Life and Death of Karl Fritzsch, the facts
Quick Facts
Full name: Karl Fritzsch
Born: 10 July 1903, Nassengrub, Bohemia, Austria-Hungary
Died: 2 May 1945, Berlin, Germany
Age at death: 41
Nationality: German
Political party: National Socialist German Workers' Party (NSDAP)
NSDAP number: 728.522
SS number: 2.987
Highest rank: SS-Hauptsturmführer
Known for: Deputy commandant of Auschwitz, role in the death of Maximilian Kolbe and the first Zyklon B gassing experiments.
Early Life and Radicalization
Karl Fritzsch was born on 10 July 1903 in Nassengrub, Bohemia, then part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Due to the frequent relocation of his family, he received only a limited formal education and spent much of his youth working as a laborer. During the 1920s he worked on riverboats operating along the Danube River. Like many future National Socialists, Fritzsch became attracted to extremist political movements during the economic and political instability that followed the First World War.
In July 1930 he joined both the National Socialist German Workers' Party (NSDAP) and the Schutzstaffel (SS). His loyalty to the Nazi movement quickly earned him a full-time career within the expanding SS apparatus.
Dachau Concentration Camp
Following the Nazi seizure of power, Fritzsch became involved in the rapidly growing concentration camp system. In 1934 he received an assignment to the newly established Dachau concentration camp, the first permanent concentration camp created by the Nazi regime. At Dachau he gained extensive administrative experience and developed a reputation for strict discipline and brutality. By September 1939 he had risen to supervise the camp's postal censorship office within the commandant's headquarters.
His years at Dachau provided him with valuable experience in prisoner administration, surveillance, punishment procedures and camp operations, qualifications that would soon lead to promotion.
Transfer to Auschwitz
In May 1940, Fritzsch was transferred to the newly established Auschwitz concentration camp, where he became the first deputy of Commandant Rudolf Höss. His official position was that of Schutzhaftlagerführer, making him responsible for prisoner discipline and daily camp administration. Prisoners quickly came to fear Fritzsch. Numerous survivor testimonies describe him as one of the most brutal and unpredictable SS officers in Auschwitz. He frequently imposed collective punishments, arbitrary executions and severe disciplinary measures.
Fritzsch was particularly known for introducing starvation punishments within the standing cells of Block 11, the camp prison. Under his authority, entire groups of prisoners could be punished for the actions of a single inmate.
Karl Fritzsch and Maximilian Kolbe
One of the most infamous events associated with Fritzsch occurred in July 1941 following the escape of a prisoner from Auschwitz. As retaliation, Fritzsch selected ten prisoners to be starved to death in the underground cells of Block 11. One of those chosen, Polish sergeant Franciszek Gajowniczek, broke down and cried that he would never see his wife and children again.At that moment the Franciscan priest Maximilian Kolbe stepped forward and volunteered to take the man's place. Fritzsch accepted the request. Kolbe and the other prisoners were locked inside the starvation bunker where they remained without food or water.
After approximately two weeks, Kolbe was still alive. On 14 August 1941, camp personnel ended his suffering through a lethal injection of carbolic acid. Following the war, Maximilian Kolbe became one of the most famous victims of Auschwitz and was canonized as a saint by the Roman Catholic Church in 1982.
The Zyklon B Experiments
According to the post-war testimony of Rudolf Höss, Fritzsch played a decisive role in the development of mass gassing at Auschwitz. In late August 1941, while Höss was absent on official business, Fritzsch proposed the use of the insecticide Zyklon B as a killing agent. Zyklon B had previously been used as a pesticide and disinfectant throughout the German Reich. Fritzsch ordered a group of Soviet prisoners of war and several sick inmates confined inside the basement cells of Block 11. He then introduced Zyklon B pellets into the sealed chambers.
The victims died from exposure to hydrogen cyanide gas released by the chemical compound.
Upon his return, Höss witnessed additional experiments and concluded that Zyklon B was more efficient than previous killing methods. These experiments demonstrated that the substance could be used for large-scale killing and contributed significantly to the later development of the extermination facilities at Auschwitz-Birkenau.
The tests conducted under Fritzsch's supervision marked a critical step in the evolution of industrialized mass murder during the Holocaust.
Reputation Among Prisoners
Fritzsch became notorious throughout Auschwitz for his cruelty and psychological terror. Former prisoners recalled his frequent threats, public beatings and arbitrary punishments. He often appeared during roll calls and selections, creating an atmosphere of constant fear. Survivors described him as one of the camp's most feared SS officers. Many testimonies portray him as an individual who actively embraced violence rather than merely carrying out orders.
His actions contributed significantly to the culture of terror that characterized Auschwitz during its formative years.
Investigation and Removal
In 1943, Fritzsch was transferred from Auschwitz to Flossenbürg concentration camp. His career within the concentration camp system ended abruptly in 1944 when an internal SS investigation uncovered widespread corruption among camp officials. Fritzsch was accused of unauthorized killings and other irregularities. Although many concentration camp officials committed similar crimes without punishment, the SS judiciary decided to remove him from his position.
As a disciplinary measure, he was transferred to frontline military service with an SS-Panzergrenadier unit.
Death During the Battle of Berlin
For many years Karl Fritzsch's fate remained uncertain. The mystery was largely resolved after investigators discovered a forgotten 1966 witness statement preserved in the files of the Central Office for the Investigation of National Socialist Crimes in Ludwigsburg. In her testimony, Berlin resident Gertrud Berendes stated that Fritzsch committed suicide on 2 May 1945 in the cellar of a residential building at Sächsische Straße 42 in Berlin. According to Berendes, he shot himself while seated on an iron bed. Local residents subsequently buried his body in nearby Preußenpark, bringing an end to decades of speculation regarding his fate.
Legacy
Karl Fritzsch occupies a notorious place in Holocaust history. Although less well known than figures such as Heinrich Himmler, Reinhard Heydrich or Rudolf Höss, his influence on the early development of Auschwitz was substantial. His role in the starvation bunker of Maximilian Kolbe and the first successful experiments with Zyklon B link him directly to two of the most significant events in the history of Auschwitz.
Today Fritzsch is remembered as one of the most feared SS officers in the camp system and as an important contributor to the mechanisms of mass murder employed during the Holocaust.
