Hans Stephan, 1902-1953 Göttsche's 1943 successor at the "Jewish Department of the Hamburg Gestapo © Bundesarchiv Beginning in 1935, Hans Stephan belonged to the staff of "Jew Specialist" Claus Göttsche. In 1943, he took over Göttsche's duties, as a Kriminalsekretär under the supervision of superintendants Herman Will and Kurt Guttmann. Stephan was born in Hamburg on 1 May 1902, the son of a master locksmith. He attained his advanced secondary school certificate, and then worked in sales until 1926, when he entered the Hamburg Gewerbepolizei. In May 1933 he joined the Hamburg Gestapo and the Nazi Party. As a close employee of the "Jew Specialist" Göttsche, Stephan was directly involved in the deportation transports of Hamburg's Jews. After taking over Göttsche's duties, Stephan began organizing the transports. In 1943, he personally accompanied a transport to Theresienstadt (Terezin in the former Czechoslovakia). Just before the Nazi regime collapsed, Stephan and other members of Hamburg's Gestapo withdrew to Heide in Holstein; he returned to Hamburg soon after, where he was arrested in May 1945. He remained in detention until 1948. A prosecution case prepared against him on suspicion of crimes against humanity was suspended in 1949 due to insufficient evidence. Stephan died in Hamburg on 14 May 1953.