Ernst Damzog
Ernst Damzog | |
|---|---|
 Ernst Damzog in civilian clothing, 1935 | |
| Born | 30 October 1882 Strassburg,German Empire |
| Died | 24 July 1945 (aged 62) Halle,Allied-occupied Germany |
| Allegiance |  Nazi Germany |
| Service/ |  Schutzstaffel |
| Years of service | until 1945 |
| Rank | SS-Brigadeführer(Brigadier General) |
| Unit | SS-Totenkopfverbände |
Ernst Damzog(30 October 1882 – 24 July 1945) was a German policeman, who was a member of theSSofNazi Germanyand served in theGestapo.He was responsible for themass murderof Poles and Jews committed in the territory ofoccupied Polandduring World War II.
Invasion of Poland[edit]
In September 1939, during theinvasion of Poland,Damzog served as colonel (SS-Standartenführer) ofEinsatzgruppeV (EG V-Allenstein), deployed with the3rd Army (Wehrmacht)inReichsgau Wartheland(Warthegau), which was carved out of the Polish lands annexed by Nazi Germany. He was responsible for themass executionsof Polish citizens following the victoriousBattle of Grudziądz(Graudenz), practically eradicating the entire Jewish population ofthe town.[1]He was also in control of the execution of medical patients in order to empty state hospitals,[2]which he entrusted to his subordinate officerHerbert Lange.[3]After theannexation of western Poland,Damzog served in occupiedPoznań(Posen) as the police inspector for bothSicherheitspolizei(SiPo) andSicherheitsdienst(SD),[4]under the command of SS-ObergruppenführerWilhelm Koppesent to Posen on September 30, 1939.[5]
While in Poznań, Damzog was actively involved in the massexpulsions of PolesfromReichsgau WarthelandtoGeneral Government.He personally selected staff for the killing centre inChełmno extermination campand supervised its daily operation. The first victims there came from the local villages, and the mass killings with the use ofgas vansstarted on 8 December 1941.[6]
The murders at Chelmno were the precursor to theFinal Solution,because the idea of systematic genocide by gassing the able-bodied was not yet fully explored. Damzog is said to have related his 'experiments' to bothWilhelm KoppeandArthur Greiser.[7]
Damzog was stationed in theGauuntil 1945, and promoted to the rank of SS-Brigadeführeras well asGeneralmajorin 1944 for his swiftanti-Polishandanti-Jewishpolice actions. Damzog was transferred back to Germany ahead of the Soviet offensive. Ernst Damzog died after the war in July 1945 in Halle.
See also[edit]
- Operation Tannenbergextermination action
- Intelligenzaktiontargeting Polish elites
- German AB-Aktion in Poland,in spring and summer of 1940
References[edit]
- ^"Intelligenzaktion na Pomorzu"(Docx direct download 25 KB).2012.Chomikuj.pl.RetrievedJune 26,2012.
- ^Henry Friedlander (1997).The expanded killing program.Univ. of North Carolina Press. p. 137.ISBN9780807846759.RetrievedJune 20,2012.
{{cite book}}:|work=ignored (help) - ^Editorial board (2009–2012)."Euthanasia in the Warthegau. Introduction".Tiergartenstrasse 4 Association.RetrievedJune 25,2012.
- ^The expulsions of Poles to General Government. Gostyń.PDF file fromMuzeum.gostyn.pl,direct download.(in Polish)
- ^Catherine Epstein (2010).Ernst Damzog (inspector of Sipo and SD in Posen).Oxford University Press.ISBN978-0191613845.RetrievedJune 21,2012.
{{cite book}}:|work=ignored (help) - ^Catherine Epstein (2010).Ernst Damzog (ibidem).Oxford University Press.ISBN978-0191613845.RetrievedJune 21,2012.
{{cite book}}:|work=ignored (help) - ^Ian Kershaw (January 2011)."Improvised Genocide? The Emergence of the 'Final Solution' in the 'Warthegau'"(PDF file, direct download 1.04 MB).Transactions of the Royal Historical Society, Sixth Series, Vol. 2 (1992).Royal Historical Society. pp. 51–78.RetrievedJune 25,2012.
Further reading[edit]
- Michael Wildt:Generation des Unbedingten. Das Führungskorps des Reichssicherheitshauptamtes.Hamburger EditionHIS Verlagsgesellschaft mbH, 2002,ISBN3-930908-75-1
- Shlomo Aronson:Heydrich und die Anfänge des SD und der Gestapo.1931-1935, S. 217.
- Hansjürgen Koehler:Inside the Gestapo,1940 S. 36.