French MacLean, Author at The Fifth Field

Ilse Koch

Ilse Koch

Ilse Koch, wife of Karl Koch (Buchenwald commandant), born 22 September 1906 in Dresden, worked as a guard and secretary at the Sachsenhausen concentration camp, reportedly collected items made of human skin, nicknamed: “the Bitch of Buchenwald”, arrested with her husband by SS authorities in 1943 on charges of private enrichment, embezzlement, and the murder of prisoners to prevent them giving testimony but charges dismissed due to lack of evidence,^[convicted of crimes against German nationals in 1951, sentenced to life imprisonment by a West German court, committed suicide in prison by hanging herself with a bed sheet 1 September 1967 at the Aichach prison near Dachau, Bavaria, buried in an unmarked and untended grave in the cemetery at Aichach, reported last words on the day of her death were:

“Death is the only deliverance.”

Ilse KochFrench MacLean2016-03-29T11:52:10-05:00

Ernst Lerch

Ernst Lerch at time of trial

Ernst Lerch, SS-Sturmbannführer, born 19 November 1914 in Klagenfurt, Austria, employed in his father’s Café Lerch in his home town in the 1930s, adjutant to SS and Police Leader Odilo Globocnik in Lublin, Poland, participant in Operation Reinhard (Aktion Reinhard)– the operation to kill the Jews of Poland, winner of the Iron Cross 1^st Class, served as chief of Globocnik’s personal staff in the OZAK (Operationszone Adriatisches Küstenland), tried in Austria in 1972 but trial adjourned without verdict, died in 1997, said of SS-Obergruppenführer Odilo Globocnik, the chief of Operation Reinhard:

“Globocnik has two souls: one sincere and pleasing one; he really was sociable and fun loving, even witty, and then there was another, completely reversed aspect – the harshness and unbending behavior in his work. The orders, which came from above, were executed in each particular case; an order could not be discussed. He had the extraordinary ability, sometimes like that of a priest, to obey these orders.”

Ernst LerchFrench MacLean2016-03-29T11:35:04-05:00

Otto Skorzeny

Otto Skorzeny

Otto Skorzeny, SS-Standartenführer, born 12 June 1908 in Vienna, Austria, commando leader who rescued Benito Mussolini at Gran Sasso, commanded special commandos at the Battle of the Bulge, winner of the Knight’s Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves, author Skorzeny’s Secret Missions: War Memoirs of the Most Dangerous Man in Europe, by some accounts was an Israeli Mossad agent in the 1960s, died 5 July 1975 in Madrid, Spain, said on loyalty:

“I believe that if I am loyal to a man when he is winning I should also be loyal to him when he loses.”

Otto SkorzenyFrench MacLean2016-03-28T22:08:28-05:00

Ernst Kaltenbrunner

Ernst Kaltenbrunner (right) during a visit to Mauthausen concentration camp with Heinrich Himmler

Ernst Kaltenbrunner, SS-Obergruppenführer, born 4 October 1903 in Ried am Inn, Austria, Chief of the Reich Main Security Service (RSHA), successor to Reinhard Heydrich, winner of Nazi Golden Party Badge, Blood Order and Knight’s Cross of the War Service Cross, convicted of war crimes and crimes against humanity at Nürnberg, executed by hanging 16 October 1946 at Nürnberg, said of the Nazi concentration camp system:

“Concentration camps were not my responsibility. I never found out anything about any of this.”

Ernst KaltenbrunnerFrench MacLean2016-03-28T21:18:05-05:00

Hermine Braunsteiner

Hermine Braunsteiner

Hermine Braunsteiner, female SS auxiliary guard at Ravensbrück and Maidanek concentration camps, nicknamed “The stomping mare,” born 16 or 17 July 1919 in Vienna, Austria, convicted after the war of crimes against humanity in Austria but released, emigrated to the United States in 1959, lived in Queens New York, extradited to West Germany and convicted in 1981 of murder and sentenced to life imprisonment, released from prison in 1996 due to complications from diabetes (amputation), died in Bochum, Germany on 19 April 1999, said of herself in 1964:

“I’ve suffered enough…after all I only did my duty…”

Hermine BraunsteinerFrench MacLean2016-03-28T20:58:54-05:00

Klaus Barbie

Klaus Barbie

Klaus Barbie, SS-Hauptsturmführer, born 25 October 1913 in Bad Godesberg, Gestapo officer, brutal interrogator of resistance fighters, sentenced to death in absentia in 1952 and 1954, known as the “Butcher of Lyon,” joined the SS in 1935, captured in Bolivia in 1982, convicted in Lyon, France of murder, sentenced to life imprisonment, died in prison of cancer 25 September 1991 (He was quickly cremated and his ashes secretly scattered,) said of the quality of personnel in the SS:

“The SS soldier is a superman whose blood can be traced back four generations before being allowed to join. Any idiot can’t join the SS.”

Klaus BarbieFrench MacLean2016-03-28T20:20:19-05:00

Erich Kempka

Erik Kempka

Erich Kempka, SS-Sturmbannführer, born 16 September 1910 in Oberhausen, Hitler’s personal chauffeur and bodyguard, winner Nazi Golden Party Badge, after Hitler’s suicide, carried Hitler’s body out of the bunker and burned it, (although despite claims made to the contrary during his interrogation, Kempka later admitted that when Hitler and Eva Braun locked themselves in a room of the Führerbunker, he was not near by and was only present after the event had occurred,) author I Burned Hitler, died 24 January 1975 at Freiberg am Neckar (Ostfriedhof,) said of Eva Braun:

“…The unhappiest woman in Germany.”

Erich KempkaFrench MacLean2016-07-24T12:29:20-05:00

Dr. August Hirt

Dr. August Hirt

Dr. August Hirt, SS-Sturmbannführer, born 29 April 1898 in Mannheim, Nazi anthropologist and surgeon, collector of pathological specimens of inmates at Natzweiler concentration camp as well as performing experiments with mustard gas on inmates, winner of Iron Cross 2^nd Class and wounded in the upper jaw by a bullet in World War I, studied medicine at the University of Heidelberg, committed suicide 2 June 1945 at Schluchsee, Baden-Württemberg, said the following on collecting specimens for study:

“By procuring the skulls of the Jewish-Bolshevist Commissars, who represent the prototype of the repulsive but characteristic sub-human, one has the chance to obtain palpable scientific data. The best practical method is to turn over alive all such individuals. Following induced death of the Jew, the head, which should not be damaged, should be separated from the body and sent in a hermetically sealed tin can filled with preservative fluid.”

Dr. August Hirt performing an examination

Dr. August HirtFrench MacLean2016-03-28T19:19:49-05:00

Wilhelm Keitel

Wilhelm Keitel

Wilhelm Keitel, Army Field Marshal, born 22 September 1882 in Helmscherode, winner of the Iron Cross 1^st Class in World War I, Chief of the Armed Forces High Command (OKW), winner of the Knight’s Cross of the Iron Cross, survived the bomb explosion during the 20 July 1944 attempt to assassinate Adolf Hitler, convicted of crimes against peace, war crimes and crimes against humanity at Nürnberg, executed by hanging on 16 October 1946 at Nürnberg, autobiography In the Service of the Reich published after his death, said to Wilhelm Canaris:

“My dear Canaris, you may know something about military intelligence. Being a sailor, you surely don’t propose to give us any lessons in strategic planning.”

Wilhelm KeitelFrench MacLean2016-03-28T18:51:38-05:00

Alfred Jodl

Alfred Jodl

Alfred Jodl, Army Colonel General, born 10 May 1890 in Würzburg, Chief of the Operations Staff of the German Armed Forces High Command (OKW), winner of the Knight’s Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves, survived the bomb explosion during the 20 July 1944 attempt to assassinate Adolf Hitler, convicted of crimes against peace, war crimes and crimes against humanity at Nürnberg, executed by hanging 16 October 1946 at Nürnberg, said the following concerning loyalty:

“My conception of loyalty is not something to be bought and sold like a banker’s stock. I wouldn’t greet a man with both hands when he is victorious and start looking for a dagger as soon as his stock looks as if it is going down. Bankers can do that but not officers.”

The Allies decided that after the execution, the remains of the condemned would be cremated and the ashes dumped into the Isar River, so as to preclude any memorial later be constructed to venerate them. Jodl’s family placed this marker to remember the general:

Alfred JodlFrench MacLean2016-03-28T18:39:19-05:00

Visit the Hidden Side of History with French L. MacLean

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