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Bruno BegerGerman racologist and anthropologist, employee of the Ahnenerbe, SS Hauptsturmführer.
Date of Birth: 27.04.1911
Country:  Germany |
Content:
- Bruno Beger: From Racial Ideologue to War Criminal
- Career with the SS and Ahnenerbe
- Tibetan Expedition and Craniology
- Collaboration in Nazi Atrocities
- Post-War Era
- Death
Bruno Beger: From Racial Ideologue to War Criminal
Early Life and EducationBruno Beger was born in Frankfurt am Main, Germany, into an affluent Heidelberg family. After the death of his father and uncles in World War I, he was influenced by family friend Hans F. K. Günther, a prominent racial ideologist. Beger pursued studies in anthropology, ethnography, and geography at the Friedrich Schiller University of Jena and the University of Heidelberg.
Career with the SS and Ahnenerbe
In 1934, Beger joined the SS Race and Settlement Main Office (RuSHA), where he became a department head. He concurrently collaborated with the Ahnenerbe, a Nazi research institute, focusing on racial studies.
Tibetan Expedition and Craniology
In 1938-39, Beger participated in the Third Reich's Tibetan expedition led by Ernst Schäfer. He conducted craniological measurements on Tibetan people, attempting to support the hypothesis of their Aryan ancestry.
Collaboration in Nazi Atrocities
On December 10, 1941, Beger proposed the collection of Jewish skulls for anthropological research and recommended Dr. August Hirt for the task. Subsequently, he and two other anthropologists arrived at Auschwitz in 1943 to conduct measurements on Jewish prisoners. These prisoners were later gassed and their bodies sent to Hirt for the creation of skeletons.
Post-War Era
Following the war, Beger was interned and later released. In 1970, he was convicted of aiding and abetting murder. In 1974, he was sentenced to a minimal prison term of three years for aiding in the murder of 86 individuals, but he avoided imprisonment due to time served during internment and pretrial custody.
Death
Bruno Beger died in a nursing home in Königstein, a suburb of Frankfurt am Main.
