Editing Josef Kramer (section)

==Auschwitz==
Kramer was promoted to the rank of [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hauptsturmf%C3%BChrer Hauptsturmführer] (Captain) in 1942 and, in May 1944, was put in charge of the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gas_chamber#Nazi_Germany gas chambers] in [[Auschwitz Birkenau|Auschwitz concentration camp]]. He was to hold that position until December 1944, when he was transferred out and appointed as Commandant of Belsen.

At Auschwitz, Kramer soon became notorious among his subordinates as a harsh taskmaster. One of the defendants at the Frankfurt Trial, Dr. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franz_Lucas Franz Lucas], testified that he tried to avoid assignments given him by Kramer by pleading stomach and intestinal disorders. When Dr. 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".