Heinz Reinefarth (26 December 1903 – 7 May 1979) was a German SS commander during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

and government official in

West Germany West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 ...

after the war. During the

Warsaw Uprising The Warsaw Uprising ( pl, powstanie warszawskie; german: Warschauer Aufstand) was a major World War II operation by the Polish underground resistance to liberate Warsaw from German occupation. It occurred in the summer of 1944, and it was led ...

of August 1944 his troops committed numerous atrocities. After the war, Reinefarth became the mayor of the town of Westerland, on the isle of

Sylt Sylt (; da, Sild; Sylt North Frisian, Söl'ring North Frisian: ) is an island in northern Germany, part of Nordfriesland district, Schleswig-Holstein, and well known for the distinctive shape of its shoreline. It belongs to the North Frisian ...

, and member of the

Schleswig-Holstein Schleswig-Holstein (; da, Slesvig-Holsten; nds, Sleswig-Holsteen; frr, Slaswik-Holstiinj) is the northernmost of the 16 states of Germany, comprising most of the historical duchy of Holstein and the southern part of the former Duchy of Sc ...

Landtag A Landtag (State Diet) is generally the legislative assembly or parliament of a federated state or other subnational self-governing entity in German-speaking nations. It is usually a unicameral assembly exercising legislative competence in non ...

. Polish demands for

extradition Extradition is an action wherein one jurisdiction delivers a person accused or convicted of committing a crime in another jurisdiction, over to the other's law enforcement. It is a cooperative law enforcement procedure between the two jurisdi ...

were never accepted, and Reinefarth was never convicted of any war crime.

Early years

Reinefarth was born in Gnesen (Gniezno),

Province of Posen The Province of Posen (german: Provinz Posen, pl, Prowincja Poznańska) was a province of the Kingdom of Prussia from 1848 to 1920. Posen was established in 1848 following the Greater Poland Uprising as a successor to the Grand Duchy of Posen, ...

. After finishing the gymnasium in 1922, he studied law at the

University of Jena The University of Jena, officially the Friedrich Schiller University Jena (german: Friedrich-Schiller-Universität Jena, abbreviated FSU, shortened form ''Uni Jena''), is a public research university located in Jena, Thuringia, Germany. The ...

. He became a member of the student fraternit
Landsmannschaft Suevia Jena
(this was the origin of the "Schmiss" – German for "dueling scar" – on his left cheek). He graduated in 1927 and passed the 1st degree state exams. Until 1930 he completed his

application Application may refer to: Mathematics and computing * Application software, computer software designed to help the user to perform specific tasks ** Application layer, an abstraction layer that specifies protocols and interface methods used in a c ...

at the local court in

Jena Jena () is a German city and the second largest city in Thuringia. Together with the nearby cities of Erfurt and Weimar, it forms the central metropolitan area of Thuringia with approximately 500,000 inhabitants, while the city itself has a po ...

and was promoted to

judge A judge is a person who presides over court proceedings, either alone or as a part of a panel of judges. A judge hears all the witnesses and any other evidence presented by the barristers or solicitors of the case, assesses the credibility an ...

. On 1 August 1932, he joined the

NSDAP The Nazi Party, officially the National Socialist German Workers' Party (german: Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei or NSDAP), was a far-right political party in Germany active between 1920 and 1945 that created and supported t ...

and received party identification card 1,268,933. In December of the same year, he joined the SS.

World War II

Shortly before the outbreak of

, Reinefarth was conscripted as a reserve

Feldwebel ''Feldwebel '' (Fw or F, ) is a non-commissioned officer (NCO) rank in several countries. The rank originated in Germany, and is also used in Switzerland, Finland, Sweden, and Estonia. The rank has also been used in Russia, Austria-Hungary, occupi ...

. For his actions during the

invasion of Poland The invasion of Poland (1 September – 6 October 1939) was a joint attack on the Republic of Poland by Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union which marked the beginning of World War II. The German invasion began on 1 September 1939, one week af ...

he received the 2nd Class

Iron Cross The Iron Cross (german: link=no, Eisernes Kreuz, , abbreviated EK) was a military decoration in the Kingdom of Prussia, and later in the German Empire (1871–1918) and Nazi Germany (1933–1945). King Frederick William III of Prussia es ...

. He took part in the 1940 campaign against France, for which he was awarded the

Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross The Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross (german: Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes), or simply the Knight's Cross (), and its variants, were the highest awards in the military and paramilitary forces of Nazi Germany during World War II. The Knight' ...

. On 20 April 1942, he was promoted to ''SS-

Brigadeführer ''Brigadeführer'' (, ) was a paramilitary rank of the Nazi Party (NSDAP) that was used between the years of 1932 to 1945. It was mainly known for its use as an SS rank. As an SA rank, it was used after briefly being known as ''Untergruppenf ...

'', the equivalent of Generalmajor in the

Wehrmacht The ''Wehrmacht'' (, ) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the ''Heer'' (army), the '' Kriegsmarine'' (navy) and the ''Luftwaffe'' (air force). The designation "''Wehrmacht''" replaced the previo ...

. After promotion to brigadier, Reinefarth was appointed as General Inspector of SS in the Protectorate of Bohemia-Moravia. In September 1943, he was transferred to

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitu ...

where he served in the Ministry of

Order Police The ''Ordnungspolizei'' (), abbreviated ''Orpo'', meaning "Order Police", were the uniformed police force in Nazi Germany from 1936 to 1945. The Orpo organisation was absorbed into the Nazi monopoly on power after regional police jurisdiction ...

(''Hauptamt Ordnungspolizei''). On 29 January 1944, Reinefarth was assigned to be SS and Police Leader in

Reichsgau Wartheland The ''Reichsgau Wartheland'' (initially ''Reichsgau Posen'', also: ''Warthegau'') was a Nazi German ''Reichsgau'' formed from parts of Polish territory annexed in 1939 during World War II. It comprised the region of Greater Poland and adjacent ...

(Polish Poznań Voivodeship annexed by Germany in 1939).

Warsaw uprising

After the outbreak of the

, Reinefarth was ordered to organise a military unit consisting of personnel from various security units and head for

Warsaw Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is officiall ...

. Upon arrival, his forces (

Kampfgruppe In military history, the German term (pl. ; abbrev. KG, or KGr in usage during World War II, literally "fighting group" or "battle group") can refer to a combat formation of any kind, but most usually to that employed by the of Nazi Germ ...

Reinefarth) were included in the Korpsgruppe von dem Bach of General

Erich von dem Bach-Zelewski Erich Julius Eberhard von dem Bach-Zelewski (born Erich Julius Eberhard von Zelewski; 1 March 1899 – 8 March 1972) was a high-ranking SS commander of Nazi Germany Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State" ...

who was ordered by

Heinrich Himmler Heinrich Luitpold Himmler (; 7 October 1900 – 23 May 1945) was of the (Protection Squadron; SS), and a leading member of the Nazi Party of Germany. Himmler was one of the most powerful men in Nazi Germany and a main architect of th ...

to quell the rebellion. From 5 August 1944, Reinefarth's group took part in mass murders in the undefended

Wola Wola (, ) is a district in western Warsaw, Poland, formerly the village of Wielka Wola, incorporated into Warsaw in 1916. An industrial area with traditions reaching back to the early 19th century, it underwent a transformation into an office (co ...

area.

Murder of civilians

In two days, the units of Reinefarth, which included the notorious SS-Sturmbrigade Dirlewanger under SS-Oberführer

Oskar Dirlewanger Oskar Paul Dirlewanger (26 September 1895 – ) was a German military officer ('' SS-Oberführer'') who served as the founder and commander of the Nazi SS penal unit "Dirlewanger" during World War II. Serving in Poland and in Belarus, his nam ...

, murdered approximately 60,000 civilian inhabitants of Warsaw in what is known as the

Wola massacre The Wola massacre ( pl, Rzeź Woli, lit=Wola slaughter) was the systematic killing of between 40,000 and 50,000 Poles in the Wola neighbourhood of the Polish capital city, Warsaw, by the German Wehrmacht and fellow Axis collaborators in the ...

. In one of his reports to the commander of the German 9th Army Reinefarth stated that ''"we have more prisoners than ammunition to kill them"''.Jacek Tebinka, ''ibidem''. After securing the Wola area, his troops took part in heavy fighting against the

Armia Krajowa The Home Army ( pl, Armia Krajowa, abbreviated AK; ) was the dominant resistance movement in German-occupied Poland during World War II. The Home Army was formed in February 1942 from the earlier Związek Walki Zbrojnej (Armed Resistance) e ...

in the Old Town. In September, his forces were transferred to attack the boroughs of Powiśle and

Czerniaków Czerniaków is a neighbourhood of the city of Warsaw, located within the borough of Mokotów, between the escarpment of the Vistula river and the river itself. Called ''Czerniakowo'' since the Middle Ages, it was then merely a small village loca ...

, where they committed further atrocities, including killing of POWs and wounded found in military hospitals. In all 150,000–200,000 Polish civilians were killed during the uprising. For his actions during the Warsaw Uprising Reinefarth was awarded the Oak Leaves to his Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on 30 September 1944.

Later war activity

In November 1944, Reinefarth was given command over the

XIV SS Corps The XIV SS Corps (German: ''Generalkommando XIV. SS-Armeekorps'') was a short-lived SS corps-level headquarters formed to participate in Operation Nordwind on the Upper Rhine in the winter of 1944-1945 during World War II. History After his app ...

on the Upper-Rhine and in December 1944 over the

XVIII SS Corps XVIII SS Army Corps was formed in December 1944 on the Upper Rhine from the remnants of 3 Wehrmacht Infantry Divisions. In January 1945, the Corps joined the 19th Army until the end of the War. It fought on the upper reaches of the Rhine between ...

in the central

Oder The Oder ( , ; Czech, Lower Sorbian and ; ) is a river in Central Europe. It is Poland's second-longest river in total length and third-longest within its borders after the Vistula and Warta. The Oder rises in the Czech Republic and flows ...

river area. Between January and March 1945, he commanded the defence of "Festung Küstrin" ( Kostrzyn nad Odrą). He declined to defend it to the last man and Hitler found fault with the way he withdrew his troops. Himmler, acting on Hitler's order, had Reinefarth arrested at the end of March 1945. Later he was sentenced to death by a military court. However, the sentence was not carried out, and he continued to command those of his troops that managed to leave the fortress. He moved his troops to the west and surrendered to the British.

Postwar

After World War II, the Polish communist authorities demanded his

. However, the British and American authorities of occupied West Germany decided that Reinefarth could be useful as a witness at the

Nuremberg Trial The Nuremberg trials were held by the Allies against representatives of the defeated Nazi Germany, for plotting and carrying out invasions of other countries, and other crimes, in World War II. Between 1939 and 1945, Nazi Germany invaded ...

. After the trials, he was arrested for war crimes, but the local court in

Hamburg Hamburg (, ; nds, label=Hamburg German, Low Saxon, Hamborg ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg (german: Freie und Hansestadt Hamburg; nds, label=Low Saxon, Friee un Hansestadt Hamborg),. is the List of cities in Germany by popul ...

released him shortly afterwards on the grounds of lack of evidence. West German courts ruled that depositions were not sufficient to secure his conviction and also that

genocide Genocide is the intentional destruction of a people—usually defined as an ethnic, national, racial, or religious group—in whole or in part. Raphael Lemkin coined the term in 1944, combining the Greek word (, "race, people") with the ...

was not in the

criminal code A criminal code (or penal code) is a document that compiles all, or a significant amount of a particular jurisdiction's criminal law. Typically a criminal code will contain offences that are recognised in the jurisdiction, penalties that might ...

of Nazi Germany and so could not be applied retroactively. Reinefarth went on to live a normal life. In December 1951, he was elected mayor of the town of Westerland, the main town on the island of

. In 1962, he was elected to the parliament (''

'') of

. After his term ended in 1967, he worked as a lawyer. Despite numerous demands by

Communist Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, ...

Poland, he was not extradited as the German courts had ruled that there was no evidence of him committing any crimes. He was considered not guilty in the eyes of the law and the federal government. He received a general's pension upon retirement.Marcin Zasada (2009-07-31)
''Syn Warszawskiej Niobe'' (The son of Warsaw ''Niobe'').
''Polska: Magazyn'', pp. 1–5. Polskapresse 2013. Retrieved May 26, 2013. He died on 7 May 1979 in his mansion on Sylt.

Legacy

In 2014, the local authorities of Westerland raised a memorial table remembering Polish victims of Reinefarth. A local SPD member, Ernst Wilhelm Sojan, who was present at the ceremony had campaigned since the 1960s to raise awareness of acts committed by Reinefarth but said that he was always met with a "wall of silence". The regional Schleswig-Holstein government issued a special statement expressing regret that Heinz Reinefarth had been allowed to work as politician in the region. Polish President Bronislaw Komorowski praised the authorities of Sylt for attempting to deal with its past.

Awards

(1939) 2nd Class (25 September 1939) & 1st Class (28 May 1940)Thomas 1998, p. 190. *

Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves The Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross (german: Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes), or simply the Knight's Cross (), and its variants, were the highest awards in the military and paramilitary forces of Nazi Germany during World War II. The Knight' ...

** Knight's Cross on 25 June 1940Scherzer 2007, p. 620. ** 608th Oak Leaves on 30 September 1944 as SS-Gruppenführer and Generalleutnant of the Police, and commander of a Kampfgruppe in the Korpsgruppe von dem Bach

Films

"Holiday on Sylt" 1957 by the Eastern German film director Andrew Thorndike

References

Citations

Bibliography

* * *Tebinka, Jacek. "Ciche lata kata",

Polityka ''Polityka'' (, ''Politics'') is a centre-left weekly news magazine in Poland. With a circulation of 200,050 (as of April 2011), it was the country's biggest selling weekly, ahead of ''Newsweek''s Polish edition, '' Newsweek Polska'', and '' W ...

- nr 32 (2362), 2002-08-10; page 66. *

External links

Wola '44 – genocide in Warsaw
- collection of civilian testimonies concerning Reinefarth's group activity during Warsaw Uprising {{DEFAULTSORT:Reinefarth, Heinz 1903 births 1979 deaths People from Gniezno Nazi Party politicians All-German Bloc/League of Expellees and Deprived of Rights politicians Holocaust perpetrators in Poland People from the Province of Posen Recipients of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves SS and Police Leaders University of Jena faculty Warsaw Uprising German forces Waffen-SS personnel SS-Gruppenführer Members of the Landtag of Schleswig-Holstein 20th-century Freikorps personnel