Amon Leopold Göth | |
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Göth's 1945 mugshot
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Native name | Amon Leopold Göth |
Nickname(s) | The Butcher of Płaszów |
Born |
Vienna, Austria-Hungary (now Vienna, Austria) |
11 December 1908
Died | 13 September 1946 Kraków, Poland |
(aged 37)
Allegiance | Nazi Germany |
Service/branch | Schutzstaffel |
Years of service | 1930–1945 |
Rank | SS-Hauptsturmführer |
Service number |
NSDAP #510,764 SS #43,673 |
Unit | SS-Totenkopfverbände |
Commands held | Arbeitslager KL-Płaszów |
Spouse(s) |
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Amon Leopold Göth pronounced [ˈɡøːt] (spelled in some English sources as Goeth) (11 December 1908 – 13 September 1946) was an Austrian SS-Hauptsturmführer (captain) and the commandant of the Kraków-Płaszów concentration camp in Płaszów in German-occupied Poland for most of the camp's existence during World War II. He was tried as a war criminal after the war by the Supreme National Tribunal of Poland at Kraków and was found guilty of personally ordering the imprisonment, torture and extermination of individuals and groups of people. He was also convicted of homicide, the first such conviction at a war crimes trial, for "personally killing, maiming and torturing a substantial, albeit unidentified number of people." He was executed by hanging not far from the former site of the Płaszów camp. The 1993 film Schindler's List, where Göth is portrayed by Ralph Fiennes, depicts his running of the Płaszów concentration camp.
Göth was born on 11 December 1908 in Vienna, then the capital of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, to a wealthy family in the book publishing industry. Göth joined a Nazi youth group at age 17 and was a member of the antisemitic nationalist paramilitary group Heimwehr (Home Guard) from 1927 to 1930. He dropped his membership to join the Austrian branch of the Nazi Party, being assigned the party membership number 510,764 in September 1930. Göth joined the Austrian SS in 1930 and was appointed an SS-Mann with the SS number 43,673.