SOME OF THE PRISONERS
HELD AT
SPECIAL CAMP 11

NAME:      SS-Obergruppenführer und General der Waffen-SS und Polizei Werner Lorenz

PW NO:           938948
RANK:            SS-Obergruppenführer und General der Waffen-SS und Polizei   
CAPTURED:   Flensburg
DATE:             10th May 1945

PERSONAL

D.O.B:                       2 October 1891
PLACE OF BIRTH:  Grünhof bei Stolp, Pommerania
DIED:                        13 May 1974
PLACE OF DEATH: Düsseldorf
NATIONALITY:       German
RELIGION:               Evangelical
OCCUPATION:        Farmer
HEIGHT:                   178cms
WEIGHT:                  70kgs
HAIR COLOUR:       Grey
EYE COLOUR:         Blue
NEXT OF KIN:        British Zone

NSDAP-Number: 397,994
SS-Number: 6,636

Promotions:

• SS-Sturmbannführer: 31 March 1931
  
• SS-Standartenführer: 7 July 1931
  
• SS-Oberführer: 9 November 1931
  
• SS-Brigadeführer: 3 July 1933
  
• SS-Gruppenführer: 1 November 1933
  
• SS-Obergruppenführer: 9 November 1936
  
• General der Polizei: 15 August 1942
  
• General der Waffen-SS: 9 November 1944
  

• Prussian Cadet Corps.
  
• October 1912: Entered Army service with assignment to Feld-Artillerie-Regiment Prinz August von Preußen (1. Lithauisches) Nr. 1.
  
• 1913: Fahnenjunker in Jäger-zu-Pferd-Regiment Nr. 4.
  
• 1914: Commissioned Leutnant. Served during first years of World War I in several capacities including a staff officer.
  
• 1917: Transferred to the German Army Flying Service becoming a qualified pilot.
  
• 1919-March 1920: Service with the Grenschutz Freikorps against the Poles on eastern German border.
  
• March 1920: Separated from the Army. Leased and managed an estate, Marinsee, in the Free City of Danzig cortesy of his marriage to the wealthy Charlotte Ventski of Graudenz.
  
• 1 December 1930: Joined the NSDAP.
  
• 31 January 1931: Joined the SS.
  
• 31 March 1931-9 November 1931: Chief of Staff, SS-Abschnitt II in Chemnitz.
  
• 9 November 1931-12 February 1934: Leader of SS-Abchnitt VII in Danzig-Marinsee.
  
• December 1933-May 1945: Member of the Reichstag.
  
• 15 December 1933-1 February 1934: Leader of SS-Oberabschnitt "Nordost" in Königsberg (included his continued command of SS-Abchnitt VII).
  
• 12 February 1934-1 March 1937: Leader of SS-Oberabschnitt "Nord" (later renamed "Nordwest") in Hamburg/Altona.
  
• January 1937-February 1945: Chief of the Racial German Main Assistance Office (Volksdeutsche Mittelstelle--VOMI). Upgraded to SS Hauptamt status on 15 June 1941.
  
• February-May 1945: Commander of Ordungstruppen (order troops) in rear area of Army Group "Weichsel."
  
• 10 May 1945: Captured by the British in Flensburg.
  • 9th January 1946 transferred to Island Farm Special Camp 11 from Camp 1
  • 6th May 1946 transferred to LDC (London District Cage) from Island Farm Special Camp 11
  • 9th May 1946 transferred to Island Farm Special Camp 11 from LDC
  • 20th May 1946 transferred to LDC from Island Farm Special Camp 11
  • 23rd May 1946 transferred to Island Farm Special Camp 11 from LDC
  • 31st January 1947 transferred to LDC from Island Farm Special Camp 11
    

Decorations & Awards:

After the war, Lorenz was tried with crimes against humanity in connection with VOMI. On 10 March 1948, a U.S. tribunal sentenced him to 20 years' imprisonment; however, he was released in 1955. Lorenz could not understand the charges brought against him and he continually asserted his innocence by claiming VOMI's role was purely humanitarian to provide for the welfare of ethnic Germans.

Described by most acquaintances as an honorable and decent gentleman of the Old Prussian school, Lorenz attempted to run VOMI without brutality. During his war crimes trial, the strongly religious Lorenz claimed his ruthlessly ambitious and career-oriented chief of staff--SS-Gruppenführer Dr. Hermann Behrends--was primarily responsible for VOMI's excesses. It should be noted that Behrends had already been executed by the Yugoslav government by the time of Lorenz's trial and was, perhaps, a convenient scapegoat since he could not defend himself.

Some of the excesses attributed to VOMI included:

• The forced settlement of unwilling ethnic Germans--particularly those from Slovenia, Alsace, Lorraine, and Luxembourg--into the Reich.
  
• Provisional camp internment for ethnic Germans not possessing the "proper racial traits" and/or political and cultural standards.
  
• Those internees attempting to escape from the provisional VOMI housing camps could be sentenced to hard labour or a concentration camp.
  
• VOMI was an active accomplice in SS activities involving the Final Solution including forcibly evicting Jews from their homes in Poland so that resettled ethnic Germans could have them.
  
• Although officially proscribed, certain VOMI officials used Jewish slave labor for the care and maintenance of VOMI facilities.
  
• VOMI appropriated massive amounts of clothing from Jews as gifts for ethnic German settlers

Photo of Werner Lorenz (centre, in fur coat) with Reichsführer-SS Heinrich Himmler (left) taken in 1939

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