Erber, Josef

Josef Erber (16 Oct. 1897 – 31 Oct. 1987), SS Oberscharführer at war’s end, was an ethnic German from Bohemia. He was deployed to the Auschwitz Camp in November 1940, where he served first as a guard, then in the armory, and finally from mid-1942 in the Political Department of the Auschwitz Camp (camp Gestapo).

After the war, Erber was one of the defendants during the Frankfurt Auschwitz Show Trial. He was sentenced to life imprisonment for contributing to the murder of 70 people while serving at the Political Department, but released early in 1986.

While in prison, he gave an interview to German journalist Ebbo Demant (1979), during which he made statements indicating that he had learned by heart the orthodox Auschwitz narrative, including its various absurdities. For example, he stated that the gas chambers of the Crematoria II and III at Birkenau (their Morgue #1) had a capacity of 3,000 people. This room had a surface area of 210 m². Hence, the packing density would have amounted to more than 14 people per square meter, which is physically impossible.