Franz Bürkl
Encyclopedia
SS-Oberscharführer
Franz Bürkl was a Gestapo
officer in the Nazi-occupied Poland
. He was assassinated
in the Operation Bürkl
on September 7, 1943.
Bürkl was responsible for numerous executions, summary execution
s and other killings of the Polish Jews and prisoners of the infamous Pawiak
prison in Warsaw
(including civilian hostage
s and Soviet prisoners of war), where he was both a Zugführer (guard shift leader) and a deputy commander. Between 1941 and 1943 he personally murdered several dozen people, both in and outside the prison, including during his trips into the Warsaw Ghetto
where he shot people at random. During the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising
a group of jailers from Pawiak, under the command of Bürkl, volunteered to help in the hunt for the Jews. He was said to be addicted to morphine
and was never seen separated from his big German Shepherd Dog
named Kastor which he used to terrorize the prisoners of Pawiak. Prominent among his victims was Dionizy Błeszyński, an Armia Krajowa
(AK) district commander who was arrested and hanged in 1943.
In 1943 Bürkl, as "a sadist and a mass murder
er", was convicted of crimes against the Polish nation by the Polish resistance
's Special Courts
, sentenced to death, and shot dead on the street of Warsaw in Operation Bürkl
a part of Operation Heads.
Oberscharführer
Oberscharführer was a Nazi Party paramilitary rank that existed between the years of 1932 and 1945. Translated as “Senior Squad Leader”, Oberscharführer was first used as a rank of the Sturmabteilung and was created due to an expansion of the enlisted positions required by growing SA membership...
Franz Bürkl was a 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...
officer in the Nazi-occupied Poland
General Government
The General Government was an area of Second Republic of Poland under Nazi German rule during World War II; designated as a separate region of the Third Reich between 1939–1945...
. He was assassinated
Assassination
To carry out an assassination is "to murder by a sudden and/or secret attack, often for political reasons." Alternatively, assassination may be defined as "the act of deliberately killing someone, especially a public figure, usually for hire or for political reasons."An assassination may be...
in the Operation Bürkl
Operation Bürkl
Operation Bürkl , or the special combat action Bürkl , was an operation by the Polish resistance conducted on September 7, 1943...
on September 7, 1943.
Bürkl was responsible for numerous executions, summary execution
Summary execution
A summary execution is a variety of execution in which a person is killed on the spot without trial or after a show trial. Summary executions have been practiced by the police, military, and paramilitary organizations and are associated with guerrilla warfare, counter-insurgency, terrorism, and...
s and other killings of the Polish Jews and prisoners of the infamous Pawiak
Pawiak
Pawiak was a prison built in 1835 in Warsaw, Poland.During the January 1863 Uprising, it served as a transfer camp for Poles sentenced by Imperial Russia to deportation to Siberia....
prison in Warsaw
Warsaw
Warsaw is the capital and largest city of Poland. It is located on the Vistula River, roughly from the Baltic Sea and from the Carpathian Mountains. Its population in 2010 was estimated at 1,716,855 residents with a greater metropolitan area of 2,631,902 residents, making Warsaw the 10th most...
(including civilian hostage
Hostage
A hostage is a person or entity which is held by a captor. The original definition meant that this was handed over by one of two belligerent parties to the other or seized as security for the carrying out of an agreement, or as a preventive measure against certain acts of war...
s and Soviet prisoners of war), where he was both a Zugführer (guard shift leader) and a deputy commander. Between 1941 and 1943 he personally murdered several dozen people, both in and outside the prison, including during his trips into the Warsaw Ghetto
Warsaw Ghetto
The Warsaw Ghetto was the largest of all Jewish Ghettos in Nazi-occupied Europe during World War II. It was established in the Polish capital between October and November 15, 1940, in the territory of General Government of the German-occupied Poland, with over 400,000 Jews from the vicinity...
where he shot people at random. During the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising
Warsaw Ghetto Uprising
The Warsaw Ghetto Uprising was the Jewish resistance that arose within the Warsaw Ghetto in German occupied Poland during World War II, and which opposed Nazi Germany's effort to transport the remaining ghetto population to Treblinka extermination camp....
a group of jailers from Pawiak, under the command of Bürkl, volunteered to help in the hunt for the Jews. He was said to be addicted to morphine
Morphine
Morphine is a potent opiate analgesic medication and is considered to be the prototypical opioid. It was first isolated in 1804 by Friedrich Sertürner, first distributed by same in 1817, and first commercially sold by Merck in 1827, which at the time was a single small chemists' shop. It was more...
and was never seen separated from his big German Shepherd Dog
German Shepherd Dog
The German Shepherd Dog , also known as an Alsatian or just the German Shepherd, is a breed of large-sized dog that originated in Germany. The German Shepherd is a relatively new breed of dog, with its origin dating to 1899. As part of the Herding Group, the German Shepherd is a working dog...
named Kastor which he used to terrorize the prisoners of Pawiak. Prominent among his victims was Dionizy Błeszyński, an Armia Krajowa
Armia Krajowa
The Armia Krajowa , or Home Army, was the dominant Polish resistance movement in World War II German-occupied Poland. It was formed in February 1942 from the Związek Walki Zbrojnej . Over the next two years, it absorbed most other Polish underground forces...
(AK) district commander who was arrested and hanged in 1943.
In 1943 Bürkl, as "a sadist and a mass murder
Mass murder
Mass murder is the act of murdering a large number of people , typically at the same time or over a relatively short period of time. According to the FBI, mass murder is defined as four or more murders occurring during a particular event with no cooling-off period between the murders...
er", was convicted of crimes against the Polish nation by the Polish resistance
Polish resistance movement in World War II
The Polish resistance movement in World War II, with the Home Army at its forefront, was the largest underground resistance in all of Nazi-occupied Europe, covering both German and Soviet zones of occupation. The Polish defence against the Nazi occupation was an important part of the European...
's Special Courts
Special Courts
Special Courts were the underground courts organized by the Polish Government in Exile during World War II in occupied Poland. The courts determined punishments for the citizens of Poland who were subject to the Polish law before the war.-History:After the Polish Defense War of 1939...
, sentenced to death, and shot dead on the street of Warsaw in Operation Bürkl
Operation Bürkl
Operation Bürkl , or the special combat action Bürkl , was an operation by the Polish resistance conducted on September 7, 1943...
a part of Operation Heads.