Arpad Wigand
Arpad Jakob Valentin Wigand (13 January 1906 – 26 July 1983) was a Nazi German war criminal with the rank of SS-Oberführer who served as the SS and Police Leader in Warsaw (SS-und Polizeiführer (SSPF) from 4 August 1941 until 23 April 1943 during the occupation of Poland in World War II. As an aide to Erich von dem Bach Zelewski he first suggested the site of the former Austrian and later Polish artillery barracks in the Zasole suburb of Oswiecim for a concentration camp in January 1940. This site would evolve into the Auschwitz concentration camp which went on to become a major site of the Nazi "Final Solution to the Jewish question" resulting in the death of up to 1,000,000 Jews. Trial and conviction After the war, he found himself in British captivity who later extradited him to Poland. In 1950, Wigand was sentenced by the District Court in Warsaw for crimes against humanity to 10 years imprisonment, which was later increased to 15 years. At the time, Polish officials were unaware of Wigand's extensive participation in the Holocaust, and instead prosecuted him for his high-ranking position and SS membership. Wigand was released from prison in 1956 and