Bernhard Kuiper

Bernhard Kuiper (born August 30, 1907 in Möhlenwarf , † 1988 in Leer) was a German architect and SS-Obersturmführer . He was instrumental in the construction work for the Esterwegen concentration camp , the Sachsenhausen concentration camp , the Flossenbürg concentration camp and several camps for prisoners in the Emsland . At the end of the Second World War , he commanded the 13th SS Railway Construction Brigade (13th SS-E-BB).

Life

education

Bernhard Kuiper trained to be a cabinet maker and cabinet maker. He carried out his first independent activities in East Friesland and as a carpenter on construction sites on the round trip in Germany. He studied at the higher education institute for civil engineering in Eckernförde from 1929 to 1932. During his studies, he deepened his knowledge and skills in various places in Holland and Switzerland, also as an assistant architect. In the second half of 1932, after a short period of unemployment, he found work at the Papenburg City Building Authority . He also worked in the voluntary labor service .

Joined the NSDAP, construction planning for the Esterwegen concentration camp

In May 1933 Kuiper was employed in Papenburg as a city construction technician. In his notes, he claimed that he had worked on more than 800 construction projects, including a forty-house suburban settlement. Shortly after the National Socialists ' seizure of power , he joined the SA , which he did not like. Nonetheless, on April 1, 1933, by joining the NSDAP (membership number 1.598.891), he committed to National Socialism and wrote reports for NS newspapers.

Theodor Eicke , the inspector of the concentration camp , requested him in August 1934 for the Esterwegen concentration camp , where he was involved in the technical and commercial processing of the building projects. According to his drafts, prisoners u. a. a park with a pond, a swimming pool and a representative main gate built. The concentration camp commandant Karl Otto Koch dedicated a picture of Kuiper to him in his photo album with the inscription The camp architect in memory of how Kuiper redesigned the concentration camp in twenty months of construction since September 1, 1934. On October 15, 1934, he became a member of the SS (membership number 270.571).

Planning for the Sachsenhausen concentration camp

On June 15, 1936, he was transferred to the Columbia concentration camp , where he continued to deal with the planning for the construction of the Sachsenhausen concentration camp . Kuiper was concerned with "an aesthetic signature based on the idyllic landscape of garden architecture, which stands in striking contrast to its purpose". Eicke liked his plans so much that he was promoted to SS-Untersturmführer at his suggestion. He came to Oranienburg for the preparatory work for the Sachsenhausen concentration camp, and later he set up an office directly on the premises of the concentration camp. As a site manager, he managed business dealings with the 135 companies involved in the construction. Among other things, he was responsible for accounting for the construction project. In his résumé of October 27, 1937, he proudly wrote about his work there:

"The Sachsenhausen concentration camp is still the most modern, most beautiful and largest camp of its kind in the German Reich and I was commissioned by the Secret State Police - inspection of the concentration camps - as the head of the ICL's construction department until March 25th."

Service certificate and SD activity

Even before the completion of Kuiper's tasks in the Sachsenhausen concentration camp, tensions arose between him and SS members for reasons not yet known. As a result, the architect Robert Riedl took over the work there from November 1936 . This rift with the SS is also expressed in Eicke's brief report from April 30, 1937 about Kuiper's achievements, which Eicke only assessed as "entirely satisfactory". However, Kuipers did not think of leaving the SS, but served with the SD from May 1937 to August 1939 .

Expansion of the Flossenbürg concentration camp

From April 1, 1937 to March 1938, he found a job at the Lingen State Building Authority , where he took over the construction management for the prisoner camps in Emsland , including the Esterwegen concentration camp. Then he worked as a freelance architect in Papenburg. In 1940 he took part in the war against France . In November 1940 he became head of the main department II C 2 for the field hospitals and districts in the budget and buildings office , which was led by Oswald Pohl and was transferred to the SS economic administration main office in 1942 . On November 12, 1940, Kuiper Pohl submitted a concept for the conversion of the Flossenbürg concentration camp . His plans included a camp for the permanent accommodation of the SS death's head associations and a camp for 8,000 to 9,000 prisoners. This considerable expansion of the concentration camp was rejected by Pohl, although he considered an expansion of the concentration camp to be necessary because of the larger number of prisoners.

Generalgouvernement, Ukraine and SS railway construction brigade

From 1941 to 1942 he completed additional studies at the Technical University in Berlin without giving up his work as a construction manager for the SS. He then carried out various construction work for the Waffen SS and the German police stationed in the Generalgouvernement . On January 30, 1943, he was promoted to SS-Obersturmführer . In the same year he took over the SS construction management “ Hegewald ” in the Reichskommissariat Ukraine . In the first half of 1944 he was deployed in the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia for the building inspection there. On November 11, 1944, he was given command of the 13th SS Railway Construction Brigade, which was to be newly established and was recruited from prisoners of the Dachau concentration camp .

End of war and acquittal in denazification proceedings

After the end of the fighting in May 1945 he was taken prisoner, where he remained until August 1945. This was followed by internment in a camp until March 5, 1948. When he was asked about his knowledge of the concentration camps in the denazification process in 1948, he denied any special knowledge of the internal conditions of the camps. He also claimed that as an architect he had been forced to do the work and that he wanted to resign from the SS. He kept quiet about his command of the 13th SS-E-BB. The court in Bergedorf readily followed his remarks and acquitted him on October 29, 1948.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Wolfgang Benz , Barbara Distel (ed.): The place of terror . History of the National Socialist Concentration Camps. Volume 3: Sachsenhausen, Buchenwald. CH Beck, Munich 2006, ISBN 3-406-52963-1 , p. 168.
2. ^ ^{A b} Günter Morsch : Foundation and construction of the Sachsenhausen concentration camp . In the S. (Ed.): From Sachsenburg to Sachsenhausen. Pictures from the photo album of a concentration camp commandant . Metropol, Berlin 2007, ISBN 3-938690-36-4 , p. 95.
3. ^ Hans-Peter Klausch: perpetrator stories. The SS commanders of the early concentration camps in Emsland . Edition Temmen, Bremen 2005, ISBN 3-86108-059-1 , p. XVII (in the photo section).
4. ^ Kurt Schilde , Johannes Tuchel : Columbia House. Berlin concentration camp 1933–1936. Edition Hentrich, Berlin 1990, ISBN 3-926175-96-6 , p. 76.
5. ^ Horst Seferens: Review of the exhibition catalog From the Sachsenburg to Sachsenhausen. Pictures from the photo album of a concentration camp commandant . In: Memorial Circular Letter, No. 136, pp. 17–21.
6. ^ Günter Morsch: Founding and construction of the Sachsenhausen concentration camp . In the S. (Ed.): From Sachsenburg to Sachsenhausen. Pictures from the photo album of a concentration camp commandant . Berlin 2007, p. 96.
7. ^ Karola Fings : War, Society and KZ. Himmler's construction brigades . Schöningh, Paderborn 2005, ISBN 3-506-71334-5 , p. 327.
8. ^ Günter Morsch: Founding and construction of the Sachsenhausen concentration camp . In the S. (Ed.): From Sachsenburg to Sachsenhausen. Pictures from the photo album of a concentration camp commandant . Berlin 2007, p. 97.
9. ↑ Wolfgang Benz, Barbara Distel (ed.): The place of terror. History of the National Socialist Concentration Camps. Volume 4: Flossenbürg, Mauthausen, Ravensbrück. CH Beck, Munich 2006, ISBN 3-406-52964-X , p. 30.
10. ↑ Wolfgang Benz, Angelika Königseder: Flossenbürg. The Flossenbürg concentration camp and its satellite camps . CH Beck, Munich, 2007, ISBN 978-3-406-56229-7 , p. 24.
11. ^ Karola Fings: War, Society and KZ. Himmler's construction brigades . Paderborn 2005, p. 328.