Kurt Blome
Kurt Blome’s story is a bit different than the other Nazis discussed–he was tried and acquitted for his crimes initially, then later re-tried and found guilty. The reason for this distinction will soon become clear. Blome was a high-ranking Nazi scientist. During World War II, he served as the directed of Nazi biological weapons development. His research relied upon concentration camp prisoners as subjects, and sought to create or find epidemic illnesses to use as weapons.
In addition to his work as a virologist, Blome collaborated closely with Japan’s biological weapons group, Unit 731, throughout the war. As the Soviet army advanced, Blome fled the research facility at Posen, and was unable to have the facility destroyed. The Germans had already prepared a secondary bioweapons facility. That facility was captured in April of 1945 by U.S. forces. Throughout this time, the Nazis had attempted to conceal the nature of the work being done; these were both officially cancer research facilities.
Blome was arrested by American military intelligence at the end of the war, carrying little identification. After his identity was established, intelligence services transmitted a secret message to the United States. While some details remain unclear, the United States actively worked to recruit former Nazi scientists for their own weapons programs. He was tried at the 1947 Doctors’ Trial in Nuremberg and acquitted, perhaps due to the influence of the United States. Given that he had directly confessed to his actions during the war, there are few other possible explanations for his acquittal at the Doctors’ Trial. Following the trial, he almost immediately began to engage with American scientific authorities. He moved to the United States after some time, where he worked on top-secret U.S. scientific projects for several years.
Blome was later arrested by the French and sentenced to 20 years in prison for war crimes. He died in 1969.
Where did we find this stuff? Here are our sources:
14 Ruthless Nazi War Criminals Who Escaped Justice. Phil Gibbons. Ranker.
Adolf Eichmann. United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. Holocaust Encyclopedia.
Josef Mengele. United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. Holocaust Encyclopedia.
Walter Rauff (1916 – 1984). Jewish Virtual Library.
Evading Justice. United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. Holocaust Encyclopedia.
When the Former Commander Treblinka, Kurt Franz, Was Arrested In 1959, A Search Of His Home Yielded A Scrapbook With Horrific Photos Of The Massacre Titled “Beautiful Years”. Jack Beckett. War History Online. Aug 14, 2015
Adolf Eichmann in Israel: Portraits of a Nazi War Criminal. Life Magazine.