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Encyclopedia > Josef Kramer
Josef Kramer, in Celle awaiting trial, August 1945.
Josef Kramer, in Celle awaiting trial, August 1945.
The Holocaust
Early elements
Racial policy · Nazi eugenics · Nuremberg Laws · Euthanasia · Concentration camps (list)
Jews
Jews in Nazi Germany, 1933 to 1939

Pogroms: Kristallnacht · Iaşi · Jedwabne · Lwów · Bucharest Image File history File links Kramer_josef. ... Image File history File links Kramer_josef. ... Celle is a town in Lower Saxony, Germany. ... This article is becoming very long. ... The Racial Policy of Nazi Germany refers to the policies and laws implemented by Nazi Germany, asserting the superiority of the Aryan race, and including measures aimed primarily against Jews. ... Nazi eugenics pertains to Nazi Germanys nazism and race social policies that placed the improvement of the race through eugenics at the centre of their concerns and targeted those humans they identified as Life Unworthy of Life, including but not limited to: criminal, degenerate, dissident, feeble-minded, homosexual, idle... It has been suggested that Reich Citizenship Law be merged into this article or section. ... This poster reads: 60,000 Reichsmark is what this person suffering from hereditary defects costs the community during his lifetime. ... Prior to and during World War II Nazi Germany maintained concentration camps (Konzentrationslager or KZ) throughout the territory it controlled. ... The following is a list of Nazi German concentration camps. ... German Jews have lived in Germany for over 1700 years, through both periods of tolerance and spasms of anti-Semitic violence, culminating in the Holocaust and the near-destruction of the Jewish community in Germany and much of Europe. ... Pogrom (from Russian: ; from громить IPA: - to wreak havoc, to demolish violently) is a form of riot directed against a particular group, whether ethnic, religious or other, and characterized by destruction of their homes, businesses and religious centers. ... Dots represent large cities where synagogues were destroyed. ... ... The Jedwabne Pogrom (or Jedwabne Massacre) was a massacre of Jewish people living in and near the town of Jedwabne in Poland that occurred during World War II, in July 1941. ... The old town of Lviv Lviv (Ukrainian: Львів, L’viv ; German: ; Yiddish: ; Polish: ; Russian: , see also other names) is an administrative center in western Ukraine with more than a millennium of history as a settlement, and over seven centuries as a city. ... The Legionnaires Rebellion and the Bucharest Pogrom occurred in Bucharest, Romania, between the 21st and the 23rd of January, 1941. ...

Ghettos: Warsaw · Łódź · Lwów · Kraków · Theresienstadt · Kovno Ghettos in occupied Europe 1939 - 1944. ... The Ghetto Heroes Memorial The Warsaw Ghetto was the largest of the Jewish ghettos established by Nazi Germany in General Government during the Holocaust in World War II. In the three years of its existence, starvation, disease and deportations to concentration camps and extermination camps dropped the population of the... The Łódź Ghetto (historically the Litzmannstadt Ghetto) was the second-largest ghetto (after the Warsaw Ghetto) established for Jews and Roma in Nazi-occupied Poland. ... The Lwów Ghetto (also called the Lemberg Ghetto, Lviv Ghetto, and Lvov Ghetto), was in the city of Lviv, the largest city in todays western Ukraine, was one of the larger Ghettos established for Jews in that times Poland by Nazi authorities. ... Deportation of Jews from the Kraków Ghetto, March 1943 The Jewish ghetto in Kraków (Cracow) was one of the five main ghettos created by the Nazis during their occupation of Poland during World War II. It was a staging point to begin dividing able workers from those who... Location of the concentration camp in the Czech Republic Gate Work Brings Freedom in the Small Fortress Concentration camp Theresienstadt (often referred to as Terezín) was a Nazi concentration camp during World War II. It was established by the Gestapo in the fortress and garrison city Terezín (German... The Kovno Ghetto (also called the Kaunas Ghetto) was a ghetto established by Nazi Germany to hold the Jews of the Lithuanian town of Kovno during the Holocaust. ...

Einsatzgruppen: Babi Yar · Rumbula · Ponary · Odessa A member of Einsatzgruppe D is just about to shoot a Jewish man kneeling before a filled mass grave in Vinnitsa, Ukraine, in 1942. ... Babi Yar (Ukrainian: Бабин яр, Babyn yar; Russian: Бабий яр, Babiy yar) is a ravine in Kiev, the capital of Ukraine, located between Frunze and Melnyk Streets between the Kyryliv church and Olena Teliha Street. ... Rumbula Forest is a pine forest enclave in Riga, Latvia. ... The Ponary massacre (or Panerai massacre) was the sequence of events that took place between July 1941 and August 1944 in the town of Paneriai (Polish: ), now a suburb of Vilnius (Wilno), which became the mass murder site of approximately 100,000 victims, the vast majority of them Jews and... The Odessa Massacre was the extermination of Jews and Communists in Odessa during the autumn of 1941. ...

"Final Solution": Wannsee · Aktion Reinhard In a February 26, 1942, letter to German diplomat Martin Luther, Reinhard Heydrich follows up on the Wannsee Conference by asking Luther for administrative assistance in the implementation of the Endlösung der Judenfrage (Final Solution of the Jewish Question). ... The Wannsee Villa, location of the Wannsee Conference, is now a Holocaust museum. ... Operation Reinhard (Aktion Reinhard, Einsatz Reinhard, Aktion Reinhardt or Einsatz Reinhardt in German) was the code name given to the Nazi plan to murder Polish Jews in the former General Government and rob their possessions. ...

Death camps: Auschwitz · Belzec · Chełmno · Majdanek · Treblinka · Sobibór · Jasenovac  · Warsaw The Holocaust}} Extermination camps were the facilities constructed by Nazi Germany in World War II where the Nazis systematically killed millions of Jews as part of what was later deemed The Holocaust[1]. Bodies of those killed by the Nazis were usually either cremated or buried in mass graves. ... The entrance to Auschwitz I. The now notorious motto over the gate, Arbeit macht frei translates as: Work will set you free. ... Bełżec was the first of the Nazi German extermination camps created for implementing Operation Reinhard during the Holocaust. ... The CheÅ‚mno extermination camp was a Nazi extermination camp that was situated 70 km from Łódź near a small village called CheÅ‚mno nad Nerem (Kulmhof an der Nehr, in German), in Greater Poland (which was, in 1939, annexed and incorporated into Germany under the name of Reichsgau Wartheland). ... Majdanek in the winter, 2005 Majdanek is the site of a German Nazi concentration and extermination camp, roughly 2. ... Treblinka was a Nazi extermination camp in German-occupied Poland during World War II. Extermination camps like the one at Treblinka were used in the Holocaust for the systematic genocide of sub-humans by the Nazis. ... Sobibór was a Nazi German extermination camp that was part of Operation Reinhard, the official German name was SS-Sonderkommando Sobibor. ... “Jasenovac” redirects here. ... Warsaw concentration camp (German: , short KL Warschau) was the German concentration and extermination camp in Warsaw, in the ruins of the Warsaw Ghetto and in other parts of the city. ...

Resistance: Jewish partisans
Ghetto uprisings (Warsaw) The Jewish resistance during the Holocaust was the resistance of the Jewish people against Nazi Germany leading up to and through World War II. Due to the careful organization and overwhelming military might of the Nazi German State and its supporters, many Jews were unable to resist the killings. ... Jewish partisans were groups of irregulars participating in the Jewish resistance movement during World War II against the Nazis and their collaborators. ... Ghetto Uprising refers to an armed struggle by people incarcerated in German Ghettos during World War II against the plans to resettle all the inhabitants to concentration and death camps. ... Combatants Nazi Germany {SS, SD, Gestapo, Order Police, Wehrmacht} Collaborators {Blue Police, Jewish Ghetto Police} Jewish resistance (Å»OB, Å»ZW) Polish resistance (Armia Krajowa Gwardia Ludowa) Commanders Ferdinand von Sammern-Frankenegg Jürgen Stroop Mordechai Anielewicz†, Dawid Apfelbaum†, PaweÅ‚ Frenkiel†, Icchak Cukierman, Marek Edelman, Zivia Lubetkin, Henryk IwaÅ„ski Strength Official...

End of World War II: Death marches · Berihah · Displaced persons The raising of the Red Flag over the Reichstag in Berlin, May 1945. ... Dachau concentration-camp inmates on a death march through a German village in April 1945. ... Berihah (literally escape in Hebrew) was the organized effort to help Jews escape post-Holocaust Europe for the British Mandate of Palestine. ... Sherit ha-Pletah is a biblical (First Chronicles 4:43) term used by Jewish survivors of the Nazi Holocaust to refer to themselves and the communities they formed following their liberation in the spring of 1945. ...

Other victims

East Slavs · Poles · Serbs · Roma · Homosexuals · Jehovah's Witnesses The victims of the Holocaust were Jews, Serbs, Poles, Russians, Communists, homosexuals, Roma (also known as gypsies), the mentally ill and the physically disabled, intelligentsia and political activists, Jehovahs Witnesses, Roman Catholics, and Protestant clergy, trade unionists, psychiatric patients, some Africans, Asians, enemy nationals especially Spanish refugees from occupied... Generalplan Ost (GPO) was a Nazi plan to realize Hitlers new order of ethnographical relations in the territories occupied in Eastern Europe during World War II. It was prepared in 1941 and confirmed in 1942. ... Serbs were heavily persecuted during the Second World War. ... Gypsy arrivals in the Belzec death camp await instructions The Porajmos (also Porrajmos) literally Devouring, is a term coined by the Roma (Gypsy) people to describe attempts by the Nazi regime to exterminate most of the Roma peoples of Europe during the Holocaust. ... Gay men and, to a lesser extent, lesbians, were two of several groups targeted by Nazis during the Holocaust. ... Throughout the history of Jehovahs Witnesses, their history, their beliefs, doctrines and practices have met controversy and opposition from the local governments, communities, or religious groups. ...

Responsible parties

Nazi Germany: Hitler · Eichmann · Heydrich · Himmler · SS · Gestapo · SA Nazi Germany, or the Third Reich, commonly refers to Germany in the years 1933–1945, when it was under the firm control of the totalitarian and fascist ideology of the Nazi Party, with the Führer Adolf Hitler as dictator. ... Hitler redirects here. ... Adolf Eichmann in Germany in 1940 Otto Adolf Eichmann (known as Adolf Eichmann; March 19, 1906 – May 31, 1962) was a high-ranking Nazi and SS Obersturmbannführer (Lieutenant Colonel). ... Reinhard Heydrich as SS-Gruppenführer. ...   (October 7, 1900 – May 23, 1945) was the commander of the German Schutzstaffel (SS) and one of the most powerful men in Nazi Germany. ... The double-Sig Rune SS insignia. ... The   (contraction of Geheime Staatspolizei; Secret State Police) was the official secret police of Nazi Germany. ... The seal of SA The   or SA (German for Storm Division, usually translated as stormtroops or stormtroopers), functioned as a paramilitary organization of the NSDAP — the German Nazi party. ...


Collaborators The factual accuracy of this article is disputed. ...


Aftermath: Nuremberg Trials · Denazification The Aftermath of World War II covers a period of history from roughly 1945-1950. ... The Süddeutsche Zeitung announces The Verdict in Nuremberg. ... Denazification (German: Entnazifizierung) was an Allied initiative to rid German and Austrian society, culture, press, economy, judiciary and politics of any remnants of the Nazi regime. ...

Lists
Survivors · Victims · Rescuers
Resources
The Destruction of the European Jews
Phases of the Holocaust
Functionalism vs. intentionalism
This box: view  talk  edit

Josef Kramer (November 10, 1906December 13, 1945) was the Commandant of the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp. Dubbed "The Beast of Belsen" by camp inmates; he was one of the most notorious of Nazi war criminals, directly responsible for the deaths of many thousands of people. He was convicted of war crimes and hanged in Hameln prison after World War II. There are many famous Holocaust survivors who survived the Nazi genocides in Europe and went on to achievements of great fame and notability. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... This is a list of people who helped Jewish people and others to escape from the Nazi Holocaust during World War II, often called rescuers. The list is not exhaustive, concentrating on famous cases, or people who saved the lives of many potential victims. ... Holocaust resources for main article The Holocaust. ... Book cover The Destruction of the European Jews is a three-volume work published in 1961 by historian Raul Hilberg. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... Functionalism versus intentionalism is a historiographical debate about the origins of the Holocaust as well as most aspects of the Third Reich, such as foreign policy. ... November 10 is the 314th day of the year (315th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 51 days remaining. ... 1906 (MCMVI) was a common year starting on Monday (see link for calendar). ... December 13 is the 347th day of the year (348th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1945 (MCMXLV) was a common year starting on Monday (the link is to a full 1945 calendar). ... Commandant is a military or police title or rank and can mean any of the following: The commander of certain military corps and services, such as the Commandant of the Marine Corps and the Commandant of the Coast Guard in the United States or the Commandant of the (now obsolete... For other uses, see [[Bergen-Belsen (disambiguation)]]. Bergen-Belsen, (or Belsen) was a Nazi concentration camp in Lower Saxony, southwest of the town of Bergen near Celle. ... It has been suggested that Internment be merged into this article or section. ... National Socialism redirects here. ... A war crime is a punishable offense, under international law, for violations of the law of war by any person or persons, military or civilian. ... In the context of war, a war crime is a punishable offense under International Law, for violations of the laws of war by any person or persons, military or civilian. ... Hamelin (German: Hameln) is a town in Lower Saxony, Germany. ... Combatants Allied Powers Axis Powers Casualties Military dead: 17,000,000 Civilian dead: 33,000,000 Total dead: 50,000,000 Military dead: 8,000,000 Civilian dead: 4,000,000 Total dead 12,000,000 World War II (abbreviated WWII), or the Second World War, was a worldwide conflict...

Contents

Early career

Kramer was born in Munich and joined the Nazi Party in 1931 and the SS in 1932. His SS training led him into work as a prison guard and, after the outbreak of war, as a concentration camp guard. Coordinates: Time zone: CET/CEST (UTC+1/+2) Administration Country: Germany State: Bavaria Administrative region: Upper Bavaria District: Urban district City subdivisions: 25 borroughs Lord Mayor: Christian Ude (SPD) Governing parties: SPD / Greens / Rosa Liste Basic Statistics Area: 310. ... The (German: Nazional- socialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei (NSDAP) [National Socialist German Workers Party]); generally known in English as the Nazi Party, was a political party in Germany between 1920 and 1945. ... Year 1931 (MCMXXXI) was a common year starting on Thursday (link is to a full 1931 calendar). ... The double-Sig Rune SS insignia. ... Year 1932 (MCMXXXII) was a leap year starting on Friday (the link will take you to a full 1932 calendar). ...


In 1934, he was assigned as a guard at Dachau. His promotion was rapid, obtaining senior posts at Sachsenhausen and Mauthausen concentration camps. He became assistant to Rudolf Höß, the Commandant at Auschwitz in 1940 and later the Commandant of Natzweiler concentration camp in April 1941. Memorial at the camp, 1997. ... Arbeit Macht Frei gate Sachsenhausen was a concentration camp in Germany, operating between 1936 and 1950. ... Image:Mutilation skarskarrskano. ... Rudolf Höß Rudolf Franz Ferdinand Höß (in English commonly Hoess or Höss; November 25, 1900 – April 16, 1947) was an SS-Obersturmbannführer (Lt. ... The entrance to Auschwitz I. The now notorious motto over the gate, Arbeit macht frei translates as: Work will set you free. ... Year 1940 (MCMXL) was a leap year starting on Monday (the link is to a full 1940 calendar). ... Camp entrance Natzweiler-Struthof was a Nazi concentration camp located close to the Alsatian village of Natzwiller (German Natzweiler) in France about 50 km from the city of Strasbourg. ... For the movie, see 1941 (film). ...


In 1940, he accompanied Rudolf Höß to inspect Auschwitz as a possible site for a new synthetic coal oil and rubber plant, which was a vital industry in Germany given its shortage of oil.


Auschwitz

Kramer was promoted to the rank of Hauptsturmführer in 1942 and, in May 1944, was put in charge of the gas chambers at the Auschwitz-Birkenau compound. He was to hold that position until December 1944, when he was transferred out as Commandant of Belsen. Hauptsturmführer was a Nazi rank of the SS which was used between the years of 1934 and 1945. ... Year 1942 (MCMXLII) was a common year starting on Thursday (the link is to a full 1942 calendar). ... Year 1944 (MCMXLIV) was a leap year starting on Saturday. ... // For other uses, see Gas chamber (disambiguation). ...


At Auschwitz, Kramer soon became notorious among his subordinates as a harsh taskmaster. One of the defendants at the Frankfurt Trial, Dr. Franz Lucas, testified that he tried to avoid assignments given him by Kramer by pleading stomach and intestinal disorders. When Dr. Lucas saw that his name had been added to the list of selecting physicians for a large group of inmates transferred from Hungary, he objected strenuously. Kramer reacted sharply: "I know you are being investigated for favouring prisoners. I am now ordering you to go to the ramp, and if you fail to obey an order, I shall have you arrested on the spot".


In August 1943 Kramer received 80 inmates who were to be killed with gas. With the help of the SS he had the women stripped and, once naked, had them herded into the gas chambers. He later testified "When the door closed they began to scream. I put in a small amount of salt through a tube and looked through a peephole to see what happened. The women breathed about a minute before they fell to the floor." Kramer repeated this until all were dead. When asked how he felt about this he said, "I had no feelings in carrying out these things because I had received an order. That, incidentally, is the way I was trained." 1943 (MCMXLIII) was a common year starting on Friday (the link is to a full 1943 calendar). ... The double-Sig Rune SS insignia. ... Gas chamber at San Quentin State Prison A gas chamber is a means of execution whereby a poisonous gas is introduced into a hermetically sealed chamber. ...


Belsen

In December 1944, Kramer was transferred from Birkenau to Belsen, near the village of Bergen. Belsen had originally served as a temporary camp for those leaving Germany, but during the war had been expanded to serve as a convalescent depot for the ill and displaced people from across north-west Europe. Although it had no gas chambers, Kramer's rule was so harsh that he became known as the 'Beast of Belsen'. As Germany collapsed administration of the camp broke down, but Kramer remained devoted to bureaucracy. On March 1, 1945, he filed a report stating that of the 42,000 inmates in his camp, 250-300 had died from "typhus". On March 19, the number of inmates rose to 60,000 as the Germans continued to evacuate camps that were soon to be liberated by the Allies. As late as the week of April 13, some 28,000 additional prisoners were brought in. Year 1944 (MCMXLIV) was a leap year starting on Saturday. ... The entrance to Auschwitz I. The now notorious motto over the gate, Arbeit macht frei translates as: Work will set you free. ... March 1 is the 60th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (61st in leap years). ... Year 1945 (MCMXLV) was a common year starting on Monday (the link is to a full 1945 calendar). ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with Typhus. ... March 19 is the 78th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (79th in leap years). ... April 13 is the 103rd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (104th in leap years). ...


With the collapse of administration and many guards fleeing to escape retribution, roll calls were stopped, and the inmates were left to their own devices. Corpses rotted everywhere, and rats attacked the living too weak to fight them off. Kramer remained even when the British arrived to liberate the camp. He remained indifferent and callous and took them on a tour of the camp to inspect the 'scenes'. Piles of corpses were lying all over the camp, mass graves were filled in, and the huts were filled with prisoners in every stage of emaciation and disease. Species 50 species; see text *Several subfamilies of Muroids include animals called rats. ...


Trial and execution

Josef Kramer and 44 other camp staff (including 15 women) were tried in the Belsen Trial by a British military court at Lüneburg. The trial lasted several weeks from September to November 1945. He was sentenced to death on November 17, 1945, and hanged at Hameln jail by Albert Pierrepoint on December 13, 1945. The Belsen Trial was one of several trials for war crimes and crimes against humanity that the Allied occupation forces conducted against former officials and functionaries of Nazi Germany after the end of World War II. The Belsen Trial (or, officially, Trial of Josef Kramer and 44 others) began in... Lüneburg (English: Lunenburg) is a city in Lower Saxony, Germany, about 50km southeast of Hamburg. ... 17 November is also the name of a Marxist group in Greece, coinciding with the anniversary of the Athens Polytechnic uprising. ... Albert Pierrepoint (30 March 1905 – 10 July 1992) is the most celebrated member of a Yorkshire family who provided three of Britains Chief Executioners in the first half of the 20th century. ...


Sources & External Links

  • Straubenzee V. A. (2005). The gate of Hell, The Daily Telegraph, retrieved on December 22, 2006.
  • Surviving Belsen - What Was Belsen? Josef Kramer, Durham County Record Office - The Learning Zone, retrieved on December 23, 2006.

  Results from FactBites:
 
Josef Kramer - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (657 words)
Josef Kramer (November 10, 1906 – December 14, 1945) was the commander of Bergen-Belsen concentration camp.
Kramer was born in Munich and joined the Nazi Party in 1931 and the SS in 1932.
In late 1944 Kramer was transferred from Birkenau to Belsen, near the village of Bergen.
  More results at FactBites »


 

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