Editing Josef Kramer (section)

===Auschwitz===
Kramer was promoted to the rank of ''[[Hauptsturmführer]]'' (Captain) in 1942 and, in May 1944, was transferred to become the ''[[Lagerführer]]'' (camp commander) in charge of operations at [[Auschwitz concentration camp#Auschwitz II-Birkenau|Auschwitz II-Birkenau]], the main centre used to kill inmates within the Auschwitz concentration camp complex, from 8 May 1944 to 25 November 1944.<ref>{{cite web|title=Auschwitz Concentration Camp – Chain of Command|url=http://www.holocaustresearchproject.org/othercamps/chainofcommand.html|website= holocaustresearchproject.org| publisher=Holocaust Education & Archive Research Team|access-date=19 October 2015}}</ref> He was brought to Auschwitz to manage the gassings of new transports in May 1944, according to the Prosecution Judge Advocate at the War Crimes tribunal that convicted him of being responsible for the deaths committed at Auschwitz. There were a number of witnesses who said that he took an active part in the selection parades in that, for instance, he loaded people into the trucks and beat them when they resisted.<ref name=Tribunal>{{cite book|last1=Law Reports of Trials of War Criminals|first1=Vol. II|title=The Belsen Trial| year= 1947| publisher=The United Nations War Crimes Commission|location=London |page=112 et. seq| url= https://www.loc.gov/rr/frd/Military_Law/pdf/Law-Reports_Vol-2.pdf|access-date= 16 July 2019}}</ref>
At Auschwitz, Kramer soon became known among his subordinates as a harsh taskmaster. One of the defendants at the [[Frankfurt Auschwitz trials|Frankfurt Auschwitz Trial]], Dr. [[Franz Lucas]], testified that he tried to avoid assignments given to him by Kramer by pleading stomach and intestinal disorders. When Lucas saw that his name had been added to the list of selecting physicians for a large group of inmates transferred from [[Hungary]], he objected strenuously. Kramer reacted sharply: "I know you are being investigated for favouring prisoners. I am now ordering you to go to the ramp, and if you fail to obey an order, I shall have you arrested on the spot."<ref>{{cite book |last=Wynn |first=Stephen |date=2020 |title=Holocaust: The Nazis' Wartime Jewish Atrocities |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AwI2EAAAQBAJ |location=Yorkshire |publisher=Penn & Sword Books |isbn=978-1-52672-822-7 |access-date=13 January 2025}}</ref>