Erich Zoddel (1913 - 1945)

Born 9 Aug 1913 in Berlin, Brandenburg, Preußen, Deutsches Reich

Died 30 Nov 1945 at age 32 in Wolfenbüttel, Niedersachsen, Deutschland

Biography

Erich Zoddel has roots in the region now known as Berlin, Germany.

Erich Zoddel is Notable.

Erich Zoddel was a prisoner functionary at the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp. In 1941, Zoddel was sentenced to a year in prison for theft before being transferred to Sachsenhausen concentration camp in 1942. He worked as a forced laborer in the Heinkel factory in Oranienburg until October 1943. In November 1943, after a brief stay at Buchenwald concentration camp, he was taken to Mittelbau-Dora concentration camp. On 27 March 1944, Zoddel and 1,000 other prisoners from Mittelbau-Dora arrived at Bergen-Belsen. By January 1945, Zoddel had risen in the ranks to a camp division. Two days after the liberation of Bergen-Belsen by the British army on 15 April 1945, Zoddel killed a female detainee, a crime for which he was sentenced to death by a British military court in Celle on 31 August 1945. On 17 November 1945, Zoddel was sentenced to life imprisonment in a second trial for his actions at Bergen-Belsen. His execution was carried out later that month in Wolfenbüttel by guillotine.

Research Notes

• I was in the process of changing the category names for the Concentration Camp Personnel (as discussed on G2G/Germany Project/Holocaust Project).... and I came across this profile with the category for Camp Personnel. The category is intended for people employed by the German military/government, not prisoners, so I removed that category. I kept the Executed cat though I'm not fond of it. I removed the category World War II War Criminals. (the murder occurred after Belsen was liberated, and I think that cat is for war crimes, not prisoner violence) I added the Prisoners cats for the various camps he was at.Weatherall-96 00:45, 16 May 2024 (UTC)
• I put the WWII Criminal category back the way it was.... he was a defendant at the Belsen trial. Strange. I thought only government/military people were tried.Weatherall-96 00:58, 16 May 2024 (UTC)

Sources

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erich_Zoddel
• "Trial of Josef Kramer and Forty-Four Others"

(The Belsen Trial) https://web.archive.org/web/20131005030143/http://www.mazal.org/OtherTrials/BelsenTrial/C001.htm

• • testimony by Zoddel 25 Oct 1945
  • testimony by Zoddel 26 Oct 1945