He became a member of the student fraternity[1] (this was the origin of the "Schmiss" – German for "dueling scar" – on his left cheek).

On 29 January 1944, Reinefarth was assigned to be SS and Police Leader in Reichsgau Wartheland (Polish Poznań Voivodeship annexed by Germany in 1939).

In September, his forces were transferred to attack the boroughs of Powiśle and Czerniaków, where they committed further atrocities, including killing of POWs and wounded found in military hospitals.

However, the British and American authorities of occupied West Germany decided that Reinefarth could be useful as a witness at the Nuremberg Trial.

After the trials, he was arrested for war crimes, but the local court in Hamburg released him shortly afterwards on the grounds of lack of evidence.

Despite numerous demands by Communist Poland, he was not extradited as the German courts had ruled that there was no evidence of him committing any crimes.

In 2014, the local authorities of Westerland raised a memorial table remembering Polish victims of Reinefarth.

A local SPD member, Ernst Wilhelm Sojan, who was present at the ceremony had campaigned since the 1960s to raise awareness of acts committed by Reinefarth but said that he was always met with a "wall of silence".

Polish President Bronislaw Komorowski praised the authorities of Sylt for attempting to deal with its past.

[6] "Holiday on Sylt" 1957 by the Eastern German film director Andrew Thorndike Media related to Heinz Reinefarth at Wikimedia Commons