Camp Commandant Josef Kramer known as the "Beast of Belsen" paraded in irons before being sent to a POW camp to await trial. Belsen, April 1945

Camp Commandant Josef Kramer known as the "Beast of Belsen" paraded in irons before being sent to a POW camp to await trial. Belsen, April 1945

Josef Kramer (10 November 1906 – 13 December 1945) was a Hauptsturmführer and the Commandant of Auschwitz-Birkenau (from 8 May 1944 to 25 November 1944) and of the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp (from December 1944 to its liberation on 15 April 1945). Dubbed The Beast of Belsen by camp inmates, he was a German Nazi war criminal, directly responsible for the deaths of thousands of people. He was detained by the British Army after the Second World War, convicted of war crimes, and hanged on the gallows in the prison at Hamelin by British executioner Albert Pierrepoint.

He joined the Nazi Party in 1931 and the SS in 1932. His SS training led him into work as a prison guard and, after the outbreak of war, as a concentration camp guard.

In 1934, Kramer was assigned as a guard at Dachau. His promotion was rapid, obtaining senior posts at Sachsenhausen and Mauthausen concentration camps. Kramer became assistant to Rudolf Höss, the Commandant at Auschwitz in 1940. He accompanied Höss to inspect Auschwitz as a possible site for a new synthetic oil and rubber plant, which was a vital industry for Nazi Germany, given its shortage of oil

Kramer was imprisoned at the prison in Hamelin. Along with 44 other camp staff, Kramer was tried in the Belsen Trial by a British military court at Lüneburg. The trial lasted several weeks from September to November 1945. During the trial Anita Lasker testified that Kramer had taken part in selections for the gas chamber at Auschwitz.^[7]

Kramer was sentenced to death on 17 November 1945, for crimes both at Auschwitz and at Bergen-Belsen, and was hanged at Hamelin Prison by Albert Pierrepoint on 13 December 1945, aged 39.

Soldier on the left with rifle 5 years later in some pub back in Blighty: "Oye! There I was lads; the Beast o' Belsen 'imself, right at the end of me rifle! 'Go ahead', I says; 'Make a move -it'll be your last, Gerry'. Roight then and there, e' pissed himself!"

Kramer was probably thrilled it was the British. No one wanted to get caught by the Russians, they took no prisoners (not literally, but they were not very nice and didn't follow the rules as well as Brits or U.S.- with good reason)

He was detained by the British army after the Second World War, convicted of war crimes and hanged on the gallows in Hamelin prison

Don't validate his sick racial beliefs by using that framing. Call him what he really was, a criminal mass murder that committed crimes against humanity. He got legal justice, but what he deserved was not able to be administered by man.

Also, he chose to be a horrible sickening excuse of a man, don't pretend it's just the way he was born and couldn't help it. Hold men like these responsible for their actions

According to Wikipedia it is possible the original origin was used as an opposite to Nietsches Übermensch

It is possible that Stoddard constructed his "under man" as an opposite to Friedrich Nietzsche's Übermensch (superman) concept. Stoddard doesn't say so explicitly, but he refers critically to the "superman" idea at the end of his book (p. 262).

So your point is kinda valid.

Let me change my original point to ...was used and rhetorically charged by the Nazis and eugenicist as a term to vilify and lessen people. I would still be careful in what context the term Untermensch is used.

I believe they were relatively popular among the British and Commonwealth officers more so than the Americans. This would be because American officers often carried an SMG, carbine or even a rifle where as Commonwealth officers were still, generally, only carrying side arms.

The idea behind officers only carrying personal defence weapons comes from the theory that an officer without an effective offense weapon is more likely to focus on directing his NCOs and men rather than getting 'stuck in'. Because American officers often carried two weapons, keeping a hold of their side arms wasn't as big of a deal so there was less of a need for pistol lanyards.

Having said all that, Commonwealth officers for sure did carry SMGs and rifles at times, but it was far far less common. I'm also not entirely sure the man in the picture is an officer, British military police back then often only carried sidearms and many British regiments standard 'non helmet' headgear were 'officer style' caps. Officers caps usually, but not always were slightly different to the one pictured here.

then put him in handcuffs and that's why I said keep distance. If you keep him like 10 feet away from anyone and he has shackles on, even if he had a shank it would take him quite a bit of time to shuffle over to someone and shank them. He would likely get the sh*t kicked out of him for trying that something so stupid by any average military personnel.

Also again like I've said keep distance, if he's kept a distance away from everyone and everything then how the hell would he get a gun?

Having the guns drawn like that could for many reasons, 1: to discourage him or any one else from trying to attempt an escape to ensure he makes it to trial, 2: to kill him if a escape attempt was made, 3: to humiliate the prisoner, 4: to instill confidence in others that the prisoner was under armed guard, 5: photo op, and the list could go on. There are many reasons to have the "Beast of Belsen" under armed guard with weapons drawn when transporting him out side of a cell, even if he wasn't some martial. He was responsible for thousands of deaths after all.

It's important to remember that the war was just over, and many Nazis had a fanatical devotion to the cause. It's possible that among the other reasons people have noted (such as propaganda or humiliating the prisoner) the armed guards may have been concerned that Nazi rebels might try to engineer an escape.

Also, these folk are soldiers, they are still likely in a mindset that having your gun close at hand can be the difference between life and death. Faced with someone who'd done the things he did, they may have simply felt safer with guns drawn and at the ready, rational or not.

Some things many folks don't seem to be aware of. Many, many of these 'upper echelon' camp leaders would rather commit suicide than be put on trial. Prior to that, many guards and camp leaders had ditched their uniforms and tried to pass themselves off as prisoners. As with all bullies, when they had power they were vicious, when they were caught, they were cowards.

Also, just an fyi from what I have learned, even the big shots who were convicted, MANY of them, more than I ever realized, got long sentences that ended up being not so long as the world tried to put this horridness behind it. They were released in the 1950's, some of them. And that doesn't count the ones who were never caught, never tried, or never convicted and went on to live full lives, thinking what they did was just fine and dandy 'til the day they died.

Their offspring seem to suffer a lot of guilt though. Some good books on that subject are available also.

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