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= Karl Demerer =

Overview
Karl Israel Demerer (June 10, 1901 - December 19, 1973) was a Jew originally from Vienna, Austria who, at great risk to his own life saved many lives during World War II, after being appointed to lead the Jewish prisoners at Blechhammer Concentration Camp.

Early Life, Arrest by the Nazis to Arrival at Blechhammer Concentration Camp
Karl Demerer was born on 10 June 1901 in Vienna to Markus and Fanny (née Steinberg) Demerer. Circa 1928, Karl married Henia Gruenbaum and settled in Sosnowiec, Poland. Karl and Henia had two children, a daughter Helena and a son Heinrich.

In 1940, Demerer, a bank official, was arrested by the Germans with some hundred Jews in Sosnowiec. Demerer went through the “Zwangsarbeitslager,” or forced labor camps, of Günthersdorf, Rogau, Annaberg and Ottmuth. From Ottmuth, Demerer was sent to the Blechhammer Concentration Camp.

It was on the transport to Blechhammer that Demerer was appointed by [the SS] as the Judenäelteste or Camp Elder. Demerer described what ensued: “Talking to me, he found out that I spoke a correct German. [He said] You will become Judenäelteste, and you will be responsible for the camp. He requested my daily reporting of the lists of sick prisoners and those working.” The Judenaelteste in the Nazi concentration camp system was the leader of the Jewish prisoners directly subordinate to the SS, responsible for the camp administration, responsible for directing the carrying out the camp rules and penalties.

Demerer’s Courageous Actions:  Witnesses Testimony
As Judenäelteste Demerer developed and courageously (at great risk to his life) used strategies to save the lives of many of his fellow Jewish prisoners. Eyewitnesses indicated he worked tirelessly to keep the camp running as smoothly as possible in an attempt to keep the worst physical punishments from the guards at a minimum. In many cases he administered lighter punishments such as slapping a prisoner when he saw that a guard had noticed a rule violation, his actions saved prisoners from worse punishments from the guards that would have resulted in permanent physical injuries or the deaths of the prisoners. He lied to the guards and Nazi camp administration when he believed his lies would not be discovered and by doing so he could save lives.

Each of the following quotations are testimonies of different Blechammer survivors:

"“The camp elder Demerer had his five-year-old son with him in the camp, and was constantly in fear that his child would be taken away. He suggested that the children work and earn their living. The SS agreed to that proposal, which was actually a means to save them from being gassed. If they were considered laborers, they could survive.”" “I was in Blechhammer… The Judenalteste Karl Demerer, I will never forget this gentleman. He was so good to us… After the war everybody want[ed] to go and see him.”

“[Karl] Demerer, he was terrific, a nice man. He saved a lot of people there. …In Blechhammer before SS came they punished by putting you under a cold shower and beat you with a lash with piece of lead on the end; nobody survived that. One day Demerer said, you either stop it or it’s me. From then on that punishment was terminated in Blechhammer, thanks to Demerer.

“It was because of him that a lot of things didn’t happen that happened in other camps. He said we will give you good labor, you give us, be as decent as you can be, life. That’s what I understand, this guy sort of dealt with the SS somehow and was respected. As a result the camp didn’t suffer as much as maybe some of the camps have.”

“When the SS were around, he sounded tough and strict... he knew how to manipulate the SS so that, despite the cruel treatment we received, there was less torture and fewer hangings than at most other concentration camps.

“To his great credit, the SS was unable to dehumanize him. His soul was pure. He was the most decent human being I ever came across, always on the lookout for inmates in need of help. Demerer privately asked us how our former camp functionaries and foremen had treated us; all those who had abused us in Seibersdorf were demoted. Their bull whips were taken away, and they were assigned to particularly hard labor commandos…  [When we returned to the camp after a day of work...] Mr. Demerer would also be standing at the gate entrance with a keen, concerned, and fatherly eye. If anyone showed the slightest sign of physical exhaustion or injury, or if there was a suspicious bulge under an inmate’s clothing, he would immediately pull the person out of the marching column, and holler and scream at him, ‘Why do you walk like and old man?’ Sometimes he would slap him in front of the SS, thus creating a diversion, sparing him the wrath of the SS-men, and sometimes even saving his life.”

“I know of many cases where he helped people to stay alive and be kept out of Auschwitz.”

“He carried out his obligations with a sense of responsibility for the fate of thousands of Jewish prisoners and he succeeded in several daring actions applying his vigor, courage and ability for quick decisions to save lives. He often guessed the planned steps of the Germans in advance and knew how to prevent them…

There is the humility of this man, who up to now never tried to get attention. It is only through the efforts of those he saved that these tape recordings of his testimony came about.

Nowadays, sick with heart disease and exhausted, Demerer is often visited by his “protégés,” and when they praise his deeds he answers, “You think it is I who saved you? God did it. I only fulfilled my duty and we both were lucky."

Demerer’s Testimony on His Own Actions
In one incident testified to by multiple witnesses, 102 women were to be sent to Auschwitz from Blechhammer for killing due to a mistake in their being tattooed with numbers that duplicated those of other prisoners at Auschwitz. Demerer stated “By means of money and gold from hiding places I succeeded in convincing the Lagerfuehrer [translate] that the women were urgently needed and should be left in the camp. The women were allowed to stay and got a second number on their hands, so that today all those women have two numbers… with God’s help, most of them are still alive.”

Beatings occurred “just when there was the necessity to show the SS we were strict.”

There were two SS-men to whom I gave some money and who, in return, gave me some aspirin and some other medications… [by this] I was able to help the sick people as much as I could.”

Additional Research
Dr. Verena Buser conducted research on Karl Demerer and found the following:

[A survivor stated] “he saved many lives. He would lie and cheat, he punished kapo s who would beat up prisoners… and kept the camp in order, the Germans appreciated this.”

[Another survivor stated] “He was acting as being cruel in the camps… Intervened in the camp that the Nazis did not touch the prisoners directly. He was an excellent actor.”

Buser stated “Most of the survivor’s testimonies I’ve read or watched… explained that they owed their lives due to his actions… most of the survivors saw him as rescuer or real mensch (a person of integrity and honor)… he [resisted] conditions in which the life of a Jew was worthless.”

Post War
He emigrated to Israel in 1961. He died in 1973. In 2018, Minia Joneck, chairwoman of the Jewish Congregation in Konstanz, Germany, received the Jewish Rescuer’s Citation on behalf of her grandfather, Karl Demerer. She stated

“I am proud to receive the award in the name of my grandfather,” Joneck said. “He was a modest man who did not like to talk about his deeds during the war. We, the members of his family, feel that it is very

important to honor his memory and the memories of all the Jewish rescuers.”