Arthur Liebehenschel

Arthur Liebehenschel (November 25, 1901 - January 28, 1948) was a commandant of the Auschwitz and Majdanek death camps during World War II.

Liebehenschel was born in Posen (Poznań) and studied economics and public administration. He became a sergeant major after World War I. In 1932, he joined the Nazi party and in 1934, the SS, where he served in the Totenkopfverbände. Liebehenschel then held a series of ranks in the administration of concentration camps. These ranks included serving as an adjutant in the Columbia Haus and Lichtenburg camps, Inspectorate of Concentration Camps and as a senior director in the SS Economics Department.

On November 10, 1943, Liebehenschel was appointed commandant of Auschwitz extermination camp, succeeding Rudolf Höß. When Höß returned to Auschwitz in 1944, Liebehenschel was appointed commandant of the Majdanek extermination camp on May 19, 1944, succeeding Martin Gottfried Weiss. When the camp was evacuated with the tide of the war turning against Nazi Germany, he was given a senior post in the SS Manpower Office.

After the war, Liebehenschel was arrested by the American Army and was extradited to Poland. He was put on trial in the Auschwitz Trial in Kraków and was executed by hanging on January 28, 1948.