{{Short description|Commander of the Crematoria of Auschwitz-Birkenau}} {{About||the German film actor|Peter Voß|the fictional character|Peter Voss, Thief of Millions (disambiguation){{!}}Peter Voss, Thief of Millions}}
'''Peter Voss''', sometimes misspelled as '''Foss''',<ref name=bezwinska>{{cite book|last=Bezwińska|first=Jadwiga|title=Amidst A Nightmare of Crime|year=1973|publisher=Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum|pages=51–52|author2=Czech, Danuta}}</ref> '''Vost''' or '''Vast'''<ref name=memorial>{{cite book|last=Memorial de La Shoah|title=Des voix sous la cendre: manuscrits des Sonderkommandos d'Auschwitz-Birkenau|year=2006|publisher=Librairie générale française|isbn=978-2-253-11525-0|pages=185}}</ref> (December 18, 1897 – 1976), was an SS-''Oberscharführer'', known for his role as a commander of the crematoria and gas chambers at Auschwitz-Birkenau,<ref name=debski>{{cite book|last=Dębski|first=Jerzy|title=Death Books from Auschwitz: Remnants|year=1995|publisher=K. G. Saur Verlag. Original from the University of Michigan Press|isbn=978-3-598-11262-1|pages=277|author2=Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum|author2-link=Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum}}</ref> buildings which were used to gas and burn some 900,000 of the 1.1 million people that were murdered at Auschwitz-Birkenau in Nazi-occupied Poland.<ref name="bbc">{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/history/worldwars/genocide/holocaust_overview_05.shtml|title=A View of the Holocaust: Industrial killing: Auschwitz-Birkenau|last=Paulsson|first=Steve|date=January 1, 2003|publisher=BBC|accessdate=2011-07-07}}</ref>
== Life == Voss was born in Flensburg, Germany. During the spring and early summer of 1943, the four crematoria at Auschwitz-Birkenau became operational.<ref name=anatomy165>{{cite book|title=Anatomy of the Auschwitz Death Camp|publisher=Indiana University Press|isbn=978-0-253-32684-3|author=Piper, Franciszek|chapter=Gas Chambers and Crematoria|page=[https://archive.org/details/anatomyofauschwi00yisr/page/165 165]|year=1994|url=https://archive.org/details/anatomyofauschwi00yisr/page/165}}</ref> It was this time that Voss became their commander, thus becoming the first of three people who would be in charge of all four Birkenau crematoria during the history of the camp. Subsequent commanders were SS-''Oberscharführer'' Eric Muhsfeldt and SS-''Hauptscharführer'' Otto Moll.
Voss is frequently mentioned in the memoirs of ''Sonderkommando'' member Filip Müller. Müller described him as a stocky man of medium height, with a small, slightly hooked nose and a weakness for alcohol, stating that he displayed "neither the fanaticism nor the zeal" of Otto Moll.<ref name=mueller127>{{cite book|last=Müller|first=Filip|title=Eyewitness Auschwitz: three years in the gas chambers|year=1999|publisher=Ivan R. Dee|isbn=978-1-56663-271-3|pages=[https://archive.org/details/eyewitnessauschw00fili/page/127 127]|url=https://archive.org/details/eyewitnessauschw00fili/page/127}}</ref> Müller stated that Voss' SS training had turned him into an "uncritical and willing tool rather than a fanatically cruel exterminator", and offers the analogy that Voss has two personalities: one where he could be "high-spirited, laughing and joking and talking about trivial things", and another where he would be completely indifferent to "shooting men, women and children one after the other" when required of him.<ref name=mueller128>Müller (1999), p. 128</ref>
Müller disclosed that another of Voss' weaknesses was valuables such as gold, diamonds, and currency: these could be sewn into discreet places in his uniform under the pretence that if he left it with a tailor from the ''Sonderkommando'' while he was on leave, it would be repaired.<ref name=mueller128/> According to Müller, Voss knew what was going on, but such behaviour was common among SS men: they were willing to turn a blind eye as long as there was no risk to themselves.<ref name=mueller128/>
== Hungarian action == Voss' tenure ended on May 9, 1944, when SS-''Obersturmbannführer'' Rudolf Höss, beginning his second tour of duty as camp commandant, appointed Otto Moll as chief of the crematoria in preparation for the arrival and destruction of the Jews of Hungary.<ref name=white>{{cite journal|last=White|first=Joseph Robert|title=Target Auschwitz: Historical and Hypothetical German Responses to Allied Attack|journal=Holocaust and Genocide Studies|year=2002|volume=16|pages=54–76|doi=10.1093/hgs/16.1.54}}</ref> Voss was placed in charge of Crematoria IV and V.<ref name=klauschwitz>{{cite book|last=Bezwińska|first=Jadwiga|title=KL Auschwitz seen by the SS|year=1991|publisher=Interpress Publishers. Original from Penn State University Press|author2=Zbigniew, Bezwińsk |author3=Höss, Rudolf |page=137}}</ref>
He died in 1976.<ref name="Death">{{cite web|title = David Olère|work = Partie V : Autour des crématoires|publisher = Sonderkommando|url = http://www.sonderkommando.info/skauschwitz/temoignages/art/olere/index_5.html|accessdate = 2012-05-11|archive-date = 2009-11-14|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20091114235317/http://sonderkommando.info/skauschwitz/temoignages/art/olere/index_5.html|url-status = dead}}</ref>
== References == {{Reflist}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Voss, Peter}} Category:Auschwitz concentration camp personnel Category:SS non-commissioned officers Category:1897 births Category:1976 deaths Category:People from Flensburg