Karl Eberhard Schöngarth (22 April 1903 – 16 May 1946) was a German lawyer and
SS-''
Brigadeführer
''Brigadeführer'' (, ) was a paramilitary rank of the Nazi Party (NSDAP) that was used between 1932 and 1945. It was mainly known for its use as an SS rank. As an SA rank, it was used after briefly being known as '' Untergruppenführer'' in ...
'' in
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German Reich, German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a Totalit ...
. He was a
war criminal
A war crime is a violation of the laws of war that gives rise to individual criminal responsibility for actions by combatants in action, such as intentionally killing civilians or intentionally killing prisoners of war, torture, taking hostage ...
who perpetrated
mass murder
Mass murder is the violent crime of murder, killing a number of people, typically simultaneously or over a relatively short period of time and in close geographic proximity. A mass murder typically occurs in a single location where one or more ...
and
genocide
Genocide is violence that targets individuals because of their membership of a group and aims at the destruction of a people. Raphael Lemkin, who first coined the term, defined genocide as "the destruction of a nation or of an ethnic group" by ...
in German-
occupied Poland
' (Norwegian language, Norwegian: ') is a Norwegian political thriller TV series that premiered on TV 2 (Norway), TV2 on 5 October 2015. Based on an original idea by Jo Nesbø, the series is co-created with Karianne Lund and Erik Skjoldbjærg. ...
during
the Holocaust
The Holocaust (), known in Hebrew language, Hebrew as the (), was the genocide of History of the Jews in Europe, European Jews during World War II. From 1941 to 1945, Nazi Germany and Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy ...
. He participated in the January 1942
Wannsee Conference, at which the genocidal
Final Solution to the Jewish Question was originally planned. After the war, Schöngarth and six others were tried for murdering an American pilot, Americo S. Galle, who was shot down over the
Netherlands
, Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...
in November 1944. They were all found guilty. Schöngarth and four others were sentenced to death and executed in 1946.
Early life
Schöngarth was born on 22 April 1903 in
Leipzig
Leipzig (, ; ; Upper Saxon: ; ) is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Saxony. The city has a population of 628,718 inhabitants as of 2023. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, eighth-largest city in Ge ...
, the son of a
master brewer. He began high school at the age of 11 but, after the outbreak of the
First World War
World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
, dropped out of school in order to work at a garden center to support the war effort. On 7 March 1918, Schöngarth was awarded a Young Men's Iron Medal. After the war, he was to go back to high school to complete his education, but instead joined a ''
Freikorps
(, "Free Corps" or "Volunteer Corps") were irregular German and other European paramilitary volunteer units that existed from the 18th to the early 20th centuries. They effectively fought as mercenaries or private military companies, rega ...
''
paramilitary
A paramilitary is a military that is not a part of a country's official or legitimate armed forces. The Oxford English Dictionary traces the use of the term "paramilitary" as far back as 1934.
Overview
Though a paramilitary is, by definiti ...
group in
Thuringia
Thuringia (; officially the Free State of Thuringia, ) is one of Germany, Germany's 16 States of Germany, states. With 2.1 million people, it is 12th-largest by population, and with 16,171 square kilometers, it is 11th-largest in area.
Er ...
. He displayed
ethno-nationalistic sentiments at an early age. He participated in the
Kapp Putsch in 1920 and, in 1922, he joined the Nazi Party ''Ortsgruppe'' (local group) in
Erfurt
Erfurt () is the capital (political), capital and largest city of the Central Germany (cultural area), Central German state of Thuringia, with a population of around 216,000. It lies in the wide valley of the Gera (river), River Gera, in the so ...
(membership number 43,870) and the
Viking League. That year he also joined the ''
Sturmabteilung
The (; SA; or 'Storm Troopers') was the original paramilitary organisation under Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party of Germany. It played a significant role in Adolf Hitler's rise to power, Hitler's rise to power in the 1920s and early 1930s. I ...
'' (SA), the Nazi paramilitary organization, earned his ''
Abitur
''Abitur'' (), often shortened colloquially to ''Abi'', is a qualification granted at the end of secondary education in Germany. It is conferred on students who pass their final exams at the end of ISCED 3, usually after twelve or thirteen year ...
'' and obtained a job as a bank teller at
Deutsche bank
Deutsche Bank AG (, ) is a Germany, German multinational Investment banking, investment bank and financial services company headquartered in Frankfurt, Germany, and dual-listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange and the New York Stock Exchange.
...
.
[Dr. Eberhard Schongarth (1903–1946)](_blank)
in th
House of the Wannsee Conference Memorial and Education Site
/ref> Following the failed Beer Hall Putsch
The Beer Hall Putsch, also known as the Munich Putsch,Dan Moorhouse, ed schoolshistory.org.uk, accessed 2008-05-31.Known in German as the or was a failed coup d'état by Nazi Party leader Adolf Hitler, Erich Ludendorff and other leaders i ...
, Schöngarth fled to Coburg
Coburg ( , ) is a Town#Germany, town located on the Itz (river), Itz river in the Upper Franconia region of Bavaria, Germany. Long part of one of the Thuringian states of the Ernestine duchies, Wettin line, it joined Bavaria by popular vote only ...
to avoid a charge of treason but eventually returned to Erfurt and was granted amnesty.
By 1924, Schöngarth's involvement with the Nazi Party
The Nazi Party, officially the National Socialist German Workers' Party ( or NSDAP), was a far-right politics, far-right political party in Germany active between 1920 and 1945 that created and supported the ideology of Nazism. Its precursor ...
waned, he briefly served in the ''Reichswehr
''Reichswehr'' (; ) was the official name of the German armed forces during the Weimar Republic and the first two years of Nazi Germany. After Germany was defeated in World War I, the Imperial German Army () was dissolved in order to be reshaped ...
'' Infantry Regiment 1/15 in Gießen
Giessen, spelled in German (), is a town in the German state () of Hesse, capital of both the district of Giessen and the administrative region of Giessen. The population is approximately 90,000, with roughly 37,000 university students.
Th ...
, and then enrolled at Leipzig University
Leipzig University (), in Leipzig in Saxony, Germany, is one of the world's oldest universities and the second-oldest university (by consecutive years of existence) in Germany. The university was founded on 2 December 1409 by Frederick I, Electo ...
, majoring in economics and law. He joined a Student Corps
Corps (or Korps; "''das ~''" (''Grammatical gender, n''), (''sg.''), (''pl.'')) are the oldest still-existing kind of ''Studentenverbindung'', Germany's traditional Corporation (university), university corporations; their roots date back to the ...
, ''Corps Germania'', and continued his studies at the University of Greifswald and the University of Halle
Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg (), also referred to as MLU, is a public research university in the cities of Halle and Wittenberg. It is the largest and oldest university in the German state of Saxony-Anhalt. MLU offers German and i ...
. He completed his first state legal examination in July 1928 and entered on his legal clerkship in the Erfurt district court and the Naumburg
Naumburg () is a town in (and the administrative capital of) the district Burgenlandkreis, in the state of Saxony-Anhalt, Central Germany (cultural area), Central Germany. It has a population of around 33,000. The Naumburg Cathedral became a UNES ...
regional court. He then went on to acquire his doctorate in law from the Institute for Labor Law at the University of Leipzig on 28 June 1929 at the age of 26, and was awarded a ''cum laude''. His thesis was on the subject of "the refusal of notices of termination of employment contracts". He passed his second state legal examination in June 1932 and worked as an '' Assessor'' and assistant magistrate
The term magistrate is used in a variety of systems of governments and laws to refer to a civilian officer who administers the law. In ancient Rome, a '' magistratus'' was one of the highest ranking government officers, and possessed both judi ...
in Magdeburg
Magdeburg (; ) is the Capital city, capital of the Germany, German States of Germany, state Saxony-Anhalt. The city is on the Elbe river.
Otto I, Holy Roman Emperor, Otto I, the first Holy Roman Emperor and founder of the Archbishopric of Mag ...
, Erfurt and Torgau. In 1935, he married Dorothea Gross, with whom he had two sons.
SS career
Gestapo official
After becoming a court official, Schöngarth began involving himself more heavily in the Nazi Party. On 1 March 1933 he joined the SS (member number 67,174), rejoined the Nazi Party (membership number 2,848,857), and was subsequently appointed as a postmaster
A postmaster is the head of an individual post office, responsible for all postal activities in a specific post office. When a postmaster is responsible for an entire mail distribution organization (usually sponsored by a national government), ...
in Erfurt
Erfurt () is the capital (political), capital and largest city of the Central Germany (cultural area), Central German state of Thuringia, with a population of around 216,000. It lies in the wide valley of the Gera (river), River Gera, in the so ...
. He left his postmaster position on 1 November 1935 when he joined the Prussian Gestapo
The (, ), Syllabic abbreviation, abbreviated Gestapo (), was the official secret police of Nazi Germany and in German-occupied Europe.
The force was created by Hermann Göring in 1933 by combining the various political police agencies of F ...
in Berlin, and was assigned to the main press office and the political-church office. It is unclear how he obtained this post, but a letter from then SS-''Gruppenführer
__NOTOC__
''Gruppenführer'' (, ) was an early paramilitary rank of the Nazi Party (NSDAP), first created in 1925 as a senior rank of the SA. Since then, the term ''Gruppenführer'' is also used for leaders of groups/teams of the police, fire d ...
'' Reinhard Heydrich
Reinhard Tristan Eugen Heydrich ( , ; 7 March 1904 – 4 June 1942) was a German high-ranking SS and police official during the Nazi era and a principal architect of the Holocaust. He held the rank of SS-. Many historians regard Heydrich ...
to the Reich Ministry of the Interior recommending him, suggests that Heydrich was his patron. Schöngarth also was named as a government counselor (''Regierungsrat'') in April 1936. In November 1936, he became a member of the SD, the SS intelligence service, in the SD ''Hauptamt'' (later, the Reich Security Main Office
The Reich Security Main Office ( , RSHA) was an organization under Heinrich Himmler in his dual capacity as ''Chef der Deutschen Polizei'' (Chief of German Police) and , the head of the Nazi Party's ''Schutzstaffel'' (SS). The organization's stat ...
) under Heydrich. Over the next few years, he was assigned as the Gestapo commander in Arnsberg
Arnsberg (; ) is a town in the Hochsauerland county, in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia. It is the location of the Regierungsbezirk Arnsberg (region), Arnsberg administration and one of the three local administration offices of the Ho ...
(1936–1937), Bielefeld
Bielefeld () is a city in the Ostwestfalen-Lippe Region in the north-east of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. With a population of 341,755, it is also the most populous city in the administrative region () of Detmold (region), Detmold and the L ...
(1937), Dortmund
Dortmund (; ; ) is the third-largest city in North Rhine-Westphalia, after Cologne and Düsseldorf, and the List of cities in Germany by population, ninth-largest city in Germany. With a population of 614,495 inhabitants, it is the largest city ...
(early 1938) and Münster
Münster (; ) is an independent city#Germany, independent city (''Kreisfreie Stadt'') in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is in the northern part of the state and is considered to be the cultural centre of the Westphalia region. It is also a ...
(March 1938–October 1939). Advanced to senior government councilor (''Oberregierungsrat'') in April 1939, his next assignment, from December 1939 to January 1941, was as the Inspector for the Security Police
Security police usually describes a law enforcement agency which focuses primarily on providing security and law enforcement services to particular areas or specific properties. They may be employed by governmental, public, or private institutio ...
(SiPo) and SD in ''Wehrkreis
The military districts, also known in some English-language publications by their German name as Wehrkreise (singular: ''Wehrkreis''), were administrative territorial units in Nazi Germany before and during World War II. The task of military dist ...
'' (military district) IV, headquartered in Dresden
Dresden (; ; Upper Saxon German, Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; , ) is the capital city of the States of Germany, German state of Saxony and its second most populous city after Leipzig. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, 12th most p ...
. On 20 November 1940, he was named to succeed Bruno Streckenbach as the Befehlshaber der Sicherheitspolizei und des SD (Commander of SiPo and SD) in the General Government
The General Government (, ; ; ), formally the General Governorate for the Occupied Polish Region (), was a German zone of occupation established after the invasion of Poland by Nazi Germany, Slovak Republic (1939–1945), Slovakia and the Soviet ...
, and he transferred to Kraków
, officially the Royal Capital City of Kraków, is the List of cities and towns in Poland, second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city has a population of 804,237 ...
in January 1941 to work under Higher SS and Police Leader
The title of SS and Police Leader (') designated a senior Nazi Party official who commanded various components of the SS and the German uniformed police ('' Ordnungspolizei''), before and during World War II in the German Reich proper and in the ...
(HSSPF) SS-''Obergruppenführer
(, ) was a paramilitary rank in Nazi Germany that was first created in 1932 as a rank of the ''Sturmabteilung'' (SA) and adopted by the ''Schutzstaffel'' (SS) one year later. Until April 1942, it was the highest commissioned SS rank after ...
'' Friedrich-Wilhelm Krüger.
Einsatzgruppe in Poland
For part of the time during his posting in Kraków, Schöngarth led a temporary ''Einsatzgruppe
(, ; also 'task forces') were (SS) paramilitary death squads of Nazi Germany that were responsible for mass murder, primarily by shooting, during World War II (1939–1945) in German-occupied Europe. The had an integral role in the impl ...
'' unit, (''Einsatzgruppe z.b.V.'') in eastern Galicia. In June 1941, Schöngarth, on the orders of the RSHA, deployed Wolfgang Birkner to the Bialystok District to suppress resistance. Schöngarth was responsible for the murders of approximately 10,000 Polish Jews
The history of the Jews in Poland dates back at least 1,000 years. For centuries, Poland was home to the largest and most significant Jews, Jewish community in the world. Poland was a principal center of Jewish culture, because of the long pe ...
between July and September 1941 and the massacre of Lwów professors and their families behind the frontlines during Operation Barbarossa
Operation Barbarossa was the invasion of the Soviet Union by Nazi Germany and several of its European Axis allies starting on Sunday, 22 June 1941, during World War II. More than 3.8 million Axis troops invaded the western Soviet Union along ...
in the Soviet Union
The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...
. The ''Einsatzgruppe'' led by Schöngarth murdered more than 5,000 Jews from the Brześć Ghetto between 10 and 12 July 1941. Schöngarth was a fanatical enemy of the Jews and utterly ruthless in his determination to carry out the executions. In Lwów, he informed officers under his command that anyone failing to carry out the execution orders would himself be shot, and that he would support any officer that shot a comrade for this failure.
Wannsee Conference
The Wannsee Conference, called to formulate the implementation of the Final Solution of the Jewish Question, took place during a fraught political atmosphere in the General Government. Hans Frank, the Governor General, was at odds with HSSPF Krüger who, though technically subordinate to Frank, was appointed by ''Reichsführer-SS
(, ) was a special title and rank that existed between the years of 1925 and 1945 for the commander of the (SS). ''Reichsführer-SS'' was a title from 1925 to 1933, and from 1934 to 1945 it was the highest Uniforms and insignia of the Schut ...
'' Heinrich Himmler
Heinrich Luitpold Himmler (; 7 October 1900 – 23 May 1945) was a German Nazism, Nazi politician and military leader who was the 4th of the (Protection Squadron; SS), a leading member of the Nazi Party, and one of the most powerful p ...
and took orders only from him. They had major disagreements over control of the police forces, over Jewish policy and over the issue of the protection of German ethnicity and culture. Himmler, as the Reich Commissioner for the Consolidation of German Nationhood
The Reich Commissioner for the Consolidation of German Nationhood () was an office of the ''Schutzstaffel'' in Nazi Germany, held by ''Reichsführer-SS'' Heinrich Himmler, responsible for the return and resettlement of the German diaspora.
Adolf ...
, felt that this was solely in his purview. Heydrich, the conference organizer, wanted to ensure that the meeting ran smoothly and came to an agreement with regard to the planned actions. Due to the intense personal and political hostilities involved, Heydrich made the decision not to invite Krüger. He opted, instead, to invite Schöngarth who was less likely to clash with the representative of the General Government, Frank's deputy, State Secretary Josef Buhler.
Schöngarth attended the Wannsee Conference on 20 January 1942, along with SS-'' Sturmbannführer'' Rudolf Lange, representing the ''Reichskommissariat Ostland
The (RKO; ) was an Administrative division, administrative entity of the Reich Ministry for the Occupied Eastern Territories of Nazi Germany from 1941 to 1945. It served as the German Civil authority, civilian occupation regime in Lithuania, La ...
'', who also had participated in the Holocaust
The Holocaust (), known in Hebrew language, Hebrew as the (), was the genocide of History of the Jews in Europe, European Jews during World War II. From 1941 to 1945, Nazi Germany and Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy ...
with ''Einsatzgruppe'' A. The official minutes of the meeting (Wannsee Protocol) do not record any comments from Schöngarth who, given his recent ''Einsatzgruppe'' experience, certainly knew exactly what was being proposed and raised no objections. Despite the euphemisms used in the minutes, its author, SS-'' Obersturmbannführer'' Adolf Eichmann, testified at his trial in 1961 that the participants: "were discussing the subject quite bluntly, quite differently from the language which I had to use later in the record. During the conversation they minced no words about it at all … they spoke about methods of killing, about liquidation, about extermination."
Police service in Greece and the Netherlands
In June 1942, charges of embezzlement, corruption, plundering and art racketeering were brought against Schöngarth. Himmler decided to defer any disciplinary action in order to quell rumours of corruption in the SS. Later in 1942, disputes arose in the General Government about whether to transport to the east the Jews who were working in the armaments industry. Schöngarth agreed that they were not replaceable and he began to agree with Frank that the policy should be relaxed. Krüger complained to Himmler that Schöngarth was contravening orders and was sympathetic with the views of the civil administration. He insisted that one or the other of them had to go, because they were unable to cooperate. In June 1943, Schöngarth was removed from his post in Poland and was replaced by SS-''Oberführer
__NOTOC__
''Oberführer'' (short: ''Oberf'', , ) was an early paramilitary rank of the Nazi Party (NSDAP) dating back to 1921. An ''Oberführer'' was typically an NSDAP member in charge of a group of paramilitary units in a particular geograph ...
'' Walther Bierkamp, who had led ''Einsatzgruppe'' D. Schöngarth was transferred for disciplinary reasons to an SS anti-aircraft artillery replacement regiment in Munich
Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...
. This was part of a Waffen-SS
The (; ) was the military branch, combat branch of the Nazi Party's paramilitary ''Schutzstaffel'' (SS) organisation. Its formations included men from Nazi Germany, along with Waffen-SS foreign volunteers and conscripts, volunteers and conscr ...
unit. After a short training period, he was sent as a company commander with the 4th SS Polizei Panzergrenadier Division to Lamia in occupied Greece, where he remained until July 1944 conducting anti-partisan operations.
From early July 1944 until the German surrender, Schöngarth was again made the Commander of SiPo and SD forces, this time at The Hague
The Hague ( ) is the capital city of the South Holland province of the Netherlands. With a population of over half a million, it is the third-largest city in the Netherlands. Situated on the west coast facing the North Sea, The Hague is the c ...
in the occupied Netherlands
, Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...
under HSSPF SS-''Obergruppenführer'' Hanns Albin Rauter. After Rauter was seriously wounded in an ambush by members of the Dutch resistance
The Dutch resistance () to the History of the Netherlands (1939–1945), German occupation of the Netherlands during World War II can be mainly characterized as non-violent. The primary organizers were the Communist Party of the Netherlands, C ...
on the night of 6-7 March 1945, Schongarth immediately ordered mass executions in reprisal. A total of 263 Dutch citizens were executed, including 117 at Woeste Hoeve, the location of the ambush. On 10 March, Schöngarth was deputized to act as HSSPF for Rauter while he recovered from his wounds. During the course of the war, Schöngarth was awarded the War Merit Cross, 1st and 2nd class with Swords. After the surrender of German forces in the Netherlands, Schöngarth was taken into custody by British troops.
Trial and execution
After an investigation, British occupation authorities charged Schöngarth with the murder of Americo S. Galle, an American pilot. The charge came after several Dutch people came forward and told British investigators that they had seen Galle's plane being shot down. Galle had been captured alive, but was later escorted into the woods, after which the witnesses said they heard a gunshot. On 21 November 1944, Galle's plane had been shot down in Enschede
Enschede (; local ) is a list of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the province of Overijssel and the Twente region of the eastern Netherlands. The east of the urban area reaches ...
. He was captured by German soldiers, taken to a villa which the SD was using in Enschede, and had his army clothes changed out for civilian clothes. Schöngarth issued an order to kill Galle.
Several hours later, a car was driven to the area. Erwin Knop (born 16 August 1905), the commander of the local SiPo and the head of a local ''Einsatzkommando
During World War II, the Nazi German ' were a sub-group of the ' (mobile killing squads) – up to 3,000 men total – usually composed of 500–1,000 functionaries of the SS and Gestapo, whose mission was to exterminate Jews, Polish intellect ...
'' in Enschede, emerged. He was accompanied by '' Untersturmführer'' Wilhelm Hadler (born 14 February 1898) and '' Unterscharführer'' Herbert Gernoth (born 12 January 1906), both of whom were subordinates to Knop. Knop took Galle into the car. He was followed by ''Scharführer'' Erich Lebing, 56, and Waffen-SS
The (; ) was the military branch, combat branch of the Nazi Party's paramilitary ''Schutzstaffel'' (SS) organisation. Its formations included men from Nazi Germany, along with Waffen-SS foreign volunteers and conscripts, volunteers and conscr ...
'' Oberscharführer'' Fritz Boehm, 28, both of whom were attached to the local SD. ''Obersturmführer
__NOTOC__
(, ; short: ''Ostuf'') was a Nazi Germany paramilitary ranks, Nazi Germany paramilitary rank that was used in several Nazi organisations, such as the Sturmabteilung, SA, Schutzstaffel, SS, National Socialist Motor Corps, NSKK and the ...
'' Friederich Beeck (born 5 August 1886), the head of the Enschede villa, supervised the execution, choosing a burial site and ordering a grave to be dug. Lebing drove the car into the woods and kept watch as the others prepared to carry out the execution. Knop told Galle in English what was happening, to which the airman responded by being "very downhearted." Hadler and Gernoth dug a shallow grave, after which the rest of the group arrived. Hadler and Gernoth then escorted Galle from the car to the grave, where Gernoth shot him in the back of the neck.
Schöngarth, Beeck, Knop, Gernoth, Hadler, Lebing, and Boehm were tried by a British
British may refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies.
* British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...
military court in Burgsteinfurt
Steinfurt (; ) is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is the capital of the Steinfurt (district), district of Steinfurt. From –1806, it was the capital of the County of Steinfurt.
Geography
Steinfurt is situated north-west of Münst ...
in February 1946. At the time, neither Galle's identity nor his nationality were known, so the defendants were charged with murdering an "unknown Allied airman." During his trial, Schöngarth's crimes in Poland were never mentioned, while his crimes in the Netherlands were only briefly discussed.
* "During your period in Holland, how many executions in all did you have to order or sanction?"
* "At the time of that interrogation I thought it would be about 150 to 200 cases, but they were all executions after proper sentences; they were only civilians who were sentenced to death on account of their disturbing order; and that was an order from the Reichskommissar."
Schöngarth denied any involvement in Galle's death. However, all of Schöngarth's codefendants said they had been following his orders. The lawyer for Schöngarth's codefendants accused him of trying to force the blame onto his men.
* "I put it to you that the real truth of what happened on the 21st November is this: a British or American airman landed in the grounds of the Villa and was captured by your men. You yourself decided that he was to be shot. You yourself ordered Knop to have him shot. You then went away in your car leaving your men to take the responsibility, and now that they stand in peril you, their commander, are trying to save your life at their expense."
* "No."
On 11 February 1946, all of the defendants were found guilty. The defense of superior orders was rejected, with five of those convicted being sentenced to death, including Schöngarth. Lebing and Boehm avoided death sentences after using different defenses. Lebing claimed he hadn't realized that Galle was a POW until it was too late since he was wearing civilian clothing. Boehm claimed ignorance and disgust over the execution, and said he'd tried to stop it from happening. Lebing was sentenced to 15 years in prison and Boehm was sentenced to 10 years in prison. After the trial was over, two Dutchmen found Galle's notebook, which showed that he was an American.
Schöngarth and his condemned accomplices were all executed by hanging by Albert Pierrepoint
Albert Pierrepoint ( ; 30 March 1905 – 10 July 1992) was an English Executioner, hangman who executed between 435 and 600 people in a 25-year career that ended in 1956. His father Henry Pierrepoint, Henry and uncle Thomas Pierrepoint, Th ...
at Hamelin Prison on 16 May 1946. Also hanged on the same day for unrelated crimes at Hamelin were Bruno Tesch and Karl Weinbacher.
While awaiting execution, Schöngarth was interviewed by a Dutch investigator. He was asked about suspected war criminal Pieter Menten and atrocities in which he was suspected of involvement. At the end of the interview, the investigator asked Schöngarth if he was telling the truth, he replied "You know, I have only three weeks to live. That's the whole truth." Shortly before his execution, Schöngarth was visited by Menten; the two turned out to be close friends. Schöngarth told Menten he'd done him many favours in the past. He made Menten promise to look out for his family, after which he gave him legal advice.
SS and police ranks
Fictional portrayals
* In the 1984 German television film '' Die Wannseekonferenz'', Schöngarth was played by .
* In the 2001 BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...
/HBO
Home Box Office (HBO) is an American pay television service, which is the flagship property of namesake parent-subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is based a ...
film ''Conspiracy
A conspiracy, also known as a plot, ploy, or scheme, is a secret plan or agreement between people (called conspirers or conspirators) for an unlawful or harmful purpose, such as murder, treason, or corruption, especially with a political motivat ...
'', Schöngarth was played by Peter Sullivan.
* In the 2022 German television film '' Die Wannseekonferenz'', Schöngarth was played by Maximilian Brückner.
Notes and references
Sources
*
Dr. Eberhard Schongarth (1903–1946)
in th
House of the Wannsee Conference Memorial and Education Site
*Federlein, Norman; Webb, Chris (2008)
in the Holocaust Education Archive and Research Team.
*
*
*
*
*
External links
*
Minutes from the Wannsee Conference
archived by the Progressive Review
Eberhard Schongarth, Reich Main Security Office: A Practitioner of Mass Murder
{{DEFAULTSORT:Schoengarth, Karl Eberhard
1903 births
1946 deaths
20th-century Freikorps personnel
Corps students
Einsatzgruppen personnel
Executed German mass murderers
German prisoners of war in World War II held by the United Kingdom
Holocaust perpetrators in Poland
Holocaust perpetrators in the Netherlands
Gestapo personnel
Kapp Putsch participants
Lawyers in the Nazi Party
Leipzig University alumni
Military personnel from Leipzig
Nazis executed by British occupation forces
Nazis executed by the British military by hanging
Nazis executed for war crimes
People from the Kingdom of Saxony
Recipients of the War Merit Cross
Reichswehr personnel
SS and police leaders
SS-Brigadeführer
University of Greifswald alumni
University of Halle alumni
Waffen-SS personnel
Wannsee Conference attendees