Martin Gottfried Weiss
| Martin Gottfried Weiss | |
|---|---|
SS-Obersturmbannführer Weiss in custody 1945
|
|
| Born |
3 June 1905 Weiden in der Oberpfalz |
| Died | 29 May 1946 (aged 40) Dachau Trials execution |
| Allegiance |
 Nazi Germany
|
| Service/branch |
 Schutzstaffel
|
| Years of service | until 1945 |
| Rank |
 SS-Obersturmbannführer
|
Martin Gottfried Weiss alternatively spelled Weiß (3 June 1905 – 29 May 1946) was the commandant of the Dachau concentration camp in 1945 at the time of his arrest. He also served from April 1940 until September 1942 as the commandant of Neuengamme concentration camp, and later, from November 1943 until May 1944, as the fourth commandant of Majdanek concentration camp.
Weiss was born in Weiden in der Oberpfalz. His father worked for the Royal Bavarian State Railways. He had two sisters and was raised as a Catholic. After school he continued his education at a mechanical engineering school in Landshut. He finished school in 1924 and worked as intern in an ironworks. Later he worked for about three and a half years for the electric company Upper Palatine. In summer 1926 he joined the Nazi party and founded a chapter of the SA and of the HJ with two friends in Weiden. Later he studied electrical engineering in Bad Frankenhausen, he finished in 1930. His grades were good, so he worked as an assistant at the school until April 1932, when he was released. He went back to the Weiden area and joined the SS.
From April 1933 he served with the guards of KZ Dachau; from November 1933 till February 1938 he was the engineer of the camp. In March he became adjutant to camp commander Hans Loritz and Alexander Piorkowski. He married in 1934, and he had at least two children.
In April 1940 he received an order for the construction of Konzentrationslager Neuengamme. In November he became the camp commandant. The Neuengamme camp was tasked to deliver building materials for buildings in Hamburg. From April 1942 till July 1942 Weiss was also commandant of KZ Arbeitsdorf.
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