Friedrich "Fritz" Hartjenstein (3 July 1905 – 20 October 1954) was a German SS officer and concentration camp commandant. During the Second World War, he served in the Nazi concentration camp system and was commandant of Auschwitz II-Birkenau from November 1943 to May 1944 and commandant of Natzweiler-Struthof from May 1944.

After the war, Hartjenstein was tried by British and French military courts for crimes committed in the concentration camp system. He received multiple death sentences, but they were not carried out. He was released from French custody on 19 October 1954 because of terminal illness and died in Paris the following day from bladder cancer before the death sentences imposed on him were carried out.

Early life and SS career

Hartjenstein was born in Peine in 1905. According to Jürgen Gückel, he had a military background before joining the SS in 1939 and subsequently entered the concentration camp system. His career illustrates the personnel rotation between the Waffen-SS and the concentration camp inspectorate described in the scholarship on the concentration camp SS.

Auschwitz

In September 1942, Hartjenstein was posted to Auschwitz. After the reorganisation of the Auschwitz camp complex in November 1943, Auschwitz II-Birkenau briefly became an administratively separate camp. Hartjenstein served as commandant of Birkenau from November 1943 until mid-May 1944.

His tenure fell within the period when Birkenau functioned as the main killing centre of the Auschwitz complex. Hartjenstein was succeeded there by Josef Kramer.

Natzweiler

In May 1944, Hartjenstein became commandant of Natzweiler-Struthof. During his tenure, the camp system expanded and, as the Allied advance forced the evacuation of the main camp in Alsace, the command structure was transferred east of the Rhine while the wider Natzweiler complex continued to operate through numerous subcamps.

Gückel's biography and memorial-site research connect Hartjenstein with killings and executions carried out within the Natzweiler camp complex, which later formed the basis of post-war prosecutions.

Post-war trials

British military trial (Wuppertal, 1946)

In 1946, Hartjenstein was tried by a British Military Court at Wuppertal in the case Trial of Werner Rohde and Eight Others. The proceedings concerned he was convicted in connection with the murder of four female agents of the Special Operations Executive. from Natzweiler after their transfer from Karlsruhe prison. During the trial, Hartjenstein denied that he had known of the killings and stated that he had been absent from the camp, but the court heard evidence placing him there on the relevant date.

The court concluded that there was no proof that the victims had been lawfully tried or sentenced before their deaths, and Hartjenstein was convicted for his role in the crime as commandant of the camp. He was sentenced to life imprisonment.

French military trial (Rastatt, 1947)

In 1947, Hartjenstein was tried by the French military tribunal at Rastatt as part of the post-war proceedings concerning the Natzweiler concentration camp complex and its annex camps. The charges related to crimes committed during his tenure as commandant of the Natzweiler camp complex in 1944. Hartjenstein was convicted and sentenced to death. His sentence was later commuted to 20 years of forced labour in 1952.

French trial (Metz, 1954)

In 1954, Hartjenstein was tried by the Tribunal permanent des forces armées de Metz for crimes connected with the Natzweiler-Struthof camp complex. On 2 July 1954, he was sentenced to death. Five other former members of the camp staff were likewise condemned to death. Hartjenstein died in Paris on 20 October 1954 before the sentence was carried out.

In all, he received three death sentences.

Sources

  • Gückel, Jürgen (2021). Heimkehr eines Auschwitz-Kommandanten: Wie Fritz Hartjenstein drei Todesurteile überlebte. Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht. ISBN 978-3-525-31137-0.
  • Orth, Karin (2004). Die Konzentrationslager-SS: Sozialstrukturelle Analysen und biographische Studien. Munich: dtv. ISBN 978-3-423-34085-4.