He came from Lüneburg and had a total of 18 siblings. He went to Wesermünde (Bremerhaven) and signed on to various ships. When he was not needed as a fishing assistant, he earned his living in the fishing industry. Sometimes he stole trousers, sometimes fish. He was brought before the courts several times for this and sentenced to prison terms. In 1937, he was forcibly sterilised.
Finally, in 1942, the court ordered his preventive detention in the Lüneburg mental hospital. When he was released to the Neuengamme concentration camp on 31 March 1944, he was sent to the Hannover-Stöcken satellite camp. There he was forced to perform hard labour in the accumulator factory. He died in March 1945.
Believed to be a French prisoner of war named »Robert Salan«, he was buried in May 1945 in a cemetery of honour on the Maschsee in Hanover.
