Erich Lachmann
Encyclopedia
Erich Gustav Willie Lachmann (6 November 1909 – 23 January 1972) was a police auxiliary and SS
-Scharführer
(Sergeant) who participated in the "Operation Reinhard
" in the Sobibor extermination camp
.
Lachmann was born in Liegnitz
on November 6, 1909. He began his career as a policeman.
From September 1941, at Trawniki concentration camp
Lachmann trained Ukrainians who had volunteered to be guards at the Reinhard death camps. According to Lachmann's own statement, he was in Sobibor
as commander of the Ukrainian guards since August 1943. However, witnesses state that he was in the camp starting exactly one year earlier. Fellow SS man Erich Bauer
called him "a boozer
and somebody who stole like the ravens". Sobibor prisoners such as Eda Lichtman and Abraham Margulies witnessed him rape young girls. When Franz Reichleitner
took over command of Sobibor from Franz Stangl
, he sent Lachmann back to Trawniki because he deemed that Lachmann was unfit for duty. From there Lachmann deserted
with his Polish girlfriend in the winter of 1942-43. He was arrested several months later in Warsaw
and sentenced by an SS and police court to six years in prison. However, he was released in April 1945 during the final stages of the war, captured by the Soviet Red Army and survived the war.
In the so-called "Sobibor Trial" in Hagen
, which lasted from to , he was accused of participating in the mass murder of approximately 150,000 Jews.
Lachmann is quoted as saying:
The court found Lachmann to be mentally incompetent and he was acquitted because of "putative duress
".
Schutzstaffel
The Schutzstaffel |Sig runes]]) was a major paramilitary organization under Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party. Built upon the Nazi ideology, the SS under Heinrich Himmler's command was responsible for many of the crimes against humanity during World War II...
-Scharführer
Scharführer
Scharführer was a Nazi Party title that was used by several paramilitary organizations from 1925 to 1945. Translated as “Squad Leader”, the title of Scharführer can trace its origins to the First World War, where a Scharführer was often a Sergeant or Corporal who commanded special action or shock...
(Sergeant) who participated in the "Operation Reinhard
Operation Reinhard
Operation Reinhard was the code name given to the Nazi plan to murder Polish Jews in the General Government, and marked the most deadly phase of the Holocaust, the use of extermination camps...
" in the Sobibor extermination camp
Sobibór extermination camp
Sobibor was a Nazi German extermination camp located on the outskirts of the town of Sobibór, Lublin Voivodeship of occupied Poland as part of Operation Reinhard; the official German name was SS-Sonderkommando Sobibor...
.
Lachmann was born in Liegnitz
Legnica
Legnica is a town in south-western Poland, in Silesia, in the central part of Lower Silesia, on the plain of Legnica, riverside: Kaczawa and Czarna Woda. Between 1 June 1975 and 31 December 1998 Legnica was the capital of the Legnica Voivodeship. It is currently the seat of the county...
on November 6, 1909. He began his career as a policeman.
From September 1941, at Trawniki concentration camp
Trawniki concentration camp
Trawniki concentration camp, in the village of Trawniki about 40 km southeast of Lublin in Poland, was an SS labour camp which provided forced labourers for a nearby industrial plant to work in appalling conditions with little food...
Lachmann trained Ukrainians who had volunteered to be guards at the Reinhard death camps. According to Lachmann's own statement, he was in Sobibor
Sobibór
Sobibór is a village in the administrative district of Gmina Włodawa, within Włodawa County, Lublin Voivodeship, in eastern Poland. It lies close to the Bug River, which forms the border with Belarus and Ukraine. Sobibór is approximately south-east of Włodawa and east of the regional capital...
as commander of the Ukrainian guards since August 1943. However, witnesses state that he was in the camp starting exactly one year earlier. Fellow SS man Erich Bauer
Erich Bauer
Hermann Erich Bauer , sometimes referred to as "Gasmeister", was a SS-Oberscharführer . He participated in Nazi Germany's Action T4 program and later in Operation Reinhard, serving as a gas chamber operator at Sobibor extermination camp...
called him "a boozer
Alcohol
In chemistry, an alcohol is an organic compound in which the hydroxy functional group is bound to a carbon atom. In particular, this carbon center should be saturated, having single bonds to three other atoms....
and somebody who stole like the ravens". Sobibor prisoners such as Eda Lichtman and Abraham Margulies witnessed him rape young girls. When Franz Reichleitner
Franz Reichleitner
Franz Karl Reichleitner was an Austrian SS-Hauptsturmführer who served in Operation Reinhard during the Holocaust. Reichleitner served as the second and last commandant of Sobibor extermination camp from 1 September 1942 until the camp's closure on or about 17 October 1943...
took over command of Sobibor from Franz Stangl
Franz Stangl
Franz Paul Stangl was an Austrian-born SS commandant of the Sobibor and Treblinka extermination camps during the Operation Reinhard phase of the Holocaust. He was arrested in Brazil in 1967, extradited and tried in West Germany for the mass murder of 900,000 people, and in 1970 was found guilty...
, he sent Lachmann back to Trawniki because he deemed that Lachmann was unfit for duty. From there Lachmann deserted
Desertion
In military terminology, desertion is the abandonment of a "duty" or post without permission and is done with the intention of not returning...
with his Polish girlfriend in the winter of 1942-43. He was arrested several months later in Warsaw
Warsaw
Warsaw is the capital and largest city of Poland. It is located on the Vistula River, roughly from the Baltic Sea and from the Carpathian Mountains. Its population in 2010 was estimated at 1,716,855 residents with a greater metropolitan area of 2,631,902 residents, making Warsaw the 10th most...
and sentenced by an SS and police court to six years in prison. However, he was released in April 1945 during the final stages of the war, captured by the Soviet Red Army and survived the war.
In the so-called "Sobibor Trial" in Hagen
Hagen
Hagen is the 39th-largest city in Germany, located in the federal state of North Rhine-Westphalia. It is located on the eastern edge of the Ruhr area, 15 km south of Dortmund, where the rivers Lenne, Volme and Ennepe meet the river Ruhr...
, which lasted from to , he was accused of participating in the mass murder of approximately 150,000 Jews.
Lachmann is quoted as saying:
The court found Lachmann to be mentally incompetent and he was acquitted because of "putative duress
Duress
In jurisprudence, duress or coercion refers to a situation whereby a person performs an act as a result of violence, threat or other pressure against the person. Black's Law Dictionary defines duress as "any unlawful threat or coercion used... to induce another to act [or not act] in a manner...
".
External links
- The Sobibor Personnel at Holocaust-Info.dk