Karl forging

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Karl Schmieden (born March 9, 1919 in Saarbrücken , † July 30, 1946 in Rastatt ) was a German SS Oberscharführer and war criminal . He was the leader of the guards in the Neue Bremm prisoner camp and was executed on July 30, 1946.

Life

Karl Schmieden grew up in a Catholic family in Saarbrücken. From 1925 to 1933 he attended elementary school . After graduating from school, he learned to be a roofer in his uncle's company. He passed his journeyman examination with “good to very good”. Already in his youth he felt connected to National Socialism and joined the Hitler Youth on June 5, 1933 . After working for a year and a half as a roofer, he signed up for full-time service in the SS in 1938 at the age of 19 . As an SS man he served in the SS-Totenkopfstandarte Brandenburg from April 1, 1938 . Karl Schmieden thus belonged to the guards of the concentration camps . His first station was the Sachsenhausen concentration camp , where he also received weapons training so that he could be used as a member of the Waffen SS .

In September 1939 he was used in the Poland campaign , where, according to witness statements, he was involved in excesses of violence. One witness described him as a "blood drunkard". Among other things, he received the Iron Cross I and II Class , the Infantry Assault Badge and the Golden Wound Badge . He was wounded six times during the fighting. During one of his missions, he was injured in the elbow of his left arm, so that it was paralyzed from that point on. He was then transferred to the office.

From July 20, 1942, he became chief of the security police and the security service of the Reichsführer SS (SD) Berlin in the SS leadership main office .

On January 1, 1944, Schmieden became head of the guards in the Gestapo police camp in Neue Bremm, where he succeeded Jakob Quinten , who had proven unsuitable. Under Schmieden, a new system of torture and humiliation was established in the prison camp, and the conditions of detention for the predominantly prisoners of war deteriorated increasingly. Schmieden himself participated in all forms of torture and systematized the mistreatment. When he took up his post, the number of victims increased eightfold from September to December 1943 to 56 deaths from January to April 1944. He was not only considered brutal among the prisoners, but was also feared by his subordinates as harsh and relentless.

In the Rastatt war crimes trial , he was sentenced to death along with 15 other defendants. The execution was carried out on July 30, 1946.

literature

  • Elisabeth Thalhofer: Neue Bremm - Gestapo terror site. An extended police prison and its perpetrators 1943–1944 . Röhrig Universitätsverlag, St. Ingbert 2002, ISBN 3-86110-320-6 .

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Elisabeth Thalhofer: Neue Bremm - Gestapo terror site. An extended police prison and its perpetrators 1943–1944 . Röhrig Universitätsverlag, St. Ingbert 2002. ISBN 3-86110-320-6 , pp. 185-186.
  2. ^ Elisabeth Thalhofer: Neue Bremm - Gestapo terror site. An extended police prison and its perpetrators 1943–1944 . Röhrig Universitätsverlag, St. Ingbert 2002. ISBN 3-86110-320-6 , pp. 187 f.
  3. ^ Elisabeth Thalhofer: Neue Bremm - Gestapo terror site. An extended police prison and its perpetrators 1943–1944 . Röhrig Universitätsverlag, St. Ingbert 2002. ISBN 3-86110-320-6 , p. 188.
  4. ^ Elisabeth Thalhofer: Neue Bremm - Gestapo terror site. An extended police prison and its perpetrators 1943–1944 . Röhrig Universitätsverlag, St. Ingbert 2002. ISBN 3-86110-320-6 , p. 191 ff.
  5. ↑ The perpetrators in the Gestapo camp "Neue Bremm". Erinnert-euch.de, accessed on June 19, 2019 .
personal data
SURNAME Smith, Karl
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German SS Oberscharführer and war criminal
DATE OF BIRTH March 9, 1919
PLACE OF BIRTH Saarbrücken
DATE OF DEATH July 30, 1946
Place of death Rastatt