Franz Johann Hofmann

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Franz Johann Hofmann (born April 5, 1906 in Hof (Saale) ; † August 14, 1973 in the Straubing prison ) was a German SS leader and first protective custody camp leader in the Auschwitz concentration camp .

Life

Hofmann was the son of a butcher and had five siblings. After attending primary school, he completed an apprenticeship as an upholsterer, which he completed in 1923 with the journeyman's examination. Since he could not find a job in his apprenticeship, he was initially employed by his uncle, who worked in the grocery trade. After that he was u. a. worked as a waiter and hotel servant until he became unemployed in 1931. He returned to his hometown in 1932, where he found a job as an auxiliary policeman after the transfer of power to the National Socialists in the summer of 1933.

He had already joined the NSDAP ( membership number 1,369,617) and SS (SS number 40,651) in 1932.

From September 1933 he was a member of the guards at the Dachau concentration camp , where he was promoted to SS-Oberscharführer in 1937. He was promoted to Rapportführer and SS-Hauptscharführer in 1939. In 1941 he assumed the position of 2nd protective custody camp leader and the rank of SS Untersturmführer. In April 1942 he was promoted to SS-Obersturmführer and thus he was promoted to 1st protective custody camp leader in the Dachau concentration camp.

On December 1, 1942, he was transferred to the main camp of Auschwitz . Here he was assigned by SS-Hauptsturmführer and 1st Protective Custody Camp Leader Hans Aumeier to the ramp duty for the selection of the deportees and to supervision as 3rd Protective Custody Camp Leader . From the end of February to November 1943 he took over the supervision of the " Auschwitz Gypsy Camp " as camp leader . In November 1943 he was appointed first protective custody camp leader in the main camp of Auschwitz and was replaced in this position by Franz Hössler in June 1944. After being promoted to SS-Hauptsturmführer on April 20, 1944, he was transferred to Natzweiler concentration camp with effect from May 15, 1944 , where he was Hössler's successor in the Neckarelz subcamp as protective custody camp leader. Hofmann was also the commandant of the Bisingen concentration camp (part of the »Desert« subcamp complex ). In February 1945 he was transferred to Guttenbach as a punishment . The SS headquarters for the entire subcamps of the Natzweiler concentration camp were relocated there in September 1944 .

After 1945

After the war ended , Hofmann went into hiding with a false identity and worked in agriculture and as a stoker in Kirchberg an der Jagst . In 1948 or 1949 he was denazified by the Spruchkammer in Rothenburg ob der Tauber and sentenced to a fine of 20 DM . He had stated that he had only become a member of the NSDAP in 1937. He had kept quiet about his membership in the SS and his work in the concentration camps.

His arrest for the crimes committed in Dachau took place on April 16, 1959. Hofmann testified on October 24, 1961:

“ When I get a post, no matter where it is, I try to fill it out one hundred percent. "

He was sentenced to life in prison on December 19, 1961 for two counts of murder.

In the first Auschwitz trial, he was sentenced again to life imprisonment in prison on August 10, 1965 by the Frankfurt Regional Court .

“From 1933 to 1945 the defendant Hofmann proved himself in the concentration camp service. He rose from step to step until he became deputy protective custody camp leader in KL Dachau. Since 1936 he has been continuously promoted after a relatively short time. This shows that he distinguished himself in the sense of Eicke through harshness and brutality against the so-called enemies of the state and must have treated them in accordance with the spirit that ruled the SS. It clearly indicates that he must have completely subscribed to the Nazi worldview and must have agreed with its principles. That the higher KL leadership also viewed him as a dutiful and reliable SS leader who appeared to be particularly suitable for carrying out the Nazi extermination program as part of the so-called final solution of the Jewish question, is evident from the fact that he was found on December 1st. 1942 to KL Auschwitz, which was designated as the largest extermination site for the European Jews. "

- Judgment text in the Auschwitz trial

There was also an investigation into allegations of crime in the Natzweiler concentration camp. Hofmann died in prison in August 1973.

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Ernst Klee: Auschwitz. Perpetrators, accomplices and victims and what became of them. A dictionary of persons , Frankfurt am Main 2013, p. 186
  2. ^ Judgment text of the Auschwitz trial
  3. ^ Ernst Klee: Das Personenlexikon zum Third Reich: Who was what before and after 1945. Fischer-Taschenbuch-Verlag, Frankfurt am Main 2007, p. 266
  4. ^ Judgment of the jury court in Munich II of December 19, 1961 - 2 Ks 8/61 according to the judgment text of the Auschwitz trial
  5. ^ Judgment text of the Auschwitz trial
personal data
SURNAME Hofmann, Franz Johann
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German SS-Hauptsturmführer and Schutzhaftlagerführer in Auschwitz concentration camp
DATE OF BIRTH April 5, 1906
PLACE OF BIRTH Hof (Saale)
DATE OF DEATH August 14, 1973
Place of death Straubing correctional facility