Paul Götze | |
|---|---|
 Paul Götze | |
| Born | (1903-11-13)13 November 1903 |
| Died | 24 January 1948(1948-01-24) (aged 44) |
| Cause of death | Execution by hanging |
| Occupation | SS-Rottenführer |
| Political party | Nazi Party |
| Criminal status | Executed |
| Motive | Nazism |
| Conviction | Crimes against humanity |
| Trial | Auschwitz trial |
| Criminal penalty | Death |
Paul Götze[1] (13 November 1903 – 24 January 1948) was anSS-Rottenführer atAuschwitz andBuchenwaldconcentration camps.[2]
Born inHalle,German Empire, Götze was a painter by profession. He joined theNazi Party in 1937 and the SS in 1942. In July 1942 he was posted to Auschwitz, where he initially served as a guard and supervisor of work groups. From February to May 1943 he wasBlockführer in the Auschwitz main camp, later performing the same function in the gypsy camp in Birkenau from May 1943 to August 1944. In August 1944 he was transferred toBuchenwald.
Although prisoners held Götze as a reasonable man out ofSS men at the camp[citation needed], he took an active part in thekilling of Jews and prisoners unable to work in the Birkenau gas chambers, such as assisting with the loading and unloading of people marked for gassing when large numbers of people were marked for extermination.[3] He participated in the liquidation of the gypsy camp in August 1944.
Götze was tried by theSupreme National Tribunal at theAuschwitz Trial inKraków and was sentenced todeath. His sentence was carried out byhanging inMontelupich Prison, Kraków.