Arnold Strippel

Arnold Strippel (2 June 1911 in Unshausen (now Wabern) – 1 May 1994 in Frankfurt) was a German SS commander during the Nazi era and convicted criminal. As a member of the SS-Totenkopfverbände, while assigned to the Neuengamme concentration camp, he was given the task of murdering the victims of a tuberculosis medical experiment conducted by Kurt Heissmeyer.[1][2]

Arnold Strippel
Born2 June 1911
Died1 May 1994(1994-05-01) (aged 82)
Known forMurders at Bullenhuser Damm school
Deputy commandant, Majdanek concentration camp
TrialMajdanek Trials
Criminal penalty3 years
SS career
Allegiance Nazi Germany
Service/branch Schutzstaffel
Years of service1934–1945
RankObersturmführer (1st Lieutenant)

SS career

Strippel served in various concentration camps starting in 1934, when he joined the SS. His first assignment was at Sachsenburg, his next was Buchenwald, where he participated in the shooting of 21 Jewish inmates on November 9, 1939, following the failed assassination attempt on Adolf Hitler in Munich. While at Buchenwald, Strippel caught an inmate who was using a rope and some paper to alleviate heavy loads he was carrying on his work. This was against camp regulations (stealing Third Reich property), so Strippel decided to make an example out of him. "You used this rope; you'll hang on a rope. And the whole camp will watch as you twist in the wind." The inmate's hands were tied behind his back and he was lifted two feet off the ground from a tree. The weight of his body was all on the shoulder joints and the pain was "excruciating beyond all description."[3]

Strippel's next assignment from March to October 1941 was the Natzweiler-Struthof concentration camp in Occupied France. Strippel then served in Majdanek near Lublin Poland, Ravensbrück, then at Peenemünde on the Usedom peninsula, in the Karlshagen II forced labor camp, the site of V-2 rocket production and launches. From there the 's-Hertogenbosch concentration camp in Vught, the Netherlands, more commonly known as Camp Vught. His final assignment was at Neuengamme.

Trial and conviction

Strippel was convicted of war crimes at the Third Majdanek Trial before the West German Court in Düsseldorf (1975–1981) for his actions at Buchenwald and at the Majdanek concentration camp, Poland, where he served as deputy commandant (Case no. 145 & 616 in Frankfurt District Court). He was implicated in the torture and killing of many dozens of prisoners including 42 Soviet POWs in July 1942. Strippel received a nominal ​3 1⁄2-year sentence. He also received 121,500 Deutsche Mark reimbursement for the loss of earnings and his social security contributions, which he used to purchase a condominium in Frankfurt, which he occupied until his death.[4][5]

A character inspired by Strippel was featured in the 1989 film "The Rose Garden".

References
  1. Schwarberg, Gunther (1984). Der SS-Arzt und die Kinder vom Bullenhuser Damm [The murders at Bullenhuser Damm : the SS doctor and the children]. Erna Baber Rosenfeld, Alvin H. Rosenfeld (trans.). Indiana University Press. ISBN 3-88243-095-8.
  2. Neumann, Klaus (2000-12-21). Shifting memories: the Nazi past in the new Germany. University of Michigan Press. ISBN 978-0-472-08710-5.
  3. Werber, Jack. Saving children: Diary of a Buchenwald Survivor and Rescuer. Transaction Publishers (Jan 1 1996). ISBN 978-1-56000-250-5.
  4. Thomas Schattner. "Strippels Blutspur durch Europas KZs – Sie begann vor 70 Jahren hier in Unshausen, im heutigen Schwalm-Eder-Kreis" (PDF). Archiv und Ausstellung der Universität Kassel (in German). Gedenkstätte Breitenau. pp. 57–62. Archived from the original (PDF file, direct download 78.2 KB) on 2007-07-23. Retrieved 2013-04-26.
  5. JVL (2013). "Third Majdanek Trial". Majdanek extermination camp. Jewish Virtual Library.org. Retrieved 2013-04-13.
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