Hermann Michel

Hermann Michel (; 20 February 1909 – 8 August 1984?), sometimes referred to as "Preacher", was a Nazi and SS-Oberscharführer (Staff Sergeant). During World War II, he participated in the extermination of Jews at the Sobibór extermination camp during the Nazi operation known as Aktion Reinhard. According to the Majdanek Museum, a different person named Hermann Michel, born 23.04.1912 in Passau, served at Buchenwald, Majdanek and Sachsenhausen. This person was killed in 1944.

Biography Hermann Michel was born either in 1906 or 1909. His exact location of origin is not clear. 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 April 1942, SS-Obersturmführer (First Lieutenant) Franz Stangl was appointed commander of Sobibor. Stangl appointed SS-Oberscharführer Hermann Michel as his deputy, due to their prior work relationship and his extensive experience in the enforced euthanasia programs.

Hermann Michel is described as a tall, graceful man with delicate features and a pleasant voice. His polite and refined speech earned him the nickname "Preacher".

After this convincing speech, the pacified prisoners were directed to hand in their valuables, undress and receive a haircut prior to being forced into the gas chambers.

SS-Oberscharführer Kurt Bolender, Commander of Sobibór Camp 3, testified at his trial as to how the extermination process operated:

quote|Before the Jews undressed, Oberscharführer Hermann Michel made a speech to them. On these occasions, he used to wear a white coat to give the impression [that he was] a physician. Michel announced to the Jews that they would be sent to work. But before this they would have to take baths and undergo disinfection, so as to prevent the spread of diseases.... After undressing, the Jews were taken through the so-called Schlauch ("tube"). They were led to the gas chambers not by the Germans but by Ukrainians.... After the Jews entered the gas chambers, the Ukrainians closed the doors.... The motor which supplied the gas was switched on by a Ukrainian called Emil and by a German driver called Erich Bauer from Berlin. After the gassing, the doors were opened, and the corpses were removed by a group of Jewish workers....

Some sources suggest that Hermann Michel died on 8 August 1984 in Egypt but it has never been conclusively proven.