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Karl Frenzel
Karl August Wilhelm Frenzel (20 August 1911 – 2 September 1996) was an SS noncommissioned officer in Sobibor extermination camp.
After the Second World War, he was convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment for war crimes, but he was ultimately released after serving 16 years in prison.
Frenzel was born in Zehdenick, Templin, on 20 August 1911. His father had worked for the railroad and was a local official of the Social Democratic Party of Germany. Karl completed primary school from 1918 to 1926 in Oranienburg and then apprenticed as a carpenter. Meanwhile, he was a member of the socialist carpenter's union. However, after passing the qualifying carpentry exam in 1930 he found himself unemployed. Later, he found work for a short time as a butcher.
The Nazi Party promised that there would be more jobs after its seizure of power, a reason that motivated Frenzel to join both the party and the Sturmabteilung (SA) in August 1930. His brother, a theology student, had joined the party the previous year. His father joined the party in 1934. Frenzel claimed that anti-Semitism was an aspect of the politics to which they were indifferent. He later claimed that he was appalled by the early persecution of Jews in Germany.
In 1929, at the age of 18, Frenzel met his first girlfriend, who was Jewish. Their relationship dissolved after two years when her father heard that Frenzel was a Nazi Party member. She and her family emigrated to the United States in 1934.
Frenzel served in the auxiliary police force as part of the SA, during the summer of 1933. Through his party connections, he then obtained positions first as a carpenter and later as a custodian.
In 1934, Frenzel married his wife; both were Christians. They married in a church and went to church "if not every Sunday, at least every other or third Sunday". All of their five children were baptized. They bought the furniture for their new home from a Jewish merchant. Towards the end of the war, in 1945, Frenzel's wife was raped by Soviet soldiers. She developed abdominal typhus and died soon afterward.
At the start of the Second World War, Frenzel was drafted into the Reich Labour Service. However, he was soon released because he had many children to support. His brothers were in the army, and he felt left out of the action. Responding to an appeal to loyal party members, Frenzel applied for special service in the military through his SA unit but instead was assigned to Action T4, the Nazi program to kill people with disabilities. When the Wehrmacht later called for his service, T4 prevented his transfer.
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Karl Frenzel
Karl August Wilhelm Frenzel (20 August 1911 – 2 September 1996) was an SS noncommissioned officer in Sobibor extermination camp.
After the Second World War, he was convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment for war crimes, but he was ultimately released after serving 16 years in prison.
Frenzel was born in Zehdenick, Templin, on 20 August 1911. His father had worked for the railroad and was a local official of the Social Democratic Party of Germany. Karl completed primary school from 1918 to 1926 in Oranienburg and then apprenticed as a carpenter. Meanwhile, he was a member of the socialist carpenter's union. However, after passing the qualifying carpentry exam in 1930 he found himself unemployed. Later, he found work for a short time as a butcher.
The Nazi Party promised that there would be more jobs after its seizure of power, a reason that motivated Frenzel to join both the party and the Sturmabteilung (SA) in August 1930. His brother, a theology student, had joined the party the previous year. His father joined the party in 1934. Frenzel claimed that anti-Semitism was an aspect of the politics to which they were indifferent. He later claimed that he was appalled by the early persecution of Jews in Germany.
In 1929, at the age of 18, Frenzel met his first girlfriend, who was Jewish. Their relationship dissolved after two years when her father heard that Frenzel was a Nazi Party member. She and her family emigrated to the United States in 1934.
Frenzel served in the auxiliary police force as part of the SA, during the summer of 1933. Through his party connections, he then obtained positions first as a carpenter and later as a custodian.
In 1934, Frenzel married his wife; both were Christians. They married in a church and went to church "if not every Sunday, at least every other or third Sunday". All of their five children were baptized. They bought the furniture for their new home from a Jewish merchant. Towards the end of the war, in 1945, Frenzel's wife was raped by Soviet soldiers. She developed abdominal typhus and died soon afterward.
At the start of the Second World War, Frenzel was drafted into the Reich Labour Service. However, he was soon released because he had many children to support. His brothers were in the army, and he felt left out of the action. Responding to an appeal to loyal party members, Frenzel applied for special service in the military through his SA unit but instead was assigned to Action T4, the Nazi program to kill people with disabilities. When the Wehrmacht later called for his service, T4 prevented his transfer.