Hans Aumeier - Life Before The War

Life Before The War

One of the most important men at Auschwitz being deputy to the commandant, he was different from other SS officers; he was uneducated and almost illiterate. Aumeier was born on August 20, 1906 in the small town of Amberg, Germany, where he attended elementary school for four years and then secondary school for just three years. In 1918 he left school without any qualifications to take up an apprenticeship as a turner and fitter in a local rifle factory, following his father’s career. In 1923 he left the small factory in Amberg and began work for a bigger company in Munich. In 1925 he tried to join the Reichswehr but failed and returned to the rifle factory in Munich, but he couldn’t settle down and after taking up similar positions in other factories in Berlin, Bremen and Cologne he became unemployed. Throughout the period 1926-1929, Aumeier moved from one job to another, and was in and out of employment, taking part-time work and summer jobs in order to survive. He was an early member of the Nazi Party, joining in December 1929, and in 1931 he joined the SA and was soon employed as a driver at the SA headquarters in Berlin. Later in December 1931 he was transferred to the SS where he worked in the garage as a driver, and was on the staff of Reichsführer-SS Heinrich Himmler. He had now found a job he liked and the discipline of the SA and SS suited Aumeier well, he felt he belonged, although he wanted to be a soldier.