Architects of Death: The Family Who Engineered the Holocaust

Thüringer Gauzeitung 1

Thuringia State Archive 1

Thuringian Industrialists Society 1

Topf, Agnes

family of 1

Topf, Albert 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7

background of 1

family of 1, 2, 3, 4

Topf, Dagmar 1

Topf, Elke 1

family of 1

Topf, Erika 1

death of (1963) 1

Topf, Ernst Wolfgang 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25

death of (1979) 1

family of 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

investigations targeting 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

Topf, Gustav 1, 2

Topf, Hanna 1, 2, 3

Topf, Hans 1, 2, 3

family of 1, 2

Topf, Hartmut 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13

family of 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9

Topf, Johann Andreas 1, 2, 3

background of 1

death of (1891) 1

family of 1, 2

Topf, Johanna 1, 2

Topf, Julius 1, 2

family of 1, 2

Topf, Karin 1

family of 1

Topf, Karl

family of 1

Topf, Ludwig 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24

family of 1, 2

Topf Sr, Ludwig 1, 2, 3, 4

family of 1, 2

Topf, Max Julius Ernst 1

Topf, Till

family of 1

Topf, Viktor Karl Ludwig 1

Topf, Wilhelm Louis (Ludwig) 1, 2, 3

Topf and Sons 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42

cremation ovens designed by 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13

Department B 1, 2

Department D 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

Department E 1

gas chambers constructed by 1, 2, 3

growth of 1, 2

Memorial 1

personnel of 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18

re-founding of 1

works council 1

Topf Furnace Construction 1

Topfwerke Erfurt VEB 1

Treblinka (extermination camp) 1, 2

Triebel, Friedrich 1

U

Ukraine 1

United Kingdom (UK) 1, 2

United States of America (USA) 1

Counter Intelligence Corps (CIC) 1, 2, 3, 4

University of Jena 1

Urbanczyk, Walter 1

V

VEB Erfurter Mälzerei- und Speicherbau (EMS/ VEB Erfurt Malting and Storage Construction) 1, 2, 3, 4

Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra 1

Volkmann and Ludwig 1

W

Wachler, Ernst 1

Weimar Military Command 1, 2

Weimar Republic (1918–33) 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

deflationary crisis (1929) 1

Wiemokli, Willy 1

background of 1

family of 1

testimony of 1

Windesheim, Hans 1

World Jewish Congress 1

Y

Yugoslavia 1

Z

Ziegenbein, Kurt 1

Ziereis, Franz 1

Zyklon B gas 1, 2, 3, 4

PLATES

^{The founders of Topf and Sons: J. A. Topf (centre), Julius Topf (left), Ludwig Topf Sr (right).}

^{The Topf family in the early twentieth century.}

^{COURTESY OF NIKOLA KUZMANIC}

^{Despite humble beginnings, Topf and Sons expanded and became a large firm in Erfurt.}

^{COURTESY OF NIKOLA KUZMANIC}

^{Ernst Wolfgang Topf and Ludwig Topf.}

^{COURTESY OF TOPF & SÖHNE MEMORIAL}

^{Ludwig Topf in army uniform in the early 1940s.}

^{COURTESY OF LANDESARCHIV THÜRINGEN - HAUPTSTAATSARCHIV WEIMAR}

^{The main administration building at Topf and Sons as it was during the 1940s.}

^{COURTESY OF LANDESARCHIV THÜRINGEN - HAUPTSTAATSARCHIV WEIMAR}

^{The commemorative brochure printed for the sixtieth anniversary of Topf and Sons in 1938.}

^{Kurt Prüfer, head of the oven construction and cremation department at Topf and Sons.}

^{COURTESY OF LANDESARCHIV THÜRINGEN - HAUPTSTAATSARCHIV WEIMAR}

^{Fritz Sander, co-head of the furnace construction division at Topf and Sons.}

^{COURTESY OF LANDESARCHIV THÜRINGEN - HAUPTSTAATSARCHIV WEIMAR}

^{Karl Schultze, head of ventilation systems at Topf and Sons.}

^{COURTESY OF LANDESARCHIV THÜRINGEN - HAUPTSTAATSARCHIV WEIMAR}

^{Ernst Wolfgang Topf (third from left) with his brother Ludwig (fourth from left) and other family members outside Ludwig’s modernist villa in the Topf family park.}

^{COURTESY OF NIKOLA KUZMANIC}

^{Topf and Sons employees at work in the main administration building during the 1930s.}

^{COURTESY OF NIKOLA KUZMANIC}

^{The entrance to the concentration camp at Birkenau, summer 1944.}

^{COURTESY OF AUSCHWITZBIRKENAU MEMORIAL}

^{The Topf and Sons ovens in Crematorium I at Auschwitz-Birkenau.}

^{COURTESY OF AUSCHWITZBIRKENAU MEMORIAL}

^{The Topf and Sons ovens in Crematorium II at Auschwitz-Birkenau.}

^{COURTESY OF AUSCHWITZBIRKENAU MEMORIAL}

^{The exterior of Crematorium III at Auschwitz-Birkenau.}

^{COURTESY OF AUSCHWITZ-BIRKENAU MEMORIAL}

^{The Auschwitz-Birkenau Commandant Rudolf Höss moments before his execution.}

^{COURTESY OF AUSCHWITZ-BIRKENAU MEMORIAL}

^{Topf and Sons operations director Gustav Braun (right) with his son Udo (left).}

^{COURTESY OF UDO BRAUN}

^{Udo Braun as he is today.}

^{COURTESY OF UDO BRAUN}

^{Hartmut Topf with his parents, Albert and Irmgard.}

^{COURTESY OF HARTMUT TOPF}

^{Hartmut Topf with his sisters Elke (left) and Karin (right).}

^{COURTESY OF HARTMUT TOPF}

^{Hartmut Topf in front of the Topf and Sons ovens at Buchenwald.}

^{COURTESY OF NIKOLA KUZMANIC}

^{The Topf and Sons insignia, still visible today, on the ovens at Buchenwald.}

^{© KAREN BARTLETT}

^{The remains of the ‘Gotha oak tree’ in the grounds of Buchenwald.}

^{© KAREN BARTLETT}