Tag: Waffen-SS

Posted on

The S-Bahn Serial Killer

In the past, I’ve written about several of France’s most infamous serial killers (The Parisian Bluebeard is Guillotined (click here to read) and Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (click here to read). I thought with our blog today, we’ll move on to Berlin and introduce you to the “S-Bahn” serial killer. (The Berlin S-Bahn is a rapid transit railway system akin to the RER, the Paris suburban train line⏤the U-Bahn is Berlin’s underground railway system.)

Like his French counterparts, this German killer met the same fate.

Did You Know?

Did you know that Hugo Boss (1885−1948) was a fanatical Nazi? Boss was a German fashion designer and founder of Hugo Boss AG. Prior to serving in the German army during World War I, Boss ran his parents’ lingerie shop in Metzingen, Baden-Wuerttemberg (southwest Germany). After the war, Boss returned to Metzingen and started his own company beginning with the creation of shirts, jackets, and work clothing. Boss joined the National Socialist German Worker’s Party (NSDAP), or Nazi party in 1931 after more than three years of supplying the NSDAP with uniforms for Hitler’s Sturmabteilung (SA), or “Brownshirts.” He immediately became a sponsoring member of the Schutzstaffel (SS) and over the next ten years, Boss joined various Nazi sponsored organizations resulting in greater revenue for his company.

While the black uniforms of the SS were designed by members of the Schutzstaffel, the Hugo Boss company manufactured them (and likely had input to the design). By 1938, the company turned its attention to creating and manufacturing uniforms for the Wehrmacht, Hitler Youth, and the Waffen-SS (i.e., the armed division of the Schutzstaffel). About 180 Polish and French women were forced to work as slave labor in the Hugo Boss factory.

Heinrich Himmler (left) and Ernst Röhm (right). Röhm was the leader of the Sturmabteilung, or “Brown Shirts.” Both uniforms were supplied to Hitler by Hugo Boss and his company. Photo by anonymous (c. 1933). Bundesarchiv, Bild 102-14886/CC-BY-SA. PD-.CCA-Share Alike 3.0 Germany. Wikimedia Commons.
Heinrich Himmler (left) and Ernst Röhm (right). Röhm was the leader of the Sturmabteilung, or “Brown Shirts.” Both uniforms were supplied to Hitler by Hugo Boss and his company. Photo by anonymous (c. 1933). Bundesarchiv, Bild 102-14886/CC-BY-SA. PD-.CCA-Share Alike 3.0 Germany. Wikimedia Commons.

During the denazification process after the war, Boss was categorized as an “Offender” who profited from the Nazis and the war. However, upon appeal, he was re-classified as a “Follower” but still banned from running the business (his son-in-law took over). Why did it take until 2011 for the company to issue an apology for its role in the war and the use of forced labor? I could not find a section in the company’s website about its history or founder. This is not surprising. Most German companies do not highlight their activities or affiliations during the rise of the Third Reich or World War II (click here to read the blog, An African American in Paris).

I’d like to thank Martin B. for sharing the story of Hugo Boss with me and suggesting we incorporate it into one of the blogs.

Paul Ogorzow

Paul Ogorzow (1912−1941) was born in East Prussia (now Poland). He was the illegitimate son of a farm worker, Marie Saga. By the time he was twelve, Paul had been adopted by Johann Ogorzow and Paul eventually took Johann’s surname as his own. Working in a steel foundry, Ogorzow joined the Nazi party in 1931 and became a member of Hitler’s paramilitary Sturmabteilung (SA), or “Brownshirts.” After the Nazis took power in 1933, Ogorzow received promotions ultimately ending as a Scharführer, or SA squad leader. One year later, Ogorzow was hired to work for the national railroad, Deutsche Reichsbahn. Read More The S-Bahn Serial Killer

Posted on

The Argentina Papers

Two of our previous blogs discussed Hitler’s enablers (refer to blogs, Hitler’s Enablers – Part One and Hitler’s Enablers – Part Two [click here to read part one and here to read part two]). Without hundreds of thousands (millions?) of people to carry out his orders, policies, and directives, Hitler would likely never have attained the status of the greatest mass murderer in the history of mankind. For a myriad of reasons, the majority of the Führer’s enablers went unpunished or if convicted, never fully served their sentences (click here to read the blog The Wisemen). For one group of enablers (i.e., war criminals), their post-war stories centered around the “ratlines” (click here to read the blog ODESSA: Myth or Truth?) that guided them out of Europe and in many cases, to South America (in particular, Brazil, Argentina, and Chile). For some (e.g., Josef Mengele, Aloïs Brunner, and Walter Rauff), they managed to either elude capture or were protected by a dictator and ultimately died in their “adopted” country. Others such as Franz Stangl, Josef Schwammberger, and Erich Priebke were eventually extradited to West Germany where they were convicted and died in prison.

Today’s blog is about Adolf Eichmann, one of the most notorious Nazis responsible for the organization and execution of the Final Solution. (Contrary to certain article headlines, Eichmann was not the “architect” of the Final Solution⏤he carried out the orders.) Eichmann’s capture in Argentina by the Mossad in 1960 and subsequent trial in Israel in 1961 were significant events on the world stage. Not widely known for his role in the Holocaust, Eichmann’s trial re-opened the file on Nazi atrocities and provoked a world-wide discussion about the Holocaust and Nazi genocide⏤topics that had been suppressed for fifteen years. Read More The Argentina Papers