On
this date, November 26, 1948, a Nazi SS officer, Hans Möser, was executed by hanging in Landsberg Prison. I will post the
information about the sadistic officer from Wikipedia.
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Hans Möser in US
custody, 1947
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Born
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April 7, 1906
Darmstadt, Germany |
Died
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November 26, 1948 (aged 42)
Landsberg am Lech, Germany |
Allegiance
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Nazi Germany
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Service/branch
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Schutzstaffel
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Rank
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Obersturmführer
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Unit
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SS-Totenkopfverbänd
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Hans Karl Möser,
or Hans Moeser, (April 7, 1906 – † November 26, 1948) was a German Nazi
SS officer at the Neuengamme, Auschwitz and Mittelbau-Dora concentration camps
during World War II. Rising to the rank of SS-Obersturmführer, he was captured
at the end of the war and tried by the United States Military Government Court
for war crimes. The only one among 19 defendants at the Dora Trial sentenced to death, Möser was
executed at Landsberg Prison
in 1948 (death by hanging).
Life
Möser
was born in Darmstadt, Germany. A merchant by trade, he joined the Nazi Party
in October 1929 (Member No. 155301) and the SS in July 1931 (Member No. 9555).
On July 1940 Möser joined the staff at the newly opened SS-Hinzert
concentration camp, infamous for its brutality, and later he transferred to Neuengamme.
From May 1943 until October 1943 he was posted to the Auschwitz III Monowitz
concentration camp as Kompanieführer of the Wachbatallion (Guard Battalion) in IG
Farben's "Buna" plant. By the end of April 1944 he was also
Kompanieführer of the Men on Watch at the Auschwitz I main camp (German: Stammlager).
He
transferred to the Dora central camp on May 1, 1944, initially serving as
Deputy Protective Custody Camp Leader (German: Schutzhafthaftlagerführer) and then in July promoted to First
Protective Custody Camp Leader. Here he was to commit the atrocities that would
lead to his later trial and execution. During hangings of prisoners, for
instance, he sometimes saw to it that the ropes were cut while the victims were
still alive, in order to prolong their agony. In February, 1945, as the Red
Army overran German positions on the Eastern Front, the SS headquarters
personnel at Auschwitz evacuated to Mittelbau-Dora. Auschwitz commander Richard
Baer and his staff took over the Dora complex and Möser was again made Deputy
Leader, this time under Franz Hößler.
On
April 5, 1945, as American 3rd Armored Division closed in on Mittelbau-Dora,
Möser led a forced evacuation of over 3000 prisoners to the railhead for
transfer to Neuengamme. Due to the wartime situation the train was diverted to Ravensbrück
concentration camp instead. The prisoners were then led on a death march for
the last stage of their journey.
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Sixteen of the
nineteen defendants on trial for war crimes committed during the war at
Dora-Mittelbau. Locale: Dachau, [Bavaria] Germany
The Dora defendants,
Hans Möser 3rd from the right
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Trial
and Execution
Möser
was arrested at the end of the war. Following the June 1945 Fedden Mission
investigation of the Dora conditions, Möser was among 19 defendants tried by
the American General Military Government Court in the Dora Trial (The United States of America
versus Arthur Kurt Andrae et al., Case Number 000-50-37), part of the Dachau Trials. Proceedings began on July 7,
1947 and lasted until December 30. Möser was found to have been present at
hangings and personally shooting prisoners execution-style during escape
attempts. The responsibility for the death marches during the final evacuation
of Dora were also attributed to Möser. In his trial statement he said: “The
same way, with the same pleasure, as you shoot deer, I shot a human being. When
I came to the SS and had to shoot the first three persons, my food didn’t taste
good for three days, but today it is a pleasure. It is a joy for me.” Found
guilty, he was the only defendant in the Dora Trial sentenced to death.
Following appeals, Möser was executed by hanging at Landsberg Prison on
November 26, 1948.
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