From Ordinary German to Mass Murderer
Johann Niemann joined the Nazi Party at age 18. He was not only a true believer in Nazi racist ideology, but also an opportunist seeking to rise above his humble origins. Niemann demonstrated his loyalty by becoming a guard at a concentration camp, participating in the systematic murder of people with disabilities at “euthanasia” facilities, and then facilitating the mass slaughter of tens of thousands of Polish Jews. For this, he was rewarded with a promotion to deputy commandant of the Sobibor killing center when he was just 29.
Niemann was so proud of his “glory days” that he documented his career in private photo albums, which are now part of the Museum’s collection. Join us on the anniversary of the prisoner uprising at Sobibor to learn how an “ordinary German” so quickly became a professional killer and died at the hands of those he sought to obliterate.
In this digital program, Anatol Steck, project director of International Archival Programs at the Museum, discusses these new items in the collection and what we can learn from them with Museum Historian Edna Friedberg.
