Erich Naumann
{{Short description|German SS general, war criminal}}
{{distinguish|text=Erich Neumann}}
{{Infobox criminal
| name = Erich Naumann
| birth_date = 29 April 1905
| death_date = 7 June 1951 (aged 46)
| birth_place = Meissen, Saxony, German Empire
| death_place = Landsberg Prison, Landsberg am Lech, West Germany
| image = Erich Naumann at the Nuremberg Trials.PNG
| caption = Naumann's mugshot after his indictment for the Nuremberg Military Tribunal (July 1947)
| trial = Einsatzgruppen trial
| known_for =
| conviction_penalty= Death
| conviction_status = Executed
| module = {{Infobox military person |embed=yes
| embed_title = SS career
| allegiance = {{flag|Nazi Germany}}
| rank = SS-Brigadeführer
| commands = {{plainlist|
- Einsatzgruppe VI
- Einsatzgruppe B
- Commander of the Security Police and SD in the Netherlands
}}
}}
| conviction = Crimes against humanity
War crimes
Membership in a criminal organization
| death_cause = Execution by hanging
| motive = Nazism
| victims = 95,000+
| beginyear = 1939
| endyear = 1944
| country = Poland, Belarusian SSR, Russian SFSR, and Netherlands
}}
Erich Naumann (29 April 1905 – 7 June 1951) was an SS-Brigadeführer and member of the SD. Naumann had a key role in the Holocaust in Eastern Europe as the commander of Einsatzgruppe VI and the commander of Einsatzgruppe B. A convicted war criminal, Naumann was sentenced to death and hanged on 7 June 1951.
Early life and career
Born 29 April 1905, in Meissen, Saxony, Erich Naumann left school at the age of sixteen and was employed in a commercial firm in his home town of Meissen. He joined the Nazi Party in November 1929 (nr. 170257). In 1933, Naumann joined the SA in a full-time capacity and then became an official and officer of police. He joined the Sicherheitsdienst (SD) in 1935. Naumann was the commander of Einsatzgruppe VI during its short-lived existence. During the invasion of Poland, the unit murdered over 6,000 people as part of Operation Tannenberg. Afterwards, Naumann was Chief of Einsatzgruppe B from November 1941 until February or March 1943.{{Cite web |title=Einsatzkommandos |url=http://www.deathcamps.org/occupation/einsatzkommandos.htm |access-date=2022-09-01 |website=www.deathcamps.org}}
During November 1941, reports he sent to Adolf Eichmann state that he was responsible for the deaths of 17,256 people in Smolensk. Under his command, he admitted that his Einsatzgruppe possessed three gas vans which "were used to exterminate human beings". In another report, dated 15 December 1942, Naumann reported that the Einsatzgruppe B had shot a total of 134,298 people.[http://www.phdn.org/archives/einsatzgruppenarchives.com/trials/profiles/naumann1.html The Einsatzgruppen: Erich Naumann]
From September 1943 to July 1944, Naumann was the Befehlshaber der Sicherheitspolizei und des SD (Commander of the Security Police and SD) in the occupied Netherlands. In this position, he assisted the perpetrators of Operation Silbertanne and approved of executions carried out by Henk Feldmeijer and Feldmeijer's death squad.{{Cite web |date=2009-11-12 |title='Commando was geen geoliede organisatie' |url=https://www.trouw.nl/gs-bac91e5d |access-date=2022-11-13 |website=Trouw |language=nl-NL}}
War crimes trial and execution
After capture by the Allies, Naumann stood trial in front of a U.S. military court during the Einsatzgruppen trial. During the proceedings he repeatedly stated that he did not consider his actions during his tenure as commanding officer of Einsatzgruppe B wrong. When asked on the witness stand whether he saw anything morally wrong about the Führer's orders, he replied...
"No, your Honor, I considered the decree to be right, because it was part of our aim of the war and therefore it was necessary."
The tribunal asked Naumann to clarify, "Then the Tribunal will accept from your answer that you saw nothing wrong with the order, even though it did involve the killing of defenseless human beings. That is what we draw from your answer." Naumann replied, "Yes, your Honor."{{Cite web |title=Defendants in Nuremberg Military Tribunal Case 9 |url=https://phdn.org/archives/einsatzgruppenarchives.com/trials/profiles/naumann1.html |access-date=2022-09-09 |website=phdn.org}} Naumann was found guilty of war crimes, crimes against humanity, and membership in a criminal organization, namely the SS and the SD. Naumann was sentenced to death and hanged shortly after midnight on 7 June 1951."Five death sentences were confirmed: the sentence against Oswald Pohl, as well as those passed against the leaders of the Mobile Killing Units, Paul Blobel, Werner Braune, Erich Neumann, and Otto Ohrlendorf. . . . In the early morning hours of 7 June, the [...] Nazi criminals were hanged in the Landesburg prison courtyard." Norbert Frei, Adenauer's Germany and the Nazi Past: The Politics of Amnesty and Integration. Columbia University Press, 2002. [https://books.google.com/books?id=Bxl-NoWVYp0C&q=%22Paul+Blobel%22&pg=PA370 p. 165] and [https://books.google.com/books?id=Bxl-NoWVYp0C&q=%22early+hours+of+7+June%22&pg=PA370 p. 173]
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- [http://www.phdn.org/archives/einsatzgruppenarchives.com/trials/naumann.html Naumann's trial] from The Einsatzgruppen Archives
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20151125023122/http://www.nizkor.org/hweb/orgs/german/einsatzgruppen/esg/trials/profiles/naumann1.html Profile of Naumann] from Musmanno, Michael A., Justice. The Eichmann Kommandos. London: Peter Davies. 1961. pp. 156 - 16
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20050409110558/http://olokaustos.org/bionazi/leaders/naumann.htm Overview]
{{Einsatzgruppen}}
{{Holocaust Poland}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Naumann, Erich}}
Category:Einsatzgruppen personnel
Category:Executed German mass murderers
Category:Executed military leaders
Category:Executed people from Saxony
Category:Executions by the United States Nuremberg Military Tribunals
Category:German police officers convicted of crimes against humanity
Category:Holocaust perpetrators in Belarus
Category:Holocaust perpetrators in Poland
Category:Holocaust perpetrators in Russia
Category:Holocaust perpetrators in the Netherlands
Category:People from the Kingdom of Saxony
Category:Police officers executed for crimes against humanity