Werner Fromm (9 April 1905 – 10 May 1981) was a German '' SS-Oberführer'' and ''

Oberst ''Oberst'' () is a senior field officer rank in several German language, German-speaking and Scandinavian countries, equivalent to Colonel. It is currently used by both the Army, ground and air forces of Austria, Germany, Switzerland, Denmark, a ...

'' of police. During 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 ...

he served as the

SS and Police Leader The title of SS and Police Leader (') designated a senior Nazi Party official who commanded various components of the SS and the German uniformed police (''Ordnungspolizei''), before and during World War II in the German Reich proper and in the o ...

(SSPF) in the

Bialystok District Bialystok District ( German: ''Bezirk Bialystok'') was an administrative unit of Nazi Germany created during the World War II invasion of the Soviet Union. It was to the south-east of East Prussia, in present-day northeastern Poland as well as in ...

, and subsequently as the police commander in

Sarajevo Sarajevo ( ), ; ''see Names of European cities in different languages (Q–T)#S, names in other languages'' is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Bosnia and Herzegovina, largest city of Bosnia and Herzegovina, with a population of 2 ...

. He also fought as an officer in the

Waffen-SS The (; ) was the military branch, combat branch of the Nazi Party's paramilitary ''Schutzstaffel'' (SS) organisation. Its formations included men from Nazi Germany, along with Waffen-SS foreign volunteers and conscripts, volunteers and conscr ...

Early life and career

Fromm was born the son of a tax official in

Husum Husum (, ) is the capital of the ''Kreis'' (district) Nordfriesland in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. The town was the birthplace of the novelist Theodor Storm, who coined the epithet "the grey town by the sea". It is also the home of the annual i ...

Schleswig-Holstein Schleswig-Holstein (; ; ; ; ; occasionally in English ''Sleswick-Holsatia'') is the Northern Germany, northernmost of the 16 states of Germany, comprising most of the historical Duchy of Holstein and the southern part of the former Duchy of S ...

. He was educated through ''

realschule Real school (, ) is a type of secondary school in Germany, Switzerland and Liechtenstein. It has also existed in Croatia (''realna gimnazija''), the Austrian Empire, the German Empire, Denmark and Norway (''realskole''), Sweden (''realskola''), F ...

'' in

Kiel Kiel ( ; ) is the capital and most populous city in the northern Germany, German state of Schleswig-Holstein. With a population of around 250,000, it is Germany's largest city on the Baltic Sea. It is located on the Kieler Förde inlet of the Ba ...

and entered into a banking career in 1922, becoming a bank clerk and

loan officer Loan officers evaluate, authorize, or recommend approval of loan applications for people and businesses. Most loan officers are employed by commercial banks, credit unions, mortgage companies, and related financial institutions. Mortgage loan off ...

. He joined the SS (SS number 17,080) on 15 June 1931 and became a member 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 ...

(membership number 753,170) on 1 December of that year. Commissioned an 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 ...

'' on 15 March 1934, Fromm advanced rapidly in rank and led the

signals A signal is both the process and the result of Signal transmission, transmission of data over some transmission media, media accomplished by embedding some variation. Signals are important in multiple subject fields including signal processin ...

battalion A battalion is a military unit, typically consisting of up to one thousand soldiers. A battalion is commanded by a lieutenant colonel and subdivided into several Company (military unit), companies, each typically commanded by a Major (rank), ...

attached to SS-'' Oberabschnitte'' (Main District) "Nord," based in

Hamburg Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the List of cities in Germany by population, second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, 7th-lar ...

, from April through December 1935. For the following year, he was the

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 ...

of SS-''Oberabschnitt'' "Südost," with headquarters in Breslau (today,

Wrocław Wrocław is a city in southwestern Poland, and the capital of the Lower Silesian Voivodeship. It is the largest city and historical capital of the region of Silesia. It lies on the banks of the Oder River in the Silesian Lowlands of Central Eu ...

). This was followed by a brief posting in Landsberg an der Warthe (today,

Gorzów Wielkopolski Gorzów Wielkopolski (), often abbreviated to Gorzów Wlkp. or simply Gorzów (formerly ), is a city in Geography of Poland, western Poland, located on the Warta, Warta River. It is one of the two principal cities and seats of the Lubusz Voivodes ...

) commanding the 1st battalion of the 54th SS-''

Standarte In Nazi Germany, the ''Standarte'' (pl. ''Standarten'') was a paramilitary unit of Nazi Party (NSDAP), ''Sturmabteilung'' (SA), NSKK, NSFK, and ''Schutzstaffel'' (SS). Translated literally as "Regimental standard", the name refers to the flag pa ...

'' in January and February 1937. He next became the ''Stabsführer'' (Chief of Staff) of SS-''Abschnitt'' (District) VII in

Königsberg Königsberg (; ; ; ; ; ; , ) is the historic Germany, German and Prussian name of the city now called Kaliningrad, Russia. The city was founded in 1255 on the site of the small Old Prussians, Old Prussian settlement ''Twangste'' by the Teuton ...

(today, Kaliningrad) from 1 March 1937 to 21 March 1938. On that date, he became commander of the 60th SS-''Standarte'' based in Insterburg (today,

Chernyakhovsk Chernyakhovsk (; German: Insterburg) is a town in Kaliningrad Oblast, Russia, and the administrative center of Chernyakhovsky District. Located at the confluence of the Instruch and Angrapa rivers, which unite to become the Pregolya river bel ...

) and would retain titular command of this unit until 1 January 1943.

Second World War

After the outbreak of the

on 1 September 1939, Fromm performed military service, serving with an army signals unit until November 1940. He returned to his SS regimental command until he was assigned to the staff of the Higher

(HSSPF) "''Russland-Nord''" in the ''

Reichskommissariat Ostland The (RKO; ) was an Administrative division, administrative entity of the Reich Ministry for the Occupied Eastern Territories of Nazi Germany from 1941 to 1945. It served as the German Civil authority, civilian occupation regime in Lithuania, La ...

'' as the head of its personnel office from September through December 1941. He was then transferred to the staff of the HSSPF "''Russland-Süd''" as a special duties officer until January 1942. On 18 January 1942, he was appointed the first SS and Police Leader (SSPF) " Bialystok," reporting to the HSSPF "''Russland-Mitte''" (Central Russia) SS-''

Obergruppenführer (, ) was a paramilitary rank in Nazi Germany that was first created in 1932 as a rank of the ''Sturmabteilung'' (SA) and adopted by the ''Schutzstaffel'' (SS) one year later. Until April 1942, it was the highest commissioned SS rank after ...

Erich von dem Bach-Zelewski The given name Eric, Erich, Erikk, Erik, Erick, Eirik, or Eiríkur is derived from the Old Norse name ''Eiríkr'' (or ''Eríkr'' in Old East Norse due to monophthongization). The first element, ''ei-'' may be derived from the older Proto-N ...

. In this post, Fromm commanded all SS personnel and police in his jurisdiction, including the ''

Ordnungspolizei The ''Ordnungspolizei'' (''Orpo'', , meaning "Order Police") were the uniformed police force in Nazi Germany from 1936 to 1945. The Orpo was absorbed into the Nazi monopoly of power after regional police jurisdiction was removed in favour of t ...

'' (Orpo; regular uniformed police), the SD (

intelligence service An intelligence agency is a government agency responsible for the collection, analysis, and exploitation of information in support of law enforcement, national security, military, public safety, and foreign policy objectives. Means of info ...

) and the SiPo (security police), which included 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 ...

(

secret police image:Putin-Stasi-Ausweis.png, 300px, Vladimir Putin's secret police identity card, issued by the East German Stasi while he was working as a Soviet KGB liaison officer from 1985 to 1989. Both organizations used similar forms of repression. Secre ...

). While in command in Bialystok, forces under his command participated in the liquidation of almost all the

ghettos A ghetto is a part of a city in which members of a minority group are concentrated, especially as a result of political, social, legal, religious, environmental or economic pressure. Ghettos are often known for being more impoverished than other ...

throughout the District beginning on 2 November 1942. During this coordinated operation, nearly 100,000 Jews were rounded up and transported to the

Treblinka Treblinka () was the second-deadliest extermination camp to be built and operated by Nazi Germany in Occupation of Poland (1939–1945), occupied Poland during World War II. It was in a forest north-east of Warsaw, south of the Treblinka, ...

and

Auschwitz Auschwitz, or Oświęcim, was a complex of over 40 concentration and extermination camps operated by Nazi Germany in occupied Poland (in a portion annexed into Germany in 1939) during World War II and the Holocaust. It consisted of Auschw ...

extermination camps to be murdered.First deportation from Bialystok district to Auschwitz
in th
ZACHOR Holocaust Remembrance Foundation
retrieved 23 July 2022. On 30 January 1943, Fromm was transferred from Bialystok to the

Independent State of Croatia The Independent State of Croatia (, NDH) was a World War II–era puppet state of Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy (1922–1943), Fascist Italy. It was established in parts of Axis occupation of Yugoslavia, occupied Yugoslavia on 10 April 1941, ...

to become the ''Polizeigebietsfuhrer'' (Police Area Commander) " Sarajewo," under the HSSPF "Kroatien," SS-''

Brigadeführer ''Brigadeführer'' (, ) was a paramilitary rank of the Nazi Party (NSDAP) that was used between 1932 and 1945. It was mainly known for its use as an SS rank. As an SA rank, it was used after briefly being known as '' Untergruppenführer'' in ...

'' Konstantin Kammerhofer. Fromm served there until 26 April 1944 and was the only holder of this post. On 25 January 1945, he was transferred to the

with the rank of ''Untersturmführer'' of reserves, and served with the

16th SS Panzergrenadier Division Reichsführer-SS The 16th SS Panzergrenadier Division "Reichsführer-SS" () was a motorised infantry formation in the Waffen-SS of Nazi Germany during World War II. The division, during its time in Italy, committed a number of war crimes, and, together with the ...

Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...

. After the end of the war, Fromm worked as a merchant. An investigation into his wartime activities initiated by the Hamburg public prosecutor's office was discontinued in 1974. He died in

Bielefeld Bielefeld () is a city in the Ostwestfalen-Lippe Region in the north-east of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. With a population of 341,755, it is also the most populous city in the administrative region () of Detmold (region), Detmold and the L ...

in 1981.

References

Sources

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Fromm, Werner 1905 births 1981 deaths Holocaust perpetrators in Poland People from Husum Recipients of the Iron Cross (1939), 2nd class Recipients of the War Merit Cross SS and police leaders SS-Oberführer Waffen-SS personnel