August Becker
Encyclopedia
August Becker was during the Nazi regime in Germany (1933–1945) an SS lieutenant colonel (Obersturmbannführer
) and chemist in the Central Reich Security Office (RSHA
). He helped design the vans with a gas chamber built into the back compartment used in early Nazi mass murder of disabled people, political dissidents, Jews, and other "racial enemies," including Action T4
as well as the Einsatzgruppen
(mobile Nazi death squads) in the Nazi-occupied portions of the Soviet Union
. Generally his role was to provide important technical support, but on at least one occasion he personally gassed about 20 people.
in the German state of Hesse
. He was the son of a factory owner. He was inducted into the German Army toward the end of World War I
. Afterward Becker studied chemistry and physics at the University of Giessen
, where in 1933 he achieved the PhD
degree in chemistry. From 1933 to 1935 he remained as an assistant at the university.
. From February to April 1934 he was occasionally active in the Gestapo
office at Giessen, before he finally left the university in 1935. At his trial on 4 April 1960, Becker testified that in May 1935 he was assigned to the SS-regiment "Germania"
at Bad Arolsen
, a small resort town near Kassel
, the major city in the northern part of the German state of Hesse
, in central Germany. During this time Becker held the rank of SS-Oberscharführer, and was concerned only with military affairs. He remained with this regiment up to 28 February 1938.
(Reichssicherheitshauptamt or RSHA), Office (Amt)VI, foreign intelligence. This agency was on the Bernerstrasse in the Grunewald. At this time Werner Best
was in charge of RSHA Amt VI. Becker was responsible for the department replicating inks and photocopies. He was employed to detect whether written communications used invisible ink. At this time, he was promoted to rank of SS-Untersturmführer (Second Lieutenant).
(Reichskanzlei). Becker went to Brack's office that same day. Brack was part of the office of the Führer Chancellery (Kanzlei des Führers)
. According to Becker, Brack told him the following:
This program came to be known as Action T4
.
Among the Action-T4 personal, Becker was called "the Red Becker" because of his hair color and also probably to avoid confusion with the similarly named Hans Joachim Becker, director of the Zentralverrechnungstelle welfare and institutes for care. After the war, Brack was placed on trial for war crimes and crimes against humanity. Brack named Becker among 24 main responsible people for the action T4 in a list Brack produced for the Allied occupying authorities.
, the first medical director of Action T4
, in the first half January 1940, Becker drove to the Brandenburg institute, where buildings had been prepared specially for this purpose. An area resembling a shower room with showerheads was laid out, about 3 meters by 5 meters in floor size, with a ceiling about three meters high.
A pipe ran around the walls of the room, and in the pipe were small holes, out of which the carbon monoxide gas flowed. The gas bottles stood outside of the area and were already attached to the supply pipe. The assembly of the plant was accomplished by a mechanic of the SS-principal office Berlin. The gas-tight entrance door (Gasdichttur) included an observation port by which the behavior of the delinquents (Delinquenten) could be observed during the course of the gassing.
Becker's boss, Victor Brack, and his office had designed the stretchers and the incinerator equipment, which was intended to allow mechanical feeding of the corpses into the furnace. Brack was present at this first gassing to observe his system in operation. According to Becker, afterwards Brack appeared satisfied, and made some remarks, saying that "this action should be accomplished only by the physicians" and recited the saying that "the syringe belonged into the hand of the physician." Subsequently, professor Dr. Brandt spoke and stressed likewise that only physicians would carry out these gassings. At the same time, Widmann informed the institute physician Dr. Eberl and Dr. Baumhart, who later took over extermination efforts at Grafeneck and at Hadamar. The second gassing trial and later extermination measures were accomplished thereafter by Dr. Eberl alone and on his own authority.
, led to the specification that the T4 victims should also be killed with CO gas. Becker was assigned to instruct the physicians, who were to set up six "institutes" for gassing, the first of which was at Grafeneck. According to Becker's later testimony, around the end of January 1940 he brought the gas bottles out from Brandenburg to Grafeneck Castle
, to put the institute there "into operation", that is, to start the killing program there. Originally, a Dr. Schumann was to operate the CO valve, but Schumann let the gas flow too quickly, causing it to hiss loudly inside the "shower room." This caused the victims, whom Becker called, even years later, the "delinquents" to become agitated. Becker took over manometers from Schumann. He slowed down the gas infusion into the chamber, which caused the victims to calm down and die shortly thereafter.
Up to the end of Action T4 in August 1941 Becker's job was to arrange delivery of CO bottles from the I.G. Farben plant in Ludwigshafen to the killing facilities. The purchase orders for the gas were made by Albert Widmann of the Criminal Technology Institute (Kriminaltechnischen Institut) or (KTI), of the Central National Security Office (RSHA
). Like Becker, Widman was also tried in a German court after the war. In Widman's case, the court, based in Stuttgart
found that Widman's role was to order the CO gas bottles to conceal the fact that the purchase orders were coming from a party agency, and in particular, from the Fuehrer Chancellery. This was decided upon by Becker and Widman's superior, Victor Brack, at the Fuehrer Chancellery, but it had been previously suggested by Arthur Nebe
. Widmann received from the individual killing institutes their CO demand. He then ordered the CO gas bottles from the Baden Aniline and Soda Works in Ludwigshafen orders, giving KTI as the purchaser. Widman then sent the order and supply confirmations to Becker, who was working at the Fuehrer Chancellery
arranging for their delivery to the individual institutes.
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In October 1941 Becker was used again in the Central Reich Security Office and assigned to department II D 3 A under Friedrich Pradel. This was responsible for the Kraftfahrwesen of the state police. The director of department D (technical affairs), SS-Obersturmbannführer Walter Rauff
, assigned Becker in December 1941 the inspection of the gas van
s with the Einsatzgruppen
, a Nazi bureaucratic term which technically meant "Special Task Group." In fact, the Einsatzgruppen were Nazi killing squads that roved about Nazi-occupied Eastern Europe and organized the mass murder of Jews prior to the invention of the death camps. These included, among others, Gypsies, communists, and especially Jews. While there were some variations (see Friedrich Jeckeln
), typically the way this was done was to have a trench dug by prisoners of war, with the local population of "undesirables" rounded up by intimidation or force, sometimes with the aid of local collaborators, and then they would be shot with one bullet per victim by an SS man. In this manner, and with the aid of a good number of people to catch, guard, and force-march the victims to the killing site, 10 or 12 shooters could kill 12,000 people in a single day.
To lessen the psychological impact on the killers of the one-on-one style of killing that had characterized Einsatzgruppen operations, the SS, at the direction of Heinrich Himmler
, invented the gas van
, a type of mobile gas chamber consisting of a van or truck with an air-tight cargo area capable of carrying a number of people. The exhaust pipe of the van could be set to exhaust into the cargo area, so that when the van was loaded with victims, and the cargo door closed and locked, all that was needed was to drive down a road for a time while the CO in the exhaust killed the people in the van. Once this process was finished, the bodies were pulled out, and the van driven on to another location to kill another group of people.
locations or they were on their way. Rauff assigned Becker to inspect how the Einsatzgruppen utilized the vans. Specifically, Becker was to ensure the mass killings (Massentötungen) made in the gas vans were conducted efficiently, whereby he paid his attention in particular to the technical function of these vans. Pursuant to this order from Rauff, in the middle of December 1941, Becker drove to Riga
to inspect the gas vans used by Einsatzgruppe A. On January 4 or 5, 1942, Becker received another order from Rauff directing him to move on to Einsatzgruppe D in the south, which was commanded by Otto Ohlendorf
near Simferopol
. It took Becker about three weeks to get there. Becker stayed with Einsatzgruppe D until the beginning of April 1942, when he returned to Einsatzgruppen A at Riga
.
Becker worried however not only about the technology of the gas cars, but was anxious also around their camouflage as well as the physical and moral health of the "final solvers" (Endlöser). Thus he reported on 16 May 1942 from Kiev to Rauff:
In this letter Becker criticized also the incorrect execution of the gasification:
Becker continued sending messages to Rauff regarding the efficacious use of the gas vans through the middle of 1942. On 5 June 1942 Becker reported that "for an example, since December 1941, three vehicles were used to process 97,000, with no down-time on the vehicles.". In September 1942, following his return to Berlin, Becker criticized the untidy means by which the murders were carried out to Rauff's deputy Pradel:
). In 1943 he was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel (SS-Obersturmbannführer).
and Paul Werner. Becker was condemned to ten years prison, but on 15 July 1960, due to his bad state of health he was released from detention and admitted to the home for the elderly at Butzbach
. When in 1967, the State Criminal Court in Stuttgart sent a summons to Becker, it turned out that Becker had been taken out of the Butzbach home on January 3, 1966 by persons unknown, and his current whereabouts could not be determined. On June 16, 1967, the Baden-Wuerttemburg state criminal police agency issued a bulletin to be on the look out for Becker. By then however Becker had been checked into another nursing home where he remained in a state of almost complete mental and physical breakdown. August Becker died on 31 December 1967.
Obersturmbannführer
Obersturmbannführer was a paramilitary Nazi Party rank used by both the SA and the SS. It was created in May 1933 to fill the need for an additional field grade officer rank above Sturmbannführer as the SA expanded. It became an SS rank at the same time...
) and chemist in the Central Reich Security Office (RSHA
RSHA
The RSHA, or Reichssicherheitshauptamt was an organization subordinate to Heinrich Himmler in his dual capacities as Chef der Deutschen Polizei and Reichsführer-SS...
). He helped design the vans with a gas chamber built into the back compartment used in early Nazi mass murder of disabled people, political dissidents, Jews, and other "racial enemies," including Action T4
Action T4
Action T4 was the name used after World War II for Nazi Germany's eugenics-based "euthanasia" program during which physicians killed thousands of people who were "judged incurably sick, by critical medical examination"...
as well as the Einsatzgruppen
Einsatzgruppen
Einsatzgruppen were SS paramilitary death squads that were responsible for mass killings, typically by shooting, of Jews in particular, but also significant numbers of other population groups and political categories...
(mobile Nazi death squads) in the Nazi-occupied portions of the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
. Generally his role was to provide important technical support, but on at least one occasion he personally gassed about 20 people.
Early life
August Becker was born on 17 August 1900 in StaufenbergStaufenberg, Hesse
Staufenberg is a town in the district of Gießen, in Hesse, Germany. It is situated on the river Lahn, 10 km north of Gießen....
in the German state of Hesse
Hesse
Hesse or Hessia is both a cultural region of Germany and the name of an individual German state.* The cultural region of Hesse includes both the State of Hesse and the area known as Rhenish Hesse in the neighbouring Rhineland-Palatinate state...
. He was the son of a factory owner. He was inducted into the German Army toward the end of World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
. Afterward Becker studied chemistry and physics at the University of Giessen
University of Giessen
The University of Giessen is officially called the Justus Liebig University Giessen after its most famous faculty member, Justus von Liebig, the founder of modern agricultural chemistry and inventor of artificial fertiliser.-History:The University of Gießen is among the oldest institutions of...
, where in 1933 he achieved the PhD
PHD
PHD may refer to:*Ph.D., a doctorate of philosophy*Ph.D. , a 1980s British group*PHD finger, a protein sequence*PHD Mountain Software, an outdoor clothing and equipment company*PhD Docbook renderer, an XML renderer...
degree in chemistry. From 1933 to 1935 he remained as an assistant at the university.
Early Nazi career
By September 1930 Becker had joined the Nazi party, and in February 1931 he also became member of the SSSchutzstaffel
The Schutzstaffel |Sig runes]]) was a major paramilitary organization under Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party. Built upon the Nazi ideology, the SS under Heinrich Himmler's command was responsible for many of the crimes against humanity during World War II...
. From February to April 1934 he was occasionally active in the Gestapo
Gestapo
The Gestapo was the official secret police of Nazi Germany. Beginning on 20 April 1934, it was under the administration of the SS leader Heinrich Himmler in his position as Chief of German Police...
office at Giessen, before he finally left the university in 1935. At his trial on 4 April 1960, Becker testified that in May 1935 he was assigned to the SS-regiment "Germania"
SS-Verfügungstruppe
The SS-Verfügungstruppe was formed in 1934 as combat troops for the NSDAP. By 1940 these military SS units had become the nucleus of the Waffen-SS....
at Bad Arolsen
Bad Arolsen
Bad Arolsen is a small town in northern Hesse, Germany, in Waldeck-Frankenberg district. From 1655 until 1918 it served as the residence town of the Princes of Waldeck-Pyrmont and then until 1929 as the capital of the Waldeck Free State...
, a small resort town near Kassel
Kassel
Kassel is a town located on the Fulda River in northern Hesse, Germany. It is the administrative seat of the Kassel Regierungsbezirk and the Kreis of the same name and has approximately 195,000 inhabitants.- History :...
, the major city in the northern part of the German state of Hesse
Hesse
Hesse or Hessia is both a cultural region of Germany and the name of an individual German state.* The cultural region of Hesse includes both the State of Hesse and the area known as Rhenish Hesse in the neighbouring Rhineland-Palatinate state...
, in central Germany. During this time Becker held the rank of SS-Oberscharführer, and was concerned only with military affairs. He remained with this regiment up to 28 February 1938.
Transfer to Berlin
According to his 1960 testimony, Becker was then transferred to Berlin, to the Reich Security Main OfficeRSHA
The RSHA, or Reichssicherheitshauptamt was an organization subordinate to Heinrich Himmler in his dual capacities as Chef der Deutschen Polizei and Reichsführer-SS...
(Reichssicherheitshauptamt or RSHA), Office (Amt)VI, foreign intelligence. This agency was on the Bernerstrasse in the Grunewald. At this time Werner Best
Werner Best
Dr. Werner Best was a German Nazi, jurist, police chief, SS-Obergruppenführer and Nazi Party leader from Darmstadt, Hesse. He studied law and in 1927 obtained his doctorate degree at Heidelberg...
was in charge of RSHA Amt VI. Becker was responsible for the department replicating inks and photocopies. He was employed to detect whether written communications used invisible ink. At this time, he was promoted to rank of SS-Untersturmführer (Second Lieutenant).
Assignment to Action T4 killing program
Becker remained with RSHA Amt VI until December 1939, when, shortly before Christmas, he received an order by telephone to report to Oberführer Victor Brack in the Reich ChancelleryReich Chancellery
The Reich Chancellery was the traditional name of the office of the Chancellor of Germany in the period of the German Reich from 1871 to 1945...
(Reichskanzlei). Becker went to Brack's office that same day. Brack was part of the office of the Führer Chancellery (Kanzlei des Führers)
Hitler's Chancellery (Kanzlei des Führers)
Die Kanzlei des Führers , also known as Privatkanzlei des Führers, was the Chancellery responsible for the Nazi Party and associated organizations and their dealings directly with Hitler...
. According to Becker, Brack told him the following:
- At the personal command of (Reichsführer-SS) HimmlerHeinrich HimmlerHeinrich Luitpold Himmler was Reichsführer of the SS, a military commander, and a leading member of the Nazi Party. As Chief of the German Police and the Minister of the Interior from 1943, Himmler oversaw all internal and external police and security forces, including the Gestapo...
, Becker was deputed to Brack; - Becker's assignment would be to carry out a "euthanasia" program to destroy all idiots and mental patients;
- The killing would be done with carbon monoxideCarbon monoxideCarbon monoxide , also called carbonous oxide, is a colorless, odorless, and tasteless gas that is slightly lighter than air. It is highly toxic to humans and animals in higher quantities, although it is also produced in normal animal metabolism in low quantities, and is thought to have some normal...
gas. This gas had already studied by a chemist, Dr. Albert WidmannAlbert WidmannAlbert Widmann was an SS officer and German chemist who worked for the Action T4 euthanasia program during the regime of Nazi Germany....
, with the Office of the National Criminal Police (RKPA) in Berlin to assess its utility. - Becker "didn't need to have any scruples with this thing, because the killing of these people would be made lawful by a Führer directive.
This program came to be known as Action T4
Action T4
Action T4 was the name used after World War II for Nazi Germany's eugenics-based "euthanasia" program during which physicians killed thousands of people who were "judged incurably sick, by critical medical examination"...
.
Carrying out Action T4
Becker participated in the first "test", gassing 18 to 20 mentally ill convicts in a former prison known by the euphemistic name of The Brandenburg an der Havel National Institute, which later became known to history as a Nazi killing center (NS-Tötungsanstalt).Among the Action-T4 personal, Becker was called "the Red Becker" because of his hair color and also probably to avoid confusion with the similarly named Hans Joachim Becker, director of the Zentralverrechnungstelle welfare and institutes for care. After the war, Brack was placed on trial for war crimes and crimes against humanity. Brack named Becker among 24 main responsible people for the action T4 in a list Brack produced for the Allied occupying authorities.
Setting up the first gas chamber
According to Becker's testimony at the trial of Werner HeydeWerner Heyde
Werner Heyde was a German psychiatrist. He was one of the main organizers of Nazi Germany's T-4 Euthanasia Program.-Education:Heyde completed his Abitur in 1920...
, the first medical director of Action T4
Action T4
Action T4 was the name used after World War II for Nazi Germany's eugenics-based "euthanasia" program during which physicians killed thousands of people who were "judged incurably sick, by critical medical examination"...
, in the first half January 1940, Becker drove to the Brandenburg institute, where buildings had been prepared specially for this purpose. An area resembling a shower room with showerheads was laid out, about 3 meters by 5 meters in floor size, with a ceiling about three meters high.
A pipe ran around the walls of the room, and in the pipe were small holes, out of which the carbon monoxide gas flowed. The gas bottles stood outside of the area and were already attached to the supply pipe. The assembly of the plant was accomplished by a mechanic of the SS-principal office Berlin. The gas-tight entrance door (Gasdichttur) included an observation port by which the behavior of the delinquents (Delinquenten) could be observed during the course of the gassing.
Carrying out the first killings
For the first gassing the maintenance personnel led about 18 - 20 persons into the disguised gas chamber. These men had had to undress in an antechamber (Vorraum), so that they were completely naked. The door was locked behind them. According to Becker, the victims went calmly into the area and showed no signs of agitation. As Widmann let in the gas Becker watched through the observation port. After about one minute, the victims fell down and lay on top of one another. Becker said he saw no scenes or tumult. After a further five minutes the area was aired out. At this point, using specially designed stretchers, SS personnel cleared the bodies out of the area and took them to the incinerators.Becker's boss, Victor Brack, and his office had designed the stretchers and the incinerator equipment, which was intended to allow mechanical feeding of the corpses into the furnace. Brack was present at this first gassing to observe his system in operation. According to Becker, afterwards Brack appeared satisfied, and made some remarks, saying that "this action should be accomplished only by the physicians" and recited the saying that "the syringe belonged into the hand of the physician." Subsequently, professor Dr. Brandt spoke and stressed likewise that only physicians would carry out these gassings. At the same time, Widmann informed the institute physician Dr. Eberl and Dr. Baumhart, who later took over extermination efforts at Grafeneck and at Hadamar. The second gassing trial and later extermination measures were accomplished thereafter by Dr. Eberl alone and on his own authority.
Ongoing conduct of the gassing program
The Brandenburg gassing, together with the gassings of Polish mental patients that the SS-Sonderkommando had carried out in the autumn 1939 gas chamber in Fort VII at PosenPoznan
Poznań is a city on the Warta river in west-central Poland, with a population of 556,022 in June 2009. It is among the oldest cities in Poland, and was one of the most important centres in the early Polish state, whose first rulers were buried at Poznań's cathedral. It is sometimes claimed to be...
, led to the specification that the T4 victims should also be killed with CO gas. Becker was assigned to instruct the physicians, who were to set up six "institutes" for gassing, the first of which was at Grafeneck. According to Becker's later testimony, around the end of January 1940 he brought the gas bottles out from Brandenburg to Grafeneck Castle
Grafeneck Castle
The Grafeneck Euthanasia Centre housed in Grafeneck Castle was one of Nazi Germany's killing centres as part of their euthanasia programme...
, to put the institute there "into operation", that is, to start the killing program there. Originally, a Dr. Schumann was to operate the CO valve, but Schumann let the gas flow too quickly, causing it to hiss loudly inside the "shower room." This caused the victims, whom Becker called, even years later, the "delinquents" to become agitated. Becker took over manometers from Schumann. He slowed down the gas infusion into the chamber, which caused the victims to calm down and die shortly thereafter.
Up to the end of Action T4 in August 1941 Becker's job was to arrange delivery of CO bottles from the I.G. Farben plant in Ludwigshafen to the killing facilities. The purchase orders for the gas were made by Albert Widmann of the Criminal Technology Institute (Kriminaltechnischen Institut) or (KTI), of the Central National Security Office (RSHA
RSHA
The RSHA, or Reichssicherheitshauptamt was an organization subordinate to Heinrich Himmler in his dual capacities as Chef der Deutschen Polizei and Reichsführer-SS...
). Like Becker, Widman was also tried in a German court after the war. In Widman's case, the court, based in Stuttgart
Stuttgart
Stuttgart is the capital of the state of Baden-Württemberg in southern Germany. The sixth-largest city in Germany, Stuttgart has a population of 600,038 while the metropolitan area has a population of 5.3 million ....
found that Widman's role was to order the CO gas bottles to conceal the fact that the purchase orders were coming from a party agency, and in particular, from the Fuehrer Chancellery. This was decided upon by Becker and Widman's superior, Victor Brack, at the Fuehrer Chancellery, but it had been previously suggested by Arthur Nebe
Arthur Nebe
SS-Gruppenführer Arthur Nebe was a member of the NSDAP party with card number 574,307. In July 1931, he joined the SS and his membership number was 280,152. His early career included the Berlin position of Police Commissioner in the 1920s...
. Widmann received from the individual killing institutes their CO demand. He then ordered the CO gas bottles from the Baden Aniline and Soda Works in Ludwigshafen orders, giving KTI as the purchaser. Widman then sent the order and supply confirmations to Becker, who was working at the Fuehrer Chancellery
Hitler's Chancellery (Kanzlei des Führers)
Die Kanzlei des Führers , also known as Privatkanzlei des Führers, was the Chancellery responsible for the Nazi Party and associated organizations and their dealings directly with Hitler...
arranging for their delivery to the individual institutes.
The Einsatzgruppen
Walter Rauff
Walter Rauff , was an SS officer in Nazi Germany, attaining the grade of Colonel in June 1944...
, assigned Becker in December 1941 the inspection of the gas van
Gas van
The gas van or gas wagon was an extermination method devised by Nazi Germany to kill victims of the regime. It was also rumored that analog of such device was used by the Soviet Union on an experimental basis during the Great Purge-Nazi Germany:...
s with the Einsatzgruppen
Einsatzgruppen
Einsatzgruppen were SS paramilitary death squads that were responsible for mass killings, typically by shooting, of Jews in particular, but also significant numbers of other population groups and political categories...
, a Nazi bureaucratic term which technically meant "Special Task Group." In fact, the Einsatzgruppen were Nazi killing squads that roved about Nazi-occupied Eastern Europe and organized the mass murder of Jews prior to the invention of the death camps. These included, among others, Gypsies, communists, and especially Jews. While there were some variations (see Friedrich Jeckeln
Friedrich Jeckeln
Friedrich Jeckeln was an SS-Obergruppenführer who served as an SS and Police Leader in the occupied Soviet Union during World War II...
), typically the way this was done was to have a trench dug by prisoners of war, with the local population of "undesirables" rounded up by intimidation or force, sometimes with the aid of local collaborators, and then they would be shot with one bullet per victim by an SS man. In this manner, and with the aid of a good number of people to catch, guard, and force-march the victims to the killing site, 10 or 12 shooters could kill 12,000 people in a single day.
Introduction of the gas vans
Heinrich Himmler
Heinrich Luitpold Himmler was Reichsführer of the SS, a military commander, and a leading member of the Nazi Party. As Chief of the German Police and the Minister of the Interior from 1943, Himmler oversaw all internal and external police and security forces, including the Gestapo...
, invented the gas van
Gas van
The gas van or gas wagon was an extermination method devised by Nazi Germany to kill victims of the regime. It was also rumored that analog of such device was used by the Soviet Union on an experimental basis during the Great Purge-Nazi Germany:...
, a type of mobile gas chamber consisting of a van or truck with an air-tight cargo area capable of carrying a number of people. The exhaust pipe of the van could be set to exhaust into the cargo area, so that when the van was loaded with victims, and the cargo door closed and locked, all that was needed was to drive down a road for a time while the CO in the exhaust killed the people in the van. Once this process was finished, the bodies were pulled out, and the van driven on to another location to kill another group of people.
Becker inspects gas van operations
In practice, however, it was more difficult to carry out van killings than the original theory had anticipated. Becker was assigned to solve the problems. He later testified that when, in December 1941, he was transferred to Rauff's command. Rauff explained to Becker that the plan was to gas people rather than shoot them, because the psychological burden of so many shootings could no longer be borne by the killers. Rauff told Becker that the gas vans and drivers had already arrived at the EinsatzgruppenEinsatzgruppen
Einsatzgruppen were SS paramilitary death squads that were responsible for mass killings, typically by shooting, of Jews in particular, but also significant numbers of other population groups and political categories...
locations or they were on their way. Rauff assigned Becker to inspect how the Einsatzgruppen utilized the vans. Specifically, Becker was to ensure the mass killings (Massentötungen) made in the gas vans were conducted efficiently, whereby he paid his attention in particular to the technical function of these vans. Pursuant to this order from Rauff, in the middle of December 1941, Becker drove to Riga
Riga
Riga is the capital and largest city of Latvia. With 702,891 inhabitants Riga is the largest city of the Baltic states, one of the largest cities in Northern Europe and home to more than one third of Latvia's population. The city is an important seaport and a major industrial, commercial,...
to inspect the gas vans used by Einsatzgruppe A. On January 4 or 5, 1942, Becker received another order from Rauff directing him to move on to Einsatzgruppe D in the south, which was commanded by Otto Ohlendorf
Otto Ohlendorf
Otto Ohlendorf was a German SS-Gruppenführer and head of the Inland-SD , a section of the SD. Ohlendorf was the commanding officer of Einsatzgruppe D, which conducted mass murder in Moldova, south Ukraine, the Crimea, and, during 1942, the north Caucasus...
near Simferopol
Simferopol
-Russian Empire and Civil War:The city was renamed Simferopol in 1784 after the annexation of the Crimean Khanate to the Russian Empire by Catherine II of Russia. The name Simferopol is derived from the Greek, Συμφερόπολις , translated as "the city of usefulness." In 1802, Simferopol became the...
. It took Becker about three weeks to get there. Becker stayed with Einsatzgruppe D until the beginning of April 1942, when he returned to Einsatzgruppen A at Riga
Riga
Riga is the capital and largest city of Latvia. With 702,891 inhabitants Riga is the largest city of the Baltic states, one of the largest cities in Northern Europe and home to more than one third of Latvia's population. The city is an important seaport and a major industrial, commercial,...
.
Becker worried however not only about the technology of the gas cars, but was anxious also around their camouflage as well as the physical and moral health of the "final solvers" (Endlöser). Thus he reported on 16 May 1942 from Kiev to Rauff:
In this letter Becker criticized also the incorrect execution of the gasification:
Becker continued sending messages to Rauff regarding the efficacious use of the gas vans through the middle of 1942. On 5 June 1942 Becker reported that "for an example, since December 1941, three vehicles were used to process 97,000, with no down-time on the vehicles.". In September 1942, following his return to Berlin, Becker criticized the untidy means by which the murders were carried out to Rauff's deputy Pradel:
Nazi career after gas vans
After his work as a gas van specialist Becker was employed at the Central Commercial Company East (Zentralhandelsgesellschaft Ost), a monopoly company for the agricultural products in the occupied east areas, and afterwards in the Foreign Defense Office (Auslandabwehr) of the Central Reich Security Office (RSHARSHA
The RSHA, or Reichssicherheitshauptamt was an organization subordinate to Heinrich Himmler in his dual capacities as Chef der Deutschen Polizei and Reichsführer-SS...
). In 1943 he was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel (SS-Obersturmbannführer).
After the war
Because of his membership in the SS, Becker was condemned after end of war to a three years prison sentence. Afterwards he worked as a salesman for animal feeds and then to support himself in 1954 he started working first in a precision machine shop and then in concrete construction. In 1959 he suffered a stroke and moved to a nursing home in the upper Hessian town of Laubach.Trial, conviction, and last years
In 1959, the public prosecutor's office in Stuttgart began a preliminary investigation into offenses committed by Becker, Albert WidmannAlbert Widmann
Albert Widmann was an SS officer and German chemist who worked for the Action T4 euthanasia program during the regime of Nazi Germany....
and Paul Werner. Becker was condemned to ten years prison, but on 15 July 1960, due to his bad state of health he was released from detention and admitted to the home for the elderly at Butzbach
Butzbach
Butzbach is a town in the Wetteraukreis district in Hesse, Germany. It is located approx. 16 km south of Gießen and 35 km north of Frankfurt am Main....
. When in 1967, the State Criminal Court in Stuttgart sent a summons to Becker, it turned out that Becker had been taken out of the Butzbach home on January 3, 1966 by persons unknown, and his current whereabouts could not be determined. On June 16, 1967, the Baden-Wuerttemburg state criminal police agency issued a bulletin to be on the look out for Becker. By then however Becker had been checked into another nursing home where he remained in a state of almost complete mental and physical breakdown. August Becker died on 31 December 1967.