When the purges began he rapidly set up a new repair yard and herded over 1,000 Jews into it, from laborers and academics to children and old folks, insisting they were all skilled mechanics. His superiors were somewhat dubious about toddlers' abilities to repair transmissions, but Plagge managed to convince them that keeping families together was essential for the sake of morale and productivity.
Keep in mind, the SS weren't idiots. This was a hell of a risk he was taking, every day; on at least two occasions, it required fake beatings of his workers to keep the SS off his back.
Growing the mustache may have been a little overboard.
But possibly his boldest move came right at the close of the war, with the Russian army pressing in. Standard practice in this case was for the SS to execute any remaining Jewish prisoners. However, a day before this was to take place, Plagge told his workers, with an SS officer standing right beside him, that the prisoners would "be escorted during this evacuation by the SS, which, as you know, is an organization devoted to the protection of refugees. Thus there is nothing to worry about." This is the equivalent of saying, "You guys will be totally safe if you wait for this evacuation and don't escape on your own beforehand" with a heavily animated wink.
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