Really, Germany?

[abaris]

Actually there were several recruitment pools for SS-guards. First and foremost, the very frst concentration camp at Dachau. After Theodor Eicke became commander, he set up a rulebook for every concentration camp. And he set up incentives that actually encouraged violence. For shooting a fugitive, the SS man got leave, money and special rations. Eicke was considered a madman by some of his superiors. His man called him Papa.

In fact, many of the later camp commanders started out there. Such as Rudolf Höss. But also Adolf Eichmann was there for a time.

A second pool were the euthanasia Institutes predating the start of the Holocaust. They were manned by police officers, nurses, medics, orderlies and doctors, who learned to kill there. Again, many moved on to the Holocaust. Most infamour among them Franz Stangl. later commander of Treblinka and originally a police captain. And another police captain named Christian Wirth, who became instrumental in organising the killings behind the frontlines. But also the aforementioned Josef Klehr came from there.

Last, as the war moved on, the SS recruited Ukrainians as camp guards. John Demjanjuk, who made headlines a few years ago, came from that pool.

According to original German news reports from march 2015, this Hubert Zafke was a career SS-man. Signed up at 19 and spent nearly his whole career at Auschwitz. He also wasn't an orderly but a medic and a seargent, going by military rank. So he left the stage of grunt at some time for something.