Hans Benno Hüttig (5 April 1894 – 23 February 1980) was a German SS functionary and Nazi concentration camp commandant.

Early years

Hans Hüttig was born on 5 April 1894. The son of a carpenter, Hüttig's father would eventually open a shop selling photographic equipment and this became the family trade, with Hans Hüttig's brother a founder of

Zeiss Ikon Carl Zeiss AG (), branded as ZEISS, is a German manufacturer of optical systems and optoelectronics, founded in Jena, Germany in 1846 by optician Carl Zeiss. Together with Ernst Abbe (joined 1866) and Otto Schott (joined 1884) he laid the ...

. Sent to a boarding school in South Germany, he attempted to enter the army in 1911 but failed the exam and returned home to work as a salesman in his father's shop. Early in 1914, he left the shop to take a post with an import-export company in German East Africa. Following the outbreak 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 ...

, Hüttig enlisted in 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 ...

, seeing action in the East African Campaign and eventually rising to the rank of ''

Feldwebel ''Feldwebel '' (Fw or F, ) is a non-commissioned officer (NCO) rank in several countries. The rank originated in Germany, and is also used in Switzerland, Finland, Sweden, and Estonia. The rank has also been used in Russia, Austria-Hungary, occupi ...

''. Wounded in December 1917, the military hospital where he was being treated was captured by 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 ...

. Thereafter, Hüttig was sent to a

POW camp A prisoner-of-war camp (often abbreviated as POW camp) is a site for the containment of enemy fighters captured by a belligerent power in time of war. There are significant differences among POW camps, internment camps, and military prisons. ...

Cairo Cairo ( ; ar, القاهرة, al-Qāhirah, ) is the Capital city, capital of Egypt and its largest city, home to 10 million people. It is also part of the List of urban agglomerations in Africa, largest urban agglomeration in Africa, List of ...

where he was held for two years.

Joining the Nazis

Hüttig returned to Germany in March 1920, working initially at the shop again before filling on a number of clerical jobs. Hüttig joined the right-wing ''

Der Stahlhelm ' (German, 'The Steel Helmet, League of Front-Line Soldiers'), commonly known as ''Der Stahlhelm'' ('The Steel Helmet'), was a German First World War veteran's organisation existing from 1918 to 1935. It was part of the "Black Reichswehr" and ...

'' in 1925 although he claimed that this was largely to feel a sense of belonging rather than because of any deep political convictions. After running his own photography shop (which closed in 1930), Hüttig enlisted in the SS in March 1932 at age 37 as an unpaid volunteer and 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 t ...

soon afterwards.

Concentration camps

Following the Nazis' seizure of national power in 1933, Hüttig was offered and accepted a full-time billet with the SS as part of the SS-Totenkopfverbände (Camp SS). For the next six years, Hüttig spent his time rotating through the concentration camps and being trained for a career in them. His first assignment came when he was appointed deputy to

Karl Otto Koch Karl-Otto Koch (; 2 August 1897 – 5 April 1945) was a mid-ranking commander in the ''Schutzstaffel'' (SS) of Nazi Germany who was the first commandant of the Nazi concentration camps at Buchenwald and Sachsenhausen. From September 1941 until ...

, commandant of Buchenwald concentration camp and already known to Hüttig from Dresden. At Buchenwald, Hüttig was praised by his superiors for his attitude whilst inmates would later testify to his personal cruelty. After his time at Buchenwald, Hüttig saw service at

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 ...

and

Flossenbürg concentration camp Flossenbürg was a Nazi concentration camp built in May 1938 by the SS Main Economic and Administrative Office. Unlike other concentration camps, it was located in a remote area, in the Fichtel Mountains of Bavaria, adjacent to the town of Flo ...

and in both gained a reputation as a troubleshooter who was suitable for special tasks. Thus he was called upon to oversee the construction of a new facility at Natzweiler-Struthof in

Alsace Alsace (, ; ; Low Alemannic German/ gsw-FR, Elsàss ; german: Elsass ; la, Alsatia) is a cultural region and a territorial collectivity in eastern France, on the west bank of the upper Rhine next to Germany and Switzerland. In 2020, it had ...

. Following this he spent time in

occupied Norway The occupation of Norway by Nazi Germany during the Second World War began on 9 April 1940 after Operation Weserübung. Conventional armed resistance to the German invasion ended on 10 June 1940, and Nazi Germany controlled Norway until th ...

, overseeing the construction of both concentration camps and prisons. Whilst there he commanded the security at

Grini concentration camp '', '' no, Grini fangeleir'', location=Bærum, Viken, Norway, location map=Viken#Norway, built by=Norway, original use=Constructed as a women's prison, operated by=Nazi Germany, notable inmates= List of Grini prisoners, liberated by=Harry Söderm ...

outside

Oslo Oslo ( , , or ; sma, Oslove) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population ...

. This assignment ended in February 1944 with his transfer to

Herzogenbusch concentration camp , , german: Konzentrationslager Herzogenbusch , location map = Netherlands , map alt = , map caption = Location of the camp in the Netherlands , coordinates = , known for = , location = Vught, Netherlands , built by = N ...

in the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

as commandant following the removal of Adam Grünewald for his part in the

Bunker Tragedy The Bunker Tragedy was an atrocity committed by the staff at the Herzogenbusch concentration camp (also known as ''Kamp Vught'') in the Netherlands, in January 1944 during World War II. Events When one woman from barrack 23B was locked up in the ...

that took place in January 1944 and had caused uproar in the local area. Hüttig oversaw the closure of Herzogenbusch by October 1944 before returning to Germany to serve out the war working in a police station.

Post-war

After the war, Hüttig was held in Allied internment on suspicion of war crimes. However, he was not put on trial until June 1954. Hüttig was found guilty and sentenced to life in prison in solitary confinement on 2 July 1954 by a French military court in

Metz Metz ( , , lat, Divodurum Mediomatricorum, then ) is a city in northeast France located at the confluence of the Moselle and the Seille rivers. Metz is the prefecture of the Moselle department and the seat of the parliament of the Grand ...

. In 1956, he was released from detention after eleven years and led a discreet life at home, until his death in 1980 in Wachenheim. Hüttig was one of only a handful of camp commanders interviewed by

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

i historian

Tom Segev Tom Segev ( he, תום שגב; born March 1, 1945) is an Israeli historian, author and journalist. He is associated with Israel's New Historians, a group challenging many of the country's traditional narratives. Biography Segev was born in Jeru ...

for his book on the commandants ''Soldiers of Evil''. During the course of the interview, he admitted to Segev that "I knew very well what I was going to do in the SS".

Decorations

SS-Rank(s): *SS-Untersturmführer 31.1.1937, *SS-Obersturmführer 12.9.1937, *SS-Hauptsturmführer 11.9. 1938, *Last promotion to the rank of SS-Sturmbannführer in 30.1.1942. Awards: *DRL-Sports Badge in Bronze, *Honor Cross of The World War 1914-1918, *Wound Badge in Black 1918, *Der Stahlhelm Membership Badge, *NSDAP 10 Year Long Service Medal, *SS-Ehrenring, *Iron Cross 2nd Class 1939, *SS-Ehrendegen Reichführer-SS, *SS Long Service Medal.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Huttig, Hans 1894 births 1980 deaths German Army personnel of World War I German prisoners of war in World War I World War I prisoners of war held by the United Kingdom Buchenwald concentration camp personnel Sachsenhausen concentration camp personnel Flossenbürg concentration camp personnel Military personnel from Dresden Prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment by France Colonial people of German East Africa People from the Kingdom of Saxony Grini concentration camp personnel Nazi concentration camp commandants Waffen-SS personnel SS officers