Alexander Piorkowski

Alexander Bernhard Hans Piorkowski, also known as Alex Piorkowski (11 October 1904 in Bremen – 22 October 1948 in Landsberg am Lech) was a German SS-Sturmbannführer and commandant of Dachau concentration camp.

Alexander Piorkowski was a trained mechanic who worked as a traveling merchant in the 1920s.

He joined the SA on 1 June 1929 and moved from there to the SS on 1 June 1933 (member no. 8,737). On 1 November 1929, Piorkowski became a member of the Nazi Party (member no. 161,437). He first led the SS-Standarte in Bremen from 20 July 1935, and in the following year, the SS-Standarte Allenstein. For health reasons, he retired from the service on 19 September 1936.

From July 1937 to December 1937, Piorkowski was provisionally commandant of Lichtenburg concentration camp, and after its conversion into a women's concentration camp, deputy to Lagerdirektor Günther Tamaschke until August 1938. From there he was transferred to the Dachau concentration camp in early August 1938, where he served as Schutzhaftlagerführer. From February 1940 to mid-September 1942, he was the commandant of Dachau concentration camp. Due to corruption charges, he was discharged from service on 31 August 1943.

After the Second World War, Piorkowski, along with his adjutant , had to answer to a U.S. military tribunal at the Dachau trials from 6 to 17 January 1947. The charges were crimes against humanity, deportation, abduction and ill-treatment of prisoners in the former concentration camp at Dachau. Piorkowski was sentenced to death. He made futile petitions for a pardon. Alexander Piorkowski was hanged in the Landsberg Prison for war criminals.

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