Erich Mußfeldt also spelled Erich Muhsfeldt (18 February 1913 – 24 January 1948) was a German war criminal. He served as an SS NCO in three extermination camps during

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 ...

occupied Poland ' ( Norwegian: ') is a Norwegian political thriller TV series that premiered on TV2 on 5 October 2015. Based on an original idea by Jo Nesbø, the series is co-created with Karianne Lund and Erik Skjoldbjærg. Season 2 premiered on 10 Octobe ...

and

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

: Auschwitz,

Majdanek Majdanek (or Lublin) was a Nazi concentration and extermination camp built and operated by the SS on the outskirts of the city of Lublin during the German occupation of Poland in World War II. It had seven gas chambers, two wooden gallows, a ...

and Flossenbürg. After the war, he was tried for war crimes by the U.S. military, found guilty of committing atrocities in

Flossenbürg concentration camp Flossenbürg was a Nazi concentration camp built in May 1938 by the SS Main Economic and Administrative Office. Unlike other concentration camps, it was located in a remote area, in the Fichtel Mountains of Bavaria, adjacent to the town of Flo ...

, and sentenced to life in prison. However, Muhsfeldt was then extradited to Poland, where the full extent of his war crimes was revealed due to new evidence. He was retried by the

Supreme National Tribunal The Supreme National Tribunal ( pl, Najwyższy Trybunał Narodowy TN}) was a war-crime tribunal active in communist-era Poland from 1946 to 1948. Its aims and purpose were defined by the State National Council in decrees of 22 January and 17 Oc ...

at the

Auschwitz Trial The Auschwitz trial began on November 24, 1947, in Kraków, when Poland's Supreme National Tribunal tried forty former staff of the Auschwitz concentration camps. The trials ended on December 22, 1947. The best-known defendants were Arthur Lie ...

Kraków Kraków (), or Cracow, is the second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city dates back to the seventh century. Kraków was the official capital of Poland until 1596 ...

, and found guilty of crimes against humanity. Muhsfeldt was sentenced to death by hanging in December 1947, and executed on 24 January 1948.

Pre-war and personal life

Erich Muhsfeldt was born on 18 February 1913 in Berkenbrück, Brandenburg, Germany. His father worked as a labourer at the State Water Administration in

Fürstenwalde Fürstenwalde/Spree (; Lower Sorbian: ''Pśibor pśi Sprjewje'') is the most populous town in the Oder-Spree District of Brandenburg, Germany. Geography The town is situated in the glacial valley (''Urstromtal'') of the Spree river north of the ...

. In 1927, Muhsfeldt completed 8 classes of elementary school, and three years later he gained the profession of a baker, in which he worked for 2 years as a journeyman. At the time of his service in the '' SS-Totenkopfverbände'' he was reportedly married with two children. The fate of his wife is unclear. According to Miklós Nyiszli, Publication history and details a
Goodreads.
/ref> his wife was killed in an air raid, and his son sent to the Russian front.

SS-career

Originally Muhsfeldt served with the German '' SS-Sonderkommando'' at Auschwitz I in 1940. He was transferred to the work/extermination camp at

on 15 November 1941. He was present at the final mass shooting of the camp's remaining Jewish inmates known as the

Operation Harvest Festival Operation Harvest Festival (german: Aktion Erntefest) was the murder of up to 43,000 Jews at the Majdanek, Poniatowa and Trawniki concentration camps by the SS, the Order Police battalions, and the Ukrainian ''Sonderdienst'' on 3–4 Nov ...

or "Erntefest, the largest single-day, single-camp massacre of

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, totalling 43,000 in three nearby locations. Muhsfeldt testified of the incident before the Polish Court in Kraków in 1947: When the

camp was liquidated, Muhsfeldt was transferred back to Auschwitz, where he then served as supervising ''SS'' officer of the Jewish '' Sonderkommando'' in Crematorium II and III in Auschwitz II (Birkenau). Upon his return to Auschwitz, Muhsfeldt had an unusual relationship with renowned Jewish-Hungarian pathologist Miklós Nyiszli, who was forced to carry out autopsies on behalf of

Josef Mengele , allegiance = , branch = Schutzstaffel , serviceyears = 1938–1945 , rank = '' SS''-'' Hauptsturmführer'' (Captain) , servicenumber = , battles = , unit = , awards = , commands = , ...

. According to Nyiszli, “ uhsfeldtoften came to see me in the dissecting room, and we conversed on politics, the military situation and various other subjects.” Nyiszli survived the war and later gave evidence about what happened at Auschwitz. Nyiszli described one incident when Muhsfeldt came to him for a routine check-up, after shooting 80 prisoners in the back of the head prior to their cremation: Nyiszli described an exceedingly rare occurrence, in which an inmate girl of 16, due to highly unusual circumstances, managed to survive the gas chamber and, with medical help from Nyiszli and others after she was discovered alive, was partially recovering. Nyiszli took up her case with Muhsfeldt asking that her life be spared: “These were my arguments, and I asked him to do something for the child. He listened to me attentively, then asked me exactly what I proposed doing. I saw by his expression that I had put him face to face with a practically impossible problem.” Muhsfeldt replied "There's no way of getting round it, the child will have to die." Nyiszli explains that "Half an hour later the young girl was led, or rather carried, into the furnace room hallway, and there uhsfeldtsent another in his place to do the job. A bullet in the back of the neck..."

Trial

After the war had ended, Muhsfeldt was arrested by U.S. military officials. He was tried for committing atrocities in

by an American military court. Witnesses said they saw Muhsfeldt beat and shoot multiple prisoners. In January 1947, Muhsfeldt was found guilty and given a life sentence. However, he was then extradited to Poland where he was retried in

by the

in November 1947 for crimes committed in Auschwitz. In December 1947, Muhsfeldt was found guilty of crimes against humanity and sentenced to death. He was executed in 1948.Moczarski(1981), ''Conversations with an Executioner'', p. 258.

In popular culture

Muhsfeldt appears as a minor character in the 1983

James Michener James Albert Michener ( or ; February 3, 1907 – October 16, 1997) was an American writer. He wrote more than 40 books, most of which were long, fictional family sagas covering the lives of many generations in particular geographic locales and ...

novel ''

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...

'', and is portrayed by

Harvey Keitel Harvey Keitel ( ; born May 13, 1939) is an American actor. He is known for his portrayal of morally ambiguous and "tough guy" characters. He first rose to prominence during the New Hollywood movement, and has held a long-running association with ...

in the 2001 film ''

The Grey Zone ''The Grey Zone'' is a 2001 movie written and directed by Tim Blake Nelson and starring David Arquette, Steve Buscemi, Harvey Keitel, Mira Sorvino, and Daniel Benzali. It is based on the book ''Auschwitz: A Doctor's Eyewitness Account'' w ...

''.

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Muhsfeldt, Eric 1913 births 1948 deaths Auschwitz concentration camp personnel Auschwitz trial executions Flossenbürg concentration camp personnel Majdanek concentration camp personnel SS non-commissioned officers Executed people from Brandenburg People convicted in the Dachau trials German people convicted of crimes against humanity Prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment by the United States military Waffen-SS personnel Holocaust perpetrators in Poland People extradited to Poland Executed mass murderers