Otto Harder

Career in the Nazi Party Following his football career, Harder ran an insurance agency, and in October 1932, he became a member of the NSDAP, before joining the SS in May 1933. In August 1939, he was drafted into the Waffen-SS, and served shortly at Sachsenhausen concentration camp, then at Neuengamme in Hamburg by the end of that year. On 30 November 1944, Harder became an SS-Hauptscharführer and a commander (Schutzhaftlagerführer) at the Ahlem camp in Hanover. On 30 January 1945, he was promoted to SS-Untersturmführer (equivalent second lieutenant). He also served as a camp commander in Uelzen, a subcamp of Neuengamme, which was evacuated under his leadership on 16–17 April due to British attacks, in which prisoners were transferred to the main camp. In May 1945, he was captured by the British military and was taken to Iserbrook. Due to health issues, he was initially released, but was arrested again. where he worked as an insurance agent until his death on 4 March 1956 in Hamburg.

The Resistance Man and the Football Hero In his 2023 book, The Resistance Man and the Football Hero by Frank Krake, the author contrasts the life of SS camp commandant Harder who "created a living hell" (according to Henry Kissinger, one of the US 84th Division which liberated the Ahlem concentration camp), with the life of Gerhard Nijland, a Dutch resistance hero who became a prisoner in Harder's camp. According to The Times, Nijland was captured after his resistance cell raided the De Nederlandsche Bank which was run by a Dutch Nazi and collaborator. (The raid had been approved by the Dutch Government in exile). Sent to Harder's camp at Ahlem, Nijland was a forced labourer alongside Jewish slave workers. Nijland died in April 1945 five days after being liberated by the Americans, and was buried in an unmarked grave.

Death Harder died in a hospital in Hamburg after surgery in 1956.

Despite being the height he was in 1918 (1.90m) Harder was quick on his heels, out-pacing defenders and leaving him through on goal, scoring regularly. In 1918, he ran 100m in just over 11 seconds.

Career statistics

Club + Appearances and goals by club, season, and competition.

International Scores and results list Germany's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Harder goal.

Honours Eintracht Braunschweig Duchy/Free State of Brunswick championship: 1909–10, 1910–11, 1911–12, 1912–13 Northern German championship: 1912–13

Hamburger SV Hamburg Championship: 1918–19, 1922–23, 1923–24, 1924–25, 1925–26, 1926–27, 1927–28, 1929–30, 1930–31 Northern German champions: 1921, 1922, 1923, 1924, 1925, 1928, 1929, 1931. German champion: 1922, 1923, 1928 North German Cup: 1926