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Ernst Biberstein | |
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 Biberstein's mugshot after his indictment for theNuremberg Military Tribunal (July 1947) | |
| Birth name | Ernst Schzymanowski |
| Born | (1899-02-15)15 February 1899 |
| Died | 8 December 1986(1986-12-08) (aged 87) |
| Allegiance |  German Empire Nazi Germany |
| Branch |  Schutzstaffel |
| Years of service | 1917–1919 1936–1945 |
| Rank | SS-Obersturmbannführer |
| Unit | Einsatzgruppe C |
| Commands | Einsatzkommando 6 |
Ernst Emil Heinrich Biberstein (or Bieberstein) (15 February 1899 – 8 December 1986) was anSS-Obersturmbannführer (Lieutenant Colonel), member of theSD and commanding officer ofEinsatzkommando 6. He was bornErnst Schzymanowski or Szymanowski.
Ernst Biberstein was bornErnst Szymanowski inHilchenbach,Province of Westphalia. His early education was atMülheim. He was aprivate inWorld War I from March 1917 to 1919. Upon discharge, he studiedtheology from March 1919 through 1921 and became aProtestantpastor on 28 December 1924. In 1935 he entered theReichskirchenministerium [de] and was later transferred to theReichssicherheitshauptamt.
Biberstein joined theNazi Party in 1926 and theSS on 13 September 1936 (membership number 272692). From March through October 1940 he was again a soldier. On 1 June 1941, Biberstein became head of the Gestapo office inOpole. There, he was complicit in the deportations of Jews. The same year, he changed his surname from Szymanowski to the supposedly original name, Biberstein. After theassassination ofReinhard Heydrich, he was assigned command of Einsatzkommando 6 in June 1942.[1][better source needed]
Biberstein was a defendant at theEinsatzgruppen Trial during theNuremberg Trials. His trial began in September 1947 and ended on 9 April 1948. At his arraignment, along with all other defendants, he pleaded not guilty on all charges. Einsatzkommando 6 was charged with having executed some two to three thousand people. It was brought to light that atRostow, Biberstein had personally supervised the execution of some 50 to 60 people. The victims were stripped of valuable articles (and partially of clothes), gassed, and left in a mass grave. He was also present at executions where victims were made to kneel at the edge of a pit and killed with a submachine gun.
Biberstein was ultimately found guilty andsentenced to death byhanging. His sentence was reviewed by the "Peck Panel", and latercommuted tolife imprisonment in 1951. Biberstein was denied parole several times. In 1958, theFederal Foreign Office filed parole applications on the behalf of all four inmates still serving time in Landsberg Prison. Biberstein was denied parole, but the board unanimously voted for his life sentence and that of the other three to be commuted to time served. The commutations became official on 6 May 1958, and Biberstein was released three days later.[2] He temporarily returned to the clergy, and died in 1986 inNeumünster.
Biberstein was portrayed in the 1978NBCHolocausttelevision miniseries byEdward Hardwicke.
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