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Hans Hüttig

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Hans Hüttig
Hüttig as commander of the Herzogenbusch concentration camp sub-camp in Vught, The Netherlands
Born(1894-04-05)5 April 1894
Dresden, German Empire
Died23 February 1980(1980-02-23) (aged 85)
Wachenheim, West Germany
Allegiance Nazi Germany
Service / branch Schutzstaffel
Years of service1932–1945
UnitSS-Totenkopfverbände

Hans Benno Hüttig (5 April 1894 – 23 February 1980) was a German SS functionary and Nazi concentration camp commandant.

Early years

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Hans Hüttig was born on 5 April 1894.[1] 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.[2]: 191  Sent to a boarding school in South Germany, he attempted to enter the army in 1911 but failed the exam and returned home to work as a salesman in his father's shop.[2]: 192  Early in 1914, he left the shop to take a post with an import-export company in German East Africa.[2]: 192 

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 Feldwebel.[2]: 192  Wounded in December 1917, the military hospital where he was being treated was captured by the British Army. Thereafter, Hüttig was sent to a POW camp in Cairo where he was held for two years.[2]: 192 

Joining the Nazis

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Hüttig returned to Germany in March 1920, working initially at the shop again before filling on a number of clerical jobs.[2]: 192  Hüttig joined the right-wing Der Stahlhelm in 1925 although he claimed that this was largely to feel a sense of belonging rather than because of any deep political convictions.[2]: 193  After running his own photography shop (which closed in 1930), Hüttig enlisted in the SS in March 1932 at age 37 as an unpaid volunteer and he joined the Nazi Party soon afterwards.[2]: 193 

Concentration camps

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Following the Nazis' seizure of national power in 1933, Hüttig was offered and accepted a full-time billet with the SS as part of the SS-Totenkopfverbände (Camp SS).[2]: 194  For the next six years, Hüttig spent his time rotating through the concentration camps and being trained for a career in them.[2]: 194  His first assignment came when he was appointed deputy to Karl Otto Koch, commandant of Buchenwald concentration camp and already known to Hüttig from Dresden.[2]: 195  At Buchenwald, Hüttig was praised by his superiors for his attitude whilst inmates would later testify to his personal cruelty.[2]: 195 

After his time at Buchenwald, Hüttig saw service at Sachsenhausen concentration camp and Flossenbürg concentration camp and in both gained a reputation as a troubleshooter who was suitable for special tasks.[2]: 195  Thus he was called upon to oversee the construction of a new facility at Natzweiler-Struthof in Alsace.[2]: 195  Following this he spent time in occupied Norway, overseeing the construction of both concentration camps and prisons.[2]: 195  Whilst there he commanded the security at Grini concentration camp outside Oslo.[3] This assignment ended in February 1944 with his transfer to Herzogenbusch concentration camp in the Netherlands as commandant following the removal of Adam Grünewald for his part in the Bunker Tragedy that took place in January 1944[2]: 195  and had caused uproar in the local area. Hüttig oversaw the closure of Herzogenbusch by October 1944 before returning to Germany to serve out the war working in a police station.[2]: 195 

Post-war

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After the war, Hüttig was held in Allied internment on suspicion of war crimes. However, he was not put on trial until June 1954.[4] Hüttig was found guilty and sentenced to life in prison in solitary confinement on 2 July 1954 by a French military court in Metz. In 1956, he was released from detention and led a discreet life at home, until his death in 1980 in Wachenheim.[1]

Hüttig was one of only a handful of camp commanders interviewed by Israeli 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".[2]: 8–9 

Decorations

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SS-Rank(s):

  • SS-Untersturmführer 31.1.1937,
  • SS-Obersturmführer 12.9.1937,
  • SS-Hauptsturmführer 11.9. 1938,
  • Last promotion to the rank of SS-Sturmbannführer in 30.1.1942.

Awards:

  • DRL-Sports Badge in Bronze,
  • Honor Cross of The World War 1914–1918,
  • Wound Badge in Black 1918,
  • Der Stahlhelm Membership Badge,
  • NSDAP 10 Year Long Service Medal,
  • SS-Ehrenring,
  • Iron Cross 2nd Class 1939,
  • SS-Ehrendegen Reichführer-SS,
  • SS Long Service Medal.

References

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  1. ^ a b Thompson, David (2002). "Huettig, Hans". A Biographical Dictionary of War Crimes Proceedings, Collaboration Trials and Similar Proceedings Involving France in World War II. Grace Dangberg Foundation, Inc. Archived from the original on October 29, 2009. Retrieved June 19, 2015.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r Segev, Tom (1991). Soldiers of Evil. Berkley Books.
  3. ^ Ernst Klee: Das Personenlexikon zum Dritten Reich, Frankfurt am Main 2007, p. 274
  4. ^ ""Trouw", Camp V[ught], Hans Huttig, Natzweiler Trials - Axis History Forum". forum.axishistory.com. Retrieved 2022-08-02.
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