in january 1941 he was sent to kraków, occupied poland, as senior commander of the sipo and sd (). during this time schöngarth was stationed in kraków, he formed several "einsatzgruppen" (special action groups) in warsaw, radom, and lublin, with the intention of perpetrating massacres. he was responsible for the murder of up to 10,000 polish jews between july and september 1941 and the massacre of lwów professors behind the frontlines of operation barbarossa in the soviet union. schöngarth attended the wannsee conference on 20 january 1942, along with dr. rudolf lange ("einsatzgruppen" a), who had also participated in the holocaust. from early july 1944 until the end of war he was the bds in the netherlands. he is also reported to have killed 263 persons (including one german soldier) in reprisal for the ambushing of ss general hanns albin rauter march 6, 1945.