Nuremberg Remembered Biography: Kurt Prüfer

Kurt Prüfer was born in Erfurt in 1891. After secondary school, he attended courses in structural engineering and worked at two other firms before he was hired by Topf and Sons in 1911 as a foreman. Prüfer was doing well with the firm when he was called into military service for World War I. Returning to Topf in 1919 after the war, Prüfer continued his education in civil engineering and by 1928 was promoted to head the crematorium construction division.

Topf and Sons was the only civilian firm directly involved in the extermination of Jews in Auschwitz; it not only supplied cremation furnaces but also fitted out the gas chambers in Birkenau crematoria. The firm, founded in the nineteenth century, was employing over one thousand people in the early twentieth century.

The depression starting in 1929 affected the business of Topf and Sons. While many employees were being laid off, Prüfer was able to retain his job and by 1934, as business improved, Prüfer further strengthened his position when he joined the Nazi party.

As of 1935, the German economy was improving and the Topf firm benefited from the situation. Prüfer became chief engineer. Four years later, the firm had 1,200 employees. Topf became a key supplier of the Wehrmacht.

Because of his membership in the Nazi Party, Prüfer was able to introduce himself to concentration camp circles, where high mortality and fear of disease was increasing the demand for cremation furnaces. Prüfer landed the contract for Topf with Dachau concentration camp and installed a two-muffle cremation furnace in November 1939.

Thanks to Prüfer, Topf gradually introduced their cremation products into four concentration camps: Dachau, Buchenwald, Mauthausen, and Auschwitz-Birkenau. Topf built 66 cremation muffles at camps; 46 were at Auschwitz-Birkenau.

Prüfer took pride in the fact that he obtained profitable contracts for Topf and Sons and worked steadily during the war years to build the cremation furnaces and repair them when cracks occurred. Even after the war, when it was evident that the Topf firm had been involved with the crematorium, Prüfer did not think anything would happen to him since he had destroyed what he thought was incriminating evidence. The following transcript of a Russian interrogation of Prüfer in 1946 reveals his thinking:

Q. How often and with what aim did you visit Auschwitz?
R. Five times. The first time [was] the beginning of 1943, to receive the orders of the SS Command, where the "kremas" were to be built. The second time [was] in spring 1943 to inspect the building site. The third time was in autumn 1943 to inspect a fault in the construction of a "krema" chimney. The fourth time [was] at the beginning of 1944, to inspect the repaired chimney. The fifth time [was] September-October 1944 when I visited Auschwitz in connection with the intended relocation [from] Auschwitz' of the crematoriums, since the battle front was getting nearer. The crematoriums were not relocated because there were not enough workers . . .
Q. Did you see a gas chamber next to the crematorium?
R. Yes, I did see one next to the crematorium. Between the gas chamber and the crematorium there was a connecting structure.
Q. Did you know that in the gas chambers and the crematoriums there took place the liquidations of innocent human beings?
R. I have known since spring 1943 that innocent human beings were being liquidated in Auschwitz gas chambers and that their corpses were subsequently incinerated in the crematoriums. . . .
Q. Why were the brick linings of the muffles so quickly damaged?
R. The bricks were damaged after six months because the strain on the furnaces was colossal.
Q.What motivated you to continue with the building of the other crematoriums as senior engineer with Topf and Sons?
R. I had my contract with the Topf firm and I was aware of the fact that my work was of great importance for the national socialist state. I knew that if I refused to continue with this work, I would be liquidated by the Gestapo.