Hans Spatzenegger (SS member)

Hans Spatzenegger (born March 1, 1900 in Laufen ; † May 27, 1947 in Landsberg am Lech ) was a German SS-Hauptscharführer , 1st commando leader in the Wiener Graben quarry and convicted war criminal .

Life

Hans Spatzenegger was a civilian locksmith . In May 1931 he joined the NSDAP (membership number 519.352). At the beginning of 1932 he became a member of the SS (SS no. 22,057). In 1933 he joined the guards at the Dachau concentration camp . On April 1, 1938, he was promoted to SS-Hauptscharführer. In autumn 1938 he was transferred to the Mauthausen concentration camp . After a short time there he became the first commando in the Wiener Graben quarry. Spatzenegger was feared throughout the camp because of his cruelty. He hosted "Look beatings" with his bullwhip , rushed dogs on prisoners that were torn apart by this, and chased repeated prisoners in the electric fence. On September 6 and 7, 1944, he took part in the murder of 47 Allied parachutists.

At the beginning of May 1945, Spatzenegger and the crematorium manager Martin Roth left for Salzburg and went into hiding . On February 28, 1946, he was arrested in Upper Austria . Subsequently Spatzenegger before a US - military court in the Mauthausen-Gusen camp trials indicted. On May 13, 1946, he was sentenced to death by hanging . The sentence was carried out on May 27, 1947 in the Landsberg War Crimes Prison . His last words were: “I am not a war criminal. Long live Germany. Goodbye, Pastor. "

literature

Gregor Holzinger (Ed.): The second row: perpetrator biographies from the Mauthausen concentration camp . new academic press, Vienna, 2016 ISBN 978-3-7003-1978-8 .

Web links

Execution of SS Hauptscharfuehrer Hans Spatzenegger, director of the Mauthausen quarries, at Landsberg prison , United States Holocaust Memorial Museum , accessed on April 13, 2020.

Individual evidence

^ ^A ^b Gregor Holzinger: The second row: perpetrator biographies from the Mauthausen concentration camp , Vienna, 2016, p. 158.
↑ Gregor Holzinger: The second series: perpetrator biographies from the Mauthausen concentration camp , Vienna, 2016, p. 159.
^ Gregor Holzinger: The second series: perpetrator biographies from the Mauthausen concentration camp , Vienna, 2016, p. 159f.
^ ^A ^b Gregor Holzinger: The second series: perpetrator biographies from the Mauthausen concentration camp , Vienna, 2016, p. 160.

personal data
SURNAME	Spatzenegger, Hans
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	German SS member and convicted war criminal
DATE OF BIRTH	March 1, 1900
PLACE OF BIRTH	To run
DATE OF DEATH	May 27, 1947
Place of death	Landsberg am Lech

[:1-1] A ^b Gregor Holzinger: The second row: perpetrator biographies from the Mauthausen concentration camp , Vienna, 2016, p. 158.

[2] Gregor Holzinger: The second series: perpetrator biographies from the Mauthausen concentration camp , Vienna, 2016, p. 159.

[3] Gregor Holzinger: The second series: perpetrator biographies from the Mauthausen concentration camp , Vienna, 2016, p. 159f.

[Holzinger-4] A ^b Gregor Holzinger: The second series: perpetrator biographies from the Mauthausen concentration camp , Vienna, 2016, p. 160.