Erich Roth

Erich Roth (born 25 May 1910 in Auschwitz – executed in 1947 in Yugoslavia) was an SS-Sturmbannführer, head of Unit IV B1 and B2 (Political Catholicism and Political Protestantism) and a deputy Gruppenleiter of Amt IV (Department IV) Gestapo of the RSHA.

Leben

Born in Auschwitz, Roth came from a family of laborers and cottagers. His father had worked his way up to Reichsbahn head secretary. Roth attended a school for humanities and studied law at the University of Jena and University of Göttingen. By the time he completed his state examination he was already under the Nazi regime. Roth passed his second exam with a mark of "sufficient".

After a short stint with the district court, Roth worked as an assessor for the Gestapo in Berlin starting in February 1938. After the war began, he worked in the occupation administration in the General Government in Poland starting in October 1939. Later he took over the office groups IV B1 and IV B2 (church affairs) in the newly formed SS-Reichssicherheitshauptamt (RSHA; Reich Main Security Office).

In February 1943, Roth was head of the Gestapo office in Dortmund. In late 1944, it was proposed that Roth should be a special representative to the Reichskommissar für die Festigung deutschen Volkstums (Reich Commissioner for the Consolidation of German Nationhood) in Oslo, Norway. The RSHA declined the offer, as Roth could not be "released from his current position without endangering the security police affairs under any circumstances with respect to the current overall situation in the West."

Post-war

In 1947 Roth was extradited from the French occupation forces to Yugoslavia. He was sentenced to death and executed.