Hans Aumeier was born on 20 August 1908 in Amberg and initially worked as a lathe operator in a gun factory. His military career began in the SA, and he entered the NSDAP and the SS from August 1929.

He had been part of the guard battalion at Dachau concentration camp since its founding, where he also received his training. He then joined the guard team at Esterwegen, Lichtenburg and Buchenwald concentration camps. In 1938 he assumed the position of Protective Custody Camp Leader at Flossenbürg concentration camp, and three years later at Auschwitz concentration camp. Owing to various allegations against him, which also included theft and corruption, he was transferred to the Vaivara concentration camp in Estonia for disciplinary reasons.

Following his time at Vaivara concentration camp, he became Commander of the Landsberg/Kaufering concentration subcamp complex, and in January 1945 of the Grini police prisoner camp in Norway. In the aftermath of the war, the Allies extradited him to Poland where he was condemned to death in the Auschwitz trial and hanged on 24 January 1948.