World War II Database

Contributor: C. Peter Chen

ww2dbaseMartin Gottfried Weiss was born in Weiden in der Oberpfalz in southern Germany in 1905. His father worked for the Royal Bavarian State Railways. In 1924, he completed his education at a mechanical engineering school in nearby town of Landshut. After some time working as an intern at an ironworks, he became an employee of the electric company of the Upper Palatine region. He joined the Nazi party in the summer of 1926, and shortly after played a leading role in the establishment of the SA and Hitler Youth branches in his home town, Weiden. In the late 1920s, he studied electrical engineering in Bad Frankenhausen in central Germany, graduating in 1930. Between 1930 and Apr 1932, he was an assistant at his alma mater. Later that year, he moved back to Weiden and joined the SS. Between Apr and Nov 1933, he served as a guard at the Dachau Concentration Camp in Germany. Between Nov 1933 and Feb 1938, he served as an engineer at Dachau. In Mar 1938, he was made the adjutant to Commandant Hans Loritz. He was married in 1934; he would later have two children. In Apr 1940, he was named the supervisor for the contruction of a new concentration camp in Hamburg, Germany; it would become Neuengamme Concentration Camp, and he would be made its first commandant. Between Apr and Jul 1942, he was the commandant of Arbeitsdorf Concentration Camp in Wolfsburg, Germany. Between Sep 1942 and Oct 1943, he was the commandant of Dachau. Between Nov 1943 and Oct 1944, he was the commandant of Majdanek Concentration Camp in occupied Poland. In Nov 1944, he was assigned to oversee the Mühldorf subcamp of Dachau. He fled from Dachau on 28 or 29 Apr 1945, but was captured in München (Munich), Germany very shortly after. He was tried at the Dachau Trials. Found guilty, he was executed by hanging at the Landsberg in Landsberg am Lech, Germany in May 1946.

Martin Gottfried Weiss Interactive Map

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Martin Gottfried Weiss Timeline