Kurt gerstein biography

Kurt Gerstein was a German SS officer and head of technical disinfection services of the Hygiene-Institut der Waffen-SS.
Kurt Gerstein (11 August 1905 – 25 July 1945) was a German SS officer and head of technical disinfection services of the Hygiene-Institut der Waffen-SS.
German SS officer Kurt Gerstein was assigned to the Hygiene Institute of the Waffen SS. He was called upon to assist in the implementation.

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German Resistance Memorial Center Biographie

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Kurt Gerstein

August 11, 1905 - July 25, 1945

Kurt Gerstein

Kurt Gerstein was born in Münster and grew up in a judge’s family. After gaining his school-leaving certificate he worked in the Christian youth service, where he rapidly earnt recognition and influence. He studied mining and gained his engineer’s diploma in 1931. In May 1933 Gerstein joined the Nazi Party (NSDAP). In the same year he openly protested against the dissolution of the Protestant youth federations, and became active in the Confessional Church soon after. In 1936 he was expelled from the NSDAP and imprisoned twice. After Gerstein learned of the murder of patients in psychiatric clinics and homes, he decided to join the Waffen-SS (Combat SS) to get access to more information. He was allocated to the Waffen-SS sanitary department and became director of the technical disinfection service. In June 1942 Gerstein was assi

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Kurt Gerstein

SS officer (1905–1945)

Kurt Gerstein (11 August 1905 – 25 July 1945) was a German SS officer and head of technical disinfection services of the Hygiene-Institut der Waffen-SS (Institute for Hygiene of the Waffen-SS). In 1942, after witnessing mass murders in the Belzec and TreblinkaNazi extermination camps, Gerstein gave a detailed report to Swedish diplomat Göran von Otter, as well as to Swiss diplomats, members of the Roman Catholic Church with contacts to Pope Pius XII, and to the Dutch government-in-exile, in an effort to inform the international community about the Holocaust as it was happening. In 1945, following his surrender, he wrote the Gerstein Report covering his experience of the Holocaust. He died of an alleged suicide while in French custody.

Early life

Kurt Gerstein was born in Münster, Westphalia, on 11 August 1905, the sixth of seven children in a Prussian middle-class family that was described as strongly chauvinistic and "totally compliant to authority". His father, Ludwig, a former Prussian officer, was a judge and an authori

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Kurt Gerstein

Kurt Gerstein (1905–1945) was an SS officer assigned to the Hygiene Institute of the Waffen SS. In this role, he was called upon to assist in the implementation of the “Final Solution.”

Early Years and Family Life

Gerstein was the sixth of seven children born to a well-established Lutheran family in the German city of Münster. Gerstein's father was a harsh authoritarian figure and ardent nationalist. He instilled an unwavering patriotism in his children. Gerstein's mother died when he was young. Although an exceptionally bright child, Gerstein was a less than ideal student. He skipped classes, ignored his schoolwork, and was even known as a prankster. Despite his flawed scholastic record, he went on to study mining engineering at the universities of Marburg, Aachen, and Berlin, earning his degree in 1931. While studying at Marburg, Gerstein mirrored his father’s chauvinistic attitudes. He joined Corps Teutonia Marburg, one of Germany’s most ultra-nationalistic fraternities.

Initially, Gerstein felt it was his patriotic duty to