On this date, June 2,
1948, August Hirt committed suicide in Schönenbach, Austria, with a gunshot to
the head. He was the Chairman of the Reich University in Strasbourg, France. I
will post the information about him from Wikipedia and other links.
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August Hirst [PHOTO
SOURCE: http://www.die-namen-der-nummern.de/html/august_hirt.html]
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Born
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28 April 1898
Mannheim, Baden |
Died
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2 June 1945 (aged 47)
Schluchsee, Baden-Württemberg |
Allegiance
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Nazi Germany
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Service/branch
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Schutzstaffel
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Rank
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Hauptsturmführer
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August Hirt
(April 28, 1898 – June 2, 1945), an SS-Hauptsturmführer (captain), served as a
chairman at the Reich University in Strasbourg during World War II.
Working
with the Ahnenerbe division, Wolfram Sievers, Bruno Beger and Hirt together
collected human corpses from among the Dachau inmates in order to create an
anatomical specimen collection specifically of Jews. In 1943, Hirt had 79
Jewish men, 30 Jewish women, 2 Poles, and 4 "Asians" selected among
the inmates at Auschwitz. These people were sent to Natzweiler-Struthof on July
30, 1943. Here they were gassed, by Josef Kramer, on August 17 and August 19,
1943. Their bodies were returned to Hirt at the anatomical laboratory of the
Reich University in Strasbourg for preparation as an anthropological display,
where they were re-discovered after the liberation.
Some
speculate that the Asian victims were in fact Soviets, and there is mention
that Hirt used this opportunity to test the effects of mescaline as a poison.
In
the book, “Die Namen der Nummern“ (The Names of the Numbers), Hans-Joachim Lang
describes this mass murder. He also recounts in detail the story of how he was
able to determine the identities of 86 victims, 60 years after they were
murdered.
Hirt
committed suicide before he could be tried for war crimes. Some of his records
prepared for the trial are in possession of the US National Archives, including
"Photocopies of certificates of proof of ancestry, in connection with
research on prisoners in the Konzentrationslager Natzweiler, ...Feb. 9-Nov. 3,
1942. Partial copies of slips for the admittance of prisoners into the
Konzentrationslager Natzweiler, medical examinations on prisoners, and a death
certificate, Dec. 9, 1942-Aug. 9, 1944. Feb. 9, 1942-Aug. 9, 1944".
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August
Hirst [PHOTO SOURCE: http://www.holocaust-history.org/hirt/]
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English: English translation of the inscription:
In memory of the 86 Jewish victims assassinated in
1943 at Struthof by August Hirt, professor at the Nazi Reichsuniversität Straßburg.
Their remains rest in the Israeli cemetery in Cronenbourg. The French Faculty
of Medicine of annexed Strasburg had moved to Clermont-Ferrand. Remember them
so that never again medicine is misguided. Commemorative plaque unvailed
December 11, 2005 by: Jean-Paul Faugere, Prefect of the Region of Alsace,
Prefect of the Lower-Rhine Fabienne Keller, President of the Administrave
Council of the University Hospitals of Strasbourg (rest of the inscription is
unclear) Gerald Chaix, Rector of the Academy of Strasbourg, Chancellor of the
Universities of Alsace
In the presence of:
·
Bernard
Carriere, President of Louis Pasteur University of Strasbourg
·
Bertrand
Ludes, Dean of the Faculty of Medicine of Strasbourg
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Paul
Castel, Director-General of the University Hospitals of Strasbourg
·
Jean
Kahn, President of the Isreali Central Consistory of France
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OTHER LINKS:
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