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It is not known whether Sommer was actually convicted of any charges. However, after the trial, he was sentenced to probation on the front lines. On 8 April 1945, Sommer was critically injured after an
American bomber plane with a full payload crashed next to his tank. Sommer suffered injuries to his
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until August 1943, when he was recalled. Sommer was then arrested and charged with embezzlement and committing unauthorized murders in the camp. Sommer initially denied his guilt, but he eventually admitted to secretly killing 40 to 50 prisoners. According to Sommer's own testimony in 1967, he was
277:. Upon appeal, the case was upheld in May 1959 by the Federal Court. In 1971, Sommer was released from prison, since there was no facility to continue his treatment of his wartime injuries. He was transferred to a hospital and in 1973 to a nursing home, where he remained until his death in 1988.
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According to Morgen, Sommer had a secret compartment underneath the floor under his desk. He kept his private instruments of torture concealed within this compartment such as the needles he used to kill his victims after he had finished torturing them; he would inject them with
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256:. Sommer was released from internment in June 1947 and sent to a home for the disabled. A former prisoner recognized him later that year, which led to his arrest in February 1950. However, the charges were initially dropped due to his wartime injuries.
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Among his acts of depravity were beating a German pastor, hanging him naked outside in the winter then throwing buckets of water on him and letting him freeze to death. On another occasion, Sommer beat a
Catholic priest to death for performing the
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After recovering from his injuries, Sommer was interned by
American occupation authorities due to his SS membership. However, he managed to conceal his identity and thus avoid what would've been a near certain death sentence in the
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Sommer married, fathered a child and filed for and received a pension for his service-related disabilities. In 1957, he was indicted for complicity in the death of 101 concentration camp inmates. In July 1958 in
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only charged with two counts of murder and one count of attempted murder. The court had refused to allow him to testify about unauthorized murders he committed on Koch's personal orders.
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to investigate charges of corruption at the
Buchenwald camp. Due to his excessive brutality and sadism, Sommer was indicted and tried before Morgen. Commandant
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left arm, right leg and stomach. The injuries to his left arm and right leg were severe enough that both had to be amputated.
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In the spring of 1943, Sommer was transferred to a regular combat division. He served in the
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by Harry Stein, Gedenkstätte
Buchenwald Publisher: Wallstein Verlag (1999) Language: German
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by David A. Hackett
Publisher: Basic Books (September 11, 1997) Language: English
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by Radomír V. Luža. University of
Minnesota Press (Minneapolis April 9, 1984)
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169:. Sommer, known as the "Hangman of Buchenwald", was considered a depraved
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Konzentrationslager
Buchenwald, 1937-1945: Begleitband zur ständigen ...
408:"University of Amsterdam: Justiz und NS-Verbrechen Nazi Crimes on Trial"
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by Klaus
Drobisch, Günther Wieland Publisher: Wiley VCH (12 Aug 1993)
161:(master sergeant) who served as a guard at the concentration camps of
384:""beast of Buchenwald" Found Fit to Marry; Avoided Trial As Sick Man"
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German prisoners of war in World War II held by the United States
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273:, he was ultimately convicted of 25 deaths and received a
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People convicted in the Nazi concentration camp trials
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Prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment by
Germany
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432:System der NS-Konzentrationslager: 1933-1939
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484:Time Magazine; West Germany: The Monster
570:Nazi persecution of the Catholic Church
560:Buchenwald concentration camp personnel
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154:(8 February 1915 – 7 June 1988) was an
615:People convicted of murder by Germany
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318:The resistance in Austria, 1938-1945
575:Anti-Christian sentiment in Germany
565:Dachau concentration camp personnel
241:9th SS Panzer Division Hohenstaufen
600:German people convicted of torture
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595:German people convicted of murder
367:Martin Sommers unfassbares Leben
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16:German concentration camp guard
585:German critics of Christianity
580:Critics of the Catholic Church
304:Died 5 June 1940 Feast day of
292:Died 30 May 1940 Feast day of
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550:SS non-commissioned officers
369:in: Heimatkurier 1/2007 des
152:Walter Gerhard Martin Sommer
41:Walter Gerhard Martin Sommer
173:who reportedly ordered two
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388:Jewish Telegraphic Agency
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630:Criminals from Thuringia
260:Retrial and imprisonment
216:were also put on trial.
371:Nordbayerischen Kuriers
525:Blessed Otto Neururer
498:The Buchenwald Report
348:Rudolf Watzek-Mischan
346:W.R. Garscha et al.:
236:for a fellow inmate.
187:crucified upside-down
132:Years of service
49:Hangman of Buchenwald
308:, bishop and martyr.
234:Sacrament of Penance
555:Waffen-SS personnel
206:Georg Konrad Morgen
204:appointed SS judge
269:district court in
183:Matthias Spanlang
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391:. Retrieved
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271:West Germany
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199:Reichsführer
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109:Nazi Germany
91:West Germany
82:(1988-06-07)
545:1988 deaths
540:1915 births
363:Bernd Mayer
294:Joan of Arc
80:7 June 1988
46:Nickname(s)
534:Categories
418:2010-01-23
393:2023-01-31
373:, S. 12 f.
281:References
193:Buchenwald
167:Buchenwald
97:Allegiance
60:1915-02-08
38:Birth name
214:Ilse Koch
210:Karl Koch
197:In 1943,
177:priests,
135:1938–1945
267:Bayreuth
226:embolism
185:, to be
175:Austrian
115:Service/
67:Schkölen
492:Sources
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171:sadist
163:Dachau
117:branch
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509:ISBN
502:ISBN
469:ISBN
462:ISBN
443:ISBN
436:ISBN
329:ISBN
322:ISBN
181:and
165:and
140:Rank
77:Died
54:Born
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350:,
339:^
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156:SS
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58:(
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