15 Facts About Josef Kramer

Josef Kramer was and the Commandant of Auschwitz-Birkenau and of the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp.

Josef Kramer was detained by the British Army after the Second World War, convicted of war crimes, and hanged on the gallows in the prison at Hamelin by British executioner Albert Pierrepoint.

Josef Kramer, an only child, was born and raised in Munich in a middle-class family.

Josef Kramer began an apprenticeship as an electrician in 1920.

Josef Kramer joined the Nazi Party in 1931 and the SS in 1932.

Josef Kramer's promotion was rapid, obtaining senior posts at Sachsenhausen and Mauthausen concentration camps.

Josef Kramer accompanied Hoss to inspect Auschwitz as a possible site for a new synthetic oil and rubber plant, which was a vital industry for Nazi Germany, given its shortage of oil.

Josef Kramer was named Commandant of Natzweiler-Struthof concentration camp in April 1941.

Josef Kramer was promoted to the rank of Hauptsturmfuhrer in 1942 and, in May 1944, was transferred to become the Lagerfuhrer in charge of operations at Auschwitz II-Birkenau, the main centre used to kill inmates within the Auschwitz concentration camp complex, from 8 May 1944 to 25 November 1944.

Josef Kramer was brought to Auschwitz to manage the gassings of new transports in May 1944, according to the Prosecution Judge Advocate at the War Crimes tribunal that convicted him of being responsible for the deaths committed at Auschwitz.

At Auschwitz, Josef Kramer soon became known among his subordinates as a harsh taskmaster.

One of the defendants at the Frankfurt Auschwitz Trial, Dr Franz Lucas, testified that he tried to avoid assignments given to him by Josef Kramer by pleading stomach and intestinal disorders.

In December 1944, SS-Hauptsturmfuhrer Josef Kramer was transferred from Birkenau to Bergen Belsen, near the village of Bergen.

Josef Kramer remained even when the British, led by Major Brian Urquhart, arrived to liberate the camp, and took them on a tour of the camp to inspect the "scenes".

Josef Kramer was sentenced to death on 17 November 1945, for crimes both at Auschwitz and at Bergen-Belsen, and was hanged at Hamelin Prison by Albert Pierrepoint on 13 December 1945, aged 39.