Walter Heinrich
Walter Heinrich | |
|---|---|
 SS-ObersturmführerWalter Heinrich | |
| SS-Obersturmführer | |
| In office June 1941 – 12 May 1945 | |
| Succeeded by | Office abolished |
| SS member | |
| In office 1933 – 12 May 1945 | |
| Succeeded by | Office abolished |
| Gestapo | |
| In office 1939 – 12 May 1945 | |
| Succeeded by | Office abolished |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 2 January 1910 Myslowitz,Silesia |
| Died | unknown, missing since February 1945 |
| Nationality | German |
| Political party | Nazi Party(NSDAP) |
| SS service | |
| Nickname(s) | "Knipperoog" ( "Blinking Eye" ) |
| Allegiance |  Nazi Germany |
| Service/ |  Schutzstaffel |
| Years of service | 1933–1945 |
| Rank |  SS-Obersturmführer |
| Unit | SS-Wachbataillon Nordwest,first company in charge ofKamp Amersfoortconcentration camp |
| Commands held | Kamp Amersfoort |
| Battles/wars | World War II |
Walter Heinrich(Myslowitz,German Empire,2 January 1910 – unknown, missing since February 1945) was aGermanSS-Obersturmführer.As such, from August 1941 to 1 March 1943, he was in charge ofKamp Amersfoortconcentration campasLagerkommandant.
Heinrich, son of atrain driver,was born on 2 January 1910 inMyslowitz,a town inSilesia,Germany,that after thereferendum of 1921came to be inPoland.Heinrich's family then left for German territory. From 1928 he worked as a municipal official inOppeln.After theassumption of power from Hitler,in 1933, Heinrich became a member of theNSDAPand theSS.In January 1939 he got a job with theGestapo.He took part in theInvasion of Polandand was transferred to theReichssicherheitshauptamtinBerlin.
In 1941 Heinrich arrived in theNetherlands,where as a 31-year-oldUntersturmführerhe became the first commander ofKamp Amersfoortconcentration camp. Heinrich appointed twenty SS men asWachkommandoof the camp, and released two SS men from theDachau concentration campto demonstrate how the guards should deal with the prisoners. Heinrich forbade assaults when he saw them, but was often outside the camp, whereSchutzhaftlagerführerIJohann Friedrich Stövertook over the leadership. From the Memoirs of Prisoners and Post-War Official Reports it is revealed that he was a dog lover, party goer, former figure skater and scumbag. He seemed correct in his handling and his blinking eye, a nervous tic, earned him the nickname "Heinrich Knipperoog" ( "Heinrich Blinking Eye" ).[1]He organized dinners for befriended officers, for which he used pressed food that was actually intended for the prisoners.[2]Heinrich was not only responsible for the many abuses in Amersfoort concentration camp, but also took an active part in theexecutionof 77Soviet prisoners of waron 9 April 1944.
During Heinrich's time as camp commander, 325 prisoners died from execution, beatings, starvation and forced labour.[3]When Heinrich left the camp on 1 March 1943, he was succeeded bySS-Schutzhaftlagerführer IIKarl Peter BergasLagerkommandant.[4]Heinrich was transferred to the Gestapo headquarters inThe Hague,where he worked as an inspector of the concentration camps on Dutch soil. Heinrich was never tried for hiswar crimes,because he disappeared without a trace in February 1945 and - despite aninternational search report- was never found.[3]According to the National Monument Kamp Amersfoort, incorrect personal data appear to have been used in his post-war investigation andextraditionrequests.[1]
His actions in the last year of theSecond World Warwere unclear for a long time. The makers of thepodcast,The Disappeared SS'er,discovered in 2022 that he left toThe Hagueon a secret assignment. Researcher Floris van Dijk of the National Monument Kamp Amersfoort and podcast maker Jordy Hubers discovered that he was going to work there for theSicherheitsdienst,thesecret serviceof theNSDAP.An internal document shows that Heinrich was given the task to select prisoners who were to be sent toNatzweiler-Struthofconcentration camp. Of the 600Dutch resistance fightersthat Heinrich selected, 300 were killed there.[3]
See also
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References
[edit]- ^ab"Huichelachtige oorlogsmisdadiger met een zenuwtic: na 75 jaar meer bekend over Amersfoortse kampcommandant".rtvutrecht.nl.5 November 2020.Retrieved11 October2022.
- ^"Walter Heinrich - Kamp Amersfoort"(in Dutch). 4 November 2020.Retrieved11 October2022.
- ^abc"'Kampcommandant Amersfoort had honderden extra doden op zijn geweten'".nos.nl.7 October 2022.Retrieved7 October2022.
- ^"Walter Heinrich - Kamp Amersfoort".Kamp Amersfoort.4 November 2020.Retrieved7 October2022.
External links
[edit]
Media related toWalter Heinrichat Wikimedia Commons- Kamp Amersfoort official website(in Dutch)
