1. Gustav Lombard was a high-ranking member in the SS during World War II.
15 Facts About Gustav Lombard
1. 2.
Gustav Lombard was a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross of Nazi Germany for so-called "anti-partisan" operations around Kovel which involved killing of civilians and burning down villages.
3.
Gustav Lombard perpetrated mass murder in the Holocaust, serving as commanding officer of the 1st Regiment of the SS Cavalry Brigade during the German invasion of the Soviet Union.
4.
Gustav Lombard was convicted of war crimes by a Soviet military tribunal in 1947 and was released in 1955.
5.
Gustav Lombard was tried by a West German court in the 1960s and found not guilty.
6.
Gustav Lombard was born in Klein Spiegelberg, near Prenzlau, Province of Brandenburg, Germany.
7.
Gustav Lombard joined the Nazi Party and SS after the Machtergreifung, the Nazi takeover of power, in 1933; once in the Party, Gustav Lombard joined the SS Cavalry.
8.
In Poland, on 7 April 1940, Gustav Lombard's unit was ordered to occupy the district of Krolowiec, near the city of Warsaw.
9.
That in case of resistance, commander Gustav Lombard gave orders that his soldiers hunt and kill any non-German boy and man between the ages of 17 and 60 years.
10.
Gustav Lombard reminded them that he would deal harshly with any commanders that showed weakness.
11.
On 3 September 1941, Gustav Lombard was awarded Iron Cross 1st class for 'bravery in battle'.
12.
On 15 January 1944, Gustav Lombard was appointed Chief of Staff of Stossgruppe von dem Bach, a rapid deployment assault unit under the command of Bach-Zalewski.
13.
Gustav Lombard became a prisoner of war in the Soviet Union in April 1945 and was sentenced as a war criminal to 25 years in prison in 1947.
14.
Gustav Lombard was tried by a West German court in the 1960s; the court case lasted a decade and did not result in a conviction.
15.
Gustav Lombard died in 1992 in Muhldorf am Inn at the age of 97.