Adolf Theuer (sometimes given as Teuer; German: [ˈtɔʏɐ] ) was a Sudeten German SS-Unterscharführer and gas chamber mass murderer at Auschwitz concentration camp during the Holocaust. He was executed after the war as a war criminal.
Adolf Theuer | |
|---|---|
 Adolf Theuer prison photo (1946) | |
| Born | September 20, 1920 |
| Died | April 17, 1947 (aged 26) |
| Occupation | SS-Unterscharführer |
| Political party | Nazi Party |
| Criminal status | Executed |
| Motive | Nazism |
| Conviction(s) | Crimes against humanity |
| Criminal penalty | Death |
Life
editPreviously a bricklayer by trade, Theuer's SS career began when he enlisted in the Waffen-SS in 1938 after the Nazi invasion of Czechoslovakia. He was deployed to Auschwitz in 1940 at the rank of SS-Rottenführer. On 1 August 1941 he was promoted to SS-Unterscharführer.[1] He served as an SDG or Sanitätsdienstgefreiter; a medical orderly as part of the Sanitätswesen, one of the five concentration camp departments involved in running such a facility. He was also a member of the Desinfektionskommando (disinfection command), the unit of SS medics involved in the mass gassing of prisoners. One of Theuer's responsibilities was inserting the Zyklon B into the gas chamber, a task shared by other SS orderlies such as SS-Unterscharführer Hans Koch and SS-Oberscharführer Josef Klehr.[2] During the Frankfurt Auschwitz Trials, Klehr, the chief of the Desinfektionskommando, testified that Theuer explained to him that he would insert the gas when ordered to do so by the accompanying SS doctor.[3]
SS-Unterscharführer Oswald Kaduk recalled an incident when Theuer, his fellow Upper Silesian countryman, was reluctant to insert the gas. Kaduk stated that:
"...I have even seen SS men who were supposed to be involved in gassing operations cry. And to them, the then doctor, Dr. Mengele said, 'You have to do it'. He said... I can remember Theuer well. I knew him from... was my fellow countryman, been a young man. And he said, 'You have to do it.' He did it, with tears in his eyes. He inserted it and immediately shut the hatch. I was there."[4]
— Oswald Kaduk, "Auschwitz, Stimmen."
Theuer remained at the camp until its evacuation in January 1945, when he was subsequently deployed in Ohrdruf concentration camp, a subcamp of Buchenwald concentration camp.
Post-war
editAlthough Theuer did not torture prisoners, he was still known in the camp as a butcher.[5] After the war he was put on trial along with Sofie Hanel (SS-Hilfsaufseherin, SS-Aufseherin, SS-Blockfuhrer) in Prague; both were sentenced to death.[6] Theuer was hanged in Opava (Czechoslovakia) on 23 April 1947. Hanel was hanged on 12 January 1948.[7]
References
edit- ^ Frei (2000), p. 61
- ^ "Karl Lill". www.saalbau.com. Fritz Bauer Institut. Archived from the original on 15 July 2011. Retrieved 17 July 2011.
- ^ Langbein (1995), p. 569
- ^ Steckel, Ronald. Auschwitz, Stimmen. Delta Music & Entertainment. ISBN 3-86538-505-2. Cited in Aktenzeichen: 4 Ks 2/63 – Eine Lange Nacht über den 1. Frankfurter Auschwitz-Prozess 1963–1965. Retrieved on 17 July 2011.
- ^ Piper et al (1996), pg. 52
- ^ Piper et al (1996), pg. 311
- ^ Hanel (married Nitsche), Sofie-Birthplace: Freiwaldau, Sudetenland (Jeseník, Olomouc Region, Czech Republic) Camp Service: Ravensbrück, Auschwitz-Birkenau, Unknown SS Positions: SS-Hilfsaufseherin, SS-Aufseherin, SS-Blockfuhrer Notes: The name 'HANEL, Sofie,' appeared as an 'SS woman Overseer,' in a file of the United Nations War Crimes Commission (UNWCC) dated March 20, 1947, 'Personnel of the Concentration Camp in Oswiecim-Auschwitz;' she was tried by a Czech court for war crimes at an unknown sub-camp, as well as on a death march at the closing of the war, and sentenced during the 'Prague Wardens' trial to death for murder and maltreatment of camp prisoners on October 7, 1948; she was hanged on January 12, 1948 in the Pankrac Prison in Prague.
Bibliography
edit- Dębski, Jerzy (1995). Death books from Auschwitz: remnants. Volume 1. Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum ISBN 978-3-598-11262-1
- Frei, Norbert (2000). Darstellungen und Quellen zur Geschichte von Auschwitz. Volume 1. K. G. Saur Verlag. ISBN 978-3-598-24030-0
- Langbein, Hermann (1995). Der Auschwitz-Prozess: eine Dokumentation. Volume 2. Verlag Neue Kritik. ISBN 978-3-8015-0283-6
- Piper, Franciszek; Świebocka, Teresa; Czech, Danuta (1996). Auschwitz: Nazi death camp. Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum. ISBN 978-83-85047-56-8