Kurt Bruno Pompe (March 4, 1899 in Schmiedeberg,

Lower Silesia Lower Silesia ( pl, Dolny Śląsk; cz, Dolní Slezsko; german: Niederschlesien; szl, Dolny Ślōnsk; hsb, Delnja Šleska; dsb, Dolna Šlazyńska; Silesian German: ''Niederschläsing''; la, Silesia Inferior) is the northwestern part of the ...

, German Empire – August 1, 1964 in Schweinfurt, West Germany) occupied important positions in several forced labor camps for Jews in

Silesia Silesia (, also , ) is a historical region of Central Europe that lies mostly within Poland, with small parts in the Czech Republic and Germany. Its area is approximately , and the population is estimated at around 8,000,000. Silesia is split ...

(German until 1945) during World War II, part of a network of over 160 camps run by an SS organization, Dienststelle Schmelt. The existence of this group of camps is largely unknown to the general public.

Military career

Pre World War II

Pompe was severely wounded at

Tournai Tournai or Tournay ( ; ; nl, Doornik ; pcd, Tornai; wa, Tornè ; la, Tornacum) is a city and municipality of Wallonia located in the province of Hainaut, Belgium. It lies southwest of Brussels on the river Scheldt. Tournai is part of Euromet ...

(Belgium) close to the end of World War I on October 25, 1918. His left leg was amputated below the knee and fitted with a prothesis. In 1922 he and his family moved to the city of

Neisse The Lusatian Neisse (german: Lausitzer Neiße; pl, Nysa Łużycka; cs, Lužická Nisa; Upper Sorbian: ''Łužiska Nysa''; Lower Sorbian: ''Łužyska Nysa''), or Western Neisse, is a river in northern Central Europe.Upper Silesia Upper Silesia ( pl, Górny Śląsk; szl, Gůrny Ślůnsk, Gōrny Ślōnsk; cs, Horní Slezsko; german: Oberschlesien; Silesian German: ; la, Silesia Superior) is the southeastern part of the historical and geographical region of Silesia, located ...

World War II

In 1942, Pompe, who was often nicknamed “the limper,” was feared by the inmates of

Blechhammer The Blechhammer ( en, sheet metal hammer) area was the location of Nazi Germany chemical plants, prisoner of war (POW) camps, and forced labor camps (german: Arbeitslager Blechhammer; also Nummernbücher). Labor camp prisoners began arriving as ...

(Upper Silesia), but nowhere else did he commit as many atrocities as at

Brande Brande is a railway town with a population of 7,449 (1 January 2022)Schmiedeberg forced labor camp, which was located near his city of birth in the village of Buschvorwerk. In both camps he terrorized the inmates and committed several murders.Hermann F. Weiss, Buschvorwerk im Riesengebirge. Eine Gemeinde in Niederschlesien von den Kriegsjahren bis zur Vertreibung. Herbolzheim, 2006. , pp. 176-187.

Post war life

In his de-Nazification application of April 23, 1946, he indicated that he was a member of

Organisation Todt Organisation Todt (OT; ) was a civil and military engineering organisation in Nazi Germany from 1933 to 1945, named for its founder, Fritz Todt, an engineer and senior Nazi. The organisation was responsible for a huge range of engineering projec ...

and, from fall 1943, a member of

Transportkorps Speer Transportkorps Speer was created in 1944 from Legion Speer and the units of the National Socialist Motor Corps that was serving the Organisation Todt. Shortly after its creation it became subordinated to the Wehrmacht. Yet, its major mission rem ...

, with the rank of ''Obertruppführer''. He classified himself as innocent (“unbelastet”) and continued to live under his real name. In 1951 Pompe moved from

Höchberg Höchberg is a Municipalities of Germany, municipality in the district of Würzburg (district), Würzburg in Bavaria, Germany. Höchberg borders, in the east, directly on the city of Würzburg. Höchberg consists of two main urban areas: Altort an ...

near

Würzburg Würzburg (; Main-Franconian: ) is a city in the region of Franconia in the north of the German state of Bavaria. Würzburg is the administrative seat of the ''Regierungsbezirk'' Lower Franconia. It spans the banks of the Main River. Würzburg is ...

Schweinfurt Schweinfurt ( , ; ) is a city in the district of Lower Franconia in Bavaria, Germany. It is the administrative centre of the surrounding district (''Landkreis'') of Schweinfurt and a major industrial, cultural and educational hub. The urban agg ...

where he was employed by Vereinigte Kugellager Fabriken AG as a laborer.Weiss: "Reichsautobahnlager ...". pp. 113-114. In the 1970s, a West German court became aware of some of Pompe’s war-time deeds in the context of investigating members of Dienststelle Schmelt, but he was not identified until 2008.

References

Bibliography

* Hans-Werner Wollenberg, ... und der Alptraum wurde zum Alltag. Autobiographischer Brief eines jüdischen Arztes über NS-Zwangsarbeiterlager in Schlesien (1942–1945) Pfaffenweiler, 1992. , pp. 75–115. * Hermann F. Weiss, Buschvorwerk im Riesengebirge. Eine Gemeinde in Niederschlesien von den Kriegsjahren bis zur Vertreibung. Herbolzheim, 2006. , pp. 157–200. * Hermann F. Weiss: From Reichsautobahnlager to Schmelt Camp: Brande, a Forgotten Holocaust Site in Western Upper Silesia 1940-1943. In: Yad Vashem Studies., 39.2 (2011) ISSN 0084-3296, pp. 98–114 {{DEFAULTSORT:Pompe, Kurt 1899 births 1964 deaths People from Karkonosze County People from the Province of Silesia German Army personnel of World War I Nazi concentration camp commandants German amputees