Karl Koch diary

Karl Koch was born in Darmstadt, Germany, on August 2, 1897. He joined the German military in 1916 and fought on the western front during World War I. In 1918, he was captured by the British, returning to Germany in 1919, where he worked in a bank and with an insurance company. In 1931, Koch joined the Nazi Party and the SS. He served with the SS-Standarten until 1935, when he became the commander of the Columbia concentration camp in Berlin. He was moved to the Esterwegen and Sachsenhausen concentration camps before being given command, in 1937, of the Buchenwald concentration camp. He was the commandant of Buchenwald until 1941, when was transferred to Majdanek. He was relieved of his duties at Majdanek in 1942 after a group of Soviet POWs escaped the camp. He was transferred to Berlin, where he worked as a liaison between the SS and the German Post Office. His actions while stationed at Buchenwald drew attention, and SS-Obergruppenfuhrer Josias, Prince of Waldeck and Pyrmont, began to investigate Koch's order to murder various prisoners and his embezzlement activities. Koch was sentenced to death by the SS and executed by firing squad on April 5, 1945. Koch's wife, Ilse Koch, was infamously known as the "Bitch of Buchenwald."

United States Holocaust Memorial Museum

United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Collection, Gift of Tomaz Jardim

Dr. Tomaz Jardim donated these scans to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 2014. He received the original diary from Karl Koch's daughter.