The German Empire was one of the Central Powers in the World War I, and numerous war crimes were perpetuated under the orders of the empire. Nazi Germany, under the dictatorship and control of Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party also witnessed an unprecedented number of war crimes. The brutality of German war criminals has been written about in numerous accounts by the witnesses and survivors of the horrendous crimes committed against humanity. General Lothar von Trotha, of the Imperial German Army was widely condemned for his brutality in the Herero Wars, particularly for his role in the genocide that led to the near-extermination of the Herero. Josef Mengele, a physician in Auschwitz concentration camp during World War II was a member of the team of doctors responsible for the selection of victims to be killed in the gas chambers and for performing deadly human experiments on prisoners. Josef "Sepp" Dietrich was another war criminal who participated in a series of political extra-judicial executions during the Night of the Long Knives. Heinrich Luitpold Himmler, a leading member of the Nazi Party, was one of the people most directly responsible for the Holocaust. This section provides you information about the life and works of notorious German war criminals.