Oswald Kaduk
Encyclopedia
Oswald Kaduk was a German
SS
-Unterscharführer
and Rapportführer at Auschwitz concentration camp
.
, Kaduk was born in Königshütte
, Upper Silesia
. After attending the Volksschule
he trained as a butcher
before becoming one in 1924. As well as working at the local slaughterhouse, Kaduk also held positions with fire fighting
services at the municipal fire brigade in Chorzów
and at a chemical plant.
and in 1940 he was drafted into the Waffen-SS
. He was sent to the Eastern Front
, but due to various illnesses and stays at military hospitals he was posted to Auschwitz in 1941. At first he was assigned to watch tower duties in 1942, then became Blockführer and finally Rapportführer.
Kaduk was considered to be "one of the cruelest, brutalest, most vulgar" of SS men at Auschwitz:
Historian Andrew Roberts in his book "The Storm of War" recounted Kudak's practice of handing Jewish children balloons just before they were murdered with a phenol injection to the heart at a rate of ten children per minute.
Kaduk also witnessed the mass murder of people in gas chambers. On describing his SS colleagues inserting the Zyklon B
gas, Kaduk has said:
. In December 1946 he was recognized by a former prisoner and consequently arrested by a Soviet
military patrol. In 1947 the Supreme National Tribunal
sentenced him to 25 years hard labour, but he was reprieved in April 1956.
Kaduk then went to West Berlin
, working at hospital as a nurse. Despite his violent reputation at Auschwitz, he earned himself the nickname "Papa Kaduk" among patients.
In July 1959 Kaduk was again arrested, and appeared in the Auschwitz Trials
in Frankfurt
where he was one of the main accused. On August 19 1965 the court sentenced him to life imprisonment for murder
in ten cases, and joint murder in at least one thousand cases. Because of the gravity of Kaduk's deeds, the responsible Spruchkammern rejected various pleas for clemency.
While in prison, Kaduk was interviewed as part of a TV documentary about SS men stationed at Auschwitz. When asked about Holocaust denial
, Kaduk says:
After the 1984 shift to the Offener Vollzug, Kaduk was released from the Schwalmstadt prison in 1989 due to health reasons (Haftunfähigkeit). He died in Langelsheim
, Harz
, as a pensioner in 1997, at the age of 91.
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...
SS
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...
-Unterscharführer
Unterscharführer
Unterscharführer was a paramilitary rank of the Nazi Party used by the Schutzstaffel between 1934 and 1945. The SS rank was created after the Night of the Long Knives...
and Rapportführer at Auschwitz concentration camp
Auschwitz concentration camp
Concentration camp Auschwitz was a network of Nazi concentration and extermination camps built and operated by the Third Reich in Polish areas annexed by Nazi Germany during World War II...
.
Biography
The son of a blacksmithBlacksmith
A blacksmith is a person who creates objects from wrought iron or steel by forging the metal; that is, by using tools to hammer, bend, and cut...
, Kaduk was born in Königshütte
Chorzów
Chorzów is a city in Silesia in southern Poland, near Katowice. Chorzów is one of the central districts of the Upper Silesian Metropolitan Union - a metropolis with a population of 2 million...
, Upper Silesia
Province of Upper Silesia
The Province of Upper Silesia was a province of the Free State of Prussia created in the aftermath of World War I. It comprised much of the region of Upper Silesia and was eventually divided into two administrative regions , Kattowitz and Oppeln...
. After attending the Volksschule
Volksschule
A Volksschule was an 18th century system of state-supported primary schools established in the Habsburg Austrian Empire and Prussia . Attendance was supposedly compulsory, but a 1781 census reveals that only one fourth of school-age children attended. At the time, this was one of the few examples...
he trained as a butcher
Butcher
A butcher is a person who may slaughter animals, dress their flesh, sell their meat or any combination of these three tasks. They may prepare standard cuts of meat, poultry, fish and shellfish for sale in retail or wholesale food establishments...
before becoming one in 1924. As well as working at the local slaughterhouse, Kaduk also held positions with fire fighting
Fire fighting
Firefighting is the act of extinguishing fires. A firefighter fights fires to prevent loss of life, and/or destruction of property and the environment...
services at the municipal fire brigade in Chorzów
Chorzów
Chorzów is a city in Silesia in southern Poland, near Katowice. Chorzów is one of the central districts of the Upper Silesian Metropolitan Union - a metropolis with a population of 2 million...
and at a chemical plant.
World War II
In 1939 he joined the Allgemeine SSAllgemeine SS
The Allgemeine SS was the most numerous branch of the Schutzstaffel paramilitary forces of Nazi Germany. It was managed by the SS-Hauptamt...
and in 1940 he was drafted into the Waffen-SS
Waffen-SS
The Waffen-SS was a multi-ethnic and multi-national military force of the Third Reich. It constituted the armed wing of the Schutzstaffel or SS, an organ of the Nazi Party. The Waffen-SS saw action throughout World War II and grew from three regiments to over 38 divisions, and served alongside...
. He was sent to the Eastern Front
Eastern Front (World War II)
The Eastern Front of World War II was a theatre of World War II between the European Axis powers and co-belligerent Finland against the Soviet Union, Poland, and some other Allies which encompassed Northern, Southern and Eastern Europe from 22 June 1941 to 9 May 1945...
, but due to various illnesses and stays at military hospitals he was posted to Auschwitz in 1941. At first he was assigned to watch tower duties in 1942, then became Blockführer and finally Rapportführer.
Kaduk was considered to be "one of the cruelest, brutalest, most vulgar" of SS men at Auschwitz:
Historian Andrew Roberts in his book "The Storm of War" recounted Kudak's practice of handing Jewish children balloons just before they were murdered with a phenol injection to the heart at a rate of ten children per minute.
Kaduk also witnessed the mass murder of people in gas chambers. On describing his SS colleagues inserting the Zyklon B
Zyklon B
Zyklon B was the trade name of a cyanide-based pesticide infamous for its use by Nazi Germany to kill human beings in gas chambers of extermination camps during the Holocaust. The "B" designation indicates one of two types of Zyklon...
gas, Kaduk has said:
After the war
After Germany's surrender, Kaduk worked in a sugar factory in LöbauLobau
The Lobau is a Vienna floodplain on the northern side of the Danube and partly in Großenzersdorf, Lower Austria. It has been part of the Danube-Auen National Park since 1996 and has been a protected area since 1978. It is used as a recreational area and is known as a site of nudism. There is...
. In December 1946 he was recognized by a former prisoner and consequently arrested by a Soviet
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
military patrol. In 1947 the Supreme National Tribunal
Supreme National Tribunal
The Supreme National Tribunal was a war crime tribunal active in Poland from 1946 to 1948, with jurisdiction over fascist-hitlerite criminals and traitors to the Polish nation.The tribunal presided over seven high-profile cases ....
sentenced him to 25 years hard labour, but he was reprieved in April 1956.
Kaduk then went to West Berlin
West Berlin
West Berlin was a political exclave that existed between 1949 and 1990. It comprised the western regions of Berlin, which were bordered by East Berlin and parts of East Germany. West Berlin consisted of the American, British, and French occupation sectors, which had been established in 1945...
, working at hospital as a nurse. Despite his violent reputation at Auschwitz, he earned himself the nickname "Papa Kaduk" among patients.
In July 1959 Kaduk was again arrested, and appeared in the Auschwitz Trials
Frankfurt Auschwitz trials
The Frankfurt Auschwitz Trials, known in German as der Auschwitz-Prozess or der zweite Auschwitz-Prozess, was a series of trials running from December 20, 1963 to August 10, 1965, charging 22 defendants under German penal law for their roles in the Holocaust as mid- to lower-level officials in the...
in Frankfurt
Frankfurt
Frankfurt am Main , commonly known simply as Frankfurt, is the largest city in the German state of Hesse and the fifth-largest city in Germany, with a 2010 population of 688,249. The urban area had an estimated population of 2,300,000 in 2010...
where he was one of the main accused. On August 19 1965 the court sentenced him to life imprisonment for murder
Murder
Murder is the unlawful killing, with malice aforethought, of another human being, and generally this state of mind distinguishes murder from other forms of unlawful homicide...
in ten cases, and joint murder in at least one thousand cases. Because of the gravity of Kaduk's deeds, the responsible Spruchkammern rejected various pleas for clemency.
While in prison, Kaduk was interviewed as part of a TV documentary about SS men stationed at Auschwitz. When asked about Holocaust denial
Holocaust denial
Holocaust denial is the act of denying the genocide of Jews in World War II, usually referred to as the Holocaust. The key claims of Holocaust denial are: the German Nazi government had no official policy or intention of exterminating Jews, Nazi authorities did not use extermination camps and gas...
, Kaduk says:
After the 1984 shift to the Offener Vollzug, Kaduk was released from the Schwalmstadt prison in 1989 due to health reasons (Haftunfähigkeit). He died in Langelsheim
Langelsheim
Langelsheim is a town in the district of Goslar, in Lower Saxony, Germany.- Geography :The municipality is situated between the river Innerste and its tributary Grane, on the northern edge of the Harz mountain range and the Harz National Park, located about northwest of Goslar.- City subdivisions...
, Harz
Harz
The Harz is the highest mountain range in northern Germany and its rugged terrain extends across parts of Lower Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt and Thuringia. The name Harz derives from the Middle High German word Hardt or Hart , latinized as Hercynia. The legendary Brocken is the highest summit in the Harz...
, as a pensioner in 1997, at the age of 91.
Literature
- Demant, Ebbo (Hg.): Auschwitz — "Direkt von der Rampe weg…" Kaduk, Erber, Klehr: Drei Täter geben zu Protokoll: Hamburg: Rowohlt, 1979 ISBN 3499144387
- Ernst KleeErnst KleeErnst Klee is a German journalist and author. As a writer on Germany's history, he is best known for his exposure and documentation of the medical crimes of Adolf Hitler's Third Reich, much of which is concerned with the Action T4 forced euthanasia program.-Life and work:Klee was first trained as...
: Das Personenlexikon zum Dritten Reich: Wer war was vor und nach 1945. Fischer-Taschenbuch-Verlag, Frankfurt am Main 2005. ISBN 3-596-16048-0 - Hermann LangbeinHermann LangbeinHermann Langbein was an Austrian who fought in the Spanish Civil War with the International Brigades for the Spanish Republicans against the Nationalists under Francisco Franco...
: Menschen in Auschwitz. Frankfurt am Main, Berlin Wien, Ullstein-Verlag, 1980, ISBN 3-54833014-2. - Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum: Auschwitz in den Augen der SS. Oswiecim 1998, ISBN 83-85047-35-2.