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Nazi Concentration Camp Commandant
The commandant (german: KZ-Kommandant, Lagerkommandant) was the chief commanding position within the SS service of a Nazi concentration camp. He held the highest rank and was the most important member of the camp unit. The commandant directed the camp headquarters and was responsible for all issues of the nazi concentration camp. The regulations of his duties and responsibilities came from the Concentration Camps Inspectorate (CCI). Of utmost importance was his duty to ensure the safety of the camp. Therefore, all SS personnel were obliged to report to him any important incident about the camp. The commandant had to constantly stay in the camp; his absence for more than 24 hours required the consent of the Concentration Camps Inspectorate. In the event of an alarm caused by rebellion or escape, all personnel were subject to his command, and he had complete control of the issuance of orders and commands. Another duty was to instruct subordinates about their tasks, camp se ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Schutzstaffel
The ''Schutzstaffel'' (SS; also stylized as ''ᛋᛋ'' with Armanen runes; ; "Protection Squadron") was a major paramilitary organization under Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party in Nazi Germany, and later throughout German-occupied Europe during World War II. It began with a small guard unit known as the ''Saal-Schutz'' ("Hall Security") made up of party volunteers to provide security for party meetings in Munich. In 1925, Heinrich Himmler joined the unit, which had by then been reformed and given its final name. Under his direction (1929–1945) it grew from a small paramilitary formation during the Weimar Republic to one of the most powerful organizations in Nazi Germany. From the time of the Nazi Party's rise to power until the regime's collapse in 1945, the SS was the foremost agency of security, surveillance, and terror within Germany and German-occupied Europe. The two main constituent groups were the '' Allgemeine SS'' (General SS) and ''Waffen-SS'' (Armed SS). The ' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bełżec Extermination Camp
Belzec (English: or , Polish: ) was a Nazi German extermination camp built by the SS for the purpose of implementing the secretive Operation Reinhard, the plan to murder all Polish Jews, a major part of the "Final Solution" which in total entailed the murder of about 6 million Jews in the Holocaust. The camp operated from to the end of . It was situated about south of the local railroad station of Bełżec, in the new Lublin District of the General Government territory of German-occupied Poland. The burning of exhumed corpses on five open-air grids and bone crushing continued until March 1943. Between 430,000 and 500,000 Jews are believed to have been murdered by the SS at Bełżec. It was the third-deadliest extermination camp, exceeded only by Treblinka and Auschwitz. Only seven Jews performing slave labour with the camp's '' Sonderkommando'' survived World War II; and only Rudolf Reder became known, thanks to his official postwar testimony. The lack of viable w ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Eduard Weiter
Eduard Weiter (18 July 1889 – 2 May 1945) was a German bureaucrat who became a Schutzstaffel Obersturmbannführer and concentration camp commandant during World War II. Early life The son of a horsewhip maker, Weiter worked as a book salesman whilst studying part-time until he joined the German Imperial Army at the age of 20. He served as a soldier for ten years, seeing action on the Eastern, Western and Balkan fronts during the course of World War I.Tom Segev, ''Soldiers of Evil'', Berkley Books, 1991, p. 133 He served as divisional and then regimental paymaster and following the reductions in the German military that followed the Treaty of Versailles he took up a similar position in the Bavarian police. SS career Weiter continued as an anonymous bureaucrat until in 1936 he retired from his paymaster role, the Bavarian police having been incorporated as a unit into the Ordnungspolizei. He then took a role with the SS, although once again as a paymaster and even at this poin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Alexander Piorkowski
Alexander Bernhard Hans Piorkowski (11 October 1904 – 22 October 1948) was a German SS functionary during the Nazi era and commandant of Dachau concentration camp. Following the war, he was convicted and executed. Life Born in Bremen, Piorkowski and was a trained mechanic who worked as a traveling merchant in the 1920s. He joined the SA on 1 June 1929 and moved from there to the SS on 1 June 1933 (member no. 8,737). On 1 November 1929, Piorkowski became a member of the Nazi Party (member no. 161,437). He first led the ''SS-Standarte'' in Bremen on 20 July 1935, and in the following year, the ''SS-Standarte Allenstein''. For health reasons, he retired from the service on 19 September 1936.Johannes Tuchel: ''Konzentrationslager: Organisationsgeschichte und Funktion der Inspektion der Konzentrationslager 1934–1938''. 1991, p. 385 From July 1937 to December 1937, Piorkowski was provisionally commandant of Lichtenburg concentration camp, and after its conversion into a women' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hans Loritz
Hans Loritz (12 December 1895, Augsburg – 31 January 1946, Neumünster) was an officer in the ''Schutzstaffel'' (SS) who was the commandant of several concentration camps in Germany and Nazi-occupied Europe. He committed suicide in captivity after the war. Early life After completing primary school, Loritz started an apprenticeship as a baker. In 1914, he volunteered to join the Bavarian 3rd Infantry Regiment. During the war he was wounded several times and was promoted to be a non-commissioned officer. In 1917 he volunteered for the German Air Corps and was accepted as a gunner. He was shot down over France, where he was held as a Prisoner of War until 1920. On his return to Augsburg, he joined local police (where his father worked) transferring subsequently to the motorcycle squad. His first marriage in 1922 produced a son. In 1927, following several disciplinary issues, he was dismissed and became a debt collector for the gas company. His marriage was dissolved in 1935 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Heinrich Deubel
Heinrich Deubel (19 February 1890 – 2 October 1962) was a German soldier, civil servant, World War I veteran and officer in the Schutzstaffel serving as commandant of Dachau concentration camp. World War I and Nazi Party membership Deubel was born in Ortenburg, Kingdom of Bavaria. The son of a postman, he joined the German Imperial Army and spent 12 years in the service, although he was to spend most of the First World War in a British prisoner of war camp. Right-wing by inclination, Deubel had been involved with the Freikorps and other rightist and anti-Semitic groups from an early age. He became involved with the Nazis in the early 1920s at the same time as Egon Zill and was amongst the first 200 members of the SS.Segev, ''Soldiers of Evil'', p. 132 Deubel was a civil servant with the customs office and actually took a leave of absence to join the SS rather than forgo his civil service pension. Dachau and World War II Deubel was an inspector at Dachau concentration ca ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Theodor Eicke
Theodor Eicke (17 October 1892 – 26 February 1943) was a senior SS functionary and Waffen SS divisional commander during the Nazi era. He was one of the key figures in the development of Nazi concentration camps. Eicke served as the second commandant of the Dachau concentration camp from June 1933 to July 1934, and together with his adjutant Michael Lippert, was one of the executioners of SA Chief Ernst Röhm during the Night of the Long Knives purge of 1934. He continued to expand and develop the concentration camp system and was the first Concentration Camps Inspector. In 1939, Eicke became commander of the SS Division Totenkopf of the Waffen-SS, leading the division during the Second World War on the Western and Eastern fronts. Eicke was killed on 26 February 1943, when his plane was shot down during the Third Battle of Kharkov. Early life and World War I Theodor Eicke was born on 17 October 1892, in Hampont (renamed ''Hudingen'' in 1915) near Château-Salins, then ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hilmar Wäckerle
Hilmar Wäckerle (24 November 1899 – 2 July 1941) was a commander in the Waffen-SS of Nazi Germany during World War II. He was the first commandant of Dachau concentration camp. War service The son of a Munich notary public, Wäckerle was sent to the Bavarian Army officer school at the age of 14 in order to pursue his chosen career. Having completed his three years as a cadet he was assigned to the Bavarian Infantry Battalion in August 1917 and by the following year was a Sergeant on the Western Front.Segev, ''Soldiers of Evil'', p. 65 Seriously wounded in September 1918 he was not able to return to the front before the armistice and as such his chance to matriculate and become an officer was lost. Political involvement Unable to continue in the army, Wäckerle enrolled in the Technical University Munich to study agriculture. Like his classmate Heinrich Himmler, he joined the anti-communist Freikorps Oberland and was an early member of the Nazi Party.Segev, ''Soldiers of Evil'', ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dachau Concentration Camp
, , commandant = List of commandants , known for = , location = Upper Bavaria, Southern Germany , built by = Germany , operated by = ''Schutzstaffel'' (SS) , original use = Political prison , construction = , in operation = March 1933 – April 1945 , gas chambers = , prisoner type = Political prisoners, Poles, Romani, Jews, homosexuals, Jehovah's Witnesses, Catholic priests, Communists , inmates = Over 188,000 (estimated) , killed = 41,500 (per Dachau website) , liberated by = U.S. Army , notable inmates = , notable books = , website = Dachau () was the first concentration camp built by Nazi Germany, opening on 22 March 1933. The camp was initially intended to intern Hitler's political opponents which consisted of: communists, social democrats, and other dissidents. It is located on the grounds of an abandoned munitions factory northeast of the medieval town of Dachau, about northwest o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hermann Pister
Hermann Pister (21 February 1885 – 28 September 1948) was an SS Oberführer (Senior Colonel) and commandant of Buchenwald concentration camp from 21 January 1942 until April 1945. Early life Pister was the son of a financial secretary in Lübeck. He joined the German Imperial Navy in 1916 and served until the end of the war. In 1918 he began an apprenticeship as an auto mechanic and went on to become an automobile salesman and manager. He joined the Nazi party (no. 918391) and the SS (No. 29892), being assigned to the SS Motor Echelon in 1932. In 1933 he was assigned to SS Motor Regiment Nineteen and in 1936 to SS Motor Regiment One. In 1937 he was assigned to Reichsführer SS Heinrich Himmler's motor pool. Buchenwald Pister was given the command of Hinzert concentration camp and served there from 9 October 1939 to 21 December 1941. On 1 January 1942 he replaced Karl Otto Koch as commandant of Buchenwald. The prisoners were ordered evacuated from Buchenwald in early April 1 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Karl-Otto Koch
Karl-Otto Koch (; 2 August 1897 – 5 April 1945) was a mid-ranking commander in the ''Schutzstaffel'' (SS) of Nazi Germany who was the first commandant of the Nazi concentration camps at Buchenwald and Sachsenhausen. From September 1941 until August 1942, he served as the first commandant of the Majdanek concentration camp in occupied Poland, stealing vast amounts of valuables and money from murdered Jews. His wife, Ilse Koch, also took part in the crimes at Buchenwald and Majdanek. Life Koch was born in Darmstadt, Grand Duchy of Hesse-Darmstadt on 2 August 1897. His father worked in a local registrar's office and died when Karl was eight years old. After completing elementary school in 1912, Koch attended Mittelschule and completed a commercial apprenticeship. In 1916, he volunteered to join the Imperial German Army and fought on the Western Front until he was later captured by the British. Koch spent the rest of the war as a POW and returned to Germany in 1919. As a s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Buchenwald Concentration Camp
Buchenwald (; literally 'beech forest') was a Nazi concentration camp established on hill near Weimar, Germany, in July 1937. It was one of the first and the largest of the concentration camps within Germany's 1937 borders. Many actual or suspected communists were among the first internees. Prisoners came from all over Europe and the Soviet Union—Jews, Poles and other Slavs, the mentally ill and physically disabled, political prisoners, Romani people, Freemasons, and prisoners of war. There were also ordinary criminals and sexual "deviants". All prisoners worked primarily as forced labor in local armaments factories. The insufficient food and poor conditions, as well as deliberate executions, led to 56,545 deaths at Buchenwald of the 280,000 prisoners who passed through the camp and its 139 subcamps. The camp gained notoriety when it was liberated by the United States Army in April 1945; Allied commander Dwight D. Eisenhower visited one of its subcamps. From August 194 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
