August Becker
| August Becker | |
|---|---|
| Born | 17 August 1900 Staufenberg, Hesse, German Empire |
| Died | December 31, 1967 (aged 67) |
| Occupation | Chemist |
| Criminal penalty | Three years imprisonment; ten years later imposed (released early) |
| Motive | Nazism |
| Conviction(s) | SS Membership |
August Becker (17 August 1900 – 31 December 1967) was a mid-ranking functionary in the SS of Nazi Germany and chemist in the Reich Main Security Office (RSHA). He helped design the vans with a gas chamber built into the back compartment used in early Nazi mass murder of disabled people, political dissidents, Jews, and other "racial enemies," including Action T4 as well as the Einsatzgruppen (mobile Nazi death squads) in the Nazi-occupied portions of the Soviet Union. Generally his role was to provide important technical support, but on at least one occasion he personally gassed about 20 people.
August Becker was born on 17 August 1900 in Staufenberg in the German state of Hesse. He was the son of a factory owner. He was inducted into the German Army toward the end of World War I. Afterward Becker studied chemistry and physics at the University of Giessen, where in 1933 he achieved the PhD degree in chemistry. From 1933 to 1935 he remained as an assistant at the university.
By September 1930 Becker had joined the Nazi party, and in February 1931 he also became a member of the SS. From February to April 1934 he was occasionally active in the Gestapo office at Giessen, before he finally left the university in 1935. At his trial on 4 April 1960, Becker testified that in May 1935 he was assigned to the SS-regiment "Germania" at Bad Arolsen, a small resort town near Kassel, the major city in the northern part of the German state of Hesse, in central Germany. During this time Becker held the rank of SS-Oberscharführer, and was concerned only with military affairs. He remained with this regiment up to 28 February 1938.
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