Josef Klehr

After the war Upon the evacuation of Auschwitz, Klehr guarded prisoners being transported to Gross-Rosen concentration camp, after which he was taken under command by an SS combat unit. In early May 1945, he was taken prisoner in Austria by U.S. soldiers. Klehr spent nearly three years in an internment camp. He was released from custody in April 1948. Klehr returned to his family in Braunschweig and resumed work as a cabinet maker. In April 1960 the Frankfurt prosecutor's office issued an arrest warrant which was executed in September after Klehr's whereabouts were determined.

While in prison, Klehr was interviewed by journalist and film-maker Ebbo Demant. When Demant brought up Holocaust denial, Klehr said:

After over 27 years in prison, on 25 January 1988, Klehr's sentence was suspended due to unfitness for custody (Vollzugsuntauglichkeit). On 10 June, he was ordered to serve the remainder on probation. In total, he had spent over 30 years in custody. After seven months of freedom, he died at age 83.

Literature Demant, Ebbo (Hg.): Auschwitz — "Direkt von der Rampe weg…" Kaduk, Erber, Klehr: Drei Täter geben zu Protokoll: Hamburg: Rowohlt, 1979; Ernst Klee: Das Personenlexikon zum Dritten Reich: Wer war was vor und nach 1945. Fischer-Taschenbuch-Verlag, Frankfurt am Main 2005; Hermann Langbein: Menschen in Auschwitz. Frankfurt am Main, Berlin Wien, Ullstein-Verlag, 1980. Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum: Auschwitz in den Augen der SS. Oswiecim 1998.