Jakob Denzinger
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June 29, 1924
concentration camp guard during the Holocaust
Jakob Denzinger | |
|---|---|
| Born | Jakob Frank Denzinger June 29, 1924 |
| Died | February 11, 2016 (aged 91) |
| Known for | Former Schutzstaffel member; concentration camp guard during the Holocaust |
Jakob Frank Denzinger (June 29, 1924 – February 11, 2016) was a Croatian-American concentration camp guard during the Holocaust. He served at five separate concentration camps across three countries as a member of the SS-Totenkopfverbände, including a lengthy stint as a guard at Auschwitz-Birkenau.[1] In 1956, Denzinger emigrated to the United States, becoming a naturalized citizen in 1972. Following an investigation by the US Justice Department, Denzinger fled the US in 1989 in advance of his denaturalization. An Associated Press investigation reported in October 2014 that despite being denaturalized, Denzinger was still receiving monthly Social Security payments through an immigration loophole.[2] In response to the report, the legislature passed a law closing the loophole. President Barack Obama signed the bill in December 2014.[3]
Jakob Frank Denzinger was born in Osijek, Croatia, then in the Kingdom of Yugoslavia, and was of ethnic German descent.[4] He had at least one brother, named Andrija Denzinger, who is married to Julia Denzinger.[citation needed] In 1950, Jakob married Maria ("Mary"), who was born in Cepin, Croatia on January 17, 1927.[5]
Nazi era
During World War II Denzinger served as a guard at five separate concentration and extermination-death camps: The extermination-death camps at Auschwitz and Mauthausen; and concentration camps Plaszow, Sachsenhausen and Buchenwald.[6] At the age of 18 in 1942, Denzinger began serving in the Schutzstaffel.[7] Starting the next year, he served in the Auschwitz extermination-death camp from May 1943 to March 1945.[1] On April 24, 1945, Denzinger was taken prisoner by Allied forces in France.[8] He was presumably held until the end of the war, 2 September 1945.
Life in America
Denzinger obtained an entry visa into the United States at the American Embassy in Frankfurt. In October 1956, he entered the US and became naturalized in 1972.[8] He settled in Akron, Ohio.[9] Working as a plastics executive, Denzinger "had acquired the trappings of success: a Cadillac DeVille and a Lincoln Town Car, a lakefront home, investments in oil and real estate."[10]
Having learned that American authorities had started the denaturalization process against him, Denzinger left for West Germany in August 1989 after packing "a pair of suitcases".[11] In November 1989, just three months after Denzinger had left the country, his U.S. citizenship was revoked.[12]