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Max KegelWar criminal, SS Obersturmbannführer.
Country:
 Germany |
Content:
- Max Kogel: Notorious War Criminal of the SS
- Nazi Activism and SS Membership
- SS Service
- Commandant of Extermination Camps
- Capture and Death
Max Kogel: Notorious War Criminal of the SS
Early Life and Military ServiceMax Kogel was born in Füssen, Bavaria, in October 1895. He lost his father at the age of 12 and completed six grades of rural schooling. In 1913, he volunteered for the Bavarian infantry and served in World War I. After his discharge, he returned to Bavaria and briefly worked as a customs officer on the Austro-German border in Garmisch.
Nazi Activism and SS Membership
Subsequently, Kogel became an agent for a ski equipment company, traveling extensively throughout Austria and Switzerland. He joined several right-wing organizations, including the Nationalist Bloc, Oberland Association, and Oberland Volunteer Corps. He was an early activist in the Nazi movement and participated in the Beer Hall Putsch in 1923. In 1929, after the death of his only son, he joined the SS.
SS Service
In July 1932, Kogel began full-time service in the General SS. In April 1933, he was transferred to the "Totenkopf" units in Dachau, where he received the patronage of concentration camp inspector Theodor Eicke. Kogel gained notoriety for his sadistic treatment of prisoners, even among the brutal SS guards. He served at the Gestapo prison "Columbia" in Berlin and later at Sachsenhausen.
In January 1937, Kogel became the deputy commandant of Dachau. From September 1938, he served at the Lichtenburg women's concentration camp, which was soon closed and its inmates transferred to the newly established Ravensbrück camp near Berlin. Kogel was appointed commandant of Ravensbrück, where he oversaw the construction of barracks and facilities and established a brutal regime for prisoners.
Commandant of Extermination Camps
In 1942, Kogel became commandant of the Majdanek extermination camp, where he organized the mass murder of Jews and other prisoners. In late 1943, he was transferred to command Flossenbürg, where he implemented a system of "extermination through labor," resulting in the deaths of 80,000 prisoners out of 112,000.
Capture and Death
Towards the end of the war, prominent Resistance members, including Admiral Franz Canaris, were executed at Flossenbürg. The camp was liberated by American troops on April 23, 1945, and Kogel was arrested. While in prison, he committed suicide in October 1946.
