Karl-Otto Koch

Karl-Otto Koch

SS-Sturmbannführer Koch
Born (1897-08-02)August 2, 1897
Darmstadt, Grand Duchy of Hesse
Died April 5, 1945(1945-04-05) (aged 47)
Buchenwald concentration camp, Germany
Allegiance  German Empire (to 1918)
 Weimar Republic (to 1933)
 Nazi Germany
Service/branch Schutzstaffel
SS-Totenkopfverbände
Years of service 1916–1945
Rank SS-Standartenführer
Commands held Esterwegen concentration camp
Sachsenhausen concentration camp
Buchenwald concentration camp
Majdanek concentration camp
Awards World War I Iron Cross 2. Class
World War I Observer's Badge
World War I Wound Badge in Black
Spouse(s) Ilse Köhler (m. 1936)

Karl-Otto Koch (German: [kɔχ]; August 2, 1897 – April 5, 1945), a Standartenführer (Colonel) in the German Schutzstaffel (SS), was the first commandant of the Nazi concentration camps at Buchenwald and Sachsenhausen. From September 1941 until August 1942, Koch also served as the first commandant of the Majdanek concentration camp in occupied Poland, stealing vast amounts of valuables and money from murdered Jews.[1] His wife, Ilse Koch, also took part in the notorious crimes at Buchenwald and Majdanek.

Life

Koch was born in Darmstadt, Grand Duchy of Hesse on August 2, 1897. His father worked in local registrar's office and died when Karl was only eight years old. After completing elementary school in 1912, Koch began studying business and worked as a messenger and an apprentice in a bookkeeping department in a local factory. In 1916, he volunteered to join the army and fought on the Western Front until he was captured by the British in 1918. Koch spent the rest of the war as a POW and returned to Germany in 1919. As a soldier, he conducted himself well and was awarded the Iron Cross Second Class, the Observer's Badge and the Wound Badge in Black. Following World War I, Koch worked as an accounting supervisor in a bank and later in the same role in an insurance company. In 1931, Karl-Otto Koch joined the NSDAP and the Schutzstaffel.

Service with the SS

Koch served with several SS-Standarten until June 13, 1935, when he became commander of the Columbia concentration camp in Berlin-Tempelhof. In April 1936 he was assigned to the concentration camp at Esterwegen. Four months later he was moved to Sachsenhausen. On August 1, 1937, he was given command of the new concentration camp at Buchenwald. He remained at Buchenwald until September 1941, when he was transferred to the Majdanek concentration camp for POWs. That was largely due to an investigation based on allegations of his improper conduct at Buchenwald, which included corruption, fraud, embezzlement, drunkenness, sexual offences and a murder. Koch commanded the Majdanek camp for only one year; he was relieved from his duties after 86 Soviet POWs escaped from the camp in August 1942. Koch was charged with criminal negligence and transferred to Berlin, where he worked at the SS Personalhauptamt and as a liaison between the SS and the German Post-Office.

Prosecution and death

Koch's actions at Buchenwald first caught the attention of SS-Obergruppenführer Josias, Prince of Waldeck and Pyrmont in 1941. In glancing over the death list of Buchenwald, Josias had stumbled across the name of Dr. Walter Krämer, a head hospital orderly at Buchenwald, which he recognized because Krämer had successfully treated him in the past. Josias investigated the case and found out that Koch, in a position as the Camp Commandant, had ordered Krämer and Karl Peixof, a hospital attendant, killed as "political prisoners" because they had treated him for syphilis and he feared it might be discovered.[2] Waldeck also received reports that a certain prisoner had been shot while attempting to escape. By that time, Koch had been transferred to the Majdanek concentration camp in Poland, but his wife, Ilse, was still living at the Commandant's house in Buchenwald. Waldeck ordered a full-scale investigation of the camp by Dr. Georg Konrad Morgen, an SS officer who was a judge in a German court. Throughout the investigation, more of Koch's orders to kill prisoners at the camp were revealed, as well as embezzlement of property stolen from prisoners.[2] It was also discovered that a prisoner who was "shot while trying to escape" had been told to get water from a well some distance from the camp, and he was shot from behind. He had also helped treat Koch for syphilis. A charge of incitement to murder was lodged by Prince Waldeck and Dr. Morgen against Koch, to which were later added charges of embezzlement. Other camp officials were charged, including Koch's wife. The trial resulted in Koch being sentenced to death for disgracing both himself and the SS.[3] Koch was executed by firing squad on 5 April 1945,[2] one week before American allied troops arrived to liberate the camp.

Family

Koch first married in 1924 and had one son; however, his marriage ended in divorce 1931, due to his infidelity. On May 25, 1936 Koch married Ilse Koch (née Margarete Ilse Köhler), with whom he had a son and two daughters. Köhler later became known as "The Witch of Buchenwald" (Die Hexe von Buchenwald), usually rendered more alliteratively in English as "The Bitch of Buchenwald."[4] When Koch was transferred to Buchenwald, Ilse was appointed an Oberaufseherin (overseer) by the SS and thus had an active, official role in the atrocities committed there. She was known for extreme cruelty towards prisoners.[2]

Ranks and promotions

Koch's SS Ranks[5]
Date Rank
15 March 1934 SS-Obersturmführer
November 1934 SS-Hauptsturmführer
13 September 1935 SS-Sturmbannführer
9 November 1936 SS-Obersturmbannführer
12 September 1937 SS-Standartenführer

See also

Notes and references

  1. Chris Webb, Carmelo Lisciotto (2007). "Majdanek Concentration Camp (a.k.a. KL Lublin)". H.E.A.R.T, Holocaust Research Project.org. Retrieved 11 August 2013.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Hackett, David A. (1995), The Buchenwald Report, Westview Press, p. 341
  3. "Schutzstaffel: The SS". Germania International. Retrieved 18 May 2009.
  4. William L. Shirer (1990). The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich (3rd ed.). New York: Simon & Schuster. p. 885.
  5. Johannes Tuchel: Konzentrationslager: Organisationsgeschichte und Funktion der Inspektion der Konzentrationslager 1934–1938. Boppard am Rhein 1991, p. 379f.
Military offices
Preceded by
SS-Oberführer Alexander Reiner
Commandant of Columbia-Haus concentration camp
13 June 1935 – 1 April 1936
Succeeded by
SS-Oberführer Heinrich Deubel
Preceded by
SS-Oberführer Hans Loritz
Commandant of Esterwegen concentration camp
20 April 1936 – August 1936
Succeeded by
absorbed into Sachsenhausen K.L.
Preceded by
SS-Obersturmbannführer Michael Lippert
Commandant of Sachsenhausen concentration camp
October 1936 – 1 August 1937
Succeeded by
SS-Oberführer Hans Helwig
Preceded by
none
Commandant of Buchenwald concentration camp
1 August 1937 – July 1941
Succeeded by
SS-Standartenführer Hermann Pister
Preceded by
none
Commandant of Majdanek concentration camp
July 1941 – 24 August 1942
Succeeded by
SS-Sturmbannführer Max Koegel
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 11/13/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.