
Gruppenführer
Gruppenführer was an early paramilitary rank of the Nazi Party, first created in 1925 as a senior rank of the SA.-SS rank:...
(Lieutenant General) both in Allgemeine-SS and Waffen-SS
Waffen-SS
The Waffen-SS was a multi-ethnic and multi-national military force of the Third Reich. It constituted the armed wing of the Schutzstaffel or SS, an organ of the Nazi Party. The Waffen-SS saw action throughout World War II and grew from three regiments to over 38 divisions, and served alongside...
. He was responsible for many thousands of murders committed by Nazi mobile killing squads known as Einsatzgruppen
Einsatzgruppen
Einsatzgruppen were SS paramilitary death squads that were responsible for mass killings, typically by shooting, of Jews in particular, but also significant numbers of other population groups and political categories...
.
He served in the last year of World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
and was a member of the Freikorps
Freikorps
Freikorps are German volunteer military or paramilitary units. The term was originally applied to voluntary armies formed in German lands from the middle of the 18th century onwards. Between World War I and World War II the term was also used for the paramilitary organizations that arose during...
between the wars.
Career in Allgemeine-SS
Streckenbach was chosen in 1933 to run the HamburgHamburg
-History:The first historic name for the city was, according to Claudius Ptolemy's reports, Treva.But the city takes its modern name, Hamburg, from the first permanent building on the site, a castle whose construction was ordered by the Emperor Charlemagne in AD 808...
political police after it had been swallowed by the SS
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...
as Heinrich Himmler
Heinrich Himmler
Heinrich Luitpold Himmler was Reichsführer of the SS, a military commander, and a leading member of the Nazi Party. As Chief of the German Police and the Minister of the Interior from 1943, Himmler oversaw all internal and external police and security forces, including the Gestapo...
and Reinhard Heydrich
Reinhard Heydrich
Reinhard Tristan Eugen Heydrich , also known as The Hangman, was a high-ranking German Nazi official.He was SS-Obergruppenführer and General der Polizei, chief of the Reich Main Security Office and Stellvertretender Reichsprotektor of Bohemia and Moravia...
took over one state police force after another in their plan to control the national police of Nazi Germany.
He was transferred to Poland after the Nazi occupation of 1939; being concerned with the arrest of the professors at Cracow University, and was one of the architects of the effective implementation of the Extraordinary Pacification Action. When Streckenbach's work was finished in Poland, he was ordered to return to Berlin for administrative duties.
Without warning, Streckenbach received a top secret order to proceed immediately to the police barracks at Pretzsch on the Elbe. He was met there by hand-picked members of the SD
Sicherheitsdienst
Sicherheitsdienst , full title Sicherheitsdienst des Reichsführers-SS, or SD, was the intelligence agency of the SS and the Nazi Party in Nazi Germany. The organization was the first Nazi Party intelligence organization to be established and was often considered a "sister organization" with the...
, the Gestapo
Gestapo
The Gestapo was the official secret police of Nazi Germany. Beginning on 20 April 1934, it was under the administration of the SS leader Heinrich Himmler in his position as Chief of German Police...
and the Orpo police.
Bruno Streckenbach was tasked with the training and indoctrination of these men before the onset of the Russian campaign. Veterans of many a Polish atrocity became members of one of four newly constituted Einsatzgruppen
Einsatzgruppen
Einsatzgruppen were SS paramilitary death squads that were responsible for mass killings, typically by shooting, of Jews in particular, but also significant numbers of other population groups and political categories...
destined for Soviet Russia.
Streckenbach detailed the mission of the Einsatzgruppen, they were to seize and destroy all political and racial enemy groups, such as Bolshevik
Bolshevik
The Bolsheviks, originally also Bolshevists , derived from bol'shinstvo, "majority") were a faction of the Marxist Russian Social Democratic Labour Party which split apart from the Menshevik faction at the Second Party Congress in 1903....
s, gypsies, partisans and Jews. In addition, the Einsatzgruppen were to report on and evaluate material gained in every field of Russian operations and collect information from agents and spies from among the Russian population.
SS-Brigadeführer Streckenbach further ordered that all enemies of the Third Reich were to be deported to concentration camps and executed. Jews were especially singled out for Sonderbehandlung
Sonderbehandlung
Sonderbehandlung is a German noun meaning special treatment in English, also existing as a verb: sonderbehandeln . While it can refer to any sort of preferential treatment, it is known primarily as a euphemism used by Nazi functionaries and the SS for murder...
("special treatment"), meaning extermination.
On 9 November 1941 he was promoted to SS-Gruppenführer und Generalleutnant der Polizei.
Career in Waffen-SS
Streckenbach then requested to join a fighting unit, and in September 1942 he was transferred to the Waffen-SS as an SS-ObersturmführerObersturmführer
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...
( First or senior Lieutenant) der Reserve - members of Allgemeine-SS (General SS) weren't necessarily allowed to keep their ranks in the Waffen-SS. He trained with anti-tank units and joined the SS Kavallerie Division
8th SS Cavalry Division Florian Geyer
The 8th SS Cavalry Division Florian Geyer was a Waffen-SS cavalry Division during World War II. It was formed in 1942 from a cadre of the SS Cavalry Brigade which was involved in anti partisan operations behind the front line and was responsible for the extermination of tens of thousands of the...
as SS-Hauptsturmführer
Hauptsturmführer
Hauptsturmführer was a Nazi rank of the SS which was used between the years of 1934 and 1945. The rank of Hauptsturmführer was a mid-grade company level officer and was the equivalent of a Captain in the German Army and also the equivalent of captain in foreign armies...
(captain) in March 1943.
By April 1943 he was in command of the division's anti-tank battalion, SS Panzerjägerabteilung. In that position he was able to prove his bona fide talents as a military leader, receiving rapid promotions to SS-Sturmbannführer
Sturmbannführer
Sturmbannführer was a paramilitary rank of the Nazi Party equivalent to major, used both in the Sturmabteilung and the Schutzstaffel...
(Major), SS-Obersturmbannführer
Obersturmbannführer
Obersturmbannführer was a paramilitary Nazi Party rank used by both the SA and the SS. It was created in May 1933 to fill the need for an additional field grade officer rank above Sturmbannführer as the SA expanded. It became an SS rank at the same time...
(Lieutenant Colonel) and SS-Standartenführer
Standartenführer
Standartenführer was a Nazi Party paramilitary rank that was used in the so-called Nazi combat-organisations: SA, SS, NSKK and the NSFK...
(colonel), this last in August 1943. Later in the autumn he replaced Hermann Fegelein
Hermann Fegelein
SS-Obergruppenführer Hans Georg Otto Hermann Fegelein was a General of the Waffen-SS in Nazi Germany, a member of Adolf Hitler's entourage, brother-in-law to Eva Braun through his marriage to her sister, Gretl, and husband of the sister-in-law to Adolf Hitler through Hitler's marriage to Eva...
as a divisional commander, and was promoted to SS-Oberführer
Oberführer
Oberführer was an early paramilitary rank of the Nazi Party dating back to 1921. Translated as “Senior Leader”, an Oberführer was typically a Nazi Party member in charge of a group of paramilitary units in a particular geographical region...
(Brigadier General) on 30 January 1944.
On 13 April 1944 he was appointed commander of the 19th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS (2nd Latvian)
19th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS (2nd Latvian)
The 19th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS was an Infantry Division of the Waffen SS during World War II. It was the second Latvian division formed in January 1944, after its sister unit, the 15th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS...
, taking over from deputy commander SS-Standartenführer Friedrich-Wilhelm Bock
Friedrich-Wilhelm Bock
SS-Oberführer Friedrich-Wilhelm Bock was a German Waffen-SS officer who during his career commanded three SS-divisions, the 9.SS-Panzer-Division Hohenstaufen, the 4.SS-Polizei-Panzergrenadier-Division and the Latvian 19.Waffen-Grenadier-Division der SS...
(former leader of the unit, SS-Oberführer Hinrich Schuldt
Hinrich Schuldt
SS-Brigadeführer Hinrich Schuldt was a German Waffen-SS officer and a posthumous recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves and Swords...
, had been killed in action when visiting the frontlines in March). Streckenbach held this post to the end of the war, and in battles of 1944 - 1945 on Eastern Front serving with his crack Latvian unit enabled him to earn further advancement in rank to SS-Brigadeführer in July and finally to SS-Gruppenführer und Generalleutnant der Waffen-SS in November '44. General Streckenbach was awarded the Knight's Cross, and later the Oak Leaves.
Post-war
Streckenbach was taken prisoner by the Soviets and, in 1952, he was sentenced to serve twenty-five years in prison, but was released on 10 October 1955. During the Nuremberg trialEinsatzgruppen Trial
The Einsatzgruppen Trial was the ninth of the twelve trials for war crimes the U.S. authorities held in their occupation zone in Germany in Nuremberg after the end of World War II. These twelve trials were all held before U.S...
, defendant SS-Brigadeführer Otto Ohlendorf
Otto Ohlendorf
Otto Ohlendorf was a German SS-Gruppenführer and head of the Inland-SD , a section of the SD. Ohlendorf was the commanding officer of Einsatzgruppe D, which conducted mass murder in Moldova, south Ukraine, the Crimea, and, during 1942, the north Caucasus...
stated that Streckenbach, in mid-June 1941, had transmitted the extermination order, at a meeting concerning the missions of the Einsatzgruppen.
The West German government eventually brought Streckenbach to trial in 1973 but the case was dismissed due "to the defendant's poor health". He died on 28 October 1977, at home, in his birthplace Hamburg.
Awards
- Iron CrossIron CrossThe Iron Cross is a cross symbol typically in black with a white or silver outline that originated after 1219 when the Kingdom of Jerusalem granted the Teutonic Order the right to combine the Teutonic Black Cross placed above a silver Cross of Jerusalem....
- 2nd Class (10 October 1940)
- 1st Class (1 July 1943)
- Infantry Assault BadgeInfantry Assault BadgeThe Infantry Assault Badge was a German war badge awarded to Waffen SS and Wehrmacht Heer soldiers during WWII. This decoration was instituted on December 20th 1939 by the Oberstbefehlshaber des Heeres, Generalfeldmarschall von Brauchitsch...
- Close Combat ClaspClose Combat ClaspThe Close Combat Clasp is a German military award instituted on 25 November 1942 for achievement in hand to hand fighting in close quarters. The Close Combat Clasp was worn above the upper left uniform pocket...
in Bronze - German CrossGerman CrossThe German Cross was instituted by Adolf Hitler on 17 November 1941 as an award ranking higher than the Iron Cross First Class but below the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross respectively ranking higher than the War Merit Cross First Class with Swords but below the Knight's Cross of the War Merit...
in Gold (15 December 1943) - Knight's Cross of the Iron CrossKnight's Cross of the Iron CrossThe Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross was a grade of the 1939 version of the 1813 created Iron Cross . The Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross was the highest award of Germany to recognize extreme battlefield bravery or successful military leadership during World War II...
(27 August 1944)- Oak Leaves (16 January 1945)
- Mentioned three times in the WehrmachtberichtWehrmachtberichtThe Wehrmachtbericht was a daily radio report on the Großdeutscher Rundfunk of Nazi Germany, published by the Oberkommando der Wehrmacht regarding the military situation on all fronts of World War II....
on 9 August 1944, 30 September 1944 and 27 December 1944