War Criminal. From October 1941 until May 1943 he was stationed in Warsaw, where he was in charge of the wooden bridge that connected Warsaw and the ghetto. He became known for his horrible behavior in the ghetto. Every day he went with his bicycle through the ghetto and shot whoever he wanted without exception. After the war, he became a prisoner of war of the Russian Army. In 1946 he had a nearly fatal accident in a mine in Vitkovice which left his face completely deformed. One year later he was released from the hospital and traveled to Austria and further to Urbach in Thuringia where his parents lived. He married, had children, and worked as a miner in Volkenroda. He didn't change his name but lived at peace and unnoticed for many years in a small village. He never talked about his role in the war. In 1967 a warrant of arrest from Hamburg called the East German authorities attention to the quiet man. He was arrested on charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity. The ten survivors from the ghetto that testified in the trial had problems identifying him because of the deformed face. The trial ended on April 30th, 1969 with a death sentence. He was found guilty for the deportation of 300.000 Jews and for killing at least 2.000 himself. He was brought from Erfurt to Leipzig for the execution. He died the way he had preferred to kill: by a shot through the neck. His body was burned in the Crematory at the South Cemetery and the ashes were buried anonymously. One photo of him went around the world. It is the photo of a small boy throwing his hands in the air and behind him stands Blösche in his SS uniform, his machine gun pointed at the boy.
War Criminal. From October 1941 until May 1943 he was stationed in Warsaw, where he was in charge of the wooden bridge that connected Warsaw and the ghetto. He became known for his horrible behavior in the ghetto. Every day he went with his bicycle through the ghetto and shot whoever he wanted without exception. After the war, he became a prisoner of war of the Russian Army. In 1946 he had a nearly fatal accident in a mine in Vitkovice which left his face completely deformed. One year later he was released from the hospital and traveled to Austria and further to Urbach in Thuringia where his parents lived. He married, had children, and worked as a miner in Volkenroda. He didn't change his name but lived at peace and unnoticed for many years in a small village. He never talked about his role in the war. In 1967 a warrant of arrest from Hamburg called the East German authorities attention to the quiet man. He was arrested on charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity. The ten survivors from the ghetto that testified in the trial had problems identifying him because of the deformed face. The trial ended on April 30th, 1969 with a death sentence. He was found guilty for the deportation of 300.000 Jews and for killing at least 2.000 himself. He was brought from Erfurt to Leipzig for the execution. He died the way he had preferred to kill: by a shot through the neck. His body was burned in the Crematory at the South Cemetery and the ashes were buried anonymously. One photo of him went around the world. It is the photo of a small boy throwing his hands in the air and behind him stands Blösche in his SS uniform, his machine gun pointed at the boy.
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