Otto Moll

[Ian C]

Hi,
Can anyone give me any information on this SS man, I think he was at Auschwitz? What rank was he and are there any pictures of him?

Thanks Ian

[Hans]

Hi,
Can anyone give me any information on this SS man, I think he was at Auschwitz? What rank was he and are there any pictures of him?

Thanks Ian

He was the chief of the "Gärtnerei-Kommando" in 1941 in Auschwitz. But SS-Hauptsturmführer Otto Moll made a career ín Auschwitz due to his engagement in the physical extermination of the Jews. Whenever a new method of extermination and disposal was found, whenever a new operation was carried out, Otto Moll was in Auschwitz. It is said that Moll was responsible for the liquidation of the first group of prisoners who had to empty the gas-chambers and cremate the corpses (Sonderkommando) in late 1942. He is also mentioned by survivers of the following Sonderkommando. From them we know that he supervised the gassings in December 1942. Moll is also brought in connection with the development of a wire mesh device that was used in some crematoria to introduce the poison gas into the gas-chambers. He must have been sent away from Auschwitz somewhere in 1943 or early 1944, perhaps because of the new commandants in Auschwitz.

When the first Auschwitz commandant Rudolf Höss was sent back to Auschwitz to carry out the extermination of the Hungarian Jews in summer 1944, he brought back his extermination specialist Otto Moll and made him the head of the crematoria.

It seems that Moll was sent to Dachau after his time in Auschwitz. According to the Auschwitz State Museum, "SS-Hauptscharführer Otto Moll, head of crematoria department of Birkenau, was sentenced to death during the trial of KL Dachau staff and executed in Landsberg in 1946."

[Ian C]

Thanks for the information Hans.

Ian

[David Thompson]

A post by Schmauser in this forum ("Dachau Personnel", currently at p. 2), lists Moell's rank as SS-Oberscharfuehrer. The topic "Dachau Trial" on Marcus Wendel's Third Reich Factbook site notes that Moell and other members of the staff at KL Dachau were put on trial between 15 Nov-13 Dec 1945; that Moell was convicted and sentenced to death, and was executed 28 May 1946 (http://www.skalman.nu/third-reich/warcr ... dachau.htm). There's more on the subject in Nazi Conspiracy and Aggression, vol. VI, pps. 288-296 [Document 3590-PS]).

[dylan]

SS-Hauptscharführer Otto Moll was born in Hohen Schönberg / Mecklenburg-Vorpommern
on March 4 ,1915 .
a gardener ,he joined the SS on May 1 ,1935 (serialnumber 267.670 ) .
he held various posts during his tenure at Auschwitz ,from may 1941
until January 1945 .
Kommandoführer of the gardeners work detail ,director of the employment service inthe men 's camp ,head of the crematoria in Birkenau ,
Lagerführer of the Fürstengrube sub camp in Wesola near Myslowice and of the Gleiwitz 1 sub -camp in Gliwice .
he was one of the worst offenders in the camp .
sentenced to death in Dachau trial . executed 28 May 1946 .

dylan

[Hans]

Some additional informations on Moll's career in Auschwitz:

He became Block- und Kommandoführer in Birkenau in June 1942. On 1 April 1943 Moll is mentioned in a Kommandanturbefehl published by Rudolf Höss. He was honoured with the Kriegsverdienstkreuz erster Klasse mit Schwertern. On 2 September 1943 Moll is the commandant of the sub-camp Fürstengrube. It appears that he became the manager of the sub-camp Gleiweitz after that. He returned to Auschwitz-Birkenau to carry out the extermination of the unfit Hungarian Jews in May 1944.
According to the former Sonderkommando prisoner Henryk Tauber:

Hauptscharführer Moll was the most degenerate of the lot. Before by arrival at the camp, he was in charge of the work at the Bunkers, where they incinerated the gassed victims in pits. Then he was transferred for a while to another section. In view of the preparation necessary for the "reception" of convoys from Hungary in 1944, he was put in charge of all the Krematorien. It is he who organized the large-scale extermination of the people arriving in these convoys. Just before the arrival of the Hungarian transports, he ordered pits to be dug alongside Krematorium V and restarted the activity of Bunker 2, which had been lying idle, and its pits. In the yard of the Krematorium, there were notices on posts, with inscriptions telling the new arrivals from the transports that they were to go to the camp where work was waiting for them, but that first they had to take a bath and undergo disinfestation. For that, it was necessary for them to undress and put all their valuables in baskets specially placed for this purpose in the yard. Moll repeated the same thing in his speeches to the new arrivals. There were so many convoys that sometimes it happened that the gas chambers were incapable of containing all the new arrivals. The excess people were generally shot, one at a time. On several occasions, Moll threw people into the flaming pits alive. He also practised shooting people from a distance. He ill-treated and beat Sonderkommando prisoners, treating them like animals. Those who were in his personal service told us that he used a piece of wire to fish out gold objects from the box containing the jewels taken from new arrivals, and took them off in a briefcase. Among the objects left by the people who came to be gassed, he took furs and different types of food, in particular fat. When he took food, he said smilingly to the SS around him that one had to take advantage before the lean years came. Under his direction, the Sonderkommando was strengthened and increased to about 1000 prisoners.

On 6th September 1944 Moll is mentioned in a report from the Auschwitz resistance. It is said that he and the commandant of Birkenau have plans to liquidate the camp Birkenau. According to Moll, motorized SS and artillery is necessary for this task.

On 26 September the resistance reports that 200 Sonderkommandos were killed in Auschwitz main camp. The operation was carry out by Moll.

After the extermination of the Jews from Hungary and the Ghetto Lodz, Moll returned to Gleiwitz I and became Lagerführer. He is mentioned in the Kommandanturbefehl of 11 November 1944 as SS-Hauptscharführer.

[thomas]

Dear all

I have only one question about this man: Was his family name Moll or Möll. I know very well german because i am Swiss and i think the is moll.

Can anybody give me an answer about this.

Greetings

thomas

[Ian C]

Thomas,
I think it's the second one.

Ian

[Ian C]

Does anybody know if he fought on the front any time during the war?

Thanks Ian

[AlifRafikKhan]

This pic from Bundesarchive-Wikipedia has been said as Otto Moll. Is it true?

[giselher]

no, this is not Otto Moll.

There is a confirmed photo of him and he has also been identified on the sing-along group picture in the Karl Höcker photo album that is with USHMM.

Best Tilman

[Peter]

I have his SS-PA from the BDC some years back, I'll scan the pics, I thin there are 3 or 4 from memory.

[Peter]

I have his SS-PA from the BDC some years back, I'll scan the pics, I thin there are 3 or 4 from memory.

[Peter]

I have his SS-PA from the BDC some years back, I'll scan the pics, I thin there are 3 or 4 from memory.

[Peter]

I have his SS-PA from the BDC some years back, I'll scan the pics, I thin there are 3 or 4 from memory.