Waldemar hoven biography for kids

Waldemar Hoven

Waldemar Hoven (10 February – 2 June ) was a Nazi physician at Buchenwald concentration camp,[1] and convicted war criminal for conducting human experiments regarding typhus which led to the deaths of many concentration camp prisoners, and as one of the organizers of the euthanasia program Aktion T4; this Nazi initiative resulted in the systematic murder of , to , disabled people. He was sentenced to death and hanged on 2 June

Early life and Nazi Party membership

Hoven was born in Freiburg, Baden, Germany. Between and , Hoven visited Denmark and Sweden to study agriculture. In the s, he visited the United States, where he worked as a movie extra in Hollywood. In the s, Hoven went to Paris, where he had an affair with an American woman who gave him an extremely valuable gold cigarette case. Hoven finally returned home to Freiburg in , where he completed his high school studies. He then attended the Universities of Freiburg and Munich. In , he joined the SS. In , he concluded his medical studies and became a physician for the SS. Hoven rose to the rank of Hauptsturmführer (Captain) in the Waffen SS.[2][3]

War crimes

After completing his basic training in the Waffen SS, he became assistant medical officer in the Buchenwald concentration camp and held this position until ; in January he became the second camp doctor of Buchenwald, and became chief camp physician at least as early as June [4]

Hoven was involved in the administration of medical experiments regarding typhus and the tolerance of serum containing phenol, and which led to the deaths of many inmates. He was also involved in the Aktion T4 programs, during which people with disabilities were killed, along with Jewish people who were considered unfit for work.[5] According to other prisoners, Hoven was murdering 90 to prisoners every week, for a year and a half, with phenol injections.[6]

Arrest and release

He was arrested by the Nazis on 12 September , accused of giving a lethal injection of phenol to Hauptscharführer Rudolf Köhler, an SS officer who was a potential witness in an investigation against Ilse Koch, with whom Hoven was rumoured to be having an affair.[7] Hoven was charged with murder, but the case was delayed. He was released on 15 March due to the shortage of doctors.[8]

Doctors' Trial

Hoven was arrested at the end of World War II by the Allies and put on trial as a defendant at the Doctors' Trial, one of the Nuremberg Trials. He was found guilty of war crimes, crimes against humanity and membership in a criminal organization (the SS).[2] He was sentenced to death and hanged on 2 June at Landsberg Prison in Bavaria.

External links

"U.S. Military Tribunal No. 1, Case No. 1: Closing Brief for the United States of America Against Waldemar Hoven", 16 June Harvard Law School Nuremberg Trials Project.

References

  1. ^Klee, Ernst (). Das Personenlexikon zum Dritten Reich (in German) (2&#;ed.). Frankfurt am Main: Fischer Taschenbuch. p.&#; ISBN&#;.
  2. ^ ab"Nuremberg - Transcript Viewer - Transcript for NMT 1: Medical Case". . Retrieved 15 June
  3. ^Pauer-Studer, Herlinde; Velleman, J. David (), Pauer-Studer, Herlinde; Velleman, J. David (eds.), "Partners in Crime", Konrad Morgen: The Conscience of a Nazi Judge, London: Palgrave Macmillan UK, pp.&#;58–66, doi/_10, ISBN&#;, retrieved 9 September
  4. ^"Nuremberg - Document Viewer - Brief: prosecution closing brief against Waldemar Hoven". . Retrieved 27 April
  5. ^"Nuremberg - Document Viewer - Interrogation of Waldemar Hoven concerning medical programs and research projects at Buchenwald". . Retrieved 15 June
  6. ^Weber, Helen (29 October ). Holocaust Mosaic. iUniverse. ISBN&#;.
  7. ^Allen, Arthur (21 July ). The Fantastic Laboratory of Dr. Weigl: How Two Brave Scientists Battled Typhus and Sabotaged the Nazis. W. W. Norton & Company. ISBN&#;.
  8. ^"Nuremberg - Transcript Viewer - Transcript for NMT 1: Medical Case". . Retrieved 9 September