Martin Weiss (21 February 1903 – 30 September 1984) was a Nazi official and ''de facto'' commander of the Vilna Ghetto and a Holocaust perpetrator. He was also the commander of the notorious Nazi-sponsored ''

Ypatingasis būrys ''Ypatingasis būrys'' (''Special Squad'') or Special SD and German Security Police Squad ( lt, Vokiečių Saugumo policijos ir SD ypatingasis būrys, pl, Specjalny Oddział SD i Niemieckiej Policji Bezpieczeństwa, also colloquially ''strzelcy ...

'' killing squad, which was largely responsible for the Ponary massacre where approximately 100,000 people were shot.

Early life and military service

He was born to a well-to-do Protestant family in Karlsruhe. Weiss followed his father's steps and received education in plumbing and heating installation. He was an apprentice in his father's shop. From 1923–1927 Weiss lived in South America, helping his brother to establish a farm. After his father's death in 1928, Weiss took over the family business. Two years later he got married. Weiss and his wife had three children. He was not particularly interested in politics and joined Reiter SS, a branch of '' Schutzstaffel'' (SS) that focused on horsemanship and

equestrianism Equestrianism (from Latin , , , 'horseman', 'horse'), commonly known as horse riding (Commonwealth English) or horseback riding (American English), includes the disciplines of riding, Driving (horse), driving, and Equestrian vaulting, vaulting ...

, in 1934. In 1937, he also joined the National Socialist German Workers Party. When Nazi Germany invaded Poland in September 1939, he was drafted into the Wehrmacht. Because of his SS membership, he was placed in a Waffen-SS mechanical supply unit, with which he took part in the

Battle of France The Battle of France (french: bataille de France) (10 May – 25 June 1940), also known as the Western Campaign ('), the French Campaign (german: Frankreichfeldzug, ) and the Fall of France, was the Nazi Germany, German invasion of French Third Rep ...

. In August 1940, he returned to his hometown and resumed the family business.

The Holocaust

In spring 1941, he was drafted again and assigned to ''

Einsatzkommando During World War II, the Nazi German ' were a sub-group of the ' (mobile killing squads) – up to 3,000 men total – usually composed of 500–1,000 functionaries of the SS and Gestapo, whose mission was to exterminate Jews, Polish intellectu ...

'' 3, part of the '' Einsatzgruppe'' stationed in Bad Düben. In October 1941, he was assigned to work in the Office of the Commander of Security Police ('' Sicherheitsdienst'' or SD) and Security Police (''

Sicherheitspolizei The ''Sicherheitspolizei'' ( en, Security Police), often abbreviated as SiPo, was a term used in Germany for security police. In the Nazi era, it referred to the state political and criminal investigation security agencies. It was made up by the ...

'' or Sipo) in Vilnius, then part of the

Reichskommissariat Ostland The Reichskommissariat Ostland (RKO) was established by Nazi Germany in 1941 during World War II. It became the civilian occupation regime in Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, and the western part of Byelorussian SSR. German planning documents initia ...

. Weiss held this position until July 1944. He was responsible for all aspects of the repression against the Jewish population of Vilnius, which is estimated to have been around 50,000 during the Holocaust. Despite his low rank of technical sergeant (''SS- Hauptscharführer''), he was in charge of the Vilna Ghetto and nearby Lukiškės Prison, as well as the ''

'' killing squad responsible for the Ponary massacre until 1943. He personally supervised 13 to 15 executions at the site. In July 1943, Weiss became chief of the Gestapo prison in Vilnius in occupied Lithuania. In September 1943, he was selected to coordinate the work of the

Sonderkommando 1005 ' 1005 (, 'Special Action 1005'), also called ''Aktion'' 1005 or ' (, 'Exhumation Action'), was a top-secret Nazi operation conducted from June 1942 to late 1944. The goal of the project was to hide or destroy any evidence of the mass murder ...

to erase evidence of Jewish exterminations i.e unearthing and burning of the corpses. On 27 March 1944, the children under age 16 of Kailis forced labor camp were rounded up in an operation (Kinderaktion) commanded by Weiss. They were taken to the train station; their further fate is not known. Weiss was noted by the inmates of the ghetto for his merciless cruelty and frequent beatings. In one instance he shot a man on the spot for trying to bring a few potatoes and a bit of fish through the ghetto gates. There are reports of other German soldiers willing to pardon a Jew, but being afraid to do so knowing that Weiss would certainly not approve such an action. Because of his cruel and capricious conduct in sending Jews of the ghetto to the killing grounds at Ponary, Weiss was known in the ghetto by the paradoxical nickname "Weiss, das Schwarz" or "White, the Black".

Criminal conviction

Weiss was arrested in May 1949. In February 1950, a court in Würzburg found him guilty of murder and being an accessory to murder and sentenced him to life imprisonment. In January 1971, Weiss's sentence was suspended; he was granted pardon in 1977.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Weiss, Martin 1903 births 1984 deaths SS officers German people convicted of murder Holocaust perpetrators in Lithuania Einsatzgruppen personnel Vilna Ghetto Military personnel from Karlsruhe People from the Grand Duchy of Baden Waffen-SS personnel German Protestants Businesspeople from Karlsruhe