Dr. Josef Kreuzer, 1907-1958 Chief of the Hamburg Gestapo from 1942 to 1944 © Bundesarchiv As chief of the Hamburg Gestapo from 1942 to 1944, Dr. Josef Kreuzer was responsible for the most heinous crimes. During his time in office, the "Jewish Department" conducted eight deportation transports. Kreuzer was born on 8 April 1907 in Hevingshausen, Rhineland, as the son of a civil administrator. He attended law school, receiving his PhD in 1933, and joined the Düsseldorf Gestapo in 1934. This was followed by senior positions at the Gestapo in Cologne, Koblenz, Trier, Aachen and Münster. In September 1942, Kreuzer was appointed successor to Heinrich Seetzen as the Chief of the Hamburg Gestapo, soon followed by a promotion to SS Obersturmbannführer. In June 1944, he left Hamburg to lead Einsatzgruppe G in Romania. Kreuzer was arrested in Braunschweig on 25 June 1945, and convicted as a war criminal by a British military tribunal. He died on 15 October 1958 in the Horst district of Gelsenkirchen.