Nazi Germany or the Third Reich lasted from 1933 to 1945 and was a period of German history, or world history as a whole that was singlehandedly responsible for the death of millions of people, either through direct persecution through state policy or as a result of war. Adolf Hitler, who was at the helm of the country, took in some of the evilest man in the country and gave them unprecedented power over the lives of the masses. The result as expected, was mass-carnage and loss of human life throughout Europe as well as continents like Asia and Africa. Here are some Nazis, the worst of the worst, other than Adolf Hitler who needs little introduction.
Josef Kramer
Josef Kramer was one of the most notorious Nazis and was directly responsible for the loss of countless lives. He was called the “Beast of the Belsen” for his activities as the Commandant of the Bergen Belsen Concentration Camp. Even before getting assigned to the Berger-Belsen Concentration Camp, Josef Kramer had been in charge of several transit camps in occupied territories, which made him the obvious choice as Commandant.
In 1941, he was sent to run the Natzweiler-Struthof concentration camp in occupied France. His mental sickness became clear then and there, when he personally gassed almost 100 Jewish men & women. Next, he was sent to Auschwitz, promoted to the rank of Captain and from May 1944 to November, he managed the gassings of God-knows-how-many prisoners. His psychopathic behavior was picked up the SS and he was now made the Commandant of a whole concentration camp, the Berger-Belson.
Before Kramer was put in charge, the camp wasn’t designated as a concentration camp by the Nazis, but during the final years of the war, the Nazis catalyzed their actions and soon the SS completely took over the camp’s administration. Josef Kramer was personally chosen for the task of leading the camp because he had prior experience committing atrocities without showing the slightest amount of pity or emotion.
With Josef Kramer in charge, the concentration camp was used to persecute several ethnicities, particularly the Jews. The camp was split up into a number of “blocks”, each one for a certain race. The prisoners were either executed or held hostage as replacement for German POWs. The exact number of casualties during Kramer’s tenure is not known, however the number is north of 20,000 including lives of children.
After the British liberated the camp, Kramer was arrested and sentenced to hanging for war crimes.