Heinrich Deubel (19 February 1890 – 2 October 1962) was a German soldier, civil servant,

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

veteran and officer in the

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 ...

serving as commandant of Dachau concentration camp.

World War I and Nazi Party membership

Deubel was born in Ortenburg,

Kingdom of Bavaria The Kingdom of Bavaria (german: Königreich Bayern; ; spelled ''Baiern'' until 1825) was a German state that succeeded the former Electorate of Bavaria in 1805 and continued to exist until 1918. With the unification of Germany into the German ...

. The son of a postman, he joined the

German Imperial Army The Imperial German Army (1871–1919), officially referred to as the German Army (german: Deutsches Heer), was the unified ground and air force of the German Empire. It was established in 1871 with the political unification of Germany under the ...

and spent 12 years in the service, although he was to spend most of the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

in a

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

prisoner of war A prisoner of war (POW) is a person who is held captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610. Belligerents hold prisoners of w ...

camp. Right-wing by inclination, Deubel had been involved with the

Freikorps (, "Free Corps" or "Volunteer Corps") were irregular German and other European military volunteer units, or paramilitary, that existed from the 18th to the early 20th centuries. They effectively fought as mercenary or private armies, rega ...

and other rightist and anti-Semitic groups from an early age. He became involved with the Nazis in the early 1920s at the same time as

Egon Zill Egon Gustav Adolf Zill (28 March 1906 in Plauen – 23 October 1974 in Dachau) was a German ''Schutzstaffel'' (SS) ''Sturmbannführer'' and concentration camp commandant. Zill was born in Plauen. The son of a brewer from Plauen, Zill's father was ...

and was amongst the first 200 members of the SS.Segev, ''Soldiers of Evil'', p. 132 Deubel was a civil servant with the customs office and actually took a leave of absence to join the SS rather than forgo his civil service pension.

Dachau and World War II

Deubel was an inspector at Dachau concentration camp in 1934 when commandant

Theodor Eicke Theodor Eicke (17 October 1892 – 26 February 1943) was a senior SS functionary and Waffen SS divisional commander during the Nazi era. He was one of the key figures in the development of Nazi concentration camps. Eicke served as the sec ...

was promoted to a role overseeing all concentration camps. Deubel, by then an

Oberführer __NOTOC__ ''Oberführer'' (short: ''Oberf'', , ) was an early paramilitary rank of the Nazi Party (NSDAP) dating back to 1921. An ''Oberführer'' was typically a NSDAP member in charge of a group of paramilitary units in a particular geographic ...

in the SS, was nominated by Eicke as his successor. Deubel commanded the camp from 1 May 1934 until 20 April 1936 with detainees describing his regime as fairly liberal, especially when compared to that of his successor in the role,

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 ...

. During his time as commandant, Deubel did fall foul of

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 ...

due to a public incident of violence at a time when the SS was developing a reputation for cruelty in Germany and beyond. On Christmas Eve 1934, Deubel was present at Passau train station when an SS private got into a scuffle with a number of people after delaying the line at a ticket window.Segev, ''Soldiers of Evil'', p. 90 When a policeman stepped in to arrest the private, Deubel intervened, threatening to drag a policeman to the camp to be "whipped as he deserved". Deubel would later claim that the incident had happened because he felt it was his duty to defend his fellow SS member as the policeman had forcibly pulled him from the ticket window. However the incident earned Deubel a rebuke from Himmler as it was widely discussed in Germany and even reported in sections of the overseas press.

Aftermath and death

After the

Second World War 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 opposi ...

, Deubel was interned until 1948, albeit ultimately no charges were brought against him by the government of

West Germany West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 O ...

.Comite Internationale de Dachau; Barbara Distel, KZ Gedenkstätte Dachau (ed.): ''Konzentrationslager Dachau 1933 bis 1945 - Text- und Bilddokumente zur Ausstellung'', München 2005, p. 98 He died in the Bavarian town of

Dingolfing Dingolfing is a town in southern Bavaria, Germany. It is the seat of the Landkreis (district) Dingolfing-Landau. Dingolfing is home of a BMW assembly plant. History The area now called Dingolfing was first mentioned in ''Tinguluinga'' in the y ...

Awards and ranks

Iron Cross The Iron Cross (german: link=no, Eisernes Kreuz, , abbreviated EK) was a military decoration in the Kingdom of Prussia, and later in the German Empire (1871–1918) and Nazi Germany (1933–1945). King Frederick William III of Prussia es ...

First and Second Class

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Deubel, Heinrich 1890 births 1962 deaths People from Passau (district) People from the Kingdom of Bavaria German prisoners of war in World War I World War I prisoners of war held by the United Kingdom Nazi Party politicians SS-Oberführer Dachau concentration camp personnel 20th-century Freikorps personnel Nazi concentration camp commandants Military personnel of Bavaria Recipients of the Iron Cross (1914), 1st class Kapp Putsch participants 20th-century German civil servants Nazi Party members German Army personnel of World War I