Werner Jothann

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Werner Jothann (born May 18, 1907 in Eldenburg , Waren ; † unknown) was a German civil engineer who led the central construction management of the Waffen SS and Auschwitz Police from November 1943 .

Life

After completing his school career, Jothann studied at the technical colleges in Neustadt and Buxtehude . After the National Socialist " seizure of power " in 1933, he joined the SS (SS No. 169.997) and became a member of the NSDAP in 1937 ( membership number 5.077.905).

At the beginning of 1941, Jothann was assigned to the construction management of the SS construction department KL Auschwitz / Upper Silesia , which expanded the main camp . In December 1941 this was integrated into the central construction management of the Waffen SS and Police Auschwitz under the direction of Karl Bischoff .

In March 1942 Jothann was appointed SS-Sturmmann . Jothann was mainly responsible for the construction of the detonator factory of Krupp AG and the district heating plant. Despite the low rank he was then appointed by Bischoff as "key worker for the special action to be carried out". In March 1943 Jothann experienced an extraordinary increase in rank and was immediately promoted to SS-Obersturmführer (specialist leader of the Waffen-SS - specialist group construction).

At the beginning of April 1943, Jothann Fritz Ertl succeeded Bischoff as deputy. At the beginning of November 1943 he took over construction management in Auschwitz as Bischoff's successor and was entrusted with the management of the business as head of the central construction management. He remained "closely associated and subordinate to his former boss."

Jothann commissioned the Topf and Sons company to overhaul the ovens in the crematoria at Auschwitz-Birkenau and, when the Hungarian Jews arrived in May 1944, had a ventilation system installed in a gas chamber .

After the end of the Second World War he lived in Wiesbaden . Jothann was questioned in the course of the Frankfurt Auschwitz trials. During the interrogations about the first Auschwitz trial in Frankfurt, he denied having participated in the construction of the gassing plants , saying that he “only saw them from a distance”.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Christian Gerlach, Christoph Dieckmann: Average offender. Action and Motivation. Verlag Assoziation, 2000, p. 182.
  2. ^ A b Niels Gutschow : Ordnungswahn. Architects plan in the "Germanized East" 1939–1945. Gütersloh 2001, p. 78.
  3. ↑ a b c Ernst Klee: Auschwitz. Perpetrators, accomplices, victims and what became of them. Lexicon of persons. Frankfurt am Main 2013, p. 201.
  4. ^ Niels Gutschow: Ordnungswahn. Architects plan in the "Germanized East" 1939–1945. Gütersloh 2001, p. 140.
  5. ^ A b Jean-Claude Pressac: The crematoria of Auschwitz. The technique of genocide. Munich / Zurich 1995, ISBN 3-492-12193-4 , p. 179.
  6. ^ Public prosecutor's office at the Frankfurt am Main Regional Court: Finding aid 2. Frankfurter Auschwitz Trial: Criminal case against Burger et al., 4 Ks 3/63 , main files, vol. 1 - vol. 124, list of people questioned in the preliminary and main proceedings
  7. ^ Public prosecutor's office at the Frankfurt am Main Regional Court: Finding aid 1. Frankfurt Auschwitz Trial: Criminal case against Mulka et al. 4 Ks 2/63 , Frankfurt am Main Regional Court, main files: Vol. 1 - Vol. 128 List of the persons questioned in the preliminary and main proceedings
personal data
SURNAME Jothann, Werner
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German civil engineer and SS member
DATE OF BIRTH May 18, 1907
PLACE OF BIRTH Eldenburg , goods
DATE OF DEATH 20th century or 21st century