The SS general who commanded the repression of the Warsaw Uprising
In a report during the Warsaw Uprising, Reinefarth wrote: “We have more prisoners than ammunition to kill them.”
Heinz Reinefarth was a lawyer who joined the Nazi Party and the SS before becoming a commander in Germany's occupation war. During the Warsaw Uprising in 1944, he led a battle group combining combat, police, and security units, playing a central role in the command structure of the 5 August assault on Wola and the mass killing of civilians. Despite Polish demands for his extradition, he escaped prosecution and conviction after the war and served as a mayor and state legislator in West Germany. His career links command responsibility for war crimes with postwar impunity in a single life.
Career Timeline
- 1927Completed his law training in Jena and began working in the legal profession.
- 1932Joined the Nazi Party and the SS.
- 1942Served as SS general inspector of civil administration in the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia.
- 1944Became Higher SS and Police Leader in Wartheland.
- 1944-08Commanded Kampfgruppe Reinefarth in the suppression of the Warsaw Uprising.
- 1945Commanded the fortress of Küstrin and was captured by U.S. forces.
- 1951–1964Served as mayor of Westerland.
- 1962–1967Served in the Schleswig-Holstein Landtag.