Erich Naumann (29 April 1905 – 7 June 1951) was an SS-
Brigadeführer
''Brigadeführer'' (, ) was a paramilitary rank of the Nazi Party (NSDAP) that was used between the years of 1932 to 1945. It was mainly known for its use as an SS rank. As an SA rank, it was used after briefly being known as '' Untergruppenf ...
, member of the SD, and a convicted war criminal. Naumann had a key role in
the Holocaust
The Holocaust, also known as the Shoah, was the genocide of European Jews during World War II. Between 1941 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered some six million Jews across German-occupied Europe; ar ...
in Eastern Europe as the commander of Einsatzgruppe VI and the commander of
Einsatzgruppe B
(, ; also ' task forces') were (SS) paramilitary death squads of Nazi Germany that were responsible for mass murder, primarily by shooting, during World War II (1939–1945) in German-occupied Europe. The had an integral role in the impl ...
.
Early life and career
Born 29 April 1905, in
Meissen
Meissen (in German orthography: ''Meißen'', ) is a town of approximately 30,000 about northwest of Dresden on both banks of the Elbe river in the Free State of Saxony, in eastern Germany. Meissen is the home of Meissen porcelain, the Albrecht ...
,
Saxony
Saxony (german: Sachsen ; Upper Saxon: ''Saggsn''; hsb, Sakska), officially the Free State of Saxony (german: Freistaat Sachsen, links=no ; Upper Saxon: ''Freischdaad Saggsn''; hsb, Swobodny stat Sakska, links=no), is a landlocked state of ...
, Erich Naumann left school at the age of sixteen and was employed in a commercial firm in his home town of Meissen. 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 political party in Germany active between 1920 and 1945 that created and supported th ...
in November 1929 (nr. 170257). In 1933, Naumann joined the SA in a full-time capacity and then became an official and officer of police. He joined the SD in 1935. Naumann was the commander of Einsatzgruppe VI during its short-lived existence. During the
invasion of Poland
The invasion of Poland (1 September – 6 October 1939) was a joint attack on the Republic of Poland by Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union which marked the beginning of World War II. The German invasion began on 1 September 1939, one week aft ...
, the unit murdered over 6000 people as part of
Operation Tannenberg
Operation Tannenberg (german: Unternehmen Tannenberg) was a codename for one of the anti-Polish extermination actions by Nazi Germany that were directed at the Poles during the opening stages of World War II in Europe, as part of the ''Generalplan ...
. Afterwards, Naumann was Chief of Einsatzgruppe B from November 1941 until February or March 1943.
During November 1941, reports he sent to
Smolensk
Smolensk ( rus, Смоленск, p=smɐˈlʲensk, a=smolensk_ru.ogg) is a city and the administrative center of Smolensk Oblast, Russia, located on the Dnieper River, west-southwest of Moscow. First mentioned in 863, it is one of the oldest ...
. Under his command, he admitted that his
Einsatzgruppe
(, ; also ' task forces') were (SS) paramilitary death squads of Nazi Germany that were responsible for mass murder, primarily by shooting, during World War II (1939–1945) in German-occupied Europe. The had an integral role in the impl ...
possessed three gas vans which "were used to exterminate human beings". In another report, dated 15 December 1942, Naumann reported that the Einsatzgruppe B had shot a total of 134,298 people.The Einsatzgruppen: Erich Naumann /ref>
From September 1943 to July 1944, Naumann was the commander of the Security Police and SD in the
Netherlands
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, subdivision_type = Sovereign state
, subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands
, established_title = Before independence
, established_date = Spanish Neth ...
. In this position, he assisted the perpetrators of Operation Silbertanne approved of executions carried out by Henk Feldmeijer and Feldmeijer's death squad.
War crimes trial and execution
After capture by the Allies, Naumann stood trial in front of a U.S. military court during the Einsatzgruppen trial. During the proceedings he repeatedly stated that he did not consider his actions during his tenure as commanding officer of
Einsatzgruppe B
(, ; also ' task forces') were (SS) paramilitary death squads of Nazi Germany that were responsible for mass murder, primarily by shooting, during World War II (1939–1945) in German-occupied Europe. The had an integral role in the impl ...
wrong. When asked on the witness stand whether he saw anything morally wrong about the Führer's orders, he replied specifically that he:
"No, your Honor, I considered the decree to be right, because it was part of our aim of the war and therefore it was necessary."
The tribunal asked Naumann to clarify, "Then the Tribunal will accept from your answer that you saw nothing wrong with the order, even though it did involve the killing of defenseless human beings. That is what we draw from your answer." Naumann replied, "Yes, your Honor." Naumann was found guilty of war crimes, crimes against humanity, and membership in a criminal organization, namely the SS and the SD. Naumann was sentenced to death and hanged shortly after midnight on 7 June 1951."Five death sentences were confirmed: the sentence against
Oswald Pohl
Oswald Ludwig Pohl (; 30 June 1892 – 7 June 1951) was a German SS functionary during the Nazi era. As the head of the SS Main Economic and Administrative Office and the head administrator of the Nazi concentration camps, he was a key figure in ...
, as well as those passed against the leaders of the Mobile Killing Units, Paul Blobel, Werner Braune, Erich Neumann, and Otto Ohrlendorf. . . . In the early morning hours of 7 June, the ..Nazi criminals were hanged in the Landesburg prison courtyard." Norbert Frei, ''Adenauer's Germany and the Nazi Past: The Politics of Amnesty and Integration''. Columbia University Press, 2002 p. 165 an p. 173 /ref>