English source-aligned edition
Karl Frenzel
Karl Frenzel served as head of the railway commando at Sobibor. The profile reconstructs the person’s function in Sobibor, occupied Poland through documented office, decisions, supervision or operational conduct. It does not assign every crime committed by an institution or region to one individual.
Confirmed findings
- Karl Frenzel: 1911-08-20–1996-09-02. (Source: Justiz und NS-Verbrechen, cited passage; Source: Sobibor Interviews, cited passage; Source: Fritz Bauer Institut, cited passage)
- From the summer of 1942, Karl Frenzel led the railway commando at Sobibor and personally beat deportees with a whip as they were driven from the railcars; the court also found that he ordered at least 70 and probably more than 100 floggings. (Source: Justiz und NS-Verbrechen, cited passage; Source: Sobibor Interviews, cited passage; Source: Fritz Bauer Institut, cited passage)
- Convicted in 1966, he received a confirmed life sentence in the 1985 retrial for co-perpetrating the murder of at least 150000 people; a separate life sentence for the murder of 1 person also remained in force, and the aggregate sentence became final in 1987. (Source: Justiz und NS-Verbrechen, cited passage; Source: Sobibor Interviews, cited passage; Source: Fritz Bauer Institut, cited passage)
Place in the chain of responsibility
The profile separates the documented office and individual conduct from the wider crimes of the institution or subordinate formation. (Source: Justiz und NS-Verbrechen, cited passage; Source: Sobibor Interviews, cited passage; Source: Fritz Bauer Institut, cited passage)
Key events and mechanisms
- From the summer of 1942, Karl Frenzel led the railway commando at Sobibor and personally beat deportees with a whip as they were driven from the railcars; the court also found that he ordered at least 70 and probably more than 100 floggings. (Source: Justiz und NS-Verbrechen, cited passage; Source: Sobibor Interviews, cited passage; Source: Fritz Bauer Institut, cited passage)
- Convicted in 1966, he received a confirmed life sentence in the 1985 retrial for co-perpetrating the murder of at least 150000 people; a separate life sentence for the murder of 1 person also remained in force, and the aggregate sentence became final in 1987. (Source: Justiz und NS-Verbrechen, cited passage; Source: Sobibor Interviews, cited passage; Source: Fritz Bauer Institut, cited passage)
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
Convicted in 1966, he received a confirmed life sentence in the 1985 retrial for co-perpetrating the murder of at least 150000 people; a separate life sentence for the murder of 1 person also remained in force, and the aggregate sentence became final in 1987. (Source: Justiz und NS-Verbrechen, cited passage; Source: Sobibor Interviews, cited passage; Source: Fritz Bauer Institut, cited passage)
Limits of the evidence
Only claims tied to the cited evidence are included. No individual victim total or additional order is attributed without separate proof. No portrait was selected because rights were not verified. (Source: Justiz und NS-Verbrechen, cited passage; Source: Sobibor Interviews, cited passage; Source: Fritz Bauer Institut, cited passage)
Sources
The source set combines institutional, archival, trial or scholarly material from at least two independent publishers.