1. Walter Gerhard Martin Sommer was a German SS Hauptscharfuhrer who served as a guard at the concentration camps of Dachau and Buchenwald.
11 Facts About Martin Sommer
1. 2.
On occasions, after private late-night torture sessions, Martin Sommer would hide his victims' bodies under his bed until he could dispose of them in the morning.
3.
Martin Sommer served in the 9th SS Panzer Division Hohenstaufen until August 1943, when he was recalled.
4.
Martin Sommer was then arrested and charged with embezzlement and committing unauthorized murders in the camp.
5.
Martin Sommer initially denied his guilt, but he eventually admitted to secretly killing 40 to 50 prisoners.
6.
On 8 April 1945, Martin Sommer was critically injured after an American bomber plane with a full payload crashed next to his tank.
7.
Martin Sommer suffered injuries to his left arm, right leg and stomach.
8.
Martin Sommer was released from internment in June 1947 and sent to a home for the disabled.
9.
Martin Sommer married, fathered a child and filed for and received a pension for his service-related disabilities.
10.
In 1971, Martin Sommer was released from prison, since there was no facility to continue his treatment of his wartime injuries.
11.
Martin Sommer was transferred to a hospital and in 1973 to a nursing home, where he remained until his death in 1988.