Josef Blösche
Josef Blösche (12 February 1912 – 29 July 1969) was a convicted war criminal and a member of the Nazi Party who served in the SS and SD during World War II. Blösche shot and killed many Jews, and helped send many more Jews to their deaths in extermination camps. He also participated in several massacres.
Josef Blösche | |
|---|---|
Blösche as he appeared in the Warsaw Ghetto boy photograph | |
| Born | 12 February 1912 |
| Died | 29 July 1969 (aged 57) |
| Cause of death | Execution by shooting |
| Other names | Frankenstein |
| Known for | Being the only person to be conclusively identified in the Warsaw Ghetto boy photo |
| Political party | Sudeten German Party Nazi Party |
| Criminal status | Executed |
| Motive | Nazism Sadism Thrill |
| Conviction(s) | War crimes Crimes against humanity |
| Criminal penalty | Death |
| Details | |
| Victims | 2000+ |
Span of crimes | 1941–1945 |
| Country | Poland and Belarus |
| Target(s) | Jews |
Date apprehended | 11 January 1967 |
| SS career | |
| Allegiance | Nazi Germany |
| Service/ | Schutzstaffel |
| Years of service | 1938–1945 |
| Rank | Rottenführer |
| Unit | Sicherheitsdienst |
Blösche became known to the world because he was photographed five times with SS forces that suppressed the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, as published in the Stroop Report. The most famous photograph portrays a boy surrendering in the foreground, and Blösche as the SS man who is facing the boy with a sub-machine gun in hand. The Report was used in prosecuting former Nazis for war crimes. Blösche initially avoided detection after the war due to an accident which permanently scarred his face.
West German prosecutors were able to identify Blösche in 1962. East German officials became aware that Blösche was living somewhere in East Germany after receiving documents on the West German case. He was subsequently located by the Stasi and arrested on 11 January 1967. Blösche was convicted of numerous atrocities and sentenced to death by the Erfurt regional court; he was executed in Leipzig on 29 July 1969.