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 1932 and 1945. It was mainly known for its use as an SS rank. As an SA rank, it was used after briefly being known as '' Untergruppenführer'' in ...

'' and member of the SD. Naumann had a key role in

the Holocaust The Holocaust (), known in Hebrew language, Hebrew as the (), was the genocide of History of the Jews in Europe, European Jews during World War II. From 1941 to 1945, Nazi Germany and Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy ...

in Eastern Europe as the commander of '' Einsatzgruppe VI'' and the commander of '' Einsatzgruppe B''. A convicted war criminal, Naumann was sentenced to death and hanged on 7 June 1951.

Early life and career

Born 29 April 1905, in

Meissen Meissen ( ), is a town of approximately 30,000 about northwest of Dresden and 75 km (46 mi) west of Bautzen on both banks of the Elbe river in the Free State of Saxony, in eastern Germany. Meissen is the home of Meissen porcelain, th ...

Saxony Saxony, officially the Free State of Saxony, is a landlocked state of Germany, bordering the states of Brandenburg, Saxony-Anhalt, Thuringia, and Bavaria, as well as the countries of Poland and the Czech Republic. Its capital is Dresden, and ...

, 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 ( or NSDAP), was a far-right politics, far-right political party in Germany active between 1920 and 1945 that created and supported the ideology of Nazism. Its precursor ...

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 ''

Sicherheitsdienst ' (, "Security Service"), full title ' ("Security Service of the ''Reichsführer-SS''"), or SD, was the intelligence agency of the Schutzstaffel, SS and the Nazi Party in Nazi Germany. Established in 1931, the SD was the first Nazi intelligence ...

'' (SD) in 1935. Naumann was the commander of '' Einsatzgruppe VI'' during its short-lived existence. During the

invasion of Poland The invasion of Poland, also known as the September Campaign, Polish Campaign, and Polish Defensive War of 1939 (1 September – 6 October 1939), was a joint attack on the Second Polish Republic, Republic of Poland by Nazi Germany, the Slovak R ...

, the unit murdered over 6,000 people as part of

Operation Tannenberg Operation Tannenberg (, ) was one of the first Anti-Polish sentiment, anti-Polish extermination actions by Nazi Germany in Occupation of Poland (1939–1945), German-occupied Poland from September 1939 to January 1940. The operation was conducted ...

. Afterwards, Naumann was Chief of '' Einsatzgruppe B'' from November 1941 until February or March 1943. During November 1941, reports he sent to

Adolf Eichmann Otto Adolf Eichmann ( ;"Eichmann"
''Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary''. ; 19 March 1906 – 1 Ju ...

state that he was responsible for the deaths of 17,256 people in

Smolensk Smolensk 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 cities in Russia. It has been a regional capital for most of ...

. 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 '' Befehlshaber der Sicherheitspolizei und des SD'' (Commander of the Security Police and SD) in the occupied

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

. In this position, he assisted the perpetrators of

Operation Silbertanne Operation Silbertanne ( silver fir) was the codename of a series of executions that were committed between September 1943 and September 1944 during the German occupation of the Netherlands. The executions were carried out by a death squad composed ...

and approved of executions carried out by

Henk Feldmeijer Johannes Hendrik Feldmeijer (30 November 1910 – 22 February 1945) was a Dutch Nazism, Nazi politician and a member of the National Socialist Movement in the Netherlands, NSB. He was the commander of the ''Sonderkommando-Feldmeijer'' death squa ...

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 ''The United States of America vs. Otto Ohlendorf, et al.'', commonly known as the trial, was the ninth of the twelve " subsequent Nuremberg trials" for war crimes and crimes against humanity after the end of World War II between 1947 and 1948 ...

. During the proceedings he repeatedly stated that he did not consider his actions during his tenure as commanding officer of ''Einsatzgruppe B'' wrong. When asked on the witness stand whether he saw anything morally wrong about the Führer's orders, he replied...

"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 A war crime is a violation of the laws of war that gives rise to individual criminal responsibility for actions by combatants in action, such as intentionally killing civilians or intentionally killing prisoners of war, torture, taking hos ...

crimes against humanity Crimes against humanity are certain serious crimes committed as part of a large-scale attack against civilians. Unlike war crimes, crimes against humanity can be committed during both peace and war and against a state's own nationals as well as ...

, 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 high-ranking SS official 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 ke ...

, 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>

References

External links

from The Einsatzgruppen Archives

from Musmanno, Michael A., ''Justice. The Eichmann Kommandos.'' London: Peter Davies. 1961. pp. 156 - 16

{{DEFAULTSORT:Naumann, Erich 1905 births 1951 deaths Einsatzgruppen personnel Executed German mass murderers Executed military leaders Executed people from Saxony Executions by the United States Nuremberg Military Tribunals German police officers convicted of crimes against humanity Holocaust perpetrators in Belarus Holocaust perpetrators in Poland Holocaust perpetrators in Russia Holocaust perpetrators in the Netherlands People from Meissen People from the Kingdom of Saxony Police officers executed for crimes against humanity SS-Brigadeführer Sturmabteilung personnel Waffen-SS personnel