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 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 ...

who served as a camp physician in several

Nazi concentration camps 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 ...

. Von Bodmann 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 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 Auschwitz, or Oświęcim, 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 into Germany in 1939) d ...

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 three gas chambers, two wooden gallows, ...

. 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 Neuengamme was a network of Nazi concentration camps in northern Germany that consisted of the main camp, Neuengamme, and List of subcamps of Neuengamme, more than 85 satellite camps. Established in 1938 near the village of Neuengamme, Hamburg, N ...

although the exact dates are unknown. Eyewitnesses claimed that at Auschwitz von Bodmann killed inmates personally by injecting

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 () ...

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 exposu ...

not long after arriving. He left the camps in September 1944 when he was sent to work for

SS-Wirtschafts-Verwaltungshauptamt The SS Main Economic and Administrative Office (; SS-WVHA) was a Nazi organization responsible for managing the finances, supply systems and business projects of the (a main branch of the ; SS). It also ran the Nazi concentration camps, concentr ...

and then to the

Hauptamt Volksdeutsche Mittelstelle In Nazi Germany the or (Coordination Center for Ethnic Germans) was a Nazi Party agency founded to manage the interests of the —the population of ethnic Germans living outside the Third Reich. Ultimately coming under '' Allgemeine-SS'' admin ...

. His final assignment was as troop physician to the 5th SS Panzer Division Wiking. 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 (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 ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bodmann, Franz von 1908 births 1945 suicides 1945 deaths People from Riedlingen People from the Kingdom of Württemberg German barons Nobility in the Nazi Party 20th-century German nobility Physicians in the Nazi Party SS-Obersturmführer Auschwitz concentration camp medical personnel Majdanek concentration camp personnel Neuengamme concentration camp personnel Nazis who died by suicide in prison custody Nazis who died by suicide in Austria Natzweiler-Struthof concentration camp personnel Nazi human subject research Waffen-SS personnel German military doctors German prisoners of war in World War II held by the United Kingdom Prisoners who died in British military detention