August Hirt

August Hirt
Birth nameAugust Erwin Theobald Hirt
Born(1898-04-28)28 April 1898
Mannheim, Grand Duchy of Baden, German Empire
Died2 June 1945(1945-06-02) (aged 47)
Schluchsee, Württemberg, Allied-occupied Germany
Allegiance German Empire
 Nazi Germany
Branch Imperial German Army
 Schutzstaffel
RankSS-Sturmbannführer
Battles / warsWorld War I
World War II

August Hirt (28 April 1898 – 2 June 1945) was an anatomist with Swiss and German nationality who served as a chairman at the Reich University in Strasbourg during World War II. He performed experiments with mustard gas on inmates at the Natzweiler-Struthof concentration camp and played a leading role in the murders of 86 people at Natzweiler-Struthof for the Jewish skull collection. The skeletons of his victims were meant to become specimens at the Institute of anatomy in Strasbourg, but completion of the project was stopped by the progress of the war. He was an SS-Hauptsturmführer (captain) and by 1944, an SS-Sturmbannführer (major).