Ludwig Hahn

Who was Ludwig Hahn?

Ludwig Hermann Karl Hahn was a German Nazi war criminal who participated in the destruction and evacuation of the Warsaw Ghetto. He was originally a German lawyer, who held multiple political and Nazi defence positions. Hahn died in prison in 1986 after being convicted for war crimes.

The son of a farmer of the same name, Hahn qualified as a lawyer in 1935. He joined the Nazi Party in 1930 and soon afterwards joined the Sturmabteilung as a Scharführer. He left the SA in 1932 to concentrate on his studies by joined the Schutzstaffel in 1933. Soon after qualifying he took on administration post with the Gestapo and was sent to work in their main Berlin office in 1936.

Following the invasion of Poland Hahn was appointed leader of the Einsatzkommando I of Einsatzgruppe I.

Hahn served as Chief of the Sicherheitspolizei and Sicherheitsdienst in occupied Warsaw from November 1941 to January 1945 under the command of SS General Bruno Streckenbach. In this role he oversaw the liquidation of the ghetto in summer 1942 and the transportation of the inhabitants to Treblinka concentration camp. Similarly Hahn played a leading role in the violent suppression of the Warsaw Uprising in 1944.