Werner Berger

Werner Alfred Berger (22 February 1901 – 10 June 1964) was a German SS-Oberscharführer and served as a commander in the KZ Buchenwald concentration camp.

Life Berger worked as a banker and joined the Nazi Party before the outbreak of World War II. In April 1940 he joined the Waffen-SS. From January 1941 until April 1945 Berger served on the staff at KZ Buchenwald. At Buchenwald, Berger was in charge of the effect chamber, where the personal possessions of prisoners were stored. He also belonged to the group "Kommando 99", which carried out executions at Buchenwald against predominantly Soviet prisoners of war.

At the end of the war, Berger was arrested and on 25 November 1947, was accused, along with five other Buchenwald personnel, of committing war crimes while a part of Kommando 99 in the Dachau trials (which followed the Buchenwald Trial). On 3 December 1947, Berger was sentenced to life in prison for his roles at Buchenwald and Kommando 99.

Due to Zagoda's testimony, on 13 November 1948 arrest warrants were made by the court of Weimar against Otto, Berger, Gust and other implicated individuals. In 1950, after consultation with the GDR authorities, the Soviet Control Commission unsuccessfully applied to the responsible American authorities for the extradition of Berger and Otto in order to carry out a trial for Thälmann's murder. The investigation was ultimately unsuccessful. Berger died in June 1964.

Literature Falco Werkentin: Politische Strafjustiz in der Ära Ulbricht. Christoph Links-Verlag, Berlin 1995. (in German)