Karl-Friedrich Höcker
This article includes a list of general references, but it lacks sufficient corresponding inline citations. (December 2021) |
Karl-Friedrich Höcker | |
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Born | |
Political party | Nazi Party |
Awards | War Merit Cross 2nd Class With Swords
SA-Sports Badge in Bronze DRL-Sports Badge in Bronze |
Karl-Friedrich Höcker (11 December 1911 – 30 January 2000) was a Nazi war criminal, German commander in the
Early life and family
The youngest of six children, Höcker was born in the village of Engershausen (now part of Preußisch Oldendorf), Germany. His father was a construction worker, who was later killed in action during World War I.
Following an apprenticeship as bank teller he worked at a bank in Lübbecke before being made redundant. After having been unemployed for two and a half years, he joined the SS in October 1933 and the Nazi Party in May 1937.
Concentration camp administrator
On 16 November 1939 he joined the 9th SS Infantry Regiment based at
In 1943, he became the adjutant to the commandant at Majdanek during the
Post-war trials
He married before the war and had a son and daughter during the war, with whom he was reunited after his release from 18 months in a British
At his trial in
In August 1965 Höcker was sentenced to seven years imprisonment for aiding and abetting in over 1,000 murders at Auschwitz. He was released in 1970 and was able to return to his bank post as a chief cashier, where he worked until his retirement.
On 3 May 1989 a district court in the German city of
Auschwitz photo album
In 2006, a photo album created by Höcker came to the attention of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum; the album contains rare images of the life of German functionaries at Auschwitz while the camp remained in operation, including some of the few photos of Josef Mengele at Auschwitz.[2]
Höcker died in 2000, still claiming that he had nothing to do with the death camp at Birkenau. During his final statement at the Frankfurt Trial in 1965, he had claimed, "I only learned about the events in Birkenau…in the course of time I was there… and I had nothing to do with that. I had no ability to influence these events in any way…neither did I want them, nor carry them out. I didn’t hurt anybody… and neither did anyone die at Auschwitz because of me." Höcker testified that he never set foot on the ramp during the selection process, despite one survivor recalling an officer with the surname Höcker being present on the ramp.
References
- ^ Justiz und NS-Verbrechen Archived 2012-03-22 at the Wayback Machine (in German)
- ^ "Nazi Scrapbooks from Hell" Archived 2011-10-06 at the Wayback Machine, National Geographic Channel. November 30, 2008.
Sources
- U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum photo gallery
- Lewis, Neil A. (September 18, 2007). "In the Shadow of Horror, SS Guardians Frolic". The New York Times.
- Karl Hoecker’s Album slideshow on The New Yorker's website
- "Nazi Scrapbooks from Hell", National Geographic Channel. November 30, 2008.
- Holocaust Survivors and Remembrance Project -- Karl Hoecker (Höcker)
- IMDB Page of Scrapbooks from Hell: The Auschwitz Albums (2008)