Fritz Klein | |
|---|---|
 Klein at his trial in 1945 | |
| Born | (1888-11-24)24 November 1888 |
| Died | 13 December 1945(1945-12-13) (aged 57) |
| Cause of death | Execution by hanging |
| Criminal status | Executed |
| Motive | Nazism |
| Conviction | War crimes |
| Trial | Belsen trial |
| Criminal penalty | Death |
| Details | |
| Victims | Thousands |
Span of crimes | 1943–1944 |
| Country | Poland |
| Location | Auschwitz concentration camp |
| Military career | |
| Allegiance |  Germany |
| Service |  Schutzstaffel |
Fritz Klein (24 November 1888 – 13 December 1945) was a Romanian-GermanNazidoctor and war criminal, hanged for his role inatrocities atAuschwitz concentration camp andBergen-Belsen concentration camp during theHolocaust.
Klein was born inFeketehalom,Austria-Hungary (nowCodlea in centralRomania).[1]
Klein was considered aVolksdeutscher, or ethnic German. He studiedmedicine at theUniversity of Budapest and completed his military service inRomania, finishing his studies inBudapest afterWorld War I. He lived and worked as a doctor inSiebenbürgen (Transylvania), Romania.[citation needed]
In 1939, as a Romanian citizen, he was drafted into the Romanian army, where, after the outbreak of the war with the Soviet Union in 1941, he served as a paramedic on the eastern front. In May 1943, Romanian fascist dictator MarshalAntonescu, on a demand from Hitler to release ethnic Germans in the Romanian Army, drafted them into the German army. Hence Klein became a Nazi soldier in theWaffen-SS, was listed in theSS-Personalhauptamt, and posted toYugoslavia.[citation needed]
On 15 December 1943, he arrived inAuschwitz concentration camp, where at first he served as acamp doctor in the women’s camp inBirkenau. Subsequently, he worked as a camp doctor in theGypsy camp. He also participated in numerous selections ("Selektionen") on the ramp. In December 1944 he was transferred toNeuengamme concentration camp, from where he was sent toBergen-Belsen concentration camp in January 1945. He remained at the camp with commandantJosef Kramer and assisted in handing it over to British troops. Klein was imprisoned and forced to help bury all unburied corpses in mass graves. The BritishArmy Film and Photographic Unit Number 5 photographed Klein standing in a mass grave, in a well-known 1945 photo (seen on the right).
In Auschwitz, when asked byElla Lingens-Reiner how he reconciled his actions with hisethical obligations as a physician, Klein famously stated:
"MyHippocratic oath tells me to cut agangrenousappendix out of the human body. TheJews are the gangrenous appendix of mankind. That's why I cut them out."[2][3][4]
Klein and 44 other camp staff were tried in theBelsen Trial by a British military court atLüneburg. The trial lasted several weeks, from September to November 1945. During the trialAnita Lasker testified that Klein took part in selections for the gas chamber.[5]
Klein was sentenced to death andhanged atHamelin prison byAlbert Pierrepoint on 13 December 1945.[6][7]
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