Fritz Suhren | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | (1908-06-10)10 June 1908 |
| Died | 12 June 1950(1950-06-12) (aged 42) |
| Cause of death | Execution by firing squad |
| Allegiance | Nazi Germany |
| Branch | Schutzstaffel |
| Years of service | 1931–1945 |
| Rank | SS-Sturmbannführer |
| Commands | Ravensbrück concentration camp |
Fritz Suhren (10 June 1908 – 12 June 1950) was aNazi GermanSS officer andNazi concentration camp commandant. In 1950 he was tried for his role inThe Holocaust by a French military court, found guilty ofwar crimes andcrimes against humanity, and executed.
Suhren joined theNazi Party in 1928 and theSturmabteilung (SA) at the same time.[1] He moved over to the SS in October 1931, initially as a volunteer before going full-time in 1934.
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Trained by theWehrmacht under SS supervision, Suhren was nevertheless not used as a soldier, and instead was stationed atSachsenhausen concentration camp in 1941.[1] By 1942 he was Lagerführer (deputy commandant) at the camp, and in May of that year ordered campLagerältesterHarry Naujoks to hang a prisoner who had been earmarked for execution. Naujoks refused to perform the deed. While Naujoks was able to survive the insubordination, Suhren insisted that he stand beside the prisoner on thegallows (which had been fitted with a winch in order to prolong the execution), and forced a young inmate to perform the hanging.[2]
Suhren was commandant of the women's camp atRavensbrück concentration camp.[1] His policy upon taking command in 1942 was to exterminate the prisoners through working them as hard as possible while feeding them the least amount of food he could.[3]
As commandant at Ravensbrück, Suhren had to provide inmates to Dr.Karl Gebhardt for experimentation. Suhren initially objected to this, mainly because most of the inmates at the camp werepolitical prisoners, and he complained to theReich Security Main Office (RSHA) about the practice. However, the SS command overruled Suhren's doubts and he was forced to apologise to Gebhardt and supply him with the prisoners he demanded.[4] Suhren later said he witnessed experiments that included exposing women to high levels ofX-rays in order to accomplishsterilisation.[5]
Near the end ofWorld War II,Franz Göring (SS member) [de] andBenoit Musy approached Suhren to ask him to allow a convoy of women to leave the camp and go into the custody of the ScandinavianRed Cross. Suhren refused the request as it was against superior orders, although eventually Göring got the backing ofRudolf Brandt and Suhren was forced to yield.[6]
With the Allies just a few miles from the camp, Suhren tookOdette Sansom, an inmate at Ravensbruck whom he believed to beWinston Churchill's niece due in part to her using the assumed surname of Churchill in the camp, and drove with her to the United States base, hoping that her presence would save him.[7] Sansom had in fact been instructed to adopt the false name and to encourage the presumption of her relationship to theBritish Prime Minister, as she was a spy in the camp. The British felt that if the Germans thought she was Churchill's relative, they would want to keep her alive as a possible bargaining tool. Suhren was arrested and detained by the British.[8]
In 1946, Suhren and another man,Hans Pflaum [fr], escaped prison and fled to Bavaria. As a result, they did not attend theHamburg Ravensbrück trials in 1947. However, in 1949, the two men were recaptured by U.S. soldiers, who extradited them to theFrench occupation zone.[9] Suhren and Pflaum were both put on trial by a French military court. The trial and appeal took place from February to May 1950. The jury was composed of representatives from the French, Dutch and Luxembourg governments, presided by the chief justice officer of theFrench zone.[10] Several dozen former prisoners were subpoenaed. Suhren and Pflaum were found guilty of war crimes and crimes against humanity, sentenced to death, and executed on 12 June 1950.[11][12]
| Military offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by SS-HauptsturmführerMax Koegel | Commandant ofRavensbrück concentration camp August 1942 – April 1945 | Succeeded by camp liberated |
| International | |
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| People | |
| Other | |
