Jürgen Stroop, (born
Josef Stroop, September 26, 1895 in
DetmoldDetmold is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, with a population of about 74,000. It was the capital of the small Principality of Lippe from 1468 until 1918 and then of the Free State of Lippe until 1947...
— March 6, 1952 in
WarsawWarsaw is the capital and largest city of Poland. It is located on the Vistula River roughly from both the Baltic Sea coast and the Carpathian Mountains. Its population as of 2009 was estimated at 1,709,781, and the Warsaw metropolitan area at approximately 2,785,000...
,
PolandPoland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe . Poland is bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
) was a
GermanGermany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered to the north by the North Sea, Denmark, and the Baltic Sea; to the east by Poland and the Czech Republic; to the south by Austria and Switzerland; and to the west by France, Luxembourg, Belgium,...
SS and police
generalA general officer is an officer of high military rank. The term or equivalent is used by nearly every country in the world. General can be used as a generic term for all grades of general officer, or it can specifically refer to a single rank that is simply called general.-All general officer...
who oversaw the destruction of the
Warsaw GhettoThe Warsaw Ghetto was the largest of the ghettos in Nazi-occupied Europe, located in the territory of General Government in occupied Poland during World War II.-Creation:...
during the Nazi occupation of Poland in
World War IIWorld War II, or the Second World War , was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including all great powers, organized into two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. After the war, he was convicted of
war crime.War crimes are "violations of the laws or customs of war"; including "murder, the ill-treatment or deportation of civilian residents of an occupied territory to slave labor camps", "the murder or ill-treatment of prisoners of war", the killing of hostages, "the wanton destruction of cities, towns...
s and
hangedHanging is the lethal suspension of a person by a ligature. It hurts a lot. The Oxford English Dictionary states that hanging in this sense is "specifically to put to death by suspension by the neck", although it formerly also referred to crucifixion and death by impalement in which the body would...
.
Early life
Jürgen Stroop was born in
DetmoldDetmold is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, with a population of about 74,000. It was the capital of the small Principality of Lippe from 1468 until 1918 and then of the Free State of Lippe until 1947...
, the son of a
police officerA police officer is a warranted employee of a police force. Police officers are generally responsible for apprehending criminals, maintaining public order, and preventing and detecting crimes...
After receiving an elementary education, he became an apprentice with the land register in his home town, where he worked until the start of
World War IWorld War I , also known as the First World War, the Great War, and the War to End All Wars, was a global military conflict which involved most of the world's great powers, assembled in two opposing alliances: the Triple Entente and the Triple Alliance...
. He joined the
German ArmyThe German Army is the land component of the armed forces of the Federal Republic of Germany. Traditionally the German military forces have been composed of Army, the Navy, and an Air Force after World War I. It was reinstalled in 1955 as the West German Army and as a part of the newly formed...
as a volunteer, served in several
infantryInfantrymen are soldiers who are specifically trained for the role of fighting on foot to engage the enemy face to face and have historically borne the brunt of the casualties of combat in wars. As the oldest branch of the Combat Arms they are the backbone of armies...
regimentA regiment is a military unit, composed of variable numbers of battalions, commanded by a Colonel. A regiment can be broken into two distinct categories, one being an administrative unit which is responsible for non-operational management of battalions , while the other being a deployable combat...
s at the front, won an
Iron Cross 2nd ClassThe Iron Cross was a military decoration of the Kingdom of Prussia, and later of Germany, which was established by King Friedrich Wilhelm III of Prussia and first awarded on 10 March 1813 in Breslau...
, and was
wounded in actionWounded in action describes soldiers who have been wounded while fighting in a combat zone during war time, but have not been killed. Typically it implies that they are temporarily or permanently incapable of bearing arms or continuing to fight....
. At the end of the war, Stroop held the rank of a vice
FeldwebelFeldwebel is a German military rank which has existed since at least the 18th century with usage as a title dating to the Middle Ages. The word Feldwebel is usually, but incorrectly, translated as Sergeant...
(
SergeantSergeant is a rank used in some form by most militaries, police forces, and other uniformed organizations around the world. Its origins are the Latin serviens, "one who serves", through the French term Sergent....
). After the war, he returned to work at the land register.
SS career
Stroop joined both the SS and the NSDAP in 1932. His career took off during the election campaign of the same year. In 1933, he was appointed leader of the state
auxiliary policeAuxiliary police are usually the part-time reserves of a regular police force. They may be armed or unarmed. They may be unpaid volunteers or paid members of the police service with which they are affiliated.In some jurisdictions, auxiliary police have police powers only during an emergency...
. One year later, he was promoted from the rank of SS-
OberscharführerOberscharführer 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...
to the rank of
HauptsturmführerHauptsturmführer 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...
. Subsequently he worked for the SS administration in
MünsterMünster is an independent city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located in the northern part of the state and is considered to be the cultural centre of the Westphalia region and it is also capital of the local government region Regierungsbezirk Münster...
and
HamburgHamburg is the second-largest city in Germany and the sixth-largest city in the European Union...
. In autumn 1938, he was promoted again, this time to the rank of SS-
StandartenführerStandartenführer was a Nazi Party paramilitary rank that was used in both the S.A. and the S.S.. First founded as a title in 1925, in 1928 the rank became one of the first commissioned Nazi ranks and was bestowed upon those S.A. and S.S...
(
ColonelColonel is a military rank of a commissioned officer, with corresponding ranks existing in almost every country in the world. It is also used in some police forces and other paramilitary rank structures...
).
Stroop served in the
SudetenlandSudetenland is the German name used in English in the first half of the 20th century for the western regions of Czechoslovakia inhabited mostly by ethnic Germans, specifically the border areas of Bohemia, Moravia, and those parts of Silesia associated with Bohemia.The name is derived from the...
. After the invasion of Poland, he served as commander of the SS-section in Gnesen (
GnieznoGniezno is a city in central-western Poland, some 50 km east of Poznań, inhabited by about 70,000 people. One of the Piasts' chief cities, it was the first capital of Poland in the 10th century. Its Roman Catholic archbishop, the Archbishop of Gniezno, is the primate of Poland...
). During the occupation of Poland, Stroop was transferred to
PoznanPoznań is a city in west-central Poland with over 557,264 inhabitants . Located on the Warta River, it is one of the oldest cities in Poland, making it an important historical centre and a vibrant centre of trade, industry, and education. Poznań is Poland's fifth largest city and fourth biggest...
as head of the
SelbstschutzSelbstschutz stands for two organisations: it was a name used by a number of paramilitary organisations created by ethnic Germans in Central Europe and is a name for self-defence measures and units in ethnic German, Austrian, and Swiss civil defence....
– self-defence units of
ethnic GermanEthnic Germans , also collectively referred to as the German diaspora, are those who are considered, by themselves or others, to be of German origin ethnically, not necessarily born or living within the present-day Federal Republic of Germany, holding its citizenship or speaking the German language...
s.
In May 1941, Stroop changed his name from
Josef to Jürgen for ideological reasons (in honor of his deceased son). From 7 July to 15 September 1941, Stroop served in combat on the
eastern frontThe Eastern Front of World War II was a theatre of war between the European Axis powers, Nazi Germany, Fascist Italy, Hungary, Romania, Slovakia, Croatia and Finland , and the Soviet Union which encompassed central and eastern Europe from 22 June 1941 to 9...
with the infantry regiment of the
3rd SS Division TotenkopfThe SS Division Totenkopf , also known as 3. SS-Panzergrenadier-Division Totenkopf and 3. SS-Panzer-Division Totenkopf, was one of the 38 divisions fielded by the Waffen-SS during World War II. Prior to achieving division status, the formation was known as Kampfgruppe Eicke...
. He was awarded a Clasp to the Iron Cross 2nd Class and an
Infantry Assault BadgeThe Infantry Assault Badge was a German war badge awarded to Waffen SS and Wehrmacht Heer soldiers during WWII.- Silver :The silver class was instituted on December 20, 1939 by the commander of the OKH, Walther von Brauchitsch, and was awarded to infantry soldiers according to one of the following...
in Bronze.
On 16 September 1942, Stroop was promoted to SS-
BrigadeführerBrigadeführer was an SS rank that was used in Nazi Germany between the years of 1932 and 1945. Brigadeführer was also an SA rank.The rank was first created due to an expansion of the SS and assigned to those officers in command of SS-Brigaden...
and assigned as an Inspector of the
SiPoThe Sicherheitspolizei , often abbreviated as SiPo, was a term used in Nazi Germany to describe the state political and criminal investigation security agencies. It was made up by the combined forces of the Gestapo and the Kripo between 1934 and 1939...
and
SDThe Sicherheitsdienst was primarily the intelligence service 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 Gestapo, which the SS had infiltrated heavily...
of the Higher
SS and Police LeaderSS and Police Leader was a title for senior Nazi officials that commanded large units of the SS during and prior to World War II.Three levels of subordination were established for bearers of this title:* SS and Police Leader , SSPF)...
for
RussiaRussia , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia . It is a semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
South. In this position Stroop worked to help secure a key logistical
routeRoute may refer to:*GPS route, a series of one or more GPS waypoints*Road number*In computer networking: an entry in a router's Routing table*Route an area in County Antrim, Northern Ireland....
.
Beginning in October 1942, Stroop commanded an SS
garrisonGarrison is the collective term for a body of troops stationed in a particular location, originally to guard it, of more than 50 men, but now often simply using it as a home base. The station is usually a city, town, fort, castle or similar...
at
KhersonKherson is a city in southern Ukraine. It is the administrative center of the Kherson Oblast , and is designated as its own separate raion within the oblast...
before becoming SS and Police Leader for Lemberg (
LvivLviv is a major city in western Ukraine.It is regarded as one of the main cultural centres of today's Ukraine and historically also for Ukraine’s neighbour Poland. The historic centre of Lviv with its old buildings and cobblestone roads has survived the Second World War and the Soviet presence...
) in February 1943.
Warsaw Ghetto
Stroop's most historically prominent role was the suppression of the
Warsaw Ghetto UprisingThe 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.The insurgency was launched against the...
, an action which cost the lives of over 50,000 people.
Stroop was sent to Warsaw on April 17, 1943 by
Heinrich HimmlerHeinrich Luitpold Himmler , one of the most powerful men in Nazi Germany, served as Chief of the German Police and Minister of the Interior...
, as a replacement for SS-
OberführerOberführer 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...
Ferdinand von Sammern-FrankeneggFerdinand von Sammern-Frankenegg was an SS-Oberführer and the SS and Police Leader of the Warsaw area from 1941...
, who was relieved of duty. Stroop took over from Sammern following the latter's failure at the onset of the uprising.
Stroop had more recently been involved in operations against
Soviet partisansThe Soviet partisans were members of a resistance movement which fought a guerrilla war against the Axis occupation of the Soviet Union during the Second World War....
in
UkraineUkraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Russia to the east; Belarus to the north; Poland, Slovakia, and Hungary to the west; Romania and Moldova to the southwest; and the Black Sea and Sea of Azov to the south. The city of Kiev is both the capital and the largest city of...
and was familiar with the latest techniques in
counter-insurgencyCounter-insurgency is a military term for the armed conflict against an insurgency by forces aligned with the recognised government of the territory in which the conflict takes place...
warfare.
Stroop ordered the entire Ghetto to be systematically burned down and blown up, building by building, and all of Warsaw's Jews to be killed or deported to extermination camps.
Stroop prepared a detailed record of the operation in a seventy-five page report. It was bound together in black pebble leather, included copies of all communiqués sent to SS Police Leader East
KrugerKrüger, Kruger or Krueger without the Umlaut Ü are German surnames originating from Krüger, meaning tavern-keeper in Low Saxon or potter in High German.Notable people with the surname include:- People :* Alex Kruger, English decathlete...
, and photographs with captions in
Gothic scriptGothic script may refer to:* Blackletter* Gothic alphabet* Schwabacher...
. Originally titled "The Jewish Quarter of Warsaw is no more!", it is commonly referred to as "The Stroop Report" (it would later be used as evidence at the
Nuremberg TrialsThe Nuremberg trials were a series of trials, or tribunals, most notable for the prosecution of prominent members of the political, military, and economic leadership of Nazi Germany after its defeat in World War II....
).
After the uprising was suppressed, Stroop formally assumed the position of
SS and Police LeaderSS and Police Leader was a title for senior Nazi officials that commanded large units of the SS during and prior to World War II.Three levels of subordination were established for bearers of this title:* SS and Police Leader , SSPF)...
of Warsaw. SS-
ObergruppenführerObergruppenführer was a Nazi Party paramilitary rank that was first created in 1932 as a rank of the SA and until 1942 it was the highest SS rank inferior only to Reichsführer-SS...
Friedrich-Wilhelm Kruger awarded an Iron Cross 1st Class to Stroop on 18 June 1943 for the action at a
gala-Events and festivities:*A gala, a festivity *Durham Miners' Gala, a famous gala in the north of England*Swimming gala, an amateur swimming competition-Places:*Gala, Tibet, a village....
reception in Warsaw’s
Lazienki ParkThe Baths Park, or Royal Baths is the largest park in Warsaw, Poland, occupying 76 hectares of the city center. The park-and-palace complex lies in Warsaw's Downtown , on Ujazdów Avenue on the "Royal Route" linking the Royal Castle with Wilanów, to the south...
.
Stroop was subsequently named the Higher SS and Police Leader in
GreeceGreece , officially the Hellenic Republic , is a country in southeastern Europe, situated on the southern end of the Balkan Peninsula....
from 8 September until November 1943. The local civilian administration found his methods and behaviour unacceptable and withdrew cooperation, forbidding the local
OrdnungspolizeiThe Ordnungspolizei was the name for the uniformed regular German police force in existence during the period of Nazi Germany, notably between 1936 and 1945. It was increasingly absorbed into the Nazi police system. Owing to their green uniforms, they were also referred to as Grüne Polizei or the...
police to have anything to do with him, which made his position untenable. Consequently, he was removed and on 9 November he was appointed Commander of SS-
Oberabschnitt Rhein-Westmark (an SS administrative district named for the
RhineThe Rhine is one of the longest and most important rivers in Europe, at , with an average discharge of more than ....
and
Gau WestmarkThe Gau Westmark was an administrative division of Nazi Germany from 1933 to 1945. Previous to that, since 1926, it was the regional subdivision of the Nazi Party.-History:...
) in
WiesbadenWiesbaden is a city in southwestern Germany and the capital of the federal state of Hesse. It has about 275,400 inhabitants, plus approximately 10,000 United States citizens...
until the close of the war.
Trials and execution
In early May 1945, Stroop was captured by
American forcesThe United States armed forces are the overall unified military forces of the United States.The history of the United States armed forces dates to 1775, even before the Declaration of Independence marked the establishment of the United States...
in the town of Rottau,
BavariaBavaria , with an area of and almost 12.5 million inhabitants, is located in the southeast of Germany and is the largest state of Germany by area, forming almost 20% of the total land area of Germany...
. Wearing the uniform of an infantry officer, he bore false discharge papers made out to a
WehrmachtWehrmacht was the name of the unified armed forces of Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the Heer , the Kriegsmarine and the Luftwaffe ....
Captain of Reserve Josef Straub. He kept to this story for nearly two months before admitting to being Jürgen Stroop on 2 July 1945.
After
World War IIWorld War II, or the Second World War , was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including all great powers, organized into two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
he was put on trial by the American
Military Tribunal"Military Court" redirects here. For courts with jurisdiction over military personnel, see Court-martial. For other uses see Military law.A military tribunal is a kind of military court designed to try members of enemy forces during wartime, operating outside the scope of conventional criminal and...
at
DachauDachau is a town in Upper Bavaria, in the southern part of Germany. It is a major district town—a Große Kreisstadt—of the administrative region of Upper Bavaria, about 20 km north-west of Munich. It is now a popular residential area for people working in Munich with roughly 40,000 inhabitants...
(Dachau Trials) for the
summary executionA summary execution is a variety of execution in which a person is killed on the spot without trial. Summary executions are practiced by police, military, and paramilitary organizations and are associated with guerrilla warfare, terrorism and counterinsurgency.According to international law,...
s of Allied airmen (
Fliegermorde) shot down over Germany in his field of command. On March 21, 1947, he was sentenced to death by the tribunal. However, that sentence was not carried out; instead, he was extradited to Poland to be tried by the Polish government.
Upon
extraditionExtradition is the official process whereby one nation or state requests and obtains from another nation or state the surrender of a suspected or convicted criminal. Between nation states, extradition is regulated by treaties...
to Poland, Stroop was again found guilty of
war crime.War crimes are "violations of the laws or customs of war"; including "murder, the ill-treatment or deportation of civilian residents of an occupied territory to slave labor camps", "the murder or ill-treatment of prisoners of war", the killing of hostages, "the wanton destruction of cities, towns...
s. While in
Mokotów PrisonMokotów Prison is a prison in Warsaw's borough of Mokotów, Poland, located on Rakowiecka street 37. During World War II and until 1989 it was a place of detention and execution of the Polish opposition and freedom fighters.The Mokotów prison was built in early 20th century as a tsarist prison used...
in Warsaw, awaiting trial, Stroop was placed in the same cell with
Kazimierz MoczarskiKazimierz Damazy Moczarski was an officer of the Polish Home Army. He was a Lieutenant , Captain , and a journalist...
,
political prisonerA political prisoner is someone held in prison or otherwise detained, perhaps under house arrest, for his or her involvement in political activity.-"Political" prisoner:...
and former
Polish resistanceThe Polish resistance movement fought against the occupation of Poland during World War II. The fight against the Nazi occupation of Poland was an important part of the European anti-fascist resistance movement and had the largest partisan army in occupied Europe...
fighter jailed by the
communist secret policeThe Ministry of Public Security of Poland was a Polish communist secret police, intelligence and counter-espionage service operating from 1945 to 1954...
. After his eventual release in 1956, Moczarski wrote a book about his time spent with Stroop, titled
Conversations with an Executioner (
Rozmowy z katem). According to Moczarski, Stroop thus recalled the destruction of Warsaw's Great Synagogue:
On 8 September 1951 the Polish authorities sentenced Stroop to death. He was executed in Warsaw at the scene of his greatest crime.
In popular culture
In the 1976 film
The Eagle Has LandedThe Eagle Has Landed is a 1976 film version of the novel The Eagle Has Landed by Jack Higgins. It was directed by John Sturges and starred Michael Caine, Donald Sutherland and Robert Duvall. It is also Sturges' final film for which Caine described him as rather more bothered by the fishing, a point...
, Jürgen Stroop is portrayed by the German actor
Joachim HansenJoachim Hansen was a German actor. He was best known for film roles in the 1960s and 1970s where he was often cast in roles portraying Nazi officers and World War II German officials....
(the character is simply referred to as "
HerrHerr is a title of nobility meaning "Lord" in German.It may also refer to:* Mr., for which Herr is the German and Scandinavian equivalent* Lois Herr, American politician* Traugott Herr , German general...
Gruppenführer" and not by Stroop's actual name, although in
the source novelThe Eagle Has Landed is a book by Jack Higgins set during World War II. It first published in 1975. It was made into a film of the same name in 1976 starring Michael Caine...
by
Jack HigginsJack Higgins is the principal pseudonym of UK novelist Harry Patterson. Patterson is the author of more than 60 novels. As Higgins, most have been thrillers of various types and, since his breakthrough novel The Eagle Has Landed in 1975, nearly all have been bestsellers...
, Stroop's name is used).
In the 2001 film
UprisingUprising is a 2001 war/drama television movie about the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising. The film was directed by Jon Avnet and written by Avnet and Paul Brickman...
, Stroop is depicted by the American actor
Jon VoightJonathan Vincent "Jon" Voight is a controversial American film and television actor. He came to prominence at the end of the 1960s, with a performance as a would-be hustler in 1969's Best Picture winner, Midnight Cowboy, for which he earned his first Academy Award nomination...
.
In the 2006 Polish television film
Rozmowy z katem (
Conversations with an Executioner, based on
Kazimierz MoczarskiKazimierz Damazy Moczarski was an officer of the Polish Home Army. He was a Lieutenant , Captain , and a journalist...
's memoir, Stroop is played by the actor
Piotr FronczewskiPiotr Fronczewski , is a Polish actor and singer.As a fictional character Franek Kimono he issued a disco LP in 1983 which was meant to be a musical joke but turned out to be a great success. Fronczewski started his acting career playing in the theater. He also performed in cabarets...
.
External links
- Jurgen Stroop Table of Contents (Jewish Virtual Library
The Jewish Virtual Library is an online encyclopedia published by the American-Israeli Cooperative Enterprise . It was established in 1993 and is a comprehensive Web site covering Israel, the Jewish people and Jewish culture....
)