Walter Eisfeld (born 11 July 1905 in

Halle, Saxony-Anhalt Halle (Saale), or simply Halle (; from the 15th to the 17th century: ''Hall in Sachsen''; until the beginning of the 20th century: ''Halle an der Saale'' ; from 1965 to 1995: ''Halle/Saale'') is the largest city of the German state of Saxony-An ...

– died 3 April 1940 in Dachau) was a German SS functionary and

concentration camp Internment is the imprisonment of people, commonly in large groups, without charges or intent to file charges. The term is especially used for the confinement "of enemy citizens in wartime or of terrorism suspects". Thus, while it can simply ...

commandant during the Nazi era. Eisfeld had been a member of the Artamanen-Gesellschaft, a völkisch

back-to-the-land movement A back-to-the-land movement is any of various agrarian movements across different historical periods. The common thread is a call for people to take up smallholding and to grow food from the land with an emphasis on a greater degree of self-suffic ...

, before becoming involved with the

Nazi Party The Nazi Party, officially the National Socialist German Workers' Party (german: Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei or NSDAP), was a far-right politics, far-right political party in Germany active between 1920 and 1945 that crea ...

and its organisations. Whilst ''Schutzhaftlagerführer'' at Sachsenhausen in January 1940 he was sent to

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 ...

to examine the possibility of establishing new camps. Against Eisfeld's advice, a site at Auschwitz was chosen. Having risen to the rank of

Sturmbannführer __NOTOC__ ''Sturmbannführer'' (; ) was a Nazi Party paramilitary rank equivalent to major that was used in several Nazi organizations, such as the SA, SS, and the NSFK. The rank originated from German shock troop units of the First World War ...

, Eisfeld succeeded Hermann Baranowski as commandant at

Sachsenhausen concentration camp Sachsenhausen () or Sachsenhausen-Oranienburg was a German Nazi concentration camp in Oranienburg, Germany, used from 1936 until April 1945, shortly before the defeat of Nazi Germany in May later that year. It mainly held political prisoner ...

before being replaced by

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 ...

Heinrich Himmler Heinrich Luitpold Himmler (; 7 October 1900 – 23 May 1945) was of the (Protection Squadron; SS), and a leading member of the Nazi Party of Germany. Himmler was one of the most powerful men in Nazi Germany and a main architect of th ...

visited Sachsenhausen in early 1940 and, seeing disciplinary problems amongst the guards, ordered Eisfeld to be replaced as camp commandant. He was sent to command the new

Neuengamme concentration camp Neuengamme was a network of Nazi concentration camps in Northern Germany that consisted of the main camp, Neuengamme, and more than 85 satellite camps. Established in 1938 near the village of Neuengamme in the Bergedorf district of Hamburg, th ...

, at the time a sub-camp of Sachsenhausen. Eisfeld died suddenly at Dachau while attending a ceremony in which he was to be awarded a Nazi Party Badge.

Karin Orth Karin Orth (born 1963) is a German historian, known for her research into the Nazi concentration camps From 1933 to 1945, Nazi Germany operated more than a thousand concentration camps, (officially) or (more commonly). The Nazi concentra ...

, ''Die Konzentrationslager-SS'', Wallstein, 2000, p. 164

References

1905 births 1940 deaths SS-Sturmbannführer Sachsenhausen concentration camp personnel Neuengamme concentration camp personnel People from Halle (Saale) Nazi concentration camp commandants People from the Province of Saxony 20th-century Freikorps personnel {{Nazi-stub