Jakob Denzinger

Jakob Denzinger is an alleged concentration camp guard during the Holocaust in Nazi Germany. Denzinger is notable for having been a guard at five separate concentration camps across three countries, as well as being a member of the Nazi SS Death's-Head Units, also known as the SS-Totenkopfverbände. In 1956, Denzinger emigrated to the United States, becoming a naturalized citizen in 1972. Denzinger fled the US in 1989 in advance of his denaturalization. An Associated Press investigation reported in October 2014 that despite being denaturalized, Denzinger was still receiving monthly Social Security payments.

Early life
Jakob Frank Denzinger was born in Osijek, Croatia, then in the Kingdom of Yugoslavia, as an ethnic German. He had at least one brother, named Andrija Denzinger, who is married to Julia Denzinger. Andrija is six years younger than Jakob and he also lives in Osijek along with his wife, only a few miles from Jakob's flat. In 1950, Jakob married Maria ("Mary"), who was born in Cepin, Croatia on January 17, 1927.

Nazi era
Denzinger was a concentration camp guard at five separate concentration camps spread across three countries. Those camps were: the Auschwitz Concentration Camp and Plaszow concentration camps in Poland; the Mauthausen Concentration Camp in Austria; and the Sachsenhausen concentration camp and Buchenwald concentration camps in Germany.

At the age of 18 in 1942, Denzinger began serving in the Schutzstaffel. Starting the next year, he served in the Auschwitz concentration camp from May 1943 to March of 1945.

On April 24, 1945, Denzinger was taken prisoner by Allied forces in France. He was presumably held until the end of World War II, 2 September 1945.

Life in America
Denzinger obtained an entry visa into the United States at the American Embassy in Frankfurt, Germany. In October 1956, he entered the US and became naturalized in 1972.

In America, Denzinger settled in Akron, Ohio. Working as a plastics executive, Denzinger "had acquired the trappings of success: a Cadillac DeVille and a Lincoln Town Car, a lakefront home, investments in oil and real estate."

Denzinger had a son while living in the United States, by the name of Thomas A. "Tom" Denzinger. Thomas is married to Patricia "Pat" Bernat, and together they have children Karen Denzinger Schneider, who is married to Tod Schneider, and Paul Denzinger, who is married to Ashley. Patricia Bernat Denzinger is the daughter of Stanley J. Bernat and Irene V. Ball. Thomas is a partner at Denzinger Investments, located in Akron.

After learning that American authorities had started the denaturalization process against him, Denzinger left for West Germany in August of 1989 after packing "a pair of suitcases". In November 1989, just three months after Denzinger had left America, his American citizenship was revoked.

Later life
After arriving in West Germany, Denzinger soon moved to his native Osijek, Croatia, where as of 2014 he "now lives in a spacious apartment on the right bank of the Drava River". In October of 2014, Denzinger and other former Nazis came under intense criticism when widespread reports stated that Denzinger and others were collecting American Social Security benefits while living abroad. Denzinger was one of these men, collecting $1500 USD a month, about twice the average take home pay of Croatian workers.

In 2014 the Croatian government opened a war crimes investigation into Denzinger. He is wanted in Germany, and his name is on a list of people to be prosecuted specifically for Nazi war crimes. Croatian officials have requested documents from the German government, the United States, and the Simon Wiesenthal Centre to support their investigation.

Denzinger's son Thomas stated, "He’s made a new life for himself over there [in Croatia]. But he’s angry. He claims he was drafted into the army and he did as he was told. You do as you are told or they line you up against a wall and shoot you. You don’t have any choice.”

There is a grave in Cepin, Croatia, that has been prepared for Denzinger before his death. The grave has a tombstone on black marble along with gold-colored inscriptions. A portrait photo of Denzinger is included on the tombstone, protected from the elements by a clear plastic coating. Denzinger's wife Maria died on April 26, 2014 in the United States after being diagnosed with lung cancer three days before.