{{Short description|Nazi military officer and war criminal (1906–1943)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=November 2025}} {{Infobox soldier | name = Jakobus Onnen | image = The last Jew in Vinnitsa, 1941.jpg | caption = ''The Last Jew in Vinnitsa'', 1941. The executioner is believed to be Onnen. | birth_date = 3 August 1906 | death_date = 12 August 1943 (aged 37) | birth_place = Tichelwarf, [[East Frisia]], [[German Empire]] | death_place = [[Korosten]], [[Reichskommissariat Ukraine]] | allegiance = [[Nazi Germany]] | branch = {{ubl | [[Sturmabteilung]] (until 1933) | [[Schutzstaffel]] (from 1934) }} | battles = {{tree list}} * [[World War II]] ** [[Eastern Front (World War II)|Eastern Front]] {{tree list/end}} }}
'''Jakobus Onnen'''{{efn|{{IPA|de|jaˈkoːbʊs ˈɔnən|small=no}}.}} (3 August 1906 – 12 August 1943) was a German schoolteacher and a member of the Nazi [[Schutzstaffel]] (SS) who served in a mobile killing unit during [[World War II]].<ref name="Guardian">"The Einsatzgruppe C commando, one of several mobile units deployed in the newly occupied Soviet Union, had been engaged in clearing the region of 'Jews and partisans' days before a visit by Adolf Hitler." {{cite web |last=Cole |first=Deborah |date=2 October 2025 |title=Historian uses AI to help identify Nazi in notorious Holocaust murder image |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/oct/02/historian-uses-ai-to-help-identify-nazi-in-notorious-holocaust-image |access-date=24 October 2025 |website=The Guardian |publisher=Guardian News & Media Limited}}</ref> He was identified as the individual who appears as the executioner in the Holocaust photograph ''[[The Last Jew in Vinnitsa]]'', which depicts a Nazi officer about to shoot a Jewish man at a [[mass grave]] in 1941, by the historian [[Jürgen Matthäus]] in 2025.<ref name="Guardian" /><ref name="Matthaus2023">{{cite journal |last=Matthäus |first=Jürgen |author-link=Jürgen Matthäus |date=Winter 2023 |title='The last Jew in Vinnitsa': Reframing an Iconic Holocaust Photograph |journal=Holocaust and Genocide Studies |volume=37 |issue=3 |pages=349–359 |doi=10.1093/hgs/dcad053 |id={{Project MUSE|918306}}}}</ref> Onnen was killed in action on the [[Eastern Front (World War II)|Eastern Front]] in 1943<ref name="szyska">{{Cite web |last=Szyska |first=Holger |date=2025-09-30 |title=Foto mit erschossenem Juden: SS-Mörder soll aus Ostfriesland sein |url=https://www.noz.de/lokales/ostfriesland/artikel/foto-mit-erschossenem-juden-ss-moerder-soll-aus-ostfriesland-sein-49339865 |access-date=2025-11-01 |website=noz.de |language=de}}</ref> and was never prosecuted for his crimes, remaining unidentified as a war criminal for decades after the war.<ref name="Memorial removal" /><ref name=":0" />
==Early life and education== Based on documents from the SS Race and Settlement Office analyzed by ''[[Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung]]'',<ref name="Noz.de" /> Onnen was born on 3 August 1906 as the fifth child of the headmaster Johann Normannus Engelken Onnen in the village of Tichelwarf in [[East Frisia]], Germany,<ref name="Noz.de">{{Cite web |last=Szyska |first=Holger |date=2025-10-28 |title=Wie Jakobus Onnen aus Tichelwarf zum Kriegsverbrecher wurde |url=https://www.noz.de/lokales/ostfriesland/artikel/wie-jakobus-onnen-aus-tichelwarf-zum-kriegsverbrecher-wurde-49449376 |access-date=2025-11-03 |website=noz.de |language=de}}</ref> near the Dutch border. After attending the local [[primary school]] for four years, he went to the [[Latin school]] in [[Weener]] in 1917, after which, from 1921, he attended the [[Gymnasium (Germany)|Realgymnasium]] for Boys in [[Leer, Lower Saxony]], graduating in 1927.<ref name="Noz.de" /> He studied "Modern Languages" (English, French, Dutch and Spanish) at the [[University of Göttingen]], it is possible that there is where he became radicalized.<ref name="Noz.de" /> Onnen became politically active in the late [[Weimar Republic|Weimar era]], and on 1 November 1931 he joined the Nazi party (NSDAP),<ref name="Cologne newspaper" /> which was recognized at the time as a group seeking a "revolution through violent means ... with the goal of establishing the National Socialist Third Reich", his party number was 723098.<ref name="Noz.de" /> It is assumed that when Onnen took his state exam in May 1932, he was already a fervent supporter of [[Fascism and ideology|fascist ideology]].<ref name="Noz.de" /> He enlisted to the [[Sturmabteilung]] (SA) in January 1932, a year before the "[[Adolf Hitler's rise to power|Seizure of Power]]" by the Nazis, and on 1 November 1933, he joined the SS, with the membership number 267841.<ref name="Noz.de" /><ref name="Jewish newspaper">{{Cite web |last=K.d.ö.R |first=Zentralrat der Juden in Deutschland |date=2025-09-30 |title=Identität des Täters auf erschütterndem Holocaust-Foto geklärt |url=https://www.juedische-allgemeine.de/politik/identitaet-des-taeters-auf-erschuetterndem-holocaust-foto-geklaert/ |access-date=2025-10-24 |website=Jüdische Allgemeine |language=de}}</ref> From October 1934 to March 1936, Onnen was engaged in preparatory service for the assessor exam in [[Heiligenstadt in Oberfranken|Heiligenstadt]], which was a requirement for his employment in the German Colonial School in [[Witzenhausen]], Hesse.<ref name="Noz.de" /> In March 1936, Onnen passed his pedagogical exam, after which he worked as a [[secondary school]] teacher, teaching French, English, and [[physical education]].<ref name="Cologne newspaper">{{Cite web |date=2025-10-02 |title=Mutmaßlicher NS-Mörder identifiziert: Deutscher Historiker löst nach Jahrzehnten Rätsel von berüchtigtem Holocaust-Foto |url=https://www.ksta.de/politik/historiker-loest-raetsel-von-beruechtigtem-holocaust-foto-1120479 |access-date=2025-10-24 |website=Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger |language=de}}</ref> However, according to a May 1939 report on the German Colonial School, his performance as a teacher was subpar: "The teaching staff suffers in both their reputation and their performance because immoral and conscienceless individuals like a teacher Onnen ... are allowed to act. Apart from his inability to master the languages he claims to teach, there are drinking parties and fraternizing with students".<ref name="Noz.de" />
After two failed engagements, Onnen married Ruth (née Hüb­otter) on 3 April 1939, and in August that same year, Onnen joined the SS [[SS-Totenkopfverbände|Death's Head Standarte]] "Oberbayern", a nucleus of the [[Waffen-SS]], assigned to the [[Dachau concentration camp]] near [[Munich]].<ref name="Noz.de" />
==World War II and Einsatzgruppe service== In late 1939, after the [[Invasion of Poland|German invasion of Poland]], Onnen was transferred to the [[Ordnungspolizei]] (Order Police), and from January to 1940 he was stationed in the occupied Polish city of [[Płock]], northwest of [[Warsaw]].<ref name="Noz.de" /> Following the launch of [[Operation Barbarossa]] in June 1941, Onnen was sent to the [[Eastern Front (World War II)|Eastern Front]] and became a member of [[Einsatzgruppe C]], a mobile [[Death squad|SS death squad]] operating in [[Ukraine]]. Einsatzgruppe C, under the command of SS-Brigadeführer [[Otto Rasch]], was one of several units tasked with mass shootings of Jews, communists, and other civilians in the wake of the German army's advance. The unit comprised roughly 700 men and is estimated to have murdered over 100,000 people, mostly Jews, in Ukraine by the spring of 1942.<ref name="Cologne newspaper" /><ref name="Der Spiegel">{{Cite news |last=Wiegrefe |first=Klaus |date=2025-09-22 |title=(S+) Holocaust: Wie KI half, diesen Mörder zu identifizieren |url=https://www.spiegel.de/panorama/holocaust-wie-ki-half-diesen-moerder-von-berdytschiw-zu-identifizieren-a-56269918-58d3-4884-b240-e20bca93011d |access-date=2025-10-26 |work=Der Spiegel |language=de |issn=2195-1349}}</ref>
[[File:Weener - Neue Straße - Ehrenmal 03 ies.jpg|thumb|upright|Memorial in front of the [[Rheiderland]] local history museum. Onnen's name is listed on the plaque at the very bottom right.]]
Onnen took part in these atrocities as a low-ranking SS member. By July 1941 he had already committed his first murders as part of Einsatzgruppe C's killing operations.<ref name="Der Spiegel" /> During this time, Onnen was an SS-Unterscharführer (equivalent to a sergeant),<ref name="szyska" /> which would be the highest rank he ever attained,<ref>{{Cite web |date=2025-10-03 |title=Grâce à l'IA, un historien a identifié le nazi abattant un prisonnier sur cette photo de l'Holocauste |url=https://www.slate.fr/tech-internet/intelligence-artificielle-historien-identifier-nazi-prisonnier-holocauste-photo-guerre-juif-ukraine-urss |access-date=2025-10-24 |website=Slate.fr |language=fr-FR}}</ref><ref name="Noz.de" /> though it was not a high rank.<ref name="Guardian" /> On 28 July 1941, an SS massacre of Jews took place at the citadel in [[Berdychiv]], and a photograph captured a man aiming a pistol at a Jewish man kneeling before a pit of bodies, an image dubbed ''[[The Last Jew in Vinnitsa]]'', under the mistaken belief that it was taken in [[Vinnitsa]].<ref name="DW">{{Cite web |title=Holocaust photo: 1941 Nazi murderer now identified |url=https://www.dw.com/en/holocaust-photo-1941-nazi-murderer-now-identified/a-74394285 |access-date=2025-10-24 |website=dw.com |language=en}}</ref><ref name="Der Spiegel" /> In 2025, the historian [[Jürgen Matthäus]] identified Onnen as the gunman with 99% certainty after extensive research and an artificial intelligence image analysis conducted by [[Bellingcat]],<ref name="Guardian" /><ref name=":1" /> together with corroborating testimony from Onnen's living relatives.<ref name=DW/> His findings were published in the {{ill|Journal of Historical Studies|lt=''Journal of Historical Studies''|de|Zeitschrift für Geschichtswissenschaft (1953)}}.<ref name="Guardian" /><ref name=":1">{{Cite web |last=K.d.ö.R |first=Zentralrat der Juden in Deutschland |date=2025-09-30 |title=Identität des Täters auf erschütterndem Holocaust-Foto geklärt |url=https://www.juedische-allgemeine.de/politik/identitaet-des-taeters-auf-erschuetterndem-holocaust-foto-geklaert/ |access-date=2025-10-24 |website=Jüdische Allgemeine |language=de |quote=Die Ermittlungen, an denen auch ein privates Recherche-Büro und Künstliche Intelligenz beteiligt waren, um Familienfotos abzugleichen, ergaben eine 99-prozentige Wahrscheinlichkeit für Oehnens Identität. Oehnen, dessen Einheit bis Herbst 1942 über 100.000 Zivilisten ermordet hatte, fiel 1943 im Kampf.}}</ref> According to Matthäus, participating in mass shootings did not advance one's career in such units: "The participation in such massacres brought neither career nor rewards, in these killing units it was considered normal".<ref>{{Cite web |title=Deutscher Historiker nutzt KI, um das berüchtigtste Holocaust-Foto freizulegen |url=https://reporteri.net/de/Botschaft/Boot/Deutscher-Historiker-nutzt-es--um-das-ber%C3%BCchtigtste-Foto-des-Holocaust-zu-entdecken/}}</ref>
Onnen continued to serve with Nazi security forces through 1942, during which Einsatzgruppe C and affiliated units carried out mass murder across occupied Soviet territories. On 12 August 1943, Onnen, at the age of 37, was killed in combat near [[Korosten]] in [[Zhytomyr Oblast]], [[western Ukraine]], and was buried at a military cemetery in [[Kyiv]].<ref name="szyska" /><ref name="Noz.de" /> The letters Onnen sent to his sister during the war were destroyed by her.<ref name="DW" /> Because of this, and due to the fact that he died in the field, Onnen was considered a "fallen" soldier, escaping any post-war trial or accountability for his role in the Holocaust.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title="Der letzte Jude in Winniza": Historiker identifizieren SS-Mörder auf bekanntem Holocaust-Foto - WELT |url=https://www.welt.de/geschichte/article68de601e8016f8118e2fa6c5/der-letzte-jude-in-winniza-historiker-identifizieren-ss-moerder-auf-bekanntem-holocaust-foto.html |access-date=2025-12-07 |website=DIE WELT |language=de}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Holocaust photo: 1941 Nazi murderer now identified – DW – 10/19/2025 |url=https://www.dw.com/en/holocaust-photo-1941-nazi-murderer-now-identified/a-74394285 |access-date=2025-12-07 |website=dw.com |language=en}}</ref> In his hometown region of [[Weener]], his name was inscribed on a local war memorial honoring those victimized by war.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Höfer |first=Lotti |title=KI deckt NS-Verbrechen auf: Täter auf bekanntem Kriegsfoto identifiziert - Stadt reagiert |url=https://www.ndr.de/nachrichten/niedersachsen/oldenburg_ostfriesland/nazi-verbrechen-wie-ki-eine-ostfriesische-kleinstadt-veraendert-weener,kriegsverbrecher-100.html |access-date=2025-12-07 |website=ndr.de |language=de}}</ref> After Matthäus published his research the council began considerations to remove his name from the memorial,<ref name="Memorial removal">{{Cite web |last=Zeitung |first=Rheiderland |date=2025 |title=Weener auch »eine Stadt der Täter« |url=https://rheiderland.de/artikel/61144/weener-auch-eine-stadt-der-taeter |access-date=2025-10-26 |website=Rheiderland.de |language=de}}</ref> with the conclusion being that his name would be covered by a plaque with a [[QR code]], through which visitors could find out about him.<ref>{{Cite web |last=NWZonline.de |date=2025-11-11 |title=Holocaust-Täter auf Ehrenmal in Ostfriesland: Stadt Weener zieht Konsequenzen nach Identifizierung von SS-Mann |url=https://www.nwzonline.de/blaulicht/holocaust-taeter-auf-ehrenmal-in-ostfriesland-stadt-weener-zieht-konsequenzen-nach-identifizierung-von-ss-mann_a_4,2,2736909194.html |access-date=2025-12-07 |website=www.nwzonline.de |language=de}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=ndr.de |title=Nazi-Verbrecher auf berühmtem Foto identifiziert: Stadt überklebt Namen auf Ehrenmal |url=https://www.ndr.de/nachrichten/niedersachsen/oldenburg_ostfriesland/stadt-weener-ueberklebt-namen-von-nazi-verbrecher,aktuelloldenburg-1352.html |access-date=2025-12-07 |website=ndr.de |language=de}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Höfer |first=Lotti |title=KI deckt NS-Verbrechen auf: Täter auf bekanntem Kriegsfoto identifiziert - Stadt reagiert |url=https://www.ndr.de/nachrichten/niedersachsen/oldenburg_ostfriesland/nazi-verbrechen-wie-ki-eine-ostfriesische-kleinstadt-veraendert-weener,kriegsverbrecher-100.html |access-date=2025-12-07 |website=ndr.de |language=de}}</ref>
==Notes== {{notelist}}
==References== {{Reflist}}
==Further reading== * {{Cite web |date=2025-10-02 |title=AI Helps Historian Identify Nazi in Holocaust Photograph |url=https://neurozzio.com/ai/ai-helps-historian-identify-nazi-in-holocaust-photo |access-date=2025-11-03 |website=neurozzio.com |language=en}}
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[[Category:1906 births]] [[Category:1943 deaths]] [[Category:Einsatzgruppen personnel killed in World War II]] [[Category:Holocaust perpetrators in Ukraine]] [[Category:People notable for being the subject of a specific photograph]]