Eduard Krebsbach (8 August 1894 – 28 May 1947) was a former

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physician A physician, medical practitioner (British English), medical doctor, or simply doctor is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through the Medical education, study, Med ...

and SS doctor in the

Nazi concentration camp From 1933 to 1945, Nazi Germany operated more than a thousand concentration camps (), including subcamp (SS), subcamps on its own territory and in parts of German-occupied Europe. The first camps were established in March 1933 immediately af ...

in Mauthausen from July 1941 to August 1943. He was executed for atrocities committed at the Mauthausen camp.

Early life

Krebsbach attended a humanistic high school in

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. In 1912, he started studying medicine at the

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, albeit his classes were interrupted by

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Concentration camp career

In the

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of 1941, Krebsbach became Standortarzt (garrison doctor) of Mauthausen concentration camp, tasked with supervising medical care and all medical personnel of the camp. He was responsible for initiating mass killing by

lethal injection Lethal injection is the practice of injecting one or more drugs into a person (typically a barbiturate, paralytic, and potassium) for the express purpose of causing death. The main application for this procedure is capital punishment, but t ...

to the

heart The heart is a muscular Organ (biology), organ found in humans and other animals. This organ pumps blood through the blood vessels. The heart and blood vessels together make the circulatory system. The pumped blood carries oxygen and nutrie ...

of handicapped and sick prisoners. Under his supervision approximately 900

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n, Polish and

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prisoners were murdered by lethal injections of

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and

phenol Phenol (also known as carbolic acid, phenolic acid, or benzenol) is an aromatic organic compound with the molecular formula . It is a white crystalline solid that is volatile and can catch fire. The molecule consists of a phenyl group () ...

. Because of this, inmates nicknamed him 'Dr. Spritzbach' (Dr. Injection). Krebsbach was also responsible for the construction of a

gas chamber A gas chamber is an apparatus for killing humans or animals with gas, consisting of a sealed chamber into which a poisonous or asphyxiant gas is introduced. Poisonous agents used include hydrogen cyanide and carbon monoxide. History Donatie ...

in the basement of the hospital in the Mauthausen camp. Krebsbach often inspected the prisoners and conducted selections for execution. A former inmate recalled Krebsbach's actions during such an inspection: Krebsbach was transferred to the Kaiserwald concentration camp in

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during the autumn of 1943. The reason for his transfer is believed to be his shooting of Josef Breitenfellner, a vacationing German soldier, who awoke Krebsbach from his sleep on 22 May 1943. While at Kaiserwald, Krebsbach conducted selections of camp inmates for execution, by forcing the prisoners to perform physical exercises to determine their strength and then identifying the 2000 weakest to be killed. Following the camp's closure, Krebsbach resumed a career as “Epidemic Inspector for

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and

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”. Soon after, he transferred to the regular army as a senior staff doctor, serving until late 1944. However this was short lived and at the end of 1944 he left the army and worked once again as a company doctor in a spinning mill in

Kassel Kassel (; in Germany, spelled Cassel until 1926) is a city on the Fulda River in North Hesse, northern Hesse, in Central Germany (geography), central Germany. It is the administrative seat of the Regierungsbezirk Kassel (region), Kassel and the d ...

Dachau War Crime Trial

Eduard Krebsbach at the Mauthausen Trial

Following the end of

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

he was arrested, convicted of war crimes, and sentenced to death during the Mauthausen trial conducted by the

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on 13 May 1946 and was executed by hanging on 28 May 1947 at

Landsberg Prison Landsberg Prison is a prison in the town of Landsberg am Lech in the southwest of the German state of Bavaria, about west-southwest of Munich and south of Augsburg. It is best known as the prison where Adolf Hitler was held in 1924, after the ...

Landsberg am Lech Landsberg am Lech (Landsberg at the Lech (river), Lech) is a Town#Germany, town in southwest Bavaria, Germany, about 65 kilometers west of Munich and 35 kilometers south of Augsburg. It is the capital of the district of Landsberg (district), Lands ...

. The following is from the court record of the Dachau trials (quoted in Hans Maršálek, "Die Geschichte des Konzentrationslagers Mauthausen", p. 174):

Literature

Ernst Klee Ernst Klee (15 March 1942, Frankfurt – 18 May 2013, Frankfurt) was a German journalist and author. As a writer on Germany's history, he was best known for his exposure and documentation of medical crimes in Nazi Germany, much of which was conce ...

: ''Auschwitz, die NS-Medizin und ihre Opfer.'' 3. Auflage. S. Fischer Verlag, Frankfurt am Main, 1997, . * Ernst Klee: ''Das Personenlexikon zum Dritten Reich: Wer war was vor und nach 1945.'' Fischer-Taschenbuch-Verlag, Frankfurt am Main 2007, . * Hans Marsalek: ''Geschichte des Konzentrationslagers Mauthausen.'' Österreichische Lagergemeinschaft Mauthausen, Wien, 1980. * Review and Recommendations of the Deputy Judge Advocate for War Crimes: United States of America vs. Hans Altfuldisch et al. - Case No. 000.50.
Original document Mauthausen war crimes (pdf)
30. April 1947, in English. * Florian Freund: Der Dachauer Mauthausenprozess, in: Dokumentationsarchiv des österreichischen Widerstandes. Jahrbuch 2001, Wien 2001, S. 35–66

References

External links

*
Mauthausen Memorial: SS-site physician Dr. Eduard Krebsbach
{{DEFAULTSORT:Krebsbach, Eduard 1894 births 1947 deaths Auschwitz concentration camp personnel Executed German mass murderers Executed people from North Rhine-Westphalia German Army personnel of World War I Holocaust perpetrators in Austria Holocaust perpetrators in Latvia Kaiserwald concentration camp personnel Medical practitioners convicted of murdering their patients Mauthausen Trial executions Nazi human subject research Physicians in the Nazi Party Physicians from Bonn People from the Rhine Province SS-Obersturmbannführer Waffen-SS personnel