Eduard Wirths collection

Eduard Wirths (1909-1945), was the chief SS doctor (SS-Standortarzt) at Auschwitz-Birkenau from September 1942 to January 1945, where he supervised the work of approximately 20 camp doctors, including Josef Mengele, Horst Schumann, and Carl Clauberg. A member of the Nazi party since his student days at the University of Würzburg (1930-1935), he entered the Waffen SS in 1939, and saw combat action, but was declared medically unfit after a heart attack in 1942. After working as the chief SS psychiatrist at Neuengamme, he was appointed chief doctor at Auschwitz in September 1942. While not having carried out medical experiments on prisoners himself, he authorized and supervised the work of other camp doctors who did so. Following the evacuation of Auschwitz in January 1945, he was assigned as chief camp physician at Dora-Mittelbau in April 1945, and was subsequently captured by Allied forces and was held in British custody awaiting trial for war crimes when he commited suicide on 20 September 1945. The Eduard Wirths collection relates to SS-Standortarzt Dr. Eduard Wirths (1909-1945), his family, and colleagues, before and while he was stationed at the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp. The collection consists of fifteen original photographs, some taken at Solahütte, a resort for Nazi personnel located at Auschwitz, and of other physicians, including Dr. Carl Clauberg (1898-1957). The collection also includes a 1944 presentation album, entitled, "SS Truppenlazarett erbaut von der Zentralbauleitung der Waffen-SS und Polizei, Auschwitz OS 1944" which was created to document the construction and opening of the SS troop hospital at the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp. The construction and interior of the hospital as well as camp laborers are seen in the photographs.