Eduard Weiter
Encyclopedia
Eduard Weiter was a German
bureaucrat who became a Schutzstaffel
Obersturmbannführer
and concentration camp commandant.
maker, Weiter worked as a book salesman whilst studying part time until he joined the German Imperial Army at the age of twenty. He served as a soldier for ten years, seeing action on the Eastern
, Western
and Balkan fronts
during the course of World War I
. He served as divisional and then regimental paymaster and following the reductions in the German military that followed the Treaty of Versailles
he took up a similar position in the Bavaria
n police.
. He then took a role with the SS, although once again as a paymaster and even at this point Weiter wrote that he had no particular political beliefs or identity. Indeed he did not join the Nazi Party until 1937. Weiter did win the favour of Oswald Pohl
but his ambivalence to politics slowed down his advancement and even when, during the Second World War, he was put in charge of administering Dachau concentration camp it was still a bureaucratic role away from the actual camp.
Despite this Weiter succeeded Martin Gottfried Weiss as camp commandant on 30 September 1943. Inmate accounts suggest that Weiter's regime was characterised by the same anonymity that had defined his career as he was rarely seen around the camp. Conditions did decline however, notably due to overcrowding as other more easterly camps were closed but Weiter made little attempt to expand Dachau to cope with this influx. It is also likely that Weiter personally killed the dissident Georg Elser
, whose death was officially announced by Weiter as having been caused by an air raid. After the war a letter to Weiter from Heinrich Müller was discovered in which the order was given that Elser was to be killed and that the death was to be blamed on a bombing raid. Inmate leaders would later testify that Weiter had spoken to them shortly before leaving Dachau in an attempt to get them to testify to his lack of direct cruelty at any subsequent trial.
where he died in mysterious circumstances, possibly being killed by a fellow SS member angry at his lack of ideological conviction.
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
bureaucrat who became a Schutzstaffel
Schutzstaffel
The Schutzstaffel |Sig runes]]) was a major paramilitary organization under Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party. Built upon the Nazi ideology, the SS under Heinrich Himmler's command was responsible for many of the crimes against humanity during World War II...
Obersturmbannführer
Obersturmbannführer
Obersturmbannführer was a paramilitary Nazi Party rank used by both the SA and the SS. It was created in May 1933 to fill the need for an additional field grade officer rank above Sturmbannführer as the SA expanded. It became an SS rank at the same time...
and concentration camp commandant.
Early years
The son of a horsewhipHorsewhip
A horsewhip or horse whip is* a crop* a whip* a quirt* a tool used as an artificial riding aid* in zoology, the English name for a snake species Oxybelis aeneus...
maker, Weiter worked as a book salesman whilst studying part time until he joined the German Imperial Army at the age of twenty. He served as a soldier for ten years, seeing action on the Eastern
Eastern Front (World War I)
The Eastern Front was a theatre of war during World War I in Central and, primarily, Eastern Europe. The term is in contrast to the Western Front. Despite the geographical separation, the events in the two theatres strongly influenced each other...
, Western
Western Front (World War I)
Following the outbreak of World War I in 1914, the German Army opened the Western Front by first invading Luxembourg and Belgium, then gaining military control of important industrial regions in France. The tide of the advance was dramatically turned with the Battle of the Marne...
and Balkan fronts
Balkans Campaign (World War I)
The Balkans Campaign of World War I was fought between Central Powers Bulgaria, Austria-Hungary, and Germany on one side and the Allies Serbia, France, Russia, the United Kingdom, Montenegro on the other side.-Overview:The prime cause of World War I being the hostility between Serbia and...
during the course of World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
. He served as divisional and then regimental paymaster and following the reductions in the German military that followed the Treaty of Versailles
Treaty of Versailles
The Treaty of Versailles was one of the peace treaties at the end of World War I. It ended the state of war between Germany and the Allied Powers. It was signed on 28 June 1919, exactly five years after the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand. The other Central Powers on the German side of...
he took up a similar position in the Bavaria
Bavaria
Bavaria, formally the Free State of Bavaria is a state of Germany, located in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the largest state by area, forming almost 20% of the total land area of Germany...
n police.
SS career
Weiter continued as an anonymous bureaucrat until in 1936 he retired from his paymaster role, the Bavarian police having been incorporated as a unit into the WehrmachtWehrmacht
The Wehrmacht – from , to defend and , the might/power) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the Heer , the Kriegsmarine and the Luftwaffe .-Origin and use of the term:...
. He then took a role with the SS, although once again as a paymaster and even at this point Weiter wrote that he had no particular political beliefs or identity. Indeed he did not join the Nazi Party until 1937. Weiter did win the favour of Oswald Pohl
Oswald Pohl
Oswald Pohl was a Nazi official and member of the SS , involved in the mass murders of Jews in concentration camps, the so-called Final Solution.-Early years:...
but his ambivalence to politics slowed down his advancement and even when, during the Second World War, he was put in charge of administering Dachau concentration camp it was still a bureaucratic role away from the actual camp.
Despite this Weiter succeeded Martin Gottfried Weiss as camp commandant on 30 September 1943. Inmate accounts suggest that Weiter's regime was characterised by the same anonymity that had defined his career as he was rarely seen around the camp. Conditions did decline however, notably due to overcrowding as other more easterly camps were closed but Weiter made little attempt to expand Dachau to cope with this influx. It is also likely that Weiter personally killed the dissident Georg Elser
Georg Elser
Johann Georg Elser was a German opponent of Nazism. He is most remembered for his unsuccessful attempt to assassinate Adolf Hitler, but he also wanted to assassinate Hermann Göring and Joseph Goebbels in 1939....
, whose death was officially announced by Weiter as having been caused by an air raid. After the war a letter to Weiter from Heinrich Müller was discovered in which the order was given that Elser was to be killed and that the death was to be blamed on a bombing raid. Inmate leaders would later testify that Weiter had spoken to them shortly before leaving Dachau in an attempt to get them to testify to his lack of direct cruelty at any subsequent trial.
Death
In the event Weiter did not face trial as he fled Dachau immediately before its liberation and made it to AustriaAustria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
where he died in mysterious circumstances, possibly being killed by a fellow SS member angry at his lack of ideological conviction.