Fritz Hartjenstein

Fritz Hartjenstein
Born	3 July 1905 (1905-07-03) Peine, German Empire
Died	20 October 1954(1954-10-20) (aged 49) Paris, French Fourth Republic
Criminal status	Deceased
Conviction(s)	British Military War crimes French Military Crimes against humanity
Criminal penalty	Death
SS service
Allegiance	Nazi Germany
Service / branch	SS-Totenkopfverbände
Years of service	1938–1945
Rank	SS-Hauptsturmführer
Commands	commandant of Birkenau (1942)

Friedrich Hartjenstein (3 July 1905 – 20 October 1954) was a German SS functionary and war criminal. A member of the SS-Totenkopfverbände, he served at various Nazi concentration camps such as Auschwitz and Sachsenhausen. After the Second World War, he was tried and found guilty of murder and crimes against humanity.

Concentration camp officer

Entrance to Natzweiler-Struthof

Flossenbürg concentration camp after its liberation by the US Army 90th Infantry Division in April 1945.

Hartjenstein, who was born in Peine, began his SS work at Sachsenhausen in 1938. The following year, he was transferred to Niederhagen. In 1941, Hartjenstein served for a year with the 3rd SS Division Totenkopf, a Waffen SS combat division.

In 1942, he was appointed the commandant of Birkenau. It was the main camp at Auschwitz, and contained the extermination facilities and crematoria. In 1944, Hartjenstein was appointed commandant of Natzweiler concentration camp in France. In 1945, he worked at Flossenbürg concentration camp.

Post-war trials

Hartjenstein was arrested by the British and, on 6 June 1946, was sentenced to life imprisonment at Wuppertal for executing four female agents of the British clandestine Special Operations Executive organization. He was then tried for hanging a Royal Air Force POW, for which he was sentenced to death.

Hartjenstein was extradited to France, where he was tried for his crimes at Natzweiler, and received another death sentence. He died of a heart attack on 20 October 1954, aged 49, while awaiting execution in Paris.

References

• Karin Orth: Die Konzentrationslager-SS. Sozialstrukturelle Analysen und biographische Studien. ungek. Ausg. München 2004, ISBN 3-423-34085-1
• Staatliches Museum Auschwitz-Birkenau (Hrsg.): Auschwitz in den Augen der SS. Oświęcim 1998, ISBN 83-85047-35-2
• Tom Segev: Die Soldaten des Bösen. Zur Geschichte der KZ-Kommandanten. Rowohlt, Reinbek bei Hamburg 1995, ISBN 3-499-18826-0.
• Ernst Klee: Das Personenlexikon zum Dritten Reich: Wer war was vor und nach 1945. Fischer-Taschenbuch-Verlag, Frankfurt am Main 2005, ISBN 3-596-16048-0.
• Wacław Długoborski, Franciszek Piper (Hrsg.): Auschwitz 1940–1945. Studien zur Geschichte des Konzentrations- und Vernichtungslagers Auschwitz, Verlag Staatliches Museum Auschwitz-Birkenau, Oswiecim 1999, 5 Bände: I. Aufbau und Struktur des Lagers. II. Die Häftlinge - Existentzbedingungen, Arbeit und Tod. III. Vernichtung. IV. Widerstand. V. Epilog., ISBN 83-85047-76-X.