Breda Four

The Breda Four (Breda Three after 1966 and Breda Two after 1979), were the last four continuously imprisoned German war criminals in the Netherlands following the Second World War. The group consisted of Willy Lages, Joseph Kotalla, Ferdinand aus der Fünten, and Franz Fischer. From 1952, they were incarcerated in the dome prison in Breda, which inspired their collective name.

Lages, Aus der Fünten and Fischer played a key role in the deportations of Jews, while Kotalla was deputy head of Kamp Amersfoort. The Breda Four were initially sentenced to death, but in 1951–1952 were among those whose sentences were commuted to life imprisonment. However, they were the only German war criminals in the Netherlands not released before 1961.

In the following decades, pushes were made to release them. The West German government and other organisations lobbied for them. The clemency requests coincided with increasing awareness of World War II and the psychological impact on victims in the Netherlands. Ministers of Justice decided against releasing them, after proposals for release were met with public protests and emotional debates in parliament. This reached a peak in 1972.

Lages was released on sick leave in 1966 and died five years later in Germany. Kotalla died in prison in 1979. In 1987, Aus der Fünten and Fischer became the last German war criminals in Europe who had been continuously imprisoned since 1945. They were given clemency on 27 January 1989 and died the same year.