English research edition

Heinz Reinefarth

not extradited or convicted 1903–1979

Heinz Reinefarth served as commander of a combat group during the suppression of the Warsaw Uprising. The profile reconstructs the person’s function in Warsaw, Wola and the Old Town through documented office, decisions, supervision or operational conduct. It does not assign every crime committed by an institution or region to one individual.

Mass executionsCrimes against civiliansBurning of buildingsExpulsions

Confirmed findings

  • Reinefarth commanded a combat group deployed during the suppression of the Warsaw Uprising.
  • The documented scope of his command responsibility includes the Wola massacre, the operations of Kampfgruppe Reinefarth in August 1944 and the expulsion of Warsaw’s population.
  • He was neither extradited to Poland nor convicted and later became mayor of Westerland and a member of the Schleswig-Holstein Landtag.

Place in the chain of responsibility

The profile identifies a command link in the Wola massacre that is distinct from the roles of Erich von dem Bach-Zelewski and Oskar Dirlewanger. It does not merge Reinefarth’s own reports, orders from his superiors and acts of individual subordinate units.

Key events and mechanisms

  • the Wola massacre
  • the operations of Kampfgruppe Reinefarth in August 1944
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

Reinefarth was not extradited to Poland and was not convicted. He became mayor of Westerland and a member of the Schleswig-Holstein Landtag.

Limits of the evidence

His own reports, orders issued by superiors and crimes committed by particular subordinate units must be evaluated separately.

Sources

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