Fritz Katzmann

Fritz Katzmann
Janowska concentration camp official visit. Right: Heinrich Himmler. Next to him: Fritz Katzmann. Left: camp commandant Friedrich Warzok
Born6 May 1906
Langendreer, Bochum, Province of Westphalia, Kingdom of Prussia, German Empire
Died19 September 1957 (1957-09-20) (aged 51)
Darmstadt, West Germany
Allegiance Nazi Germany
Service / branchSchutzstaffel
Years of service1930–1945
RankSS-Gruppenführer and Generalleutnant of Police and Waffen-SS
CommandsSS and Police Leader, Radom District; District of Galicia; Higher SS and Police Leader, "Weichsel"
AwardsWar Merit Cross, 1st and 2nd class with Swords

Fritz Katzmann, also known as Friedrich Katzmann, (6 May 1906 – 19 September 1957) was a German SS and Police Leader during the Nazi era. He perpetrated genocide in the cities of Kattowitz (today, Katowice), Radom, Lemberg (today, Lviv), Danzig (today, Gdańsk), and across the Nazi occupied District of Galicia in the General Government during the Holocaust in Poland, making him a major figure during the Holocaust there.[1]

Katzmann was responsible for many of the atrocities that were perpetrated by the SS during Operation Barbarossa. He personally directed the slaughter of between 55,000 and 65,000 Jews of Lemberg between 1941 and 1942, followed by mass deportations to death camps including Janowska (pictured). In 1943, Katzmann wrote a top-secret report summarizing Operation Reinhard in Galicia. The Katzmann Report is now considered one of the most important pieces of evidence of the extermination process. He managed to escape prosecution after the war, living under a false identity.[2]

  1. ^ Claudia Koonz (2 November 2005). "SS Man Katzmann's "Solution of the Jewish Question in the District of Galicia"" (PDF). The Raul Hilberg Lecture. University of Vermont: 2, 11, 16–18. Archived from the original (PDF) on 5 February 2015. Retrieved 30 January 2015.
  2. ^ Wendy Lower (2011). Katzmann Report. Rowman Altamira. p. 101. ISBN 9780759120808. Retrieved 30 January 2015. {{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help)