August Hirt

August Hirt (April 28 1898 in Mannheim – June 2 1945 in Schönenbach/Schwarzwald), an SS-Hauptsturmführer (captain), served as a chairman at the Reich University in Strasbourg during World War II.

Working with the Ahnenerbe division, Wolfram Sievers, Bruno Beger and Hirt together collected human skeletons from among the Dachau inmates, and ultimately had 79 Jewish men, 30 Jewish women, 2 Poles, and 4 "Asians" sent to Natzweiler-Struthof, gassed, and their bodies returned to them.

Some speculate that the Asian victims were in fact Soviets, and there is mention that Hirt used this opportunity to test the effects of mescaline as a poison.

Hirt committed suicide in Schönenbach.

Sources

• Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum

Additional reading

• Courand, Raymond (2005), Un camp de la mort en France: Struthof Natzweiler, Strasbourg:Ed. Hirlé. ISBN 2-914729-27-8.