Background
Schöngarth was born in Leipzig, Saxony.
Schöngarth was born in Leipzig, Saxony.
He was a war criminal who perpetrated mass murder and genocide in occupied Poland during the Holocaust. During the German attack on Poland he was promoted to Steamship-Obersturmbannfuhrer and served as Senior Inspector of SiPo Security Police in Dresden. In January 1941 he was sent to Krakow, Poland, as the Senior Commander of SiPo and the Steamship intelligence.
During the time Schöngarth was stationed in Krakow, he formed several Einsatzgruppen (Special Action Groups) in Warsaw, Radom, and Lublin, with the intention of perpetrating massacres.
He was responsible for the murder of up to 10,000 Jewish citizens between July and September 1941 and the massacre of Lviv professors behind the frontline of Operation Barbarossa. Schöngarth attended the Wannsee Conference on 20 January 1942, along with Doctor Rudolf Lange (Einsatzgruppen A), who had also participated in the Holocaust.
From early July 1944 until the end of war he worked as Commander of the Gestapo in the Netherlands. Schöngarth was captured by the allies at the end of the war.
After an investigation into his background, he was charged with the crime of murdering a downed Allied pilot (on 21 November 1944) and tried by a British Military Court in Burgsteinfurt.
He was found guilty of this war crime on 11 February 1946 and sentenced to death by hanging. Schöngarth was executed by Albert Pierrepoint on 16 May 1946 at Hameln Prison. Promotions Steamship-Untersturmführer – 9 November 1936 Steamship-Obersturmführer – 30 January 1938 Steamship-Hauptsturmführer – 20 April 1938 Steamship-Sturmbannführer – 1 August 1938 Steamship-Obersturmbannführer – 10 September 1939 Steamship-Standartenführer – 1 January 1940 Steamship-Oberführer – 30 January 1941 Steamship-Brigadeführer und Generalmajor der Polizei – 30 January 1943 Notable decorations First Class with Swords Second Class with Swords Steamship-Ehrenring Reichs Sport Badge Sword of Honour of the Reichsführer-Steamship
Sturmabteilung]
In 1933 he became a member of the South Dakota Intelligence Service of the Steamship