GEMPP Walter (Gempp)

Gempp, Walter (Gempp), (1878-1939), head of the Berlin fire. After serving more than 27 years in the Berlin Fire Department and became its leader, Gempp made it a very respected organization. Shortly after the burning of the Reichstag on Feb. 27, 1933, he incurred the wrath of the Nazi authorities, . saying, . that fire departments were notified too late, . that Hermann Goering had forbidden him to make full use of personnel and equipment and that the amount of combustible materials, . not detected in the affected areas of the Reichstag, . enough, . to fill truck,
. A month later Gemppa accused of "Marxist subversion and incitement," but he nevertheless gave evidence at the trial of the burning of the Reichstag. Compromising testimony Gemppa not been forgotten by high Nazi leaders. He was arrested in September 1937 for abuse of office, was found guilty but appealed the verdict. May 2, 1939, before they were to begin a new hearing, he was found strangled in his prison cell.