124-651: Maria Mandl (also spelled Mandel ; 10 January 1912 – 24 January 1948) was an Austrian SS - Helferin (" SS helper") and a war criminal known for her role in the Holocaust as a top-ranking official at the Auschwitz-Birkenau extermination camp , where she is believed to have been directly complicit in the deaths of over 500,000 prisoners. She was executed for war crimes. Mandl was born on 10 January 1912 in Münzkirchen , Upper Austria , then part of Austria-Hungary ,
248-702: A Prussian secret police force, the Geheime Staatspolizei or Gestapo , and appointed Rudolf Diels as its head. Concerned that Diels was not ruthless enough to use the Gestapo effectively to counteract the power of the SA, Göring handed over its control to Himmler on 20 April 1934. Also on that date, in a departure from long-standing German practice that law enforcement was a state and local matter, Hitler appointed Himmler chief of all German police outside Prussia. Himmler named his deputy and protégé Reinhard Heydrich chief of
372-475: A description of Margot Dreschel 's mass torture of women involving the infamous Block 25 in Auschwitz: "In my block [Block 15], 700 women were chosen out of 1,000; in the whole camp (that is, in lager A, where we stayed in the so-called quarantine), Mandl selected several thousand women, and all of them – naked – were crammed into one block no. 25, where they stayed for seven days and nights without food or water. On
496-534: A higher casualty rate than the army. Generaloberst Fedor von Bock was quite critical; following an April 1940 visit of the SS-Totenkopf division, he found their battle training was "insufficient". Hitler thought the criticism was typical of the army's "outmoded conception of chivalry." In its defence, the SS insisted that its armed formations had been hampered by having to fight piecemeal and were improperly equipped by
620-635: A meeting, called the Wannsee Conference , to discuss the implementation of the plan. During battles in the Soviet Union in 1941 and 1942, the Waffen-SS suffered enormous casualties. The LSSAH and Das Reich lost over half their troops to illness and combat casualties. In need of recruits, Himmler began to accept soldiers that did not fit the original SS racial profile. In early 1942, SS-Leibstandarte , SS-Totenkopf , and SS-Das Reich were withdrawn to
744-604: A new bodyguard unit, the Schutzkommando (Protection Command). It was tasked with providing personal protection for Hitler at party functions and events. That same year, the Schutzkommando was expanded to a national organisation and renamed successively the Sturmstaffel (Storm Squadron), and finally the Schutzstaffel (Protection Squad; SS). Officially, the SS marked its foundation on 9 November 1925 (the second anniversary of
868-609: A pagan ceremony invented by Himmler. These pseudo-religious rites and ceremonies often took place near SS-dedicated monuments or in special SS-designated places. In 1933, Himmler bought Wewelsburg , a castle in Westphalia . He initially intended it to be used as an SS training centre, but its role came to include hosting SS dinners and neo-pagan rituals. In 1936, Himmler wrote in the pamphlet "The SS as an Anti-Bolshevist Fighting Organisation": We shall take care that never again in Germany,
992-545: A passion for classical music with extreme cruelty towards her female prisoners." An Auschwitz prisoner, Lucia Adelsberger, later described it in her book, Auschwitz: Ein Tatsachenbericht : "The women who came back from work exhausted had to march in time to the music. Music was ordered for all occasions, for the addresses of the Camp Commanders, for the transports and whenever anybody was hanged." For her services, Mandl
1116-402: A selection, sending approximately 90 percent of the transport to the cars which transported these people to the nearby crematorium. [...] During these selections, defendant Mandl tortured the prisoners in a cruel way, beating the women, the men and the children with a whip and kicking them blindly. She would tear the children from the arms of their mothers, and when the mothers tried to come near
1240-750: A short time between 15 March to 15 May 1944, Hößler was also camp commander ( German : KZ-Kommandant ) of the Neckarelz concentration camp in Mosbach , Germany , a subcamp of the larger Natzweiler-Struthof camp complex in occupied France. Following the Allied invasion of France in June 1944, he returned to the Auschwitz main camp where he was Protective Custody Camp Leader until its final evacuation in January 1945. In January 1945, as
1364-675: A small paramilitary formation during the Weimar Republic to one of the most powerful organisations in Nazi Germany. From the time of the Nazi Party's rise to power until the regime's collapse in 1945, the SS was the foremost agency of security, mass surveillance , and state terrorism within Germany and German-occupied Europe. The two main constituent groups were the Allgemeine SS (General SS) and Waffen-SS (Armed SS). The Allgemeine SS
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#17328490881001488-410: A transport of 1,703 Dutch Jews to the main camp managed by Hoßler. The incident was described in his diary: In connection with the gassings I described in my diary dated 12.10.1942, I declare that on that day about 1,600 Dutch were gassed. This is an approximate figure, which I stated as a result of what I had heard from others. The action was led [by] SS officer Hößler. I remember that he tried to drive
1612-567: The Heer (German Army). However, it never obtained total "independence of command", nor was it ever a "serious rival" to the German Army. Members were never able to join the ranks of the German High Command and it was dependent on the army for heavy weaponry and equipment. Although SS ranks generally had equivalents in the other services, the SS rank system did not copy the terms and ranks used by
1736-574: The SS-Verfügungs-Division . A second SS division, the SS-Totenkopf , was formed from SS-TV concentration camp guards, and a third, the SS-Polizei , was created from police volunteers. The SS gained control over its own recruitment, logistics, and supply systems for its armed formations at this time. The SS, Gestapo, and SD were in charge of the provisional military administration in Poland until
1860-453: The 2nd SS Panzer Division "Das Reich" when it was reorganised as a Panzergrenadier division in 1942. In April 1941, the German Army invaded Yugoslavia and Greece . The LSSAH and Das Reich were attached to separate army Panzer corps . Fritz Klingenberg , a company commander in the Das Reich division, led his men across Yugoslavia to the capital, Belgrade , where a small group in
1984-594: The Bandenkampfverbände had four principal operational components: propaganda, centralised control and coordination of security operations, training of troops, and battle operations. Once the Wehrmacht had secured territorial objectives, the Bandenkampfverbände first secured communications facilities, roads, railways, and waterways. Thereafter, they secured rural communities and economic installations such as factories and administrative buildings. An additional priority
2108-537: The Einsatzgruppen reached a total strength of 3,000 men. Einsatzgruppen A, B, and C were attached to Army Groups North , Centre , and South ; Einsatzgruppe D was assigned to the 11th Army . The Einsatzgruppe for Special Purposes operated in eastern Poland starting in July 1941. Historian Richard Rhodes describes them as being "outside the bounds of morality"; they were "judge, jury and executioner all in one", with
2232-523: The Einsatzgruppen took place on 6 September 1939 during the attack on Kraków . Satisfied with their performance in Poland, Hitler allowed further expansion of the armed SS formations but insisted new units remain under the operational control of the army. While the SS-Leibstandarte remained an independent regiment functioning as Hitler's personal bodyguards, the other regiments— SS-Deutschland , SS-Germania, and SS-Der Führer —were combined to form
2356-613: The Nazi Party led by Adolf Hitler had created a small volunteer guard unit known as the Saal-Schutz (Hall Security) to provide security at their meetings in Munich . The same year, Hitler ordered the formation of a small bodyguard unit dedicated to his personal service. He wished it to be separate from the "suspect mass" of the party, including the paramilitary Sturmabteilung ("Storm Battalion"; SA), which he did not trust. The new formation
2480-621: The Red Army overran German positions on the Eastern Front , the SS personnel at Auschwitz evacuated to the Mittelbau-Dora concentration camp. Auschwitz commander Richard Baer took over the Dora portion of the complex and Hößler was again made a Protective Custody Camp Leader. On 5 April 1945, as American 3rd Armored Division closed in on Mittelbau-Dora, Hößler led a forced evacuation of prisoners to
2604-497: The SS-Leibstandarte had taken Wormhout , 10 miles (16 km) from Dunkirk. There, soldiers of the 2nd Battalion were responsible for the Wormhoudt massacre , where 81 British and French soldiers were murdered after they surrendered. According to historian Charles Sydnor, the "fanatical recklessness in the assault, suicidal defence against enemy attacks, and savage atrocities committed in the face of frustrated objectives" exhibited by
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#17328490881002728-573: The SS-Oberführerbereich Ost , SS-Oberführerbereich West , and SS-Oberführerbereich Süd . The lower levels of the SS remained largely unchanged. Although officially still considered a sub-organisation of the SA and answerable to the Stabschef (SA Chief of Staff), it was also during this time that Himmler began to establish the independence of the SS from the SA. The SS grew in size and power due to its exclusive loyalty to Hitler, as opposed to
2852-408: The SS-Totenkopf division during the invasion were typical of the SS troops as a whole. At the close of the campaign, Hitler expressed his pleasure with the performance of the SS-Leibstandarte , telling them: "Henceforth it will be an honour for you, who bear my name, to lead every German attack." The SS-VT was renamed the Waffen-SS in a speech made by Hitler in July 1940. Hitler then authorised
2976-512: The Wehrmacht ' s branches. Instead, it used the ranks established by the post-World War I Freikorps and the SA. This was primarily done to emphasise the SS as being independent of the Wehrmacht . In the September 1939 invasion of Poland , the LSSAH and SS-VT fought as separate mobile infantry regiments. The LSSAH became notorious for torching villages without military justification. Members of
3100-663: The Wehrmacht and Waffen-SS encountered resistance from the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) and the Greek Army . The fighting was intensified by the mountainous terrain, with its heavily defended narrow passes. The LSSAH was at the forefront of the German push. The BEF evacuated by sea to Crete , but had to flee again in late May when the Germans arrived. Like Yugoslavia, the conquest of Greece brought its Jews into danger, as
3224-497: The Women's Orchestra of Auschwitz in April 1943 to accompany roll calls, executions, selections and transports. Mandl personally chose the first conductor, Polish music teacher Zofia Czajkowska , and later arranged for an accomplished Austrian violinist named Alma Rosé to be transferred camps so that she could conduct the women’s orchestra. Historian David Crowe has written that Mandl "blended
3348-472: The "Mare of Majdanek", training at the camp under Mandl's supervision during the summer of 1939. Hermine later described her as "very strict" and said that she "often hit prisoners". On 7 October 1942, Mandl was assigned to Auschwitz II-Birkenau , succeeding Johanna Langefeld as SS-Lagerführerin of the women camp under SS-Kommandant Rudolf Höß . As a woman she could never outrank a male, but her control over both female prisoners and her female subordinates
3472-402: The 258,000 Romani . The SS was involved in murdering people viewed as threats to race hygiene or Nazi ideology, including the mentally or physically disabled, homosexuals, and political dissidents. Members of trade unions and those perceived to be affiliated with groups that opposed the regime (religious, political, social, and otherwise), or those whose views were contradictory to the goals of
3596-543: The Beer Hall Putsch). The new SS protected party leaders throughout Germany. Hitler's personal SS protection unit was later enlarged to include combat units. Schreck, a founding member of the SA and a close confidant of Hitler, became the first SS chief in March 1925. On 15 April 1926, Joseph Berchtold succeeded him as chief of the SS. Berchtold changed the title of the office to Reichsführer-SS (Reich Leader-SS). Berchtold
3720-711: The Berlin Chancellory Guard, the SS security regiment assigned to the Obersalzberg, and a Munich-based bodyguard unit which protected Hitler when he visited his apartment and the Brown House Nazi Party headquarters in Munich. Although the unit was nominally under Himmler, Dietrich was the real commander and handled day-to-day administration. Two other SS units composed the inner ring of Hitler's protection. The SS-Begleitkommando des Führers (Escort Command of
3844-551: The British launched an armoured counterattack against the flanks of the 7th Panzer Division and SS-Totenkopf . The Germans then trapped the British and French troops in a huge pocket at Dunkirk . On 27 May, 4 Company, SS-Totenkopf perpetrated the Le Paradis massacre , where 97 men of the 2nd Battalion, Royal Norfolk Regiment were machine-gunned after surrendering, with survivors finished off with bayonets . Two men survived. By 28 May
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3968-598: The District Court in Kraków. "In August 1943 I was deported together with my family (27 people, including nine children aged from one month to eleven years) from the ghetto in Środula near Sosnowiec to Auschwitz, in a transport numbering some 5,000 people. At the ramp in Birkenau, the transport was awaited by the defendant Mandl accompanied by SS woman Margot Dreschel , and as soon as the transport had arrived, Mandl carried out
4092-687: The Führer), formed in February 1932, served as Hitler's protection escort while he was travelling. This unit consisted of eight men who served around the clock protecting Hitler in shifts. Later the SS-Begleitkommando was expanded and became known as the Führerbegleitkommando ( Führer Escort Command; FBK). It continued under separate command and remained responsible for Hitler's protection. The Führer Schutzkommando ( Führer Protection Command; FSK)
4216-588: The Gestapo on 22 April 1934. Heydrich also continued as head of the Sicherheitsdienst (SD; security service). The Gestapo's transfer to Himmler was a prelude to the Night of the Long Knives , in which most of the SA leadership were arrested and subsequently executed. The SS and Gestapo carried out most of the murders. On 20 July 1934, Hitler detached the SS from the SA, which was no longer an influential force after
4340-588: The Holocaust. After Hitler and the Nazi Party came to power on 30 January 1933, the SS was considered a state organisation and a branch of the government. Law enforcement gradually became the purview of the SS, and many SS organisations became de facto government agencies. The SS established a police state within Nazi Germany, using the secret state police and security forces under Himmler's control to suppress resistance to Hitler. In his role as Minister President of Prussia , Hermann Göring had in 1933 created
4464-580: The LSSAH committed war crimes in numerous towns, including the murder of 50 Polish Jews in Błonie and the massacre of 200 civilians, including children, who were machine-gunned in Złoczew . Shootings also took place in Bolesławiec , Torzeniec , Goworowo , Mława , and Włocławek . Some senior members of the Wehrmacht were not convinced the units were fully prepared for combat. Its units took unnecessary risks and had
4588-490: The Nazi Party government, were rounded up in large numbers; these included clergy of all faiths, Jehovah's Witnesses , Freemasons , Communists , and Rotary Club members. According to the judgements rendered at the Nuremberg trials , as well as many war crimes investigations and trials conducted since then, the SS was responsible for the majority of Nazi war crimes. In particular, it was the primary organisation that carried out
4712-470: The Nazi regime became more oppressive, the concentration camp system grew in size and lethal operation, and grew in scope as the economic ambitions of the SS intensified. Intensification of the killing operations took place in late 1941 when the SS began construction of stationary gassing facilities to replace the use of Einsatzgruppen for mass murders. Victims at these new extermination camps were killed with
4836-505: The Nazis immediately took a variety of measures against them. Initially confined in ghettos, most were transported to Auschwitz concentration camp in March 1943, where they were murdered in the gas chambers on arrival. Of Greece's 80,000 Jews, only 20 per cent survived the war. On 22 June 1941, Hitler launched Operation Barbarossa , the invasion of the Soviet Union . The expanding war and
4960-417: The SA, which was seen as semi-independent and a threat to Hitler's hegemony over the party, mainly because they demanded a "second revolution" beyond the one that brought the Nazi Party to power. By the end of 1933, the membership of the SS reached 209,000. Under Himmler's leadership, the SS continued to gather greater power as more and more state and party functions were assigned to its jurisdiction. Over time
5084-670: The SA. Except in the Munich area, the SS was unable to maintain any momentum in its membership numbers, which declined from 1,000 to 280 as the SA continued its rapid growth. As Heiden attempted to keep the SS from dissolving, Heinrich Himmler became his deputy in September 1927. Himmler displayed better organisational abilities than Heiden. The SS established a number of Gaue (regions or provinces). The SS-Gaue consisted of SS-Gau Berlin , SS-Gau Berlin Brandenburg , SS-Gau Franken , SS-Gau Niederbayern , SS-Gau Rheinland-Süd , and SS-Gau Sachsen . With Hitler's approval, Himmler assumed
Maria Mandl - Misplaced Pages Continue
5208-401: The SA. Some 500 to 1,000 synagogues were destroyed, mostly by arson. On 11 November, Heydrich reported a death toll of 36 people, but later assessments put the number of deaths at up to two thousand. On Hitler's orders, around 30,000 Jewish men were arrested and sent to concentration camps by 16 November. As many as 2,500 of these people died in the following months. It was at this point that
5332-540: The SD diamond on the lower left sleeve. The SS was closely associated with Nazi Germany's concentration camp system. On 26 June 1933, Himmler appointed SS- Oberführer Theodor Eicke as commandant of Dachau concentration camp , one of the first Nazi concentration camps. It was created to consolidate the many small camps that had been set up by various police agencies and the Nazi Party to house political prisoners. The organisational structure Eicke instituted at Dachau stood as
5456-486: The SS and SD to work on developing additional anti-partisan tactics and launched a propaganda campaign. Sometime in June 1943, Himmler issued the Bandenbekämpfung (bandit fighting) order, simultaneously announcing the existence of the Bandenkampfverbände (bandit fighting formations), with SS-Obergruppenführer Erich von dem Bach-Zelewski as its chief. Employing troops primarily from the SS police and Waffen-SS ,
5580-577: The SS answered only to Hitler, the de facto merger of the SS and the police made the police independent of Frick's control. In September 1939, the security and police agencies, including the Sicherheitspolizei (SiPo; security police) and SD (but not the Orpo), were consolidated into the Reich Security Main Office (RSHA), headed by Heydrich. This further increased the collective authority of
5704-617: The SS became answerable only to Hitler, a development typical of the organisational structure of the entire Nazi regime, where legal norms were replaced by actions undertaken under the Führerprinzip (leader principle), where Hitler's will was considered to be above the law. In the latter half of 1934, Himmler oversaw the creation of SS-Junkerschule , institutions where SS officer candidates received leadership training, political and ideological indoctrination, and military instruction. The training stressed ruthlessness and toughness as part of
5828-527: The SS grew in size and importance, so too did Hitler's personal protection forces. Three main SS groups were assigned to protect Hitler. In 1933, his larger personal bodyguard unit (previously the 1st SS-Standarte ) was called to Berlin to replace the Army Chancellery Guard, assigned to protect the Chancellor of Germany . Sepp Dietrich commanded the new unit, previously known as SS-Stabswache Berlin;
5952-406: The SS men did not meet the criteria. Inducements such as higher salaries and larger homes were provided to members of the SS since they were expected to produce more children than the average German family as part of their commitment to Nazi Party doctrine. Commitment to SS ideology was emphasised throughout the recruitment, membership process, and training. Members of the SS were indoctrinated in
6076-402: The SS state began in earnest its campaign of terror against political and religious opponents, who they imprisoned without trial or judicial oversight for the sake of "security, re-education, or prevention". In September 1939, the authority of the SS expanded further when the senior SS officer in each military district also became its chief of police. Most of these SS and police leaders held
6200-499: The SS value system, which helped foster a sense of superiority among the men and taught them self-confidence. The first schools were established at Bad Tölz and Braunschweig , with additional schools opening at Klagenfurt and Prague during the war. The SS was regarded as the Nazi Party's elite unit. In keeping with the racial policy of Nazi Germany , in the early days all SS officer candidates had to provide proof of Aryan ancestry back to 1750 and for other ranks to 1800. Once
6324-633: The SS-TV, and the SS Cavalry Brigade moved into the Soviet Union behind the advancing armies. At first, they fought Soviet partisans , but by the autumn of 1941, they left the anti-partisan role to other units and actively took part in the Holocaust. While assisting the Einsatzgruppen , they formed firing parties that participated in the liquidation of the Jewish population of the Soviet Union. On 31 July 1941, Göring gave Heydrich written authorisation to ensure
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#17328490881006448-489: The SS. During Kristallnacht (9–10 November 1938), SS security services clandestinely coordinated violence against Jews as the SS, Gestapo, SD, Kripo, SiPo, and regular police did what they could to ensure that while Jewish synagogues and community centres were destroyed, Jewish-owned businesses and housing remained intact so that they could later be seized. In the end, thousands of Jewish businesses, homes, and graveyards were vandalised and looted, particularly by members of
6572-594: The West to refit and were converted to Panzergrenadier divisions. The SS-Panzer Corps returned to the Soviet Union in 1943 and participated in the Third Battle of Kharkov in February and March. The SS was built on a culture of violence, which was exhibited in its most extreme form by the mass murder of civilians and prisoners of war on the Eastern Front . Augmented by personnel from the Kripo, Orpo (Order Police), and Waffen-SS ,
6696-421: The action. To conduct this disposal, Hößler, along with Rudolf Höß and Walter Dejaco , had previously visited the Chelmno extermination camp on 16 September 1942 to observe tests conducted by Paul Blobel . At the same time Hößler worked as before in the old crematorium at the main camp Auschwitz I, including gassings in the bunkers. Johann Kremer , SS camp doctor from 30 August to 17 November 1942, recorded
6820-439: The appointment of Hans Frank as Governor-General on 26 October 1939. On 10 May 1940, Hitler launched the Battle of France , a major offensive against France and the Low Countries . The SS supplied two of the 89 divisions employed. The LSSAH and elements of the SS-VT participated in the ground invasion of the Netherlands . Simultaneously, airborne troops were dropped to capture key Dutch airfields, bridges, and railways. In
6944-403: The army. After the invasion, Hitler entrusted the SS with extermination actions codenamed Operation Tannenberg and AB-Aktion to remove potential leaders who could form a resistance to German occupation. The murders were committed by Einsatzgruppen (task forces; deployment groups), assisted by local paramilitary groups. Men for the Einsatzgruppen units were drawn from the SS, the SD, and
7068-416: The authority to kill anyone at their discretion. Following Operation Barbarossa, these Einsatzgruppen units, together with the Waffen-SS and Order Police as well as with assistance from the Wehrmacht , engaged in the mass murder of the Jewish population in occupied eastern Poland and the Soviet Union. The greatest extent of Einsatzgruppen action occurred in 1941 and 1942 in Ukraine and Russia. Before
7192-418: The camp, Emilie Neu, recalled Mandl during this time and how "at Lichtenburg she began to beat people" often wielding the stick at public punishments in front of all the women inmates. On 15 May 1939, along with other guards and prisoners, Mandl was sent to the newly opened Ravensbrück concentration camp near Berlin . She soon impressed her superiors and, after she had joined the Nazi Party on 1 April 1941,
7316-467: The camps, partly based on manpower needs, but also to provide easier assignments to wounded Waffen-SS members. This rotation of personnel meant that nearly the entire SS knew what was going on inside the concentration camps, making the entire organisation liable for war crimes and crimes against humanity . Franz H%C3%B6ssler Franz Hößler , also Franz Hössler ( German: [ˈfʁants ˈhœslɐ] ; 4 February 1906 – 13 December 1945)
7440-575: The cell next to Maria Mandl and Therese Brandl . Rachwałowa was proficient enough in German to interpret for the wardens. She stated that the last time she and the two German war criminals met – after they had been sentenced to death and shortly before their executions took place – both had asked her for forgiveness. Mandl was hanged on 24 January 1948. Other sources Schutzstaffel The Schutzstaffel ( German: [ˈʃʊtsˌʃtafl̩] ; lit. ' Protection Squadron ' ; SS ; also stylised with Armanen runes as ᛋᛋ )
7564-430: The child onto a still empty car so that the child got wounded in the face and began to cry and call me, but I was put aside to the group that wasn't loaded onto the cars. When I tried to reach the child, crying on the car, Mandl began to beat me so cruelly that I fell. Mandl continued to kick me although I was lying on the ground, and she knocked out almost all of my teeth with her shoe." Sala Feder's account continues with
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#17328490881007688-401: The children and defend them, Mandl would beat the mothers horribly and kick them. I saw – right next to me – a young, 20-year-old mother, who tried to go near her two-year-old child thrown onto the car, and Mandl kicked and beat her so cruelly that she didn't get up any more. [...] I held my four-year-old child by the hand. The defendant Mandl approached me, tore my child away from me and threw
7812-439: The command of the SS-Wirtschafts-Verwaltungshauptamt ( SS Main Economic and Administrative Office ; WVHA) under Oswald Pohl . Richard Glücks served as the Inspector of Concentration Camps , which in 1942 became office "D" under the WVHA. Exploitation and extermination became a balancing act as the military situation deteriorated. The labour needs of the war economy, especially for skilled workers, meant that some Jews escaped
7936-401: The cooperation of administrative leaders of various government departments to undertake genocide of the Jews in territories under German control. Heydrich was instrumental in carrying out these exterminations, as the Gestapo was ready to organise deportations in the West and his Einsatzgruppen were already conducting extensive murder operations in the East. On 20 January 1942, Heydrich chaired
8060-517: The daughter of a master shoemaker named Franz Mandl and his wife Anna. She had three elder siblings and the family were members of the local Turnverin sports club. She attended school until she was 14 and left without achieving an exit certificate, and then spent 3 years attending a convent school in the Bavarian community of Neuhaus am Inn . She struggled to find work in her hometown so at 17 moved to Brig , Valais, Switzerland, where she worked for 13 months before returning home to Austria and working in
8184-507: The detection of actual or potential enemies of the Nazi state, the neutralisation of any opposition, policing the German people for their commitment to Nazi ideology , and providing domestic and foreign intelligence. The SS was the organisation most responsible for the genocidal murder of an estimated 5.5 to 6 million Jews and millions of other victims during the Holocaust . Members of all of its branches committed war crimes and crimes against humanity during World War II (1939–45). The SS
8308-402: The enlistment of "people perceived to be of related stock", as Himmler put it, to expand the ranks. Danes, Dutch, Norwegians, Swedes, and Finns volunteered to fight in the Waffen-SS under the command of German officers. They were brought together to form the new division SS-Wiking . In January 1941, the SS-Verfügungs Division was renamed SS-Reich Division (Motorised), and was renamed as
8432-400: The euthanasia center at Sonnenstein Castle , where they were murdered as part of the Action 14f13 program. In June 1942, Hößler, together with Otto Moll and Hans Aumeier , participated in killing 168 survivors of a failed uprising in the punishment section of Auschwitz I. For a few months during 1942 he was also responsible for the construction of a holiday resort for the SS in Żywiec ,
8556-415: The five-day campaign, the LSSAH linked up with army units and airborne troops after several clashes with Dutch defenders. SS troops did not take part in the thrust through the Ardennes and the river Meuse . Instead, the SS-Totenkopf was summoned from the army reserve to fight in support of Generalmajor Erwin Rommel 's 7th Panzer Division as they advanced toward the English Channel . On 21 May,
8680-434: The gas chambers and crematoria before being murdered themselves. On Himmler's orders, by early 1942 the concentration camp at Auschwitz was greatly expanded to include the addition of gas chambers, where victims were killed using the pesticide Zyklon B . For administrative reasons, all concentration camp guards and administrative staff became full members of the Waffen-SS in 1942. The concentration camps were placed under
8804-491: The gate into Birkenau waiting for an inmate to turn and look at her: any who did were taken out of the lines and never heard from again. At Auschwitz, Mandl was known as "The Beast", and for the next two years she participated in selections for death, amongst and other documented abuses. She signed inmate lists, sending an estimated half a million women and children to their deaths in the gas chambers at Auschwitz I and II. Alongside Hauptsturmfuhrer Franz Hössler , Mandl created
8928-554: The genocide. On 30 October 1942, due to severe labour shortages in Germany, Himmler ordered that large numbers of able-bodied people in Nazi-occupied Soviet territories be taken prisoner and sent to Germany as forced labour . By 1944, the SS-TV had been organised into three divisions: staff of the concentration camps in Germany and Austria, in the occupied territories, and of the extermination camps in Poland. By 1944, it became standard practice to rotate SS members in and out of
9052-480: The heart of Europe, will the Jewish-Bolshevik revolution of subhumans be able to be kindled either from within or through emissaries from without. The SS ideology included the application of brutality and terror as a solution to military and political issues. The SS stressed total loyalty and obedience to orders unto death. Hitler used this as a powerful tool to further his aims and those of the Nazi Party. The SS
9176-437: The hook]. When you've had your bath there will be a bowl of soup and coffee or tea for all. Oh yes, before I forget, after your bath, please have ready your certificates, diplomas, school reports and any other documents so that we can employ everybody according to his or her training and ability. Would diabetics who are not allowed sugar report to staff on duty after their baths. SS - Obersturmführer Franz Hössler For
9300-510: The impending action; this was done so they could coordinate and control access to the execution grounds. Initially, the victims were shot, but this method proved impracticable for an operation of this scale. Also, after Himmler observed the shooting of 100 Jews at Minsk in August 1941, he grew concerned about the impact such actions were having on the mental health of his SS men. He decided that alternate methods of murder should be found, which led to
9424-419: The introduction of gas vans . However, these were not popular with the men, as they regarded removing the dead bodies from the van and burying them to have been unpleasant. Prisoners or auxiliaries were often assigned to do this task so as to spare the SS men the trauma. In response to the army's difficulties in dealing with Soviet partisans, Hitler decided in July 1942 to transfer anti-partisan operations to
9548-430: The invasion there were five million registered Jews throughout the Soviet Union, with three million of those residing in the territories occupied by the Germans; by the time the war ended, over two million of these had been murdered. The extermination activities of the Einsatzgruppen generally followed a standard procedure, with the Einsatzgruppen chief contacting the nearest Wehrmacht unit commander to inform him of
9672-636: The local post office. As Hitler rose to power, her father was outspoken and critical of Nazism. After the Anschluss by Nazi Germany , Mandl moved to Munich , and lived with her uncle who was a Police constable in the German city. On 15 October 1938 she joined the camp staff at Lichtenburg , an early Nazi concentration camp in the Province of Saxony , for female prisoners. She was employed as an Aufseherin , and worked with fifty other SS women, including Emma Zimmer , under Commandant Max Koegel . A survivor of
9796-463: The model for all later concentration camps. After 1934, Eicke was named commander of the SS-Totenkopfverbände (SS-TV), the SS formation responsible for running the concentration camps under the authority of the SS and Himmler. Known as the "Death's Head Units", the SS-TV was first organised as several battalions, each based at one of Germany's major concentration camps. Leadership at the camps
9920-472: The name was changed to SS-Sonderkommando Berlin . In November 1933, the name was changed to Leibstandarte Adolf Hitler . In April 1934, Himmler modified the name to Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler (LSSAH). The LSSAH guarded Hitler's private residences and offices, providing an outer ring of protection for the Führer and his visitors. LSSAH men manned sentry posts at the entrances to the old Reich Chancellery and
10044-467: The need to control occupied territories provided the conditions for Himmler to further consolidate the police and military organs of the SS. Rapid acquisition of vast territories in the East placed considerable strain on the SS police organisations as they struggled to adjust to the changing security challenges. The 1st and 2nd SS Infantry Brigades, which had been formed from surplus concentration camp guards of
10168-560: The new Reich Chancellery. The number of LSSAH guards was increased during special events. At the Berghof , Hitler's residence in the Obersalzberg , a large contingent of the LSSAH patrolled an extensive cordoned security zone. From 1941 forward, the Leibstandarte became four distinct entities, the Waffen-SS division (unconnected to Hitler's protection but a formation of the Waffen-SS ),
10292-642: The night of 27 September, they were transported to the crematorium. For the period of these seven days, we heard horrible screams and groans issuing from that block, and when the women were taken to the crematorium, the block elder, a Slovakian woman named Cyla (who had already been tried in Czechoslovakia), told us that after those seven days there were more corpses than living people in that block, and that almost all of them had bitten fingers and breasts and plucked out eyes. During these seven days, if any prisoner wanted to carry water or some food to that block, she
10416-620: The outbreak of World War II, the SS had consolidated into its final form, which comprised three main organisations: the Allgemeine SS , SS-Totenkopfverbände , and the Waffen-SS , which was founded in 1934 as the SS-Verfügungstruppe (SS-VT) and renamed in 1940. The Waffen-SS evolved into a second German army alongside the Wehrmacht and operated in tandem with them, especially with
10540-475: The police. Some 65,000 Polish civilians, including activists, intelligentsia , scholars, teachers, actors, former officers, and others, were murdered by the end of 1939. When the army leadership registered complaints about the brutality being meted out by the Einsatzgruppen , Heydrich informed them that he was acting "in accordance with the special order of the Führer ." The first systematic mass shooting of Jews by
10664-444: The police. This placed the matter under Himmler's purview. As Hitler had ordered on 8 July 1941 that all Jews were to be regarded as partisans, the term "anti-partisan operations" was used as a euphemism for the murder of Jews as well as actual combat against resistance elements. In July 1942 Himmler ordered that the term "partisan" should no longer be used; instead resisters to Nazi rule would be described as "bandits". Himmler set
10788-607: The populations of the conquered territories, seizing their assets and deporting them to concentration camps and ghettos , where they were used as slave labour or immediately murdered. Chosen to implement the Final Solution ordered by Hitler, the SS were the main group responsible for the institutional murder and democide of more than 20 million people during the Holocaust, including approximately 5.2 million to 6 million Jews and 10.5 million Slavs . A significant number of victims were members of other racial or ethnic groups such as
10912-500: The position of Reichsführer-SS in January 1929. There are differing accounts of the reason for Heiden's dismissal from his position as head of the SS. The party announced that it was for "family reasons". Under Himmler, the SS expanded and gained a larger foothold. He considered the SS an elite, ideologically driven National Socialist organisation, a "conflation of Teutonic knights , the Jesuits , and Japanese Samurai ". His ultimate aim
11036-487: The prospect of better food and care, for a newly opened camp brothel at the Auschwitz I main camp. He was then promoted to the senior role of Schutzhaftlagerführer at the Auschwitz-Birkenau women's camp in August 1943, which he directed together with Oberaufseherin Maria Mandl . In this role he participated in selections and gassings. He succeeded Paul Heinrich Theodor Müller in this capacity. Filip Müller , one of
11160-434: The purge. The SS became an elite corps of the Nazi Party, answerable only to Hitler. Himmler's title of Reichsführer-SS now became his actual rank – and the highest rank in the SS, equivalent to the rank of field marshal in the army (his previous rank was Obergruppenführer ). As Himmler's position and authority grew, so in effect did his rank. On 17 June 1936, all police forces throughout Germany were united under
11284-474: The purview of Himmler and the SS. Himmler and Heydrich thus became two of the most powerful men in the country's administration. Police and intelligence forces brought under their administrative control included the SD, Gestapo, Kriminalpolizei (Kripo; criminal investigative police), and Ordnungspolizei (Orpo; regular uniformed police). In his capacity as police chief, Himmler was nominally subordinate to Interior Minister Wilhelm Frick . In practice, since
11408-456: The racial policy of Nazi Germany and were taught that it was necessary to remove from Germany people deemed by that policy as inferior. Esoteric rituals and the awarding of regalia and insignia for milestones in the SS man's career suffused SS members even further with Nazi ideology. Members were expected to renounce their Christian faith, and Christmas was replaced with a solstice celebration . Church weddings were replaced with SS Eheweihen ,
11532-451: The railhead for transfer to the still-functioning Bergen-Belsen concentration camp . The prisoners were then led on a death march for the last stage of their journey. On 8 April 1945, Hößler arrived with his transport at Bergen-Belsen and became deputy camp commander under Josef Kramer . There he directly shot prisoners until the liberation of the camp, crimes for which he would be eventually arrested and tried. On 15 April 1945, Hößler
11656-460: The rank of SS- Gruppenführer or above and answered directly to Himmler in all SS matters within their district. Their role was to police the population and oversee the activities of the SS men within their district. By declaring an emergency, they could bypass the district administrative offices for the SS, SD, SiPo, SS-Totenkopfverbände (SS-TV; concentration camp guards), and Orpo, thereby gaining direct operational control of these groups. As
11780-510: The so-called " Solahütte ". After Auschwitz-Birkenau was formally expanded into an extermination camp in 1942, Hößler took on various commands there. From September to November 1942, a brigade composed of prisoners called Sonderkommando Hößler exhumed 107,000 corpses from mass graves around Auschwitz I in order to burn them in the new Auschwitz II crematoria. The prisoners of the Sonderkommando were then almost invariably murdered after
11904-538: The use of carbon monoxide gas from automobile engines. During Operation Reinhard , run by officers from the Totenkopfverbände , who were sworn to secrecy, three extermination camps were built in occupied Poland: Bełżec (operational by March 1942), Sobibór (operational by May 1942), and Treblinka (operational by July 1942), with squads of Trawniki men (Eastern European collaborators) overseeing hundreds of Sonderkommando prisoners, who were forced to work in
12028-537: The vanguard accepted the surrender of the city on 13 April. A few days later Yugoslavia surrendered. SS police units immediately began taking hostages and carrying out reprisals, a practice that became common. In some cases, they were joined by the Wehrmacht . Similar to Poland, the war policies of the Nazis in the Balkans resulted in brutal occupation and racist mass murder. Serbia became the second country (after Estonia ) declared Judenfrei (free of Jews). In Greece,
12152-469: The very few Sonderkommando members who survived Auschwitz , paraphrased Hößler's speech given to trick a group of Greek Jews in the undressing room at the portals of the gas chambers: On behalf of the camp administration I bid you welcome. This is not a holiday resort but a labor camp. Just as our soldiers risk their lives at the front to gain victory for the Third Reich , you will have to work here for
12276-503: The war started and it became more difficult to confirm ancestry, the regulation was amended to proving only the candidate's grandparents were Aryan, as spelled out in the Nuremberg Laws . Other requirements were complete obedience to the Führer and a commitment to the German people and nation. Himmler also tried to institute physical criteria based on appearance and height, but these requirements were only loosely enforced, and over half
12400-400: The war, hundreds of camps of varying size and function had been created, holding nearly 715,000 people, most of whom were targeted by the regime because of their race. The concentration camp population rose in tandem with the defeats suffered by the Nazi regime; the worse the catastrophe seemed, the greater the fear of subversion, prompting the SS to intensify their repression and terror. By
12524-412: The welfare of a new Europe. How you tackle this task is entirely up to you. The chance is there for every one of you. We shall look after your health, and we shall also offer you well-paid work. After the war we shall assess everyone according to his merits and treat him accordingly. Now, would you please all get undressed. Hang your clothes on the hooks we have provided and please remember your number [of
12648-498: The whole group into a single bunker. This he achieved up to a last man who could not be crammed further into the bunker. Hoßler shot this man with a revolver. This is the reason why I wrote in the diary: "Gruesome scene before the last bunker! (Hößler!)". Johann Kremer , SS KZ-Arzt, in testimony at the Auschwitz trial , 18 July 1947 By the middle of 1943, Hößler became involved in recruiting so-called " Aryan " prison women, with
12772-523: Was a Nazi German SS - Obersturmführer and Schutzhaftlagerführer at the Auschwitz-Birkenau , Dora-Mittelbau and Bergen-Belsen concentration camps during World War II . Captured by the Allies at the end of the war, Hößler was charged with war crimes in the First Bergen-Belsen Trial , found guilty, and sentenced to death. He was executed by hanging at Hameln Prison in 1945. Hößler
12896-531: Was a major paramilitary organisation under Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party in Nazi Germany , and later throughout German-occupied Europe during World War II . It began with a small guard unit known as the Saal-Schutz ("Hall Security") made up of party volunteers to provide security for party meetings in Munich . In 1925, Heinrich Himmler joined the unit, which had by then been reformed and given its final name. Under his direction (1929–1945) it grew from
13020-621: Was a protection unit founded by Himmler in March 1933. Originally it was only charged with protecting Hitler while he was inside the borders of Bavaria . In early 1934, they replaced the SS-Begleitkommando for Hitler's protection throughout Germany. The FSK was renamed the Reichssicherheitsdienst (Reich Security Service; RSD) in August 1935. Johann Rattenhuber , chief of the RSD, for the most part, took his orders directly from Hitler. The current FBK chief acted as his deputy. Wherever Hitler
13144-568: Was absolute. The only man Mandl reported to was the commandant. She was well regarded by Höß , who in March 1944 arranged for her to have a 100 Reichsmark bonus in addition to her monthly pay. Mandl additionally controlled all the female Auschwitz camps and female subcamps including Hindenburg , Lichtewerden and Raisko . Mandl promoted Irma Grese to head of the Hungarian women's camp at Birkenau and appointed Therese Brandl as her private secretary. According to some accounts, Mandl often stood at
13268-557: Was also involved in commercial enterprises and exploited concentration camp inmates as slave labour . After Nazi Germany's defeat, the SS and the Nazi Party were judged by the International Military Tribunal at Nuremberg to be criminal organisations. Ernst Kaltenbrunner , the highest-ranking surviving SS main department chief, was found guilty of crimes against humanity at the Nuremberg trials and hanged in 1946. By 1923,
13392-585: Was arrested by the United States Army on 10 August 1945. Interrogations reportedly revealed her to be highly intelligent and dedicated to her work in the camps. For some time, Mandl was held in a cell in the former Dachau camp. She was filmed by U.S. soldiers in May 1946 sharing a cell with Elisabeth Ruppert . Upon their request, U.S. officials transferred Mandl to Polish custody in November 1946. In November 1947, Mandl
13516-407: Was arrested there and perished along with the rest. The above-described selection was carried by the defendant Mandl in person, with the help from kapos: Stenia, Leo and Maria, all of them cruel and used to torturing the prisoners in a horrible manner." After the war, Mandl fled to her native Münzkirchen but her father refused to help her hide. Mandl then sought her sister for refuge. However, Mandl
13640-615: Was awarded the War Merit Cross 2nd class. In November 1944, she was assigned to the Mühldorf subcamp of Dachau concentration camp and Elisabeth Volkenrath became head of Auschwitz, which were liberated in late January 1945. In May 1945, Mandl fled from Mühldorf into the mountains of southern Bavaria to her birthplace, Münzkirchen . The following is a first-hand account of Mandl's treatment of prisoners upon arrival to Auschwitz, provided by Jewish Prisoner Sala Feder on 1 December 1947 to
13764-685: Was born in 1906 in Oberdorf a village in the municipialty of Martinszell im Allgäu, in the Schwabenland of the German Empire . The son of a foreman , he quit school early to become a photographer . Later employed as a warehouse worker, he was unemployed during the Great Depression of the 1930s. He joined the Nazi Party in early November 1932 (member no. 1,374,713) and the SS (member no. 41,940). Hößler
13888-423: Was considered more dynamic than his predecessor but became increasingly frustrated by the authority the SA had over the SS. This led to him transferring leadership of the SS to his deputy, Erhard Heiden , on 1 March 1927. Under Heiden's leadership, a stricter code of discipline was enforced than would have been tolerated in the SA. Between 1925 and 1929, the SS was considered to be a small Gruppe (battalion) of
14012-583: Was designated the Stabswache (Staff Guard). Originally the unit was composed of eight men, commanded by Julius Schreck and Joseph Berchtold , and was modelled after the Erhardt Naval Brigade , a Freikorps of the time. The unit was renamed Stoßtrupp (Shock Troops) in May 1923. The Stoßtrupp was abolished after the failed 1923 Beer Hall Putsch , an attempt by the Nazi Party to seize power in Munich. In 1925, Hitler ordered Schreck to organise
14136-403: Was divided into five departments: commander and adjutant, political affairs division, protective custody, administration, and medical personnel. By 1935, Himmler secured Hitler's approval and the finances necessary to establish and operate additional camps. Six concentration camps housing 21,400 inmates (mostly political prisoners) existed at the start of the war in September 1939. By the end of
14260-422: Was elevated to the rank of a SS-Oberaufseherin in April 1942. She oversaw daily roll calls, assignments for Aufseherinnen and punishments such as beatings and floggings . Maria Bielicka, a survivor, testified after the war that she saw Mandl kick a woman to death during a roll-call at Ravensbrück. At Ravensbrück she was also responsible for the training of new recruits, with Hermine Braunsteiner , later known at
14384-431: Was entrusted with the commission of war crimes such as the murder of Jewish civilians. Himmler once wrote that an SS man "hesitates not for a single instant, but executes unquestioningly..." any Führer-Befehl ( Führer order). Their official motto was " Meine Ehre heißt Treue " (My Honour is Loyalty). As part of its race-centric functions during World War II, the SS oversaw the isolation and displacement of Jews from
14508-540: Was found hiding among the prisoners in camouflaged clothing and was detained with the remaining SS staff by a unit of the British Army . The SS detainees were then forced to bury thousands of corpses lying around on the camp grounds in mass graves. Hössler and 44 other camp staff were tried in the Belsen Trial by a British military court at Lüneburg . The trial lasted several weeks from September to November 1945. During
14632-413: Was in residence, members of the RSD and FBK would be present. RSD men patrolled the grounds and FBK men provided close security protection inside. The RSD and FBK worked together for security and personal protection during Hitler's trips and public events, but they operated as two groups and used separate vehicles. By March 1938, both units wore the standard field grey uniform of the SS. The RSD uniform had
14756-454: Was married and had three children. During his time in the SS, Hößler rose to the rank of SS - Obersturmführer and became a reserve officer in the Waffen-SS . After the establishment of the Dachau concentration camp in July 1933, he became the first member of the guard staff and worked later as a cook . He served at Dachau until after the outbreak of World War II . In June 1940, Hößler
14880-575: Was responsible for enforcing the racial policy of Nazi Germany and general policing, whereas the Waffen-SS consisted of the combat units of the SS, with a sworn allegiance to Hitler. A third component of the SS, the SS-Totenkopfverbände (SS-TV; " Death's Head Units" ), ran the concentration camps and extermination camps . Additional subdivisions of the SS included the Gestapo and the Sicherheitsdienst (SD) organisations. They were tasked with
15004-608: Was securing agricultural and forestry resources. The SS oversaw the collection of the harvest, which was deemed critical to strategic operations. Any Jews in the area were rounded up and killed. Communists and people of Asiatic descent were killed presumptively under the assumption that they were Soviet agents. After the start of the war, Himmler intensified the activity of the SS within Germany and in Nazi-occupied Europe. Increasing numbers of Jews and German citizens deemed politically suspect or social outsiders were arrested. As
15128-561: Was to turn the SS into the most powerful organisation in Germany and the most influential branch of the party. He expanded the SS to 3,000 members in his first year as its leader. In 1929, the SS-Hauptamt (main SS office) was expanded and reorganised into five main offices dealing with general administration, personnel, finance, security, and race matters. At the same time, the SS-Gaue were divided into three SS-Oberführerbereiche areas, namely
15252-411: Was transferred to the newly opened Auschwitz I concentration camp as it received the first mass transports . He managed the camp kitchens and was occasionally used as a subcamp supervisor ( German : Kommandoführer ). He then became a Work Service Leader ( German : Arbeitsdienstführer ) at the camp in early 1941. On 28 July 1941, Hößler accompanied a shipment of 575 selected Auschwitz I inmates to
15376-468: Was tried by the Supreme National Tribunal in the Auschwitz trial , found guilty of crimes against humanity, and sentenced to death by hanging . Stanisława Rachwałowa [ pl ] (a Polish survivor of Auschwitz who was an inmate under Mandl's administration and, after the war, was arrested by Poland's post-war communist authorities as an "anti-communist activist") was imprisoned in
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