View source for Kurt Gerstein

{{short description|SS officer (1905–1945)}}
{{Expand language|langcode2=pl|langcode=fr|date=December 2021}}
{{Infobox military person
|name=Kurt Gerstein
|birth_date={{birth date|1905|8|11|df=yes}}
|death_date={{death date and age|df=yes|1945|07|25|1905|8|11}}
|image= Kurt Gerstein with Schutzstaffel collar tab.jpg
|image_size=220
|caption=Kurt Gerstein wearing ''SS''<sub>2</sub> "Germania" collar tab
|birth_place=[[Münster]], [[Kingdom of Prussia]], [[German Empire]]
|death_place= [[Paris]], [[Provisional Government of the French Republic|France]]
|allegiance={{flag|Nazi Germany}}

|branch=''[[Schutzstaffel]]''
|serviceyears=until 1945
|rank=[[SS]]-''[[Obersturmführer]]''
|unit=[[SS-Totenkopfverbände|Death's Head Units]]
|width_style=person
}}
'''Kurt Gerstein''' (11 August 1905 – 25 July 1945) was a German [[Schutzstaffel|SS officer]] and head of technical disinfection services of the ''Hygiene-Institut der [[Waffen-SS]]'' (Institute for Hygiene of the Waffen-SS). In 1942, after witnessing mass murders in the [[Belzec extermination camp|Belzec]] and [[Treblinka extermination camp|Treblinka]] [[Nazi extermination camp]]s, Gerstein gave a detailed report to [[Sweden|Swedish]] diplomat [[Göran von Otter]], as well as to [[Switzerland|Swiss]] diplomats, members of the [[Roman Catholic Church]] with contacts to [[Pope Pius XII]], and to the [[Dutch government-in-exile]], in an effort to inform the international community about [[the Holocaust]] as it was happening. In 1945, following his surrender, he wrote the ''[[Gerstein Report]]'' covering his experience of the Holocaust. He died of an alleged [[suicide]] while in French custody.

==Early life==
Kurt Gerstein was born in [[Münster]], [[Westphalia]], on 11 August 1905, the sixth of seven children in a [[Prussia]]n middle-class family that was described as strongly [[chauvinism|chauvinistic]] and "totally compliant to authority".{{sfn|Friedländer|1969|p=4}} His father, Ludwig, a former Prussian officer, was a judge and an authoritarian figure who proudly proclaimed that in his family's genealogical tree there was only [[Aryan]] blood and exhorted generations to "preserve the purity of the race!"<ref>Friedländer, p. 10.</ref> As late as 1944, he wrote to Kurt: "You are a soldier and an official and you must obey the orders of your superiors. The person who bears the responsibility is the man who gives the orders, not the one who carries them out".<ref>quoted in Friedländer 1969, p. 4</ref>

Kurt Gerstein married Elfriede Bensch, a pastor's daughter, on 31 August 1937.<ref name="USHMM">{{Cite web |url=http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/article.php?ModuleId=10005840 |title=Holocaust Encyclopedia: Kurt Gerstein |website=United States Holocaust Memorial Museum |access-date=1 May 2015}}</ref> They had a daughter, Adelheid.

==Education==
Kurt was no more tolerant of discipline in secondary school than within the family. However, in spite of earning many bad reports, he managed to graduate at the age of 20. Going directly on to study at the [[University of Marburg]] for three semesters, he then transferred to the technical universities in [[RWTH Aachen University|Aachen]] and [[Technical University of Berlin|Berlin/Charlottenburg]] where he graduated in 1931 as a mining engineer.<ref>Friedländer 1969, p. 11</ref> While he was at Marburg, he joined, at his father's request, the [[Teutonia (student association)|Teutonia]], "one of the most nationalistic [[Studentenverbindung|student associations]] in Germany".<ref name="Friedländer 1969, p. 8">Friedländer 1969, p. 8</ref> While he was uncomfortable with the frivolity of the fraternity students, he did not seem to mind their [[ultranationalism]].<ref name="Friedländer 1969, p. 8"/>

In 1936, he moved to [[Tübingen]] where he started studying medicine at the [[University of Tübingen]] and lived with his wife, Elfriede.

==Religious faith==
Although his family was not particularly religious, Gerstein received [[Christianity|Christian]] religious training in school. At university, almost as an antidote to what he saw as the frivolous activities of his classmates, he began to read the [[Bible]].<ref>quoted in Friedländer 1969, p. 13</ref> From 1925 onwards, he became active in Christian student and youth movements and joined the German Association of Christian Students (DCSV) in 1925. In 1928, he became an active member of both the Evangelical Youth Movement (CVJM-[[YMCA]]) and the Federation of German Bible Circles, where he took a leading role until it was dissolved in 1934 after a takeover attempt by the [[Hitler Youth]] movement.<ref>Friedländer 1969, p. 19</ref> At first finding a religious home within the Protestant Evangelical Church, he gravitated toward the [[Confessing Church]], which formed itself around Pastor [[Martin Niemöller]] in 1934, as a form of protest against attempts by the [[Nazis]] to exercise increasing control over German [[Protestants]].<ref>Friedländer 1969, p. 35</ref> He provoked the ire of [[Baldur von Schirach]], and consequently, he spent time in prison and concentration camps in the late 1930s.<ref>{{Cite book |title=The Holocaust: the fate of European Jewry, 1932-1945 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=e_aRvKpLUf0C&pg=PA351 |year=1991 |publisher=[[Oxford University Press US]] |pages=357 pp|no-pp=y |isbn=978-0-19-504523-9 |last1=Yahil |first1=Leni |last2=Friedman  |first2=Ina |last3=Galai  |first3=Hayah |access-date=2009-08-10 }}</ref>

==Relations with Nazi Party and government==
Like many others of his generation, Gerstein and his family were deeply affected by what they saw as the humiliation of Germany by the terms of the [[Treaty of Versailles]] and so were attracted by the extreme nationalism of the Nazi Party. In July 1933, he enrolled in the [[Sturmabteilung|SA]], the original stormtroopers of the Nazi Party. Friedlander describes the contradictions in Gerstein's mind at the time: "Firm defense of religious concepts and of the honour of the Confessional youth movements, but weakness in the face of National Socialism, with acceptance of its terminology and shoddy rhetoric; acceptance, above all, of the existing political order, of its authoritarianism and its hysterical nationalism".<ref>Friedländer 1969, p. 32</ref>

However, in early 1935, he stood up in a theater during a performance of the play ''[[Widukind#In German nationalism|Wittekind]]'' and vocally protested against its [[anti-Christian]] message.  In response, he was attacked and beaten by Nazi Party members in the audience.{{sfn|Friedländer|1969|p=37}}

On 4 September 1936, Gerstein was arrested for distributing anti-Nazi material, held in protective custody for five weeks and ultimately expelled from the Nazi Party. The loss of membership meant he was unable to find employment as a mining engineer in the state sector. He was arrested a second time in July 1938 but was released six weeks later since no charges were filed against him. With the help of his father and some powerful party and SS officials, he continued to seek reinstatement in the Nazi Party until June 1939, when he obtained a provisional membership.<ref name=USHMM/>

==World War II==
===Joins The SS===
In early 1941, Gerstein enlisted in the [[Schutzstaffel|SS]]. Explanations are varied and conflicting. One document indicates that it was the result of his outrage over the death of a sister-in-law, who apparently was murdered under the "[[euthanasia]]" program [[Action T4]], directed at the mentally ill.<ref>''In memoriam Kurt Gerstein'' by Hans-Georg Hollweg, 2010, repeats that it was his aunt.{{cite web |url=http://www.hans-georg-hollweg.de/Hans-Georg_Hollweg_uber_Kurt_Gerstein_files/on_gerstein_english.pdf |title=Archived copy |access-date=2014-01-08 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140108092646/http://www.hans-georg-hollweg.de/Hans-Georg_Hollweg_uber_Kurt_Gerstein_files/on_gerstein_english.pdf |archive-date=2014-01-08}}</ref><ref>quoted in Friedländer, p. 80 where she is referred to as "aunt [sic]" although page 73 claims it was his sister-in-law</ref> Other documents suggest he had already made his decision before she was murdered and that her death reinforced his desire to join the SS to "see things from the inside", try to change the direction of its policies and publicize the crimes that were being committed.<ref>Pierre Joffroy, ''L'Espion de Dieu'', Paris, Laffont, 2002, p. 133 (taken from French edition of Wikipedia)</ref> Browning describes him as "a covert anti-Nazi who infiltrated the SS",<ref name=browning>{{Cite web |url=http://www.hdot.org/en/trial/defense/browning/541.html |title=''Evidence for the Implementation of the Final Solution: Electronic Edition'', Browning, Christopher R. |access-date=2013-12-19 |archive-date=2013-12-19 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131219164919/http://www.hdot.org/en/trial/defense/browning/541.html |url-status=dead }}</ref> and in a letter to his wife, Gerstein wrote: "I joined the SS... acting as an agent of the [[Confessing Church]]."<ref>quoted in Friedländer 1969, p. 215</ref>

[[File:WW2-Holocaust-Poland.PNG|222px|thumb|Location of [[Bełżec extermination camp|Bełżec]] (lower centre) on the map of [[German extermination camps|German Extermination camps]] of [[Nazi Germany]] marked with black-and-white skulls]]
Because of his technical education, Gerstein quickly rose to become head of technical disinfection services and worked with [[Odilo Globocnik]] and [[Christian Wirth]] on the technical aspects of mass murder in the [[Nazi extermination camp|extermination camps]]. He supplied hydrogen cyanide ([[Zyklon B]]) to [[Rudolf Höss]] in [[Auschwitz]] from the [[Degesch]] company (''Deutsche Gesellschaft für Schädlingsbekämpfung'' Vermin-Combating Corporation") and conducted the negotiations with the owners.<ref name="Y357">Yahil 1991, [https://books.google.com/books?id=e_aRvKpLUf0C&q=Kurt+Gerstein&pg=PA351 pp. 356-357.]</ref> On 17 August 1942, together with [[Rolf Günther]] and [[Wilhelm Pfannenstiel]], Gerstein witnessed at [[Belzec extermination camp|Belzec]] the gassing of some 3,000 [[Jews]] who had arrived by train from [[Lwow]]. The next day, he went to [[Treblinka]], which had similar facilities, and he observed huge mounds of clothing and underwear, which had been removed from the victims.{{sfn|Friedländer|1969|p=112}} At the time, motor exhaust gases were used for mass murder in both extermination camps.

===Reporting===
{{main|Gerstein Report}}
Several days later, he had a chance encounter on the [[Warsaw]]-to-[[Berlin]] train with the [[Sweden|Swedish]] diplomat [[Göran von Otter]], who was stationed in Berlin. In a conversation that lasted several hours, he told the diplomat what he had seen and urged him to spread the information internationally.<ref>Friedländer 1969, pp. 123-125</ref> Von Otter talked with high-ranking officials at the [[Swedish Foreign Ministry]], but Gerstein's revelations were never passed on to the [[Allies of World War II|Allies]] or to any other government.{{citation needed|date=December 2014}} In the meantime, Gerstein tried to make contact with representatives of the [[Vatican City|Vatican]], the press attaché at the [[Switzerland|Swiss]] legation in Berlin and a number of people linked to the Confessing Church.<ref>Friedländer 1969, pp. 128-129</ref>

One of his contacts was the [[Netherlands|Dutch]] citizen J.H. Ubbink, whom he asked to pass on his testimony to the [[Dutch resistance]]. A little later, an unnamed member of the Dutch government-in-exile, in [[London]], noted in his diary a testimony that is very similar to Gerstein's report. Gerstein's statements to diplomats and religious officials over from 1942 to 1945 had little effect.

After his surrender in April 1945, Gerstein was ordered to report about his experiences with gassing and the extermination camps in French, followed by two German versions in May 1945.

The historian [[Christopher Browning]] noted, "Many aspects of Gerstein's testimony are unquestionably problematic.... [In making] statements, such as the height of the piles of shoes and clothing at Belzec and Treblinka, Gerstein himself is clearly the source of exaggeration. Gerstein also added grossly exaggerated claims about matters to which he was not an eyewitness, such as that a total of 25&nbsp;million Jews and others were gassed. But in the essential issue, namely that he was in Belzec and witnessed the gassing of a transport of Jews from [[Lwow|Lviv]], his testimony is fully corroborated.... It is also corroborated by other categories of witnesses from Belzec".<ref name=browning/>

The distinguished French historian [[Pierre Vidal-Naquet]], in ''Assassins of Memory'', discusses such criticism.<ref>[http://www.anti-rev.org/textes/VidalNaquet92b/ ''Assassins of Memory'' Pierre Vidal-Naquet, 1987. Ressources documentaires sur le génocide nazi / Documentary Resources on the Nazi Genocide © Michel Fingerhut, auteurs et éditeurs, 1996-98]</ref>

==Arrest and death==
On 22 April 1945, two weeks before [[Nazi Germany]]'s surrender, Gerstein voluntarily gave himself up to the French commandant of the occupied town of [[Reutlingen]]. He received a sympathetic reception and was transferred to a residence in a hotel in [[Rottweil]], where he was able to write his reports. However, he was later transferred to the [[Cherche-Midi military prison]], where he was treated as a [[Nazi war criminal]]. On 25 July 1945, he was found dead in his cell in an alleged suicide.<ref>Friedländer, 1969, pp. 218–222</ref><ref>{{Citation| title = The Holocaust: the fate of European Jewry, 1932–1945| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=e_aRvKpLUf0C&pg=PA351| year = 1991| publisher = Oxford University Press US| pages = 360| isbn = 978-0-19-504523-9| last1 = Yahil | first1 = Leni| last2 = Friedman | first2 = Ina| last3 = Galai | first3 = Hayah| access-date = 2009-08-10}}</ref>

==Depictions==
A biography by Pierre Joffroy, ''A Spy for God'', was published in English in paperback in 1971.

His search for [[Christian ethics|Christian values]] and ultimate decision to betray the SS by attempting to expose the Holocaust and informing the Catholic Church is portrayed in the narrative film [[Amen.|Amen]], released in 2002, starring [[Ulrich Tukur]] as Gerstein and directed by [[Costa-Gavras]]. ''Amen'' was largely adapted from [[Rolf Hochhuth]]'s play ''[[The Deputy]]''.<ref>{{Citation |author=Hochhuth, Rolf |title=The Deputy |publisher=Grove Pr |location=New York |year=1967 |isbn=0-394-17125-X |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/deputy00rolf }}</ref>

[[William T. Vollmann]]'s ''[[Europe Central]]'', the [[National Book Award]] fiction winner for 2005, has a 55-page segment, ''Clean Hands'', which relates Gerstein's story.

[[Thomas Keneally]], the author of ''[[Schindler's Ark]]'' (on which the film ''[[Schindler's List]]'' is based), wrote a dramatic play, ''Either Or'', on the subject of Gerstein's life as an SS officer and how he dealt with the concentration camps. It premiered at the Theater J in [[Washington, DC]], in May 2007.

In 2010, a group of film students from [[Emory University]] produced a short film, ''The Gerstein Report'', which chronicled the events leading up to Gerstein's death. The film won Best Drama at the 2010 [[Campus MovieFest]] International Grande Finale in [[Las Vegas]], [[Nevada]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://campusmoviefest.com/igf/ |title=2010 International Grand Finale |access-date=2010-06-28 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100610065921/http://www.campusmoviefest.com/igf/ |archive-date=2010-06-10 }}</ref><ref>{{YouTube|Og6poMfCjcY|Winning short film}} about the Gerstein Report</ref>

The Swedish musician [[Stefan Andersson (singer)|Stefan Andersson]] wrote the song "Flygblad över Berlin" ("Flyers over Berlin") on his 2018 album of the same name, about Gerstein and his meeting with the Swedish diplomat.

==See also==
*[[Wilhelm Cornides]]

==References==
===Citations===
{{reflist|25em}}

===Sources===
*{{cite book |last=Friedländer |first=Saul |author-link=Saul Friedländer |year=1969 |title=Kurt Gerstein: The Ambiguity of Good |location=New York CVity |publisher=Alfred A Knopf |asin=B000GQS4Z6 }}
*[[Pierre Joffroy|Joffroy, Pierre]], ''L'espion de Dieu. La passion de Kurt Gerstein'', Robert Laffont, 1969, dernière édition 2002, 453 pages {{ISBN|2-221-09764-5}}
*[[Pierre Joffroy|Joffroy, Pierre]], ''A Spy For God: The Ordeal of Kurt Gerstein'', trans. Norman Denney, Fontana 1972, 256 pages, {{ISBN|0006129420}}
*Hey, Bernd u.a.: ''Kurt Gerstein (1905–1945). Widerstand in SS-Uniform.'' Bielefeld, Verlag für Regionalgeschichte, 2003. {{ISBN|3-89534-486-9}}.

A more detailed article appears in the [[:fr:Kurt Gerstein|French edition of Wikipedia]]. It has been closely consulted for this article.

==External links==
*[http://www.auschwitz.dk/Gerstein.htm Biography with pictures]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20090810101223/http://www.gerstein.dk/ The story of Kurt Gerstein]
*{{in lang|it}} [https://web.archive.org/web/20041216184548/http://www.olokaustos.org/bionazi/leaders/gerstein.htm Biography and picture of Gerstein]

{{Holocaust Poland}}

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Gerstein, Kurt}}
[[Category:1905 births]]
[[Category:1945 suicides]]
[[Category:1945 deaths]]
[[Category:People from Münster]]
[[Category:People from the Province of Westphalia]]
[[Category:Protestants in the German Resistance]]
[[Category:SS-Obersturmführer]]
[[Category:German military personnel who died by suicide]]
[[Category:Prisoners who died in French military detention]]
[[Category:Waffen-SS personnel]]
[[Category:Nazis who died by suicide in prison custody]]
[[Category:Nazi-era German officials who resisted the Holocaust]]
[[Category:Suicides in Paris]]
[[Category:Witnesses to The Holocaust]]