Bernhard Krüger (SS member)

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Kruger when he was arrested

Bernhard Krüger (born November 26, 1904 in Riesa ; † January 3, 1989 in Hamburg ) was SS-Sturmbannführer during the Second World War and head of Section VI F 4a in the Reich Security Main Office . This department of the security service (SD) was responsible for passport and document forgery, among other things. As a trained textile engineer, Krüger was responsible for the selection of paper, inks and printing tools. As part of the “ Aktion Bernhard ” planned in 1939 , the SD initially forged pound notes on a large scale. The aim was to weaken the British currency with millions of counterfeit banknotes that were to be brought into circulation by Jewish counterfeit couriers. The couriers were later to be murdered. This counterfeiting campaign got its name from Krüger's first name. The production took place with the help of Jewish prisoners who were deported to the concentration camp because of their "racial affiliation", in the Sachsenhausen concentration camp . Later dollar bills were also forged.

Krüger was a member of the NSDAP ( membership number 528.739) and the SS (membership number 15.249). Kruger 's family had already moved to Dassel during the war , where he was arrested by the British authorities in 1946. He spent a total of four years in Allied custody. He was never prosecuted legally. After his release from prison, he continued to live in Dassel and worked at the Hahnemühle paper mill , which had supplied the paper for the forged pound notes. He later lived in Hamburg .

The story of "Aktion Bernhard" was filmed in 2007 under the title Die Fälscher by the director and screenwriter Stefan Ruzowitzky .

literature

  • Lawrence Malkin: Hitler's Counterfeiters. How the Nazis planned to undermine the international monetary system. Bastei Lübbe, 2008, ISBN 978-3-404-64228-1 (Original: Krueger's Men: The Secret Nazi Counterfeit Plot and the Prisoners of Block 19 ).
  • Charlotte Krüger: My grandfather, the forger. A search for traces in the Nazi era . DVA, Munich 2015. ISBN 978-3-421-04623-9 .

Web links

Trailer for Charlotte Krüger - "My grandfather, the forger" - DVA

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Florian Osuch: "Flowers" from the concentration camp. The counterfeit campaign. “Aktion Bernhard” in the Sachsenhausen concentration camp. Hamburg 2009, p. 132.
  2. ↑ Florian Osuch: "Flowers" from the concentration camp. The counterfeit campaign “Aktion Bernhard” in the Sachsenhausen concentration camp. Hamburg 2009, p. 102.
  3. ↑ The Counterdeiters. Sonyclassics.com. Retrieved April 9, 2016.
personal data
SURNAME Kruger, Bernhard
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German SS-Sturmbannführer
DATE OF BIRTH November 26, 1904
PLACE OF BIRTH Riesa
DATE OF DEATH January 3, 1989
Place of death Hamburg