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Heinrich Schwarz | |
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| Born | 14 June 1906 |
| Died | 20 March 1947(1947-03-20) (aged 40) |
| Cause of death | Execution by firing squad |
| Criminal status | Executed |
| Convictions | War crimes Crimes against humanity |
| Criminal penalty | Death |
| SS service | |
| Allegiance | Nazi Germany |
| Branch | Schutzstaffel |
| Years of service | 1931–1945 |
| Rank | SS-Hauptsturmführer |
| Commands | |
Heinrich Schwarz (14 June 1906 – 20 March 1947) was an SS-Hauptsturmführer (captain) andconcentration camp officer who served as commandant ofAuschwitz III-Monowitz inGeneral Government German -occupied Poland andNatzweiler-Struthof inAlsace-Lorraine.
Schwarz was born inMunich on 14 June 1906 and originally worked as abook printer. He joined both theNazi Party and theSchutzstaffel (SS) in November 1931. Following the outbreak ofWorld War II, Schwarz served with theWaffen-SS on theWestern Front until October 1940, when he was transferred to theConcentration Camps Inspectorate. He was stationed at both theMauthausen andSachsenhausen concentration camps during 1940-1941.
In September 1941 Schwarz was transferred toPoland and posted to the administrative office of theAuschwitz concentration camp. His initial duties included working asadjutant to the camp'scommandant,Rudolf Höß. Schwarz also served as director of the camp's Work Assignment Department (Abt. IIIa) and held the position ofLagerführer (camp leader) for Auschwitz's central administration area.
In November 1943, Höß was appointed assistant director of Office Group D for theSS Economic and Administrative Main Office inBerlin. Following his departure, theAuschwitz camp system was reorganized by thehigh command of the SS and divided into three semi-autonomous administrative units:Auschwitz I,Auschwitz II-Birkenau and theAuschwitz III-Monowitzlabour camp. Under this new arrangement Schwarz was given command ofAuschwitz III-Monowitz in December 1943.
Central to the role Schwarz played as commandant was the provision ofslave-labourers to the nearbyBuna Werke, asynthetic rubber factory owned by the German chemical companyIG Farben. Other German corporations, such asSiemens andKrupp, also received slave labour from Monowitz. The brutal working conditions which prevailed at Monowitz during the period Schwarz served as commandant resulted in a large number of deaths among the inmate population, with estimates ranging between 10,000 and 35,000 prisoners who were believed to have died in thelabour camp itself or in thegas chambers located at neighbouringAuschwitz-Birkenau.
Following the evacuation of Auschwitz complex on 18 January 1945, Schwarz was initially slated to take over command of theMittelbau-Dora concentration camp and the associatedV-weapons production facility ofMittelwerk, but was passed over for this post in favour ofRichard Baer. Instead, Schwarz was appointed commandant of the concentration camp ofNatzweiler-Struthof, serving there until theend of the war.
After the German defeat, Schwarz was tried and convicted ofwar crimes andcrimes against humanity byFrench occupation authorities inRastatt; in connection with atrocities committed during his brief tenure as commandant ofNatzweiler-Struthof. He wassentenced to death and subsequently executed by afiring squad nearBaden-Baden on 20 March 1947.[1]
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