Heinrich Deubel
Encyclopedia
Heinrich Deubel was a German
soldier, civil servant and officer in the Schutzstaffel
who served as commandant of Dachau concentration camp.
Deubel was born in Ortenburg (Bavaria). The son of a postman, he joined the German Imperial Army and spent 12 years in the service, although he was to spend most of the First World War in a British
prisoner of war
camp. Right-wing
by inclination, Deubel had been involved with the Freikorps
and other rightist and anti-Semitic groups from an early age. He became involved with the Nazis in the early 1920s at the same time as Egon Zill
and was amongst the first 200 members of the SS. Deubel was a civil servant with the customs office and actually took a leave of absence to join the SS rather than forgo his civil service pension.
Deubel was an inspector at Dachau concentration camp in 1934 when commandant Theodor Eicke
was promoted to a role overseeing all concentration camps. Deubel, by then an Oberfuehrer in the SS, was nominated by Eiche as his successor. Deubel commanded the camp from 1 May 1934 until 20 April 1936 with detainees describing his regime as fairly liberal, especially when compared to that of his successor in the role, Hans Loritz
.
During his time as commandant, Deubel did fall foul of Heinrich Himmler
due to a public incident of violence at a time when the SS was developing a reputation for cruelty in Germany and beyond. On Christmas Eve 1934, Deubel was present at Passau
train station when an SS private got into a scuffle with a number of people after delaying the line at a ticket window. When a policeman stepped in to arrest the private, Deubel intervened, threatening to drag a policeman to the camp to be "whipped as he deserved". Deubel would later claim that the incident had happened because he felt it was his duty to defend his fellow SS member as the policeman had forcibly pulled him from the ticket window. However the incident earned Deubel a rebuke from Himmler as it was widely discussed in Germany and even reported in sections of the overseas press.
After the Second World War, Deubel was interned until 1948 although ultimately no charges were brought against him by the government of West Germany
. He died in Dingolfing
.
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...
soldier, civil servant and officer in the 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...
who served as commandant of Dachau concentration camp.
Deubel was born in Ortenburg (Bavaria). The son of a postman, he joined the German Imperial Army and spent 12 years in the service, although he was to spend most of the First World War in a British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
prisoner of war
Prisoner of war
A prisoner of war or enemy prisoner of war is a person, whether civilian or combatant, who is held in custody by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict...
camp. Right-wing
Right-wing politics
In politics, Right, right-wing and rightist generally refer to support for a hierarchical society justified on the basis of an appeal to natural law or tradition. To varying degrees, the Right rejects the egalitarian objectives of left-wing politics, claiming that the imposition of equality is...
by inclination, Deubel had been involved with the Freikorps
Freikorps
Freikorps are German volunteer military or paramilitary units. The term was originally applied to voluntary armies formed in German lands from the middle of the 18th century onwards. Between World War I and World War II the term was also used for the paramilitary organizations that arose during...
and other rightist and anti-Semitic groups from an early age. He became involved with the Nazis in the early 1920s at the same time as Egon Zill
Egon Zill
Egon Zill was a German Schutzstaffel Sturmbannführer and concentration camp commandant....
and was amongst the first 200 members of the SS. Deubel was a civil servant with the customs office and actually took a leave of absence to join the SS rather than forgo his civil service pension.
Deubel was an inspector at Dachau concentration camp in 1934 when commandant Theodor Eicke
Theodor Eicke
Theodor Eicke was a SS Obergruppenführer , commander of the SS-Division Totenkopf of the Waffen-SS and one of the key figures in the establishment of concentration camps in Nazi Germany. His Nazi Party number was 114,901 and his SS number was 2,921...
was promoted to a role overseeing all concentration camps. Deubel, by then an Oberfuehrer in the SS, was nominated by Eiche as his successor. Deubel commanded the camp from 1 May 1934 until 20 April 1936 with detainees describing his regime as fairly liberal, especially when compared to that of his successor in the role, Hans Loritz
Hans Loritz
Oberführer Hans Loritz joined the SS in 1930 and in 1933, began work as an officer at the Dachau concentration camp. In July 1934 he became the commander of KZ Esterwegen where he was the Commandant for two years before being transferred back to serve as Commandant of Dachau until 1939...
.
During his time as commandant, Deubel did fall foul of Heinrich Himmler
Heinrich Himmler
Heinrich Luitpold Himmler was Reichsführer of the SS, a military commander, and a leading member of the Nazi Party. As Chief of the German Police and the Minister of the Interior from 1943, Himmler oversaw all internal and external police and security forces, including the Gestapo...
due to a public incident of violence at a time when the SS was developing a reputation for cruelty in Germany and beyond. On Christmas Eve 1934, Deubel was present at Passau
Passau
Passau is a town in Lower Bavaria, Germany. It is also known as the Dreiflüssestadt or "City of Three Rivers," because the Danube is joined at Passau by the Inn from the south and the Ilz from the north....
train station when an SS private got into a scuffle with a number of people after delaying the line at a ticket window. When a policeman stepped in to arrest the private, Deubel intervened, threatening to drag a policeman to the camp to be "whipped as he deserved". Deubel would later claim that the incident had happened because he felt it was his duty to defend his fellow SS member as the policeman had forcibly pulled him from the ticket window. However the incident earned Deubel a rebuke from Himmler as it was widely discussed in Germany and even reported in sections of the overseas press.
After the Second World War, Deubel was interned until 1948 although ultimately no charges were brought against him by the government of West Germany
West Germany
West Germany is the common English, but not official, name for the Federal Republic of Germany or FRG in the period between its creation in May 1949 to German reunification on 3 October 1990....
. He died in Dingolfing
Dingolfing
Dingolfing is a town in Southern Bavaria, Germany. It is the seat of the Landkreis Dingolfing-Landau.- History :The area now called Dingolfing was first mentioned in Tinguluinga in the year 833....
.