The Butcher of Belzec: The Nazi Who Vanished
Avalon
107,481 views
On The Hunt for Lorenz Hackenholt, who Operated the Gas Chambers of the Nazi Death Camp at Belzec.
Timestamps:
0:00 Introduction
1:08 Chapter 1 - Origins and Aktion T4
2:12 Hackenholt Joins the SS
4:10 On Hackenholt's Experience at Sachsenhausen
5:17 Hackenholt is Sworn in Aktion T4
8:01 Hackenholt's Arrest
11:16 Chapter 2 - Operation Reinhard and Belzec
12:00 Hackenholt is Initiated into Operation Reinhard
13:30 Hackenholt During Belzec's "Experimental Phase"
21:40 Hackenholt's Alcoholism
24:24 Hackenholt's Consultancy Assignments to Treblinka and Sobibor
27:17 Hackenholt Returns to Belzec for Aktion 1005
30:10 Chapter 3 - Flugplatz and Operation Harvest Festival
34:02 Operation Harvest Festival
35:36 Chapter 4 - Trieste, San Sabba and Desertion
35:45 On Hackenholt's Role at San Sabba
37:38 Hackenholt's Illicit Dealings with Partisans
38:08 On Hackenholt's "Death" near Trieste
40:54 Hackenholt the Opportunist
43:44 Chapter 5 - Tracking Hackenholt
45:31 The Hunts for the Aktion Reinhard SS Commences
47:03 Interrogating Erich Bauer
50:06 Pursuing Hackenholt's Family
54:38 Interrogating Ilse Hackenholt
1:07:34 Interrogating Theo Hackenholt
1:10:09 Chapter 6 - Hunting Hackenholt
Bibliography:
Primary Sources:
“Excerpt from Lorenz Hackenholt’s 1941 Curriculum Vitae from his SS File - Found at the Berlin Document Centre in West Berlin” in The “Disappearance” of SS-Hauptscharführer Lorenz Hackenholt, 2. Available at: https://phdn.org/archives/holocaust-h... (Accessed: 24 July 2026).
“Police Report of the Words of Antonia Hackenholt - Concerning the Search Warrant on July 8th 1961” in ‘The “Disappearance” of SS-Hauptscharführer Lorenz Hackenholt’, 10. Available at: https://phdn.org/archives/holocaust-h... (Accessed: 24 July 2026).
“Recount of SS-Unterscharführer Franz Suchomel on ‘Hacko’ at Treblinka” in ‘The “Disappearance” of SS-Hauptscharführer Lorenz Hackenholt’, 15. Available at: https://phdn.org/archives/holocaust-h... (Accessed: 24 July 2026).
“Recount of SS-Unterscharführer Erwin Lambert on Hackenholt’s Transfer to Sobibor” in ‘The “Disappearance” of SS-Hauptscharführer Lorenz Hackenholt’, 16. Available at: https://phdn.org/archives/holocaust-h... (Accessed: 24 July 2026).
“SS-NCO Karl Schiffner on Hackenholt Working in Trieste in April/May 1945” in The “Disappearance” of SS-Hauptscharführer Lorenz Hackenholt’, 22. Available at: https://phdn.org/archives/holocaust-h... (Accessed: 24 July 2026).
“SS-NCO Robert Juhrs on Lorenz Hackenholt” in The “Disappearance” of SS-Hauptscharführer Lorenz Hackenholt’, 20. Available at: https://phdn.org/archives/holocaust-h... (Accessed: 24 July 2026).
“SS Unterscharfuhrer Karl Schluch on Hackenholt During the Early Days of Belzec” in ‘The “Disappearance” of SS-Hauptscharführer Lorenz Hackenholt’, 13. Available at: https://phdn.org/archives/holocaust-h... (Accessed: 24 July 2026).
"West-German Police Report on the Interrogation of Isle Hackenholt in July 1961” in ‘The “Disappearance” of SS-Hauptscharführer Lorenz Hackenholt’, 11. Available at: https://phdn.org/archives/holocaust-h... (Accessed: 24 July 2026).
“West-German Police Report on the Interrogation of Isle Hackenholt on October 31st 1961” in ‘The “Disappearance” of SS-Hauptscharführer Lorenz Hackenholt’, 26-29. Available at: https://phdn.org/archives/holocaust-h... (Accessed: 24 July 2026).
“Witness Interrogation Report of Jan Glab: February 19th 1946 (No. R 102/46)” in Obóz zagłady w Bełżcu: W Relacjach Ocalonych I Zeznaniach Polskich Świadków, 347-352. Prószyński Media.
“Witness Interrogation Report of Alojzy Berezowski: April 12th 1946 (No. R 102/46)” in Obóz zagłady w Bełżcu: W Relacjach Ocalonych I Zeznaniach Polskich Świadków, 415-416. Prószyński Media.
Secondary Readings:
Bryant, M. (2014). ‘The Nazi Ghosthunt: On The Trail of Lorenz Hackenholt’ in Eyewitness to Genocide: The Operation Reinhard Death Camp Trials, 1955-1966 (Legacies of War), 47-50. University of Tennessee Press.
Klee, E. (2003). Das Personenlexikon zum Dritten Reich Wer war was vor und nach 1945?, 215.
O’Neil, R. (2008). Belzec: Stepping Stone to Genocide, 144-188. JewishgGenInc.
Tregenza, M. (1998). ‘The “Disappearance” of SS-Hauptscharführer Lorenz Hackenholt’. Available at: https://phdn.org/archives/holocaust-h... (Accessed: 24 July 2026).
Webb, C. (2025). ‘Lorenz Hackenholt’ in SS Sonderkommando Belzec. Available at: https://www.holocausthistoricalsociet...
(Accessed: 24 July 2026).
#ww2 #ww2history #warcrime #deathcamp #operationreinhard #documentary #concentrationcamps #gaschamber #history #nazi #ss
20 Comments
Excellent episode YET AGAIN !!!
Thanks !!!!! 👍🏻👍🏻🤘🏻🤘🏻🤙🏻🤙🏻
Found your brilliant video here very amazing .
I'm a big documentry and history fan.
And I really enjoyed this.
Thankyou.
Colt.
St Martins Parish Louisiana
Genuinely horrific, but morbidly hilarious by the way you empathized it
Anyone can look it up but he is one of the obscure and somewhat hidden figures.
Also, I cannot help but notice how HACKenholt was terribly appropriate for such a prolific killer.
Thank you.
The Butcher of Belzec: The Nazi Who Vanished
Avalon
107,481 views
On The Hunt for Lorenz Hackenholt, who Operated the Gas Chambers of the Nazi Death Camp at Belzec.
Timestamps:
0:00 Introduction
1:08 Chapter 1 - Origins and Aktion T4
2:12 Hackenholt Joins the SS
4:10 On Hackenholt's Experience at Sachsenhausen
5:17 Hackenholt is Sworn in Aktion T4
8:01 Hackenholt's Arrest
11:16 Chapter 2 - Operation Reinhard and Belzec
12:00 Hackenholt is Initiated into Operation Reinhard
13:30 Hackenholt During Belzec's "Experimental Phase"
21:40 Hackenholt's Alcoholism
24:24 Hackenholt's Consultancy Assignments to Treblinka and Sobibor
27:17 Hackenholt Returns to Belzec for Aktion 1005
30:10 Chapter 3 - Flugplatz and Operation Harvest Festival
34:02 Operation Harvest Festival
35:36 Chapter 4 - Trieste, San Sabba and Desertion
35:45 On Hackenholt's Role at San Sabba
37:38 Hackenholt's Illicit Dealings with Partisans
38:08 On Hackenholt's "Death" near Trieste
40:54 Hackenholt the Opportunist
43:44 Chapter 5 - Tracking Hackenholt
45:31 The Hunts for the Aktion Reinhard SS Commences
47:03 Interrogating Erich Bauer
50:06 Pursuing Hackenholt's Family
54:38 Interrogating Ilse Hackenholt
1:07:34 Interrogating Theo Hackenholt
1:10:09 Chapter 6 - Hunting Hackenholt
Bibliography:
Primary Sources:
“Excerpt from Lorenz Hackenholt’s 1941 Curriculum Vitae from his SS File - Found at the Berlin Document Centre in West Berlin” in The “Disappearance” of SS-Hauptscharführer Lorenz Hackenholt, 2. Available at: https://phdn.org/archives/holocaust-h... (Accessed: 24 July 2026).
“Police Report of the Words of Antonia Hackenholt - Concerning the Search Warrant on July 8th 1961” in ‘The “Disappearance” of SS-Hauptscharführer Lorenz Hackenholt’, 10. Available at: https://phdn.org/archives/holocaust-h... (Accessed: 24 July 2026).
“Recount of SS-Unterscharführer Franz Suchomel on ‘Hacko’ at Treblinka” in ‘The “Disappearance” of SS-Hauptscharführer Lorenz Hackenholt’, 15. Available at: https://phdn.org/archives/holocaust-h... (Accessed: 24 July 2026).
“Recount of SS-Unterscharführer Erwin Lambert on Hackenholt’s Transfer to Sobibor” in ‘The “Disappearance” of SS-Hauptscharführer Lorenz Hackenholt’, 16. Available at: https://phdn.org/archives/holocaust-h... (Accessed: 24 July 2026).
“SS-NCO Karl Schiffner on Hackenholt Working in Trieste in April/May 1945” in The “Disappearance” of SS-Hauptscharführer Lorenz Hackenholt’, 22. Available at: https://phdn.org/archives/holocaust-h... (Accessed: 24 July 2026).
“SS-NCO Robert Juhrs on Lorenz Hackenholt” in The “Disappearance” of SS-Hauptscharführer Lorenz Hackenholt’, 20. Available at: https://phdn.org/archives/holocaust-h... (Accessed: 24 July 2026).
“SS Unterscharfuhrer Karl Schluch on Hackenholt During the Early Days of Belzec” in ‘The “Disappearance” of SS-Hauptscharführer Lorenz Hackenholt’, 13. Available at: https://phdn.org/archives/holocaust-h... (Accessed: 24 July 2026).
"West-German Police Report on the Interrogation of Isle Hackenholt in July 1961” in ‘The “Disappearance” of SS-Hauptscharführer Lorenz Hackenholt’, 11. Available at: https://phdn.org/archives/holocaust-h... (Accessed: 24 July 2026).
“West-German Police Report on the Interrogation of Isle Hackenholt on October 31st 1961” in ‘The “Disappearance” of SS-Hauptscharführer Lorenz Hackenholt’, 26-29. Available at: https://phdn.org/archives/holocaust-h... (Accessed: 24 July 2026).
“Witness Interrogation Report of Jan Glab: February 19th 1946 (No. R 102/46)” in Obóz zagłady w Bełżcu: W Relacjach Ocalonych I Zeznaniach Polskich Świadków, 347-352. Prószyński Media.
“Witness Interrogation Report of Alojzy Berezowski: April 12th 1946 (No. R 102/46)” in Obóz zagłady w Bełżcu: W Relacjach Ocalonych I Zeznaniach Polskich Świadków, 415-416. Prószyński Media.
Secondary Readings:
Bryant, M. (2014). ‘The Nazi Ghosthunt: On The Trail of Lorenz Hackenholt’ in Eyewitness to Genocide: The Operation Reinhard Death Camp Trials, 1955-1966 (Legacies of War), 47-50. University of Tennessee Press.
Klee, E. (2003). Das Personenlexikon zum Dritten Reich Wer war was vor und nach 1945?, 215.
O’Neil, R. (2008). Belzec: Stepping Stone to Genocide, 144-188. JewishgGenInc.
Tregenza, M. (1998). ‘The “Disappearance” of SS-Hauptscharführer Lorenz Hackenholt’. Available at: https://phdn.org/archives/holocaust-h... (Accessed: 24 July 2026).
Webb, C. (2025). ‘Lorenz Hackenholt’ in SS Sonderkommando Belzec. Available at: https://www.holocausthistoricalsociet...
(Accessed: 24 July 2026).
#ww2 #ww2history #warcrime #deathcamp #operationreinhard #documentary #concentrationcamps #gaschamber #history #nazi #ss
Primary Sources:
“Excerpt from Lorenz Hackenholt’s 1941 Curriculum Vitae from his SS File - Found at the Berlin Document Centre in West Berlin” in The “Disappearance” of SS-Hauptscharführer Lorenz Hackenholt, 2. Available at: https://phdn.org/archives/holocaust-h... (Accessed: 24 July 2026).
“Police Report of the Words of Antonia Hackenholt - Concerning the Search Warrant on July 8th 1961” in ‘The “Disappearance” of SS-Hauptscharführer Lorenz Hackenholt’, 10. Available at: https://phdn.org/archives/holocaust-h... (Accessed: 24 July 2026).
“Recount of SS-Unterscharführer Franz Suchomel on ‘Hacko’ at Treblinka” in ‘The “Disappearance” of SS-Hauptscharführer Lorenz Hackenholt’, 15. Available at: https://phdn.org/archives/holocaust-h... (Accessed: 24 July 2026).
“Recount of SS-Unterscharführer Erwin Lambert on Hackenholt’s Transfer to Sobibor” in ‘The “Disappearance” of SS-Hauptscharführer Lorenz Hackenholt’, 16. Available at: https://phdn.org/archives/holocaust-h... (Accessed: 24 July 2026).
“SS-NCO Karl Schiffner on Hackenholt Working in Trieste in April/May 1945” in The “Disappearance” of SS-Hauptscharführer Lorenz Hackenholt’, 22. Available at: https://phdn.org/archives/holocaust-h... (Accessed: 24 July 2026).
“SS-NCO Robert Juhrs on Lorenz Hackenholt” in The “Disappearance” of SS-Hauptscharführer Lorenz Hackenholt’, 20. Available at: https://phdn.org/archives/holocaust-h... (Accessed: 24 July 2026).
“SS Unterscharfuhrer Karl Schluch on Hackenholt During the Early Days of Belzec” in ‘The “Disappearance” of SS-Hauptscharführer Lorenz Hackenholt’, 13. Available at: https://phdn.org/archives/holocaust-h... (Accessed: 24 July 2026).
"West-German Police Report on the Interrogation of Isle Hackenholt in July 1961” in ‘The “Disappearance” of SS-Hauptscharführer Lorenz Hackenholt’, 11. Available at: https://phdn.org/archives/holocaust-h... (Accessed: 24 July 2026).
“West-German Police Report on the Interrogation of Isle Hackenholt on October 31st 1961” in ‘The “Disappearance” of SS-Hauptscharführer Lorenz Hackenholt’, 26-29. Available at: https://phdn.org/archives/holocaust-h... (Accessed: 24 July 2026).
“Witness Interrogation Report of Jan Glab: February 19th 1946 (No. R 102/46)” in Obóz zagłady w Bełżcu: W Relacjach Ocalonych I Zeznaniach Polskich Świadków, 347-352. Prószyński Media.
“Witness Interrogation Report of Alojzy Berezowski: April 12th 1946 (No. R 102/46)” in Obóz zagłady w Bełżcu: W Relacjach Ocalonych I Zeznaniach Polskich Świadków, 415-416. Prószyński Media.
Secondary Readings:
Bryant, M. (2014). ‘The Nazi Ghosthunt: On The Trail of Lorenz Hackenholt’ in Eyewitness to Genocide: The Operation Reinhard Death Camp Trials, 1955-1966 (Legacies of War), 47-50. University of Tennessee Press.
Klee, E. (2003). Das Personenlexikon zum Dritten Reich Wer war was vor und nach 1945?, 215.
O’Neil, R. (2008). Belzec: Stepping Stone to Genocide, 144-188. JewishgGenInc.
Tregenza, M. (1998). ‘The “Disappearance” of SS-Hauptscharführer Lorenz Hackenholt’. Available at: https://phdn.org/archives/holocaust-h... (Accessed: 24 July 2026).
Webb, C. (2025). ‘Lorenz Hackenholt’ in SS Sonderkommando Belzec. Available at: https://www.holocausthistoricalsociet...
(Accessed: 24 July 2026).