Josef Albert Meisinger (14 September 1899 – 7 March 1947), also known as the "Butcher of Warsaw", was an SS functionary in Nazi Germany. He held a position in the Gestapo and was a member of the Nazi Party. During the early phases of World War II Meisinger served as commander of Einsatzgruppe IV in Poland. From 1941 to 1945 he worked as liaison for the Gestapo at the German embassy in Tokyo. He was arrested in Japan in 1945, convicted of war crimes and was executed in Warsaw, Poland. Early life Meisinger was born in Munich, the son of Josef and Berta Meisinger; he enlisted on 23 December 1916 and served during World War I in the 230th Minenwerfer Company (a type of short-range mortar), 22nd Bavarian Pioneer Battalion in the 30th Bavarian Reserve Division. After being wounded in battle he was awarded the Iron Cross and the Bavarian Military Merit Cross. On 18 January 1919 he attained the rank of Vizefeldwebel (senior sergeant), and on 19 April 1919 he entered the Freikorps under Franz Ritter von Epp, with whom he fought against the Soviet Republic of Bavaria. On 1 October 1922 he began working at the Munich Police Headquarters. As leader of the III Platoon of the II Company of the Freikorps Oberland, he took part in the Hitlerputsch on 8–9 November 1923. He was inducted on 5 March 1933 into the SS and then into the Bavarian Political Police on 9 March 1933, thus coming into official contact with Heinrich Müller, Franz Josef Huber and Reinhard Heydrich (with whom he had served in the Freikorps). At that point in time, Heinrich Himmler was chief of the Munich Police and Heydrich was commander of Department IV, the political police. Meisinger became a member of the Nazi Party on 1 May 1933. He received the Blood Order Medal of the Nazi Party on 9 November 1933. Nazi career On 20 April 1934, Meisinger was promoted to SS-Obertruppführer. Heydrich was appointed chief of the Gestapo on 22 April 1934. Immediately thereafter, Heydrich transferred to its Berlin office and took with him trusted colleagues: Heinrich Müller (Gestapo), Franz Josef Huber and Meisinger, referred to as the Bajuwaren-Brigade (Bavarian Brigade). On 9 May, Meisinger was promoted to SS-Untersturmführer (2nd lieutenant) in the Dezernat II 1 H and II H 1, which had the following tasks: Uncovering of opponents of Adolf Hitler within