Franz Konrad (1 March 1906,Liesing – 6 March 1952,Warsaw) was an Austrian mid-level commander in theSS ofNazi Germany who was an administrative official responsible for theWerteerfassung or "recording of valuables" in theWarsaw Ghetto. He earned the nickname "the King of the Warsaw Ghetto".[1] In March 1952, Konrad was executed by hanging in Warsaw.
Franz Konrad was a son of aminer. After school, Konrad obtained a business degree. He worked with various export firms as bookkeeper. In 1932, he soon "demonstrated his proclivity for criminal action when he was caught stealing money from his employer. Not only did he lose his job, but Konrad was prosecuted for theft and spent three months in prison.[2] Out of jail and out of work, Konrad drifted for a few weeks until his former defense lawyer helped him join the (then) illegal Austrian SS (number 46,204) in January 1933". Thereafter, he joined the Nazi Party with membership number: 1,085,499.[3] Konrad, a member of theLebensborn, was married in 1931 and subsequently became the father of three children.
After 19 June 1933,Austria banned theNazi Party. Franz Konrad participated in theJuly Putsch the following year. He was arrested and detained in Wöllersdorf-Steinabrückl. He was released in December 1934. In July 1935, Konrad fled toNazi Germany and entered the SS camp in Weisshenfeld for military training as a member of theSS-Verfügungstruppe. He returned toAustria following theAnschluss in April 1938 as a full-time SS leader and administrative officer of the SS-section XXXV, Sturmbann III/94 (SS-Führer und Verwaltungsführer des SS-Abschnitts XXXV, Sturmbann III/94). In January 1939, Konrad was appointedSS-Untersturmführer.
In November 1939, after the outbreak ofWorld War II, Franz Konrad was convened as a full-time administrative officer of the SS andSS-Oberscharführer der Waffen SS inWarsaw. In a further development in the management school at the1st SS Division Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler, Konrad was responsible for the construction and establishment of accommodation for troops and also the acquisition of goods for these troops inWarsaw.
In June 1941, Franz Konrad was attached toHermann Fegelein's cavalry and involved inOperation Barbarossa. In July 1941, he was promoted to the rank ofSS-Obersturmführer. In July 1942 he returned to Warsaw and became an administrative manager for the acquisition of Jewish property and chattels in theWarsaw Ghetto where he earned the nickname "the King of the Warsaw Ghetto".[4] This was under the direct supervision ofSS and Police Leader (SS und Polizeiführer) in WarschauSS-OberführerFerdinand von Sammern-Frankenegg, who was responsible for the requisition, sorting and routing of Jewish assets, funds, equipment and machinery. In Warsaw he is "alleged to have kept thePolish aristocrat Countess Barbara Kalewska as his personal mistress."[5]
On 1 April 1943 Konrad was reassigned to theSS and Police Leader (SS und Polizeiführer) inLublinSS-GruppenführerOdilo Globocnik and employed in theOstindustrie GmbH. From there, he returned toSS and Police Leader (SS und Polizeiführer) in WarschauSS-OberführerFerdinand von Sammern-Frankenegg in the Warsaw Ghetto. During the 1943Warsaw Ghetto uprising Konrad took part in the crackdown. In the rest of 1943 Konrad was busy with the review of thePOW camp atWłodawa which was transformed into a labor camp. In addition he was involved with the acquisition of valuables in theBiałystok Ghetto, and also the relocation of the machinery in the rest of the Warsaw Ghetto. At the end of 1943 Konrad finished his work forOstindustrie GmbH and from 3 January 1944 onwards Franz Konrad was employed as administrative head of the SS office inSchloss Fischhorn nearZell am See. In February 1944 he was promoted toSS-Hauptsturmführer. He is alleged to have maintained Martha von Broskowitz as both personal secretary and mistress there.[6]
On 5 May 1945 Spacil met up withSSHauptsturmführer Franz Konrad at the village of Mittensill nearTaxenbach and gave him a substantial sum ofReichsbank currency.[7] This was mostly money from the BerlinReichsbank intended for some use after the war while some of the cash was apparently distributed loosely to seniorGestapo andSS officers in the vicinity to payGerman soldiers their wages.
After the war, Konrad was arrested and convicted in a joint trial with SS-GruppenführerJürgen Stroop for participating in the liquidation of the Warsaw ghetto.[8] During his trial, Konrad claimed to have taken photographs during the uprising only so that he could complain about Stroop's brutality to Hitler. The court did not accept this claim. Convicted of personally murdering seven Jews and deporting 1,000 others to death camps, Konrad was sentenced to death. He was executed by hanging in Warsaw together with Stroop on 6 March 1952.[9]
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