Gustav Nosske | |
|---|---|
 Nosske's mugshot after his indictment for theNuremberg Military Tribunal (July 1947) | |
| Born | 29 December 1902 |
| Died | 9 August 1986(1986-08-09) (aged 83) |
| Allegiance |  Nazi Germany |
| Branch |  Schutzstaffel |
| Years of service | 1933–1945 |
| Rank | SS-Obersturmbannführer |
| Unit | Einsatzgruppe D |
| Commands | Einsatzkommando 12 |
| Other work | Lawyer |
| Criminal information | |
| Criminal status | Deceased |
| Convictions | Crimes against humanity War crimes Membership in a criminal organization |
| Trial | Einsatzgruppen trial |
| Criminal penalty | Life imprisonment; commuted to 10 years imprisonment |
Gustav Adolf Nosske (29 December 1902 – 9 August 1986) was a German lawyer andSS-Obersturmbannführer. In 1941–42, he commandedEinsatzkommando 12 withinEinsatzgruppe D, under the command ofOtto Ohlendorf. Tried in theEinsatzgruppen Trial in 1948, Nosske was sentenced to life imprisonment. He was released early in December 1951.
Gustav Aldolf Nosske was born on 29 December inHalle. After studying law, he became a lawyer in Halle andAachen.[1] Nosske joined theNazi Party and theSS in 1933. He became the head of theGestapo inAachen in 1935 and then inFrankfurt from September 1936 to June 1941.[2]
As a SS-Obersturmbannführer in rank, he was appointed chief ofEinsatzkommando 12 before the invasion of the Soviet Union on 22 June 1941.[2][3] In the areas ofDonetsk andNovocherkassk, his unit committed many atrocities against the civilian population. In mid-August 1941Otto Ohlendorf ordered Nosske to transport 11,000 Jews fromMohyliv-Podilskyi toYampil in order to make them cross theDniester river and place them in the Romanian zone. During this walk, hundreds of Jews were murdered.[4] Between 16 and 28 February 1942,Einsatzkommando 12 killed 721 Jews, 271 communists, 74 partisans and 421 Roma.
In April 1942 Nosske joined theReich Security Main Office (RSHA) inBerlin concerning the Occupied Eastern Territories.[5] In 1943, he was appointed head of the "Foreigners and Enemies of the State" division of theGestapo. He worked as a liaison officer between theReich Ministry for the Occupied Eastern Territories and the RSHA. From August 1943 to September 1944 he was head of the state police inDüsseldorf.
During the laterEinsatzgruppen Trial held in 1948, Nosske said that in 1944, he had been ordered to collect all German Jews of Düsseldorf married to non-Jews for extermination, but that he had refused to carry this out. The order was ultimately not enforced. The court accepted this as mitigation, but pointed out that this meant Nosske did not have to kill anyone.[6]
Nosske was arrested by the Allies and brought to trial at theEinsatzgruppen Trial in 1948 atNuremberg. He was the only accused who did not seek clemency from GeneralLucius D. Clay in the American sector of occupation.[7] On 10 April 1948, Nosske was sentenced tolife imprisonment for war crimes. He was released early, on 15 December 1951.[1]
Details of his later life are largely unknown, other than a court appearance on 26 March 1965, where he testified as a witness at theFrankfurt Auschwitz Trials, with Düsseldorf as declared place of residence and legal advisor as profession.[8]
He died in Düsseldorf on 9 August 1986.[9]