Peter Merker

Command leader in Gustloff Plant II, April 1947

Peter Paul Merker (born September 22, 1890 ; † unknown) was a German SS-Oberscharführer and used as head of the Buchenwald sub-camp Gustloff-Werke .

Merker, a member of the SS , was posted to the Buchenwald concentration camp from September 1939 to February 27, 1945. First Merker worked in Buchenwald as a member of the security team, then as a block leader and from October 1943 to February 1945 he was head of the Buchenwald subcamp Gustloff-Werke, the first external command at an armaments factory in Weimar .

After his arrest, Merker was charged with 30 other accused as part of the Dachau trials in the main Buchenwald trial. On August 14, 1947, Merker was sentenced to death by hanging for the mistreatment of prisoners or because of ordered mistreatment for “helping and participating in the operations of the Buchenwald concentration camp” . The sentence was later commuted to a twenty-year prison term. Merker was probably released from Landsberg War Crimes Prison in the mid to late 1950s . Nothing is known about his further life.

literature

• Buchenwald main trial: Deputy Judge Advocate's Office 7708 War Crimes Group European Command APO 407: (United States of America v. Josias Prince zu Waldeck et al. - Case 000-50-9), November 1947 Original document in English (PDF file )