English source-aligned edition
Fritz Knöchlein
Fritz Knöchlein served as company commander in the 2nd SS-Totenkopf Infantry Regiment. The profile reconstructs the person’s function in Le Paradis · northern France through documented office, decisions, supervision or operational conduct. It does not assign every crime committed by an institution or region to one individual.
Confirmed findings
- Fritz Knöchlein was born in Munich on 27 May 1911; an SS-officer-file-based study and an independent Hamelin execution register agree on the date. (Source: Hans-Christian Harten, Weltanschauliche Schulung der SS und der Polizei im Nationalsozialismus (peDOCS, 2017), printed p. 243, Knöchlein entry based on the SS officer file.; Source: Bernhard Gelderblom, Hamelin prison execution register, ‘Die Hingerichteten in alphabetischer Reihenfolge’, line 192, Knöchlein entry and case ID 1862.)
- As an SS-Hauptsturmführer he commanded a company of the 2nd SS-Totenkopf Infantry Regiment. According to the Neuengamme Memorial, he ordered the shooting of surrendered British prisoners near Le Paradis on 27 May 1940. Ninety-seven were killed and two survived. (Source: KZ-Gedenkstätte Neuengamme, Die Hamburger Curiohaus-Prozesse, exhibition panel 39 (2017), PDF p. 1 / printed p. 39, lines 0–24 and 31–49.)
- The survivors, Albert Pooley and William O’Callaghan, helped the postwar investigation identify Knöchlein. (Source: KZ-Gedenkstätte Neuengamme, Die Hamburger Curiohaus-Prozesse, exhibition panel 39 (2017), PDF p. 1 / printed p. 39, lines 0–24 and 31–49.)
Place in the chain of responsibility
This profile concerns a specific order against prisoners of war and the subsequent court judgment, not every crime committed by the Totenkopf Division. (Source: KZ-Gedenkstätte Neuengamme, Die Hamburger Curiohaus-Prozesse, exhibition panel 39 (2017), PDF p. 1 / printed p. 39, lines 0–24 and 31–49.; Source: The National Archives (UK), War Office/Judge Advocate General catalogue, WO 235/572A, ‘War crimes, Fritz Knoechlein, barn and entrance in field, Le Paradis case’ (Hamburg, 1948).)
Key events and mechanisms
- 27 May 1911 – born in Munich (Source: Hans-Christian Harten, Weltanschauliche Schulung der SS und der Polizei im Nationalsozialismus (peDOCS, 2017), printed p. 243, Knöchlein entry based on the SS officer file.; Source: Bernhard Gelderblom, Hamelin prison execution register, ‘Die Hingerichteten in alphabetischer Reihenfolge’, line 192, Knöchlein entry and case ID 1862.)
- 27 May 1940 – as company commander ordered the shooting of surrendered prisoners at Le Paradis; 97 were killed, two survived (Source: KZ-Gedenkstätte Neuengamme, Die Hamburger Curiohaus-Prozesse, exhibition panel 39 (2017), PDF p. 1 / printed p. 39, lines 0–24 and 31–49.)
- 28 August–25 October 1948 – British military trial in Hamburg and death sentence (Source: KZ-Gedenkstätte Neuengamme, Die Hamburger Curiohaus-Prozesse, exhibition panel 39 (2017), PDF p. 1 / printed p. 39, lines 0–24 and 31–49.; Source: The National Archives (UK), War Office/Judge Advocate General catalogue, WO 235/572A, ‘War crimes, Fritz Knoechlein, barn and entrance in field, Le Paradis case’ (Hamburg, 1948).)
- 21 January 1949 – executed at Hamelin (Source: Bernhard Gelderblom, Hamelin prison execution register, ‘Die Hingerichteten in alphabetischer Reihenfolge’, line 192, Knöchlein entry and case ID 1862.; Source: KZ-Gedenkstätte Neuengamme, Die Hamburger Curiohaus-Prozesse, exhibition panel 39 (2017), PDF p. 1 / printed p. 39, lines 0–24 and 31–49.)
The circle records authority, function and agency. Several profiles may describe different parts of the same persecution chain, so profile-level totals must not be added together.
Postwar accountability
A British military court tried Knöchlein in Hamburg from 28 August to 25 October 1948 for the murder of surrendered prisoners at Le Paradis. He received a death sentence, carried out at Hamelin prison on 21 January 1949. (Source: Bernhard Gelderblom, Hamelin prison execution register, ‘Die Hingerichteten in alphabetischer Reihenfolge’, line 192, Knöchlein entry and case ID 1862.; Source: KZ-Gedenkstätte Neuengamme, Die Hamburger Curiohaus-Prozesse, exhibition panel 39 (2017), PDF p. 1 / printed p. 39, lines 0–24 and 31–49.; Source: The National Archives (UK), War Office/Judge Advocate General catalogue, WO 235/572A, ‘War crimes, Fritz Knoechlein, barn and entrance in field, Le Paradis case’ (Hamburg, 1948).)
Limits of the evidence
The 97 victims are those killed in this massacre, not a lifetime total attributed to Knöchlein. UK National Archives record WO 235/572A identifies the case, but a catalogue entry is not the trial transcript. No portrait is used without confirmed reuse rights. (Source: KZ-Gedenkstätte Neuengamme, Die Hamburger Curiohaus-Prozesse, exhibition panel 39 (2017), PDF p. 1 / printed p. 39, lines 0–24 and 31–49.; Source: The National Archives (UK), War Office/Judge Advocate General catalogue, WO 235/572A, ‘War crimes, Fritz Knoechlein, barn and entrance in field, Le Paradis case’ (Hamburg, 1948).)
Sources
The source set combines institutional, archival, trial or scholarly material from at least two independent publishers.