List of victims of Nazism
Millions of people were arrested, tortured or murdered by the Nazis. This is a list of victims of Nazism who were famous for some reason.
This list includes people from public life who, owing to their origins, their political or religious convictions, or their sexual orientation, lost their lives as a result of Nazism. This list includes those whose deaths were part of The Holocaust as well as people who died in other ways at the hands of the Nazis during World War II. People who died in concentration camps are listed alongside those who were murdered by the National Socialists or those who chose suicide for political motives or to avoid being murdered.
This list is sorted by occupation and within by nationality.
Literature and publishing
Name | Born | Died | How they died | Where they died | Nationality | Achievements |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Else Feldmann | 1884 | 1942 | Austrian | writer and journalist | ||
Egon Friedell | 1878 | 1938 | Austrian | writer and philosopher | ||
Peter Hammerschlag | 1902 | 1942 | Austrian | writer and graphic artist | ||
Stefan Zweig | 1942 | suicide | Brazil | Austrian | writer | |
Jura Soyfer | 1912 | 1939 | Buchenwald | Austrian | journalist, writer | |
Yitzhak Katzenelson | 1886 | 1944 | Belarusian | teacher, writer | ||
Petr Ginz | 1928 | 1944 | Czech | editor of Vedem | ||
Julius Fučík | 1903 | 1943 | Czech | resistance leader | ||
Milena Jesenská | 1944 | Ravensbrück | Czech | journalist | ||
Paul Kornfeld | 1889 | 1942 | Czech | writer | ||
Karel Poláček | 1892 | 1944 | Czech | writer | ||
Vladislav Vančura | 1891 | 1942 | Prague | Czech | writer, doctor | |
Etty Hillesum | 1914 | 1943 | Auschwitz | Dutch | writer, diary author | |
Helga Deen | 1925 | 1943 | Dutch | author of a published diary | ||
Benjamin Fondane | 1898 | 1944 | French | poet, literary critic | ||
Walter Benjamin | 1892 | 1940 | German | literary critic and philosopher | ||
Felix Fechenbach | 1894 | 1933 | German | journalist and activist | ||
Walter Hasenclever | 1890 | 1940 | German | expressionist writer | ||
Jakob van Hoddis | 1942 | Sobibór | German Jew | writer | ||
Jochen Klepper | 1942 | suicide | Berlin | German | writer | |
Erich Knauf | 1944 | Brandenburg | German | journalist, poet | ||
Adam Kuckhoff | 1943 | Berlin-Plötzensee | German | writer, dramatist, resistance fighter | ||
Erich Mühsam | 1934 | Oranienburg | German Jew | writer, anarchist | ||
Willi Münzenberg | 1940 | suicide/murder | France | German | publisher, politician | |
Friedrich Münzer | 1868 | 1942 | German | philologist | ||
Carl von Ossietzky | 1938 | Berlin | German | publicist | ||
Erich Salomon | 1944 | Auschwitz | German | photojournalist | ||
Libertas Schulze-Boysen | 1942 | Berlin-Plötzensee | German | film critic, resistance fighter | ||
Miklós Radnóti | 1909 | 1944 | Hungarian | poet | ||
Antal Szerb | 1901 | 1945 | Hungarian | writer, literary scholar | ||
Mordechai Gebirtig | 1877 | 1942 | Polish Jew | Yiddish poet, musician and composer | ||
Bruno Schulz | 1892 | 1942 | Polish | writer | ||
Wilhelm Eduard Schmid | 1934 | German | music critic | |||
Selma Meerbaum-Eisinger | 1942 | Romanian Jew | writer | |||
David Vogel | 1944/5 | Auschwitz | Russian Jew | Hebrew writer | ||
Anton de Kom | 1945 | Neuengamme | Surinamese | author, human rights activist | ||
Irène Némirovsky | 1942 Auschwitz | Ukrainian Jew | writer | |||
Anne Frank | 12 June 1929 | 1945 | Belsen | German Jew | Writer |
Theatre and film
Name | Lifespan | Nationality | Achievements |
---|---|---|---|
Hana Brady | 1931-1944 | Czech | girl portrayed in Hana's Suitcase: A True Story |
René Blum | 1878-1942 | French | founder of the Ballet de l'Opéra à Monte Carlo |
Ernst Arndt | died 1942/3 Treblinka | German | writer and poet |
Maria Bard | died 1944 suicide, Berlin? | German | actress (suicide) |
Kurt Gerron | died 1944 Auschwitz | German Jew | performer, actor, film director |
Dora Gerson | died 1943 Auschwitz | German Jew | actress, cabaret singer |
Joachim Gottschalk | died 1941 suicide, Berlin | German | actor |
Joseph Schmidt | died 1942 Gyrenbad | Ukrainian Jew | singer, actor |
Visual arts and design
Name | Lifespan | Nationality | Achievements |
---|---|---|---|
Friedl Dicker-Brandeis | 1896-1944 | Austrian | artist |
Felix Nussbaum | 1904-1944 | Austrian | painter |
Josef Čapek | died 1945 Bergen-Belsen | Czech | painter, draughtsman, illustrator, writer |
Samuel J. de Mesquita | 1868-1944 | Dutch | painter and designer |
Abraham Icek Tuschinski | 1886-1942 | Dutch | designer of the Tuschinski Theater |
Max Jacob | 1876-1944 | French | artist |
Ernst Ludwig Kirchner | died 1938 suicide, Davos | German | painter |
Elfriede Lohse-Wächtler | died 1940 Aktion T4 victim, Pirna | German | painter |
Charlotte Salomon | 1917-1943 Auschwitz | German | painter |
Jan Rubczak | 1884-1942 | Polish | painter, graphic artist |
Nicolaus Rossini | 1898-1943 Kraków-Płaszów | Polish | artist, wartime hero |
Music
See also: List of composers influenced by the Holocaust
Name | Lifespan | Nationality | Achievements |
---|---|---|---|
Pavel Haas | 1899- 1944 Auschwitz | Czech | composer |
Gideon Klein | 1919-1945 Auschwitz | Czech | composer |
Hans Krása | 1899-1944 Auschwitz | Czech (Bohemian) | composer |
Erwin Schulhoff | 1894-1942 | Czech | composer, jazz pianist |
Viktor Ullmann | 1898-1944 | Czech | composer, pianist |
Karlrobert Kreiten | died 1943 Berlin-Plötzensee | German | pianist |
Alma Rosé | died 1944 Auschwitz | Austrian | violinist, conductor |
Leo Smit | 1900-1943 | Dutch | composer |
Marcel Tyberg | 1893-1944 Auschwitz | Austrian | composer, pianist, conductor |
Humanities
Name | Lifespan | Nationality | Achievements |
---|---|---|---|
Mildred Harnack | died 1943 Berlin-Plötzensee | American | literary historian, translator, resistance fighter |
Elise Richter | died 1943 Theresienstadt | Austrian Jew | Romance philology professor |
Simon Dubnow | 1860-1941 | Belarusian Jew | historian, writer, activist |
Norbert Jokl | 1877-1942 | Czech | albanologist |
Marc Bloch | 1886-1944 Saint-Didier-de-Formans | French | historian, resistance leader |
Maurice Halbwachs | 1877-1945 | French | philosopher |
Georges Politzer | 1902-1942 | French | philosopher |
Walter Benjamin | died 1940 suicide to avoid extradition, Portbou | German | philosopher |
Friedrich Münzer | died 1942 Theresienstadt | German Jew | classical scholar |
Mathematics
Name | Lifespan | Nationality | Achievements |
---|---|---|---|
Georg Alexander Pick | 1859-1943 | Austrian | Pick's theorem |
Felix Hausdorff | died 1942 suicide, Bonn | German | one of the founders of modern topology |
Friedrich Hartogs | died 1943 suicide, Großhesselohe | German Jew | foundational work in set theory |
Robert Remak | died 1942 Auschwitz | German | |
Adolf Lindenbaum | died 1941 Ghetto Vilnius | Polish | work in set theory |
Antoni Łomnicki | 1881-1941 | Polish | |
Stanisław Ruziewicz | 1889-1941 | Polish | Ruziewicz problem |
Stanisław Saks | died 1942 murdered in prison by the Gestapo, Warsaw | Polish | work in measure theory |
Włodzimierz Stożek | 1883-1941 | Polish | |
Alfred Tauber | died 1942 Theresienstadt | Slovakian | Tauberian theorems |
Natural sciences
Name | Lifespan | Nationality | Achievements |
---|---|---|---|
Ernst Cohen | 1869-1944 | Dutch | chemist, work on the allotropy of metals |
Walter Arndt | died 1944 executed, Brandenburg | German | zoologist |
Medicine, psychology, paedagogy
Name | Lifespan | Nationality | Achievements |
---|---|---|---|
Adolf Reichwein | died 1944 executed, Berlin-Plötzensee | German | doctor, educator, politician |
Elisabeth von Thadden | died 1944 executed, Berlin-Plötzensee | German | educator |
Tadeusz Boy-Żeleński | 1874-1941 | Polish | paediatrician, poet, translator |
Antoni Cieszyński | 1882-1941 | Polish | physician, dentist, surgeon |
Władysław Dobrzaniecki | 1897-1941 | Polish | physician, surgeon |
Janusz Korczak | 1878-1942 Treblinka | Polish Jew | doctor, child physician, wartime hero |
Law, business
Name | Lifespan | Nationality | Achievements |
---|---|---|---|
Maurice Halbwachs | died 1945 Buchenwald | French | sociologist, economist, philosopher, developer of collective memory |
Elisabeth de Rothschild | 1902-1945 | French | wife of Baron Philippe de Rothschild |
Klaus Bonhoeffer | died 1945 executed, Berlin | German | jurist, resistance fighter |
Hans von Dohnanyi | died 1945 executed, Sachsenhausen | German | jurist, resistance fighter |
Reinhold Frank | died 1945 executed, Berlin-Plötzensee | German | lawyer, member of July 20 Plot |
Martin Gauger | died 1941 NS-Tötungsanstalt Sonnenstein | German | jurist, pacifist, member of the Kreisau Circle |
Franz Kaufmann | 1886-1944 | German | jurist |
Helmuth James Graf von Moltke | d. 1945 executed, Berlin-Plötzensee | German | jurist, founder of the Kreisau Circle |
Karl Sack | d. 1945 executed, Flossenbürg | German | jurist, member of the July 20 plot |
Rüdiger Schleicher | d. 1945 executed, Berlin | German | resistance fighter |
Kazimierz Proszyński | 1875-1945 | Polish | inventor |
Theology, spirituality, religion
Name | Lifespan | Nationality | Achievements |
---|---|---|---|
Kai Munk | d. 1944, murdered by an SS-Sonderkommando, Hørbylunde/Denmark | Danish | theologian, playwright |
Dietrich Bonhoeffer | 1906-1945 | German | Lutheran pastor, theologian |
Regina Jonas | d. 1944 Auschwitz | German Jew | woman Rabbi |
Jochen Klepper | d. 1942 suicide shortly before deportation, Berlin | German | theologian, journalist |
Friedrich Lorenz | d. 1944 executed, Halle an der Saale | German | priest, member of Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate |
Rupert Mayer | 1876-1945 | German | Jesuit priest |
Paul Schneider | d. 1939 Buchenwald | German | clergyman |
Edith Stein | 1891-1942 | German | nun, Catholic saint (born Jewish) |
Sándor Büchler | 1869-1944 | Hungarian | rabbi, historian |
Avraham Yitzchak Bloch | 1891-1941 | Lithuanian | Chief Rabbi, rosh yeshiva of the Telz Yeshiva |
Elchonon Wasserman | 1875-1941 | Lithuanian | rabbi, rosh yeshiva |
Azriel Rabinowitz | 1905-1941 | Lithuanian | rabbi, rosh yeshiva at the Telz Yeshiva |
Shimon Shkop | 1860-1940 | Lithuanian | rosh yeshiva, Talmudic scholar |
Maximilian Kolbe | 1894-1941 (Auschwitz) | Polish | friar, Catholic saint |
Stefan Wincenty Frelichowski | 1913-1945 (Dachau) | Polish | priest |
Karl Ernst Krafft | died 1945 during transport to Buchenwald | Swiss | astrologer, occultist |
Sport
Name | Lifespan | Nationality | Achievements |
---|---|---|---|
Alfred Flatow | 1869-1942 | German | gymnast; 3-time Olympic gold medalist & 1-time silver medalist |
Gustav Flatow | 1875-1945 | German | gymnast; 2-time Olympic gold medalist |
Bronisław Czech | 1908-1944 | Polish | skier: Olympian |
János Garay (fencer) | 1889-1945 | Hungarian | fencer; Olympic gold, silver, and bronze medalist |
Oszkár Gerde | 1883-1944 | Hungarian | fencer; 2-time Olympic gold medalist |
Otto Herschmann | 1877-1942 | Austrian | fencer & swimmer; 2-time Olympic silver medalist |
Roman Kantor | 1912-1943 | Polish | fencer; Olympian |
Janusz Kusociński | 1907-1940 executed in Palmiry | Polish | athlete;1932 Los Angeles men's athletics gold medalist |
Salo Landau | 1903-1944 | Dutch | chess player |
Vera Menchik | 1906-1944 | British-Czech | chess player; world champion |
Victor Perez | 1911-1945 | Tunisian | boxer; world flyweight champion |
Attila Petschauer | 1904-1943 | Hungarian | fencer; 2-time Olympic gold medalist & 1-time silver medalist |
Werner Seelenbinder | 1904-1944 executed, Brandenburg an der Havel | German | wrestler; Olympian |
Johann Wilhelm Trollmann | 1907-1943 Neuengamme | German | boxer; German national champion |
Politics, resistance
Name | Lifespan | Nationality | Achievements |
---|---|---|---|
Edgar André | died 1936 executed, Hamburg | Communist | |
Friedrich Aue | died 1944 executed, Brandenburg | Communist | |
Judith Auer | died 1944 executed, Berlin | resistance fighter | |
Bernhard Bästlein | died 1944 executed, Brandenburg | Communist | |
Albrecht Graf von Bernstorff | died 1945 murdered in custody, Berlin | diplomat | |
Cato Bontjes van Beek | died 1944 executed, Berlin-Plötzensee | resistance fighter | |
Rudolf Breitscheid | died 1944 Buchenwald | Social democrat | |
Hans Coppi | died 1942 executed, Berlin-Plötzensee | resistance fighter | |
Hilde Coppi | died 1943 executed, Berlin-Plötzensee | resistance fighter | |
Otto Eggerstedt | died 1933 Esterwegen | Social democrat | |
Fritz Elsas | died 1945 Sachsenhausen | politician | |
Georg Elser | died 1945 executed, Dachau | manual labourer, Rotfront-Kämpfer | |
Yitzhak Gitterman | died 1943 fighting in Warsaw Ghetto Uprising | Polish | Politician, Director of American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee |
Carl Friedrich Goerdeler | died 1945 executed, Berlin-Plötzensee | Mayor of Leipzig, Putschist | |
Herschel Grynszpan | died Ort and Datum unbekannt, wahrscheinlich im Gestapo-Gefängnis Berlin-Moabit | German Jew | resistance fighter |
Max Habermann | died 1944 im Gefängnis von Gifhorn | trade unionist | |
Albrecht Haushofer | died 1945 executed, Berlin-Moabit | German | diplomat, writer |
Rudolf Henning | died 1944 executed, Sachsenhausen | ||
Rudolf Hilferding | died 1941 in Gestapo-Haft, Paris | Social democrat | |
Otto Hirsch | died 1941 Mauthausen concentration camp | Representation of German Jews | |
Camill Hoffmann | died 1944 Auschwitz | diplomat, writer | |
Martin Hoop | died 1933 Zwickau | Communist, District Leader KPD, Saxony | |
Franz Jacob | died 1944 executed, Brandenburg | Communist | |
Walter Krämer | died 1941 "shot while trying to escape", KZ Goslar | Communist | |
Marian Kudera | died 1944 executed, Dachau | resistance fighter | |
Albert Kuntz | died 1945 Nordhausen an den Folgen der Folter | Communist | |
Ludwig Landmann | died 5 March 1945, Versteck verhungert | DDP Politician, Mayor of Frankfurt am Main | |
Julius Leber | died 1944 executed, Berlin-Plötzensee | Socialist | |
Wilhelm Leuschner | died 1944 executed, Berlin-Plötzensee | Politician | |
Marinus van der Lubbe | died 1934, Leipzig | Dutch | Council Communist |
August Lütgens | died 1933 executed, Amtsgericht Altona | Communist | |
Rosa Manus | died 1943 Ravensbrück | Women's rights advocate | |
Walter Möller | died 1933 executed, Amtsgericht Altona | Communist | |
Ottilie Pohl | died 1942 Theresienstadt | resistance fighter | |
Fritz Pröll | died 1944 suicide due to threatened torture, Nordhausen | resistance fighter | |
Anton Saefkow | died 1944 executed, Zuchthaus Brandenburg | Communist, resistance fighter | |
Ernst Schneller | died 1944 executed, Sachsenhausen | KPD Politician | |
Werner Scholem | died 1940 Buchenwald | Communist | |
Hans Scholl | died 1943 executed, Munich-Stadelheim Prison | German | resistance fighter, medical student |
Sophie Scholl | died 1943 executed, München-Stadelheim | German | resistance fighter, student |
Bruno Tesch | died 1933 executed, Amtsgericht Altona | Communist | |
Ernst Thälmann | died 1944 executed, Buchenwald | KPD Politician | |
Mathias Thesen | died 1944 executed, Sachsenhausen | ||
Adam von Trott zu Solz | died 1944 executed, Berlin-Plötzensee | diplomat | |
Karl Wolff | died 1933 executed, Amtsgericht Altona | Communist | |
Richard Schmitz | died 1938 | Austrian | mayor of Vienna |
Georges Mandel | 1885-1944 | French | politician, resistance leader |
Victor Basch | 1877-1945 | French | esthetician, politician |
Jenő Deutsch (Eugen Deutsch) | 1879-1944 | Hungarian | social democratic politician [1] |
Kazimierz Bartel | 1882-1941 | Polish | Prime Minister of Poland 1926-1930 |
Stefan Rowecki | 1895-1944 | Polish | general, journalist, leader of the Armia Krajowa |
Stefan Starzyński | 1893-1943 | Polish | politician, economist, writer, statesman |
Military
Name | Lifespan | Nationality | Achievements |
---|---|---|---|
Erich Fellgiebel | d. 1944 executed, Berlin-Plötzensee | German | officer and resistance fighter in the Third Reich |
Ludwig Beck | d. 1944 shot, Berlin | German | General, Putschist |
Werner von Haeften | d. 1944 shot, Berlin | jurist, adjutant of Claus Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg | |
Erich Hoepner | d. executed, Berlin-Plötzensee | demoted Colonel General, member of Military opposition about Claus Schenk von Stauffenberg | |
Albrecht Mertz von Quirnheim | d. 1944 shot, Berlin | General, Putschist | |
Friedrich Olbricht | d. 1944 shot, Berlin | General, Putschist | |
Hans Oster | d. 1945 executed, Flossenbürg | Chief of staff | |
Harro Schulze-Boysen | d. 1942 executed, Berlin-Plötzensee | officer, publicist | |
Claus Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg | d. 1944 shot, Berlin | Chief of staff of General Army Office, Putschist | |
Carl Heinrich von Stülpnagel | d. 1944 executed, Berlin-Plötzensee | military commander in occupied France | |
Henning von Tresckow | d. 1944 suicide, near Ostrov, Russia | Major General, Putschist | |
Erwin von Witzleben | d. 1944 executed, Berlin-Plötzensee | retired Field Marshal | |
Wilhelm Canaris | d. 1945 executed, Flossenbürg | German | military information service |
Erwin Rommel | d. 1944 executed | German | Army(Wehrmacht), Feld Marchall |
Dimitri Zouralis | d. 1941 executed | Greek | Army(Greek), Commander |