Burton C. Andrus

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Colonel Burton C. Andrus, USA.,(b.1892 d. 1977) was an army officer and West Point graduate who became infamous as the commandant of Nuremberg Prison during the Nuremberg Trials of 1945-46. Later, he wrote a book on this, The infamous of Nuremberg (1969).

Andrus was a strict disciplinarian who made no distinction between those Nazi leaders who were military or civilian, treating them all as war criminals. Andrus was instantly visible in his immaculate uniform and shellacked helmet and swagger stick.

He spent long hours with his staff planning every last detail of the nazi prisoners' life. After the suicide of Dr. Robert Ley, Andrus arranged anti-suicide cells in which even the tables were designed to collapse under a man's weight. He posted 24-hour guards before each cell and insisted that the prisoners sleep with hands outside the blankets. He required prisoners to take exercise periods during which their cells were searched. He had designed interview booths in which prisoners and visitors could converse with one another without being able to touch hands. However, this system wasn't foolproof as Hermann Goering managed to commit suicide two hours before his scheduled execution. Andrus always felt cheated by this action of Goering's.

It was witnessed that Andrus enjoyed watching the hangings of the Nazi leaders condemned to death, though he did remove his helmet when each hanging took place.^{[citation needed]}

After retiring from the US Army, he became a Professor of Geography and Business Administration at the University of Puget Sound in Tacoma, Washington.[1]

[edit] Portrayal in popular culture

Burton C. Andrus has been portrayed by the following actors in film, television and theater productions;^[1]

Michael Ironside in the 2000 Canadian/U.S. T.V. production Nuremberg
Des McAleer in the 2006 British television production Nuremberg: Goering's Last Stand
Anthony Valentine in the 2006 British television docudrama Nuremberg: Nazis on Trial