Josef Kramer

"Joseph Kramer" redirects here. For other uses, seeJoseph Kramer (disambiguation).

Josef Kramer
Josef Kramer, inCelleawaiting trial (August 1945)
Born	(1906-11-10)10 November 1906 Munich,German Empire
Died	13 December 1945(1945-12-13)(aged 39) Hamelin Prison,Hamelin,Allied-occupied Germany
Cause of death	Execution by hanging
Other names	The Beast of Belsen
Criminal status	Executed
Motive	Nazism
Conviction(s)	War crimes
Trial	Belsen trial
Criminal penalty	Death

Josef Kramer(10 November 1906 – 13 December 1945) was aHauptsturmführerand theCommandantofAuschwitz-Birkenau(from 8 May 1944 to 25 November 1944) and of theBergen-Belsen concentration camp(from December 1944 to its liberation on 15 April 1945). DubbedThe Beast of Belsenby camp inmates, he was a GermanNazi war criminal,directly responsible for the deaths of thousands of people. He was detained by theBritish Armyafter theSecond World War,convicted ofwar crimes,andhangedon thegallowsin the prison atHamelinby British executionerAlbert Pierrepoint.

Early life

Josef Kramer, an only child, was born and raised inMunichin a middle-class family. His parents, Theodore and Maria Kramer, brought him up as a "strictRoman Catholic".In 1915, the family moved from Munich toAugsburg,where Josef Kramer attended school. He began an apprenticeship as an electrician in 1920. From 1925 to 1933, except for working in a department store and as an accountant, he was mostly unemployed.

Career

He joined theNazi Partyin 1931 and theSSin 1932. His SS training led him into work as a prison guard and, after the outbreak of war, as a concentration camp guard.

In 1934, Kramer was assigned as a guard atDachau.His promotion was rapid, obtaining senior posts atSachsenhausenandMauthausenconcentration camps. Kramer became assistant toRudolf Höss,the Commandant atAuschwitzin 1940. He accompanied Höss to inspect Auschwitz as a possible site for a new synthetic oil and rubber plant, which was a vital industry forNazi Germany,given its shortage of oil.

Natzweiler-Struthof

Kramer was named Commandant ofNatzweiler-Struthofconcentration camp in April 1941. Natzweiler-Struthof was the only concentration camp established by the Nazis on present-dayFrenchterritory, though there were French-run transit camps, such as the one atDrancy.At the time, theAlsace-Lorrainearea in which it was established had been annexed by Nazi Germany.

As commandant at Natzweiler-Struthof, Kramer personally carried out the gassings of 80 Jewish men and women,part of a group of 87 selected at Auschwitz to become anatomical specimens in a proposedJewish skull collectionto be housed at the Anatomy Institute at theReich University of Strasbourgunder the direction ofAugust Hirt.

Ultimately, the 87 inmates were transported to Natzweiler-Struthof; 46 of these individuals were originally fromThessaloniki,Greece. The deaths of 86 of these inmates were, in the words of Hirt, "induced" in an improvised gassing facility at Natzweiler-Struthof, and their corpses, 57 men and 29 women, were sent to Strasbourg. One male victim was shot as he fought to keep from being gassed.

Auschwitz

Kramer was promoted to the rank ofHauptsturmführer(Captain) in 1942 and, in May 1944, was transferred to become theLagerführer(camp commander) in charge of operations atAuschwitz II-Birkenau,the main centre used to kill inmates within the Auschwitz concentration camp complex, from 8 May 1944 to 25 November 1944.He was brought to Auschwitz to manage the gassings of new transports in May 1944, according to the Prosecution Judge Advocate at the War Crimes tribunal that convicted him of being responsible for the deaths committed at Auschwitz. There were a number of witnesses who said that he took an active part in the selection parades in that, for instance, he loaded people into the trucks and beat them when they resisted. At Auschwitz, Kramer soon became known among his subordinates as a harsh taskmaster. One of the defendants at theFrankfurt Auschwitz Trial,Dr.Franz Lucas,testified that he tried to avoid assignments given to him by Kramer by pleading stomach and intestinal disorders. When Lucas saw that his name had been added to the list of selecting physicians for a large group of inmates transferred fromHungary,he objected strenuously. Kramer reacted sharply: "I know you are being investigated for favouring prisoners. I am now ordering you to go to the ramp, and if you fail to obey an order, I shall have you arrested on the spot."

Belsen

Former guards atBergen-Belsenare made to load the bodies of dead prisoners onto a truck for burial, 17–18 April 1945

In December 1944,SS-HauptsturmführerKramer was transferred fromBirkenautoBergen Belsen,near the village of Bergen. Belsen had originally served as a temporary camp for those leaving Germany, but during the war it had been expanded to serve as a convalescent depot for the ill and displaced people from across north-west Europe. Although it had no gas chambers, Kramer's rule was so harsh that he became known as the "Beast of Belsen".

As Nazi Germany collapsed, administration of the camp broke down, but Kramer remained devoted to bureaucracy. On 1 March 1945, he filed a report asking for help and resources, stating that of the 42,000 inmates in his camp, 250–300 died each day fromtyphus.On 19 March, the number of inmates rose to 60,000 as the Germans continued to evacuate camps that were soon to be liberated by the Allies. As late as the week of 13 April, some 28,000 additional prisoners were brought in.

With the collapse of administration and many guards fleeing to escape retribution, roll calls were stopped, and the inmates were left to their own devices. Corpses rotted everywhere, andratsattacked the living too weak to fight them off. Kramer remained even when the British, led by MajorBrian Urquhart,arrived to liberate the camp, and took them on a tour of the camp to inspect the "scenes". Piles of corpses lay all over the camp, mass graves were filled in, and the huts were filled with prisoners in every stage of emaciation and disease.

Ranks and promotions in theSchutzstaffel (SS)

SS-Hauptsturmführer Josef Kramer, photographed inlegcuffsat Belsen before being removed to the POW cage at Celle, 17 April 1945.

FormerAufseherinIrma Greseand formerSS-HauptsturmführerJosef Kramer in prison inCellein August 1945

Kramer's SS-ranks in theSchutzstaffel
Date	SS Rank
5 December 1933	SS-Unterscharführer
19 September 1934	SS-Scharführer
27 April 1935	SS-Hauptscharführer
Spring 1937	SS-Untersturmführer
30 January 1939	SS-Obersturmführer
1 June 1942	SS-Hauptsturmführer

Trial and execution

Main article:Belsen Trial

Kramer was imprisoned at the prison inHamelin.Along with 44 other camp staff, Kramer was tried in theBelsen Trialby a British military court atLüneburg.The trial lasted several weeks from September to November 1945. During the trialAnita Laskertestified that Kramer had taken part inselectionsfor the gas chamber at Auschwitz.

Kramer was sentenced to death on 17 November 1945, for crimes both at Auschwitz and at Bergen-Belsen, and was hanged atHamelin PrisonbyAlbert Pierrepointon 13 December 1945, aged 39.

Sources and external links

• Straubenzee V. A. (2005).The gate of Hell,The Daily Telegraph,retrieved on December 22, 2006.
• What Was Belsen? Josef Kramer,Durham County Record Office The Learning Zone,retrieved on December 23, 2006.
• Heyd, Emmanuel; Toledano, Raphael."The Names of the 86"(in French, German, and English). Dora Films, 2014.