A preliminary list of the doctors in the Gross-Rosen camp

Introduction

The activities of the SS medical doctors and their subordinate hospital orderlies in the Gross-Rosen concentration camp have not yet been adequately described. Also, the existing publications and materials provide only a modest account of the activities of the prisoner-doctors who worked in the hospital barracks of the main Gross-Rosen camp and its numerous sub‑camps. These individuals did their best to thwart the SS-men’s intentions, while treating patients in extremely difficult conditions, often endangering themselves. Many prisoners in Gross-Rosen and its sub‑camps owed their survival to these prisoner-doctors.

In my opinion, it was a good thing that acclaimed authors, eye-witnesses and participants of the horrifying events, prisoner-doctors themselves, decided to publish their reports in Przegląd Lekarski – Oświęcim. The texts written by Kazimierz Hałgas, Bronisław Rubin, Romuald Sztaba, Józef Żeglen and other medical doctors are to be supplemented by other survivors’ recollections. They are the most informed people on the role of the SS doctors and other medical staff in Gross-Rosen, and will be the best to tell the story. Twenty-five years have now passed since the end of the Second Word War, but only a relatively small number of crimes committed by the SS medical staff of Gross-Rosen against the concentration camp prisoners have been brought to light.

* * *

The Gross-Rosen concentration camp was set up in August 1940. During its first ten months, it was a satellite camp of Sachsenhausen concentration camp. On 1 May 1941 it became an independent, second-category concentration camp. Considering the increasing number of transports to Gross-Rosen and its subsequent enlargement, we can distinguish three phases of its historical operations: 1) from August 1940 till 1 May 1941 (ca. 600 prisoners passed through the camp); 2) from May 1941 till the middle of 1943 (transports included almost 10,600 prisoners and 2,500 Soviet prisoners of war who were formally registered in Stalag 318¹ at Lamsdorf); 3) from mid-1943 till mid-February 1945 (transports comprised over 100 thousand prisoners, including almost 5 thousand Erziehenhäftlinge [Corrective Labour Camp inmates]² listed in a separate camp register; numerous sub-camps were established at this time).

The estimated death toll of Gross-Rosen is ca. 40 thousand,³ not counting those who died in the evacuation transports. The constantly rising numbers of inmates was accompanied by an increased number of SS men and officers. Crimes against prisoners were steadily rising. In 1941–1942 almost half of the prisoners were not fit to work.

In order to isolate them, the camp authorities decided to place them in two separate barracks. However, the barracks could not house all the sick and emaciated prisoners. They only signalled the existence of a camp hospital. During the entire operations of Gross-Rosen, its hospital facilities were incapable of meeting the inmates’ real needs. In 1944, the prisoners’ hospital consisted of six barracks in the main camp. The hospital facilities in the sub-camps were extremely humble, but the most tragic thing was the situation of the patients. Until mid-1942, no prisoner-doctors were allowed to treat patients who were left at the mercy of functionaries appointed from among German criminal prisoners. The prisoner-doctors worked in the local stone quarry. Although there was some improvement in the following years and more and more prisoner-doctors were assigned to treat patients in the hospital, their activities were severely limited by a lack of basic equipment and medications required for treatment. In the second half of 1944, block doctors were appointed. Although their activities focused on maintaining inmates’ personal hygiene and providing outpatient assistance, they played a significant role in preventing the outbreak of an epidemic which would have meant a risk of the SS staff killing all those who were infected.

***

An attempt to establish a list of SS-men serving as doctors and hospital orderlies, as well as a list of doctors of various nationalities imprisoned in Gross-Rosen, is extremely difficult. When the numerous sub-camps of Gross-Rosen were closed down at the beginning of 1945, followed by the evacuation of the main camp in February, the commandant and his staff meticulously destroyed the camp’s records. There are only a very few prisoners’ reports. In particular, we have no relevant information concerning the sub-camps. This article may contribute to completing the existing lists.

List of SS-doctors and hospital orderlies⁴

Kurt Babor, b. 23 Aug. 1918,⁵ SS-Hauptscharführer, Gross-Rosen doctor, 1941-1942, shot dead in Ethiopia in 1963. — Wilhelm Bahr, SS-Unterscharführer, SDG (Sanitätsdienstgrad—SS medical orderly), Bautzen sub-camp, 1944-1945. — Braun, SS-Unterscharführer, Gross-Rosen SDG, 1942-1943. — Dr Friedrich Entress,⁶ b. 8 Dec. 1914, SS-Hauptsturmführer, Gross-Rosen doctor, 1941 and 1944–1945, sentenced to death on 28 May 1947. — Karl Dehnel⁷, SS-Scharführer, Gross-Rosen SDG, 1943-1945. — Friedrich Frank, SS-Hauptsturmführer, SS No. 314587, head of the Gross-Rosen SS pharmacy, 1943-1945. — Głoszak a.k.a. Włoszak, SS-Unterscharführer, Wiesau sub-camp SDG, 1944–1945. — Fritz Herzog, b. 24 Apr. 1895, SS-Unterscharführer, SDG in the Riese sub-camps in 1944-1945. — Hoser a.k.a. Hofer, SS-Rottenführer, Friedland sub-camp SDG, 1944-1945. — J. Hoffmann, SS-Oberscharführer, Görlitz sub-camp SDG, 1944-1945. — Dr Willi Jobst, SS-Untersturmführer, Gross-Rosen doctor, 1942-1943. — König, Gross-Rosen doctor, 1942-1944. — Koppmann a.k.a. Koppelbaum, SS-Unterscharführer, Langenbielau sub-camp SDG, 1944-1945. — Fritz Kurzer, b. 16 Aug. 1895, SS-Oberscharführer, Gross-Rosen SDG, 1940-1942. — Dr Georg Meyer, b. 5 Sept. 1917, SS-Obersturmführer, Gross-Rosen doctor, 1941-1942. — Mulk, SS-Unterscharführer, Bunzlau sub-camp SDG, 1944-1945. — Paterek a.k.a. Peterek, SS-Unterscharführer, Dyhernfurth sub-camp SDG, 1944-1945. — Piedermann, SS-Unterscharführer, Hartmannsdorf sub-camp SDG. — Dr Lichter, SS-Obersturmführer, Gross-Rosen doctor, 1944. — Dr Heinrich Rindfleisch,⁸ SS-Obersturmführer, SS No. 289832, doctor in Gross-Rosen and Riese sub-camps, 1944–1945. — Silbertz, SS-Scharführer, SDG in Riese sub-camps, 1944-45. — Schäfer, SS-Rottenführer, Warmbrünn sub-camp, 1944-45. — Schmidt, SS-Hauptscharführer, Gross-Rosen doctor, 1941-1942. — Andi Schulz, SS-Unterscharführer, Breslau II sub-camp SDG, 1944-1945. — Dr Heinz Thilo,⁹ b. 08 Oct. 1911, SS-Obersturmführer, SS No. 126436, in Gross-Rosen doctor, 1944-1945, d. 13 May 1945. — Dr Friedrich Weigel, b. 1912, SS-Hauptsturmführer, SS No. 102687, head of Gross-Rosen dental centre, 1942-1945. — Dr Hermann Wieland, SS-Untersturmführer, Gross-Rosen doctor, 1940-1941.

List of prisoner-doctors¹⁰

Belgian citizens

Georges André, b. 31 Jan. 1889. — Raymond Casman, b. 7 May 1887. — Marie Dullier, b. 23 Mar. 1904. — Boris Fertman, b. 23 Nov.1891. — Gustave Fossaert, b. 24 Dec.1916. — Joseph Jacquet, b. 08 May 1904. — Fritz Theys, b. 04 Aug. 1905.

Czechoslovak citizens

Robert Brejner, b. 07 Sept. 1887. — Alexander Kuchel, b. 16 Apr.1893. — Otto Loor.

French citizens

Marie Augustine Chaband, b. 30 Oct. 1909. — Roger Chazette, b. 08 Jun. 1903. — Henri Duflot, b. 27 Nov. 1907. — Edmund Lajon, b. 19 Oct. 1881, No. 14980. — Joseph Maillard, b. 08 Feb. 1908, No. 65965. — Daniel Najmann, b. 02 Apr. 1910. — Lucien Nivelle, b. 21 Dec. 1913. — Michel Pouteau, b. 11 Nov.1911.

German citizen

Georg Kallmann, b. 26 Sept. 1873.

Hungarian citizens

Josef Abramowits, b. 12 Dec. 1896, No. 27868. — Mor Biro, b. 17 Jul. 1904, No. 44576. — Ignatz Csillag, b. 27 Apr. 1897, No. 44591. — Marton Deutsch, b. 17 Feb. 1905, No. 43484. — Dezso Feldmann, b. 27 Nov. 1903. — Sandor Fogel, b. 22 Nov. 1918, No. 33090. — Ferdinand Fried, b. 29 Jun. 1888, No. 37310. — Andreas Gergely, b. 27 Aug. 1912, No. 43616. — Gerö Glucksthal, b. 06 Jan. 1891, No. 43626. — Laszlo Gyorgy, b. 24 May 1903, No. 44454. — Alexander Grunwald, b. 19 Nov. 1898, No. 37410. — Eduard Klar, b. 22 Aug. 1899, No. 37528. — Armin Keme, b. 13 Apr. 1893. — Armin Klein, b. 17 Nov. 1898, No. 37548. — Tiberiusz Kovari, b. 20 May 1904, No. 43775. — Ericos Levis, b. 20 Jun. 1913, No. 31412. — Isaak Mennheim, b. 24 Sept. 1900, No. 34516. — Josef Markowits, b. 23 Jan. 1902, No. 44238. — Beno Moskonits, b. 06 Nov. 1889, No. 37663. — Akiwa Perkal, b. 21 Nov. 1912, No. 26361. — Miklos Robert, b. 22 Dec. 1896, No. 44521. — Zoltán Schwimmer, b. 14 Dec. 1915, No. 37803. — Ferenz Soltesz, b. 11 Oct. 1910. — Alader Steinberger, b. 23 Feb. 1899, No. 37833. — Laszlo Szinetar, b. 30 Nov. 1900. — Endre Ungwari, b. 07 Jan. 1903, No. 44525. — Sandor Vogel, b. 22 Sept. 1916. — Sandor Waller, b. 30 Oct.1887, No. 44055. — Elek Weisz, b. 0l Aug. 1900, No. 43364.

Italian citizens

Mario de Benedetti, b. 10 Nov. 1892. — Garnero Galeano, b. 20 Oct. 1907. — Antonio Oiffarelli, b. 06 Dec. 1912.

Polish citizens

Stanisław Aramowicz, b. 27 Jul.1891, No. 15481. — Henryk Argand, 27 Apr.1914, No. 69643. — Kazimierz Biały, 11 Nov. 1908, No. 16255. — Władysław Bernadzikowski, b. 03 May 1895, No. 8776. — Bernikiewicz, No. 84660. — Aleksander Biberstein, b. 01 Aug.1895, No. 68913. — Włodzimierz Bołądź, b. 21 Dec. 1909, No. 2972. — Bogucki. — Konrad Czerpikowski, b. 11 Feb. 1908. — Tadeusz Dąbrowski, b. 29 Mar. 1898, No. 23157. — Kacper Dębosz, b. 08 Dec. 1911, No. 84657. — Konrad Długoszewski, b. 22 Jan. 1911, No. 81110. — Włodzimierz Doktor, b. 27 Oct. 1906, No. 27774. — Jerzy Dudkiewicz, b. 23 Oct. 1918. — Józef Dziuk, b. 14 Jul. 1895, No. 58214. — Ludwik Fischer, b. 27 Dec. 1886, No. 7851, d. 1965. — Kornel Gibiński, b. 07 Sept. 1915, No. 7899. — Leon Gross, b. 03 Aug. 1910, No. 69138. — Zygmunt Gutentag, b. 27 Aug.1899. — Szyja Handler, b. 17 Dec. 1906, No. 69295. — Kazimierz Hałgas, b. 15 Dec. 1914, No. 1487. — Chaim Hilfstein, b. 14 Nov. 1866, No. 68895. — Ryszard Hanusz, b. 02 Feb. 1896, No. 27774, d. after the liberation of the camp. — Jan Heyko, No. 93110. — Jan Jachna, b. 03 Sept. 1910, No. 12962. — Stanisław Jagielski, b. 27 Sept. 1912, No. 74859. — A. Jankowski, b. 25 Feb. 1903, No. 16356. — Juda Katz, b. 14 Jul. 1914, No. 69149. — Edward Kołakowski, b. 2 Oct. 1905, No. 87999. — Stanisław Konopka, b. 24 May 1896, No. 27872. — Witold Kopczyński, b. 21 Feb. 1903, No. 27875. — Tadeusz Kosibowicz, b. 30 Nov. 1893, No. 27882. — Włodzimierz Kostecki, b. 22 Feb. 1901. — Mieczysław Kotarbiński, b. 31 Oct. 1903, No. 36275. — Zygmunt Kulig, No. 8752. — Stefan Kwiat, b. 12 Feb. 1901. — Lebiedyński. — Tadeusz Lech, b. 26 Mar. 1908, No. 3612. — Natan Lilienfeld, b. 09 Mar. 1895. — Jan Łukawski, 11 Mar. 1909, No. 5604. — Kazimierz Majewski, b. 1916, No. 7575. — Stanisław Mazurek, b. 18 Jan. 1900, No. 65482, d. 1965. — Antoni Mianowski, b. 08 Apr. 1917, No. 12963. — Mieczysław Michałowicz, b. 29 Aug. 1876, No. 29007, d. 1965. — Henryk Neumann, b. 26 Jun. 1916, No. 34789. — Jan Nowak, b. 23 Sept. 1908, No. 29040. — Stefan Nowak, b. 24 Mar. 1906. — Franciszek Nowak, b. 24 Jan. 1889, No. 82868. — Stanisław Olcha, b. 12 Apr. 1913. — Walenty Popek, b. 06. Jan. 1893, No. 8753. — Antoni Pieszak, b. 30 Oct. 1909, No. 7803. — Mieczysław Rieser, b. 10 Jul. 1917, No. 8754. — Bronisław Rogowski, b. 17 May 1883. — Stanisław Różycki, b. 28 Apr. 1911, No. 65299. — Bronisław Rubin, b. 19 Aug.1889. — Józef Szulc, b. 01 Oct. 1888, No. 46686. — Wilhelm Sluzar, b. 29 Apr.1901, No. 12579. — Leonard Szadurski, b. 06 Nov. 1887, No. 11757. — Romuald Sztaba, b. 26 May 1913, No. 29235. — Franciszek Szummer, b. 03 Jul. 1901, No. 64895. — Ludwik Szutkowski, b. 15 Aug. 1900, No. 81181. — Józef Twardowski, b. 01 Feb. 1900, No. 7910. — Norbert Wejrowski, b. 31 May 1909, No. 84588. — Ludwik Wierzbicki. — Jan Wójciński, b. 23 Dec. 1908, No. 9219. — Jan Wozniak, b. 04 Apr. 1912. — Jan Zaczek, b. 07 Mar. 1888, No. 1426, d. after the War. — Władysław Zapałowicz, b. 01 Apr. 1886, No. 7858. — Konrad Zembrzuski, b. 08 Mar. 1915, No. 74868. — Józef Żegleń, b. 04 Mar. 1890, d. 1965. — Leonard Żychski, No. 1418.

Romanian citizen

Jacobi Avert, b. 16 May 1890.

Slovak citizens

Seigfried Aroly, b. 31 Jan. 1917, No. 73822. — Juda Buys, b. 17 Oct. 1910, No. 73801. — Ernst Furst, b. 12 Aug. 1907, No. 73953. — Otto Fischl, b. 26 Feb. 1912, No. 73841. — Jurai Komeny, b. 18 May 1913, No. 73955. — Wawro Komeny, b. 22 Jun. 1915. — Otto Lehr, b. 19 Apr. 1911, No. 73811. — Iwan Synlar, b. 09 Jan. 1908, No. 73945. — Otto Stein, b. 5 Apr. 1912, No. 73913. — Franz Veticki, b. 02 Jul.1908, No. 73818. — Wilhelm Weiselewicz, b. 22 Apr.1913, No. 73927. — Karl Zimmer, b. 6 Apr. 1901, No. 73933.

Soviet citizens

Vasiliy Antonov, b. 20 Aug. 1914, No. 14124. — Vasiliy Borodin, b. 14 Feb. 1918. — Mikhail Kirillov, b. 29 Jul. 1914. — Nikolai Makhaditov, b. 01 Jan. 1916, No. 89897. — Ivan Movchan, b. 23 Jun. 1912. — Grigoriy Petrov, b. 20 Nov. 1900, No. 20941. — Maksim Titarenko, b. 13 Mar. 1918. — Ivan Uvarov, b. 14 Mar. 1918.

Translated from original article: Roman Olszyna, “Wstepny wykaz lekarzy obozu Gross-Rosen.” Przegląd Lekarski – Oświęcim, 1970.

Notes
1. Stalag 318/VIII F. Later renamed Stalag(344) Lamsdorf. http://www.cmjw.pl/obozy1/lata1939-1945/stalag-viii-b-344-lamsdorf/ (Accessed 13 Oct. 2019)^a
2. According to the most up-to-date studies, there were 4,005 “corrective” labour camp inmates.^a
3. Recent studies have established that the actual exact death toll among the Gross-Rosen prisoners, barring those who died during the evacuation, was 15,711.^a
4. These data were compiled mainly on the basis of survivors’ recollections; hence some items may be misspelled. The translator corrected confirmed misspellings. These lists do not give the full data for the prisoners and SS staff.^c
5. In Vienna.^b
6. Friedrich Entress was born on 8 December 1914 in Poznan. Before the 2^nd World War broke out, for 11 semesters he was studying medicine at Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznan. He served as a physician assistant in the SS-Nachrichten-Ersatz-Abteilung/Unna unit until 1 December 1940. Later he was an SS physician in the HQs (i.e., Abteilung V) of the following concentration camps: Sachsenhausen (1 December 1940 – 3 January 1941), Gross-Rosen (3 August 1944 – January 1945), Auschwitz-Birkenau (11 December 1941 - 20 October 1943), Mauthausen (20 October 1943 – 25 June 1944), and Sachenshausen again (January – 10 February 1945. After the war, Entress was sentenced to death by hanging in the trial of the Mauthausen camp staff. He was executed on 28 May 1947 in Landsberg near Munich.^b
7. Paul Dehnel was born on 20 April 1890 in Zschorlau, Saxony. In 1942–1942 he was an SS orderly and the director of the crematorium in Abteilung V of Gross-Rosen concentration camp. He was promoted to the rank of SS-Oberscharführer on 7 March 1942, and to the rank of SS-Hauptscharführer on 5 February 1943.^b
8. Heinrich Rindfleisch was born on 3 March 1916 in Strassburg. He was promoted to the rank of SS-Untersturmführer on 30 January 1943 and became SS-Obersturmführer on 30 January 1944. Until 30 January 1943 he probably worked in the Health Office of the SS and, starting on 1 March 1943 in the HQ of the Ravensbrück concentration camp. Between 4 May 1944 and 25 January 1945 he was a military doctor in Abteilung V of concentration camp Gross-Rosen. In 1944 (18 July – 23 November) he was the chief physician in the forced labour camp in Riese (a Gross-Rosen subcamp). Having returned to work in the main camp, he left it on 25 January 1945. Starting on 30 January 1945 he directed an SS hospital in Berlin.^b
9. Heinz Thilo was born on 8 October 1911 in Elberfeld and died on 13 May 1945 in Hohenelbe. A doctor of medicine, he worked for the 3/SS-Sanitäts-Kompanie unit in the Oranienburg hospital. Between 9 November 1942 and 9 October 1944 he was an SS physician in Auschwitz (sections B IIa and BIIIf). Between 9 October 1944 and 25 January 1945 he worked as an SS physician in Abteilung V of the Gross-Rosen concentration camp. He was promoted to SS-Untersturmführer (9 November 1942), SS-Obersturmführer (21 June 1943), and finally to SS-Hauptsturmführer (9 November 1944).^b
10. This list is divided according to the prisoner doctors’ citizenship rather than according to their national, ethnic, or religious identity. Hence the placement of the Jewish prisoner doctors under their respective pre-WW2 citizenships. This division was retained from the original article.^d
a—notes courtesy of prof. Susan Miller; b—notes courtesy of Dorota Sula, Expert Consultant for the Medical Review – Auschwitz project; c—Head of the Medical Review Auschwitz translating team’s notes; d—Website Editor’s note.