The Schutzstaffel (SS) - Hitler's Criminal Machine
The SS Butcher of Radom: The Crimes and Fall of Herbert Böttcher
15m
Born in 1907 in East Prussia, Herbert Böttcher rose from a young lawyer to one of Nazi Germany’s most ruthless SS and Police Leaders. After joining the SS and Nazi Party, he quickly advanced through the ranks — using law, power, and ideology to serve a regime built on terror.
As SS and Police Leader in the Radom District of occupied Poland, Böttcher oversaw the creation and liquidation of the Radom Ghetto. Under his command, thousands of Jews were rounded up, deported to Treblinka, or shot in the streets. His orders demanded that entire Polish families — including children — be executed if they helped Jews escape.
Between 1942 and 1944, over 300,000 Jews were deported from the region under Böttcher’s supervision. He was also implicated in brutal anti-partisan actions such as the Michniów massacre, where more than 200 civilians were murdered.
Captured after the war, Böttcher was extradited to Poland, tried for his crimes in Radom, and sentenced to death. On 12 June 1950, the SS Butcher of Radom was hanged — ending the life of a man who embodied the machinery of Nazi occupation and genocide.
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