Karl-Otto Koch's father worked in a local registrar's office and died when Karl was eight years old.
10 Facts About Karl-Otto Koch
Karl-Otto Koch spent the rest of the war as a prisoner of war and returned to Germany in 1919.
Karl-Otto Koch served with several SS-Standarten.
Karl-Otto Koch remained at Buchenwald until September 1941, when he was transferred to the Majdanek concentration camp for POWs near Lublin, Poland.
Karl-Otto Koch commanded the Majdanek camp for only one year; he was relieved from his duties when 86 Soviet POWs escaped from the camp in August 1942.
Karl-Otto Koch was charged with criminal negligence and transferred to Berlin, where he worked at the SS Personnel Main Office and as a liaison between the SS and the German Post Office.
Karl-Otto Koch was executed by firing squad on 5 April 1945 one week before American allied troops arrived to liberate the camp.
Karl-Otto Koch first married Kate Muller in 1924 and had one psychiatrically troubled son named Manfred; however, this marriage ended with divorce in 1931 due to his infidelity.
On 25 May 1937, Karl-Otto Koch married Ilse Karl-Otto Koch, with whom he had a son and two daughters.
Karl-Otto Koch received the album from his co-workers as a gift for his 40th birthday.