Johann Friedrich (Hans) Stöver (

Bremen Bremen (Low German also: ''Breem'' or ''Bräm''), officially the City Municipality of Bremen (, ), is the capital of the States of Germany, German state of the Bremen (state), Free Hanseatic City of Bremen (), a two-city-state consisting of the c ...

German Empire The German Empire (),; ; World Book, Inc. ''The World Book dictionary, Volume 1''. World Book, Inc., 2003. p. 572. States that Deutsches Reich translates as "German Realm" and was a former official name of Germany. also referred to as Imperia ...

, 9 August 1899 - Bremen,

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

1981) was a

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

camp commander. During

World War II 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 ...

Stöver was '' SS- Schutzhaftlagerführer I'' in

Kamp Amersfoort Kamp Amersfoort (, ) was a Nazi concentration camp near the city of Amersfoort, the Netherlands. The official name was "Polizeiliches Durchgangslager Amersfoort", P.D.A. or Amersfoort Police Transit Camp. 47,000 prisoners were held there between ...

concentration camp A concentration camp is a prison or other facility used for the internment of political prisoners or politically targeted demographics, such as members of national or ethnic minority groups, on the grounds of national security, or for exploitati ...

. He was second in command under '' Lagerkommandant, 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 ...

'' Walter Heinrich. Stöver had previously been ''SS-

Untersturmführer (, ; short: ''Ustuf'') was a paramilitary rank of the German ''Schutzstaffel'' (SS) first created in July 1934. The rank can trace its origins to the older SA rank of '' Sturmführer'', which had existed since the founding of the SA in 192 ...

'' and ''kriminalsekretär'' of

Kamp Schoorl Schoorl transit camp (, ), originally a Dutch army camp (1939–1940), was a Nazi concentration camp (1940–1941) near the village of Schoorl in the Netherlands. History ''Kamp Schoorl'' was built in 1939 as a Dutch army camp. Nazi Germany ...

concentration camp and was known as a notoriously cruel man. Nicknamed "''de Blaffer''" ("the Barker"), he took pleasure in entering the barracks at night, "roaring" at the prisoners. In Kamp Amersfoort he was often in charge, because Heinrich regularly stayed outside the camp. He was 'trained' by two SS men from

Dachau concentration camp Dachau (, ; , ; ) was one of the first concentration camps built by Nazi Germany and the longest-running one, opening on 22 March 1933. The camp was initially intended to intern Hitler's political opponents, which consisted of communists, s ...

, who were transferred by Heinrich to 'teach the guards how to deal with the prisoners'. According to a witness statement, Stöver killed at least one Soviet-prisoner of war with his own hands, by smashing his brains in with a piece of firewood. In addition, he confiscated food intended for the prisoners, in favor of the camp leaders. He was commander of a

firing squad Firing may refer to: * Dismissal (employment), sudden loss of employment by termination * Firemaking, the act of starting a fire * Burning; see combustion * Shooting, specifically the discharge of firearms * Execution by firing squad, a method of ...

that

shot Shot may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * ''Shot'' (album), by The Jesus Lizard *''Shot, Illusion, New God'', an EP by Gruntruck *'' Shot Rev 2.0'', a video album by The Sisters of Mercy * "Shot" (song), by The Rasmus * ''Shot'' (2017 ...

detainees without trial. During his absence Stöver was often replaced with the notoriously sadistic ''SS-Unter-Schutzhaftlagerführer'' Josef Johann Kotalla. When ''Lagerkommandant'' Heinrich left the camp in 1943, it wasn't Stöver, but ''SS-Schutzhaftlagerführer II'' Karl Peter Berg, who succeeded him as ''Lagerkommandant'', after which Stöver disappeared from the scene. On 7 June 1949, Stöver was sentenced to life imprisonment by the Amsterdam Bijzonder Gerechtshof court. He was detained in

Breda Breda ( , , , ) is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the southern part of the Netherlands, located in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of North Brabant. ...

. In 1950 he was

sentenced to death Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty and formerly called judicial homicide, is the state-sanctioned killing of a person as punishment for actual or supposed misconduct. The sentence ordering that an offender be punished in s ...

by the Bijzonder Gerechtshof court of Cassation, but a year later this sentence was commuted to life. In May 1959, the life sentence was changed to 23 years and four months. In November 1960, Stöver was released, after which he returned to Germany. In 1974 Stöver filed a lawsuit over the loss of his civil servant pension.

References

External links

* {{The Holocaust 1899 births 1981 deaths category:German military personnel of World War II

See also

References

External links