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Jakob Sporrenberg

convicted in Poland and executed in 1952 1902–1952

Jakob Sporrenberg served as SS and Police Leader in the Lublin district and organiser of Operation Erntefest. The profile reconstructs the person’s function in Lublin district of the General Government through documented office, decisions, supervision or operational conduct. It does not assign every crime committed by an institution or region to one individual.

Crimes against humanityHolocaust

Confirmed findings

Sporrenberg succeeded Odilo Globocnik as SS and Police Leader in the Lublin district in August 1943.
His office commanded SS, police and auxiliary forces and exercised authority over the district's camp and forced-labour system.
He organised the Erntefest mass shootings of Jewish prisoners at Majdanek, Poniatowa and Trawniki on 3–4 November 1943.

Place in the chain of responsibility

Sporrenberg held the regional command responsible for planning and coordinating Erntefest, while the shootings were carried out by multiple SS, police and auxiliary formations. The profile attributes command and organisation without erasing the agency of the direct perpetrators.

Key events and mechanisms

Operation Erntefest at Majdanek, Poniatowa and Trawniki on 3–4 November 1943
his command of the SS and police apparatus in the Lublin district from August 1943

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

British forces captured Sporrenberg in Norway and extradited him to Poland in October 1946. A Warsaw court sentenced him to death in 1950, and he was hanged at Mokotów Prison on 6 December 1952.

Limits of the evidence

The number murdered in Erntefest is well documented at roughly 42,000–43,000, while broader estimates for his district command are less precise. Polish materials contain limited detail about some stages and dates of the trial.

Sources

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