Exploring the World of the Second and Third Tier Men in the Holocaust: The Interrogation of Friedrich Jeckeln: Engineer and Executioner

Friedrich Jeckeln as Higher SS and Police Fuehrer for South Russia in 1941, and then North Russia from 1941 to 1944, was a key player in the development of the Holocast in the occupied Soviet Union. This article explores his career and motivations through the medium of his interrogation reports. Those interrogations were conducted by the NKVD from December 1945 to January 1946. They formed a key part in the development of a case against Jeckeln for involvement in crimes against the Soviet people. Using a variety of coercive techniques Jeckeln’s captors forced him to confront the enormity of his crimes. He was brought before a court and executed on the same day in February 1946.