Franz Hößler, also Franz Hössler (; 4 February 1906 – 13 December 1945) was a

Nazi Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hit ...

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

SS-''

Obersturmführer __NOTOC__ (, ; short: ''Ostuf'') was a Nazi Germany paramilitary rank that was used in several Nazi organisations, such as the SA, SS, NSKK and the NSFK. The rank of ''Obersturmführer'' was first created in 1932 as the result of an expan ...

'' and '' Schutzhaftlagerführer'' at the Auschwitz-Birkenau, Dora-Mittelbau and Bergen-Belsen concentration camps during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

. Captured by the Allies at the end of the war, Hößler was charged with war crimes in the First Bergen-Belsen Trial, found guilty, and sentenced to death. He was executed by hanging at Hameln Prison in 1945.

Early life

Hößler was born in 1906 in the town of Oberdorf, today

Marktoberdorf Marktoberdorf () is the capital of the Bavarian district of Ostallgäu in the ''Regierungsbezirk'' of Swabia. Marktoberdorf is near Kempten, Füssen, known for the castle Neuschwanstein, Bad Wörishofen, and Schongau. The nearest larger city ...

, in the Schwabenland of the German Empire. The son of a foreman, he quit school early to become a

photographer A photographer (the Greek φῶς (''phos''), meaning "light", and γραφή (''graphê''), meaning "drawing, writing", together meaning "drawing with light") is a person who makes photographs. Duties and types of photographers As in other ...

. Later employed as a

warehouse A warehouse is a building for storing goods. Warehouses are used by manufacturers, importers, exporters, wholesalers, transport businesses, customs, etc. They are usually large plain buildings in industrial parks on the outskirts of cities, ...

worker, he was

unemployed Unemployment, according to the OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development), is people above a specified age (usually 15) not being in paid employment or self-employment but currently available for work during the refer ...

during the Great Depression of the 1930s. 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 ...

in early November 1932 (member no. 1,374,713) and the SS (member no. 41,940).Aleksander Lasik: "Die Organisationsstruktur des KL Auschwitz" in: Aleksander Lasik, Franciszek Piper, Piotr Setkiewicz, Irena Strzelecka (eds): ''Auschwitz 1940–1945. Studien zur Geschichte des Konzentrations und Vernichtungslagers Auschwitz.'', Volume I, State Museum Auschwitz-Birkenau, Oświęcim 1999, p. 230. Hößler was married and had three children. During his time in the SS, Hößler rose to the rank of SS-''

'' and became a reserve officer in the

Waffen-SS The (, "Armed SS") was the combat branch of the Nazi Party's ''Schutzstaffel'' (SS) organisation. Its formations included men from Nazi Germany, along with volunteers and conscripts from both occupied and unoccupied lands. The grew from th ...

.Ernst Klee: ''Das Personenlexikon zum Dritten Reich'', Frankfurt am Main 2007, p. 263. After the establishment of the

Dachau concentration camp Dachau () was the first concentration camp built by Nazi Germany, opening on 22 March 1933. The camp was initially intended to intern Hitler's political opponents which consisted of: communists, social democrats, and other dissidents. It is ...

in July 1933, he became the first member of the guard staff and worked later as a cook. He served at Dachau until after the outbreak of

.State Museum of Auschwitz-Birkenau (ed.): ''Auschwitz in den Augen der SS.'' Oświęcim 1998, p.232Short biography of Hößler at ARC Mainpage
/ref>

Auschwitz

In June 1940, Hößler was transferred to the newly opened

Auschwitz I concentration camp Auschwitz concentration camp ( (); also or ) was a complex of over 40 Nazi concentration camps, concentration and extermination camps operated by Nazi Germany in Polish areas annexed by Nazi Germany, occupied Poland (in a portion annexed int ...

as it received the first mass transports. He managed the camp kitchens and was occasionally used as a subcamp supervisor (german: Kommandoführer). He then became a Work Service Leader (german: Arbeitsdienstführer) at the camp in early 1941. On 28 July 1941, Hößler accompanied a shipment of 575 selected Auschwitz I inmates to the euthanasia center at Sonnenstein Castle, where they were murdered as part of the

Action 14f13 Action 14f13, also called ''Sonderbehandlung'' (special treatment) 14f13 and Aktion 14f13, was a campaign by Nazi Germany to murder Nazi concentration camp prisoners. Also called ''invalid'' or ''prisoner euthanasia'', the sick, the elderly and t ...

program. Karin Orth: ''Das System der nationalsozialistischen Konzentrationslager'', Hamburg 2002, p. 138 In June 1942, Hößler, together with

Otto Moll Otto Hermann Wilhelm Moll (4 March 1915 – 28 May 1946) was an SS non-commissioned officer who committed numerous atrocities at the Auschwitz concentration camp during the Second World War. The ''SS-Hauptscharführer'', who held the rank of Quar ...

and Hans Aumeier, participated in killing 168 survivors of a failed uprising in the punishment section of Auschwitz I. For a few months during 1942 he was also responsible for the construction of a holiday resort for the SS in

Żywiec Żywiec () (german: Saybusch) is a town in southern Poland with 31,194 inhabitants (2019). Between 1975 and 1998, it was located within the Bielsko-Biała Voivodeship, but has since become part of the Silesian Voivodeship.It is the capital of � ...

, the so-called " Solahütte". After Auschwitz-Birkenau was formally expanded into an

extermination camp Nazi Germany used six extermination camps (german: Vernichtungslager), also called death camps (), or killing centers (), in Central Europe during World War II to systematically murder over 2.7 million peoplemostly Jewsin the Holocaust. The v ...

in 1942, Hößler took on various commands there. From September to November 1942, a brigade composed of prisoners called ''

Sonderkommando ''Sonderkommandos'' (, ''special unit'') were work units made up of German Nazi death camp prisoners. They were composed of prisoners, usually Jews, who were forced, on threat of their own deaths, to aid with the disposal of gas chamber vict ...

Hößler'' exhumed 107,000 corpses from mass graves around Auschwitz I in order to burn them in the new Auschwitz II crematoria. The prisoners of the ''Sonderkommando'' were then almost invariably murdered after the action. To conduct this disposal, Hößler, along with Rudolf Höß and

Walter Dejaco Walter may refer to: People * Walter (name), both a surname and a given name * Little Walter, American blues harmonica player Marion Walter Jacobs (1930–1968) * Gunther (wrestler), Austrian professional wrestler and trainer Walter Hahn (born ...

, had previously visited the Chelmno extermination camp on 16 September 1942 to observe tests conducted by

Paul Blobel Paul Blobel (13 August 1894 – 7 June 1951) was a German ''Sicherheitsdienst'' (SD) commander and convicted war criminal who played a leading role in the Holocaust. He organised and executed the Babi Yar massacre, the largest massacre of t ...

. At the same time Hößler worked as before in the old crematorium at the main camp Auschwitz I, including gassings in the bunkers.

Johann Kremer Johann Paul Kremer (26 December 1883 – 8 January 1965) was German professor, physician and war criminal. He was a professor of anatomy and human genetics at Münster University who joined the Wehrmacht on May 20, 1941. He served in the SS in t ...

, SS camp doctor from 30 August to 17 November 1942, recorded a transport of 1,703 Dutch Jews to the main camp managed by Hoßler. The incident was described in his diary: By the middle of 1943, Hößler became involved in recruiting so-called " Aryan" prison women, with the prospect of better food and care, for a newly opened camp brothel at the Auschwitz I main camp.Hermann Langbein: ''Menschen in Auschwitz'', Frankfurt am Main, 1980, p. 455 He was then promoted to the senior role of '' Schutzhaftlagerführer'' at the Auschwitz-Birkenau women's camp in August 1943, which he directed together with ''

Oberaufseherin Aufseherin was the position title for a female guard in the Nazi concentration camps during World War II. Of the 50,000 guards who served in Nazi concentration camps, about 5,000 were women. In 1942, the first female guards arrived at Auschwitz an ...

'' Maria Mandel. In this role he participated in selections and gassings. He succeeded

Paul Heinrich Theodor Müller Paul Heinrich Theodor Müller (31 January 1896 in Kiel – after January 1945, declared dead by the District Court of Hohenlimburg in 1953) was a German member of the SS and Concentration Camp Operational Leader (''Schutzhaftlagerführer'') at Au ...

in this capacity. Filip Müller, one of the very few ''Sonderkommando'' members who survived Auschwitz,

paraphrased A paraphrase () is a restatement of the meaning of a text or passage using other words. The term itself is derived via Latin ', . The act of paraphrasing is also called ''paraphrasis''. History Although paraphrases likely abounded in oral tra ...

Hößler's speech given to trick a group of Greek Jews in the undressing room at the portals of the gas chambers: For a short time between 15 March to 15 May 1944, Hößler was also camp commander (german: KZ-Kommandant) of the Neckarelz concentration camp in Mosbach,

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG),, is a country in Central Europe. It is the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany lies between the Baltic and North Sea to the north and the Alps to the sou ...

, a subcamp of the larger Natzweiler-Struthof camp complex in occupied France. Following the

Allied invasion of France Operation Overlord was the codename for the Battle of Normandy, the Allied operation that launched the successful invasion of German-occupied Western Europe during World War II. The operation was launched on 6 June 1944 (D-Day) with the No ...

in June 1944, he returned to the Auschwitz main camp where he was Protective Custody Camp Leader until its final evacuation in January 1945.

Dora-Mittelbau

In January 1945, as the

Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army (Russian language, Russian: Рабо́че-крестья́нская Кра́сная армия),) often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist R ...

overran German positions on the Eastern Front, the SS personnel at Auschwitz evacuated to the

Mittelbau-Dora Mittelbau-Dora (also Dora-Mittelbau and Nordhausen-Dora) was a Nazi concentration camp located near Nordhausen in Thuringia, Germany. It was established in late summer 1943 as a subcamp of Buchenwald concentration camp, supplying slave labour ...

concentration camp. Auschwitz commander

Richard Baer Richard Baer (9 September 1911 – 17 June 1963) was a German SS officer who, among other assignments, was the commandant of Auschwitz I concentration camp from May 1944 to January 1945, and right after, from February to April 1945, commanda ...

took over the Dora portion of the complex and Hößler was again made a Protective Custody Camp Leader.Jens-Christian Wagner, ''Produktion des Todes: Das KZ Mittelbau-Dora'' (Göttingen, 2001) p. 670 On 5 April 1945, as American 3rd Armored Division closed in on Mittelbau-Dora, Hößler led a forced evacuation of prisoners to the railhead for transfer to the still-functioning

Bergen-Belsen concentration camp Bergen-Belsen , or Belsen, was a Nazi concentration camp in what is today Lower Saxony in northern Germany, southwest of the town of Bergen near Celle. Originally established as a prisoner of war camp, in 1943, parts of it became a concentr ...

. The prisoners were then led on a

death march A death march is a forced march of prisoners of war or other captives or deportees in which individuals are left to die along the way. It is distinguished in this way from simple prisoner transport via foot march. Article 19 of the Geneva Conve ...

for the last stage of their journey.

Bergen-Belsen

On 8 April 1945, Hößler arrived with his transport at Bergen-Belsen and became deputy camp commander under Josef Kramer.Jens-Christian Wagner
"Inferno und Befreiung – Auschwitz im Harz
in: ''

Die Zeit ''Die Zeit'' (, "The Time") is a German national weekly newspaper published in Hamburg in Germany. The newspaper is generally considered to be among the German newspapers of record and is known for its long and extensive articles. History Th ...

'', Nr.4, 2005 There he directly shot prisoners until the liberation of the camp, crimes for which he would be eventually arrested and tried. On 15 April 1945, Hößler was found hiding among the prisoners in camouflaged clothing and was detained with the remaining SS staff by a unit of 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 Gur ...

. The SS detainees were then forced to bury thousands of corpses lying around on the camp grounds in mass graves.Karin Orth: ''Die Konzentrationslager-SS'', München 2004, p. 266f.

Conviction and execution

Hössler and 44 other camp staff were tried in the Belsen Trial by a British military court at

Lüneburg Lüneburg (officially the ''Hanseatic City of Lüneburg'', German: ''Hansestadt Lüneburg'', , Low German ''Lümborg'', Latin ''Luneburgum'' or ''Lunaburgum'', Old High German ''Luneburc'', Old Saxon ''Hliuni'', Polabian ''Glain''), also calle ...

. The trial lasted several weeks from September to November 1945. During the trial, Anita Lasker testified that Hössler took part in selections for the gas chamber. Hössler was sentenced to death by hanging on 17 November 1945, and the sentence was carried out by British hangman

Albert Pierrepoint Albert Pierrepoint (; 30 March 1905 – 10 July 1992) was an English hangman who executed between 435 and 600 people in a 25-year career that ended in 1956. His father Henry and uncle Thomas were official hangmen before him. Pierrepoin ...

on 13 December 1945 at

Hameln Hamelin ( ; german: Hameln ) is a town on the river Weser in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is the capital of the district of Hamelin-Pyrmont and has a population of roughly 57,000. Hamelin is best known for the tale of the Pied Piper of Hamelin. Hi ...

prison.

References

Literature

* Wacław Długoborski, Franciszek Piper (eds.): ''Auschwitz 1940–1945. Studien zur Geschichte des Konzentrations- und Vernichtungslagers Auschwitz.'', Verlag Staatliches Museum Auschwitz-Birkenau, Oswiecim 1999, 5 Bände: I. Aufbau und Struktur des Lagers. II. Die Häftlinge – Existentzbedingungen, Arbeit und Tod. III. Vernichtung. IV. Widerstand. V. Epilog., . * Staatliches Museum Auschwitz-Birkenau (ed.): ''Auschwitz in den Augen der SS.'' Oswiecim 1998, . * Ernst Klee: ''Das Personenlexikon zum Dritten Reich: Wer war was vor und nach 1945.'' Fischer-Taschenbuch-Verlag, Frankfurt am Main 2007. . * Hermann Langbein: ''Menschen in Auschwitz.'' Frankfurt am Main, Berlin Wien, Ullstein-Verlag, 1980, * Karin Orth: ''Die Konzentrationslager-SS''. dtv, München 2004, . * Karin Orth: ''Das System der nationalsozialistischen Konzentrationslager.'' Pendo Verlag, Hamburg 2002, * Jens-Christian Wagner (ed): ''Konzentrationslager Mittelbau-Dora 1943–1945'' Companion volume to the permanent exhibition at the Dora concentration camp memorial, Wallstein, Göttingen, 2007 . * Bernhard M. Hoppe
Mittelbau Dora
at hsozkult.geschichte.hu-berlin.de {{DEFAULTSORT:Hossler, Franz 1906 births 1945 deaths People from Marktoberdorf Auschwitz concentration camp personnel Bergen-Belsen concentration camp personnel Dachau concentration camp personnel Mittelbau-Dora concentration camp personnel Belsen trial executions Executed people from Bavaria People from the Kingdom of Bavaria Schutzhaftlagerführer Waffen-SS personnel SS-Obersturmführer Holocaust perpetrators in Poland Executed mass murderers