Hans Hüttig
Encyclopedia
Hans Hüttig was a German
Schutzstaffel
officer and Nazi concentration camp commandant.
The son of a carpenter, Hüttig's father would eventually open a shop selling photographic equipment and this became the family trade, with Hans Hüttig's brother a founder of Zeiss Ikon. Sent to a boarding school in south Germany he attempted to enter the army in 1911 but failed the exam and returned home to workm as a salesman in his father's shop. Early in 1914 he left the shop to take a post with an import-export company in German East Africa
.
Following the outbreak of the First World War Hüttig enlisted in the German Imperial Army, seeing action in the East African Campaign
and eventually rising to the rank of master sergeant. Wounded in December 1917 the military hospital was captured soon afterwards by the British Army
and he was sent to a POW camp in Cairo
where he was held for two years.
He returned to Germany in March 1920, working initially at the shop again before filling on a number of clerical jobs. He joined the right-wing Stahlhelm, Bund der Frontsoldaten
in 1925 although he claimed that this was largely to feel a sense of belonging rather than because of any deep political convictions. After a spell running his own photography shop (which closed in 1930) Hüttig enlisted in the SS in March 1932 as an unpaid volunteer and he joined the Nazi Party soon afterwards.
Following the Nazi seizure of power in 1933 Hüttig was offered an accepted a full-time billet with the SS as part of the SS-Totenkopfverbände
. For the next six years he spent his time touring the concentration camps and being trained for a career in them. His first assignment came when he was appointed deputy to Karl Otto Koch
, commandant of Buchenwald concentration camp
and a man already known to Hüttig from Dresden. At Buchenwald Hüttig was praised by his superiors for his attitude whilst inmates would later testify to his personal cruelty.
After his spell at Buchenwald Hüttig saw service at Sachsenhausen concentration camp
and Flossenbürg concentration camp
and in both garnered a reputation as a troubleshooter who was suitable for special tasks. Thus he was called upon to oversee the construction of a new facility at Natzweiler-Struthof
in Alsace
. Following this he spent time in Norway
, overseeing the construction of both concentration camps and prisons. Whilst here he commanded the security at Grini concentration camp and served as SS and Police Leader
for the country. This assignment then ended abruptly when he was sent to Herzogenbusch concentration camp as commandant following the removal of Adam Grünewald
for his part in the Bunker Tragedy
. The incident had caused uproar in the local area and as such Hüttig oversaw the closure of Herzogenbusch before returning to Germany to serve out the war working in a police station.
Hüttig was one of only a handful of camp commanders interviewed by Israel
i historian Tom Segev
for his book on the commandants Soldiers of Evil. During the course of the interview he admitted to Segev that "I knew very well what I was going to do in the SS".
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
Schutzstaffel
Schutzstaffel
The Schutzstaffel |Sig runes]]) was a major paramilitary organization under Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party. Built upon the Nazi ideology, the SS under Heinrich Himmler's command was responsible for many of the crimes against humanity during World War II...
officer and Nazi concentration camp commandant.
The son of a carpenter, Hüttig's father would eventually open a shop selling photographic equipment and this became the family trade, with Hans Hüttig's brother a founder of Zeiss Ikon. Sent to a boarding school in south Germany he attempted to enter the army in 1911 but failed the exam and returned home to workm as a salesman in his father's shop. Early in 1914 he left the shop to take a post with an import-export company in German East Africa
German East Africa
German East Africa was a German colony in East Africa, which included what are now :Burundi, :Rwanda and Tanganyika . Its area was , nearly three times the size of Germany today....
.
Following the outbreak of the First World War Hüttig enlisted in the German Imperial Army, seeing action in the East African Campaign
East African Campaign (World War I)
The East African Campaign was a series of battles and guerrilla actions which started in German East Africa and ultimately affected portions of Mozambique, Northern Rhodesia, British East Africa, Uganda, and the Belgian Congo. The campaign was effectively ended in November 1917...
and eventually rising to the rank of master sergeant. Wounded in December 1917 the military hospital was captured soon afterwards by the British Army
British Army
The British Army is the land warfare branch of Her Majesty's Armed Forces in the United Kingdom. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdom of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. The new British Army incorporated Regiments that had already existed in England...
and he was sent to a POW camp in Cairo
Cairo
Cairo , is the capital of Egypt and the largest city in the Arab world and Africa, and the 16th largest metropolitan area in the world. Nicknamed "The City of a Thousand Minarets" for its preponderance of Islamic architecture, Cairo has long been a centre of the region's political and cultural life...
where he was held for two years.
He returned to Germany in March 1920, working initially at the shop again before filling on a number of clerical jobs. He joined the right-wing Stahlhelm, Bund der Frontsoldaten
Stahlhelm, Bund der Frontsoldaten
The Stahlhelm, Bund der Frontsoldaten also known in short form as Der Stahlhelm was one of the many paramilitary organizations that arose after the defeat of World War I in the Weimar Republic...
in 1925 although he claimed that this was largely to feel a sense of belonging rather than because of any deep political convictions. After a spell running his own photography shop (which closed in 1930) Hüttig enlisted in the SS in March 1932 as an unpaid volunteer and he joined the Nazi Party soon afterwards.
Following the Nazi seizure of power in 1933 Hüttig was offered an accepted a full-time billet with the SS as part of the SS-Totenkopfverbände
SS-Totenkopfverbände
SS-Totenkopfverbände , meaning "Death's-Head Units", was the SS organization responsible for administering the Nazi concentration camps for the Third Reich....
. For the next six years he spent his time touring the concentration camps and being trained for a career in them. His first assignment came when he was appointed deputy to Karl Otto Koch
Karl Otto Koch
Karl-Otto Koch , a Standartenführer in the German Schutzstaffel , was the first commandant of the Nazi concentration camps at Buchenwald and Sachsenhausen, and later also served as a commander at the Majdanek concentration camp.-Early life:Koch was born in Darmstadt, Grand Duchy of Hesse on...
, commandant of Buchenwald concentration camp
Buchenwald concentration camp
Buchenwald concentration camp was a German Nazi concentration camp established on the Ettersberg near Weimar, Germany, in July 1937, one of the first and the largest of the concentration camps on German soil.Camp prisoners from all over Europe and Russia—Jews, non-Jewish Poles and Slovenes,...
and a man already known to Hüttig from Dresden. At Buchenwald Hüttig was praised by his superiors for his attitude whilst inmates would later testify to his personal cruelty.
After his spell at Buchenwald Hüttig saw service at Sachsenhausen concentration camp
Sachsenhausen concentration camp
Sachsenhausen or Sachsenhausen-Oranienburg was a Nazi concentration camp in Oranienburg, Germany, used primarily for political prisoners from 1936 to the end of the Third Reich in May, 1945. After World War II, when Oranienburg was in the Soviet Occupation Zone, the structure was used as an NKVD...
and Flossenbürg concentration camp
Flossenbürg concentration camp
Konzentrationslager Flossenbürg was a Nazi concentration camp built in May 1938 by the Schutzstaffel Economic-Administrative Main Office at Flossenbürg, in the Oberpfalz region of Bavaria, Germany, near the border with Czechoslovakia. Until its liberation in April 1945, more than 96,000 prisoners...
and in both garnered a reputation as a troubleshooter who was suitable for special tasks. Thus he was called upon to oversee the construction of a new facility at Natzweiler-Struthof
Natzweiler-Struthof
Natzweiler-Struthof was a German concentration camp located in the Vosges Mountains close to the Alsatian village of Natzwiller in France, and the town of Schirmeck, about 50 km south west from the city of Strasbourg....
in Alsace
Alsace
Alsace is the fifth-smallest of the 27 regions of France in land area , and the smallest in metropolitan France. It is also the seventh-most densely populated region in France and third most densely populated region in metropolitan France, with ca. 220 inhabitants per km²...
. Following this he spent time in Norway
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
, overseeing the construction of both concentration camps and prisons. Whilst here he commanded the security at Grini concentration camp and served as SS and Police Leader
SS and Police Leader
SS and Police Leader was a title for senior Nazi officials that commanded large units of the SS, of Gestapo and of the regular German police during and prior to World War II.Three levels of subordination were established for bearers of this title:...
for the country. This assignment then ended abruptly when he was sent to Herzogenbusch concentration camp as commandant following the removal of Adam Grünewald
Adam Grünewald
Adam Grünewald was a German Schutzstaffel officer and Nazi concentration camp commandant....
for his part in the Bunker Tragedy
Bunker Tragedy
The incident known as the Bunker Tragedy or the Bunker Drama was an atrocity committed by the staff at the Herzogenbusch concentration camp in the Netherlands, on January 1944 during World War II.-Events:...
. The incident had caused uproar in the local area and as such Hüttig oversaw the closure of Herzogenbusch before returning to Germany to serve out the war working in a police station.
Hüttig was one of only a handful of camp commanders interviewed by Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
i historian Tom Segev
Tom Segev
Tom Segev is an Israeli historian, author and journalist. He is associated with Israel's so-called New Historians, a group challenging many of the country's traditional narratives.-Early life:Segev was born in Jerusalem in 1945...
for his book on the commandants Soldiers of Evil. During the course of the interview he admitted to Segev that "I knew very well what I was going to do in the SS".