Hermann Florstedt

Arthur Hermann Florstedt
Born	(1895-02-18)18 February 1895 Bitsch, Bezirk Lothringen, German Empire
Died	On or after 5 April 1945
Cause of death	Execution by firing squad
Criminal status	Executed
Conviction(s)	Embezzlement
Criminal penalty	Death
Military career
Allegiance	Nazi Germany
Service / branch	Schutzstaffel
Years of service	1931–1945
Rank	SS-Standartenführer
Commands	Majdanek concentration camp
Awards	Iron Cross 2nd Class 1914 Honor Cross of World War 1914/1918 SA-Sports Badge in Bronze NSDAP Party Badge

Arthur Hermann Florstedt (18 February 1895 – on or after 5 April 1945), member of the NSDAP, was a German SS commander, war criminal and convicted war profiteer. He became the third commander of Majdanek concentration camp in October 1942. Florstedt was convicted of corruption and sentenced to death. Whether he was executed is unknown.

World War II

Florstedt joined the SS in 1933 achieving the rank of Standartenführer in 1938. He served at the Sachsenhausen concentration camp from 1940 till 1942. He was appointed the third chief of Majdanek extermination camp in October 1942 to replace SS-Sturmbannführer Max Koegel.

Florstedt was investigated by SS Judge Georg Konrad Morgen and charged by the Schutzstaffel (SS) with embezzlement and arbitrary killing of prisoner witnesses. Florstedt was one of two Majdanek commandants put on trial by the SS in the course of the camp operation. He was charged with corruption (wholesale stealing from the Third Reich); he had access to valuables stolen from Holocaust victims killed at death camps of Belzec, Sobibor and Treblinka. These valuables were stored and processed at Majdanek.

He was replaced by the interim commander Martin Gottfried Weiss. Florstedt was allegedly executed by the SS on 5 April 1945, the same day Karl-Otto Koch was executed. However, while Koch's execution has been confirmed, Florstedt's fate remains disputed.