Glucks

The second inspector of the concentration camps was SS General Glucks. Glucks came from Dusseldorf and had lived in Argentina for several years before World War I. When the war broke out, he smuggled himself aboard a Norwegian ship through British control points and reported for duty in the armed forces. He was an artillery officer for the entire war. After the war he was liaison officer with the Armistice Commission. He later became a member of the Free Corps in the Ruhr area. He was a clerk for a business when Hitler took power in 1933.

Glucks joined the Nazi Party and the SS in the early days. For several years he was chief of staff Group West of the SS, then he led a battalion of regular SS in Schneidemiihl. In 1936 he joined Viecke as chief of staff of concentration camp inspectors. Glucks was the typical bureaucrat and had no sense for practical things. He believed he could direct everything from his desk. He was hardly noticeable as far as the concentration camps when Viecke was chief Even though he accompanied Viecke now and again to various camps, he really never noticed anything and he never learned what to look for. Since he was only chief of staff he didn’t have much influence with Eicke because Eicke took care of almost everything with the Kommandants during his inspections. But Eicke held him in high esteem, and as far as personnel matters were concerned, Gliicks made all the decisions, much to the disappointment of the staffs of the Kommandants. Several of the Kommandants tried to prevent Glucks from having all that influence, but his position with Eicke was unshakable.

As I mentioned earlier, when the war broke out the active guard soldiers were transferred to the front lines and were replaced with reservists from the General SS. New units of the Death’s Head Division were formed from the younger age groups of the SS. At first they were supposed to be supplements to the police and also the occupation troops. Eicke became inspector general of the Death’s Head units and the concentration camps while Glucks was his chief of staff When Eicke was given the job of organizing the Death’s Head Division, the post of inspector general was taken over by the Command Bureau of the Waffen SS, so Glucks became inspector of concentration camps. He was subordinate to the Main Command Bureau of the SS, which later became Operations Main Office. In 1941 the Inspectorate of the Bureau of Concentration Camps became Administration Group 2 in the Army Administration Main Office.

Himmler never reaUy trusted Glucks and quite a few times had intended to use him in another position. But Eicke and Pohl always spoke up for him, and this is how he remained inspector of the camps.

After GlUcks became inspector nothing at all changed in the camps. Glucks believed that anything that Eicke had ordered could not be changed, even if it was completely out of date. He didn’t want to rock the boat, but more so he didn’t want to ask HimmJer to change anything. He also thought that his position as inspector was only temporary. He did not think he was authorized to make even the smallest change about the concentration camps without Himmler’s permission. Ail requests for changes from the Kommandants to Glucks were denied without his even considering them, or if they were sent in writing, they were answered as evasively as possible. During the entire time he held office he had a pathological fear of Himmler. If Himmler called him, Glucks became confused; and if he had to see Himmler in person, he was no use to anyone for days before the meeting.

When Himmler demanded reports and position papers he fell completely apart. This was very surprising because normally nothing could disturb his even-tempered nature. Therefore, he avoided everything that could possibly lead to a meeting with Himmler, or, worse, possibly lead to a rejection or even a reprimand from Himmler.

He didn’t take the things which occurred in the camps seriously, as long as they didn’t have to be reported to Himmler. Prisoner escapes upset him and gave him sleepless nights because they had to be reported to Himmler. Ever>' morning the first question was, “How many took off?” Auschwitz along with others caused him the most worries. This constant fear of Himmler naturally influenced his whole attitude about concentration camps. So it became, “Do what you want. Just don’t let Himmler find out.” When he became subordinate to Pohl, he breathed more freely. Now a stronger person was put between Himmler and the Kommandants and he took the heat.

Even then, his deep fear of Himmler never left him because, as before, he still had to appear before Himmler or answer Himmler’s questions. Pohl saved him many times. Glucks only inspected the camps if there were necessary reasons, or if Himmler or Pohl urged him to do so.

When he inspected a camp, he saw nothing, and he even said so. He was happy if the Kommandant didn’t drag him through the camp too long. “It’s always the same in every camp. What I’m not supposed to see, I won’t see. Everything else I saw so many times already that it isn’t interesting anymore.” He preferred to sit in the officer’s club of the camp and talk about every topic except the problems that bothered the Kommandant.

Glucks had an uncontrollable sense of “Rhineland” humor and looked at everything from the bright side of life. He made the worst things appear ridiculous and cracked jokes about them. He remembered absolutely nothing and made no decisions. You couldn’t even get angry at him, such was his nature.

He never took me seriously. He believed I overexaggerated my worries and needs about the camp, and he was astounded when he discovered that Pohl and Kammler agreed with me. Yet he never gave me help. He could have been such a great help by transferring the inefficient and unsuitable personnel out of Auschwitz. But because of the other Kommandants, he didn’t want to do that. “Don’t rock the boat! Keep the peace in the Office of Inspection of the Concentration Camps. Gliicks’s inspections of Auschwitz they were of no value and always ended without any changes. He really didn’t like Auschwitz at all. Everything was too spread out, too complex, and caused too many difficulties for him. And besides that, the Kommandants had too many requests and complaints.

Twice he wanted to remove me or appoint a higher-ranking officer over me, but he really didn’t have the courage to do it because of his fear of Himmler. Another reason was that the number of escapes was low at Auschwitz, and high in other camps, for which Himmler gave him a lot of grief. Auschwitz was a constant thorn in Glucks’s side because it made him uncomfortable and because Himmler had such a deep interest in Auschwitz.

From the beginning of the extermination of the Jews, he didn’t want to have anything to do with Auschwitz. He didn’t even want to hear about it. He could never understand that his lack of interest was the very reason that the catastrophic conditions developed later on. He was unable to handle any of the difficult problems in the camps and was of no help in finding solutions to the problems. He left it up to the Kommandants to find a way to solve their problems. “Don’t ask so many questions!” was the frequent comment during his conferences with the Kommandants. “You know much more than I do about these things.” He often asked Liebehenschel just before a meeting, “What should I say to the Kommandants again? I don’t know anything!” And that was the inspector of all the concentration camps, the supervisor of all camp Kommandants. He was supposed to give direction and set the course for the Kommandants whenever difficulties arose, many of which developed because of the war alone. Later they did turn to Pohl for help; this made Glucks very angry at them.

Gliicks was too soft and did not want to hurt any of his subordinates, especially when it came to his old comrades and SS officers who were his favorites. He gave into them much too easily. Because of his good heart, he saved SS officers who should have been brought before an SS court long before, or should have been removed from camp service. His good heart overlooked many of the sins of his staff

After Liebehenschel left for duty in Auschwitz, Maurer became Glucks's deputy and I became director of inspections. That’s when Maurer and I began cleaning house in the staff positons by getting rid of the excess noncommissioned officers and lower staff officers who had been listed as indispensable. This, of course, caused many arguments with Glucks. Maurer finally threatened to go to Pohl, and Glucks gave in reluctantly.

He let Maurer gradually take control of this very loose way of doing things. Gliicks’s main worry was Himmler, although he did try to slow Maurer down when he thought Maurer was too strict with the men. Glucks had not been healthy for years. He was often absent from duty for weeks on end and never slept well. He ruined himself by taking many different medications.

He was really finished in 1944 when the constant air raids hit the Berlin area. As the front lines came closer and closer, his worsening health showed the effect. The only time he felt any relief was when he was drunk!

He lived a very simple life—withdrawn. He never invited anyone to his house when he was in Oranienburg. His wife was just like him. They had no children

As far as the prisoners who served as barbers, gardeners, and craftsmen were concerned, he had close relationships with them and was good-hearted and generous. He never witnessed an execution or a beating. Permission to administer a beating was left for the most part to his deputy.

Glucks was the exact opposite of Eicke in every respect. Both of them were extreme, and this made the development of the concentration camps a real tragedy!