Wilhelm Boger
Encyclopedia
Wilhelm Friedrich Boger known as “The Tiger of Auschwitz” was a German police commissioner
and concentration camp overseer
. He was infamous for his appalling crimes at Auschwitz, together with his Austrian
superior officer, the Gestapo
chief Maximilian Grabner
.
, Germany, Boger joined the HJ (Hitler youth) in his teens. From school, in 1925 he took an office job in Stuttgart
and joined the Nazi Party in 1929. He was admitted to the Auxiliary Police at Friedrichschafen
after losing his job in 1932. From 1936-37, he attended the police training school and was appointed Police Commissioner
after he took a police examination in 1937.
office at Zichenau. He was placed in charge of setting up and supervising the border police station in Ostrolenka three weeks later. In 1940, he joined the 2nd SS and Police Engineer reserve unit based in Dresden
, from where he was dispatched to the front and subsequently wounded in 1942. Nine months later, he was transferred to Auschwitz, serving as an Untersturmführer
(Second Lieutenant) in the Auschwitz political department
. The Political Department was the representative of the RSHA
in the camp and its chief responsibilities were to keep files on individual prisoners, the reception of prisoners, maintaining the security of the camp, combating internal resistance and conducting interrogations.
Ursula Boger, Wilhelm Boger's Granddaughter, didn't find out until her college years that she was related to him and learned of his evil:
lasted until the liberation of Auschwitz, in January 1945. Thereafter on the run for five months, he was eventually detained in 1946 and should have been extradited to Poland for trial, but he managed to escape later that same year. In 1948, he was living in Crailsheim
and two years later, he had a job at an airplane factory in Stuttgart
.
by the Landgericht Frankfurt am Main Community for aiding and abetting the murder of Jews. After a series of eyewitness' testimonies he was finally sentenced to life imprisonment.
Boger ended his days a broken old man begging to see his grandchildren in prison and being refused by all his offspring.
, Baden-Wurttemberg
, Germany
on April 3, 1977, 19 years after his arrest and trial.
Police commissioner
Commissioner is a senior rank used in many police forces and may be rendered Police Commissioner or Commissioner of Police. In some organizations, the commissioner is a political appointee, and may or may not actually be a professional police officer. In these circumstances, there is often a...
and concentration camp overseer
Overseer
Rob Overseer is an English DJ/producer, born in Leeds whose works have been included in soundtracks for Animatrix, Snatch, Any Given Sunday and The Girl Next Door, as well as video games like Need for Speed: Underground, NFL Gameday 2004, several Matchstick Productions ski films, and Stuntman,...
. He was infamous for his appalling crimes at Auschwitz, together with his Austrian
Austrians
Austrians are a nation and ethnic group, consisting of the population of the Republic of Austria and its historical predecessor states who share a common Austrian culture and Austrian descent....
superior officer, the Gestapo
Gestapo
The Gestapo was the official secret police of Nazi Germany. Beginning on 20 April 1934, it was under the administration of the SS leader Heinrich Himmler in his position as Chief of German Police...
chief Maximilian Grabner
Maximilian Grabner
Maximilian Grabner was a Austrian Gestapo chief in Auschwitz. At Auschwitz, the infamous torture chamber Block 11 was Grabner's own empire.-Early Life:...
.
Early Life
Born in StuttgartStuttgart
Stuttgart is the capital of the state of Baden-Württemberg in southern Germany. The sixth-largest city in Germany, Stuttgart has a population of 600,038 while the metropolitan area has a population of 5.3 million ....
, Germany, Boger joined the HJ (Hitler youth) in his teens. From school, in 1925 he took an office job in Stuttgart
Stuttgart
Stuttgart is the capital of the state of Baden-Württemberg in southern Germany. The sixth-largest city in Germany, Stuttgart has a population of 600,038 while the metropolitan area has a population of 5.3 million ....
and joined the Nazi Party in 1929. He was admitted to the Auxiliary Police at Friedrichschafen
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...
after losing his job in 1932. From 1936-37, he attended the police training school and was appointed Police Commissioner
Police commissioner
Commissioner is a senior rank used in many police forces and may be rendered Police Commissioner or Commissioner of Police. In some organizations, the commissioner is a political appointee, and may or may not actually be a professional police officer. In these circumstances, there is often a...
after he took a police examination in 1937.
World War II
At the outbreak of the Second World War he was transferred to the state policeState police
State police are a type of sub-national territorial police force, particularly in Australia and the United States. Some other countries have analogous police forces, such as the provincial police in some Canadian provinces, while in other places, the same responsibilities are held by national...
office at Zichenau. He was placed in charge of setting up and supervising the border police station in Ostrolenka three weeks later. In 1940, he joined the 2nd SS and Police Engineer reserve unit based in Dresden
Dresden
Dresden is the capital city of the Free State of Saxony in Germany. It is situated in a valley on the River Elbe, near the Czech border. The Dresden conurbation is part of the Saxon Triangle metropolitan area....
, from where he was dispatched to the front and subsequently wounded in 1942. Nine months later, he was transferred to Auschwitz, serving as an Untersturmführer
Untersturmführer
Untersturmführer was a paramilitary rank of the German Schutzstaffel first created in July 1934. The rank can trace its origins to the older SA rank of Sturmführer which had existed since the founding of the SA in 1921...
(Second Lieutenant) in the Auschwitz political department
Politische Abteilung
The Politische Abteilung , also called the "concentration camp Gestapo", was one of the five departments of a Nazi concentration camp set up by the Concentration Camps Inspectorate to operate the camps...
. The Political Department was the representative of the RSHA
RSHA
The RSHA, or Reichssicherheitshauptamt was an organization subordinate to Heinrich Himmler in his dual capacities as Chef der Deutschen Polizei and Reichsführer-SS...
in the camp and its chief responsibilities were to keep files on individual prisoners, the reception of prisoners, maintaining the security of the camp, combating internal resistance and conducting interrogations.
Auschwitz
Wilhelm Boger invented the "Boger swing”, an instrument of torture: "it was a meter-long iron bar suspended by chains hung from the ceiling", said Frau Braun. We could never have imagined what it was for until she described it, in a monotone spoken as by rote, its details recalled and rehearsed repeatedly during her months bearing witness in Frankfurt.- " A prisoner would be brought in for “questioning,” stripped naked and bent over the bar, wrists manacled to ankles. A guard at one side would :shove him – or her — off across the chamber in a long, slow arc, while Boger would ask “questions,” at first quietly, then barking them out, and :at the last bellowing. At each return, another guard armed with a crowbar would smash the victim across the buttocks. As the swinging went on and :on, and the wailing victim fainted, was revived only to faint howling again, the blows continued —until only a mass of bleeding pulp hung before :their eyes. Most perished from the ordeal; some sooner, some later; in the end a sack bones and flayed flesh and fat was swept along :the shambles of that concrete floor to be dragged away".
Ursula Boger, Wilhelm Boger's Granddaughter, didn't find out until her college years that she was related to him and learned of his evil:
- "He is the man who killed a little boy with an apple who came in on a transport to Auschwitz, by smashing his head against a wall until he was dead, and then picked up and ate that apple."
Post War
His atrocious crimes in the Political DepartmentPolitische Abteilung
The Politische Abteilung , also called the "concentration camp Gestapo", was one of the five departments of a Nazi concentration camp set up by the Concentration Camps Inspectorate to operate the camps...
lasted until the liberation of Auschwitz, in January 1945. Thereafter on the run for five months, he was eventually detained in 1946 and should have been extradited to Poland for trial, but he managed to escape later that same year. In 1948, he was living in Crailsheim
Crailsheim
Crailsheim is a town in the German state of Baden-Württemberg, 32 km east of Schwäbisch Hall, 40 km southwest of Ansbach in the Schwäbisch Hall district, incorporated in 1338....
and two years later, he had a job at an airplane factory in Stuttgart
Stuttgart
Stuttgart is the capital of the state of Baden-Württemberg in southern Germany. The sixth-largest city in Germany, Stuttgart has a population of 600,038 while the metropolitan area has a population of 5.3 million ....
.
Frankfurt Auschwitz Trials
In 1959 he was arrested again and this time was charged for the war crimes he committed at Auschwitz. On August 20, 1965 he became part of the Frankfurt Auschwitz TrialsFrankfurt 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...
by the Landgericht Frankfurt am Main Community for aiding and abetting the murder of Jews. After a series of eyewitness' testimonies he was finally sentenced to life imprisonment.
Boger ended his days a broken old man begging to see his grandchildren in prison and being refused by all his offspring.
Death
He died in the prison at Bietigheim-BissingenBietigheim-Bissingen
Bietigheim-Bissingen is the second-largest town in the district of Ludwigsburg, Baden-Württemberg, Germany with 42,515 inhabitants in 2007. It is situated on the river Enz, close to its confluence with the Neckar, about 19 km north of Stuttgart, and 20 km south of Heilbronn.- Buildings...
, Baden-Wurttemberg
Baden-Württemberg
Baden-Württemberg is one of the 16 states of Germany. Baden-Württemberg is in the southwestern part of the country to the east of the Upper Rhine, and is the third largest in both area and population of Germany's sixteen states, with an area of and 10.7 million inhabitants...
, Germany
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...
on April 3, 1977, 19 years after his arrest and trial.