The Case of Nazi Murderer Reinhold Feix

Reinhold Feix was born July 3, 1909 in the Sudetenland, an area of Czechoslovakia that was under German control at various points in history. The exact town of his origins is Nova Ves (formerly called Neudorf) near Gablonz (now called Jablonec nad Nisou), which is located in northern Bohemia.

Feix was initially assigned to the SS training camp in Trawniki. From there, he was transferred to Belzec Labor Camp (later it became a Death Camp), where he commanded a Ukrainian crew of Trawnikis numbering between 60 and 80 criminals. This group was also involved in the gas chamber operations. Recalls Belzec survivor Rudolf Reder,

Feix practiced cruelty in a different way. It was said he came from Gablonz on the Neisse and was married and the father of two children. He spoke the way intelligent people speak. He talked quickly. If someone failed to understand him at once, he beat him and screamed to the high heavens like a madman.

Once, when he ordered the kitchen painted, and a Jewish doctor of chemistry was doing it, standing right at the top of a ladder just under the ceiling, Feix ordered him to climb down every few minutes and beat him across the face with his riding crop, so that the man's face was swelled up and was covered with blood. That was how he did his job. Feix seemed abnormal. He played the violin. He ordered the orchestra to play the Polish melody "Highlander, have you no regrets?" until they dropped. He commanded people to sing and dance and he toyed with them and tortured them. The beast went amok.

The cruelty he inflicted was of the most blatant kind, whipping and beating his victims about the face while screaming hysterically. He considered himself musical and played the violin and under his command a camp orchestra was formed under Wassermann, a conductor. Feix particularly liked the Polish melody "Highlander have you no regrets".

After Belzec, Feix was ordered to Budzyn Labor Camp as Lagerfuhrer in the spring of 1943.

The Budzyn survivors also remember him very well. Recalls George Topas:

Of medium height, blond, with steel-cold colorless eyes and the glossy gaze of one accustomed to heavy drinking, Feix appeared restless. His expression was one of undisguised rancor, cruelty his strongest facial characteristic. Standing erect with legs apart, wearing polished boots, a pistol in an open holster, and a Mauser hanging from his neck, he seemed ready to make the welcoming address.

"You are fortunate to have come here. This is a good camp. Here you will work and get fed. Of course, if you expect to eat, you will have to work for it and as long as you work, you will get along fine. Now, it is prohibited to possess any silver, gold, money or jewelry -- therefore, if you turn it in now, you will not be punished.' Just at this moment, someone moved in the ranks. Feix whipped out his gun and shot him on the spot, then resumed without a pause: 'Now, when I finish speaking, I want you to turn in your valuables, such as gold, silver, diamonds, and currency."

Feix was fair complected and may have had a background as a policeman. His Nazi title was S.S. Hauptscharfuhrer. Feix survived the war and died in Amberg, Bavaria on the May 30, 1969 at age 60. (Note: The date or location may have been different.) He was never punished for his crimes. One of his two sons committed suicide.

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