Amon Göth
Amon Leopold Göth (1 December 1908 – 13 September 1946) was an SS officer, most known to the general pubilc as the commandant of the Płaszów concentration camp, as despicted in the movie Schindler's List, which has been criticized for numerous reasons. See the article on this movie.
Life
Göth was born in Vienna. Göth joined the Austrian SS in 1930, and was granted full membership in 1932 after the two-year candidacy period. He was appointed an SS-Mann with the SS number 43,673. In 1931, he had become a member of the Austrian National Socialist Party. After engaging in illegal SS actions in Austria (Kampfzeit), he fled to Germany, returning after the Anschluss.
After the start of the war, he served in administrative function in the SS eastern areas. In 1942, he was made commandant of the Płaszów concentration camp in Poland in February 1943, but remained active elsewhere, supervising the closings of several ghettos.
On 13 September 1944, Göth was relieved of his position and charged by the SS with theft of property, failure to provide adequate food to the prisoners under his charge, violation of concentration camp regulations regarding the treatment and punishment of prisoners, and allowing unauthorized access to camp personnel records by prisoners and non-commissioned officers.
Death
He was taken prisoner by US military troops in early 1945. The Americans turned him over to Communist Poland, where he was sentenced to death and hanged in Krakow.
Promotions
- 1932 SS-Mann
- May 1933 SS-Scharführer
- January 1941 SS-Oberscharführer
- 9 November 1941 SS-Untersturmführer
- SS-Obersturmführer
- skipped by request from the Higher SS and Police Leader (HSSPF East) in the General Government Friedrich-Wilhelm Krüger in consultation with Lieutenant General Maximilian von Herff from the Main Personnel Office
- 1 August 1943 SS-Hauptsturmführer
- 20 April 1944 SS-Hauptsturmführer of the Reserves of the Waffen-SS
- April/May 1945 SS-Sturmbannführer
- During his interrogations, Göth stated that shortly before his capture by the enemy he had been promoted to Sturmbannführer (possibly as an incentive for the final battle in a combat group), although this was no longer recorded due to the chaos of the war. SS-Obersturmbannführer Rudolf Höss confirmed this version, the US Americans also listed him as “SS-Major”, but ultimately the promotion cannot be verified with certainty.
Awards and decorations
- Honour Chevron for the Old Guard (Ehrenwinkel für Alte Kämpfer)
- DRL/Reich Sports Badge (Deutsches Reichssportabzeichen) in Silver
- SS-Julleuchter
- Anschluss Medal
See also
- Schindler's List
- Georg Konrad Morgen – SS judge who investigated and punished Amon Göth and others.
