Adalbert Quasbarth

Adalbert Quasbarth (born November 11, 1888 in Osterode (East Prussia) , † February 4, 1971 in Berlin ) was a German major in the security police during the Nazi era who was responsible for the murder of 142 Poles and Jews in Krakow.

Life

Quasbarth grew up in a wealthy family. He was married and had three children. During the shooting of the film Oberwachtmeister Schwenke from October to December 1934, he advised the director on matters relating to the police.

In the Third Reich he was appointed Sturmbannführer of the Security Police. From the beginning of October 1940 to the end of March 1942 and from November 1942 to February 1945 Quasbarth was the commander of the Schutzpolizei (KdSchupo) in Krakow , and from April to November 1942 the commander of the Schutzpolizei in Riga .

On June 23, 1943, the previous KdSchupo Krakow, Major Adalbert Quasbarth, was used as commander of the Krakow-Stadt protected area to fight gangs. In larger campaigns on July 27, September 13 and 28, 1943, a total of 92 Jews, 48 ​​Polish partisans and 2 escaped prisoners of war were liquidated in the city of Kraków . The main command of the shootings was Quasbarth. The victims were previously imprisoned in the Montelupich Gestapo prison . The prisoners' hands were tied with barbed wire and their mouths were plastered. This was to prevent the delinquents from shouting “Niech żyje Polska!” (Long live Poland!) Before their death. Three Gestapo men from Pommehrendorf (Pomorska Wieś, Poland), Heinrich Hamann , Max Kwast (Quasi) and Johann Robert Kraus watched the executions, carried out by machine gun fire. Quasbarth made sure of the killing by shooting her afterwards with his pistol. The bodies of the victims were taken to an unknown location. The location chosen for the execution on July 27, 1944 (intersection of Botaniczna and Lubicz streets) was the location where two German police officers were shot. The execution was a retaliatory measure and was therefore carried out publicly as a deterrent. A memorial was erected in the same place on the first anniversary after the war, but only the 40 “Polish patriots” are remembered. Another commemorative plaque with the names of the victims was placed on the 50th anniversary.

After the Second World War , Quasbarth fled Germany in order not to get into captivity and to be held accountable and to avoid harming his family through his stay. In the 1960s Quasbarth returned to West Berlin , where he died in 1971.

In 2013, the Polish side officially closed the investigation into Quasbarth's crimes because of his demise.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Wolfgang Curilla : The murder of Jews in Poland and the German order police 1939-1945 . earth. Schöningh, 2011, ISBN 978-3-506-77043-1 , pp. 366 ( limited preview in Google Book search).
2. ↑ Wolfgang Curilla: The murder of Jews in Poland and the German order police 1939-1945 . Verlag Ferd.Schöningh GmbH & Co KG, April 6, 2011, ISBN 978-3-506-77043-1 , p. 377.
3. ↑ Tadeusz Gaweł: ps Edward salvation. “Jerzy” - Komendant Szarych Szeregów w Krakowie , Metron, Kraków 1994, p. 25, ISBN 83-02-02754-5 .
4. ↑ Agnieszka Pasieka: 70. rocznica rozstrzelania 40. Polaków przy ul.Lubicz 27 (70th anniversary of the shooting of 40 Polish patriots), October 30, 2014, District Council II Grzegórzki , accessed on June 24, 2019.
5. ↑ Umorzenie śledztwa w sprawie kierowania zabójstwami i pozbawieniem wolności obywateli polskich w okresie od 31 marca 1942 r. do maja 1944 w Krakowie przez Komendanta Policji Ochronnej w Krakowie majora Adalberta Quasbartha (termination of the investigation into the commander of the police in Krakow Major Adalbert Quasbarth for the murder and imprisonment of Polish citizens in Krakow from March 31, 1942 to May 1944), Communication from the Instytut Pamięci Narodowej of February 27, 2013, accessed on June 24, 2019.