Albert Hugo Schuster (February 13, 1912 – May 31, 1973) was a Naziwar criminal who was responsible for police units in occupied Poland in World War II. He was notorious for his brutality, earning the nickname "The Butcher of the
Łysogóry
Łysogóry is the largest mountain range in the Świętokrzyskie Mountains of central Poland. It is 25 km long, and runs from the Lubrzanka river in the northwest, to the area of Nowa Słupia in the southeast. It contains the highest peak o ...
". Schuster avoided detection after the war. After Polish investigators reopened an active search for Nazi war criminals, they discovered Schuster, who was now living in East Germany. Schuster was arrested and put on trial for his crimes by an East German court. He was found guilty, sentenced to death, and executed in 1973.
Early life and crimes
Schuster was born in
Plauen
Plauen (; Czech language, Czech: ''Plavno'') is, with around 65,000 inhabitants, the fifth-largest city of Saxony, Germany after Leipzig, Dresden, Chemnitz and Zwickau, the second-largest city of the Vogtland after Gera, as well as the larges ...
in 1912. He joined the Nazi Party in 1933. In 1941, he graduated from the Ordnungspolizei school in Buchenwald. He was deployed to Belarus with the task of fighting guerrillas, shooting Jews whom he had helped select. In the spring of 1943, he was sent to the Świętokrzyskie Mountains. There, he became known as the "Butcher of the
Łysogóry
Łysogóry is the largest mountain range in the Świętokrzyskie Mountains of central Poland. It is 25 km long, and runs from the Lubrzanka river in the northwest, to the area of Nowa Słupia in the southeast. It contains the highest peak o ...
" for his brutality.
Schuster commanded the 62nd Motorized Gendarmerie Regiment. The group used carts instead of motor vehicles so they could surprise attack their targets. After a failed attempt by partisans to destroy his post, Schuster moved to the St. Catherine monastery, believing Poles would be less likely to shoot at a church. He tortured and murdered approximately 80 people in the monastery's proximity. In addition, Schuster went on "pacifications" in numerous areas. and many more in surrounding villages. He murdered hundreds of people across multiple villages. On one occasion, he burned two children alive.
Between March and July 1943, Schuster and his men murdered over 400 people. They killed 35 people combined in the villages of Paprocice, Płucki, and
Zamkowa Wola
Zamkowa Wola is a village in the administrative district of Gmina Łagów, within Kielce County, Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship, in south-central Poland. It lies approximately north of Łagów and east of the regional capital Kielce
Kielce (, ...
. They also murdered 9 people in
Bartoszowiny
Bartoszowiny is a village in the administrative district of Gmina Nowa Słupia, within Kielce County, Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship, in south-central Poland. It lies approximately south-west of Nowa Słupia and east of the regional capital Kie ...
Bodzentyn
Bodzentyn is a town in Kielce County, Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship, Poland, with 2,168 inhabitants as of December 2021. Bodzentyn belongs to Lesser Poland, and was granted town charter in 1355. The town lies in the Świętokrzyskie Mountains, her ...
, 2 in
Klucznik
Klucznik (german: Klausen) is a village in the administrative district of Gmina Barczewo, within Olsztyn County, Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship, in northern Poland. It lies approximately south-east of Barczewo and east of the regional capital Ol ...
Kakonin
Kakonin is a village in the administrative district of Gmina Bieliny, within Kielce County, Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship, in south-central Poland. It lies approximately north of Bieliny and east of the regional capital Kielce
Kielce (, yi, ...
, and 28 in Krajno.
When carrying out a village "pacification", Schuster would have the population chased into one area and then have his men read out a list of names. Those named were then killed. Sometimes, random people were shot. Victims were forced to dig their own graves in advance. Schuster justified his actions as being necessary to combat forest gangs.
In January 1944, Schuster went on a "rally of death" in the
Opoczno
Opoczno ) is a town in south-central Poland, in eastern part of Łódź Voivodeship (since 1999), previously in Piotrków Trybunalski Voivodeship (1975–1998). It has a long and rich history, and in the past it used to be one of the most importa ...
area. Driving from village to village, he and his men kidnapped, robbed, tortured, and killed people who were unlucky enough to be in his way.
After being ambushed by a Home Army unit led by Witold Kucharski near the village of Ojrzeń, 12 of Schuster's men were killed and Schuster himself lost an eye. Fifteen local people were killed in retaliation. In January 1945, Schuster left for Germany on sick leave. He was awarded the
War Merit Cross
The War Merit Cross (german: Kriegsverdienstkreuz) was a state decoration of Nazi Germany during World War II. By the end of the conflict it was issued in four degrees and had an equivalent civil award. A " de-Nazified" version of the War Merit ...
, and the Iron Cross (second class). After the war, Schuster was arrested on suspicion of war crimes, but released due to a lack of evidence.
Postwar
Schuster settled in
Raschau
Raschau is a former municipality in the district of Erzgebirgskreis in Saxony, Germany. Since 1 January 2008, Raschau and Markersbach have formed the municipality Raschau-Markersbach.East Germany after the war. In 1951, he was hired by the
Stasi
The Ministry for State Security, commonly known as the (),An abbreviation of . was the Intelligence agency, state security service of the East Germany from 1950 to 1990.
The Stasi's function was similar to the KGB, serving as a means of maint ...
as an informant. In 1964, he was awarded the
Medal for Faithful Service in the National People's Army
The Medal For Faithful Service in the National People’s Army (german: Medaille für treue Dienste in der Nationalen Volksarmee) was a medal issued in the German Democratic Republic (GDR).
Day of Establishment: June 1, 1956 (revised orders were ...
. In 1967, a Polish war crimes commission, led by Andrzej Jankowski, conducted an investigation into Schuster. They finished their investigation in 1968. Officials then sent a letter to West Germany about Schuster, after which Jankowski learned that Schuster was still alive, but was living in East Germany. In 1969, Jankowski informed East German officials about Schuster, prompting the Stasi to cease contact with him. In December 1970, Schuster was arrested and accused of "joining the system of fascist mass extermination and of having committed war crimes and crimes against humanity. As an officer of the fascist gendarmerie and leader of a motorized train, he organized, ordered and carried out the arrests, ill-treatment and shooting of women, children and men in occupied areas during the Second World War." Schuster was put on trial in
Chemnitz
Chemnitz (; from 1953 to 1990: Karl-Marx-Stadt , ) is the third-largest city in the German state of Saxony after Leipzig and Dresden. It is the 28th largest city of Germany as well as the fourth largest city in the area of former East Germany a ...
.
Jankowski was allowed to participate in Schuster's interrogation and provided assistance to Polish witnesses questioned by the local prosecutor's office. Schuster's trial started in January 1973. Schuster attempted to defer blame to the Gestapo for the shootings. At one point during his trial, Wacław Dziuba, a surviving witness, said he had been saved by an unexpected act of mercy by one of Schuster's men. Dziuba had survived the initial massacre when the bullet only grazed his neck. One of Schuster's men noticed he was still alive, but instead of finishing him off, whispered to him "Lay still, everyone's dead."
At this, Schuster suddenly stood up and shouted "The witness is lying, it's impossible. My gendarmes were so disciplined that no one would allow himself to be so disloyal. This is slander. This cannot be true, because my soldiers were exactly following their orders, killing those forest bandits."
The presiding judge responded by mentioning the name of one of Schuster's victims, Wanda Piwowarczyk. Piwowarczyk was a two-year-old girl whom Schuster had personally executed as she was crying and hugging her mother. Schuster waited for Piwowarczyk's mother to recover from the shock of watching her daughter being murdered, then smiled at the woman and shot her in the head. She fell down while still holding her daughter in her arms. Dziuba witnessed the entire chain of events.
The judge asked Schuster if Wanda Piwowarczyk was a bandit. Schuster went silent. He was found guilty of participating in the rounding and deportation of Jews in the Belarusian town of
Novogrudok
Novogrudok ( be, Навагрудак, Navahrudak; lt, Naugardukas; pl, Nowogródek; russian: Новогрудок, Novogrudok; yi, נאַוואַראַדאָק, Novhardok, Navaradok) is a town in the Grodno Region, Belarus.
In the Middle A ...
and murdering of at least 400 villagers in Poland, and sentenced to death. Schuster was shot at
Leipzig Prison
Leipzig Prison (, later ) was a prison in Leipzig, Germany. Built together with an adjacent court building in 1906, it was used as a prison until 2003. During East German rule, a secret part of the prison was used as the central execution site of ...
in 1973. His body was cremated and buried in an unmarked grave. In 1994, an unknown party filed a rehabilitation request on Schuster's behalf. However, the petition only succeeded in having his death sentence posthumously reduced to life in prison.