Josef Blösche file photo [22824]

Josef Blösche

SurnameBlösche
Given NameJosef
Born12 Feb 1912
Died29 Jul 1969
CountryGermany
CategoryMilitary-Ground
GenderMale

Contributor:

ww2dbaseJosef Blösche was born in the Bohemian region of Austria–Hungary in 1912. His early years were spent largely as a farmhand and a waiter at his father's hotel. He joined the Nazi Party and the Schutzstaffel (SS) organization in 1938. In 1939, he was assigned to the occupation force of Warsaw, Poland. In Mar 1940, he was transferred to the Sicherheitsdienst (SD) within the SS, with his post remaining in the city of Warsaw. During the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising in Apr-May 1943, his unquestioning brutality contributed to the German success in the liquidation of the ghetto and many Jewish deaths; for this accomplishment, he was awarded the German War Merit Cross. He surrendered to the Soviets in May 1945 and was sent to forced labor camps. In early 1946, he transferred to a labor camp in East Germany. In Aug 1946, he suffered an accident at work that left one side of his face deformed. In 1947, he was freed. The publication of photographs of the suppression of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, many of which featured him prominently, did not affect him as his facial deformation kept him from being recognized. He went on to become married and fathered two children. He was finally found in Jan 1967. Placed on trial in Apr 1969, he was found guilty for playing a role in the deportation of 300,000 Jews from the Warsaw Ghetto and the murder of 2,000 Jews. He was sentenced to death, and the sentence was carried out in Leipzig, East Germany on 29 Jul 1969. He was buried in an unmarked grave.

ww2dbaseSource: Wikipedia

Last Major Revision: Apr 2015

Josef Blösche Interactive Map

Photographs

German troops questioning Rabbi Heschel Rappaport and other rabbis in Warsaw, Poland, 19 Apr-16 May 1943Jewish boy Artur Dab Siemiatek, Levi Zelinwarger, or Tsvi Nussbaum being rounded up by Josef Blösche and other SS troops, Warsaw, Poland, Apr-May 1943Jürgen Stroop (center) during the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, on Nowolipie Street near intersection of Smocza Street, Poland, Apr-May 1943; note Karl Kaleske or Erich Steidtmann next to him, Heinrich Klaustermeyer (with MP 40), and Josef Blösche (with MP 28)

Josef Blösche Timeline

12 Feb 1912 Josef Blösche was born in Friedland, Austria–Hungary (now Frydlant, Czech Republic).
29 Jul 1969 Josef Blösche was executed by a bullet through the neck in Leipzig, East Germany.




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Event(s) Participated:
» Warsaw Ghetto Uprising

Josef Blösche Photo Gallery
German troops questioning Rabbi Heschel Rappaport and other rabbis in Warsaw, Poland, 19 Apr-16 May 1943
See all 3 photographs of Josef Blösche


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