Paul Otto von Radomski (21 September 1902 – 14 March 1945) was an SS functionary of

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

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 commanded the

Syrets concentration camp The Kiev-West (in German sources) or Syrets () was a Nazi concentration camp or (arbeitserziehungslager – correctional labour camp) established in 1942 in Kyiv's western neighborhood of , part of Kyiv since 1799. The toponym was derived from a ...

in the occupied

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

, and the Haidari concentration camp, near

Athens, Greece Athens ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. A significant coastal urban area in the Mediterranean, Athens is also the capital of the Attica (region), Attica region and is the southe ...

SS career

Radomski was an " Old Fighter" of 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 ...

, and one of the early companions of the eventual

RSHA The Reich Security Main Office ( , RSHA) was an organization under Heinrich Himmler in his dual capacity as ''Chef der Deutschen Polizei'' (Chief of German Police) and , the head of the Nazi Party's ''Schutzstaffel'' (SS). The organization's stat ...

chief

Reinhard Heydrich Reinhard Tristan Eugen Heydrich ( , ; 7 March 1904 – 4 June 1942) was a German high-ranking SS and police official during the Nazi era and a principal architect of the Holocaust. He held the rank of SS-. Many historians regard Heydrich ...

. Radomski served six months in prison in 1932 for the killing of a left-wing opponent. He was considered brutal, even by his fellow SS officers. At his subsequent trial in Greece, the SS judge, ''

Sturmbannführer __NOTOC__ ''Sturmbannführer'' (; ) was a Nazi Party paramilitary rank equivalent to Major (rank), major that was used in several Nazi organizations, such as the Sturmabteilung, SA, Schutzstaffel, SS, and the National Socialist Flyers Corps, NSFK ...

'' Wehser called him a

drunkard Alcoholism is the continued drinking of alcohol despite it causing problems. Some definitions require evidence of dependence and withdrawal. Problematic use of alcohol has been mentioned in the earliest historical records. The World Hea ...

"primitive in all his thoughts and feelings".

Syrets concentration camp

After serving in Stettin, Radomski was appointed commander of the

Kiev Kyiv, also Kiev, is the capital and most populous List of cities in Ukraine, city of Ukraine. Located in the north-central part of the country, it straddles both sides of the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2022, its population was 2, ...

. It was situated at the north-western edge of the city, in the place called Syrets, today a suburb of the city. The Syrets concentration camp was created in the spring of 1942. As commander of the Syrets concentration camp he led a terror regime, ordering severe punishments for the smallest infractions, a habit he carried over to his new posting in Greece. His crimes included lethal beatings, using a German shepherd to attack inmates and shooting inmates who were crushed by trees that they were forced to fell and climb.

Haidari concentration camp

In the autumn of 1943, Radomski was appointed commandant of Haidari concentration camp, near

. The previous German commandant, Sergeant Rudi Trepte, and his two Greek interpreters had been arrested by the

Gestapo The (, ), Syllabic abbreviation, abbreviated Gestapo (), was the official secret police of Nazi Germany and in German-occupied Europe. The force was created by Hermann Göring in 1933 by combining the various political police agencies of F ...

, for unknown reasons. Under Radomski, the camp inmates were put to labour in two four-hour shifts each day except Sundays. The inmates were divided into groups of 100 men, with a hecatontarch in charge of each. However, the labour was not intended for any productive purposes, but merely to break the prisoners' morale: they were made to dig holes and then refill them, build walls and then break them down.Haidari Municipality: Haidari as an SS camp - Major Paul von Radomski
An account by an eyewitness, Constantine Vatikiotis, who was arrested on 26 October 1943, describes Radomski personally executing a Jewish prisoner called Levy, in front of the other prisoners, "for attempting to escape on the day of his arrest". This execution was to serve not only as a warning to the others, but, according to post-war psychological research, to "put the inmates in constant fear of their lives".Haidari Municipality: The first execution at Haidari
Vatikiotis estimated that in the few months he was at Haidari some 2,000 people were executed. Another 300 died as a result of

torture Torture is the deliberate infliction of severe pain or suffering on a person for reasons including corporal punishment, punishment, forced confession, extracting a confession, interrogational torture, interrogation for information, or intimid ...

either at Haidari or in the Gestapo headquarters at Merlin street in central Athens. These numbers included 30 women, 104 invalids, and 230 students. On 17 February 1944, after a drunken birthday party, Radomski threatened to shoot his own

adjutant Adjutant is a military appointment given to an Officer (armed forces), officer who assists the commanding officer with unit administration, mostly the management of “human resources” in an army unit. The term is used in French-speaking armed ...

for losing his room keys. As a result of this action he was brought before an SS tribunal, demoted, and sentenced to six months in prison. Radomski was later sent to serve in Riga. He was replaced at Haidari by Lieutenant Karl Fischer. After the war, track of Radomski was lost until 2005, when the Hamburg prosecutor announced that the Ukrainian authorities, investigating crimes in the concentration camp Syrets, had reported that Radomski had died on 14 March 1945 in the vicinity of

Székesfehérvár Székesfehérvár (; ; ; ; Serbian language, Serbian: ''Стони Београд''; ), known colloquially as Fehérvár (), is a city in central Hungary, and the country's ninth-largest city. It is the Regions of Hungary, regional capital of C ...

in Hungary.Wolodymyr Prystajko: Tschi buw „mattsch smerti“? Dokumenty swidtschat. Kyiv 2006, p. 101.

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Radomski, Paul 1902 births 1945 deaths Nazi concentration camp commandants Holocaust perpetrators in Ukraine Holocaust perpetrators in Greece Nazis convicted of crimes Prisoners and detainees of Germany SS-Sturmbannführer Waffen-SS personnel killed in action