Werner Hoppe (SS-Officer)
Encyclopedia
Paul Werner Hoppe was an SS Sturmbannführer
(major) and was the commandant of Stutthof
concentration camp from September 1942 until April 1945.
Hoppe joined the SS in 1933 and in 1936 he married Charlotte Baranowski, the daughter of Hermann Baranowski
who was the commandant of first Dachau and then Sachsenhausen
from 1938 -1940.
Hoppe was assigned to the Inspectorate of the Concentration Camps under SS Obergruppenführer Theodor Eicke
. He was instrumental in helping Eicke form the Totenkopf Division of the Waffen SS in September 1939 and served as Eicke's adjutant. While leading an infantry company he received a severe leg wound in early 1942 in fighting the Red Army
near Lake Ilmen
in the Demyansk Pocket
in Novgorod Oblast
, U.S.S.R. After convalescing he was assigned to the SS-Totenkopfverbände
then sent to Auschwitz as head of a guard detachment in July, 1942. He was recommended for the position of camp commandant of Stutthof concentration camp near Danzig by SS Gruppenführer Richard Glucks
, Eickes successor as Inspector of Concentration Camps. A promotion to Sturmbannführer and Commandant of Stutthof were approved and he arrived at Stutthof in September 1942 to take up his new position.
As the Russians advanced westward it was decided by Albert Forster
, Gauleiter of Danzig and the SS Higher and Police Leader Fritz Katzmann of military district XX, headquartered in Danzig to evacuate Stutthof.
The formal evacuation order "Einsatzbefehl No 3" was signed by Hoppe on January 25, 1945 at 0500. The evacuation began an hour later under the command of SS Hauptsturmfuhrer
Teodor Meyer.
The destination of the “death march” was a subcamp of Stutthof near Lauenburg
in Pomerania
about 87 miles (140 km) west southwest from Stutthof.
After the mass evacuation Hoppe became commandant of Wöbbelin concentration camp
, a temporary camp set up to take prisoners evacuated from camps about to be overrun by the Red Army. Wobbelin was only in existence from February 12, 1945 to 2 May 1945 when it was liberated by the American
army.
Hoppe was captured by the British
in April 1946 in Holstein
and sent to Camp 165 in Watten, Scotland in August 1947 until January 1948 when he was sent to a P.O.W. camp in Saxony
which was in the British zone of occupation in West Germany.
While awaiting extradition to Poland
he escaped and made his way to Switzerland
where he worked as a landscape gardener under a false identity for 3 years before returning to West Germany
. He was arrested by the West German authorities on April 17, 1953 in Witten
, West Germany. He was tried and convicted as an accessory to murder in 1955. On June 4, 1957 the district court in Bochum
resentenced him to 9 years, he was released in 1960.
Sturmbannführer
Sturmbannführer was a paramilitary rank of the Nazi Party equivalent to major, used both in the Sturmabteilung and the Schutzstaffel...
(major) and was the commandant of Stutthof
Stutthof concentration camp
Stutthof was the first Nazi concentration camp built outside of 1937 German borders.Completed on September 2, 1939, it was located in a secluded, wet, and wooded area west of the small town of Sztutowo . The town is located in the former territory of the Free City of Danzig, 34 km east of...
concentration camp from September 1942 until April 1945.
Hoppe joined the SS in 1933 and in 1936 he married Charlotte Baranowski, the daughter of Hermann Baranowski
Hermann Baranowski
Hermann Baranowski was a German politician and military figure. A member of the Nazi Party, he is best known as the commandant of two German concentration camps of the SS Death's Head unit. He was the commandant of Dachau concentration camp in 1938...
who was the commandant of first Dachau and then Sachsenhausen
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...
from 1938 -1940.
Hoppe was assigned to the Inspectorate of the Concentration Camps under SS Obergruppenführer Theodor Eicke
Theodor Eicke
Theodor Eicke was a SS Obergruppenführer , commander of the SS-Division Totenkopf of the Waffen-SS and one of the key figures in the establishment of concentration camps in Nazi Germany. His Nazi Party number was 114,901 and his SS number was 2,921...
. He was instrumental in helping Eicke form the Totenkopf Division of the Waffen SS in September 1939 and served as Eicke's adjutant. While leading an infantry company he received a severe leg wound in early 1942 in fighting the Red Army
Red Army
The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army started out as the Soviet Union's revolutionary communist combat groups during the Russian Civil War of 1918-1922. It grew into the national army of the Soviet Union. By the 1930s the Red Army was among the largest armies in history.The "Red Army" name refers to...
near Lake Ilmen
Lake Ilmen
Ilmen is a historically important lake in the Novgorod Oblast of Russia, formerly a vital part of the Trade route from the Varangians to the Greeks. The city of Novgorod lies six kilometers below the lake's outflow....
in the Demyansk Pocket
Demyansk Pocket
The Demyansk Pocket was the name given for the encirclement of German troops by the Red Army around Demyansk , south of Leningrad, during World War II on the Eastern Front. The pocket existed mainly from 8 February-21 April 1942. A much smaller pocket was simultaneously surrounded in Kholm, about ...
in Novgorod Oblast
Novgorod Oblast
Novgorod Oblast is a federal subject of Russia , located between Moscow and Saint Petersburg. Its administrative center is the city of Veliky Novgorod. Some of the oldest Russian cities, including Veliky Novgorod and Staraya Russa, are located there...
, U.S.S.R. After convalescing he was assigned to 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....
then sent to Auschwitz as head of a guard detachment in July, 1942. He was recommended for the position of camp commandant of Stutthof concentration camp near Danzig by SS Gruppenführer Richard Glucks
Richard Glücks
Richard Glücks was a high-ranking Nazi official. He attained the rank of a SS-Gruppenführer and a Generalleutnant of the Waffen-SS and from 1939 until the end of World War II was the head of Amt D: Konzentrationslagerwesen of the WVHA; the highest-ranking Concentration Camps Inspector in Nazi...
, Eickes successor as Inspector of Concentration Camps. A promotion to Sturmbannführer and Commandant of Stutthof were approved and he arrived at Stutthof in September 1942 to take up his new position.
As the Russians advanced westward it was decided by Albert Forster
Albert Forster
Albert Maria Forster was a Nazi German politician. Under his administration as the Gauleiter of Danzig-West Prussia during the Second World War, the local non-German population suffered ethnic cleansing, mass murder, and forceful Germanisation...
, Gauleiter of Danzig and the SS Higher and Police Leader Fritz Katzmann of military district XX, headquartered in Danzig to evacuate Stutthof.
The formal evacuation order "Einsatzbefehl No 3" was signed by Hoppe on January 25, 1945 at 0500. The evacuation began an hour later under the command of SS Hauptsturmfuhrer
Hauptsturmführer
Hauptsturmführer was a Nazi rank of the SS which was used between the years of 1934 and 1945. The rank of Hauptsturmführer was a mid-grade company level officer and was the equivalent of a Captain in the German Army and also the equivalent of captain in foreign armies...
Teodor Meyer.
The destination of the “death march” was a subcamp of Stutthof near Lauenburg
Lebork
Lębork is a town on the Łeba and Okalica rivers in Middle Pomerania region, north-western Poland with some 37,000 inhabitants.Lębork is also the capital of Lębork County in Pomeranian Voivodeship since 1999, formerly in Słupsk Voivodeship ....
in Pomerania
Pomerania
Pomerania is a historical region on the south shore of the Baltic Sea. Divided between Germany and Poland, it stretches roughly from the Recknitz River near Stralsund in the West, via the Oder River delta near Szczecin, to the mouth of the Vistula River near Gdańsk in the East...
about 87 miles (140 km) west southwest from Stutthof.
After the mass evacuation Hoppe became commandant of Wöbbelin concentration camp
Wöbbelin concentration camp
thumb|View of memorialthumbthumb|Bricks forming part of memorialThe Wöbbelin camp, near the city of Ludwigslust, was a subcamp of the Neuengamme concentration camp. The SS had established Wöbbelin to house concentration camp prisoners whom the SS had evacuated from other camps to prevent their...
, a temporary camp set up to take prisoners evacuated from camps about to be overrun by the Red Army. Wobbelin was only in existence from February 12, 1945 to 2 May 1945 when it was liberated by the American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
army.
Hoppe was captured by the British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
in April 1946 in Holstein
Holstein
Holstein is the region between the rivers Elbe and Eider. It is part of Schleswig-Holstein, the northernmost state of Germany....
and sent to Camp 165 in Watten, Scotland in August 1947 until January 1948 when he was sent to a P.O.W. camp in Saxony
Saxony
The Free State of Saxony is a landlocked state of Germany, contingent with Brandenburg, Saxony Anhalt, Thuringia, Bavaria, the Czech Republic and Poland. It is the tenth-largest German state in area, with of Germany's sixteen states....
which was in the British zone of occupation in West Germany.
While awaiting extradition to Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
he escaped and made his way to Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
where he worked as a landscape gardener under a false identity for 3 years before returning to West Germany
West Germany
West Germany is the common English, but not official, name for the Federal Republic of Germany or FRG in the period between its creation in May 1949 to German reunification on 3 October 1990....
. He was arrested by the West German authorities on April 17, 1953 in Witten
Witten
Witten is a university city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is the home of the Witten/Herdecke University, the first private university in Germany.-Bordering municipalities:* Bochum* Dortmund* Herdecke* Wetter * Sprockhoevel* Hattingen...
, West Germany. He was tried and convicted as an accessory to murder in 1955. On June 4, 1957 the district court in Bochum
Bochum
Bochum is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, western Germany. It is located in the Ruhr area and is surrounded by the cities of Essen, Gelsenkirchen, Herne, Castrop-Rauxel, Dortmund, Witten and Hattingen.-History:...
resentenced him to 9 years, he was released in 1960.