Hermann Pister

Who was Hermann Pister?

Hermann Pister was an SS Oberführer and commandant of Buchenwald concentration camp from 21 January 1942 until April 1945.

Pister was the son of a financial secretary in Lubeck. He joined the German Imperial Navy in 1916 and served until the end of the war. In 1918 he began an apprenticeship as an auto mechanic and went on to become an automobile salesman and manager.

He joined the Nazi party and the SS, being assigned to the SS Motor Echelon in 1932. In 1933 he was assigned to SS Motor Regiment Nineteen and in 1936 to SS Motor Regiment One. In 1937 he was assigned to Reichsführer SS Heinrich Himmler's motor pool.

Pister was given the command of Hinzert concentration camp and served there from 9 October 1939 to 21 December 1941. On 1 January 1942 he replaced Karl Otto Koch as commandant of Buchenwald.

The prisoners were ordered evacuated from Buchenwald in early April 1945 to prevent their liberation by Allied troops. Pister ordered the first group to leave on foot on 7 April 1945 to be sent to Dachau. This group was marched to the railroad station and placed in open boxcars. This train came to be known as the "Death Train".