Gottfried Weise

Ewald Franz Gottfried Weise (11 March 1921 – 1 March 2000) was a German SS-Unterscharführer and guard at the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp. During a relatively short period at Auschwitzfrom the end of May 1944 until the end of January 1945Weise gained a reputation as an exceptionally cruel guard. According to eyewitnesses, he preferred to use young boys as targets for shooting practice, earning him the nickname "William Tell" among the prisoners. Most inmates referred to him by the nickname "Ślepy" (the Blind), as Weise had a glass eye. After the war, Weise managed to evade punishment due to false testimonies. He was identified again in the 1980s, and a new trial from 1986 to 1988 resulted in a life sentence. However, he was later released on health grounds in 1997.

Early life

Gottfried Weise grew up in middle-class circumstances. His father worked as a builder. After completing elementary school, he began an apprenticeship as a mason in 1935. He successfully completed the apprenticeship after four years in April 1939. Alongside his apprenticeship, he attended trade and public commercial school from 1935 to 1938, followed by a construction school. However, his plans to become a construction technician were cut short when he was called up for military service in September 1940.

Life during the war

In November 1937, at the age of 16, he joined the Hitler Youth as a squadron candidate for the Schutzstaffel (SS). In 1940, he voluntarily enlisted in the Waffen-SS. During the Operation Barbarossa, the invasion of the Soviet Union by Nazi Germany, he suffered severe injuries and lost an eye in September 1941.

Auschwitz

In May 1944, Gottfried Weise was assigned to the Auschwitz concentration camp as the head of a department. His responsibilities included supervising male and female sorting squads in the Kanada warehouses and managing the administration of prisoner property and personal effects storage. He developed a notorious reputation among the prisoners due to his unpredictable and violent behavior as an SS warden, earning him the nickname "William Tell of Auschwitz."

In June and July 1944, he fatally shot a prisoner in the head for failing to report for duty immediately after a short break. He also shot two other prisoners who were hiding in a railway car filled with clothes. Additionally, he targeted a girl, approximately 17 or 18 years old, shooting at tin cans on her head multiple times before delivering a fatal shot to her head. Although other allegations were made against Gottfried Weise, their veracity could not be confirmed with certainty.

In the late summer of 1944, Weiss was stationed in sector B II g of Auschwitz during daylight hours. He was armed with a service pistol, which he carried at his hip. On this particular day, a train transport arrived at Birkenau with deportees. In the sweltering afternoon heat, the people – men, women, and children – were led from the so-called new ramp along a pathway to the west, then north through section B II g towards crematoria IV and V. An unknown boy, approximately 6 to 10 years old, managed to move away from the other deportees. He ran from the main street of the camp to the actual camp area, where he encountered Weiss in the middle of either the southern and central row or the central and northern row of barracks, along the east-west camp road. Witnesses later testified, how Weiss had seen and heard the boy crying and pleading for water. Weiss then forced the boy to balance three empty tin cans on his head and shoulders. He gestured and directed the child not to wiggle so much and to stand facing backward. The child stood still in shock and endured the shots without moving. Weiss succeeded in shooting all three cans. He then instructed the boy to cross his arms, clap, and dance with him, to celebrate his successful shooting. Despite an indescribable sense of fear, the child obeyed the commands. Eventually, Weiss lost interest in playing with the boy, who began to cry again. Weiss then pointed his pistol at the child, who stood only a few meters away from him. He aimed and shot the boy in the face, causing the boy to immediately fall to the ground. Weiss approached the boy and stepped on his open palm. Once he was convinced of the child's death, he directed two prisoners to take the body to the crematoria.

Linda Breder's daughter, Dasha Grafil, described during the trial her confusion at how wealthy and influential Weise appeared to be, despite his horrific actions. During the trial, Weise refused to answer any questions and maintained his complete innocence. On 4 April 1997, prompted by the then North Rhine-Westphalian Minister of the Interior, Franz-Josef Kniola, he was released from prison for health reasons.