War Criminals

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Rank the Most Wicked War Criminals

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 1 
Josef Mengele
(German Physician Known for His Atrocities at the Auschwitz II Concentration Camp)
Josef Mengele
106
Birthdate: March 16, 1911
Sun Sign: Pisces
Birthplace: Bavaria, Germany
Died: February 7, 1979

Known as Angel of Death, Dr. Josef Mengele was the chief doctor of Auschwitz concentration camp and was responsible for killing thousands of Jews as well as torturing the prisoners mercilessly and conducting inhuman experiments on them. These included injecting them with chemicals and stitching twin children together. Despite his horrible crimes, the infamous Nazi doctor could never be captured.

 2 
Adolf Eichmann
(German Military Official and One of the Major Organisers of the Holocaust)
Adolf Eichmann
88
Birthdate: March 19, 1906
Sun Sign: Pisces
Birthplace: Solingen, Germany
Died: June 1, 1962
Adolf Eichmann was a Nazi lieutenant colonel and one of the chief organizers of the Holocaust, that involved mass deportation and murder of Jews. In 1962, Eichmann was captured by the Mossad in Argentina and was then taken to Israel. He was eventually tried and hanged for crimes against humanity.
 3 
Hideki Tojo
(27th Prime Minister of Japan)
Hideki Tojo
33
Birthdate: December 30, 1884
Sun Sign: Capricorn
Birthplace: Kōjimachi, Tokyo, Japan
Died: December 23, 1948

Hideki Tojo headed the Imperial Japanese Army and was the Japanese minister of war, apart from being Japan’s prime minister from 1941 to 1944. His tenure witnessed the attack on Pearl Harbor. After Japan surrendered to the Allied Powers, Tojo was convicted of war crimes and sentenced to death.

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 4 
Irma Grese
(Nazi Concentration Camp Guard at Ravensbrück & Auschwitz Who Served as Warden of Bergen-Belsen)
Irma Grese
32
Birthdate: October 7, 1923
Sun Sign: Libra
Birthplace: Feldberger Seenlandschaft, Germany
Died: December 13, 1945

Irma Grese, or the Hyena of Auschwitz, served as an SS guard at the Nazi concentration camps of Auschwitz and Ravensbrück. She was also the warden of the ladies’ section of the Bergen-Belsen camp and ended up being convicted of torture and murder of prisoners. She was executed at 22.

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 5 
Omar al-Bashir
(Former President of Sudan)
Omar al-Bashir
33
Birthdate: January 1, 1944
Sun Sign: Capricorn
Birthplace: Hosh Bannaga, Sudan

Omar al-Bashir is a Sudanese politician who served as the seventh president of Sudan. A former military officer, he is the founder of the National Congress Party that remained the dominant political party in the country until 2019. He was deposed in a coup d'état the same year and subsequently arrested and convicted on multiple corruption charges.

 6 
Klaus Barbie
(Nazi Leader)
Klaus Barbie
20
Birthdate: October 25, 1913
Sun Sign: Scorpio
Birthplace: Bad Godesberg
Died: 1991 AD

Klaus Barbie was a Gestapo and SS official during the Nazi era. Dubbed the Butcher of Lyon, Barbie was known for having tortured prisoners of the Gestapo while stationed in Lyon, France. It is also believed that he played a major role in the execution of Che Guevara. Barbie's life and work inspired the 2007 documentary film My Enemy's Enemy.

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 7 
Mutsuhiro Watanabe
(Imperial Japanese Army Corporal)
Mutsuhiro Watanabe
27
Birthdate: January 18, 1918
Sun Sign: Capricorn
Birthplace: Japan
Died: April 1, 2003

Mutsuhiro Watanabe was an Imperial Japanese Army soldier in World War II. Following Japan’s defeat, he was classified a war criminal for his mistreatment of prisoners of war (POWs) by the US Occupation authorities. However, the US authorities could not capture him. In his later years, he became an insurance salesman and grew wealthy.

 8 
Ilse Koch
(German War Criminal Who Became One of the First Prominent Nazis Tried by the U.S. Military)
Ilse Koch
21
Birthdate: September 22, 1906
Sun Sign: Virgo
Birthplace: Dresden, Germany
Died: September 1, 1967
Ilse Koch was the wife of Karl-Otto Koch, the Nazi commandant of the Buchenwald and Majdanek concentration camps. Also known as Beast of Buchenwald, The Bitch of Buchenwald, and Butcher Widow, she was tried by the U.S. military for her sadistic abuse of war prisoners. She died of suicide.
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 9 
Oskar Dirlewanger
(War Criminal)
Oskar Dirlewanger
12
Birthdate: September 26, 1895
Sun Sign: Libra
Birthplace: Würzburg, Germany
Died: June 7, 1945
German military officer Oskar Dirlewanger established and led the Nazi SS penal unit Dirlewanger during World War II. He had also participated in World War I and the Spanish Civil War, winning the Iron Cross 2nd Class and 1st Class. He died in Allied custody at the Altshausen prison camp.
 10 
Willi Herold
(Military personnel)
Willi Herold
22
Birthdate: September 11, 1925
Sun Sign: Virgo
Birthplace: Chemnitz, Germany
Died: November 14, 1946
 11 
Doc Scurlock
(Cowboy)
Doc Scurlock
3
Birthdate: January 11, 1849
Sun Sign: Capricorn
Birthplace: Tallapoosa County, Alabama, United States
Died: July 25, 1929
 12 
Alfred Jodl
(Chief of the Operations Staff of the German Armed Forces High Command (1939 - 1945))
Alfred Jodl
14
Birthdate: May 10, 1890
Sun Sign: Taurus
Birthplace: Würzburg, Germany
Died: October 16, 1946

Alfred Jodl was a German colonel-general who played an important role throughout World War II by serving as Chief of the Operations Staff of a German Armed Forces High Command called the Oberkommando der Wehrmacht. After the war, Jodl was tried at the Nuremberg trials and was found guilty on charges, such as crimes against humanity and war crimes.

 13 
Dorothea Binz
(Officer)
Dorothea Binz
7
Birthdate: March 16, 1920
Sun Sign: Pisces
Birthplace: Templin, Germany
Died: May 2, 1947
 14 
Greta Bösel
(Nurse)
Greta Bösel
1
Birthdate: May 9, 1908
Sun Sign: Taurus
Birthplace: Wuppertal, Germany
Died: May 3, 1947
 15 
Hermine Braunsteiner
(German SS 'Helferin' and Camp Guard )
Hermine Braunsteiner
3
Birthdate: July 16, 1919
Sun Sign: Cancer
Birthplace: Vienna, Austria
Died: April 19, 1999
 16 
Félicien Kabuga
(Commited genocide in Rwanda)
Félicien Kabuga
2
Birthdate: March 1, 1933
Sun Sign: Pisces
Birthplace: Byumba, Rwanda
 17 
Hildegard Lächert
(Nurse)
Hildegard Lächert
5
Birthdate: January 20, 1920
Sun Sign: Aquarius
Birthplace: Berlin, Germany
Died: 1995 AD
 18 
Oskar Groening
(War Criminal)
Oskar Groening
14
Birthdate: June 10, 1921
Sun Sign: Gemini
Birthplace: Nienburg, Lower Saxony, Germany
Died: March 9, 2018

Oskar Groening was a German SS Unterscharführer at the Auschwitz concentration camp. He was in charge of counting and sorting the money retrieved from the prisoners arriving at the camp. At the end of the war, he surrendered to the British and was transferred to Britain as a prisoner of war. Years later, he was named a war criminal.

 19 
Paul Blobel
(Military leader, Criminal)
Paul Blobel
1
Birthdate: August 13, 1894
Sun Sign: Leo
Birthplace: Potsdam, Germany
Died: June 7, 1951
 20 
Heinz Lammerding
(German SS Officer Convicted of War Crimes During World War II)
Heinz Lammerding
2
Birthdate: August 27, 1905
Sun Sign: Virgo
Birthplace: Dortmund, Germany
Died: January 13, 1971
 21 
Reinhard Heydrich
(Nazi Official)
Reinhard Heydrich
45
Birthdate: March 7, 1904
Sun Sign: Pisces
Birthplace: Halle
Died: June 4, 1942

Reinhard Heydrich was a Nazi police officer and a high-ranking SS. Heydrich is widely regarded as one of the main architects of the Holocaust, a World War II genocide that killed some six million Jews. Described by Adolf Hitler as the man with the iron heart, Heydrich is regarded as the darkest figure of the Nazi era by many historians.

 22 
Franz von Papen
(Former Vice-Chancellor of Germany)
Franz von Papen
13
Birthdate: October 29, 1879
Sun Sign: Scorpio
Birthplace: Werl, Westphalia, Prussia, Germany
Died: May 2, 1969

Franz von Papen was a German politician, Prussian nobleman, diplomat, and General Staff officer. From 1933 to 1934, he served under Adolf Hitler as the Vice-Chancellor of Germany. After World War II, Franz von Papen was indicted alongside other war criminals in the Nuremberg trials. However, he was later acquitted of all charges.

 23 
Gudrun Ensslin
(Far-left terrorist and founder of the West German far-left militant group Red Army Faction)
Gudrun Ensslin
3
Birthdate: August 15, 1940
Sun Sign: Leo
Birthplace: Bartholomä, Germany
Died: October 18, 1977
 24 
Ludolf von Alvensleben
(SS functionary and Police Leader)
Ludolf von Alvensleben
3
Birthdate: March 17, 1901
Sun Sign: Pisces
Birthplace: Halle, Germany
Died: April 1, 1970
 25 
Robert Kajuga
(Commited genocide in Rwanda)
Robert Kajuga
1
Birthdate: 1960 AD
Birthplace: Kibungo, Rwanda
Died: February 29, 2007
 26 
Kang Kek Iew
(Cambodian War Criminal and Khmer Rouge Leader)
Kang Kek Iew
2
Birthdate: November 17, 1942
Sun Sign: Scorpio
Birthplace: Kampong Thom Province, Cambodia
Died: September 2, 2020

Khmer Rouge leader Kang Kek Iew headed the Cambodian government’s internal security branch and was in charge of the Tuol Sleng (S-21) prison camp. Charged with crimes against humanity, he was punished with 30 years of imprisonment, a sentence that was later extended to life imprisonment.

 27 
Fritz Klein
(Military physician, War criminal)
Fritz Klein
2
Birthdate: November 24, 1888
Sun Sign: Sagittarius
Birthplace: Codlea, Romania
Died: December 13, 1945
 28 
Mirambo
(Warlord)
Mirambo
1
Birthdate: 1840 AD
Birthplace: Tanzania
Died: 1884 AD
 29 
William Calley
(Military Officer)
William Calley
11
Birthdate: June 8, 1943
Sun Sign: Gemini
Birthplace: Miami, Florida, United States
 30 
Martin Gottfried Weiss
(Military personnel)
Martin Gottfried Weiss
2
Birthdate: June 3, 1905
Sun Sign: Gemini
Birthplace: Weiden, Germany
Died: May 29, 1946
 31 
Alieu Kosiah
(Military commander, Criminal)
Alieu Kosiah
1
Birthdate: March 3, 1975
Sun Sign: Pisces
Birthplace: Ganta, Nimba County, Liberia
 32 
Akira Mutō
(Military personnel)
Akira Mutō
3
Birthdate: December 15, 1892
Sun Sign: Sagittarius
Birthplace: Minamiaso, Kumamoto, Japan
Died: December 23, 1948
 33 
Wanda Klaff
(Camp guards)
Wanda Klaff
4
Birthdate: March 6, 1922
Sun Sign: Pisces
Birthplace: Danzig, Free City of Danzig
Died: July 4, 1946
 34 
Iwane Matsui
(Former general in the Imperial Japanese Army and the commander of the expeditionary force sent to China in 1937)
Iwane Matsui
3
Birthdate: July 27, 1878
Sun Sign: Leo
Birthplace: Nagoya, Aichi, Japan
Died: December 23, 1948
 35 
Maria Mandl
(Austrian SS-Helferin)
Maria Mandl
12
Birthdate: January 10, 1912
Sun Sign: Capricorn
Birthplace: Münzkirchen, Austria
Died: January 24, 1948
 36 
Helmut Oberlander
(War criminals)
Helmut Oberlander
3
Birthdate: February 15, 1924
Sun Sign: Aquarius
Birthplace: Molotschna, Ukraine
 37 
Veselin Sljivancanin
(Military officer)
Veselin Sljivancanin
0
Birthdate: June 13, 1953
Sun Sign: Gemini
Birthplace: Žabljak, Montenegro
 38 
Bi Sidi Souleymane
(Warlord)
Bi Sidi Souleymane
1
Birthdate: July 20, 1962
Sun Sign: Cancer
Birthplace: Bocaranga, Central African Republic
Died: March 25, 2021
 39 
Salahuddin Quader Chowdhury
(Politician)
Salahuddin Quader Chowdhury
2
Birthdate: March 13, 1949
Sun Sign: Pisces
Birthplace: Chittagong, Bangladesh
Died: November 22, 2015

Salahuddin Quader Chowdhury was a Bangladeshi politician who served under Prime Minister Khaleda Zia as the adviser of parliamentary affairs from 2001 to 2006. In 2013, he was convicted of war crime charges and sentenced to death for his actions during the Bangladesh War of Independence. Salahuddin Quader Chowdhury was executed by hanging in 2015. 

 40 
Zhang Zuolin
(Chinese Bandit, Soldier and Warlord of Manchuria (1922 - 1928))
Zhang Zuolin
6
Birthdate: March 19, 1875
Sun Sign: Pisces
Birthplace: Haicheng, Anshan, China
Died: June 4, 1928

Chinese bandit and warlord Zhang Zuolin initially ruled over Manchuria and then became the military dictator of the Republic of China. Later, the Nationalist Party’s march into China forced him to move his troops out of Beijing. He died when his train became the target of a bomb blast.

 41 
Hans von Salmuth
(Military General)
Hans von Salmuth
3
Birthdate: November 11, 1888
Sun Sign: Scorpio
Birthplace: Metz, France
Died: January 1, 1962
 42 
Friedrich Flick
(Industrialist)
Friedrich Flick
1
Birthdate: July 10, 1883
Sun Sign: Cancer
Birthplace: Germany
Died: July 20, 1972
 43 
Hermann Pister
(German officer)
Hermann Pister
3
Birthdate: February 21, 1885
Sun Sign: Pisces
Birthplace: Lübeck, Germany
Died: September 28, 1948
 44 
Herta Bothe
(Concentration camp guard during World War II)
Herta Bothe
10
Birthdate: January 3, 1921
Sun Sign: Capricorn
Birthplace: Teterow, Germany
Died: March 16, 2000
 45 
Bernard Ntuyahaga
(Military Leader)
Bernard Ntuyahaga
0
Birthdate: 1952 AD
Birthplace: Rwanda
 46 
Mokhtar Belmokhtar
(Criminal)
Mokhtar Belmokhtar
5
Birthdate: June 1, 1972
Sun Sign: Gemini
Birthplace: Ghardaïa, Algeria
 47 
Erich Naumann
(War crimal, Police officer)
Erich Naumann
3
Birthdate: April 29, 1905
Sun Sign: Taurus
Birthplace: Meissen, Germany
Died: June 7, 1951
 48 
Amon Goeth
(Austrian Nazi Officer and Commandant of Poland's Kraków-Plaszow Concentration Camp)
Amon Goeth
20
Birthdate: December 11, 1908
Sun Sign: Sagittarius
Birthplace: Vienna, Austria
Died: September 13, 1946

Amon Goeth was an Austrian war criminal and SS functionary. During World War II, Goeth served as the commandant of the Płaszów concentration camp operated by the SS. After the war, he was convicted of homicide and was executed by hanging. Amon Goeth was played by Ralph Fiennes in the 1993 epic historical drama film Schindler's List.

 49 
Martin Bormann
(Private Secretary of Adolf Hitler)
Martin Bormann
35
Birthdate: June 17, 1900
Sun Sign: Gemini
Birthplace: Wegeleben, Germany
Died: May 2, 1945

Martin Bormann was a Nazi Party official. Bormann headed the Nazi Party Chancellery, and gained immense power after he was accepted into Adolf Hitler's inner circle. In 1935, he became Hitler's personal secretary and served as the minister of the Nazi Party after Hitler's suicide in 1945.

 50 
John Demjanjuk
(War Criminal)
John Demjanjuk
26
Birthdate: April 3, 1920
Sun Sign: Aries
Birthplace: Dubovi Makharyntsi, Berdychiv uyezd, Kiev Governorate, Ukrainian People's Republic
Died: March 17, 2012
John Demjanjuk was a Trawniki man and a Nazi concentration camp guard at Sobibor, Majdanek, and Flossenbürg. He was part of a highly publicized trial that convicted him for committing atrocities as the infamous Treblinka guard “Ivan the Terrible.” However, lack of any strong evidence suggested he had been misidentified