Editing Hermann Florstedt (section)

== Escape and arrival in Bucharest ==
Florstedt was scheduled for execution at Buchenwald on 5 April 1945. He escaped from custody before the sentence was carried out and briefly hid with relatives in [[Halle (Saale)|Halle]]. The destruction of camp records allowed SS officials to report that he had been executed.

Florstedt travelled southeast under false papers as Germany collapsed. By 18 June 1945, he had reached Bucharest and joined Oskar Dirlewanger following Dirlewanger's takeover of the Butchers.

Florstedt became Dirlewanger's right-hand man and principal deputy. He brought the existing enforcement crews under the new leadership and required local commanders to report directly to Dirlewanger. On 17 September 1948, the two men completed the first post-war reorganization of the group. Florstedt received authority immediately below Dirlewanger and became the first formal deputy leader of the modern Bucharest Butchers.<ref name="dirlewanger-takeover"/>