Victor Capesius: Difference between revisions
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After the start of [[World War II]] in 1939, Capesius joined the Romanian army and rose to the rank of captain while serving at a military hospital's pharmacy. |
After the start of [[World War II]] in 1939, Capesius joined the Romanian army and rose to the rank of captain while serving at a military hospital's pharmacy. |
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As an ethnic German, Capesius moved to the [[Waffen-SS]] after Romania joined the Axis powers in 1940.<ref>Paul Milata: Between Hitler, Stalin, and Antonescu. Romania in the German Waffen-SS. Böhlau, Cologne 2007, ISBN 978-3-412-13806-6</ref> After training at the ''SS-Zentrale Sanitäranlage'' (Central Sanitary Facility) in Warsaw, he was sent to [[Dachau Concentration Camp]] in September 1943; he worked there until his subsequent transfer to [[Auschwitz Concentration Camp]] in February 1944. In Auschwitz, he acted as the attending KZ-Apotheker (pharmacist) until the camp was evacuated in January 1945.<ref>Dieter Schlesak Capesius, the Auschwitz pharmacist Dietz, Bonn 2006. ISBN 3-8012-0369-7 .</ref> Capesius worked closely with [[Josef Mengele]] and together they were heavily involved in the selection of inmates for the gas chamber.<ref>Ernst Klee : The Encyclopedia of persons to the Third Reich. Who was before and what after 1945?. Fischer Verlag, Frankfurt am Main 2003, ISBN 3-10-039309-0</ref> In Auschwitz, he had risen to the rank of ''SS-Sturmbannführer'', in November 1944, and was in charge and control of the chemicals used in the extermination of the Jews, such as [[phenol]] and [[Zyklon B]]. This, it should be noted, was during the mass murder of |
As an ethnic German, Capesius moved to the [[Waffen-SS]] after Romania joined the Axis powers in 1940.<ref>Paul Milata: Between Hitler, Stalin, and Antonescu. Romania in the German Waffen-SS. Böhlau, Cologne 2007, ISBN 978-3-412-13806-6</ref> After training at the ''SS-Zentrale Sanitäranlage'' (Central Sanitary Facility) in Warsaw, he was sent to [[Dachau Concentration Camp]] in September 1943; he worked there until his subsequent transfer to [[Auschwitz Concentration Camp]] in February 1944. In Auschwitz, he acted as the attending KZ-Apotheker (pharmacist) until the camp was evacuated in January 1945.<ref>Dieter Schlesak Capesius, the Auschwitz pharmacist Dietz, Bonn 2006. ISBN 3-8012-0369-7 .</ref> Capesius worked closely with [[Josef Mengele]] and together they were heavily involved in the selection of inmates for the gas chamber.<ref>Ernst Klee : The Encyclopedia of persons to the Third Reich. Who was before and what after 1945?. Fischer Verlag, Frankfurt am Main 2003, ISBN 3-10-039309-0</ref> In Auschwitz, he had risen to the rank of ''SS-Sturmbannführer'', in November 1944, and was in charge and control of the chemicals used in the extermination of the Jews, such as [[phenol]] and [[Zyklon B]]. This, it should be noted, was during the mass murder of almost 400,000Hungarian Jews.<sup></sup><ref>degob.org/index.php?showarticle=2023</ref> |
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==Post-War== |
==Post-War== |
Revision as of 06:03, 2 December 2012
Victor Capesius | |
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Personal details | |
Born | 300px 7 February 1907 Reußmarkt, Transylvania |
Died | 20 March 1985 Göppingen, Germany | (aged 78)
Cause of death | Natural |
Resting place | 300px |
Nationality | German/Romanian |
Political party | National Socialist German Workers' Party (NSDAP) |
Spouse | Wife |
Children | 3 children |
Parent |
|
Education | University of Cluj, Transylvania (Romania) and University of Vienna, Austria |
Occupation | Doctor of Pharmacy |
Known for | "The Druggist of Auschwitz" KZ-Apotheker (Pharmacist) of Dachau Concentration Camp, Error in Template:Date table sorting: 'Sep.' is not a valid month and Auschwitz Concentration Camp, Error in Template:Date table sorting: 'Feb.' is not a valid month—Error in Template:Date table sorting: 'Jan.' is not a valid month, |
Military service | |
Allegiance | Nazi Germany |
Branch/service | Schutzstaffel |
Rank | SS-Sturmbannführer |
Victor Capesius (February 7, 1907 Reußmarkt, Transylvania (Hungary) – March 20, 1985 Göppingen, Germany) was a Nazi SS-Sturmbannführer (Major) and KZ-Apotheker (concentration camp pharmacist) in the concentration camps of Dachau (1943–1944) and Auschwitz (1944-1945).
Early life
The son of a physician and pharmacist, Capesius began his academic studies in 1924 at the University of Cluj after graduating from high school. He worked towards a pharmacy degree and then transferred to the University of Vienna, where in 1933, he received his Doctorate of Pharmacy. He was married in 1934 and worked for a subsidiary of IG Farben selling products to doctors and pharmacists.
World War II
After the start of World War II in 1939, Capesius joined the Romanian army and rose to the rank of captain while serving at a military hospital's pharmacy.
As an ethnic German, Capesius moved to the Waffen-SS after Romania joined the Axis powers in 1940.[1] After training at the SS-Zentrale Sanitäranlage (Central Sanitary Facility) in Warsaw, he was sent to Dachau Concentration Camp in September 1943; he worked there until his subsequent transfer to Auschwitz Concentration Camp in February 1944. In Auschwitz, he acted as the attending KZ-Apotheker (pharmacist) until the camp was evacuated in January 1945.[2] Capesius worked closely with Josef Mengele and together they were heavily involved in the selection of inmates for the gas chamber.[3] In Auschwitz, he had risen to the rank of SS-Sturmbannführer, in November 1944, and was in charge and control of the chemicals used in the extermination of the Jews, such as phenol and Zyklon B. This, it should be noted, was during the mass murder of almost 400,000Hungarian Jews.[4]
Post-War
After the liberation of the Auschwitz concentration camp, he went into hiding in Schleswig-Holstein and fell into British captivity from which he was discharged after one year. He then began to study electrical engineering at the Technical University in Stuttgart. During a visit to Munich in 1946, Capesius was recognized by a former Auschwitz prisoner and was arrested by American military police and interned in the camps of Dachau and Ludwigsburg. After U.S. occupation authorities deemed his case unfit for prosecution, he was released in August 1947 and found a job in a Stuttgart pharmacy. In October 1950, he opened a pharmacy in Göppingen and a beauty parlor in Reutlingen.
Frankfurt Auschwitz Trials
Capesius was arrested in Göppingen in early December 1959 and remained in custody until 1965. On August 20, 1965 he was indicted in the Frankfurt Auschwitz Trials by the Landgericht Frankfurt am Main Community for aiding and abetting the murder of at least four cases of 2,000 people and convicted to nine years in prison.[5][6] Capesius served three years and was released from prison in January 1968 [7]. On the day of his release he attended a city tour, in which he was greeted with applause.[citation needed]
Death
Capesius died from natural causes on March 20, 1985.[8]
References
- ^ Paul Milata: Between Hitler, Stalin, and Antonescu. Romania in the German Waffen-SS. Böhlau, Cologne 2007, ISBN 978-3-412-13806-6
- ^ Dieter Schlesak Capesius, the Auschwitz pharmacist Dietz, Bonn 2006. ISBN 3-8012-0369-7 .
- ^ Ernst Klee : The Encyclopedia of persons to the Third Reich. Who was before and what after 1945?. Fischer Verlag, Frankfurt am Main 2003, ISBN 3-10-039309-0
- ^ degob.org/index.php?showarticle=2023
- ^ Hermann Langbein : People in Auschwitz, Ullstein, Frankfurt am Main, Berlin, Vienna, 1980. ISBN 3-548-33014-2
- ^ www.stuttgarter-zeitung.de/inhalt.ludwigsburg-vom-schinder-zum-apotheker.b8e9e402-f713-427a-b41a-68e4539ff3e7.html
- ^ archive.jta.org/article/1968/01/25/2944304/nazi-convicted-of-auschwitz-murders-released-after-three-years-of-prison
- ^ Erich Stockhorst : 5000 heads - who was what in the Third Reich Arndt, Kiel 2000. ISBN 3-88741-116-1
External links
Literature by and about Victor Capesius in the catalog of the German National Library
- Articles created via the Article Wizard
- People from Sibiu County
- 1907 births
- 1985 deaths
- University of Vienna alumni
- German pharmacists
- Romanian military personnel of World War II
- Nazis convicted of war crimes
- SS officers
- Dachau concentration camp personnel
- Auschwitz concentration camp personnel
- Holocaust perpetrators
- Hungarian Nazis