Otto Richard Struller

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NSDAP
In the Bundesarchiv (BArch) in Berlin, in the records of the former Berlin Document Center (BDC), the membership of Karl Struller, the father of Otto Struller, in the NSLB could be established. Karl Struller joined the National Socialist Teachers’ League on 01.05.1933. His membership number is: 33820.
Karl Struller was a teacher at the Aufbauschule in Schwabach. A questionnaire from the NS Teachers’ League, district Schwabach, was also found among the NSDAP records for Karl Struller. He states there that he is a member of the NSV, the National Socialist People’s Welfare organisation. Karl Struller was, according to his own statements, also a member of the Reich Air Protection League.
No membership of the NSDAP or similar organisation was established for Otto Struller.

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Otto Struller in his younger years (Source: Family collection)

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Letters by Otto Struller with political content
Although Otto Struller was not politically active, there are some indications of his political opinion. Preserved letters and documents from Otto Struller, from family ownership, were entrusted to the Documentation Centre of the Reich Party Rally Grounds in Nürnberg. The collection was made available for this research with thanks.
Among the items are letters that Otto Struller wrote to his parents.
The letters date from the period 1933-1938. During this period Otto Struller was a member of Kurt Jooss’s dance group.
In a letter that Otto Struller wrote on 12.11.1933 from Essen to his parents it states:
“For I am probably not mistaken in my assumption that even the last German votes ‘Yes’ today. Otherwise he may have forfeited his right to exist in this state.”
On 12.11.1933, the Reichstag election and the plebiscite on Germany’s withdrawal from the League of Nations took place simultaneously. In a further letter there is more on Otto Struller’s political views. From Dartington Hall in England, Otto Struller wrote the following to his parents on 18.09.1938:
“Feelings towards Germany not great! Have hours-long disputes with English people, but can mostly convince them of our rights!”

The letter ends with the Hitler salute.

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Personal letters and postcards from Otto Struller. Source: Stichting Oorlogsslachtoffers.

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Education and professional development of a black sheep
From 12.04.1923 Otto Struller was registered in Regensburg, Am Ölberg 2. There is the Protestant boarding school named “Protestantisches Alumneum”.
Unfortunately no traces of Otto Struller were found in the old records, which are today kept by the “Evangelisches Bildungswerk Regensburg e.V.”.
At the City Archive in Regensburg only his registration card remains as evidence.
Unfortunately no precise record was kept of when Otto Struller left the boarding school in Regensburg. Among the letters and documents of Otto Struller there is a leaving certificate from the New Nürnberg Grammar School. The certificate reveals that Otto Struller made little effort during his time at the institution to meet the requirements of the school. Otto Struller’s conduct was assessed as “generally quiet”, but was not without reprimand. He received a punishment for unauthorised school absences. He finally made himself guilty of a transgression that would have led to serious punishment, had Otto Struller not left before the final resolution of the case. The individual grades are really no shining achievement. Unsatisfactory for Greek, German and English. For Latin Otto Struller received a very unsatisfactory. Religion and history were assessed as commendable. The only subject for which an outstanding grade was given was gymnastics. The certificate was issued on 21.10.1930. Otto Struller attended the 1930/31 school year in section B of the 8th class. How things proceeded thereafter could not be reconstructed, as no further documents were found.
On 01.05.1933 a registration card indicates that Otto Struller moved from Schwabach to Essen. He initially lived in Nieberdingstrasse with a Mrs Weber, then with master tailor Kneip in Gildehofstrasse. Otto Struller moved in 1934 from the dance department of the Folkwang School in Essen to Dartington, England. Otto Struller, a graduate of the “Jooss–Leeder School of Dance” in Dartington, belonged there to the ballet of Kurt Jooss. To want to outline the history of Kurt Jooss, Sigurd Leeder and the ballet here, even in approximate terms, would go far beyond the scope of this research. Kurt Jooss left Germany because he did not want to give up the Jewish members of the ballet. The ballet performed, among other places, in the USA. There are several passenger lists on which Kurt Jooss’s dance group can be found. Otto Struller sent many letters home to the family both from England and from the group’s tours. In one dated 03.11.1933, Otto Struller wrote to his parents that Sigurd Leeder placed the greatest hopes in Otto Struller. This letter ends however with a somewhat bitter remark directed at his parents, ….that he was no longer the family’s problem child. A further passage on this is found in an undated letter. He writes in a letter that can be assigned to the year 1935 the following: “Had always been a weed and black sheep in one person.” Perhaps the parents were not exactly enthusiastic about their son’s career choice at first, but they did finance his training. In the letters that Otto Struller wrote to his parents, the subject of money is one of the most important topics of all.
In the letters there are some remarkable passages regarding his bleak future. In early May 1934 Otto Struller writes from England to his parents about the positive influence the surroundings of Dartington Hall have on him. He writes: “..almost like my beloved German homeland. For one’s native soil is and remains the most beautiful thing in life and I hope with all my heart to be able to practise my profession in Germany later…..” During an anniversary performance in England, Otto Struller performed for the first time with his own piece. The piece is called “Flemish Student’s Dance”.
Otto Struller wrote a letter on the programme leaflet of the performance of 06.05.1936.
Of the further roles that Otto Struller took on, one is particularly worth mentioning in view of his end. In the anti-war piece “The Green Table”, Otto Struller took on the role of the war profiteer. (A war profiteer is someone who exploits a crisis situation during a war for economic reasons.) In the German Dance Archive Cologne there are several role portraits of Otto Struller from his time with Kurt Jooss. Otto Struller’s return to Germany can be fixed to the year 1939. From 29.08.1939 Otto Struller and Emma Schnaus, she too was a member of Kurt Jooss’s ballet, were registered in Rückersdorf (Bavaria). In November 1939 the couple moved to Berlin, to Augsburger Str. 24. Within Berlin however, further moves have been documented for Otto Struller.

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Programme booklets of the Kurt Jooss Ballet from 1939.

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The Green Table with Otto Struller and Emma Zeltner.

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Kraft durch Freude
Shortly thereafter, Friderica Derra de Moroda, who was a dancer, choreographer and dance teacher, built up a ballet ensemble for the NS community “Kraft durch Freude” (KdF).

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From r. to l.; Otto Struller (assistant), Derra de Moroda, Ernst Abromeit (conductor). Standing Louis Gercke (technical director). Source: University of Salzburg, Department of Music and Dance Studies Derra de Moroda Dance Archives.

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Otto Struller joined this ballet and also worked there as artistic assistant to Derra de Moroda. Unfortunately exact timelines are lacking because many documents of the KdF ballet have been lost. The military career of Otto Struller may be able to help us a little with this.

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Source: University of Salzburg, Department of Music and Dance Studies Derra de Moroda Dance Archives.
(Photos: S. Enkelmann)

Otto Struller as Filippo, a hunchbacked official,
the spy of the dictator

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The War Economy Replacement Division 1 was stationed in Berlin according to the Bundesarchiv.
A letter (Bundesarchiv, BArch R 55/10373) from the Reich Ministry for Public Enlightenment and Propaganda dated 12.04.1944 reveals that Otto Struller was at that time assigned to Reserve I as fit for war service. Otto Struller was to be exchanged and to transfer from the NSG-Kraft durch Freude to active military service. A handwritten note states that he was deferred until 30.06.1944.

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No records of hospital stays by Otto Struller were found.

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The family history
Fritz Struller
Fritz Struller, a brother of Otto Struller, was killed in action in 1942 in Ukraine. Fritz Struller rests at the War Cemetery in Sevastopol, among the Unknown Soldiers.

Karl Struller
Karl Struller (1913-1947), who was executed in Landsberg for war crimes, is not related to Otto Struller. An initially assumed relationship proved to be incorrect.

The marriage to Emma Schnaus
On 14.10.1939 Otto Struller married the dancer Emma Schnaus (Rückersdorf 8/1939), born in Nürnberg in 1915.
Emma Schnaus was the daughter of Susanne Durst and Johann Bernhard Schnaus. Emma’s father was declared dead in 1917, as one of the many missing of the First World War. Emma was not yet 10 years old at that time. In 1924 her mother married sheet metal worker Johann Georg Zeltner, who died as early as 1931.
Otto Struller and Emma Schnaus had known each other for several years. From Otto Struller’s estate come several love letters, signed “Emma”. The oldest letter was written on 14.02.1933. It first had to be established that the letter writer was identical to his later wife, the dancer Emma Schnaus. In the letter in question, of 14.02.1933, Emma names the street where she lives. It is the same address that later also appears on the death certificate of the child born in 1943.
The letter of 13.03.1933 is not only a love letter to Otto Struller; the letter is also a small historical document. In the letter Emma tells of disturbances that had broken out in Nürnberg. Houses and similar were demolished. There was a great deal of activity in “her” Bogengasse. She wrote that people wanted to see the closed “Tagespost” but were not permitted. In the letter Emma Schnaus describes the events of 09.03.1933.
On that evening SA units raided the publishing building of the social democratic “Fränkische Tagespost”.
In the letter Emma Schnaus complains about the behaviour of the boys of the SS and SA. She is glad that Otto Struller is not there.
Emma Schnaus probably only became a dancer in the ensemble of Kurt Jooss through her contact with Otto Struller. In the already mentioned letter of 14.02.1933 Emma wrote that she daydreams about intimate dancing with her Otto. The letter went to Essen, where Otto Struller was already living and working on his training as a ballet dancer. Otto Struller must have written in a letter that Emma could come to Essen. The reason for this was probably some complaints about problems Emma was having at home and at work. What kind of problems these were Emma did not write. In a letter of 13.03.1933 Emma has reservations about coming to Essen. In the following letter, of 19.03.1933, she explained that she could not come to Essen because she could not support herself financially; the money is lacking. The reservations did not last long however. On 23.05.1933 she wrote to Otto Struller that she would probably travel with him to Essen. Emma Schnaus was then registered in Essen from September 1933 to early March 1934. Thereafter she was registered again in Nürnberg. On 23.08.1934 Emma Schnaus left Nürnberg for England.
In various sources connected with Kurt Jooss’s ballet ensemble, Emma Schnaus can be found both under her birth name and under the name Zeltner.
In the archive of Dartington Hall (online research) Emma can be found under both names. The archive also contains photographs of Emma Zeltner and Otto Struller. One photograph shows Emma Zeltner sitting next to Otto Struller in a train compartment typing on a typewriter.

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Emma Zeltner (Schnaus) with typewriter and Otto Struller
in a train (c. 1935). Source: The Dartington Hall Trust Archive.
(Photo: Fritz Henle Estate)

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About the place Dartington and the “Dartington Hall School”, a progressive education school near Totnes in the county of Devon, there is a certain amount available to read online (including on Wikipedia). Among the internet sources is the book “The Jooss-Leeder School at Dartington Hall”. A brief quotation states that Emma Schnaus adopted her mother’s name. Why Emma used the name Zeltner is not known. The name change was in any case not official, since in 1934 the renewal of her passport was made out in the name “Schnaus”. The preserved passport card is today in the City Archive Nürnberg (StadAN C 21/VII Nr. 144).
On 16.04.1943 the marriage of Emma and Otto Struller was dissolved in Berlin. A sensitive detail is that Emma Struller gave birth to a son on 25.05.1943; the child died as early as 21.08.1943. Otto Struller was documented as the father. The birth of the child and the divorce shortly afterwards leave room for speculation. Whether Otto Struller was the biological father of the child is more than questionable. The suspicion is further reinforced by the circumstance that Emma resumed her maiden name shortly after the divorce and remarried on 15.06.1944. What happened to Emma thereafter remains obscure for reasons of data protection law. From the death certificate of the child it emerges that both parents were registered in Berlin-Charlottenburg. But only the mother’s exact address is given. It is the same address that also appears in the historical address books of Berlin. In the address books (1942 and 1943) entries can be found for Emma “Strulla” instead of “Struller”. But occupation and address do tally: Berlin Charlottenburg, Kantstrasse 156. Otto Struller is searched for in vain in the historical address books of Berlin. Only the preserved part of the Berlin population registration card index furnishes proof that ballet master Otto Struller was registered in Berlin Charlottenburg, Kantstrasse 156. From 02.03.1944 then in Berlin Grunewald at Schleinitzstrasse 7. It should be noted here that Emma Schnaus (stage name Monika Zeltner) also gives Schleinitzstrasse no. 7 as her place of residence on a personnel questionnaire of the Reich Theatre Chamber dated 14.03.1944. In a letter from the Reich Ministry for Public Enlightenment and Propaganda, dated 12.04.1944, Coubierestrasse 7 in Berlin W. is given as the Berlin address of Otto Struller. In 1949 Otto Struller was officially deregistered in Berlin.

Otto Struller and the striptease dancer
In the book “Goddess of Love Incarnate: The Life of Stripteuse Lili St. Cyr”, written by Leslie Zemeckis, an interesting revelation is to be found. A letter written by the dancer reveals that she had a brief affair with Otto Struller during a journey to the USA. Lili St. Cyr, whose civil name was Willis Marie Van Schaak, travelled to the USA in September 1936 on the ship “Ile De France”. Kurt Jooss’s ballet was also on board the “Ile De France” at that time, en route to the USA. The relevant passenger list confirms that both were on board. Otto Struller must have made an impression on the dancer. Getting hold of the letter has not yet been possible. What the situation with Emma Schnaus was at that time is unknown. In none of the letters that Otto Struller wrote during his time with Kurt Jooss’s group was Emma Schnaus mentioned.

The Repatriation Office
In the Bundesarchiv in Berlin (BArch) in the holdings of the former Berlin Document Center (BDC), as we already know, the files of the Repatriation Office of the Foreign Organisation of the NSDAP are also kept. Documents relating to Otto Struller were found here.
The first document is a letter from the Foreign Organisation of the NSDAP, dated 19.01.1940. In the letter, the leadership of the Foreign Organisation at the Gau party leadership Franconia requests a political assessment of fellow countryman Otto Struller.
Interesting is the fact that the address given for Otto Struller is Coubierestrasse in Berlin. This street is absent from the registration details of the Landesarchiv Berlin. Four years later the address then appears again in an official source.
A questionnaire about Otto Struller was completed by the Gau Personnel Office Franconia on 02.02.1940.
The party comrades of the NSDAP do not appear to have gone to much trouble researching Otto Struller.
The following is given as occupation: “Had not yet had a fixed occupation. He wanted to become a technician.” It should be noted here that in Otto Struller’s letters the topic of “motorcycle” is raised on several occasions. For instance, in September 1936 he wrote in a letter that he wanted to take his motorcycle test shortly in Dartington, and the following May he hoped to be able to buy a motorcycle soon. It may therefore be that he had a passion for motorcycles that led to this assumption.
Marital status is given as “single”. Membership of Otto Struller in the NSDAP is unknown to the Gau Personnel Office in Franconia. Regarding his political conduct before and after 05.03.1933 (Reichstag election for the eighth German Reichstag), it is stated that he was not politically active and there was nothing to object to.
At point 16 a summary political assessment is requested.
This states among other things: “…. He emigrated to England at the time because he apparently found neither studying at school nor any other occupation particularly appealing. Without doubt he was well brought up in the parental home, so that he did not incur any blame in a political respect. He is said to have toured America and Europe with a dance group led by a Jew.” Neither Kurt Jooss nor Sigurd Leeder were of Jewish origin.

Letters from an eyewitness
In a pile of letters and documents that Otto Struller’s niece handed over to the Nürnberg Documentation Centre of the Reich Party Rally Grounds there are two letters from a German prisoner of war who had contact with Otto Struller during his captivity. The letter of 05.03.1946 was a brief message from former refugee Fritz Vaupel who had spent some time in American custody.
Vaupel briefly communicated that Otto Struller was dead.
On 08.04.1946 Fritz Vaupel wrote the Struller family a very detailed letter.
Fritz Vaupel had, by his own account, unlawfully left the town of Malmedy and found himself in American custody in the cellar of a farmhouse in Bévercé.
During a conversation with an American officer, three prisoners — German soldiers — were brought down; one was wearing an American uniform. The prisoners took seats in a corner of the cellar. Vaupel was not taken for a German because of his somewhat American-looking clothing and was able to continue the conversation with the American officer unhindered. He learned that the prisoner in the American uniform was being treated as a spy. Fritz Vaupel was released the following morning; according to his account it was 20.12.1944.
But it was not to be the last encounter with the German spy.
“In early January 1945 I found myself under similar suspicion and was therefore brought to the fortress of Huy (approximately 30 km behind Liège in the direction of Dinand?) (Dinant). There were about 18 prisoners in our room. Among them was also the soldier in the American uniform whom I had seen in Bévercé. I made reference to the previous meeting and then learned that the man’s name was Otto Struller, that he was a dancer, and so on. Struller was ill, or rather was suffering from the effects of a fall or collapse in which he had struck his head. He was receiving outstanding medical care and nourishment, was on the road to recovery, and was, after I had been there three days, sufficiently recovered to begin with free exercises and shortly afterwards danced a krakowiak for us. He was very worried about his fate, because he might be treated as a spy since he was wearing an American uniform. He had communicated these worries to me, as we talked about a great many things altogether. I tried to dispel the worries by pointing to the treatment he was receiving.
He himself was also of the opinion that they would treat him leniently, especially since he had betrayed a German ammunition depot to the Americans, of which an officer had later told him that it had been found”.
Fritz Vaupel is not entirely certain, but believed it was 12.01.1945 when Otto Struller was taken away in the afternoon. Vaupel assumed that Struller was being taken for interrogation or the like. A process that took place there on several occasions. Otto Struller did not return to the cellar however. The letter then states:
“The following morning the duty sergeant, with whom Struller had also frequently spoken, came and brought us cigarettes. When I asked him where the cigarettes came from he answered: ‘Struller sends these to you.’ To my astonished question as to how Struller could send so many cigarettes, I received the answer from the man, given with expressed regret, that he had no further need of them, because he had been shot early in the morning”….
Several lines later Fritz Vaupel addresses a conversation with Otto Struller. To his question as to how Otto Struller had come to be in the American uniform, the latter gave the following answer: “..He explained the matter to me as follows: approximately 300 men had been ordered to fall in. A special assignment had then been ordered; whoever wished to exclude himself from it could step forward.”
Fritz Vaupel further wrote that everyone in the cellar mourned the death of Otto Struller. “He was a good comrade and briefly described a fine fellow, for whom we all would have wished a better end than this”.
The letter was also sent by Fritz Vaupel, as a copy, to a Miss Soltwedel. This is apparent from the salutation at the beginning of the letter. Else Soltwedel was a dancer in the ballet of the KdF community. Why the letter was also sent to Miss Soltwedel is not revealed until March 2021. For this the personnel index cards of Otto Struller had to be consulted.

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Eyewitness Fritz Vaupel found himself in American custody in December 1944 in Bévercé (near Malmedy).
He spent one night in the cellar of a farmhouse. He later reported on that night as follows:
“During a conversation with an American officer, three captured German soldiers
were brought down. One of these soldiers had been captured in American uniform, and
I learned that he would be treated as a spy. I was released the following morning, which was
20 December 1944”. Fritz Vaupel, born 1908, died in February 1994.

Source: Video ©CriticalPast

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The case of Otto Struller according to American records

“IPW TEAM NO. 46<
HEADQUARTERS 120 INFANTRY REGIMENT
A.P.O. 30 U. S. Army

ACG/as/h
1930 21 December 1944

INTERROGATION REPORT NO. 103
covering the period 2200 20 to 2200 21 December 1944.
Supplement to Interrogation Reports Nos. 101 and 102.
1. Total number of PW processed in period: 6
<(Pws Nos, 3810-3815.)

2. Supplement to information from a PW in Interrogation Report No. 101, para 2: The PW was inducted into the AT Res Bn 50 at KUESTERIN (Nr Berlin) on 10 Oct 44. A few days later he went to TARM (DENMARK) where he received the training with this unit as a mortar-section leader. There the men were asked about knowledge of foreign languages. He reported because he hoped to be sent back to GERMANY for further training. After an examination of his knowledge in English he was sent to an Amy school in ALT-NEUHAUS (OBERRPFALZ) where English conversation was practiced. From there he was sent to attent an English course in Berlin. He returned to ALT NEUHAUS at end of November. There were about 20-30 men who spoke English fluently. They were told that the Russians had issued their men German uniforms at STALINGRAD and that the Americans had worn German uniforms in the first days of the invasion, and that such practice was common in this war. They were issued American uniform parts at different times. They still wore the German uniforms. On the way to the front they were issued officers AGO cards, complete with pictures taken of them in ALT-NEUHAUS, PW claims he was given the dog-tags which were also found on him by a captured American soldier he met on the way to the front. The names on the AGO card and on the tags did not correspond.
PWs unit arrived in LIGNEUVILLE 8098 late afternoon 20 Dec. There he was issued a G.I. (EM’s) blouse and captain’s insignia and cross-rifles which had been taken from a captured QM store. He was ordered to turn in his German uniform and put on the American clothes. He was then sent out with the rcn patrol with the mission to find out if we had strong positions or only delaying forces in this vic. His knowledge of the English language and the American uniform was to help him to identify himself as an American straggler in case of unexpected difficulties, and thus facilitate the success of the patrol.”

Source: unknown

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Periodic CI Report, Hq 30^th Inf. Div.

“Captured in the aftermath of the Second Combat Group’s action was Gefreiter Otto Struller, one of the Einheit Stielau of the jeep lead teams. Struller, posing as Capt. Cecil Dryer or Pvt. Richard Baumgardner – – his AGO card had the first name and his “dog tags, ” the other – – was captured by troops of the 30th Infantry Division. He was immediately relinquished to 30th CIC. A former ballet dancer, Struller chose to discuss his successes on the New York stage, but his interrogators were more interested in his failure in the Ardennes. He denied membership in Einheit Stielau or any organized band of English speaking German soldiers, reiterating several times that he did not know with which unit he had served prior to his capture and disclaiming knowledge that there was any organized deception practiced by Germans masquerading as American soldiers with U.S. equipment. He explained that his mission was merely one of reconnaissance, not sabotage or espionage. He said he had heard of Skorzeny’s assassination mission, adding that it was already under way. He was tried, convicted and executed.”

Source: History of the CIC (John Mendelsohn)

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Otto Struller after his capture. Source: Internet

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PWI Report NO.I 24-25 Dec. 44.

.“The mission of ‘Captain’ STRULLER, who had been assigned to a radio team of Einheit STIELAU, was to reconnoiter a bridge near MALMEDY while dressed in US uniforms. With his team sitting in a jeep, he led a convoy.
Directly behind PW came 1st Lt ERNST. 1st Lt SCHMITTHUBER (killed) and Lt SCHMIEDAU (wounded) and 200 man most in American vehicles (or at least vehicles camouflaged as American vehicles). Among these were half-tracks, scout cars, 1 German MK IV tank, and other full-track vehicles. It was the mission of ERNST to take the bridge at MALMEDY and to hold it. To reach the objective, the method previously reported as ‘Durchschleusen’ (camouflaged infiltration) was to be employed. The radio team of Einheit STIELAU was to tell our troops that the unit had just evaded the Germans who were in hot pursuit. There were American speaking Germans in US uniforms on all vehicles and in addition, some other men were wearing at least some article of US clothing. The undertaking was frustrated by our Arty fire. PW claims he then got fed-up and deserted.“

Source: NARA

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The death sentence
The verdict in the Struller case does not concern only Otto Struller; a further 5 soldiers of the Wehrmacht are also sentenced therein. Corporal Rolf Jesch, 5th Company 12th Parachute Regiment, z.b.V., Panzer Brigade 150. Sergeant Heinrich Pipitz, Einheit Stielau, Staff Solar, Panzer Brigade 150. Private Alfred Franz, 5th Company of the 12th Parachute Regiment, z.b.V., Einheit Stielau, Staff Solar, Panzer Brigade 150. Corporal Antoni J. Morzuck, Einheit Stielau, Staff Solar, Panzer Brigade 150, and Private Karl Müller, Einheit Ernst, Staff Solar, Panzer Brigade 150. Rolf Jesch and Heinrich Pipitz were captured together with Alfred Franz, but were not wearing US uniforms; they were treated as normal prisoners of war after medical treatment — at least that is what John Mendelsohn states in his book History of the CIC. In PWI Report NO 1 22/23 Dec. 44, this reads somewhat differently. The three — Jesch, Pipitz (there Pepetz) and Franz — were captured in the Heppenbach area. All three were according to the report members of the 5th Company of the Parachute Regiment z.b.V., Panzer Brigade 150. The report names only the company, not the number of the regiment. All three were seriously wounded and deeply shaken by their situation. The three spoke some English. Given the situation of the three prisoners, the report is only fragmentary.
One of the three (the name is not given) is fully confessing; one of the others (whose name is also not given) only admits that he was in Grafenwöhr and was only in possession of a US field jacket. The third attached himself to the (German) commanding officer in the American sector and denied any knowledge of war criminal activities.

The carrying or wearing of a US field jacket would by far not have been sufficient for a death sentence. Since further details are lacking in the brief report, an exact assessment is impossible. Morzuck and Müller are not mentioned with a single word in the PWI Report.

Alfred Franz and Antoni J. Morzuck were convicted, like Otto Struller, and should therefore have been executed. Their graves could be found neither at the Deutsche Dienststelle, nor at the Red Cross in Geneva, nor through the Deutsche Kriegsgräberfürsorge. It must therefore be assumed that only Otto Struller was executed. The whole matter is somewhat strange. Research into the surname Franz is certainly difficult when there is no date of birth. The surname Morzuck should however have produced a result. So far we have not made further progress in that case.
Here we would also like to note that in a report found in John Mendelsohn’s book (History of the CIC), a further name appears: Josef Kania.
Now back to Otto Struller. Who was seen with Otto Struller in Bévercé could not be established so far. The two soldiers who left the building together with Struller and the MP look fairly healthy. On that basis Jesch, Pipitz and Franz are ruled out. Otto Struller died according to the “Report of Operations” at the Palace of Justice in Huy. Further details are not known. Questions remain open in the case of Struller and the other soldiers.

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BayHStA, Dachauer Kriegsverbrecherprozess M1106

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First United States Army Report of Operations

Pursuant to Military Commission Order No. 1, Headquarters First U. S. Army, dated 11 January 1945, the following named prisoner was executed by musketry at 1030 hours, 13 January 1945, at the Palace du Justice, Huy, Belgium: Gefreiter Otto Strulier, alias Captain Cecil A. Dyer, alias Richard Baumgardner, a member, of Einheit Stielau, Stab Solar, 150th Panzer Brigade, German Army.

Bundesarchiv Department PA formerly Deutsche Dienststelle (WASt)
The American documents that were made available to me at the time by the Deutsche Dienststelle stated that Otto Struller was executed on 13.01.1945 at 10:30 hrs. His body was handed over by R. L. Toombs 1st Lt., CMP Det`t Cmdr to Neal F. Raker 1st Lt., QMC (0515237), 607th QM GR CO Executive Off. According to the “Report of Burial”, Otto Struller was interred in Henri-Chapelle on 13.01.1945 at 15:00 hrs. His identity disc was buried with the body. On the American death card — a card containing not only relevant information on the Struller death case — the cause of death is given as: “Gunshot wounds chest (executed)“.
The home address given is Augsburger Strasse in Berlin, and the name of his wife Elsa Struller. Until now it had to be assumed that this was an error. The Deutsche Dienststelle is now a department of the Bundesarchiv. After a conversation with one of the staff, the documents were researched once more and new findings were indeed obtained. From the personnel index cards* consulted in March 2021 it emerges that Otto Struller and Else Soltwedel were engaged. Else Soltwedel is listed on the cards as “fiancée”. An address for Else Soltwedel in Hildburghausen is given on the cards. This address is however connected with the ballet. The address appears on a letter from the KdF ballet; the letter is in the possession of the Derra de Moroda Dance Archive of the University in Salzburg. Documents from the Bundesarchiv Berlin show that Else Soltwedel was a member of the Reich Ballet (the NS community Kraft durch Freude). Research into Else Soltwedel is somewhat difficult. The documents of Else Soltwedel are currently still subject to a protection period. This makes use of the content impossible.
On the personnel index cards of Otto Struller we find a report dated 27.03.1945. Otto Struller had been listed as missing in the Malmedy area since 23.12.1944. The already mentioned death card is cited and quoted. Furthermore we find on the cards a reference to the reinterment in Lommel. Noteworthy is an enquiry from Weissenburg in 1974. It appears as though Otto Struller had been named in a will. The district court in Weissenburg was thereupon promptly informed. The cards provide no further usable information.
_{*Reference, see Sources.}

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Morning Report Locating Card. Source: Deutsche Dienststelle

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Information from the Red Cross (ICRC) in Geneva / Switzerland
(International Committee of the Red Cross, ICRC)

The death certificate at the Red Cross in Geneva was registered under RAD 95337.
The certificate gives 15.01.1945 as the burial date and Henri-Chapelle as the place of burial. According to the “Report of Burial” (WASt), however, the body was already buried on 13.01.1945. Such discrepancies in the documents are already commonplace.

The place and date of capture are worth noting. According to the death certificate, Otto Struller was captured on 21.12.1944 in Henri-Chapelle. This however contradicts PWI Report NO. I 24/25. Dec. 44. Huy, approximately 30 km from Liège, is given as the place of execution.
The copy was authenticated by the signature of Fred G. Steiner, Major Infantry, Asst. Provost Marshal, First U.S. Army. Also named are Joseph Eiser, Captain MC and R. L. Tombs 1st Lt, CMP, Det. Comdr.

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German Military Cemetery Lommel, Belgium. Photo: © Stichting Oorlogsslachtoffers.