Franz Kraus (SS member)

Franz Kraus at the Auschwitz Trial in Kraków (1947)

Franz Xaver Kraus (born September 27, 1903 in Munich , † January 24, 1948 in Krakow ) was a German SS-Sturmbannführer (1938) and was employed as an administrative leader in several concentration camps .

Life

After attending primary school, Kraus completed an apprenticeship as a spirits salesman. In 1925 he went into business for himself, which he had to give up in 1931. Kraus joined the NSDAP on January 1, 1931 ( membership number 405.816) and the SS on November 2, 1931 (SS number 16.299). From the beginning of January 1932 Kraus was employed full-time in the Brown House in Munich at the accounting office of the NSDAP's auxiliary fund . From August 1932 he took up an administrative position with an SS-Sturmbann.

After the seizure of power by the Nazis Kraus took over the post of administrative officer in several concentration camps: KZ Esterwegen (July 1934 to December 1934), Lichtenburg concentration camp (December 1934-March 1936), Columbia concentration camp (April 1936 to November 1936). Subsequently, Kraus was also the administrative manager in Sachsenhausen concentration camp until the end of October 1939 . From November 1, 1939 to October 1, 1941, he was the chief administrative officer in the staff inspector of the concentration camps .

From the beginning of October 1941 he headed the economic inspection of the Waffen-SS in the area of Central Russia and was then employed by the local SS economist. In Breslau he was in charge of the Waffen SS troop and main economic camp.

Kraus worked there from December 1944 to January 1945 for the purpose of liquidating the Auschwitz concentration camp . Probably by the Higher SS and Police Leader Southeast Ernst-Heinrich Schmauser , Kraus was transferred from Breslau to the Auschwitz concentration camp in December 1944 in order to organize the liquidation of the camp as a special agent. Kraus and other SS officers led the prisoner columns from Auschwitz as part of the evacuation of the camp. On January 20, 1945, Schmauser ordered Kraus to kill the prisoners who had not been evacuated. Kraus later stated in court that he had already left the camp on January 21, 1945 and resisted the order. Probably this plan could no longer be implemented due to the advancing Red Army due to the war. According to witness statements by surviving prisoners, however, Kraus remained in Auschwitz until January 25, 1945 and led a group of SS officers through the camp to inspect the camp after January 20, 1945. In addition, Kraus is said to have had the last crematoria blown up and shot several inmates in Auschwitz-Birkenau himself. After his departure, he headed the Auschwitz liaison office in Zittau until February 17, 1945 . The purpose of this agency was to organize the transfer of the Auschwitz SS guards and probably the Auschwitz prisoners to other concentration camps that were not endangered by the war.

During the Auschwitz Trial in Kraków , Kraus was sentenced to death by the Supreme National Tribunal of Poland on December 22, 1947 and hanged a few weeks later .

literature

Ernst Klee : The dictionary of persons on the Third Reich . Who was what before and after 1945 . 2nd Edition. Fischer-Taschenbuch-Verlag, Frankfurt am Main 2007, ISBN 978-3-596-16048-8 .
Johannes Tuchel : Concentration camps: organizational history and function of the inspection of the concentration camps 1934–1938. (= Writings of the Federal Archives, Volume 39). H. Boldt, 1991, ISBN 3-7646-1902-3 .
Andrzej Strzelecki: Final phase of KL Auschwitz - evacuation, liquidation and liberation of the camp. Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum, 1995, ISBN 83-85047-48-4 .

Individual evidence

↑ Ernst Klee : The personal lexicon for the Third Reich - Who was what before and after 1945. 2nd edition. Frankfurt am Main 2007, p. 336.
↑ ^a ^b ^c Johannes Tuchel: Concentration camps: organizational history and function of the inspection of the concentration camps 1934–1938. 1991, p. 381.
^ Andrzej Strzelecki: Final phase of KL Auschwitz - evacuation, liquidation and liberation of the camp. Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum, 1995, p. 247ff.
^ Andrzej Strzelecki: Final phase of KL Auschwitz - evacuation, liquidation and liberation of the camp. Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum, 1995, p. 253f.
^ Franz Xaver Kraus. In: The 1st Frankfurt Auschwitz Trial. Tape recordings, minutes, documents. Edited by the Fritz Bauer Institute Frankfurt am Main and the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum. DVD, ISBN 3-89853-501-0 .

personal data
SURNAME	Kraus, Franz
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Kraus, Franz Xaver (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	German SS-Sturmbannführer and administrative leader in concentration camps
DATE OF BIRTH	September 27, 1903
PLACE OF BIRTH	Munich
DATE OF DEATH	January 24, 1948
Place of death	Krakow

[1] Ernst Klee : The personal lexicon for the Third Reich - Who was what before and after 1945. 2nd edition. Frankfurt am Main 2007, p. 336.

[Tuchel381-2] Johannes Tuchel: Concentration camps: organizational history and function of the inspection of the concentration camps 1934–1938. 1991, p. 381.

[3] Andrzej Strzelecki: Final phase of KL Auschwitz - evacuation, liquidation and liberation of the camp. Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum, 1995, p. 247ff.

[4] Andrzej Strzelecki: Final phase of KL Auschwitz - evacuation, liquidation and liberation of the camp. Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum, 1995, p. 253f.

[5] Franz Xaver Kraus. In: The 1st Frankfurt Auschwitz Trial. Tape recordings, minutes, documents. Edited by the Fritz Bauer Institute Frankfurt am Main and the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum. DVD, ISBN 3-89853-501-0 .