Hans Kammler

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Silke
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#16

Post by Silke » 30 Mar 2008, 21:46

KKC wrote:Thanks for the quick reply and tip regarding Rainer Frobe. Since he's considered a Kammler expert, do you think he addresses these alleged post-war stories, or do you think his research is dedicated to Kammler's wartime activities?
KKC,

from what I remember from the discussions on German web forums is that Rainer Frobe is writing a biography on Kammler. I would suppose that the book will cover Kammler´s wartime activities as well as the post-war stories but, as I´ve mentioned before, nearly all the threads on the forums seemed to deal rather with speculations and personal opinions than with facts. My conclusion is that there is plenty of research left to be done.
Sorry, I haven´t read the bio on Kammler at Die Generale der Waffen-SS Vol. 2 by Schulz/Zinke/Wegmann and therefore cannot comment on it.
Best regards,

Silke

dreamsfade
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Re: Hans Kammler

#17

Post by dreamsfade » 15 Aug 2008, 05:37

I am doing my own research on kammler here in america. I registered just for this post.

Where can I read that 16 page bio on kammler, i deem in necessary to further my progress. forgive me, i found this site through google and am unfamiliar. is an english version of that biography available?


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Dieter Zinke
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Re: Hans Kammler

#18

Post by Dieter Zinke » 15 Aug 2008, 11:21

dreamsfade wrote:I am doing my own research on kammler here in america. I registered just for this post.

Where can I read that 16 page bio on kammler, i deem in necessary to further my progress. forgive me, i found this site through google and am unfamiliar. is an english version of that biography available?
Please have a look here:
http://forum.axishistory.com/viewtopic. ... 8&t=116411

There is no english version available !
With the words of Phil Nix, Birmingham, famous moderator of this forum:
If you are going to continue this interest you will need to learn some German especially the technical terms.
It is German subject and we cannot expect everything to be translated. I would suggest that you invest in a good German English dictionary and start to try and understand the basic german terms that is the way I started, you will find it is very hard unless you do attempt to learn some of the language
Phil Nix
Dieter Z.

paolosilv
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Re: Hans Kammler

#19

Post by paolosilv » 18 Jul 2009, 23:34

Hi, have we found out the date of Hans Kammler's death? Thank you in advance.

"In 1940 Hans Kammler joined the SS, where until 1942 he worked at designing facilities for the extermination camps, including gas chambers and crematoria. Kammler eventually became Oswald Pohl's Deputy in the WVHA (Reich Administrative and Economic Main Office), which oversaw Amtsgruppe D (Amt D), the Administration of the concentration camp system, and was also Chief of Amt C, which designed and constructed all of the concentration and extermination camps. Following the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising in 1943, Heinrich Himmler assigned him to overseeing the demolition of the ghetto in retaliation."

Yours, Paul
Last edited by paolosilv on 19 Jul 2009, 16:24, edited 1 time in total.

Jan-Hendrik
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Re: Hans Kammler

#20

Post by Jan-Hendrik » 19 Jul 2009, 07:35

09.05.1945 :wink:

Jan-Hendrik

paolosilv
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Re: Hans Kammler

#21

Post by paolosilv » 19 Jul 2009, 15:58

Thank you, Jan- Hendrik.

Here's what I found, in German,of which I can only make out a few sentences at a time. It appears that he is listed as committing suicide, 9 May 1945.If he did kill himself, it took place either at Eule or Jicin, Czechoslovakia. The possibility exists of course that this is merely 'official information' and that he was really squirrelled away by the Soviets.
He was also in charge of Luftwaffe and V-2 projects; he was ordered to kill some scientist colleagues involved in the Nazi nuclear program; he disobeyed that order; hence, he was wanted by the Nazis, 27 April 1945. He appears to have been going toward Salzburg area, 28 April or Prague, 5-5-1945.

References to him were largely deleted from the Nuremburg Trials, even though he had been number 3 in the list of most wanted Nazis!

There is not much reference to him in English language works, except for "The Business of Genocide" by Michael Thad Allen and Tom Agoston's "Devil or Technocrat?"

Concerning Kammler( out of "Die Generale der Waffen-SS und der Polizei", volume 2, with supplements):
22.04.1945 nach einer scharfen Auseinandersetzung mit Oberleutnant Burger, dem Ortskommandanten der Wehrmacht in Oberammergau, bezieht Kammler mit etwa 600 Mann Quartier zwischen Oberammergau und Graswang und residiert mit seinem Stab bis in die Nacht zum 28. April in Linderhof; dann setzt er sich nach Salzburg ab .
[Source: Alois Schwarzmüller in :Beiträge zur Geschichte des Marktes Garmisch-Partenkirchen im 20. Jahr-hundert; “Ein Kriegsende - Garmisch-Partenkirchen am 29. April 1945“; Internet-Version
http://members.gaponline.de/alois.schwa ... gnisse.htm ]
Ende April/Anfang Mai 45: Letzte Rüstungskonferenzen in Ebensee und Salzburg, bevor Kammler zu den Flugzeugwerken nach Prag hetzt. Anfang Mai übergibt er seiner Frau in Tirol einige Zyankalikapseln für sie und ihre Kinder mit den Worten: “Wir werden uns nie wiedersehen.“
05.05.1945 kaum in Prag eingetroffen, gerät er in den dortigen Aufstand und kann knapp entkommen, sein Fahrer wird schwer verletzt
09.05.1945 verlässt im Konvoi deutscher Soldaten unter SS-Gruppenführer von Pückler-Burghauss im Schutz der SS-Kampfgruppe “Der Führer“ Prag in südlicher Richtung durch Eule (Jílové) und überschreitet bei Davle die Donau.

I apologize in advance for any factual errors.

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Re: Hans Kammler

#22

Post by paolosilv » 05 Feb 2010, 07:16

more on Kammler———–

from "Holocaust Encyclopaedia" by Walter Lacquer

Kammler reference, p. 34-37


“On 27 Feb 1942, Kammler went to Auschwitz to discuss a second crematorium.”

“In January 1943, Bischoff wrote to Kammler that Hitler himself had ordered the accelerated completion of the camp.” p. 37.


From: Van Pelt

“Auschwitz, so he told me, is an extermination camp.” Fritz Ertl, 1972. p. 295-6. Ertl commented that the new crematoria were necessary “because of the special actions.” When asked if he knew what the word, “special measures ” meant, Ertl told the court that he knew the significance. Ertl’s superiors were Bischoff and above him, Hans Kammler.

29 Jan 1943, letter refers to the “gassing cellar”. Someone noticed that Bischoff’s letter contained the forbidden reference, and pencilled in above it, SS USTUf F Kirschneck. Kirschneck was responsible for the slip. Ertl said in court testimonry, ” The reference sign is “BIschoff’. I can imagine that he has written this himself. I had received the order of Bischoff that I could never write the word ‘gassing’. I always had to circumscribe it.” They would write instead, special action or special measure. p. 297, Van Pelt .

“On Jan 21 1972 , architect Fritz Ertl who had been employed at the Auschwitz Construction Office until early 1943, testified in court in Vienna about the genocidal use of the crematoria. The first time that he was informed about the use of Auschwitz in the Final Solution was in the summer of 1942″. (source: p. 295, Van Pelt’s book, The Case for Auschwitz).

“Although Kammler had been in overall command, none of the rocket men knew of his whereabouts. In the weeks that followed, those operating scores of Allied POW camps in western Germany were asked to be on the lookout…. In any event, Hans Kammler has never been found- not evena clue has been uncovered as to his fate. He may have been the only German General engaged against the Anglo-Americans who had disappeared without a trace”. p. 170, from, "Unsolved History of World War Two."

“At Dora-Mittelbau near Nordhausen, thousands of prisoners dug tunnels in the rock in 1943 to prepare underground storage facilities for the V-2 missiles that would rain down on London a year later. They lived and slept in the choking dust without water or ventilation. During the first six months, almost 3,000 of 17,000 prisoners died. “Never mind the human victims, ” said SS Brigade-Fuehrer Hans Kammler, the commander of the operation. “The work must proceed and be finished in the shortest possible time.” (source: p. 83, Krueger’s Men, by Lawrence Malkin.)

“I made a lot of inquiries through her, and she found it extraordinary, given what I told her about Kammler—I had to tell her about Kammler—that there was absolutely nothing on him in the National Archive, given that just about everything he was doing should have been documented in the files somewhere. The fact that there was nothing on him was therefore highly suspicious, and in her view tended to support the theory that he’d been redlined. In other words, somebody had gone in and cleared out any meaningful documents on him. ” (source: Nick Cook, Atlantic Magazine)
Last edited by paolosilv on 05 Feb 2010, 07:23, edited 2 times in total.

paolosilv
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Re: Hans Kammler

#23

Post by paolosilv » 05 Feb 2010, 07:17

Van Pelt in "The Case for Auschwitz" shows that in May 1942, “Kammler toured the site of Auschwitz…and ordered that a peasant cottage there be converted into a gas chamber. Two months later, on July 4,1942, the first Jews from Slovakia were sorted out. Those who could work were admitted to the camp. Those who could not were killed in the peasant cottage, known now as Bunker I. (p. 72)

“Kammler decided to cancel two small incinerations in Birkenau and build there a large crematorium originally planned for the main camp. A gas chamber was created near crematorium I, and after that, in the fall of 1941, in two peasant cottages in the Birkenau forest”. (van Pelt, p. 217).

“In the summer of 1942 it was decided to extend enormously gassing operations and to improve them technically, entrusting the construction of huge crematoria to the firm of JA Topf and Sons at Erfurt… This was done just after SS Reichsfuhrer Himmler’s visit of inspection. The construction began immediately, and in the early months of 1943 four huge modern crematoria were ready for the use of the camp authorities; their fundamental and essential part consisted of a set of gas chambers of a type unknown before. These crematoria were distinguished by the numbers 2, 3, 4, and 5. Crematoria 2 and 3 had underground areas, called on the construction drawing Nos. 932 and 933 of Jan. 28, Leichenkeller 1 and 2, both of which were intended for the gassing of human beings”. (p. 217, Van Pelt.)

YouTranslation of documents on Hans Kammler, thanks to Diana

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Re: Hans Kammler

#24

Post by munro_infantry » 26 Feb 2010, 03:49

I’ve done a lot of reading about Kammler over the years. After reviewing some of the postings it’s apparent his whereabouts at the end of April 1945 are inconclusive. Perhaps my issue with the story was covered in a previous post. I looked through some of them but could not find a reference. I’m new to the board so please excuse a question which has been addressed before.

Why did the allies have Kammler’s name removed from court documentation at Nuremburg? And why would the allies or better yet Simon Wisenthal simply accept the fact he was dead? He was a major contributor to the Holocaust yet his name seems to be strangely ignored and his death accepted by everyone without any proof. Again, I apologize if this issue was covered in a previous posting. I reviewed some but not all of the posts from other years. I’m a doctoral student have don’t have a ton of time. I just think its strange how easily American officials dismiss his importance.

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Re: Hans Kammler

#25

Post by HenryS » 26 Feb 2010, 05:47

I once called the Simon Wiesenthal people myself and asked if they were looking for Kammler. They said they would call me back. They did (apparently after checking) and told me they were not looking for Kammler. We went into "Why" and I never got an answer other than they said reports were that he was dead. I then asked them why they were so intent on going after Dr. Arthur Rudolf, (von Braun's combustion chamber expert) for his alleged use of slave labor at Nordhausen when, in fact, he was not in charge of slave labor? Dr. Kammler was in charge of all SS slave labor in the Reich. I got no good answer.

In Combined Intelligence Objectives Sub-Committee Reports, the one or two interviewing Albert Speer, Speer was asked a question about some upcoming weapons's system and he said something like: I have no idea. For the answer to that one you will have to ask Dr. Kammler. In that interrogation of Speer, with all our alleged "techniques of interrogation" not one single follow-up question was put to Speer about Kammler. It was if Speer had uttered an obsenity at the mention of Kammler's name.

The simple conclusion is that the Americans, British and Russian knew exactly what had happened to Kammler and somehow the Israelis know also.

munro_infantry
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Re: Hans Kammler

#26

Post by munro_infantry » 27 Feb 2010, 00:51

I appreciate your post. Whatever Kammler had was worth enough to buy him a free pass. I’ve read a lot on what that might have been. Nick Cooke’s book was very interesting. Perhaps the idea of it remaining a mystery is what makes the story so attractive. On the other hand...there is Iron Sky.

Thanks again,

Munro

paolosilv
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Re: Hans Kammler

#27

Post by paolosilv » 01 Mar 2010, 04:59


steve248
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Re: Hans Kammler

#28

Post by steve248 » 02 Mar 2010, 10:37

When it comes to the fate of leading SS personalities there seems to be a willingness to dismiss knowledge and rely on speculation.

If you examine the course of Kammler's career you see that he was an exceptionally good project manager. Like many businessmen today, good project managers shift from company to company. It does not matter what the project content is - setting up newspaper printing plants, building petrochemical plants or building new high-tech crematorium. Kammler's job was bringing everything together regardless of the project content.

Viewing his career from this aspect you then ask yourself what did Kammler have to offer the Allies, from the east or west? The answer surely is not a lot. He knew project details but any decent interrogator would have extracted all that within a couple of weeks. What then? In common with many senior SS officers after an assessment for war crimes he would have been offered to other countries for trial. In the case of US and UK military government legal officers if a prima facie case was put forward he would have been handed over for trial. If you examine former senior SS officers who were held by the Soviets or the Poles or even the Czechs and eventually released to West Germany in the 1940s and 1950s their interrogations stopped after a few weeks and they went to labour camps or simply remained in prison or put on trial. Two examples: Bruno Streckenbach imprisoned by the Soviets for 10 years then released; Friedrich Jeckeln, tried and executed by the Soviets.

Many senior SS officers viewed Soviet captivity as personally disasterous and many committed suicide. This was not always the case. Kammler is not being searched for because his suicide is accepted.

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Re: Hans Kammler

#29

Post by HenryS » 07 Mar 2010, 06:32

steve248 wrote:When it comes to the fate of leading SS personalities there seems to be a willingness to dismiss knowledge and rely on speculation.

If you examine the course of Kammler's career you see that he was an exceptionally good project manager. Like many businessmen today, good project managers shift from company to company. It does not matter what the project content is - setting up newspaper printing plants, building petrochemical plants or building new high-tech crematorium. Kammler's job was bringing everything together regardless of the project content.

Viewing his career from this aspect you then ask yourself what did Kammler have to offer the Allies, from the east or west? The answer surely is not a lot. He knew project details but any decent interrogator would have extracted all that within a couple of weeks. What then? In common with many senior SS officers after an assessment for war crimes he would have been offered to other countries for trial. In the case of US and UK military government legal officers if a prima facie case was put forward he would have been handed over for trial. If you examine former senior SS officers who were held by the Soviets or the Poles or even the Czechs and eventually released to West Germany in the 1940s and 1950s their interrogations stopped after a few weeks and they went to labour camps or simply remained in prison or put on trial. Two examples: Bruno Streckenbach imprisoned by the Soviets for 10 years then released; Friedrich Jeckeln, tried and executed by the Soviets.

Many senior SS officers viewed Soviet captivity as personally disasterous and many committed suicide. This was not always the case. Kammler is not being searched for because his suicide is accepted.
Kammler took over all jet and rocket and essentially all secret weapons projects around August, 1944. He was already running the Kammler Group in Prague/Pilsen. He had use and control of the Skoda Works and their affiliated and sub companies as his own personal laboratory. He controlled all the underground facilities in Germany, Bohemia, Moravia, Germany including parts which are now Poland. Of this he controlled the uranium mining, refining, atomic research and development facilities at Der Riese. He controlled the two new large long ranged rockets (besides the work at Peenemünde). He controlled all work on the underground megacomplex at Jonastal.

Kammler was a doctor of engineering and as such recognized the value of the technology he controlled, even if he did not originate it. Kammler and the SS microfilmed everything in the final days. Kammler was probably the second brightest guy in the Reich and would have known that he was of tremendous value to both the Western Allies and the Soviets since he knew all the places this microfilm was buried. He could have done a deal with either side.

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Re: Hans Kammler

#30

Post by AmonMauser » 09 Jul 2010, 06:20

I think he was brought to the U.S. and he told them about Die Glocke ect... from there the U.S. military started testing flying saucers (Roswell) and all the UFOs people have witnessed since have been man made UFOs. Hans Kammer probably lived the rest of his life in a mansion overlooking the ocean.
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