Paul Sporrenberg

Paul Sporrenberg (born March 27, 1896 in Venlo ; † December 7, 1961 in Mönchengladbach ) was a German SS-Hauptsturmführer and commandant of the SS special camp or concentration camp Hinzert from April 1942 to January 1945.

Life

Sporrenberg was the older brother of the later SS group leader Jakob Sporrenberg . After completing a commercial apprenticeship, he took part in the First World War as a war volunteer and then worked as a representative in the textile industry.

In 1922 he joined the NSDAP and after the party was temporarily banned in 1925 he became a member of the NSDAP again ( membership number 25,651). He also became a member of the SA in 1922 and transferred from the SA to the SS in October 1933 (SS no. 180.223).

At the beginning of the Second World War he was drafted into the Wehrmacht and transferred to a motor vehicle department in Düsseldorf .

Head of the Hinzert camp

On January 31, 1940, he was discharged from the Wehrmacht and applied for the second time for admission to the Waffen-SS , to which he was accepted in early March 1940 and where he received the rank of SS-Untersturmführer of the reserve in early July 1940 . Sporrenberg became camp leader of the police detention camp (PHL) Vicht (1940/41) and then of the PHL Wittlich, the branch offices of the SS special camp in Hinzert.

Supported by the camp commandant Hermann Pister and then Egon Zill , a rapid rise followed both in his functions in the Hinzert camp and in the SS hierarchy. Meanwhile promoted to SS-Obersturmbannführer , Zill entrusted him with his deputy on November 9, 1941 on the occasion of his own transfer. Officially, Sporrenberg Zill did not succeed him until September 1942 as camp commandant - now with the rank of SS-Obersturmführer .

“What changed with the takeover of the commandant post was the leadership style in the Hinzerter concentration camp and, in particular, the detention atmosphere. The terror now escalated unchecked. […] Further characteristics: a mask-like stiffness in the face, interrupted from time to time by a twitch, a piercing look, imperious vanity, in stance analogous speeches to new prisoners like: 'You came to perish, and I give you my word 'you will perish!' […] Reinforced by his aloofness, he triggered fear reactions not only from prisoners but also from SS personnel as soon as he appeared, always looking for alleged slackers . "

However, Sporrenberg's arbitrary and brutal regiment penetrated the public and in spring 1944 triggered official investigations by the Reich Security Main Office , which officially led to his complete discharge. Further allegations regarding “evading SS men who were fit for use in the war” in the winter of 1944/45 also remained without consequences, especially since the superior authorities at this point in time had to decide more important things as the front approached.

Sporrenberg, since November 1943 in the rank of SS-Hauptsturmführer, managed the Hinzert camp until January 17, 1945. The Hinzert SS special camp was formally subordinated to the Buchenwald concentration camp on January 19, 1945 . He then took over a satellite camp of Buchenwald concentration camp near Bad Salzungen / Leimbach with the code name Renntier .

Post War and Legal Trial

After the end of the war Sporrenberg was able to go into hiding. Investigations against Sporrenberg only started following a complaint dated June 30, 1958, and on March 2, 1960 he was arrested in his Düsseldorf apartment. Previous searches were unsuccessful - he was considered missing. The public prosecutor's office in Trier initiated proceedings against him; Sporrenberg was the death of at least 60 prisoners a. a. accused of ill-treatment, nine murders and the execution of 23 Luxembourgers on February 25, 1944. On September 21 he was released from prison and died before the opening of the proceedings on December 7, 1961 in Mönchengladbach.

literature

• Albert Pütz : The SS special camp / Hinzert concentration camp 1940–1945: The indictment against Paul Sporrenberg . Frankfurt / Main 1998.
• Volker Schneider: The third commandant of the former SS special camp / Hinzert concentration camp: Paul Sporrenberg . In: The time of National Socialism in Rhineland-Palatinate ; Volume 2: "You are dead to the outside world!" ; ed. Hans-Georg Meyer and Hans Berkessel, Mainz 2000.

Web links

• Paul Sporrenberg at www.ns-dokuzentrum-rlp.de

Individual evidence

1. ^ Albert Pütz: Das SS-Sonderlager / Hinzert Concentration Camp 1940–1945: The indictment proceedings against Paul Sporrenberg . Frankfurt / Main 1998, p. 51.
2. ↑ ^{a b} Paul Sporrenberg at www.ns-dokuzentrum-rlp.de
3. ↑ ^{a b c} Volker Schneider: Dissolution of the "SS-Sonderlager Hinzert" concentration camp in 1944/45 ( Memento of the original from June 26, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (PDF; 930 kB) 
4. ↑ Volker Schneider: The third commandant of the former SS special camp / Hinzert concentration camp: Paul Sporrenberg , p. 201f.
5. ^ Volker Schneider: The third commandant of the former SS special camp / Hinzert concentration camp: Paul Sporrenberg p. 208f.