Hans Möser Hans Karl Möser , or Hans Moeser , ( April 7 , 1906 – † November 26 , 1948 ) was a German Nazi SS officer at the Neuengamme , Auschwitz and Mittelbau - Dora concentration camps during World War II . Rising to the rank of SS - Obersturmführer , he was captured at the end of the war and tried by the United States Military Government Court for war crimes . The only one among 19 defendants at the Dora Trial sentenced to death , Möser was executed at Landsberg Prison in 1948 ( death by hanging ) . Life . Möser was born in Darmstadt , Germany . A merchant by trade , he joined the Nazi Party in October 1929 ( Member No . 155301 ) and the SS in July 1931 ( Member No . 9555 ) . On July 1940 Möser joined the staff at the newly opened SS - Hinzert concentration camp , infamous for its brutality , and later he transferred to Neuengamme . From May 1943 until October 1943 he was posted to the Auschwitz III Monowitz concentration camp as Kompanieführer of the Wachbatallion ( Guard Battalion ) in IG Farben ' s " Buna " plant . By the end of April 1944 he was also Kompanieführer of the Men on Watch at the Auschwitz I main camp ( ) . He transferred to the Dora central camp on May 1 , 1944 , initially serving as Deputy Protective Custody Camp Leader ( ) and then in July promoted to First Protective Custody Camp Leader . Here he was to commit the atrocities that would lead to his later trial and execution . During hangings of prisoners , for instance , he sometimes saw to it that the ropes were cut while the victims were still alive , in order to prolong their agony . In February , 1945 , as the Red Army overran German positions on the Eastern Front , the SS headquarters personnel at Auschwitz evacuated to Mittelbau - Dora . Auschwitz commander Richard Baer and his staff took over the Dora complex and Möser was again made Deputy Leader , this time under Franz Hößler . On April 5 , 1945 , as American 3rd Armored Division closed in on Mittelbau - Dora , Möser led a forced evacuation of over 3000 prisoners to the railhead for transfer to Neuengamme . Due to the wartime situation the train was diverted to Ravensbrück concentration camp instead . The prisoners were then led on a death march for the last stage of their journey . Trial and Execution . Möser was arrested at the end of the war . Following the June 1945 Fedden Mission investigation of the Dora conditions , Möser was among 19 defendants tried by the American General Military Government Court in the Dora Trial ( " The United States of America versus Arthur Kurt Andrae et al . " , Case Number 000 - 50 - 37 ) , part of the Dachau Trials . Proceedings began on July 7 , 1947 and lasted until December 30 . Möser was found to have been present at hangings and personally shooting prisoners execution - style during escape attempts . The responsibility for the death marches during the final evacuation of Dora were also attributed to Möser . In his trial statement he said : “ The same way , with the same pleasure , as you shoot deer , I shot a human being . When I came to the SS and had to shoot the first three persons , my food didn ’ t taste good for three days , but today it is a pleasure . It is a joy for me . ” Found guilty , he was the only defendant in the Dora Trial sentenced to death . Following appeals , Möser was executed by hanging at Landsberg Prison on November 26 , 1948 .