Ernst Biberstein

Ernst Emil Heinrich Biberstein (or Bieberstein) (February 15^th, 1899 – December 8^th, 1986) was an SS-Obersturmbannführer (Lieutenant Colonel), member of the SD and commanding officer of Einsatzkommando 6. He was born Ernst Schzymanowski or Szymanowski.

Nazism

Biberstein joined the Nazi party in 1926 and the SS on September 13^th, 1936 (membership number 272692). From March through October 1940 he was again a soldier. In 1941, he changed his name from Szymanowski to Biberstein. After the assassination of Reinhard Heydrich, he was assigned command of Einsatzgruppe C in June of 1942.

Nuremberg and later life

Biberstein was a defendant at the Einsatzgruppen Trial during the Nuremberg Trials. His trial began in September 1947 and ended April 9^th, 1948. At his arraignment, along with all other defendants, he pleaded not guilty on all charges. Einsatzkommando 6 was charged with having executed some two to three thousand people. It was brought to light that at Rostow, Biberstein had personally supervised the execution of some 50 to 60 people. The victims were stripped of valuable articles (and partially of clothes), gassed, and left in a mass grave. He was also present at executions where victims were made to kneel at the edge of a pit and killed with a submachine gun.

Biberstein was ultimately found guilty and sentenced to death by hanging, which was later commuted to life imprisonment in 1951. He was released in 1958 and temporarily returned to the clergy. He died in 1986 in Neumünster.