VII Nazi ReportSeven Circles of Responsibility

English source-aligned edition

Emanuel Schäfer

convicted in West Germany for security-police crimes in Serbia, not separately for Einsatzgruppe II's work in Poland 1900–1974

Emanuel Schäfer served as commander of Einsatzgruppe II during the invasion of Poland. The profile reconstructs the person’s function in Upper Silesia, Częstochowa and central Poland through documented office, decisions, supervision or operational conduct. It does not assign every crime committed by an institution or region to one individual.

Persecution and murder of elitesMass executionsPolice repression

Confirmed findings

  • Schäfer commanded Einsatzgruppe II as it accompanied the Tenth Army during the invasion of Poland.
  • The formation operated through Upper Silesia, Częstochowa and central Poland within Operation Tannenberg and the Intelligenzaktion.
  • His later security-police service in Serbia became the subject of a West German conviction.

Place in the chain of responsibility

Schäfer filled the command link between the military advance and a mobile Security Police and SD formation in 1939. Responsibility for events in Poland must rely on Einsatzgruppe II records and cannot be inferred from his separate later conviction.

Key events and mechanisms

  • In September 1939 Einsatzgruppe II operated in the Tenth Army's advance zone under Schäfer.
  • The unit participated in the invasion-period campaign against groups targeted by the German security apparatus.
  • A postwar West German court convicted him for crimes committed in the separate Serbian theatre.
No victim-count ranking

The circle records authority, function and agency. Several profiles may describe different parts of the same persecution chain, so profile-level totals must not be added together.

Postwar accountability

Schäfer was punished in West Germany for participation in security-police crimes in occupied Serbia. His command of Einsatzgruppe II in Poland was not separately adjudicated in a final judgment.

Limits of the evidence

The geography and legal subject of the West German conviction must be stated accurately. It cannot serve as a judicial finding for every action of Einsatzgruppe II in Poland.

Sources

The source set combines institutional, archival, trial or scholarly material from at least two independent publishers.