I know this is a big ask as its nearly a half hour long but could any German speaking members on the forum translate the interview with Kurt Franz from the video below? Some other forum members may also be interested;
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zRS3aB6m1rY
Regards.
Kurt Franz interview - Big Ask
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trespasser07
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Kurt Franz interview - Big Ask
"We believe in what we do!" - written in Friedrich Rainer's Guestbook by Odilo Globocnik in April 1943.
Re: Kurt Franz interview - Big Ask
Interesting find....old man Franz. You'd never know this man did what he did without his SS uniform on looking as he does in this interview. Looks like anybody's Grandpa. He says "gas, gas, gas" at the beginning and seems to get more argumentative towards the end. Someone I'm sure will eventually give the gist of what he is saying.
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trespasser07
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Re: Kurt Franz interview - Big Ask
I think it may be the interview posted in treblinka perpetrators on here page 2.
"We believe in what we do!" - written in Friedrich Rainer's Guestbook by Odilo Globocnik in April 1943.
Re: Kurt Franz interview - Big Ask
The SS uniform made these guys stand out. Without it they seemed very ordinary. Below are some photos of the difference using Hans Helwig as an example. He was a KL commandant.
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- Hans_Helwig_Landesarchiv_Baden-Wuerttemberg_Generallandesarchiv_Karlsruhe_(231_Nr._2937_(1019))_Bild_1_(4-1384794-1).jpg (141.75 KiB) Viewed 2749 times
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- 4b9d4d9ec80ea6872fc2e2be121bd450.jpg (12.76 KiB) Viewed 2749 times
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trespasser07
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Re: Kurt Franz interview - Big Ask
I wonder if they would have done what they did if not in that environment in a war, with everyone else with them doing the same and swept up in the propaganda constantly thrown at them and superior pressure etc.
"We believe in what we do!" - written in Friedrich Rainer's Guestbook by Odilo Globocnik in April 1943.
Re: Kurt Franz interview - Big Ask
Very interesting psychological issues discussed here. Franz by all accounts had a similar upbringing as any of the other AR personnel. However, he was probably the biggest sadist of them all. Not a day went by that Franz didn't murder at least one person. Willi Mentz probably killed the most, but on orders.Yet there are examples of personnel like Otto Horn who didn't murder or beat anyone.