Nikolaus Herbet (20 March 1889 – date of death unknown) was a German SS officer and the second and last commandant of

Warsaw concentration camp The Warsaw concentration camp (; see other names) was a German concentration camp in occupied Poland during World War II, formed on the base of the now-nonexistent Gęsiówka prison, in what is today the Warsaw neighbourhood of Muranów. I ...

, during the period from September 1943 to July 1944. He was preceded in this function by

Wilhelm Göcke Wilhelm Göcke (12 February 1898, Schwelm, German Empire – 20 October 1944, Fontana Liri, Italy) was an ''SS- Standartenführer'', ''SS-Obersturmbannführer der Reserve der Waffen-SS'' and a commandant of Warsaw concentration camp and the Kovno ...

. Herbet was admitted into the SS in March 1927 (member number 2,394), and rose to the rank of SS-''

Untersturmführer (, ; short: ''Ustuf'') was a paramilitary rank of the German ''Schutzstaffel'' (SS) first created in July 1934. The rank can trace its origins to the older SA rank of ''Sturmführer'' which had existed since the founding of the SA in 1921. ...

'' by 1934. In the SS, he served only in an honorary capacity. Benz, Wolfgang. ''Der Ort des Terrors: Geschichte der nationalsozialistischen Konzentrationslager.'', Vol. 8
p. 105
/ref> After joining the

NSDAP The Nazi Party, officially the National Socialist German Workers' Party (german: Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei or NSDAP), was a far-right political party in Germany active between 1920 and 1945 that created and supported t ...

(Nazi Party member number 68,494) Benz, Wolfgang. ''Der Ort des Terrors: Geschichte der nationalsozialistischen Konzentrationslager.'', Vol. 8, p. 121 in early April 1927, he was employed mainly at a party publishing house in

Dresden Dresden (, ; Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; wen, label= Upper Sorbian, Drježdźany) is the capital city of the German state of Saxony and its second most populous city, after Leipzig. It is the 12th most populous city of Germany, the fourth ...

. Herbert reached the rank of SS-''

Hauptsturmführer __NOTOC__ (, ; short: ''Hstuf'') was a Nazi Party paramilitary rank that was used in several Nazi organizations such as the SS, NSKK and the NSFK. The rank of ''Hauptsturmführer'' was a mid-level commander and had equivalent seniority to a ...

'' in 1938. After the beginning of

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 ...

, he was first employed as a member of 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 ...

Mauthausen-Gusen concentration camp Mauthausen was a Nazi concentration camp on a hill above the market town of Mauthausen (roughly east of Linz), Upper Austria. It was the main camp of a group with nearly 100 further subcamps located throughout Austria and southern Germa ...

in 1940. From September 1943 to July 1944, he was commandant of the

. Herbet was arrested together with the ''

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 ...

'' and the '' Lagerältester'' of

in the wake of a corruption scandal in this concentration camp in the spring of 1944. They were accused by the prisoners of

extortion Extortion is the practice of obtaining benefit through coercion. In most jurisdictions it is likely to constitute a criminal offence; the bulk of this article deals with such cases. Robbery is the simplest and most common form of extortion, ...

of valuables. All three defendants were detained in

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 ...

. But, Herbet was soon able to return to the concentration camp service.Benz, Wolfgang. ''Der Ort des Terrors: Geschichte der nationalsozialistischen Konzentrationslager.'', Vol. 7, p. 101

Bibliography

Wolfgang Benz Wolfgang Benz (born 9 June 1941) is a German historian from Ellwangen. He was the director of the Center for Research on Antisemitism of the Technische Universität Berlin between 1990 and 2011. Personal life Benz studied history, political ...

, Barbara Distel (ed.): ''Der Ort des Terrors. Geschichte der nationalsozialistischen Konzentrationslager''. Vol. 8: Riga-Kaiserwald, Warschau, Vaivara, Kauen (Kaunas), Płaszów, Kulmhof/Chełmno, Bełżec, Sobibór, Treblinka. Munich 2008,

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Herbet, Nikolaus 1889 births Year of death unknown SS-Hauptsturmführer Warsaw concentration camp personnel Mauthausen concentration camp personnel Waffen-SS personnel Nazi concentration camp commandants