Willi Auerswald

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Willi Auerswald (born December 24, 1894 in Löbau ; † 1956 ) was a German SS-Oberscharführer and member of the team at the Mauthausen concentration camp . At the same time he was part of the leadership of the Steyr subcamp from spring 1942 to November 1944 .

Auerswald, a former textile worker, was feared by the prisoners because of his brutality. Many executions were initiated by him. He also used flogging to torture prisoners.

After the end of the war, Auerswald was indicted before the US military court as part of the Dachau trials . He was charged with beating prisoners with fists, sticks and whips. He is also said to have had prisoners whipped. In one case, he was accused of pushing a Russian prisoner who had escaped from a prisoner transport and pleading for his life into a high-voltage cordon, thereby killing him. In another case, he instructed a second SS man that he no longer wanted to see a young Pole and a priest. The Pole was then hanged and the priest shot the following day. Further murders followed or were ordered. Of 300 healthy prisoners who were brought from Mauthausen to the St. Aegyd am Neuwalde subcamp , which was his area of ​​responsibility, more than half either died within a few weeks or became so seriously ill that they were unable to work. As the warehouse manager at the time, Auerswald was responsible for this. He confirmed that he had occasionally beaten prisoners, but described this as protective measures to prevent the prisoners from being sent back to Mauthausen, where they would likely have been killed.

Auerswald was found guilty on all counts of the indictment and sentenced to death by hanging . The death penalty was later commuted to life imprisonment.

Web links

literature

  • Christian Rabl: The St. Aegyd subcamp at Neuwalde . Mauthausen Studies Volume 6, Federal Ministry of the Interior, Vienna 2008; ISBN 978-3-9502183-9-8
personal data
SURNAME Auerswald, Willi
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German SS Oberscharführer in Mauthausen concentration camp
DATE OF BIRTH December 24, 1894
PLACE OF BIRTH Löbau
DATE OF DEATH 1956