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Josef Albert Meisinger

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Josef Albert Meisinger
Nickname(s)"The Butcher of Warsaw"
Born14 September 1899
Munich,German Empire
Died7 March 1947(1947-03-07)(aged 47)
Mokotów Prison,Warsaw,Polish People's Republic
Cause of deathExecution by hanging
AllegianceGerman Empire
Nazi Germany
Service/branchMunich Police 1922–1933
Gestapo1933–1945
Years of service1916-1919, 1933–1945
RankStandartenführer
Commands heldEinsatzgruppe IV
Commander of the State Police inWarsaw
Battles/warsWorld War I
World War II
AwardsIron Cross
Josef Albert Meisinger (second row, second from the right) during his trial before theSupreme National Tribunalin Warsaw.

Josef Albert Meisinger(14 September 1899 – 7 March 1947), also known as the "Butcher of Warsaw", was anSSfunctionary inNazi Germany.He held a position in theGestapoand was a member of theNazi Party.During the early phases ofWorld War IIMeisinger served as commander ofEinsatzgruppeIV inPoland.From 1941 to 1945 he worked asliaisonfor the Gestapo at the German embassy inTokyo.He was arrested inJapanin 1945, convicted ofwar crimesand was executed inWarsaw,Poland.

Early life

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Meisinger was born inMunich,the son of Josef and Berta Meisinger; he enlisted on 23 December 1916 and served duringWorld War Iin the 230thMinenwerferCompany (a type of short-rangemortar), 22nd Bavarian Pioneer Battalion in the30th Bavarian Reserve Division.After being wounded in battle he was awarded theIron Crossand theBavarian Military Merit Cross.On 18 January 1919 he attained the rank ofVizefeldwebel(senior sergeant), and on 19 April 1919 he entered theFreikorpsunderFranz Ritter von Epp,with whom he fought against theSoviet Republic of Bavaria.On 1 October 1922 he began working at the Munich Police Headquarters. As leader of the III Platoon of the II Company of theFreikorps Oberland,he took part in theHitlerputschon 8–9 November 1923.

He was inducted on 5 March 1933 into theSSand then into theBavarian Political Policeon 9 March 1933, thus coming into official contact withHeinrich Müller,Franz Josef HuberandReinhard Heydrich(with whom he had served in the Freikorps). At that point in time,Heinrich Himmlerwas chief of the Munich Police and Heydrich was commander of Department IV, the political police.[1]Meisinger became a member of theNazi Partyon 1 May 1933. He received theBlood OrderMedal of the Nazi Party on 9 November 1933.

Nazi career

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On 20 April 1934, Meisinger was promoted to SS-Obertruppführer.Heydrich was appointed chief of the Gestapo on 22 April 1934. Immediately thereafter, Heydrich transferred to itsBerlinoffice and took with him trusted colleagues:Heinrich Müller (Gestapo),Franz Josef Huberand Meisinger, referred to as theBajuwaren-Brigade(Bavarian Brigade).[2]: 76 On 9 May, Meisinger was promoted to SS-Untersturmführer(2nd lieutenant) in theDezernatII 1 H and II H 1, which had the following tasks:

On 24 June 1934, he went to hearErich Klausenerat theCatholic Congressin Berlin and informed Heydrich that Klausener had madeanarchiststatements. On 30 June 1934, Klausener was shot by SS officerKurt Gildischin his office at the Prussian transportation ministry.[4]After the war,Walter Schellenbergthe former head of theforeign intelligence sectionof theSDin theRHSA,described Meisinger as:

One of the most evil creatures among Heydrich's bunch of thugs and he carried out the vilest of his orders...He was a frightening individual, a large, coarse-faced man with a bald head and an incredibly ugly face. However, like many men of his type, he had drive and energy and an unscrupulous sort of cleverness...As a result of his long police experience he knew a good deal about the workings and methods of theComintern.[5]

Role in the Blomberg–Fritsch Affair

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Main article:Blomberg–Fritsch Affair

From 1936 to 1938 Meisinger was a leader in the Gestapo in charge of theReich Central Office for the Combating of Homosexuality and Abortion(Reichszentrale zur Bekämpfung der Homosexualität und Abtreibung) in the Gestapo Central Headquarters in theSicherheitspolizei(SiPo).[6]During this period he was promoted to SS-Obersturmbannführer(lieutenant colonel). In early 1938Adolf Hitler,Hermann Göringand Himmler wanted to dispose of Field MarshalWerner von Blomberg,a conservative member of the army's high command and Hitler'sMinister of Defense.Meisinger's investigation revealed that Blomberg's wife, Erna Gruhn, had been a prostitute with a police record and once posed for pornographic photos. Blomberg was forced to resign.[2]: 116 

In 1936 Meisinger had uncovered allegations ofhomosexualitymade against theCommander-in-Chiefof the ArmyColonel GeneralWerner von Fritsch.A file was prepared and Heydrich passed the information on to Hitler. Hitler chose to dismiss the allegations and ordered Heydrich to destroy the file. However, he did not do so.[2]: 116 

In late January 1938, Göring wanted to dispose of von Fritsch as he did not want Fritsch to become the successor to Blomberg and thus his superior. Heydrich resurrected the old file on Fritsch. Meisinger saw it as an opportunity for advancement, since he knew that Himmler and the SS regarded homosexuals as a danger to the regime.[7]However, Meisinger's police work was judged to be sloppy and Heydrich and Müller were dissatisfied. At one point, Meisinger and Huber interrogated Otto Schmidt, a notorious criminal whose Berlin gang specialized in the blackmail of homosexuals.[2]: 117 Schmidt identified von Fritsch as a man whom he had witnessed engaging in homosexual acts in 1933.[8]When Meisinger provided a photograph of Fritsch on which was clearly printed Fritsch's name, title and military rank, Schmidt jumped at the chance to advance himself by slandering the general.[9][10]Heydrich resubmitted the updated von Fritsch file to Hitler.[2]: 116–117 Werner Best,in describing this incident, called Meisinger "a primitive man with clumsy methods". It was eventually determined that von Fritsch had been confused withRittmeisterAchim von Frisch. The accusations against Fritsch broke down in court and members of the German officer corps were appalled at Fritsch's treatment. Meisinger's career in the Gestapo was almost terminated.[10]: 95 

Activities in Poland

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As a consequence of Meisinger's and his agency's failure, he and others were replaced, transferred for disciplinary reasons or dismissed.[10]: 160 In 1938 he was transferred to work in the archives of the principal SD office, but by September 1939 he was appointed Deputy Commander of theEinsatzgruppeIV inPoland.On 1 January 1940, after promotion to SS-Standartenführer(colonel), Meisinger was appointed Commander of the State Police in theWarsawDistrict, replacingLothar Beutelwho had been denounced for corruption.

Meisinger proceeded to apply brutal force against Poles, mostly those of Jewish descent. As part of theGerman AB-Aktion in Poland,he authorized thePalmiry massacre,the mass shooting of 1,700 people in the forest nearPalmiry.[11]As a reprisal for the murder of a Polish policeman, he ordered the execution of 55 Jewish residents on 22 November 1939, and on 20 December, the execution of 107 Poles as a reprisal for the murder of two Germans.[12]Meisinger became so notorious that he was called the "Butcher of Warsaw"[13](although thissobriquetwas also given to SS-GruppenführerHeinz Reinefarth). According to Schellenberg, his atrocities in Warsaw even appalled his superiors: "I had collected a huge file which proved him to be so utterly bestial and corrupt as to be practically inhuman...At this stage...Heydrich intervened: Meisinger knew too much, and Heydrich managed to prevent the trial from taking place."[5]: 160–161 Heydrich's appeal to Himmler saved Meisinger fromcourt-martialand possible execution. He was sent toTokyoas a means of keeping him at arm's length until the dust had settled.[5]: 161 

During his trial in 1947 Meisinger stated that he was not in Warsaw after October 1940, but it is likely that he participated in the creation of theWarsaw Ghetto.[14]

Activities in Shanghai and Japan

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From 1 April 1941 to May 1945 Meisinger acted as Gestapo liaison connecting leaders and particular agents of the SD at the German Embassy inTokyo.[15]His duties included seeking out enemies of theThird Reichwithin the German community, using various informants. He was also the SD liaison officer to theJapanese Secret Intelligence Service.One of his tasks in Japan was the observation of the secret Soviet agentRichard Sorge(who was under suspicion in Berlin) but Meisinger soon became Sorge's constant drinking companion and, unwittingly, one of Sorge's best sources of information.[16][15]: 144 

According to one Japanese informant, Shibata Mitsugi whose testimony and reliability has been questioned,[17][18]in 1941 Meisinger developed a plan and tried to influence the Japanese to exterminate approximately 18,000–20,000 Jews who had escaped fromAustriaand Germany and who were living in Japanese-occupiedShanghai.[19]His proposals included the creation of aconcentration camponChongming Islandin the delta of theYangtze,[20]or starvation on freighters off the coast of China.[21][22]The Japanese admiral responsible for overseeing Shanghai would not yield to pressure from Meisinger; however, the Japanese built aghetto in the neighborhood of Hongkew[23]which had already been planned by Tokyo in 1939: a slum with about twice thepopulation densityofManhattan.The ghetto was strictly isolated by Japanese soldiers under the command of the Japanese official Kano Ghoya,[24]and Jews could only leave it with special permission. Some 2,000 of them died in theShanghai Ghettoduring the wartime period.[25]

Arrest, trial, and execution

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On 6 September 1945 Meisinger surrendered to twowar correspondents,Clark Lee of theINSand Robert Brumby ofMBS,at theFujiya HotelinHakone, Kanagawa.[13]The reporters drove him to theYokohamaheadquarters of theCounter-Intelligence Corpswhere Meisinger turned himself in.[26]He was held in theYokohamaJail[27][28]where he underwent intensive questioning for two weeks before being transferred to U.S. GeneralDwight D. Eisenhower's headquarters inFrankfurt.[29]In November 1945, under the escort of Lt. Col. Jennis R. Galloway, and Major James W. McColl, both of the 441st CIC detachment, he was flown toWashington, D.C.for questioning on his involvement in the destruction of theWarsaw Ghetto.[30]

In 1946 he was extradited to Poland. In Warsaw on 17 December 1946 he was charged, together withLudwig Fischer(Nazi Governor of the Warsaw District),Max Daume(Acting Commander of theOrdnungspolizeiin Warsaw), and Ludwig Leist (NaziPlenipotentiaryGovernor of the City of Warsaw) ofNazi crimes.[31]The trials took place between 17 December 1946 and 24 February 1947. On 3 March 1947 theSupreme National Tribunalin Warsaw sentenced Meisinger to death, and on 7 March he was executed in Warsaw'sMokotów Prison.[32]

References

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  1. ^Longerich, Peter,Heinrich Himmler: A Life,Oxford University Press, 2011, p. 149.ISBN978-0-19-959232-6
  2. ^abcdeGerwarth, Robert,Hitler's Hangman: The Life of Heydrich,Yale University Press, 2011, p. 76,ISBN978-0-300-11575-8
  3. ^Meisinger and the Gay Holocaust
  4. ^Hoffmann, Peter,Hitler's Personal Security: Protecting the Führer 1921-1945,Da Capo Press, 2000 [1979], p. 49,ISBN978-0-30680-947-7
  5. ^abcWalter Schellenberg,The Labyrinth: Memoirs of Walter Schellenberg, Hitler's Chief of Counterintelligence,Da Capo Press, 1956;ISBN0306809273,pp. 160–161.
  6. ^Jörg Hutter,Die Rolle der Polizei bei der Schwulen- und Lesbenverfolgung im Nationalsozialismus, in: "Schwule, Lesben, Polizei",Dobler, Jens (HG.), Verlag rosa Winkel, Berlin 1996.
  7. ^Josef Meisinger on "Combating Homosexuality as a Political Task" (April 5–6, 1937)
  8. ^Plant, Richard,The Pink Triangle: The Nazi War Against Homosexuals.Macmillan, 1988, p. 141.ISBN978-0-8050-0600-1
  9. ^Deutsch, Harold Charles,Hitler and His Generals: The Hidden Crisis, January–June 1938,U of Minnesota Press, 1974, p. 141.ISBN978-0-8166-0649-8
  10. ^abcKarl-Heinz Janssen and Fritz Tobias,Der Sturz der Generale: Hitler und die Blomberg-Fritsch-Krise 1938,Munich 1994ISBN3-406-38109-X.
  11. ^Wildt, Michael,Generation des Unbedingten, Studienausgabe.Hamburg, 2003, p. 478.ISBN978-3-930908-87-5
  12. ^Eta Harich-Schneider,Charaktere und Katastrophen,Ullstein, 1978, p. 203.ISBN978-3-550-07481-3
  13. ^ab"Swiss Neutral Claims Nazis are Still on the Loose in Japan,"Spartanburg Herald-Journal,May 12, 1946, p. A5.
  14. ^Freyeisen, Astrid,Shanghai und die Rolle dês Deutschen Reichs,Königshausen und Neumann, 2000, p. 466.
  15. ^abWhymant, Robert,Stalin's Spy: Richard Sorge and the Tokyo Espionage Ring,I. B. Tauris, 1996, p. 144.ISBN978-1-86064-044-5
  16. ^Piekalkiewicz, Janusz,World History of Espionage: Agents, Systems, Operations,# National Intelligence Book Center (1998), p. 369.ISBN978-3-517-00849-3
  17. ^Kenji Kanno, 'The Designated Area for Stateless Refugees in Shanghai: Exploring Aftereffects Using Unpublished Documents of Captain Toshiro Saneyoshi,' in Kevin Ostoyich, Yun Xia (eds.),The History of the Shanghai Jews:New Pathways of Research,Palgrave Macmillan2022ISBN978-3-031-13760-0pp.75-96.
  18. ^'In addition to the Middle East and North Africa, some scholars have claimed that the Nazis had a plan to exterminate the Jews of Shanghai. This claim originated in Marvin Tokayer and Mary Swartz's 1979 book The Fugu Plan. The supposed extermination plan even has a name, the Meisinger Plan. Allegedly developed by Josef Meisinger, this plan contemplated the extermination of Shanghai's Jews by drowning, overwork, or medical experimentation. But..the Meisinger plan probably did not exist. It lacks any documentation, is contradicted by contemporaneous Japanese documentation, and relies on a single – and highly problematic – piece of eyewitness testimony.’Matthew Ghobrial Cockerill,Did the Nazis plan to extend the final solution beyond Europe? Assessing the evidence,'Holocaust Studies:A Journal of Culture and History2 April 2024
  19. ^Marvin Tokayer and Mary Swartz,The Fugu Plan: The Untold Story Of The Japanese And The Jews During World War II,Gefen Publishing House Ltd, 2004.ISBN9652293296
  20. ^O'Neill, Mark, "A Saved Haven: Plans to rejuvenate Shanghai's rundown former Jewish ghetto will celebrate the district's role as a sanctuary during the Second World War",South China Morning Post,August 1, 2006; Features: Behind the News; p. 11.
  21. ^"Jane Shlensky," Considering Other Choices: Chiune Sugihara's Rescue of Polish Jews, "North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics Durham, NC, 2003, p. 6"(PDF).Archived fromthe original(PDF)on 2017-01-23.Retrieved2010-08-03.
  22. ^Ernest G. Heppner,Shanghai Refuge: A Memoir of the World War II Jewish Ghetto,University of Nebraska Press1993ISBN978-0-803-27281-1pp.105-106.
  23. ^Patrick E. Tyler, "Jews Revisit Shanghai, Grateful Still that it Sheltered Them."New York Times,June 29, 1994.
  24. ^Heppner, Ernest G.,"Strange Haven: A Jewish Childhood in Wartime Shanghai (review)"Archived2016-03-04 at theWayback Machine,inShofar: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Jewish Studies,Volume 19, Number 3, Spring 2001, pp. 160–161.
  25. ^Heppner, Ernest G.Shanghai Refuge – A Memoir of the World War II Jewish Ghetto,1995.
  26. ^Lee, Clark,One Last Look Around,Duell, Sloan and Pearce, 1947, pp. 125–30.
  27. ^"International: First Haul,"Time Magazine,Sept 24, 1945.
  28. ^"War Criminal 'Cry-Baby': German Held in Yokohama,"The Sydney Morning Herald(NSW: 1842–1954), 5 October 1945, p. 1.
  29. ^Frank Kelley and Cornelius Ryan,STAR-SPANGLED MIKADO,Robert M. McBride & Co., New York, 1947.
  30. ^"The 'Butcher of Warsaw' Arrives in California,"New York Times,Nov 16, 1945; p. 9
  31. ^"Representatives of Jewish Community Asked to Testify at Trial of Nazi Rulers of Warsaw,"Jewish Telegraphic Agency,December 19, 1946.
  32. ^Prosecution of Nazi Crimes in Poland in 1939–2004Archived2016-03-03 at theWayback Machine
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