Joachim Mrugowsky

Joachim Mrugowsky
Mugshot of Mrugowsky
Born	15 August 1905 Rathenow, German Empire
Died	2 June 1948(1948-06-02) (aged 42) Landsberg Prison, Landsberg am Lech, Allied-occupied Germany
Cause of death	Execution by hanging
Occupation	Bacteriologist
Political party	Nazi Party
Criminal status	Executed
Conviction(s)	War crimes Crimes against humanity Membership in a criminal organization
Trial	Doctors' Trial
Criminal penalty	Death

Joachim Mrugowsky (15 August 1905 – 2 June 1948) was a Nazi bacteriologist who committed medical atrocities at the Sachsenhausen concentration camp. He was Associate Professor, Medical Doctorate, Chief of Hygiene Institute of the Waffen-SS, Senior Hygienist at the Reich, SS-Physician, SS and Waffen-SS Colonel. He was found guilty of war crimes following the war in the Doctors' Trial and executed in 1948.

Early life and education

Mrugowsky was born to a family of Polish origin; his father was a medical doctor. In 1925, Mrugowsky began his studies of natural sciences and medicine at the University of Halle. He completed the studies in 1930–1931 with a medical doctorate and a doctorate of natural sciences. 1930–1931 he was the Hochschulgruppenführer (University group leader) of the National Socialist German Students' League branch at the University of Halle. After a two-year internship, he became an assistant at the Hygiene Institute of the University of Halle. Mrugowsky was made an associate professor in the area of hygiene at the University of Berlin in September 1944.

Nazi activities and war crimes

Since 1930, Mrugowsky had been involved in the Nazi ideology, first being the group leader of a local National Socialist German Students' Association then the NSDAP party member (No. 210,049). In 1931, he joined the SS, where he achieved the rank of Oberführer in both the General SS and the Waffen-SS.

Mrugowsky coordinated human experimentation at the Sachsenhausen concentration camp near Berlin. This included testing of typhus vaccines, and biological warfare agents including poisoned bullets and lethal injections.

Trial and conviction

He was implicated in the Nazi human experimentation program, with the exception of the aviation experiments, which were conducted on concentration camp prisoners. Mrugowsky was convicted of various charges in the Doctors' Trial and sentenced to death in August 1947. He was executed on 2 June 1948. Unrepentant to the end, Mrugowsky's last words were, "I die as a German officer sentenced by a brutal enemy and conscious I never committed the crimes charged against me."