Bothmann, Hans - Commander of Kulmhof Extermination Camp

Introduction to Hans Bothmann

In March 1942, Hans Bothmann assumed the role of commander at the Kulmhof extermination camp, succeeding Herbert Lange in this position.

Post Status

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Facts Sheet

Name: Hans Bothmann
Birth: 11.11.1911 in Lohe (Schleswig-Holstein)
Death: 4 April 1946 in Heide
Function: Commander of Sonderkommando Kulmhof (1942 – 1944)
Agency: Stapo Posen
Rank: SS-U’Stuf (04.03.1939), SS-O’Stuf. (01.11.40), SS-H’stuf. (01.09.1942)
Memberships: NSDAP (01.03.1935 #3601334), SS (01.06.1933 #117630)
Awards: KVK II. Kl. m. Schw. (43), KVK I. Kl. m.Schw. (44)
Education: Secondary school
Profession: Criminal police officer
Family: married, 2 children

Hans Bothmann ca. 1938 (BArch R 9361-III/19127)

Quotes

“Lange and Bothmann were generally calm and deliberate – except when they had been drinking.”

Fritz IsmerLAS, Abt. 352.3, Nr. 16507

“I witnessed Plate, Lenz, and Bothmann killing members of the Jewish work details multiple times with a pistol shot to the neck when they were no longer able to work.”

Fritz IsmerLAS, Abt. 352.3, Nr. 16507

“When Bothmann announced to [Ernst] Burmeister that he would be liquidated upon the completion of the command, he probably joked about it. Bothmann had a way of saying things with a poker face, where one couldn’t tell if they were serious or in jest.”

Walter BurmeisterLAS, Abt. 352.3, Nr. 16510

“Bothmann knew only brutality.”

Alois HäfeleHS-NRW, Rep.295 Nr. 251

“These selections and shootings were carried out regularly in the evenings. I witnessed that besides Lenz, Plate and Bothmann also participated in the shootings.”

Josef IslingerLAS, Abt. 352.3, Nr.16490

“He was a Schleswig-Holsteiner from the marshes, very tall and broad-shouldered. He enjoyed eating well and was therefore very interested in my kitchen. He also liked to drink. He could handle a lot without it showing immediately outwardly. The first three days he was in the camp, he almost only drank and celebrated.”

Walter BurmeisterBArch B162/3248

“I once complained to Bothmann about a police officer named Strohmeier who had unjustly struck one of the Jews with an iron bar. However, the result was only that Bothmann thereafter harassed me at every opportunity.”

Fritz IsmerLAS, Abt. 352.3, Nr. 16507

“Lange’s successor Bothmann was unpredictable, sometimes like this and sometimes like that. One couldn’t make sense of him.”

Alois HäfeleHS-NRW, Rep.295 Nr. 251

“I myself once saw Sturmbannführer Bootmann [Bothmann] kill 5-8 people with a gunshot to the head. They had to lie down beforehand.”

Friedrich RaudzusBArch B 162/3252

“Bothmann had nothing to say at all.”

Ottomar Roese (on Kulmhof police commando)LAS, Abt. 352.3, Nr. 15492

“I approached Bothmann and requested my transfer back to Litzmannstadt, as I attributed my illness to the severe mental stress I was subjected to in Kulmhof. Bothmann refused to lift the assignment, stating that I was a bearer of secret…”

Erwin SchmidtLAS, Abt. 352.3, Nr. 16509

“I seem to remember that one day Bothmann instructed all of us to get a leather whip. These were made by the Jewish shoemaker detachment.”

Wilhelm SchulteHS-NRW, Rep.195 Nr. 263

“Another encounter between me and the Sonderkommando occurred on November 9, 1942. I remember this date particularly because it was somewhat of a mourning day in the Nazi regime, and it was certainly unpleasantly noticeable that the Sonderkommando leader, Bothmann, had gotten drunk in a tavern in Warthbrücken and then behaved inappropriately.”

Richard SchützeLAS, Abt. 352.3, Nr. 16509

Curriculum Vitae

Hans Bothmann, born on November 11, 1911, in Lohe, was the son of Hermann Bothmann (born November 26, 1879), a farmer, and Wilhelmina Stahmer (born June 5, 1886). His parents married on May 19, 1911 in Osthostein. He was one of five siblings. On July 9, 1938, he married Edith Steinecker and they had two children, born in 1940 and 1942 respectively. Bothmann received his elementary education in Lohe from the age of 6 to 14, and later attended Aufbauschule (Secondary school) in Bad Segeberg from 1926 to 1930.

Between May 7, 1934, and September 1, 1934, he served in Reichsarbeitsdienst (Reich Labour Service). Following this, from September 1, 1934, to November 30, 1935, Bothmann was a member of the Leibstandarte SS “Adolf Hitler”. Subsequently, from November 11, 1935, to August 1, 1937, he worked as a Kriminalangestellter (criminal employee) at Geheime Staatspolizeiamt in Berlin. Transitioning roles, he became a Kriminalkommissar Anwärter (criminal commissioner candidate) attached to Stapo Berlin from August 1, 1937. By 1940, he had risen to the rank of Kriminalkommissar within Stapo Leipzig (head of Abteilung II). By late 1941 or early 1942, he was serving in the same capacity at Stapo Posen.

In March 1942, Bothmann assumed the role of commander at the Kulmhof extermination camp, succeeding Herbert Lange in this position.

On April 4, 1946, Bothmann committed suicide in British custody.¹

Documents

Letter Bothmann of 16 May 1941 (Demant, Gestapo Leipzig, p. 137)

Letter Bothmann of 30 August 1941 (Demant, Gestapo Leipzig, p. 133)

Marriage certificate of Hans Bothmann’s parents (Wärter: Evangelisch-Lutherische Kirche Luebeck; Filmnummer: 362839; Seitennummer: 161;162)

Footnotes

Memo of Georg Pieh (Zentrale Stelle Ludwigsburg) of 6 November 1959: “According to a communication from the LKPA Kiel dated October 22, 1959, Hans Bothmann committed suicide by hanging in British custody on April 4, 1946, in Heideholstein.” (BArch B162/3243, p. 87) ↩︎