Ernst-Heinrich Schmauser

Ernst-Heinrich Schmauser (18 January 1890 – 10 February 1945) was a commander in the SS of Nazi Germany who was the Higher SS and Police Leader in Breslau during World War II. Later in the war, he was responsible for the liquidation of the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp. Schmauser was also a member of the German Reichstag representing the NSDAP.

Schmauser was born the son of a businessman. He attended elementary school and junior high school in Hof an der Saale, then the secondary school in Bayreuth. After graduation, he pursued a military career. First, he spent a year with the 11th Bavarian Infantry Regiment "von der Tann" in Regensburg. He then joined the 9th Royal Saxon Army, 133rd Infantry Regiment in Zwickau.

After training at the Military Academy in Hanover, Schmauser served in the First World War (1914-1918) as a company commander. He fought in the Western Theater with the 133rd and 183rd Infantry Regiments. He was wounded three times in battle and decorated on multiple occasions, receiving the Iron Cross (First and Second) Class, the Silver Wound Badge, and the Knight's Cross of the Order of Albert (Second Class) with Swords. On 9 November 1915, he received the Knight's Cross of the Military-St. Heinrich's Order. Following Schmauser’s demobilization from the Kaiser’s Army in 1919, he was promoted to captain and given permission to continue wearing the uniform of the 133rd Infantry Regiment.

From 1919 to 1933, Schmauser worked in banking as a cashier in Zwickau. It was a temporary career path which he considered beneath his social standing. He married in 1921, and had two children by his wife. As early as 1924 Schmauser belonged to the right-wing conservative voting alliance known as the Völkisch-Social Block and was head of the Sturmabteilung (SA) in Zwickau. He was sporadically active on the political scene as were many other former military officers in the wake of the collapsing Weimar economy.

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