Karl Fritzsch

Karl Fritzsch was a German SS official who served as deputy and acting commandant at the Auschwitz concentration camp from 1940 to 1941. He is best known as the official responsible for the death of priest Maximilian Kolbe and, according to Rudolf Höss, first suggesting using poisonous gas Zyklon B and experimenting with gas chambers for the purpose of mass murder at Auschwitz. Fritzsch served at a number of Nazi concentration camps until 1944 when he was implicated in a corruption scandal and dismissed from his positions. Fritzsch was sent to front line duty and is believed to have died at the Battle of Berlin on 2 May 1945, but this is unconfirmed, and his fate is unknown.