Jürgen Stroop

The son of a policeman, Josef Stroop, was born on 26 September 1895 in Detmold, Germany, but he later changed his name in honour of his deceased son in 1941. During World War One Stroop served in several infantry regiments at the front and won an Iron Cross 2^nd Class. He was also wounded in action.

Stroop joined the SS on 1 July 1932 and received SS number 44611, he was admitted into the Nazi Party shortly thereafter on 1 September 1932. Stroop was promoted to SS-Hauptsturmfuhrer on 8 March 1934, to SS- Sturmbannfuhrer on 20 April 1935 and to SS-Obersturmbannfuhrer on 20 April 1936.

During the 1930’s he attended various leadership courses and commanded several General SS units in Germany proper. He was promoted to SS-Standartenfuhrer on 12 September 1937 and to SS-Oberfuhrer on 10 September 1939.

From 7 July to 15 September 1941 Jurgen Stroop served in combat on the eastern front with the 3^rd SS Totenkopf Infantry Regiment of the SS Division “Totenkopf,” during the fighting he was awarded a Clasp to the Iron Cross 2^nd Class and an Infantry Assault Badge in Bronze. Stroop served in the Sudetenland, after the occupation of Poland in September 1939 Stroop was transferred to Poznan as head of the German Selbschutz – self defence units of ethnic Germans.
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The Holocaust Education & Archive Research Team