Ludwig Plagge
Encyclopedia
Ludwig Plagge was an SS
-Oberscharführer
and member of staff at Auschwitz
, Buchenwald
and Majdanek
concentration camps. He was prosecuted at the Auschwitz Trial
.
, Plagge completed eight years of school and became a farmer. He joined the Nazi party on December 1, 1931, and the SS in October 1934, with the membership number 270620. On November 20, 1939 he began active service and was assigned to Sachsenhausen concentration camp
where he stayed until the end of June 1940. He was subsequently posted to Auschwitz in July 1940, and was one of the first SS men there.
He remained there until October 4, 1943. His roles included Blockführer (Block leader) (including in Block 11, the death block) and SS Rapportführer. In the gypsy camp in Birkenau he had the role of deputy roll call leader from its opening through autumn 1943, and in the summer was also acting protective custody leader (Schutzhaftlagerführer). From Auschwitz he was posted to the Majdanek
camp in Lublin
, then in 1944 he was in Flossenbürg concentration camp
. He was also a member of Lebensborn
.
Plagge was noted for his brutality, particularly to Jews. He participated in the gassing of thousands of Sinti
and Roma people, and Jews from Theresienstadt.
He was known for submitting prisoners to punishment in the form of physical exercises, known as "sport" in the camp. Prisoners in quarantine were also made to do these exercises. On demand, a group of prisoners were expected to undertake any action, such as walking, singing, running, crawling on one's elbows and tips of the toes, roll around on the ground covered with gravel and crushed bricks, etc. Plagge was a specialist in the invention of these exercises, which were to be performed very quickly without any regard to the age and health of the prisoners. He would make prisoners run for hours while carrying his pipe between his teeth, and hit those who fell, forcing them to carry on. Prisoners nicknamed him das Pfeifchen (the little pipe).
at the Auschwitz Trial in Kraków
. During the trial he admitted to only beating prisoners. Hoping his life would be spared, he told the court that after atonement for his crimes, he will be regarded as a good man, but was sentenced to death
due to the overwhelming evidence against him. He was executed on January 22, 1948 by hanging
in Montelupich Prison
, Kraków.
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...
-Oberscharführer
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...
and member of staff at Auschwitz
Auschwitz concentration camp
Concentration camp Auschwitz was a network of Nazi concentration and extermination camps built and operated by the Third Reich in Polish areas annexed by Nazi Germany during World War II...
, Buchenwald
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,...
and Majdanek
Majdanek
Majdanek was a German Nazi concentration camp on the outskirts of Lublin, Poland, established during the German Nazi occupation of Poland. The camp operated from October 1, 1941 until July 22, 1944, when it was captured nearly intact by the advancing Soviet Red Army...
concentration camps. He was prosecuted at the Auschwitz Trial
Auschwitz trial
The Auschwitz trial began on November 24, 1947, in Kraków, when Polish authorities tried 41 former staff of the Auschwitz concentration camps. The trials ended on December 22, 1947....
.
Life
Born in LandesbergenLandesbergen
Landesbergen is a municipality in the district of Nienburg, in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated on the right bank of the Weser, approx. 10 km southwest of Nienburg, and 35 km northeast of Minden....
, Plagge completed eight years of school and became a farmer. He joined the Nazi party on December 1, 1931, and the SS in October 1934, with the membership number 270620. On November 20, 1939 he began active service and was assigned to Sachsenhausen concentration camp
Sachsenhausen concentration camp
Sachsenhausen or Sachsenhausen-Oranienburg was a Nazi concentration camp in Oranienburg, Germany, used primarily for political prisoners from 1936 to the end of the Third Reich in May, 1945. After World War II, when Oranienburg was in the Soviet Occupation Zone, the structure was used as an NKVD...
where he stayed until the end of June 1940. He was subsequently posted to Auschwitz in July 1940, and was one of the first SS men there.
He remained there until October 4, 1943. His roles included Blockführer (Block leader) (including in Block 11, the death block) and SS Rapportführer. In the gypsy camp in Birkenau he had the role of deputy roll call leader from its opening through autumn 1943, and in the summer was also acting protective custody leader (Schutzhaftlagerführer). From Auschwitz he was posted to the Majdanek
Majdanek
Majdanek was a German Nazi concentration camp on the outskirts of Lublin, Poland, established during the German Nazi occupation of Poland. The camp operated from October 1, 1941 until July 22, 1944, when it was captured nearly intact by the advancing Soviet Red Army...
camp in 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...
, then in 1944 he was in Flossenbürg concentration camp
Flossenbürg concentration camp
Konzentrationslager Flossenbürg was a Nazi concentration camp built in May 1938 by the Schutzstaffel Economic-Administrative Main Office at Flossenbürg, in the Oberpfalz region of Bavaria, Germany, near the border with Czechoslovakia. Until its liberation in April 1945, more than 96,000 prisoners...
. He was also a member of Lebensborn
Lebensborn
Lebensborn was a Nazi programme set up by SS leader Heinrich Himmler that provided maternity homes and financial assistance to the wives of SS members and to unmarried mothers, and also ran orphanages and relocation programmes for children.Initially set up in Germany in 1935, Lebensborn expanded...
.
Plagge was noted for his brutality, particularly to Jews. He participated in the gassing of thousands of Sinti
Sinti
Sinti or Sinta or Sinte is the name of a Romani or Gypsy population in Europe. Traditionally nomadic, today only a small percentage of the group remains unsettled...
and Roma people, and Jews from Theresienstadt.
He was known for submitting prisoners to punishment in the form of physical exercises, known as "sport" in the camp. Prisoners in quarantine were also made to do these exercises. On demand, a group of prisoners were expected to undertake any action, such as walking, singing, running, crawling on one's elbows and tips of the toes, roll around on the ground covered with gravel and crushed bricks, etc. Plagge was a specialist in the invention of these exercises, which were to be performed very quickly without any regard to the age and health of the prisoners. He would make prisoners run for hours while carrying his pipe between his teeth, and hit those who fell, forcing them to carry on. Prisoners nicknamed him das Pfeifchen (the little pipe).
Trial
Plagge was prosecuted by the Supreme National TribunalSupreme National Tribunal
The Supreme National Tribunal was a war crime tribunal active in Poland from 1946 to 1948, with jurisdiction over fascist-hitlerite criminals and traitors to the Polish nation.The tribunal presided over seven high-profile cases ....
at the Auschwitz Trial in Kraków
Kraków
Kraków also Krakow, or Cracow , is the second largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in the Lesser Poland region, the city dates back to the 7th century. Kraków has traditionally been one of the leading centres of Polish academic, cultural, and artistic life...
. During the trial he admitted to only beating prisoners. Hoping his life would be spared, he told the court that after atonement for his crimes, he will be regarded as a good man, but was sentenced to death
Capital punishment
Capital punishment, the death penalty, or execution is the sentence of death upon a person by the state as a punishment for an offence. Crimes that can result in a death penalty are known as capital crimes or capital offences. The term capital originates from the Latin capitalis, literally...
due to the overwhelming evidence against him. He was executed on January 22, 1948 by hanging
Hanging
Hanging is the lethal suspension of a person by a ligature. The Oxford English Dictionary states that hanging in this sense is "specifically to put to death by suspension by the neck", though it formerly also referred to crucifixion and death by impalement in which the body would remain...
in Montelupich Prison
Montelupich Prison
Montelupich prison was a prison located in Kraków, which was used by theGestapo throughout World War II. Prisoners in Montelupich included politicalprisoners, members of the SS and Security Service who had been...
, Kraków.