Josias Kumpf (April 7, 1925 – October 15, 2009) was a Yugoslav-born man who served as concentration camp guard for

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German Reich, German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a Totalit ...

during the

Holocaust The Holocaust (), known in Hebrew language, Hebrew as the (), was the genocide of History of the Jews in Europe, European Jews during World War II. From 1941 to 1945, Nazi Germany and Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy ...

Biography

World War II

Josias Kumpf, an ethnic-German or ''

Volksdeutsche In Nazi Germany, Nazi German terminology, () were "people whose language and culture had Germans, German origins but who did not hold German citizenship." The term is the nominalised plural of ''wikt:volksdeutsch, volksdeutsch'', with denoting ...

'' born in Yugoslavia, served under the SS guard forces at Sachsenhausen in 1942 at the age of 17 and served there for about a year before transferring to

Trawniki concentration camp The Trawniki was a Nazi concentration camps, concentration camp set up by Nazi Germany in the village of Trawniki about southeast of Lublin during the occupation of Poland in World War II. Throughout its existence the camp served a dual function ...

in the

General Government The General Government (, ; ; ), formally the General Governorate for the Occupied Polish Region (), was a German zone of occupation established after the invasion of Poland by Nazi Germany, Slovak Republic (1939–1945), Slovakia and the Soviet ...

. Kumpf was accused of having taken part in the

; including a November 1943 German operation that went by the code name ''

Aktion Erntefest Operation Harvest Festival () was the murder of up to 43,000 Jews at the Majdanek, Poniatowa and Trawniki concentration camps by the SS, the Order Police battalions, and the Ukrainian '' Sonderdienst'' on 3–4 November 1943. After a se ...

'' (Harvest festival) in which, over two days, 43,000 Jewish men, women and children were murdered at three Nazi camps in eastern German-occupied Poland. He was active during the murder of 8,000 Jews on November 3, 1943, in

, where it was his task to stand guard over a pit where prisoners were being gunned down and "finish off" the wounded, albeit he claimed to have never discharged his weapon.

Post-war

After

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 ...

, he emigrated to the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

in 1956 and settled in

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...

, becoming a

naturalized Naturalization (or naturalisation) is the legal act or process by which a non-national of a country acquires the nationality of that country after birth. The definition of naturalization by the International Organization for Migration of the ...

United States citizen Citizenship of the United States is a legal status that entails Americans with specific rights, duties, protections, and benefits in the United States. It serves as a foundation of fundamental rights derived from and protected by the Constitu ...

in 1964. He worked as a sausage maker for the Vienna Hot Dog Company in Chicago before retiring in 1990. He moved to

Wisconsin Wisconsin ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest of the United States. It borders Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michig ...

to be with his daughter after his wife died in 2000.

Denaturalization and deportation

The

United States Justice Department The United States Department of Justice (DOJ), also known as the Justice Department, is a federal executive department of the U.S. government that oversees the domestic enforcement of federal laws and the administration of justice. It is equi ...

first approached Kumpf about his World War II-era activities in 2001. As a result of this investigation, on September 30, 2003, the United States sued to strip him of his U.S. nationality. He was formally stripped of his U.S. citizenship on May 10, 2005, and his

denaturalization Denaturalization is the loss of citizenship against the will of the person concerned. Denaturalization is often applied to ethnic minorities and political dissidents. Denaturalization can be a penalty for actions considered criminal by the state ...

was upheld by the

United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit The United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit (in case citations, 7th Cir.) is the U.S. United States federal court, federal court with appellate jurisdiction over the United States district court, courts in the following United Stat ...

on February 24, 2006. After Kumpf exhausted his denaturalization appeals, the United States initiated

deportation Deportation is the expulsion of a person or group of people by a state from its sovereign territory. The actual definition changes depending on the place and context, and it also changes over time. A person who has been deported or is under sen ...

proceedings against him on July 14, 2006. He was ordered deported by an immigration judge on January 4, 2007, which was upheld by the

Board of Immigration Appeals The Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) is an administrative appellate court, appellate body within the Executive Office for Immigration Review of the United States Department of Justice responsible for reviewing decisions of the U.S. immigration ...

on June 16, 2008. After Kumpf exhausted his deportation appeals, he was taken from his home by immigration officials on March 18, 2009, and deported to

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

the next day. However, Austria was unable to

prosecute A prosecutor is a legal representative of the prosecution in states with either the adversarial system, which is adopted in common law, or inquisitorial system, which is adopted in Civil law (legal system), civil law. The prosecution is the ...

him because the

statute of limitations A statute of limitations, known in civil law systems as a prescriptive period, is a law passed by a legislative body to set the maximum time after an event within which legal proceedings may be initiated. ("Time for commencing proceedings") In ...

had expired. On September 17, 2009, Spain charged Kumpf and asked for his

extradition In an extradition, one Jurisdiction (area), jurisdiction delivers a person Suspect, accused or Conviction, convicted of committing a crime in another jurisdiction, into the custody of the other's law enforcement. It is a cooperative law enforc ...

. Before the extradition request could be processed, however, Kumpf died that October 15 in Wilhelminenspital in

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

References

External links

Press Release of the US Department of Justice

US Court of Appeals: Case File of Josias Kumpf
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kumpf, Josias 1925 births 2009 deaths Holocaust perpetrators in Poland Loss of United States citizenship and deportation by prior Nazi affiliation Sachsenhausen concentration camp personnel People from Stara Pazova Waffen-SS personnel Yugoslav collaborators with Nazi Germany