Ernst Adolf Girzick (17 October 1911 – 4 March 1977) was an Austrian SS-''

Obersturmführer __NOTOC__ (, ; short: ''Ostuf'') was a Nazi Germany paramilitary ranks, Nazi Germany paramilitary rank that was used in several Nazi organisations, such as the Sturmabteilung, SA, Schutzstaffel, SS, National Socialist Motor Corps, NSKK and the ...

'' and an employee in

Referat IV B4 Reich Security Main Office Referat IV B4, known as RSHA IV B4 (German: ''Eichmannreferat'' IV D4 until March 1941, or ''Judenreferat''), was a sub-department of Germany's Reich Security Main Office (''Reichssicherheitshauptamt'' or RSHA) and the G ...

of the

Reich Security Main Office The Reich Security Main Office ( , RSHA) was an organization under Heinrich Himmler in his dual capacity as ''Chef der Deutschen Polizei'' (Chief of German Police) and , the head of the Nazi Party's ''Schutzstaffel'' (SS). The organization's stat ...

(RSHA). Girzick was responsible for the deportation of Jews to

concentration In chemistry, concentration is the abundance of a constituent divided by the total volume of a mixture. Several types of mathematical description can be distinguished: '' mass concentration'', '' molar concentration'', '' number concentration'', ...

and

extermination camps Nazi Germany used six extermination camps (), also called death camps (), or killing centers (), in Central Europe, primarily in occupied Poland, during World War II to systematically murder over 2.7 million peoplemostly Jewsin the Holocau ...

. After the war, he was convicted of crimes against humanity in Vienna and sentenced to 15 years in prison.

Biography

Girzick, an

electrical engineer Electrical engineering is an engineering discipline concerned with the study, design, and application of equipment, devices, and systems that use electricity, electronics, and electromagnetism. It emerged as an identifiable occupation in the l ...

, was unemployed after the completion of his professional training. He joined the

Austrian Bundesheer The Austrian Armed Forces () are the combined military forces of Austria. The military consists of 16,000 active-duty personnel and 125,600 reservists. The military budget is 1.0% of national GDP (including pensions) or €3.317 billion (20 ...

in 1931, and also became a member of the German Soldiers Bund and 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 ...

. After his discharge from the army in 1933, he was again unemployed. Girzick became involved in Nazi terrorist attacks involving the use of explosives in Austria. In January 1934, he was arrested after being caught in possession of explosives. Girzick was sentenced to 5.5 years in prison and imprisoned in

Krems an der Donau Krems an der Donau (, ) is a city in Lower Austria, Austria. With a population of 24,821, it is the 20th-largest city of Austria and fifth-largest of Lower Austria. It is approximately west of Vienna. Krems is a city with its own statute (or '' ...

. He was released due to an amnesty in July 1936, under the Juliabkommen. Following his release, Girzick moved to Germany and joined the

Austrian Legion The Austrian Legion (''Österreichische Legion'') was a Nazi paramilitary group founded in 1933 from expatriate Austrian Nazis. Its members, mostly ''Sturmabteilung'' (SA), were trained in military camps in Bavaria, then armed in preparation for a ...

in the SS camp at

Ranis Ranis is a town in the Saale-Orla-Kreis district, in Thuringia, Germany. It is situated 15 km east of Saalfeld, and 30 km south of Jena Jena (; ) is a List of cities and towns in Germany, city in Germany and the second largest city ...

. As of November 1937, he worked as a streetcar conductor in

Dresden Dresden (; ; Upper Saxon German, Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; , ) is the capital city of the States of Germany, German state of Saxony and its second most populous city after Leipzig. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, 12th most p ...

. After the ''

Anschluss The (, or , ), also known as the (, ), was the annexation of the Federal State of Austria into Nazi Germany on 12 March 1938. The idea of an (a united Austria and Germany that would form a "German Question, Greater Germany") arose after t ...

'', Girzick received the

Blood Order The Blood Order (), officially known as the Decoration in Memory of 9 November 1923 (), was one of the most prestigious decorations in the Nazi Party (NSDAP). During March 1934, Hitler authorized the Blood Order to commemorate the 9 November 1 ...

. After 1938, he worked first in the "Property Registration Office" of the Ministry of Economics in Vienna, but he soon moved to the

Central Agency for Jewish Emigration in Vienna The Central Agency for Jewish Emigration in Vienna () was a ''Sicherheitsdienst'' (SD-Security Service) agency established in August 1938 to accelerate the forced emigration of the Austrian Jews and (starting in October 1939) to organize and carr ...

and remained there from 1939 as deputy to

Alois Brunner Alois Brunner (8 April 1912 – December 2001 or 2010) was an Austrian officer who held the rank of (captain) during World War II. Brunner played a significant role in the implementation of the Holocaust through rounding up and deporting Jews in ...

, until March 1943. He was then in

Prague Prague ( ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in the Czech Republic, largest city of the Czech Republic and the historical capital of Bohemia. Prague, located on the Vltava River, has a population of about 1.4 million, while its P ...

as head of the main offices of the Central Office for the Settlement of the Jewish Question in Bohemia and Moravia. From March to December 1944, Girzick belonged to the '' Eichmann-Kommando'' in

Budapest Budapest is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns of Hungary, most populous city of Hungary. It is the List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, tenth-largest city in the European Union by popul ...

. The purpose of this group was to send Jews to their deaths in

Auschwitz Auschwitz, or Oświęcim, 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 Auschw ...

. He received the

War Merit Cross The War Merit Cross () was a state decoration of Nazi Germany during World War II. By the end of the conflict it was issued in four degrees and had an equivalent civil award. A " de-Nazified" version of the War Merit Cross was reissued in 1957 ...

Second Class. Then Girzick was reinstated in Prague until the war in Europe ended. On 5 May 1945, he fled Prague in a motorcade with Brunner and other RSHA staff.

Post-war

In November 1946, Girzick was arrested by Austrian gendarmeries in Köstendorf for failing to register himself as a former member of the Nazi Party. Later that year, the Viennese People's Court initiated criminal proceedings against him for his wartime activities. Girzick was tried for his involvement in the deportation of Viennese Jews to

Theresienstadt concentration camp Theresienstadt Ghetto was established by the SS during World War II in the fortress town of Terezín, in the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia ( German-occupied Czechoslovakia). Theresienstadt served as a waystation to the extermination c ...

and

. On 3 September 1948, Girzick was found guilty of crimes against human dignity and sentenced to 15 years in prison.Holocaust vor Gericht: Die Deportation der Wiener Juden in den Jahren 1941 und 1942 und die österreichische Justiz nach 1945
at www.nachkriegsjustiz.at In the 1950s, the Austrian government started granting mass clemency to Nazi war criminals as a way to attract ex-Nazi voters.

Minister of the Interior An interior minister (sometimes called a minister of internal affairs or minister of home affairs) is a cabinet official position that is responsible for internal affairs, such as public security, civil registration and identification, emergency ...

Oskar Helmer Oskar Helmer (1887-1963) was an Austrian printer and social-democrat party politician. He served as the Minister of the Interior from 1945. He won the Nansen Refugee Award in 1959. Early life and education Helmer was born on 16 November 1887 ...

wrote a letter to Minister of Justice Josef Gerö, requesting clemency for numerous Nazi war criminals, including Girzick.

Dear friend! In view of the approaching Christmas season, I would like to enclose a list of former National Socialists imprisoned in the Stein Prison for political offenses. The persons named appear to be suitable for inclusion in a Christmas amnesty due to their personal and family circumstances. Best regards, Oskar Helmer

To justify Girzick's release, Helmer claimed, "There is almost no personal guilt. The only offense he is charged with is that he was employed in the Jewish resettlement office. wife and 2 children. They live in the poorest conditions and therefore a pardon is urgently needed." On 18 December 1953, President Theodor Körner granted Girzick clemency, allowing him to serve the remainder of his sentence on probation. Girzick then lived in

Seewalchen am Attersee Seewalchen am Attersee (Central Bavarian: ''Seewoicha ban Ottasee'') is a municipality in the district of Vöcklabruck in the Austrian state of Upper Austria Upper Austria ( ; ; ) is one of the nine States of Austria, states of Austria. Its cap ...

. Nothing further is known about his life, other than that he died in 1977.

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 ...

: ''Das Personenlexikon zum Dritten Reich''. Frankfurt am Main 2007, p. 185.

Bibliography

* Hans Safrian: ''Eichmann und seine Gehilfen''. Fischer, Frankfurt am Main 1995, . *

: ''Das Personenlexikon zum Dritten Reich: Wer war was vor und nach 1945.'' Fischer, Frankfurt am Main 2007. . (Second revised edition) * Jan Björn Potthast: ''Das jüdische Zentralmuseum der SS in Prag – Gegnerforschung und Völkermord im Nationalsozialismus.'' Campus, Munich 2002 .

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Girzick, Ernst 1911 births 1977 deaths Austrian electrical engineers Austrian Legion personnel Austrian military personnel of World War II Austrian Nazis convicted of war crimes Austrian people convicted of crimes against humanity Holocaust perpetrators in Austria Holocaust perpetrators in Bohemia and Moravia Holocaust perpetrators in Hungary Military personnel from Vienna People convicted of illegal possession of weapons Prisoners and detainees of Austria Recipients of the War Merit Cross Reich Security Main Office personnel SS-Obersturmführer