This Date in History: May 10

Richard Glücks, SS-Gruppenführer, born April 22, 1889 in Odenkirchen bei Monchengladbach, winner of the Iron Cross 1st Class in World War I, head of the Nazi concentration camp system from 1941 to 1945, winner of the German Cross in Silver, died under mysterious conditions on May 10, 1945 in Flensburg (Glücks was featured as a minor character in Frederick Forsyth’s novel The Odessa File, which postulated that he survived the war), wrote in an efficiency report on SS-Sturmbannführer Fritz Suhren, Kommandant of the Ravensbrück concentration camp: “Suhren is a very conscientious and skillful SS-leader who understands how to find his way in the most difficult situation.  He is a good example as an SS-leader with a very decent attitude in his character; he is strict against himself, is a soldier in his appearance and shows accomplishments, which are far above average.”  (2000 Quotations from Hitler’s Thousand Year Reich)

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 Dr. Otto Bradfisch, SS-Obersturmbannführer, born May 10, 1903 in Zweibrücken, commander Einsatzkommando 8, winner of the War Service Cross 1st Class, convicted in 1961 of war crimes and sentenced to 13 years imprisonment, released after 6 years, died June 22, 1994 in Seeshaupt, on Jews: “The shooting of Jews was not a matter of destroying elements that represented a threat either to the fighting troops or to the pacification of the field of operations behind the lines; it was simply a matter of destroying Jews for the sake of destroying Jews.” (2000 Quotations from Hitler’s Thousand Year Reich)