1. Horst Paul Silvester Fischer was a German medical doctor and member of the SS who participated in selections in Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp during World War II.
19 Facts About Horst Fischer
1. 2.
Horst Fischer selected at least 70,000 prisoners to be gassed, then supervised their gassings.
3.
Horst Fischer joined the SS in 1933, and the Nazi Party four years later.
4.
On 1 May 1940, Horst Fischer was promoted to Untersturmfuhrer and became a member of the armed forces of the SS.
5.
Horst Fischer was involved in the early stages of the German invasion of the Soviet Union, but was recalled from the front in 1942, after falling ill with tuberculosis.
6.
Horst Fischer was offered a job in a concentration camp, which he accepted.
7.
Horst Fischer supervised the gassing of the victims he chose for death and the subsequent disinfections.
8.
Horst Fischer permitted the use of the flogging of prisoners at least 71 times.
9.
On 21 June 1944, Horst Fischer was promoted to Hauptsturmfuhrer, making him one of the highest ranking SS doctors in Auschwitz.
10.
Horst Fischer then carried on with his medical career in the German Democratic Republic for 20 years.
11.
Horst Fischer got married, had four children, and lived life as a middle-class citizen.
12.
Horst Fischer practiced medicine in the countryside under an alias, giving examinations and vaccinations to kindergarteners.
13.
In 1959, a West German official received material on what Horst Fischer had done in Auschwitz.
14.
Horst Fischer drew attention himself by crossing over the border to West Germany and speaking negatively about East Germany.
15.
The trial lasted roughly a week, and Horst Fischer was found guilty of crimes against humanity.
16.
Horst Fischer admitted that the murders, and the Holocaust overall, were premeditated.
17.
Horst Fischer said deportees were exploited for slave labor until they were no longer capable of working, then gassed.
18.
Horst Fischer was not the last, as another five individuals were beheaded during 1967, although Fischer's case was by far the most notorious of the period.
19.
Horst Fischer's remains were cremated, and he was buried in an unmarked grave.