Roland Puhr

Puhr was born in Staré Křečany in Bohemia in 1914.[1] He joined the Sudeten German Party in 1936.

In the 1930s, Puhr joined the Czechoslovakian military. In 1938, he deserted to join the Wehrmacht. In 1939, Puhr joined the Nazi Party. He was then assigned to the SS-Totenkopfverbände and sent to work as a guard at Sachsenhausen concentration camp. During his time, Puhr participated in the shootings of multiple Soviet POWs at the camp's execution site. He personally murdered approximately 30 to 40 prisoners. One of them was Austrian prosecutor Karl Tuppy, who initiated the prosecution of Otto Planetta for the murder of Austrian Chancellor Engelbert Dollfuss in 1934. Puhr was suspected of additional targeted killings at an SS construction brigade near Düsseldorf.[2] Puhr was also the first commandant of the Lager Sylt camp in the Channel Islands.[3]

After war ended, Puhr went into hiding using forged papers. He started a new life in Schönhausen.[4] However, in June 1963, Puhr was exposed and arrested by East German authorities. He was charged with war crimes and crimes against humanity. On December 16, 1963, Puhr was found guilty by a court in Neubrandenburg and sentenced to death. His appeal was rejected, and Chairman of the State Council Walter Ulbricht rejected his petition for clemency. Puhr was guillotined at Leipzig Prison on April 15, 1964. His remains were then cremated, and he was buried in an unmarked grave in an undisclosed location.[2]