Criminals & Outlaws Codexery

Karl-Otto Koch

SS commandant executed for corruption and murder of inmates.

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He was executed by the SS in 1945 after being convicted of embezzlement and murder.[1][2]

Key facts and history

Koch volunteered for the Imperial German Army in 1916 and was captured by British forces on the Western Front.[3] After the war, he worked as a commercial manager and insurance agent before becoming unemployed in 1932.[3] He joined the Nazi Party and SS in 1931 after serving a prison sentence for embezzlement and forgery.[3] Koch commanded the Sachsenburg concentration camp in 1934 and later served at Esterwegen, Lichtenburg, Dachau, and Columbia camps.[4]

Koch selected a site on the eastern side of Lublin, five kilometers from the city center, for the camp.[5] He was relieved of command at Majdanek after 86 Soviet POWs escaped in August 1942.[6] An SS investigation revealed Koch had ordered the murder of prisoners who treated him for syphilis and had embezzled camp property.[7][8] SS Judge Konrad Morgen indicted Koch on 17 August 1944 for embezzling at least 200,000 reichsmarks and murdering three inmates.[1]

Command of the newly established Buchenwald camp was given to Koch on 1 August 1937.[9] After Himmler issued an order to build a concentration camp in Lublin, he instructed SS-Standartenführer Karl Otto Koch to take charge of the organizational affairs of that new camp.[5]

What the cited sources add

The H.E.A.R.T account notes that Koch approved final plans on 23 March 1942 for Majdanek to house 250,000 prisoners across 516 hectares.[5] A Germania International source states that Prince zu Waldeck sacked Koch in 1942 due to cruel treatment of prisoners and embezzlement of over 700,000 DM in valuables.[2] The Tagesspiegel report describes Koch as a "key actor" in the concentration camp system and notes his photo album depicts SS murderers styling themselves as a "decent troop"[10] That same article states Koch was an SS man of the first generation who went to Buchenwald in July 1937 and built the camp there.[11]

References

  1. Wikipedia, "Karl-Otto Koch" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Jardim, "Ilse Koch on Trial: Making the 'Bitch of Buchenwald'", Harvard University Press, 2023, p. 64–65; "Schutzstaffel: The SS", Germania International; Hackett, "The Buchenwald Report", Westview Press, 1995, p. 341; Mark Jacobson: The Lampshade: A Holocaust Detective Story from Buchenwald to New Orleans, Simon and Schuster, 14 September 2010 p. 15 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  2. "Schutzstaffel: The SS", Germania International. facts only, no text reused. germaniainternational.com
  3. Wikipedia, "Karl-Otto Koch" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Gedenkstätte Buchenwald: Buchenwald Concentration Camp, 1937–1945: A Guide to the Permanent Historical Exhibition, Wallstein Verlag, 2004 p. 41-43; Whitlock Flint: Buchenwaldské bestie: Karl a Ilse Kochovi a lampy se stínítkem z lidské kůže, Grada Publishing, a.s., 29 September 2015 p. 326-327 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  4. Wikipedia, "Karl-Otto Koch" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Gedenkstätte Buchenwald: Buchenwald Concentration Camp, 1937–1945: A Guide to the Permanent Historical Exhibition, Wallstein Verlag, 2004 p. 41-43 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  5. Chris Webb, Carmelo Lisciotto, "Majdanek Concentration Camp (a.k.a. KL Lublin)", H.E.A.R.T, Holocaust Research Project.org, 2007. facts only, no text reused. holocaustresearchproject.org
  6. Wikipedia, "Karl-Otto Koch" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Rescue and Resistance: Portraits of the Holocaust, Macmillan Library Reference USA, 1 January 1999 p. 311. (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  7. Wikipedia, "Karl-Otto Koch" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Hackett, "The Buchenwald Report", Westview Press, 1995, p. 341 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  8. Wikipedia, "Karl-Otto Koch" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Hackett, "The Buchenwald Report", Westview Press, 1995, p. 341; Hackett, "The Buchenwald Report", Westview Press, 1995, p. 341 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  9. Wikipedia, "Karl-Otto Koch" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Whitlock Flint: Buchenwaldské bestie: Karl a Ilse Kochovi a lampy se stínítkem z lidské kůže, Grada Publishing, a.s., 29 September 2015 p. 326-327 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  10. "Topographie des Terrors: Das Fotoalbum des KZ-Kommandanten", Tagesspiegel, 19 October 2010. facts only, no text reused. tagesspiegel.de
  11. "Ausstellung in Sachsenhausen zeigt Fotos von der Entstehung des Lagers: Das Album des KZ-Kommandanten", Berliner Zeitung, 26 August 2006. facts only, no text reused. berliner-zeitung.de

Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article Karl-Otto Koch (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.

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Test yourself

Three questions drawn from this entry’s sources. Pick an answer to check it.

1. In what year did Karl-Otto Koch die?

Correct.

Not quite. The answer is 1945.

From the source: “Karl-Otto Koch (; 2 August 1897 – 5 April 1945) was a German military officer who was a mid-ranking commander in the Schutzstaffel (SS) of Nazi Germany, and the first commandant of the Nazi concentration camps at Buchenwald and Sachsenhause”

2. In what year was Karl-Otto Koch born?

Correct.

Not quite. The answer is 1897.

From the source: “Koch was born in Darmstadt, Grand Duchy of Hesse-Darmstadt, on 2 August 1897.”

3. In which place was Karl-Otto Koch born?

Correct.

Not quite. The answer is Darmstadt, Germany.

Answers checked against the source article

Sources

Compiled from Wikipedia and the sources listed below. Text from Wikipedia is available under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is adapted from it.

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