Fritz Klein

Fritz Klein (24 November, 1888 – 13 December, 1945) was a German physician hanged for his role in atrocities at Bergen-Belsen concentration camp during The Holocaust.

Klein was born in Romania, where he was a member of the German minority. He studied medicine and completed his military service in Romania, finishing his studies in Budapest after World War I. He lived as a doctor in Siebenbürgen (Transylvania), becoming a member of the Nazi Party very early. In May 1943 he joined the Waffen-SS and was posted to Yugoslavia.

On 15 December 1943, he arrived in Auschwitz concentration camp, where he at first served as a camp doctor in the women’s camp in Birkenau. Subsequently he worked as a camp doctor in the Gypsy camp. He also participated in numerous selections on the ramp. In December 1944 he was transferred to Neuengamme concentration camp, from where he was sent to Bergen-Belsen concentration camp in January 1945.

When asked how he reconciled his actions with his ethical obligations as a physician, Klein famously stated:

"My Hippocratic oath tells me to cut a gangrenous appendix out of the human body. The Jews are the gangrenous appendix of mankind. That's why I cut them out."

References

• The Belsen Trial via scrapbookpages.com
• Brueggemann, Rudy (2001). Mad Science And Criminal Medicine