Otto Förschner
| Otto Förschner | |
|---|---|
Otto Förschner in US custody, 1945
|
|
| Born | 4 November 1902 Dürrenzimmern, German Empire |
| Died | 28 May 1946 (aged 43) Landsberg am Lech, Germany |
| Allegiance |
 Weimar Republic Nazi Germany
|
| Service/branch |
Reichsheer Schutzstaffel
|
| Rank | Sturmbannführer |
| Unit |
SS-Totenkopfverbände |
| Battles/wars |
Eastern Front (World War II) German V-2 campaign |
Otto Förschner (November 4, 1902 – May 28, 1946) was a German SS commander and a Nazi concentration camp official. He served as commandant of the Mittelbau-Dora concentration camp and the Kaufering concentration camp in the Dachau camp system. He was indicted for his crimes, found guilty and hanged in May 1946.
Förschner was born in the town of Dürrenzimmern, Bavaria on November 4, 1902 and was raised on a farm owned by his family. In 1922 he enlisted in the Reichsheer and would remain a soldier for the next twelve years. Following his departure from the army in 1934 he became a member of the SS and was assigned to its military-wing, the SS-Verfügungstruppe, the organization that would eventually become the Waffen-SS. Between April, 1934 and December, 1936 Förschner attended the SS Officers School in Bad Tölz and became a member of the Nazi Party in 1937.
During the German invasion of the Soviet Union in 1941, Förschner served as an officer with the . After being wounded in action and declared medically unfit for combat duty, he was transferred to the SS-Totenkopfverbände, taking over as Schutzhaftlagerführer of the Buchenwald concentration camp in the spring of 1942.
In September, 1943 Förschner was given command over the newly built concentration camp of Mittelbau-Dora, which at this time functioned as a sub-camp of the much larger Buchenwald. The purpose of Mittelbau-Dora was to provide slave-laborers from among its inmate population to the nearby V-weapons production facility of Mittelwerk. In addition to his position as commandant at Dora, Förschner was also technically the managing director of Mittelwerk GmbH, the front company created by the German government for V-weapons production. He would hold this post until April,1944 when he was replaced by Georg Rickhey.
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