Ernst Damzog

Ernst Damzog
Ernst Damzog in civilian clothing, 1935
Born	1882
Died	1945 Halle, Germany
Allegiance	Nazi Germany
Service/branch	Schutzstaffel
Years of service	until 1945
Rank	SS-Brigadeführer
Unit	SS-Totenkopfverbände

Ernst Damzog (1882, Strassburg – 1945, Halle) was a German policeman, who was a member of the SS of Nazi Germany and served in the Gestapo. He was responsible for the mass murder of Poles and Jews committed in the territory of occupied Poland during World War II.

In September 1939, during the invasion of Poland, Damzog served as colonel (SS-Standartenführer) of Einsatzgruppe V (EG V-Allenstein), deployed with the 3rd Army (Wehrmacht) in Reichsgau Wartheland (Warthegau), which was carved out of the Polish lands annexed by Nazi Germany. He was responsible for the mass executions of Polish citizens following the victorious Battle of Grudziądz (Graudenz), practically eradicating the entire Jewish population of the town. He was also in control of the execution of medical patients in order to empty state hospitals, which he entrusted to his subordinate officer Herbert Lange. After the annexation of western Poland, Damzog served in occupied Poznań (Posen) as the police inspector for both Sicherheitspolizei (SiPo) and Sicherheitsdienst (SD), under the command of SS-Obergruppenführer Wilhelm Koppe sent to Posen on September 30, 1939.

While in Poznań, Damzog was actively involved in the mass expulsions of Poles from Reichsgau Wartheland to General Government, including after the 1941 German attack across the Soviet zone of occupation. He personally selected staff for the killing centre in Chełmno extermination camp and supervised its daily operation. The first victims there came from the local villages, and the mass killings with the use of gas vans started on 8 December 1941.