Irmfried Eberl (8 September 1910 – 16 February 1948) was an Austrian psychiatrist and medical director of the euthanasia institutes in Brandenburg and Bernburg, who helped set up and was the first commandant of the Treblinka extermination camp where he worked as SS-Obersturmführer from 11 July 1942 until his dismissal on 26 August 1942. He was arrested after the end of the war in January 1948. Eberl hanged himself the following month to avoid trial.
Irmfried Eberl was born in Bregenz, Austria on 8 September 1910. He joined the Nazi Party on 8 December 1931 while still a medical student at the University of Innsbruck. Eberl graduated from the medical program in 1933 and gained his doctorate a year later. After February 1935 he served as an assistant physician.[1] Trained and practising as a psychiatrist, he was a firm supporter of the mass murder of people with mental disorders.
Killing of disabled persons
When the T-4 Euthanasia Program commenced, Eberl was a willing participant. On 1 February 1940, at 29 years old, Eberl became the medical director of the killing facility at Brandenburg. In autumn 1941 he assumed the same position at Bernburg Euthanasia Centre.[1][2][3] Despite not being formally ordered to take part, psychiatrists such as Eberl were at the center of each stage of justifying, planning and carrying out the mass murder of those with mental disorders, and constituted the connection to the later annihilation of Jews and other "undesirables" in the Holocaust.[4]
Treblinka death camp
A letter of Irmfried Eberl to the Commissioner of the Warsaw Ghetto Heinz Auerswald dated 19 June 1942 concerning the delivery of materials and equipment for the camp
When public outcry against Action T-4 forced its abandonment in Germany, Eberl found himself out of work. This did not last long, as the Nazi leadership made the decision to use the Action T-4 personnel to murder much larger numbers of people in Poland, using variations of the methods used in the T-4 killings. Eberl was first transferred to Chełmno extermination camp for a brief stint.[5] On 11 July 1942, Eberl was transferred to the command of Treblinka as part of Operation Reinhard. Eberl's poor management of the camp soon proved to be disastrous in the opinion of his colleague Willi Mentz; although historians point out that the number of transports that were coming in also reflected the high command's wildly unrealistic expectations of Treblinka's ability to "process" these prisoners.[6]
He was very ambitious. It was said that he ordered more transports than could be "processed" in the camp. That meant that trains had to wait outside the camp because the occupants of the previous transport had not yet all been killed. At the time it was very hot and as a result of the long wait inside the transport trains in the intense heat many people died. At that time whole mountains of bodies lay on the platform. Then HauptsturmführerChristian Wirth came to Treblinka and kicked up a terrific row. And then one day Dr. Eberl was no longer there...[7]
Dr. Eberl's ambition was to reach the highest possible numbers and exceed all the other camps. So many transports arrived that the disembarkation and gassing of the people could no longer be handled.[8][9]
Eberl was dismissed from Treblinka on 26 August 1942, for incompetence in disposing of the bodies of the thousands of people who had been killed,[10] and was replaced by Franz Stangl, who was previously the commandant of Sobibor extermination camp. Eberl was also relieved of his duty because he was not killing people in an efficient and timely enough manner, and because he was not properly concealing the mass murder from locals.[11] For instance, the stench from decomposition of unburied bodies was such that it could be smelled 10 kilometers (6.2 mi) from the camp, such as at the nearby village of Treblinka, Masovian Voivodeship, which in turn would make it self-evident that unnatural numbers of deaths were happening nearby, causing concern among locals.[11] The Nazi leadership wished to avoid any inconveniences to their operations that would result from local outcries. Eberl was apparently part of a ring at the camp that was stealing the possessions of the people whom they had murdered and sending them back to cohorts at Hitler's Chancellery in Berlin. This last activity had been expressly forbidden by Himmler, as he wanted this property to be contributed to the German war effort.[12]
In 1970, Stangl, then in prison for his own crimes, described Treblinka when he first came to the death camp while it was still under Eberl's command:
I drove there, with an SS driver...We could smell it kilometers away. The road ran alongside the railway tracks. As we got nearer Treblinka but still perhaps fifteen, twenty minutes' drive away, we began to see corpses next to the rails, first just two or three, then more and as we drove into what was Treblinka station, there were hundreds of them – just lying there – they'd obviously been there for days, in the heat. In the station was a train full of Jews, some dead, some still alive – it looked as if it had been there for days. When I entered the camp and got out of the car on the square I stepped knee-deep into money; I didn't know which way to turn, where to go. I waded in notes, currency, precious stones, jewelry, clothes...The smell was indescribable; the hundreds, no, the thousands of bodies everywhere, decomposing, putrefying. Across the square in the woods, just a few hundred yards away on the other side of the barbed-wire fence and all around the perimeter of the camp, there were tents and open fires with groups of Ukrainian guards and girls – whores from Warsaw I found out later – weaving, drunk, dancing, singing, playing music – Dr Eberl, the Kommandant showed me around the camp, there was shooting everywhere...[12]
In 1944 he joined the Wehrmacht for the remainder of the war. After the war ended, Eberl continued to practice medicine in Blaubeuren. He found himself a widower following his second wife's death.
Eberl was arrested in January 1948. He hanged himself in his cell the following month to avoid trial.[3][7][13]
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Irmfried Eberl.
^ abChristian Zentner, Friedemann Bedürftig. The Encyclopedia of the Third Reich, pp. 213-214. Macmillan, New York, 1991. ISBN0-02-897502-2
^ abKlee, Ernst, Dressen, Willi, Riess, Volker The Good Old Days: The Holocaust as Seen by Its Perpetrators and Bystanders, p. 290. ISBN1-56852-133-2.
^ abYitzhak Arad: Belzec, Sobibor, Treblinka: the Operation Reinhard death camps, p. 182. Bloomington: Indiana University Press 1987.
^Strous, Rael D. (2007). "Psychiatry during the Nazi era: Ethical lessons for the modern professional". Annals of General Psychiatry. 6: 8. doi:10.1186/1744-859X-6-8. PMC1828151. PMID 17326822.
^Arad, Yitzhak (1987). Belzec, Sobibor, Treblinka. The Operation Reinhard Death Camps(Google Books). Bloomington, Indianapolis: Indiana University Press. p. 87. ISBN0-253-21305-3.
^ abKlee, Ernst, Dressen, Willi, Riess, Volker The Good Old Days: The Holocaust as Seen by Its Perpetrators and Bystanders, p. 245. ISBN1-56852-133-2.
^Yitzhak Arad. Belzec, Sobibor, Treblinka: the Operation Reinhard death camps. Indiana University Press, Bloomington, 1987, p. 87.
^Somers, Ciaran (2015). "Irmfried Eberl: Psychiatry and the Third Reich". British Journal of Psychiatry. 206 (4): 315. doi:10.1192/bjp.bp.114.148783. S2CID 145551493.
^ abBBC History of World War II. Auschwitz; Inside the Nazi State. Part 3, Factories of Death.
^ abSereny, Gitta, The Healing Wound -- Reflections on Germany 1938-2001, page 117, Norton, 2001 ISBN0-393-04428-9
^The First into the Dark: The Nazi Persecution of the Disabled. UTS ePRESS. 22 October 2019. ISBN9780648124238.
irmfried, eberl, september, 1910, february, 1948, austrian, psychiatrist, medical, director, euthanasia, institutes, brandenburg, bernburg, helped, first, commandant, treblinka, extermination, camp, where, worked, obersturmführer, from, july, 1942, until, dism. Irmfried Eberl 8 September 1910 16 February 1948 was an Austrian psychiatrist and medical director of the euthanasia institutes in Brandenburg and Bernburg who helped set up and was the first commandant of the Treblinka extermination camp where he worked as SS Obersturmfuhrer from 11 July 1942 until his dismissal on 26 August 1942 He was arrested after the end of the war in January 1948 Eberl hanged himself the following month to avoid trial Irmfried EberlBorn 1910 09 08 8 September 1910Bregenz Austria HungaryDied16 February 1948 1948 02 16 aged 37 Ulm GermanyAllegiance Nazi GermanyService wbr branchSchutzstaffelYears of service1931 1945RankObersturmfuhrerUnitSS TotenkopfverbandeCommands heldAction T4 Treblinka 11 July 1942 26 August 1942Other workPsychiatrist Contents 1 Early life 2 Killing of disabled persons 3 Treblinka death camp 4 Apprehension and suicide 5 See also 6 ReferencesEarly life EditIrmfried Eberl was born in Bregenz Austria on 8 September 1910 He joined the Nazi Party on 8 December 1931 while still a medical student at the University of Innsbruck Eberl graduated from the medical program in 1933 and gained his doctorate a year later After February 1935 he served as an assistant physician 1 Trained and practising as a psychiatrist he was a firm supporter of the mass murder of people with mental disorders Killing of disabled persons EditWhen the T 4 Euthanasia Program commenced Eberl was a willing participant On 1 February 1940 at 29 years old Eberl became the medical director of the killing facility at Brandenburg In autumn 1941 he assumed the same position at Bernburg Euthanasia Centre 1 2 3 Despite not being formally ordered to take part psychiatrists such as Eberl were at the center of each stage of justifying planning and carrying out the mass murder of those with mental disorders and constituted the connection to the later annihilation of Jews and other undesirables in the Holocaust 4 Treblinka death camp Edit A letter of Irmfried Eberl to the Commissioner of the Warsaw Ghetto Heinz Auerswald dated 19 June 1942 concerning the delivery of materials and equipment for the camp Main article Treblinka extermination camp When public outcry against Action T 4 forced its abandonment in Germany Eberl found himself out of work This did not last long as the Nazi leadership made the decision to use the Action T 4 personnel to murder much larger numbers of people in Poland using variations of the methods used in the T 4 killings Eberl was first transferred to Chelmno extermination camp for a brief stint 5 On 11 July 1942 Eberl was transferred to the command of Treblinka as part of Operation Reinhard Eberl s poor management of the camp soon proved to be disastrous in the opinion of his colleague Willi Mentz although historians point out that the number of transports that were coming in also reflected the high command s wildly unrealistic expectations of Treblinka s ability to process these prisoners 6 SS Unterscharfuhrer Willi Mentz an SS officer at Treblinka testified of Eberl s leadership He was very ambitious It was said that he ordered more transports than could be processed in the camp That meant that trains had to wait outside the camp because the occupants of the previous transport had not yet all been killed At the time it was very hot and as a result of the long wait inside the transport trains in the intense heat many people died At that time whole mountains of bodies lay on the platform Then Hauptsturmfuhrer Christian Wirth came to Treblinka and kicked up a terrific row And then one day Dr Eberl was no longer there 7 According to SS Unterscharfuhrer Hans Hingst Dr Eberl s ambition was to reach the highest possible numbers and exceed all the other camps So many transports arrived that the disembarkation and gassing of the people could no longer be handled 8 9 Eberl was dismissed from Treblinka on 26 August 1942 for incompetence in disposing of the bodies of the thousands of people who had been killed 10 and was replaced by Franz Stangl who was previously the commandant of Sobibor extermination camp Eberl was also relieved of his duty because he was not killing people in an efficient and timely enough manner and because he was not properly concealing the mass murder from locals 11 For instance the stench from decomposition of unburied bodies was such that it could be smelled 10 kilometers 6 2 mi from the camp such as at the nearby village of Treblinka Masovian Voivodeship which in turn would make it self evident that unnatural numbers of deaths were happening nearby causing concern among locals 11 The Nazi leadership wished to avoid any inconveniences to their operations that would result from local outcries Eberl was apparently part of a ring at the camp that was stealing the possessions of the people whom they had murdered and sending them back to cohorts at Hitler s Chancellery in Berlin This last activity had been expressly forbidden by Himmler as he wanted this property to be contributed to the German war effort 12 In 1970 Stangl then in prison for his own crimes described Treblinka when he first came to the death camp while it was still under Eberl s command I drove there with an SS driver We could smell it kilometers away The road ran alongside the railway tracks As we got nearer Treblinka but still perhaps fifteen twenty minutes drive away we began to see corpses next to the rails first just two or three then more and as we drove into what was Treblinka station there were hundreds of them just lying there they d obviously been there for days in the heat In the station was a train full of Jews some dead some still alive it looked as if it had been there for days When I entered the camp and got out of the car on the square I stepped knee deep into money I didn t know which way to turn where to go I waded in notes currency precious stones jewelry clothes The smell was indescribable the hundreds no the thousands of bodies everywhere decomposing putrefying Across the square in the woods just a few hundred yards away on the other side of the barbed wire fence and all around the perimeter of the camp there were tents and open fires with groups of Ukrainian guards and girls whores from Warsaw I found out later weaving drunk dancing singing playing music Dr Eberl theKommandant showed me around the camp there was shooting everywhere 12 Eberl was sent back to Bernburg Euthanasia Centre for a short spell afterwards 2 Apprehension and suicide EditIn 1944 he joined the Wehrmacht for the remainder of the war After the war ended Eberl continued to practice medicine in Blaubeuren He found himself a widower following his second wife s death Eberl was arrested in January 1948 He hanged himself in his cell the following month to avoid trial 3 7 13 See also EditList of people who died by suicide by hangingReferences Edit Wikimedia Commons has media related to Irmfried Eberl a b Christian Zentner Friedemann Bedurftig The Encyclopedia of the Third Reich pp 213 214 Macmillan New York 1991 ISBN 0 02 897502 2 a b Klee Ernst Dressen Willi Riess Volker The Good Old Days The Holocaust as Seen by Its Perpetrators and Bystanders p 290 ISBN 1 56852 133 2 a b Yitzhak Arad Belzec Sobibor Treblinka the Operation Reinhard death camps p 182 Bloomington Indiana University Press 1987 Strous Rael D 2007 Psychiatry during the Nazi era Ethical lessons for the modern professional Annals of General Psychiatry 6 8 doi 10 1186 1744 859X 6 8 PMC 1828151 PMID 17326822 Treblinka Death Camp with photographs Ounsdale PDF 2 2 MB Arad Yitzhak 1987 Belzec Sobibor Treblinka The Operation Reinhard Death Camps Google Books Bloomington Indianapolis Indiana University Press p 87 ISBN 0 253 21305 3 a b Klee Ernst Dressen Willi Riess Volker The Good Old Days The Holocaust as Seen by Its Perpetrators and Bystanders p 245 ISBN 1 56852 133 2 Saul Friedlander The Years of Extermination Nazi Germany and the Jews 1939 1945 p 432 Yitzhak Arad Belzec Sobibor Treblinka the Operation Reinhard death camps Indiana University Press Bloomington 1987 p 87 Somers Ciaran 2015 Irmfried Eberl Psychiatry and the Third Reich British Journal of Psychiatry 206 4 315 doi 10 1192 bjp bp 114 148783 S2CID 145551493 a b BBC History of World War II Auschwitz Inside the Nazi State Part 3 Factories of Death a b Sereny Gitta The Healing Wound Reflections on Germany 1938 2001 page 117 Norton 2001 ISBN 0 393 04428 9 The First into the Dark The Nazi Persecution of the Disabled UTS ePRESS 22 October 2019 ISBN 9780648124238 Military officesPreceded byNone Commandant of Treblinka extermination camp11 July 1942 26 August 1942 Succeeded bySS Obersturmfuhrer Franz Stangl Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Irmfried Eberl amp oldid 1136455937, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
