Albert Hugo Schuster

Albert Hugo Schuster (February 13, 1912 – May 31, 1973) was a Nazi war criminal who was responsible for police units in occupied Poland in World War II.

He was notorious for his brutality, earning the nickname "The Butcher of the Łysogóry".

Schuster avoided detection after the war.

After Polish investigators reopened an active search for Nazi war criminals, they discovered Schuster, who was now living in East Germany.

Schuster was arrested and put on trial for his crimes by an East German court.

Schuster was born in Plauen in 1912.

He joined the Nazi Party in 1933.

In 1941, he graduated from the Ordnungspolizei school in Buchenwald.

He was deployed to Belarus with the task of fighting guerrillas, shooting Jews whom he had helped select.

In the spring of 1943, he was sent to the Świętokrzyskie Mountains.

There, he became known as the "Butcher of the Łysogóry" for his brutality.

Between March and July 1943, Schuster and his men murdered over 400 people.

They killed 35 people combined in the villages of Paprocice, Płucki, and Zamkowa Wola.

They also murdered 9 people in Bartoszowiny, 10 in Szklana Huta, 11 in Jeziorko, 4 in Celiny, 3 in Wojciechów, 2 in Hucisko, 8 in Psary Podlesie, 39 in Bodzentyn, 2 in Klucznik, 7 in Szafranki, 21 in Wola Szczygiełkowa, 28 in Dębno, 4 in Dębno Hary, 16 in Klonów, 9 in Kakonin, and 28 in Krajno.

When carrying out a village "pacification", Schuster would have the population chased into one area and then have his men read out a list of names.

Those named were then killed.

Sometimes, random people were shot.

Victims were forced to dig their own graves in advance.

Schuster justified his actions as being necessary to combat forest gangs.

In January 1944, Schuster went on a "rally of death" in the Opoczno area.

Driving from village to village, he and his men kidnapped, robbed, tortured, and killed people who were unlucky enough to be in his way.

After being ambushed by a Home Army unit led by Witold Kucharski near the village of Ojrzeń, 12 of Schuster's men were killed and Schuster himself lost an eye.

Fifteen local people were killed in retaliation.

In January 1945, Schuster left for Germany on sick leave.

He was awarded the War Merit Cross, and the Iron Cross (second class).

After the war, Schuster was arrested on suspicion of war crimes, but released due to a lack of evidence.

Schuster settled in Raschau, East Germany after the war.

In 1951, he was hired by the Stasi as an informant.

Schuster commanded the 62nd Motorized Gendarmerie Regiment.

The group used carts instead of motor vehicles so they could surprise attack their targets.

After a failed attempt by partisans to destroy his post, Schuster moved to the St. Catherine monastery, believing Poles would be less likely to shoot at a church.

He tortured and murdered approximately 80 people in the monastery's proximity.

In addition, Schuster went on "pacifications" in numerous areas.

and many more in surrounding villages.

He murdered hundreds of people across multiple villages.

On one occasion, he burned two children alive.

In 1964, he was awarded the Medal for Faithful Service in the National People's Army.

In 1967, a Polish war crimes commission, led by Andrzej Jankowski, conducted an investigation into Schuster.

They finished their investigation in 1968.

He was found guilty, sentenced to death, and executed in 1973.