Friedrich Schubert

Friedrich "Fritz" Schubert (; 21 February 1897, Dortmund – 22 October 1947, Heptapyrgion) was a Greek-speaking German NCO Oberfeldwebel (Sergeant) of the Nazi Wehrmacht. As head of the Jagdkommando Schubert, a semi-independent paramilitary force he terrorized the civilian population during the Nazi occupation of Greece in World War II and he committed numerous atrocities in Crete and Macedonia.

Tried by a special court for war criminals in Athens, he was found guilty over the killing of over 250 civilians, sentenced 27 times to death and executed.

Early life Few details of Schubert's pre-WWII life have been verified. Some Cretans believed that Schubert was born as Petros Konstantinidis (the name he used when he was arrested by the Greek Police), son to a rich tobacco merchant in Smyrna and a Turkish mother and emigrated to Germany at a young age. There, he joined the National Socialist Party and became a dedicated Nazi.

However, it is verified that Schubert was German, born in Dortmund in 1897. They were notorious for their sadistic practices during attacks against civilians that involved beating, torture, shootings and the destruction of numerous villages in Crete and Makedonia (e.g., Oropedio Lasithiou, Rodakino, Kali Sykia, Kallikratis, etc.). Even today, calling someone a Schuberitis is considered in Crete to be a serious insult synonymous to treachery and cruelty.

These events had enraged the local resistance fighters and the British agents and made them want to eliminate the Schuberai at all costs. Soon, Schubert's unit lost its effectiveness as it could not operate away from his base without the escort of a large Wehrmacht protective force. It is also possible that German officers in Crete were enraged because Schubert's practices were too cruel even for the standards of Nazi Germany. Hence, in January 1944 Schubert was ordered by Bruno Brauer to leave Crete. While in Macedonia, Schubert's group continued their hideous activities, being responsible for the massacres of Chortiatis and Giannitsa, among others.

When the German Army retreated from Macedonia in October 1944 Schubert and 70 of his men also retreated to Yugoslavia and stayed there for a few months. Schubert arrived in Vienna in February 1945 and before the Red Army captured the city he went to Schwaz in west Austria. When the US army arrived to Schwaz, Schubert and his mistress impersonated Greek displaced persons and were placed in a camp in Innsbruck awaiting transfer to Greece.

After World War II Schubert attempted to return to Greece because he wanted to be with his mistress or because he had no choice. On 5 September 1945 he arrived in Eleusina military airport on board a plane repatriating ex-concentration camp prisoners back to Greece from Munich, under the false name Kostantinos Konstantinidis (Κωνσταντίνος Κωνσταντινίδης). When he was interrogated by Greek Police officers, the answers he gave were unsatisfactory and vague and was kept in custody for further examination. When he was in custody he was recognized as Friedrich Schubert by various witnesses and prosecuted for war crimes. On 5 August 1947, he was found guilty of 271 murders and several other crimes including arson, burned numerous villages, rapes, murder of women and children in cold blood, spoils of war, and thefts. For these, Schubert was convicted 27 times to death and several thousand years of imprisonment. He was executed by firing squad in Eptapyrgio, Thessaloniki on 22 October 1947.