Eduard Weiter

Eduard Weiter (18 July 1889 – 2 May 1945) was a German bureaucrat who became a Schutzstaffel Obersturmbannführer and concentration camp commandant during World War II.

The son of a horsewhip maker, Weiter worked as a book salesman whilst studying part-time until he joined the German Imperial Army at the age of 20.

[1] He served as divisional and then regimental paymaster and following the reductions in the German military that followed the Treaty of Versailles he took up a similar position in the Bavarian police.

[3] Conditions did decline, however, notably due to overcrowding (as other more easterly camps were closed), but Weiter made little attempt to expand Dachau to cope with this influx.

[3] Weiter did not face trial, as he fled Dachau immediately before its liberation and reached castle Schloss Itter in Austria, where he died under mysterious circumstances.

The main gate at Dachau concentration camp , marked with the slogan, Arbeit macht frei