Bruno Tesch
Bruno Tesch | |
|---|---|
Tesch in British custody, 1945 | |
| Born | Bruno Emil Tesch 14 August 1890 |
| Died | 16 May 1946 (aged 55) |
| Cause of death | Execution by hanging |
| Occupation(s) | Chemist and entrepreneur |
| Known for | Co-inventor of Zyklon B |
| Political party | Nazi Party |
| Criminal status | Executed |
| Motive | Financial gain |
| Conviction | War crimes |
| Criminal penalty | Death |
| Details | |
| Victims | ~1.1 million (as an accomplice) |
Span of crimes | 1 January 1941 – 31 March 1945 |
| Country | Germany and Poland |
| Locations | Auschwitz concentration camp Sachsenhausen concentration camp Neuengamme concentration camp Majdanek concentration camp Ravensbrück concentration camp |
| Weapons | Zyklon B |
Bruno Emil Tesch (14 August 1890 – 16 May 1946) was a German chemist and entrepreneur. Together with Gerhard Peters and Walter Heerdt, he invented the insecticide Zyklon B. He was the owner of Tesch & Stabenow (called Testa), a pest control company he co-founded in 1924 with Paul Stabenow in Hamburg, Germany. During the Holocaust, Tesch sold vast quantities of Zyklon B, utilizing his pesticide as a way to commit genocide. Over 1.1 million people were murdered by the Nazis using Zyklon B. A former employee of Tesch later said he was motivated not by ideology, but financial gain.
Following the end of World War II, he was arrested by British occupation authorities, tried as a war criminal, and executed. Tesch and his deputy executive, Karl Weinbacher, were the only businessmen to be executed for their role in Nazi war crimes in Western Europe.