The Case of Nazi Murderer Hermann Michel

There is some confusion regarding the Nazi S.S. man Hermann Michel.

That's because, apparently, there were two Nazi S.S. men both with the exact same name. Both of them had quite significant roles as well.

Hermann Michel #1 -- Hermann Michel at Sobibor. Hermann Michel was born in 1906 or 1909 at an unknown location, possibly Westerkappeln or Heegermuhle.

In the mid-1930s, he began working as a nurse at the Berlin-Buch medical center. By the late 1930s, along with Franz Stangl and Christian Wirth, he was working as a head nurse at Hartheim killing center, where the physically and mentally disabled were exterminated by gassing and lethal injection as part of the T-4 Euthanasia Program.

In his mid-thirties while at Sobibor. Hermann Michel was described as a tall, graceful man with delicate features and a pleasant voice. His polite and refined speech earned him the nickname "preacher".

Michel was in Sobibor from April until the end of the autumn of 1942. He was friends with camp commander, Franz Stangl. He 'welcomed' the Jews who arrived on a new transport with a speech. He pretended to be a doctor and tricked them into believing they were in a labor camp, had to be disinfected and encouraged the unsuspecting victims to enter the gas chambers. After the Sobibor revolt in October 1943, he was transferred to Trieste, Italy, to conduct Nazi security warfare against alleged partisans.

He was detained by the U.S. Army at Bad Aiblingen (Bavaria) but released on 19 April 1946. He cashed a certificate of credit for $191.60 on 15 January 1948, and disappeared.

Franz Stangl and the Berlin Document Center indicated that he was living in Egypt in the 1950s, but it has never been confirmed. Some sources suggest that Hermann Michel died on 8 August 1984, but that has not been proven either.

Herman Michl (Michel) #2 -- Hermann Michel at other camps. According the Majdanek Museum:

The information available to the Museum shows that Hermann Michel, born on On April 23, 1912 in Passau, he joined the NSDAP on February 1, 1931, he held the number 419 621, the Allgemeine SS on March 10, 1933, and he numbered 71 076. There is a photo of him here.

Service grades: SS-Untersturmfuhrer: 20/04/1939, SS-Obersturmfuhrer: 20/04/1941, SS-Hauptsturmfuhrer: 09/11/1943;
Sturm-Abteilungen: 01/02/1931-09/03/1933;

Military and civil decorations: Kriegsverdienstkreuz II Klasse mit Schwertern, Kriegsverdienstkreuz I Klasse mit Schwertern;
Honorary and sports distinctions: SA-Sportabzeichen in bronze, Reichssportabzeichen in bronze, Julleuchter;

Service outside KL Lublin:

KL Buchenwald: [April 20, 1939] -01.01.1940
KL Sachsenhausen: 1/01/1940-01/06/1940
Kommandantur-Stab KL Sachsenhausen / Abteilung IV - Amtkasse - Kassenleiter: 01/06/1940/01/11/11/41
Kommandantur-Stab KL Niederhagen / Leiter der Abteilung IV: November 1, 1941 - December 14, 1942
SS-Kavallerie-Division / Panzer-Jager-Abteilung: 14/12/1942-18/02/1944
Kommandantur-Stab KL Riga / Abteilung IV - Verwaltung: February 18, 1944 - June 7, 1944
Date of arrival in KL Lublin: 07.06.1944.
Death: July 21, 1944 in Lublin.

Return to Information on Nazi S.S. Murderers