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SS Command Of Auschwitz Concentration Camp
The SS command of Auschwitz concentration camp refers to those units, commands, and agencies of the German SS which operated and administered the Auschwitz concentration camp during World War II. Due to its large size and key role in the Nazi genocide program, the Auschwitz Concentration Camp encompassed personnel from several different branches of the SS, some of which held overlapping and shared areas of responsibility. There were over 7,000 SS personnel who served at Auschwitz from the time of the camp's construction in 1940 to the camp's liberation by the Red Army in January 1945. Fewer than 800 were ever tried for war crimes, the most notable of which were the trials of camp commanders Rudolf Höss and Robert Mulka, as well as several others tried between 1946 and 1948 Senior chain of command The commander of the SS, ''Reichsführer-SS'' Heinrich Himmler, was the highest SS official with knowledge of Auschwitz and the function which the camp served. Himmler was known to ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Auschwitz Concentration Camp
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 consisted of Auschwitz I, the main camp (''Stammlager'') in Oświęcim; Auschwitz II-Birkenau, a concentration and extermination camp with gas chambers; Auschwitz III-Monowitz, a labor camp for the chemical conglomerate IG Farben; and dozens of subcamps. The camps became a major site of the Nazis' final solution to the Jewish question. After Germany sparked World War II by invading Poland in September 1939, the '' Schutzstaffel'' (SS) converted Auschwitz I, an army barracks, into a prisoner-of-war camp. The initial transport of political detainees to Auschwitz consisted almost solely of Poles for whom the camp was initially established. The bulk of inmates were Polish for the first two years. In May 1940, German criminals br ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Obersturmbannführer
__NOTOC__ ''Obersturmbannführer'' (Senior Assault-unit Leader; ; short: ''Ostubaf'') was a paramilitary rank in the German Nazi Party (NSDAP) which was used by the SA (''Sturmabteilung'') and the SS (''Schutzstaffel''). The rank of ''Obersturmbannführer'' was junior to the rank of ''Standartenführer'', and was equivalent to the military rank of ''Oberstleutnant'' ( lieutenant colonel) in the German Army. As the SA expanded, the rank of ''Ostubaf'' was created in May 1933 to provide a rank above '' Sturmbannführer''; likewise, the ''Ostubaf'' was an SS rank. The ''Obersturmbannführer'' rank insignia was composed of four silver pips and a black stripe on a silver background, all elements are centered in the left wing of the collar of the tunic of an SS or of an SA uniform. The rank also was worn on the shoulder boards of an ''Oberstleutnant'' and was the highest rank in the SS and the SA to display SS unit insignia on the collar wing opposite the rank insignia. Various ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
23rd SS-Standarte
The 23rd SS-Standarte was a regimental formation of the Allgemeine-SS located in the region of Silesia. Due to its geographical location, the 23rd SS-Standarte is best known for existing as a General-SS counterpart command for Waffen-SS and SS-TV personnel assigned to Auschwitz concentration camp. Operations The Standarte first encompassed administrative control of Auschwitz personnel in 1943, after a territorial command change occurred from the authority of the General Government to that of the Gauleiter of Upper Silesia. Due to the practice of SS members holding in fact two separate SS ranks (one in the General-SS and the other in the Waffen-SS), the 23rd Standarte served as a "paperwork command" for personnel considered "cross assigned" between the General and Waffen-SS. This assignment was purely administrative, and many of the Standarten's "members" never formally mustered as a unit or attended ''Allgemeine-SS'' meetings. The 23rd Standarte effectively ceased to exist du ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
SS-Oberabschnitt Südost
Units and commands of the ''Schutzstaffel'' were organizational titles used by the SS to describe the many groups, forces, and formations that existed within the SS from its inception in 1923 to the eventual fall of Nazi Germany in 1945. The SS unit nomenclature can be divided into several different types of organizations, mainly the early titles used by the SS, SS unit titles of the ''Allgemeine SS'', the military formation titles used by the Waffen-SS, titles of commands associated with the SS Security Police, and special units titles used by such SS organizations as the mobile death squad units of the ''Einsatzgruppen''. Early SS commands 1920–1925 From 1920 through 1925, several early paramilitary terms were used to describe the various groups which would eventually become the SS. Among the most were: *Saal-Schutz ("Hall-Protection"): Formed at the end of 1920. It was a small permanent guard unit made up of NSDAP volunteers to provide security for Nazi Party meetings in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Karl Hanke
Karl August Hanke (24 August 1903 – 8 June 1945) was an official of the Nazi Party (NSDAP) during its rule over Germany and served as the fifth and last '' Reichsführer'' of the ''Schutzstaffel'' (SS). He also served as ''Gauleiter'' of Gau Lower Silesia from 1941 to 1945 and as ''Oberpräsident'' of the Prussian Province of Lower Silesia. Captured on 6 May 1945, he was shot and wounded during an escape attempt and then beaten to death by Czech communists on 8 June, after the war had ended. Life Hanke was born in Lauban (present-day Lubań) in Silesia, on 24 August 1903. His older brother was killed in World War I. Hanke was too young for service in the war and attended Gymnasium through Obersekunda. He served in the Reichswehr as a ''Zeitfreiwilliger'' (temporary volunteer) in the 19th Infantry Regiment (von Courbiere) at Frankfurt/Oder from 1920 to 1921. Hanke obtained an education as a milling engineer by attending the German Millers' School at Dippoldiswalde. H ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gauleiter
A ''Gauleiter'' () was a regional leader of the Nazi Party (NSDAP) who served as the head of a '' Gau'' or ''Reichsgau''. ''Gauleiter'' was the third-highest rank in the Nazi political leadership, subordinate only to ''Reichsleiter'' and to the ''Führer'' himself. The position was effectively abolished with the fall of the Nazi regime on 8 May 1945. History and development Origin and early years The first use of the term ''Gauleiter'' by the Nazi Party was in 1925 around the time Adolf Hitler re-founded the Party on 27 February, after the lifting of the ban that had been imposed on it in the aftermath of the Beer Hall Putsch of 9 November 1923. The word can be singular or plural in German usage, depending on its context, and derives from the German words '' Gau'' and ''leiter'' (''leader''). The word ''Gau'' is an old term for a region of the German ''Reich'' (Empire). The Frankish Realm and the Holy Roman Empire were both subdivided into ''Gaue'' (the plural form of ''Ga ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Upper Silesia
Upper Silesia ( pl, Górny Śląsk; szl, Gůrny Ślůnsk, Gōrny Ślōnsk; cs, Horní Slezsko; german: Oberschlesien; Silesian German: ; la, Silesia Superior) is the southeastern part of the historical and geographical region of Silesia, located today mostly in Poland, with small parts in the Czech Republic. Since the 9th century, Upper Silesia has been part of (chronologically) Greater Moravia, the Duchy of Bohemia, the Piast Kingdom of Poland, again of the Lands of the Bohemian Crown and the Holy Roman Empire, as well as of the Habsburg monarchy from 1526. In 1742 the greater part of Upper Silesia was annexed by the Kingdom of Prussia, and in 1871 it became part of the German Empire. After the First World War the region was divided between Poland ( East Upper Silesia) and Germany (West Upper Silesia). After the Second World War, West Upper Silesia also became Polish as the result of the Potsdam Conference. Geography Upper Silesia is situated on the upper Oder River, n ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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 has traditionally been one of the leading centres of Polish academic, economic, cultural and artistic life. Cited as one of Europe's most beautiful cities, its Old Town with Wawel Royal Castle was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1978, one of the first 12 sites granted the status. The city has grown from a Stone Age settlement to Poland's second-most-important city. It began as a hamlet on Wawel Hill and was reported by Ibrahim Ibn Yakoub, a merchant from Cordoba, as a busy trading centre of Central Europe in 985. With the establishment of new universities and cultural venues at the emergence of the Second Polish Republic in 1918 and throughout the 20th century, Kraków reaffirmed its role as a major national academic an ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Wilhelm Koppe
Karl Heinrich Wilhelm Koppe (15 June 1896 – 2 July 1975) was a German Nazi commander ('' Höhere SS und Polizeiführer (HSSPF), SS-Obergruppenführer''). He was responsible for numerous atrocities against Poles and Jews in Reichsgau Wartheland and the General Government during the German occupation of Poland in World War II. Biography Koppe was born in Hildesheim near Hanover. He fought in the First World War. During the interwar period, he pursued a career in trade and wholesale. He joined the Nazi Party in 1930, then the Storm Detachment (Sturmabteilung, SA) in 1931, and the Schutzstaffel (SS) in 1932. Prior to World War II, he was a regional SS and SD commander first in Münster, then in the Free City of Danzig, Dresden and Leipzig. The German invasion of Poland took place in September 1939, and in October Koppe became the SS and Police Leader in ''Reichsgau Wartheland'' under the command of ''Gauleiter'' Arthur Greiser. However, because of the confusing power struggle � ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Friedrich-Wilhelm Krüger
Friedrich-Wilhelm Krüger (8 May 1894 – 10 May 1945) was a German war criminal and paramilitary commander acting as a high-ranking member of the SA and the SS. Between 1939 and 1943 he was the Higher SS and Police Leader in the General Government, giving him command of all police and security forces in German-occupied Poland. In this capacity, he organized and supervised numerous crimes against humanity and had major responsibility for the German genocide of the Polish nation: the extermination of six million Poles (three million of them Polish Jews) and massive destruction, degradation and impoverishment of the Polish state. At the end of the war, he committed suicide. Career Krüger was born into a military family in Strassburg, Alsace-Lorraine, Germany (nowadays, Strasbourg, France) in 1894; he left school before graduating to begin a military career as a cadet in military schools in Karlsruhe and Gross-Lichterfelde. In June 1914, Krüger was commissioned a second lieute ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hans Frank
Hans Michael Frank (23 May 1900 – 16 October 1946) was a German politician and lawyer who served as head of the General Government in Nazi-occupied Poland during the Second World War. Frank was an early member of the German Workers' Party (DAP), the precursor of the Nazi Party (NSDAP). He took part in the failed Beer Hall Putsch, and later became Adolf Hitler's personal legal adviser as well as the lawyer of the NSDAP. In June 1933, he was named as a ' (Reich Leader) of the party. In December 1934, Frank joined the Hitler Cabinet as a '' Reichsminister'' without portfolio. After the German invasion of Poland in 1939, Frank was appointed Governor-General of the occupied Polish territories. During his tenure, he instituted a reign of terror against the civilian population and became directly involved in the mass murder of Jews. He engaged in the use of forced labour and oversaw four of the extermination camps. Frank remained head of the General Government until its collap ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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