Franz Hermann Johann Maria Freiherr von Bodmann, sometimes written as Bodman (born 23 March 1908 in Zwiefaltendorf – died 25 May 1945 in Altenmarkt im Pongau) was a German 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 ...

who served as a camp physician in several

Nazi concentration camps From 1933 to 1945, Nazi Germany operated more than a thousand concentration camps, (officially) or (more commonly). The Nazi concentration camps are distinguished from other types of Nazi camps such as forced-labor camps, as well as concen ...

. Von Bodmann 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 May 1932 (membership number 1,098,482) and the SS itself in 1934 (member number 267,787). From October 1939 to June 1940 and from July 1941 to January 1942 he served with the 79th SS-Standarte in Ulm in the Second Bataillon as a physician.Aleksander Lasik, 'Die Organisationsstruktur des KL Auschwitz', in: Aleksander Lasik, Franciszek Piper, Piotr Setkiewicz, Irena Strzelecka, '' Auschwitz 1940–1945. Studien zur Geschichte des Konzentrations und Vernichtungslagers Auschwitz'', Band I: Aufbau und Struktur des Lagers'', Staatliches Museum Auschwitz-Birkenau, Oświęcim 1999, p. 286 It was 1941 that he was promoted to the rank of Obersturmführer.Ernst Klee, ''Das Personenlexikon zum Dritten Reich: Wer war was vor und nach 1945''., Frankfurt am Main 2007, p. 57 Von Bodmann was appointed camp physician at Auschwitz concentration camp in February 1942 and the following year held a similar position at

Majdanek concentration camp Majdanek (or Lublin) was a Nazi concentration and extermination camp built and operated by the SS on the outskirts of the city of Lublin during the German occupation of Poland in World War II. It had seven gas chambers, two wooden gallows, a ...

. He subsequently filled the same role at Natzweiler-Struthof concentration camp and from September 1943 at Vaivara concentration camp. At some point he also worked at Neuengamme concentration camp although the exact dates are unknown. Eyewitnesses claimed that at Auschwitz von Bodmann killed inmates personally by injecting

Phenol Phenol (also called carbolic acid) is an aromatic organic compound with the molecular formula . It is a white crystalline solid that is volatile. The molecule consists of a phenyl group () bonded to a hydroxy group (). Mildly acidic, it ...

into their veins and also stated that he carried out similar procedures at other camps. Von Bodmann's departure from Auschwitz, where he had no superiors and as such acted largely as he pleased, was hastened when he contracted

typhus Typhus, also known as typhus fever, is a group of infectious diseases that include epidemic typhus, scrub typhus, and murine typhus. Common symptoms include fever, headache, and a rash. Typically these begin one to two weeks after exposure. ...

not long after arriving. He left the camps in September 1944 when he was sent to work for SS-Wirtschafts-Verwaltungshauptamt and then to the

Hauptamt Volksdeutsche Mittelstelle The ''Volksdeutsche Mittelstelle'' or VoMi (Coordination Center for Ethnic Germans) was a Nazi Party agency in Nazi Germany founded to manage the interests of the ''Volksdeutsche'', the population of ethnic Germans living outside the country. U ...

. His final assignment was as troop physician to the

5th SS Panzer Division Wiking The 5th SS Panzer Division Wiking (german: 5. SS-Panzerdivision Wiking) or SS Division Wiking was an infantry and later an armoured division among the thirty-eight Waffen-SS divisions of Nazi Germany. It was recruited from foreign volunteer ...

. He was taken as a prisoner of war and held in a military hospital at a British internment camp where he killed himself just after the end of the

Second World War 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 ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bodmann, Franz von 1908 births 1945 suicides People from Riedlingen People from the Kingdom of Württemberg Barons of Germany Nobility in the Nazi Party Physicians in the Nazi Party SS-Obersturmführer Auschwitz concentration camp medical personnel Majdanek concentration camp personnel Neuengamme concentration camp personnel Nazis who committed suicide in prison custody Nazis who committed suicide in Austria Natzweiler-Struthof concentration camp personnel Nazi human subject research Waffen-SS personnel German military doctors