Peter Voss
Peter Voss,sometimes misspelled asFoss,[1]VostorVast[2](December 18, 1897 – 1976), was anSS-Oberscharführer,known for his role as a commander of the crematoria and gas chambers atAuschwitz-Birkenau,[3]buildings which were used to gas and burn some 900,000 of the 1.1 million people that were murdered at Auschwitz-Birkenau inNazi-occupied Poland.[4]
Life
[edit]Voss was born inFlensburg,Germany.During the spring and early summer of 1943, the four crematoria at Auschwitz-Birkenau became operational.[5]It was this time that Voss became their commander, thus becoming the first of three people who would be in charge of all four Birkenau crematoria during the history of the camp. Subsequent commanders were SS-OberscharführerEric Muhsfeldtand SS-HauptscharführerOtto Moll.
Voss is frequently mentioned in the memoirs ofSonderkommandomemberFilip Müller.Müller described him as a stocky man of medium height, with a small, slightly hooked nose and a weakness for alcohol, stating that he displayed "neither the fanaticism nor the zeal" ofOtto Moll.[6]Müller stated that Voss' SS training had turned him into an "uncritical and willing tool rather than a fanatically cruel exterminator", and offers the analogy that Voss has two personalities: one where he could be "high-spirited, laughing and joking and talking about trivial things", and another where he would be completely indifferent to "shooting men, women and children one after the other" when required of him.[7]
Müller disclosed that another of Voss' weaknesses was valuables such as gold, diamonds, and currency: these could be sewn into discreet places in his uniform under the pretence that if he left it with a tailor from theSonderkommandowhile he was on leave, it would be repaired.[7]According to Müller, Voss knew what was going on, but such behaviour was common among SS men: they were willing to turn a blind eye as long as there was no risk to themselves.[7]
Hungarian action
[edit]Voss' tenure ended on May 9, 1944, when SS-ObersturmbannführerRudolf Höss,beginning his second tour of duty as camp commandant, appointed Otto Moll as chief of the crematoria in preparation for the arrival and destruction of the Jews ofHungary.[8]Voss was placed in charge of Crematoria IV and V.[9]
He died in 1976.[10]
References
[edit]- ^Bezwińska, Jadwiga; Czech, Danuta (1973).Amidst A Nightmare of Crime.Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum. pp. 51–52.
- ^Memorial de La Shoah (2006).Des voix sous la cendre: manuscrits des Sonderkommandos d'Auschwitz-Birkenau.Librairie générale française.p. 185.ISBN978-2-253-11525-0.
- ^Dębski, Jerzy;Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum(1995).Death Books from Auschwitz: Remnants.K. G. Saur Verlag.Original from theUniversity of Michigan Press.p. 277.ISBN978-3-598-11262-1.
- ^Paulsson, Steve (January 1, 2003)."A View of the Holocaust: Industrial killing: Auschwitz-Birkenau".BBC.Retrieved2011-07-07.
- ^Piper, Franciszek (1994). "Gas Chambers and Crematoria".Anatomy of the Auschwitz Death Camp.Indiana University Press.p.165.ISBN978-0-253-32684-3.
- ^Müller, Filip (1999).Eyewitness Auschwitz: three years in the gas chambers.Ivan R. Dee.pp.127.ISBN978-1-56663-271-3.
- ^abcMüller (1999), p. 128
- ^White, Joseph Robert (2002). "Target Auschwitz: Historical and Hypothetical German Responses to Allied Attack".Holocaust and Genocide Studies.16:54–76.doi:10.1093/hgs/16.1.54.
- ^Bezwińska, Jadwiga; Zbigniew, Bezwińsk; Höss, Rudolf (1991).KL Auschwitz seen by the SS.Interpress Publishers. Original fromPenn State University Press.p. 137.
- ^"David Olère".Partie V: Autour des crématoires.Sonderkommando.Retrieved2012-05-11.