Who was Franz Ziereis?
Who was Franz Ziereis?
Franz Ziereis was the commandant of the Mauthausen concentration camp. Ziereis was born August 13, 1905, in Munich.
When did Ziereis join the SS?
Ziereis joined Germany’s Reichswehr (army) on 1 April 1924, for a period of 12 years. He was discharged with the rank of sergeant in 1936 and joined the SS on September 30 of the same year. He attained the rank of SS-Obersturmführer and was assigned as a training instructor to the SS-Totenkopfverbände.
Did Ziereis die at Mauthausen?
The photo, which shows the dead body of Franz Ziereis, Commandant of Mauthausen, confirms the eye witness testimony of an American soldier who was there when Ziereis died. The photo appears to have been taken at the main Mauthausen camp and it shows the scene the way the eye-witness described it.
How did George Ziereis die?
After May 3, 1945, Ziereis fled together with his wife, but was discovered by American soldiers at his hunting lodge on the Phyrn mountain in Upper Austria on May 23. He tried to escape but was shot and seriously wounded. After his capture he was brought to a U.S. hospital in Gusen, where he died.
