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Walter Blume
Walter Blume served as commander of Sonderkommando 7a in 1941 and commander of the Security Police and SD in occupied Greece in 1943–1944. The profile reconstructs the person’s function in Belarus and western Russia; later occupied Greece through documented office, decisions, supervision or operational conduct. It does not assign every crime committed by an institution or region to one individual.
Confirmed findings
- Blume commanded Sonderkommando 7a of Einsatzgruppe B during mass shootings in the occupied Soviet territories in 1941.
- As Security Police and SD commander in Greece, he directed or supervised the police apparatus involved in deporting Greek Jews to Auschwitz.
- The Einsatzgruppen tribunal convicted him of crimes against humanity, war crimes and membership in criminal organisations.
Place in the chain of responsibility
The profile links two distinct operational roles: command of a mobile killing unit and later leadership of a regional deportation apparatus. Responsibility is based on those posts and proven operations, not on every crime committed by Einsatzgruppe B or all German authorities in Greece.
Key events and mechanisms
- In 1941 Sonderkommando 7a operated through the Vitebsk, Smolensk and Moscow approaches under his command.
- In 1943–1944 he led the Security Police and SD apparatus in occupied Greece during mass deportations.
- On 10 April 1948 he was sentenced to death; the sentence was commuted in 1951.
The circle records authority, function and agency. Several profiles may describe different parts of the same persecution chain, so profile-level totals must not be added together.
Postwar accountability
Blume's death sentence was changed to twenty-five years' imprisonment during the postwar sentence reviews. He was released in 1955 and later proceedings in West Germany did not produce a further conviction.
Limits of the evidence
The surviving reports give specific minimum figures for killings by Sonderkommando 7a, while much larger numbers concern the Einsatzgruppen as a whole. The deportation total from Greece likewise involved several offices and cannot be treated as a personal victim count.
Sources
The source set combines institutional, archival, trial or scholarly material from at least two independent publishers.