Rise and fall of nazi officer franz stangl thoughtco. His role in the mass murder of men, women and children was known to the austrian authorities but austria did not issue a warrant for stangls arrest until 1961. Files are available under licenses specified on their description page. He supervised the transformation of the camps into places where killing was carried out on a vast scale he is believed to have overseen the deaths of around 900,000 people. Under his codirection, it is estimated that more than 1 million people were gassed and buried in mass graves. Nov 27, 2002 we can have it from this same franz stangl for when he came to be commandant at sobibor they exterminated up to 15,000 a day there also. After anschluss, stangl was quickly promoted through the ranks. They emmigrated to the us around 18691872, but i have been unable to determine the exact date, nor find a ship manifest. Franz was born on june 14 1898, in tobis vulgo plattl. Jun 19, 2012 gitta sereny led us through our own darkness. They were assisted by 90120 ukrainians, former prisoners of war trained by the germans for their new. Instead, imitating the dog liken kurtz to the concentration camp commandant franz stangl, quoted verbatim on his crimes at treblinka. From her experience as a welfare officer for concentration camp survivors, gitta sereny 19212012 was fascinated by the holocaust and those who engineered it. Franz paul stangl was born in altmunster, a market town on the western shore of the traunsee, near gmunden, in upper austria, on 26 march 1908.
During gitta serenys extraordinary descent into the mind and memory of franz stangle, former commandant of sobibor and treblinka, she explores the question of whether he might have made small gestures of mercy, small actions that might have indicated a degree of resistance to the regime of extermination, and thus slightly alleviated the suffering of the victims. Everyday low prices and free delivery on eligible orders. I find it very strange that franz stangl was not put on trial by the allies. As if shes unpeeling an onion layer by layer, she leads us into the life and mind of her subject, the former kommandant of treblinka, franz stangl, and makes us feel, whether we want to or not, as if we know him and understand him.
Franz stangl, sshauptsturmfuhrer, born 26 march 1898 in altmunster, austria, served as the police superintendent of the t4 euthanasia program at hartheim euthanasia center, and later of the bernburg euthanasia center, kommandant of the sobibor and treblinka extermination camps of operation reinhard, winner of the war service cross 1 st. Franz stangl and gitta sereny desperado philosophy. Kurt franz served as his replacement, and he was instructed to dismantle the camp and to eliminate every trace of evidence that it had ever existed. Franz stangl 18251896, barbara stadick 18281912, and their six children.
From a working class family, stangl trained as a master weaver. Based on 70 hours of interviews with franz stangl, commandant of treblinka the largest of the five nazi extermination camps, this book bares the soul of a man who continually found ways to rationalize his role in hitlers final solution. Into that darkness gitta sereny pdf pdf academy inc. A commandants view images facing history and ourselves. Jul 14, 2012 the court schwurgericht dusseldorf found stangl guilty on october 22, 1970, and sentenced him to maximum penalty, life imprisonment. By using the comment function on you agree to our privacy statement. In 1940, stangl joined the euthanasia program at its hartheim castle instituteone of six centers where people with mental and physical disabilities and.
Jun 14, 2016 brigitte stangl was the only one in her family who did not believe in antisemitism. It worked and because it worked, it was irreversible. Her father was austrian policeman, and death camp commandant, franz stangl. Stangl was arrested in brazil in 1967, tried and found guilty in west germany in 1970. The responses to the questions sereny posed are excerpted in this audio reading. He was the commandant of the sobibor and treblinka extermination camps during the operation reinhard phase of the holocaust. This comprehensive lesson plan includes 30 daily lessons, 180 multiple choice questions, 20 essay questions, 20 fun activities, and more everything you need to teach into that darkness. Franz stangl was born on month day 1930, at birth place, to franz borgias stangl and maria stangl born fabian. Portrait of franz stangl, commandant of the treblinka killing. A small part of the entrance gate is visible on the left. Franz stangl project gutenberg selfpublishing free ebooks.
The commandants daughter a holocaust novel wattpad. After working as a weaver, stangl joined the austrian police in 1931 and soon afterwards the then illegal nazi party. Mass murderer franz stangl, onetime commendant of the treblinka death camp, died of heart failure 19 hours after he spoke these words to the. On the first day of the trial for the former serbian army commander ratko mladic, who faces eleven counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity, we turn again to gitta serenys remarkable descent into the conscience of franz stangl, the former kommandant of sobibor and treblinka. Jul 03, 2019 into that darkness gitta sereny pdf only four men commanded nazi extermination as opposed to concentration camps. May 02, 2019 into that darkness gitta sereny pdf only four men commanded nazi extermination as opposed to concentration camps. Interview with franz stangl about franz stangl born in austria in 1908, franz stangl joined the austrian police in 1931 and became a criminal investigations officer in the political division. Franz stangl historical records and family trees myheritage. After training as a master weaver stangl joined the austrian police force in 1931, graduating two years later.
In 1971 british journalist gitta sereny interviewed former ss officer franz stangl the commandant of the death camp sobibor and later treblinka. Mass murderer franz stangl, onetime commendant of the treblinka death camp, died of. In 1970, the dusseldorf court sentenced franz stangl to life imprisonment for his role. The austrian franz stangl was in charge of sobibor until september 1942, when he was transferred to the deathcamp treblinka. Her father knew of her resistance to the regime, so he tried to blind her to the situation as long as he could, which did not last long. In 1936, despite his position in law enforcement, he joined the ranks of the thenillegal nazi party. His role in the mass murder of jews was known to the austrian authorities, but austria did not issue a warrant for his arrest until 1961. Franz stangl, commandant of the treblinka killing center. Ii of this encyclopedia, which are available as a free pdf download. This article is available under the terms of the gnu free documentation. Franz stangl, nicknamed the white death, was an austrian nazi who served as director of the treblinka and sobibor death camps in poland during world war ii. Into that darkness, by gitta sereny commentary magazine. Franz stangl march 26, 1908 june 28, 1971 was an ss officer, commandant of the sobibor and of treblinka extermination camp. The second commandant of treblinka ii, franz stangl, escaped with his wife and children from austria to brazil in 1951.
Gitta sereny interviewed many, many people in researching it, including, of course, franz stangl, his wife, her sister, one of his daughters, and several former ssmen involved in the treblinka extermination camp, one of the most important being franz suchomel, who was interviewed by claude lanzmann in shoah. The death of gitta sereny author of a book about franz. May, 2019 franz stangl, nicknamed the white death, was an austrian nazi who served as director of the treblinka and sobibor death camps in poland during world war ii. World heritage encyclopedia, the aggregation of the largest online encyclopedias available, and the most definitive. Find franz stangls phone number, address, and email on spokeo, the leading online directory for contact information. The small birch fences, built by jewish prisoners, are typical for the ss and ukrainian areas. All structured data from the file and property namespaces is available under the creative commons cc0 license. Click download or read online button to get gitta book now. Franz had at his disposal some ss men, a group of ukrainian guards and about 100 jewish prisoners who had remained after the uprising. Franz stangl, the son of a nightwatchman, was born in altmunster, austria, on march 26, 1908. Stangl gained a reputation as an efficient administrator and according to ssobergruppenfuehrer odilo globocnik, franz stangl was the best camp commander, who had the.
Stangl having a talk camp commander franz stangl in the middle having a talk besides the ss barracks. Unsatisfied in his career, at the age of 23, he applied to become a police officer. Based on 70 hours of interviews with franz stangl, commandant of treblinka the largest of the extermination camps, this book bares the soul of. Stangl and franz outside the german quarter in treblinka. A respectful treatment of one another is important to us. This page was last edited on 9 october 2019, at 09. Stangl found work at a volkswagen factory in sao paulo. Gitta sereny is perhaps the most thorough, meticulous interviewer ive ever read.
Around 100,000 jews were believed to have been killed while stangl was running sobibor. Franz stangl was born in altmunster, austria on 26 march 1908, the son of a nightwatchman who had once served in the habsburg dragoons. After the revolt, the camps commandant franz stangl left. Franz stangl, the son of a nightwatchman, was born in altmunster, austria, on 26031908. Gitta sereny led us through our own darkness giles fraser. Media in category franz stangl the following 2 files are in this category, out of 2 total. Thus with stangl s testimony alone we have it some 30,000 jews a day were exterminated at just two camps. My grandad gassed a million for nazis now i fight extremism. Franz stangl, sshauptsturmfuhrer, born 26 march 1898 in altmunster, austria, served as the police superintendent of the t4 euthanasia program at hartheim euthanasia center, and later of the bernburg euthanasia center, kommandant of the sobibor and treblinka extermination camps of operation reinhard, winner of the war service cross 1st class, arrested in sao paulo in 1967, convicted. Cukurs name was left out of the list of course, but the names of hans eisele and franz stangl were added. From mercy killing to mass murder new ed by sereny, gitta isbn. Franz stangl was an ss commandant of the treblinka and sobibor camps, where he was nicknamed the white death.