Name Fritz Hartjenstein | ||
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Friedrich Hartjenstein (3 July 1905 – 20 October 1954) was a German SS functionary during the Nazi era. A member of the SS-Totenkopfverbände, he served at various Nazi concentration camps such as Auschwitz and Sachsenhausen. After the Second World War, Hartjenstein was tried and found guilty for murder and crimes against humanity.
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Camp officer
Hartjenstein, who was born in Peine, began his SS work at Sachsenhausen in 1938. The following year he was transferred to Niederhagen. In 1941 Hartjenstein served for a year with the 3rd SS Division Totenkopf, a Waffen SS combat division.
In 1942, he was appointed the commandant of Birkenau. This was the main camp at Auschwitz, which contained the extermination facilities and crematoria. In 1944 Hartjenstein was appointed commandant of Natzweiler concentration camp in France. In 1945 he went to work at Flossenbürg concentration camp.
Post war trials
Hartjenstein was arrested by the British and sentenced to life imprisonment on 6 June 1946 at Wuppertal for executing four French Resistance members. He was tried by the British for hanging a Royal Air Force POW. He was sentenced to death by firing squad.
Hartjenstein was then extradited to France where he was tried for his crimes at Natzweiler and sentenced to death. He died of a heart attack while awaiting execution on 20 October 1954, aged 49, in Paris.