Franz Hößler, also Franz Hössler (; 4 February 1906 – 13 December 1945) was a

Nazi Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in ...

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 **Ger ...

SS-''

Obersturmführer __NOTOC__ (, ; short: ''Ostuf'') was a Nazi Germany paramilitary rank that was used in several Nazi organisations, such as the SA, SS, NSKK and the NSFK. The rank of ''Obersturmführer'' was first created in 1932 as the result of an expa ...

'' and ''

Schutzhaftlagerführer ''Schutzhaftlagerführer'' (head of the "preventive detention camp") was a paramilitary title of the SS, specific to the concentration and extermination camps '' Totenkopfverbande'' ("Death's-Head units"). A ''Schutzhaftlagerführer'' was in ch ...

'' at the

Auschwitz-Birkenau Auschwitz concentration camp ( (); also or ) was a complex of over 40 concentration and extermination camps operated by Nazi Germany in occupied Poland (in a portion annexed into Germany in 1939) during World War II and the Holocaust. It con ...

Dora-Mittelbau Mittelbau-Dora (also Dora-Mittelbau and Nordhausen-Dora) was a Nazi concentration camp located near Nordhausen in Thuringia, Germany. It was established in late summer 1943 as a subcamp of Buchenwald concentration camp, supplying slave labour fr ...

and

Bergen-Belsen Bergen-Belsen , or Belsen, was a Nazi concentration camp in what is today Lower Saxony in northern Germany, southwest of the town of Bergen near Celle. Originally established as a prisoner of war camp, in 1943, parts of it became a concentrati ...

concentration 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 opposin ...

. Captured by the Allies at the end of the war, Hößler was charged with war crimes in the First Bergen-Belsen Trial, found guilty, and sentenced to death. He was executed by hanging at Hameln Prison in 1945.

Early life

Hößler was born in 1906 in the town of Oberdorf, today

Marktoberdorf Marktoberdorf () is the capital of the Bavarian district of Ostallgäu in the ''Regierungsbezirk'' of Swabia. Marktoberdorf is near Kempten, Füssen, known for the castle Neuschwanstein, Bad Wörishofen, and Schongau. The nearest larger city is K ...

, in the

Schwabenland Swabia ; german: Schwaben , colloquially ''Schwabenland'' or ''Ländle''; archaic English also Suabia or Svebia is a cultural, historic and linguistic region in southwestern Germany. The name is ultimately derived from the medieval Duchy o ...

of the

German Empire The German Empire (),Herbert Tuttle wrote in September 1881 that the term "Reich" does not literally connote an empire as has been commonly assumed by English-speaking people. The term literally denotes an empire – particularly a hereditary ...

. The son of a

foreman __NOTOC__ A foreman, forewoman or foreperson is a supervisor, often in a manual trade or industry. Foreman may specifically refer to: *Construction foreman, the worker or tradesman who is in charge of a construction crew * Jury foreman, a head j ...

, he quit school early to become a

photographer A photographer (the Greek language, Greek φῶς (''phos''), meaning "light", and γραφή (''graphê''), meaning "drawing, writing", together meaning "drawing with light") is a person who makes photographs. Duties and types of photographe ...

. Later employed as a

warehouse A warehouse is a building for storing goods. Warehouses are used by manufacturers, importers, exporters, wholesalers, transport businesses, customs, etc. They are usually large plain buildings in industrial parks on the outskirts of cities ...

worker, he was

unemployed Unemployment, according to the OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development), is people above a specified age (usually 15) not being in paid employment or self-employment but currently available for work during the referen ...

during the

Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...

of the 1930s. He joined 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 ...

in early November 1932 (member no. 1,374,713) and the SS (member no. 41,940).Aleksander Lasik: "Die Organisationsstruktur des KL Auschwitz" in: Aleksander Lasik, Franciszek Piper, Piotr Setkiewicz, Irena Strzelecka (eds): ''Auschwitz 1940–1945. Studien zur Geschichte des Konzentrations und Vernichtungslagers Auschwitz.'', Volume I, State Museum Auschwitz-Birkenau, Oświęcim 1999, p. 230. Hößler was married and had three children. During his time in the SS, Hößler rose to the rank of SS-''

'' and became a reserve officer in the

Waffen-SS The (, "Armed SS") was the combat branch of the Nazi Party's ''Schutzstaffel'' (SS) organisation. Its formations included men from Nazi Germany, along with Waffen-SS foreign volunteers and conscripts, volunteers and conscripts from both occup ...

.Ernst Klee: ''Das Personenlexikon zum Dritten Reich'', Frankfurt am Main 2007, p. 263. After the establishment of the

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 July 1933, he became the first member of the guard staff and worked later as a

cook Cook or The Cook may refer to: Food preparation * Cooking, the preparation of food * Cook (domestic worker), a household staff member who prepares food * Cook (professional), an individual who prepares food for consumption in the food industry * ...

. He served at Dachau until after the outbreak of

.State Museum of Auschwitz-Birkenau (ed.): ''Auschwitz in den Augen der SS.'' Oświęcim 1998, p.232Short biography of Hößler at ARC Mainpage
/ref>

Auschwitz

In June 1940, Hößler was transferred to the newly opened Auschwitz I concentration camp as it received the first mass transports. He managed the camp kitchens and was occasionally used as a subcamp supervisor (german: Kommandoführer). He then became a Work Service Leader (german: Arbeitsdienstführer) at the camp in early 1941. On 28 July 1941, Hößler accompanied a shipment of 575 selected Auschwitz I inmates to the euthanasia center at Sonnenstein Castle, where they were murdered as part of the

Action 14f13 Action 14f13, also called '' Sonderbehandlung'' (special treatment) 14f13 and Aktion 14f13, was a campaign by Nazi Germany to murder Nazi concentration camp prisoners. Also called ''invalid'' or ''prisoner euthanasia'', the sick, the elderly and ...

program.

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 ...

: ''Das System der nationalsozialistischen Konzentrationslager'', Hamburg 2002, p. 138 In June 1942, Hößler, together with

Otto Moll Otto Hermann Wilhelm Moll (4 March 1915 – 28 May 1946) was an SS non-commissioned officer who committed numerous atrocities at the Auschwitz concentration camp during the Second World War. The ''SS-Hauptscharführer'', who held the rank of Qua ...

and

Hans Aumeier Hans Aumeier (20 August 1906 – 24 January 1948) was an SS commander during the Nazi era who was the commandant of Vaivara concentration camp and the deputy commandant of Auschwitz concentration camp. One of the most important criminals at Ausc ...

, participated in killing 168 survivors of a failed uprising in the punishment section of Auschwitz I. For a few months during 1942 he was also responsible for the construction of a holiday resort for the SS in

Żywiec Żywiec () (german: Saybusch) is a town in southern Poland with 31,194 inhabitants (2019). Between 1975 and 1998, it was located within the Bielsko-Biała Voivodeship, but has since become part of the Silesian Voivodeship.It is the capital of Ż ...

, the so-called "

Solahütte ''Solahütte'' ( a.k.a. ''Solehütte'', ''Soletal'', ''SS-Hütte Soletal'', or ''SS Hütte Porabka'') was a little-known resort in Poland for the Nazi German guards, administrators, and auxiliary personnel of the Auschwitz/Birkenau/Buna faciliti ...

". After

was formally expanded into an

extermination camp Nazi Germany used six extermination camps (german: Vernichtungslager), also called death camps (), or killing centers (), in Central Europe during World War II to systematically murder over 2.7 million peoplemostly Jewsin the Holocaust. The v ...

in 1942, Hößler took on various commands there. From September to November 1942, a brigade composed of prisoners called '' Sonderkommando Hößler'' exhumed 107,000 corpses from mass graves around Auschwitz I in order to burn them in the new Auschwitz II crematoria. The prisoners of the ''Sonderkommando'' were then almost invariably murdered after the action. To conduct this disposal, Hößler, along with Rudolf Höß and Walter Dejaco, had previously visited the Chelmno extermination camp on 16 September 1942 to observe tests conducted by

Paul Blobel Paul Blobel (13 August 1894 – 7 June 1951) was a German ''Sicherheitsdienst'' (SD) commander and convicted war criminal who played a leading role in the Holocaust. He organised and executed the Babi Yar massacre, the largest massacre of th ...

. At the same time Hößler worked as before in the old crematorium at the main camp Auschwitz I, including gassings in the bunkers.

Johann Kremer Johann Paul Kremer (26 December 1883 – 8 January 1965) was German professor, physician and war criminal. He was a professor of anatomy and human genetics at Münster University who joined the Wehrmacht on May 20, 1941. He served in the SS in t ...

, SS camp doctor from 30 August to 17 November 1942, recorded a transport of 1,703 Dutch Jews to the main camp managed by Hoßler. The incident was described in his diary: By the middle of 1943, Hößler became involved in recruiting so-called "

Aryan Aryan or Arya (, Indo-Iranian *''arya'') is a term originally used as an ethnocultural self-designation by Indo-Iranians in ancient times, in contrast to the nearby outsiders known as 'non-Aryan' (*''an-arya''). In Ancient India, the term ' ...

" prison women, with the prospect of better food and care, for a newly opened camp brothel at the Auschwitz I main camp.Hermann Langbein: ''Menschen in Auschwitz'', Frankfurt am Main, 1980, p. 455 He was then promoted to the senior role of ''

'' at the

women's camp in August 1943, which he directed together with ''

Oberaufseherin Aufseherin was the position title for a female guard in the Nazi concentration camps during World War II. Of the 50,000 guards who served in Nazi concentration camps, about 5,000 were women. In 1942, the first female guards arrived at Auschwitz a ...

Maria Mandel Maria Mandl (also spelled Mandel; 10 January 1912 – 24 January 1948) was an Austrian '' SS- Helferin'' (" SS helper") known for her role in the Holocaust as a top-ranking official at the Auschwitz-Birkenau extermination camp, where she is be ...

. In this role he participated in selections and gassings. He succeeded Paul Heinrich Theodor Müller in this capacity.

Filip Müller Filip Müller (3 January 1922 – 9 November 2013) was a Jewish Slovak Holocaust survivor and ''Sonderkommando'' at Auschwitz, the largest Nazi German concentration camp during World War II, where he witnessed the murders of tens of thousand ...

, one of the very few ''Sonderkommando'' members who survived

Auschwitz Auschwitz concentration camp ( (); also or ) was a complex of over 40 concentration and extermination camps operated by Nazi Germany in occupied Poland (in a portion annexed into Germany in 1939) during World War II and the Holocaust. It con ...

, paraphrased Hößler's speech given to trick a group of Greek Jews in the undressing room at the portals of the gas chambers: For a short time between 15 March to 15 May 1944, Hößler was also camp commander (german: KZ-Kommandant) of the Neckarelz concentration camp in

Mosbach Mosbach (; South Franconian: ''Mossbach'') is a town in the north of Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is the seat of the Neckar-Odenwald district and has a population of approximately 25,000 distributed in six boroughs: Mosbach Town, Lohrbach, N ...

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 ...

, a subcamp of the larger Natzweiler-Struthof camp complex in occupied France. Following the

Allied invasion of France Operation Overlord was the codename for the Battle of Normandy, the Allied operation that launched the successful invasion of German-occupied Western Europe during World War II. The operation was launched on 6 June 1944 (D-Day) with the Norm ...

in June 1944, he returned to the Auschwitz main camp where he was Protective Custody Camp Leader until its final evacuation in January 1945.

Dora-Mittelbau

In January 1945, as the

Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army (Russian: Рабо́че-крестья́нская Кра́сная армия),) often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic and, after ...

overran German positions on the Eastern Front, the SS personnel at Auschwitz evacuated to the Mittelbau-Dora concentration camp. Auschwitz commander Richard Baer took over the Dora portion of the complex and Hößler was again made a Protective Custody Camp Leader.Jens-Christian Wagner, ''Produktion des Todes: Das KZ Mittelbau-Dora'' (Göttingen, 2001) p. 670 On 5 April 1945, as American 3rd Armored Division closed in on Mittelbau-Dora, Hößler led a forced evacuation of prisoners to the railhead for transfer to the still-functioning

Bergen-Belsen concentration camp Bergen-Belsen , or Belsen, was a Nazi concentration camp in what is today Lower Saxony in northern Germany, southwest of the town of Bergen near Celle. Originally established as a prisoner of war camp, in 1943, parts of it became a concent ...

. The prisoners were then led on a

death march A death march is a forced march of prisoners of war or other captives or deportees in which individuals are left to die along the way. It is distinguished in this way from simple prisoner transport via foot march. Article 19 of the Geneva Convent ...

for the last stage of their journey.

Bergen-Belsen

On 8 April 1945, Hößler arrived with his transport at

and became deputy camp commander under

Josef Kramer Josef Kramer (10 November 1906 – 13 December 1945) was Hauptsturmführer and the Commandant of Auschwitz-Birkenau (from 8 May 1944 to 25 November 1944) and of the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp (from December 1944 to its liberation on 15 Ap ...

.Jens-Christian Wagner
"Inferno und Befreiung – Auschwitz im Harz
in: ''

Die Zeit ''Die Zeit'' (, "The Time") is a German national weekly newspaper published in Hamburg in Germany. The newspaper is generally considered to be among the German newspapers of record and is known for its long and extensive articles. History The ...

'', Nr.4, 2005 There he directly shot prisoners until the liberation of the camp, crimes for which he would be eventually arrested and tried. On 15 April 1945, Hößler was found hiding among the prisoners in camouflaged clothing and was detained with the remaining SS staff by a unit of the

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...

. The SS detainees were then forced to bury thousands of corpses lying around on the camp grounds in mass graves.Karin Orth: ''Die Konzentrationslager-SS'', München 2004, p. 266f.

Conviction and execution

Hössler and 44 other camp staff were tried in the Belsen Trial by a British military court at

Lüneburg Lüneburg (officially the ''Hanseatic City of Lüneburg'', German: ''Hansestadt Lüneburg'', , Low German ''Lümborg'', Latin ''Luneburgum'' or ''Lunaburgum'', Old High German ''Luneburc'', Old Saxon ''Hliuni'', Polabian ''Glain''), also calle ...

. The trial lasted several weeks from September to November 1945. During the trial, Anita Lasker testified that Hössler took part in selections for the gas chamber. Hössler was sentenced to death by hanging on 17 November 1945, and the sentence was carried out by British hangman

Albert Pierrepoint Albert Pierrepoint (; 30 March 1905 – 10 July 1992) was an English hangman who executed between 435 and 600 people in a 25-year career that ended in 1956. His father Henry and uncle Thomas were official hangmen before him. Pierrepoint ...

on 13 December 1945 at

Hameln Hamelin ( ; german: Hameln ) is a town on the river Weser in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is the capital of the district of Hamelin-Pyrmont and has a population of roughly 57,000. Hamelin is best known for the tale of the Pied Piper of Hamelin. Hi ...

prison.

References

Literature

* Wacław Długoborski, Franciszek Piper (eds.): ''Auschwitz 1940–1945. Studien zur Geschichte des Konzentrations- und Vernichtungslagers Auschwitz.'', Verlag Staatliches Museum Auschwitz-Birkenau, Oswiecim 1999, 5 Bände: I. Aufbau und Struktur des Lagers. II. Die Häftlinge – Existentzbedingungen, Arbeit und Tod. III. Vernichtung. IV. Widerstand. V. Epilog., . * Staatliches Museum Auschwitz-Birkenau (ed.): ''Auschwitz in den Augen der SS.'' Oswiecim 1998, . * Ernst Klee: ''Das Personenlexikon zum Dritten Reich: Wer war was vor und nach 1945.'' Fischer-Taschenbuch-Verlag, Frankfurt am Main 2007. . * Hermann Langbein: ''Menschen in Auschwitz.'' Frankfurt am Main, Berlin Wien, Ullstein-Verlag, 1980, * Karin Orth: ''Die Konzentrationslager-SS''. dtv, München 2004, . * Karin Orth: ''Das System der nationalsozialistischen Konzentrationslager.'' Pendo Verlag, Hamburg 2002, * Jens-Christian Wagner (ed): ''Konzentrationslager Mittelbau-Dora 1943–1945'' Companion volume to the permanent exhibition at the Dora concentration camp memorial, Wallstein, Göttingen, 2007 . * Bernhard M. Hoppe
Mittelbau Dora
at hsozkult.geschichte.hu-berlin.de {{DEFAULTSORT:Hossler, Franz 1906 births 1945 deaths People from Marktoberdorf Auschwitz concentration camp personnel Bergen-Belsen concentration camp personnel Dachau concentration camp personnel Mittelbau-Dora concentration camp personnel Belsen trial executions Executed people from Bavaria People from the Kingdom of Bavaria Schutzhaftlagerführer Waffen-SS personnel SS-Obersturmführer Holocaust perpetrators in Poland Executed mass murderers