KZ WP - Some help please

[clevischi]

Please i would like ot know, if this man was first designed to Ravensbruck why the picture have the stamp of Sachenhausen?

Thnak you in advance

[peter u]

Hello clevischi,

Why did KL-Ravensbruck not put his picture in the wp?
...
Probabily they just didn't bother to bring their personel administration up to date.
And when he and his wp arrived in KL-Sachsenhausen, that administration updated his paperwork and thus added the picture.
Good for you because otherwise you would perhaps have a wp with a picture of this guard in civilian outfit.
Imo Weber has a real caracter face and on the picture you can see clearly the skull so that is a big bonus.
Doesn't he look like a typical KL-guard, if you can speak in those nazi terms?....

Perhaps an idea for a thread:
- A portret gallery of these inhuman criminals.

Don't worry clevischi, this wp is authentic it is one of the many KL-Sachsenhausen wp's that came on the market in the 1990's, in that time I had a similar example, a Hungarian ss man with clear details of his (black) KL-uniform and similar stamps on the picture,his only camp was KL-Sachsenhausen.
If I remember correct his name was Szabo; perhaps a forummember has it in his collection now?

Cheers,
Peter

[Larry deZeng]

It is also interesting to note that a surprisingly large percentage of the personnel belonging to these SS-Totenkopf-Wachbataillonen were from the Volksdeutsch communities in Romania, Hungary and Yugoslavia (the Banat, Syrmia and Slavonia). "True Believers" were very numerous in these communities and many of them would have no problem being cruel to the defenseless enemies of the Reich.

--Larry

[LDR]

Looks like a nasty guy.

[peter u]

Hello Larry,

These guards from Rumania & Hungary (the once that couldn't claim German nationality) were "called up" to concentrationcamp in 1943-44 to replace German nationals that were called up to frontline service with the waffen ss.
And don't forget that the KL-system was still expanding because of the forced labour program, this demanded a lot of guard personal also.

A good book I recently bought about this subject is "Buchenwald concentration camp 1937-1945" by the museum of KL-Buchenwald.
It gives good detail about the recruiting for the KL-guard units.

Cheers,
Peter

[peter u]

hi LDR,

"Looks like a nasty guy."

My idea also, but you can't judge a book by his cover ..., Martin Sommer the brutal killer from Buchenwald was handsome fellow.

Cheers,
Peter

[Larry deZeng]

Peter wrote:

These guards from Rumania & Hungary (the once that couldn't claim German nationality) were "called up" to concentrationcamp in 1943-44 to replace German nationals that were called up to frontline service with the waffen ss.
And don't forget that the KL-system was still expanding because of the forced labour program, this demanded a lot of guard personal also.

Right on the mark, Peter. Although in fairness I would offer one footnote. The SS recruiting commissions that preyed on these Volksdeutsch villages told the prospective recruits that they had a choice between the Waffen-SS or the "SS Factory Guard Service". So those who did not want to get their butts blown off in the Waffen-SS or had some physical or mental disability opted out for the latter. They were then sent to Wien and then to the "School for SS Factory Guards". Of course, we both know that this was just a cover for the Totenkopf-Wachbataillonen, because that's where they ended up. Back in the late 1980's I worked on two of these cases: a 17-year-old Romanian Volksdeutscher who ended up in the SS-Totenkopf-Wachbataillon Mauthausen and a 19-year-old Sudetenlander who ended up in the SS-Totenkopf-Wachbataillon Flossenburg. These were dumb farm boys who had no clue what was happening to them. So not all of them were thugs at the time they were conscripted. But many rapidly became thugs once they arrived at their assigned camp.

--Larry

[peter u]

Correct Larry

Just like the recent book about Buchenwald states: there were many reasons to join a guard unit and they changed from 1933 till 1945, from a steady job as a jailer to self preservation (not going to the front) were most likely the major reasons.
But non of them joined to be a brutal murderer but many became it quite quickly.
Their is also the book "Breendonk 1940-1945" it is in Dutch but in the book the historian gives a very good description of the KL-guard psychological profile, officers, German ss-volunteers, foreign ss volunteers, wehrmacht troops involved in the guard duty, civilian employes that work in a KL all are explained.


Cheers,
Peter

[SiPo]

Hi Peter,

Have a Wehrpass to an Hungarian who served at KL Auschwitz I, and a SS Soldbuch and WP to a Romanian who was a Sturmmann in the Sicherheitspolizei and who was a guard at the SD run concentration camp at Lebrechtsdorf (Potulice).

G

[peter u]

Hi Graham,

It seems that you have a nice KL collection , mine is only a small one.

Do you have a Latvian, Lithouian or Estonian KL guard document?
I have never seen one.

Cheers,
Peter

[clevischi]

Thank you guys for all this replies and nice information.

Peter, your collection could be small, but you knowledge about this is very big!

Could someone help me in the meaning/traduction of this page (the same WP as above).

Thank you again.

[Alex Stefanut]

Service in the Romanian Army during the period:

15.03.1926 - 01.02.1928.
Unit: 11th Cavalry Regiment
Info drawn from the Romanian Militarpass ("Livret Militar").

Nice booklet.

Cheers,

Al

[SiPo]

Do you have a Latvian, Lithouian or Estonian KL guard document?
I have never seen one.

Not as yet....but never say never!

G

[clevischi]

Thank you for the information, Al.

[Alex Stefanut]

My pleasure Carlos.

Enjoy your WP.

Cheers,

Al