Alfred Zeidler (born 22 September 1902) was a

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

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 duri ...

'' (SS) officer who served

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

. From 1942 to 1945, he was '' Lagerkommandant'' of the Grini detention camp in

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the ...

during the

German occupation German-occupied Europe refers to the sovereign countries of Europe which were wholly or partly occupied and civil-occupied (including puppet governments) by the military forces and the government of Nazi Germany at various times between 1939 an ...

. Although sentenced to lifelong forced labour after the war, Zeidler was released in 1953. Details of his later life are unknown.

Early life

Alfred Zeidler was born on 22 September 1902 in Danzig – at that time part of

West Prussia The Province of West Prussia (german: Provinz Westpreußen; csb, Zôpadné Prësë; pl, Prusy Zachodnie) was a province of Prussia from 1773 to 1829 and 1878 to 1920. West Prussia was established as a province of the Kingdom of Prussia in 177 ...

in the German Empire – as the son of a locksmith. He then lived in

Braunschweig Braunschweig () or Brunswick ( , from Low German ''Brunswiek'' , Braunschweig dialect: ''Bronswiek'') is a city in Lower Saxony, Germany, north of the Harz Mountains at the farthest navigable point of the river Oker, which connects it to the ...

where he worked as a broker in the shipping industry and as a colporteur before becoming unemployed. After

Hitler's rise to power Adolf Hitler's rise to power began in the newly established Weimar Republic in September 1919 when Hitler joined the '' Deutsche Arbeiterpartei'' (DAP; German Workers' Party). He rose to a place of prominence in the early years of the party. Be ...

in 1933, Zeidler joined

NSDAP The Nazi Party, officially the National Socialist German Workers' Party (german: Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei or NSDAP), was a far-right political party in Germany active between 1920 and 1945 that created and supported t ...

and the SS, becoming a member of the ''

Sicherheitsdienst ' (, ''Security Service''), full title ' (Security Service of the '' Reichsführer-SS''), or SD, was the intelligence agency of the SS and the Nazi Party in Nazi Germany. Established in 1931, the SD was the first Nazi intelligence organization ...

'' (SD) in 1937. He was eventually promoted to ''SS-Hauptsturmführer''. At some point, Zeidler married and had two children.

At Grini detention camp

On 30 June 1942, Zeidler took part in an inspection of the Grini detention camp in

Bærum Bærum () is a municipality in the Greater Oslo Region in Norway that forms an affluent suburb of Oslo on the west coast of the city. Bærum is Norway's fifth largest municipality with a population of 128,760 (2021). It is part of the electoral ...

, Norway, which was being used by the SS to hold political prisoners. The next month, on 15 July, he returned with Hellmuth Reinhard (head of the

Gestapo The (), abbreviated Gestapo (; ), was the official secret police of Nazi Germany and in German-occupied Europe. The force was created by Hermann Göring in 1933 by combining the various political police agencies of Prussia into one orga ...

in Norway), who appointed Zeidler as ''Lagerkommandant'' of the camp. In his first meeting with the camp prisoners, he announced that they would soon become accustomed to "

Prussian Prussia, , Old Prussian: ''Prūsa'' or ''Prūsija'' was a German state on the southeast coast of the Baltic Sea. It formed the German Empire under Prussian rule when it united the German states in 1871. It was ''de facto'' dissolved by an e ...

discipline". He held his post at Grini until the end of World War II in Europe.

Post-war

Following the surrender of Nazi Germany on 8 May 1945, many SS officers (fearing reprisals for war crimes) attempted to disguise themselves as ordinary soldiers and blend in with the

Wehrmacht The ''Wehrmacht'' (, ) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the ''Heer'' (army), the '' Kriegsmarine'' (navy) and the ''Luftwaffe'' (air force). The designation "''Wehrmacht''" replaced the previo ...

. Zeidler was eventually discovered with a group of around 75 Gestapo men who, led by

Heinrich Fehlis Heinrich Fehlis (1 November 1906 – May 1945) was a German ''Schutzstaffel'' (SS) officer during World War II. He commanded the ''Sicherheitspolizei'' (SiPo) and ''Sicherheitsdienst'' (SD) in Norway and Oslo during the German occupation of No ...

(SiPo and SD commander in Norway), had disguised themselves in '' Gebirgskorps Norwegen'' uniforms and hidden in a camp near

Porsgrunn is a city and municipality in Telemark in the county of Vestfold og Telemark in Norway. It is part of the traditional region of Grenland. The administrative centre of the municipality is the city of Porsgrunn. The municipality of Porsgrunn w ...

. The camp was eventually surrounded by

Milorg Milorg (abbreviation of militær organisasjon – military organization) was the main Norwegian resistance movement during World War II. Resistance work included intelligence gathering, sabotage, supply-missions, raids, espionage, transport of ...

and the troops were forced to surrender; Fehlis committed suicide and Zeidler was apprehended with the other men. In 1947, as part of the

legal purge in Norway after World War II The purge in Norway after World War II was a purge that took place between May 1945 and August 1948 against anyone who was deemed to have collaborated with the German occupation of the country. Several thousand Norwegians and foreign citizens wer ...

, Zeidler was sentenced to forced labour for the rest of his life. He was released in 1953.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Zeidler, Alfred 1902 births Year of death unknown Military personnel from Gdańsk SS-Hauptsturmführer German expatriates in Norway German prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment Prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment by Norway Nazis convicted of war crimes People from West Prussia German people imprisoned abroad Grini concentration camp personnel Nazi concentration camp commandants

Early life

At Grini detention camp

Post-war

See also

References