Dr Albert Battel
Albert Battel was born on January 21, 1891, in Klein- Pramson near Neustadt in Prussian Silesia. After serving in the German Army during World War One, he studied economics and jurisprudence at the University of Munich and the University of Breslau. He then worked as a lawyer in the interwar years. In May 1933, he joined the Nazi Party.
In 1942, Battel was a 51-year old reserve officer with the rank of lieutenant stationed in Przemysl, which is located in South -Eastern Poland. He was the adjutant to the local military commander Major Max Liedtke. When the SS prepared to launch its first scale resettlement action against the Jews of Przemysl on July 26, 1942, Battel in agreement with his superior, ordered the bridge over the River San, the only access into the Jewish ghetto , to be blocked. As the SS attempted to cross to the other side, the sargeant-major in charge of the bridge threatened to open fire unless they withdrew The events occurred in broad daylight to the amazement of the local residents.
Later that same afternoon, an army detachments under the command of Albert Battel entered the Przemysl ghetto and used army trucks to evacuate approximately one hundred Jews along with their families to the barracks of the local military command. These Jews were placed under the protection of the Wehrmacht and were thus sheltered from deportation to the Belzec death camp.
After the events caused by Dr Albert Battels actions, the SS authorities began an investigation into his conduct. Battel though a long standing member of the Nazi Party since May 1933, had attracted notoriety in the past because of his friendly conduct towards the Jews. Before the war, he had been indicted before a Party tribunal for having extended a loan to a Jewish colleague. Later during his service in Przemysl he had been officially reprimanded for shaking the hands of the Judenrat President Dr. Duldig.
This affair reached the head of the SS, Reichsfuhrer Heinrich Himmler, who took a keen interest in the results of the SS investigations and Himmler sent incriminating documents to Martin Bormann, the chief of the Nazi Party Chancellery and Hitler's personal secretary. Himmler vowed to have Dr. Albert Battel expelled from the Nazi Party and arrested after the war had ended.
During 1944, Battel was discharged from his military service because of heart disease. He returned to Breslau and joined a Volksturm unit. He was captured by the Red Army and taken into captivity as a Prisoner of War. He was released by the Russians in 1946. After his release he settled in West Germany, and found work in a glass factory.
Dr Albert Battel died on March 17, 1952, in Hattersheim am Main, West Germany.
Sources
www. wikipedia
© Holocaust Historical Society June 25, 2025
