Gustav Adolf Nosske

For the German Minister of Defence, seeGustav Noske.

"Nosske" redirects here. For the similar surname, seeNoske.

Gustav Nosske
Nosske's mugshot after his indictment for theNuremberg Military Tribunal(July 1947)
Born	29 December 1902 Halle,German Empire
Died	9 August 1986(1986-08-09)(aged 83) Düsseldorf,West Germany
Criminal status	Deceased
Conviction(s)	Crimes against humanity War crimes Membership in a criminal organization
Trial	Einsatzgruppen trial
Criminal penalty	Life imprisonment;commuted to 10 years imprisonment
Allegiance	Nazi Germany
Service/branch	Schutzstaffel
Years of service	1933–1945
Rank	SS-Obersturmbannführer
Unit	Einsatzgruppe D
Commands held	Einsatzkommando 12
Other work	Lawyer

Gustav Adolf Nosske(29 December 1902 – 9 August 1986) was a German lawyer andSS-Obersturmbannführer.In 1941–42, he commandedEinsatzkommando 12withinEinsatzgruppe D,under the command ofOtto Ohlendorf.Tried in theEinsatzgruppen Trialin 1948, Nosske was sentenced to life imprisonment. He was released early in December 1951.

Career

Gustav Aldolf Nosske was born on 29 December inHalle.After studying law, he became a lawyer in Halle andAachen.Nosske joined theNazi Partyand theSSin 1933. He became the head of theGestapoinAachenin 1935 and then inFrankfurtfrom September 1936 to June 1941.

As a SS-Obersturmbannführerin rank, he was appointed chief ofEinsatzkommando 12before the invasion of the Soviet Union on 22 June 1941.In the areas ofDonetskandNovocherkassk,his unit committed many atrocities against the civilian population. In mid-August 1941Otto Ohlendorfordered Nosske to transport 11,000 Jews fromMohyliv-PodilskyitoYampilin order to make them cross theDniesterriver and place them in the Romanian zone. During this walk, hundreds of Jews were murdered.Between 16 and 28 February 1942,Einsatzkommando 12killed 721 Jews, 271 communists, 74 partisans and 421 Roma.

In April 1942 Nosske joined theReich Security Main Office(RSHA) inBerlinconcerning the Occupied Eastern Territories.In 1943, he was appointed head of the "Foreigners and Enemies of the State" division of theGestapo.He worked as a liaison officer between theReich Ministry for the Occupied Eastern Territoriesand the RSHA. From August 1943 to September 1944 he was head of the state police inDüsseldorf.

During the laterEinsatzgruppen Trialheld in 1948, Nosske said that in 1944, he had been ordered to collect all German Jews of Düsseldorf married to non-Jews for extermination, but that he had refused to carry this out. The order was ultimately not enforced. The court accepted this as mitigation, but pointed out that this meant Nosske did not have to kill anyone.

Trial and conviction

Nosske was arrested by the Allies and brought to trial at theEinsatzgruppen Trialin 1948 atNuremberg.He was the only accused who did not seek clemency from GeneralLucius D. Clayin the American sector of occupation.On 10 April 1948, Nosske was sentenced tolife imprisonmentfor war crimes. He was released early, on 15 December 1951.

Details of his later life are largely unknown, other than a court appearance on 26 March 1965, where he testified as a witness at theFrankfurt Auschwitz Trials,with Düsseldorf as declared place of residence and legal advisor as profession.

He died in Düsseldorf on 9 August 1986.