Erwin Hermann Lambert (7 December 1909 – 15 October 1976) was a German perpetrator of

the Holocaust The Holocaust (), known in Hebrew language, Hebrew as the (), was the genocide of History of the Jews in Europe, European Jews during World War II. From 1941 to 1945, Nazi Germany and Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy ...

. By trade, he was a master mason, building trades foreman,

Nazi Party The Nazi Party, officially the National Socialist German Workers' Party ( or NSDAP), was a far-right politics, far-right political party in Germany active between 1920 and 1945 that created and supported the ideology of Nazism. Its precursor ...

member and member of the ''

Schutzstaffel The ''Schutzstaffel'' (; ; SS; also stylised with SS runes as ''ᛋᛋ'') was a major paramilitary organisation under Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party in Nazi Germany, and later throughout German-occupied Europe during World War II. It beg ...

'' with the rank of SS-'' Unterscharführer'' (corporal). He supervised construction of the

gas chambers A gas chamber is an apparatus for killing humans or animals with gas, consisting of a sealed chamber into which a poisonous or asphyxiant gas is introduced. Poisonous agents used include hydrogen cyanide and carbon monoxide. History Gener ...

for the

Action T4 (German, ) was a campaign of Homicide#By state actors, mass murder by involuntary euthanasia which targeted Disability, people with disabilities and the mentally ill in Nazi Germany. The term was first used in post-WWII, war trials against d ...

euthanasia Euthanasia (from : + ) is the practice of intentionally ending life to eliminate pain and suffering. Different countries have different Legality of euthanasia, euthanasia laws. The British House of Lords Select committee (United Kingdom), se ...

program at Hartheim, Sonnenstein,

Bernburg Bernburg (Saale) () is a town in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany, capital of the Salzlandkreis district. The former residence of the Anhalt-Bernburg princes is known for its Renaissance castle. Geography The town centre is situated in the fertile Magdeb ...

and Hadamar, and then at Sobibór and

Treblinka extermination camp Treblinka () was the second-deadliest extermination camp to be built and operated by Nazi Germany in occupied Poland during World War II. It was in a forest north-east of Warsaw, south of the village of Treblinka in what is now the Mas ...

s during

Operation Reinhard Operation Reinhard or Operation Reinhardt ( or ; also or ) was the codename of the secret Nazi Germany, German plan in World War II to exterminate History of the Jews in Poland, Polish Jews in the General Government district of German-occupied ...

. He specialized in building larger gas chambers that killed more people than previous efforts in the extermination program.

Biography

Lambert was born on 7 December 1909 in Schildow, a small town in Mühlenbecker Land, in the Niederbarnim district. His father was killed in the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

; his stepfather owned a construction firm in Schildow. After basic schooling, Lambert became an

apprentice Apprenticeship is a system for training a potential new practitioners of a Tradesman, trade or profession with on-the-job training and often some accompanying study. Apprenticeships may also enable practitioners to gain a license to practice in ...

, first to a

locksmith Locksmithing is the work of creating and bypassing locks. Locksmithing is a traditional trade and in many countries requires completion of an apprenticeship. The level of formal education legally required varies by country, ranging from no formal ...

, and then to a mason. After passing his apprentice exam, he attended a school for the building trades in

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

in the mid-1920s and passed his examination for master masonry in the mid-1930s. He was always employed as a mason and, after becoming a master mason, as a foreman for various Berlin construction firms. Henry Friedlander (1995). ''The Origins of Nazi Genocide: From Euthanasia to the Final Solution'', Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, pp. 214–215. Lambert joined the

in March 1933, after

Hitler Adolf Hitler (20 April 1889 – 30 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was the dictator of Nazi Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his suicide in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the lea ...

's assumption of national power, and first worked within the Party as a '' Blockleiter'' in Schildow. Klee, Ernst: ''Das Personenlexikon zum Dritten Reich. Wer war was vor und nach 1945?''. Fischer Taschenbuch Verlag, Zweite aktualisierte Auflage, Frankfurt am Main 2003 Lambert was not yet a member of any of the party's paramilitary organizations. Late in 1939, the

program tried to recruit Lambert, who had been recommended by the local office of the German Labour Front. He accepted the offer in January 1940. Lambert was hired to serve as a construction foreman who supervised the other workers; he was "the traveling construction boss of

Construction of gas chambers

Lambert's primary task was to direct construction work at the T4 killing centres, particularly the construction of

and

crematoria Cremation is a method of final disposition of a corpse through burning. Cremation may serve as a funeral or post-funeral rite and as an alternative to burial. In some countries, including India, Nepal, and Syria, cremation on an open-air pyr ...

. In testimony Lambert claimed that he merely erected room dividers and installed doors, a claim largely discredited. Since

Brandenburg Brandenburg, officially the State of Brandenburg, is a States of Germany, state in northeastern Germany. Brandenburg borders Poland and the states of Berlin, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Lower Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, and Saxony. It is the List of Ger ...

and

Grafeneck Grafeneck is a small rural village in the Germany, German municipality of Gomadingen, south of Stuttgart. World War II history Grafeneck Castle, which had previously been an asylum for crippled people, was turned by the Nazism, Nazis into an e ...

had already been completed before Lambert joined the T4 program, he worked at Hartheim, Sonnenstein,

, and Hadamar as the program's "expert for the construction of gas chambers". After T4's termination, Lambert was posted to

in Lublin reservation for the purpose of bricklaying assignments which constructed the gas chambers in Sobibór and

s. At Lublin Lambert joined the SS. During this time, however, his work was often interrupted for further construction jobs in Germany and Austria involving the still-ongoing Action 14f13. With the help of Ukrainian volunteers, and condemned Jewish prisoners, Lambert constructed solid gassing facilities at Sobibor and Treblinka: "Using his expert knowledge about gassing installations, Lambert was able rapidly to complete all work on the big gas house n Treblinka. During his testimony at the

Sobibór trial The Sobibor trial was a 1965–66 judicial trial in the West German prosecution of SS officers who had worked at Sobibor extermination camp; it was held in Hagen. It was one of a series of similar war crime trials held during the early and mid-196 ...

Hagen Hagen () is a city in the States of Germany, state of North Rhine-Westphalia, in western Germany, on the southeastern edge of the Ruhr area, 15 km south of Dortmund, where the rivers Lenne and Volme meet the Ruhr (river), Ruhr. In 2023, the ...

, Germany (whose lead defendant was Kurt Bolender), lasting from 6 September 1965 until 20 December 1966, Lambert stated: In addition, Lambert directed construction at several nearby forced labour camps such as Dohorucza and the Poniatowa concentration camp. Reportedly, Lambert attempted to remain an uninvolved expert devoted solely to his work and not interested in the conditions which surrounded it. According to one survivor, Jankiel Wiernik, Lambert avoided looking at dead bodies and treated his Jewish workers in a professional manner. At the conclusion of

, Lambert was posted to

Trieste Trieste ( , ; ) is a city and seaport in northeastern Italy. It is the capital and largest city of the Regions of Italy#Autonomous regions with special statute, autonomous region of Friuli-Venezia Giulia, as well as of the Province of Trieste, ...

, where he continued installing cremation facilities at the concentration camp Risiera di San Sabba. After the war, Lambert was arrested on 28 March 1962. At the First Treblinka Trial in 1965, Lambert was tried for the first time and sentenced to four years' imprisonment for aiding and abetting the murder of at least 300,000 people. Having already served this time, he was allowed to live as a free man. At the

Sobibór Trial The Sobibor trial was a 1965–66 judicial trial in the West German prosecution of SS officers who had worked at Sobibor extermination camp; it was held in Hagen. It was one of a series of similar war crime trials held during the early and mid-196 ...

in 1966, Lambert was acquitted.Sobibor Trial
at the Holocaust Research Project. At the trials Lambert denied involvement in the killing operation and claimed that he merely suspected that the buildings would be used for killing. Lambert died on 15 October 1976.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lambert, Erwin 1909 births 1976 deaths People from Oberhavel Aktion T4 personnel Bricklayers Operation Reinhard Sonderabteilung Einsatz R personnel People convicted in the Treblinka trials Sobibor trial SS non-commissioned officers Holocaust perpetrators in Poland Stonemasons German prisoners of war in World War II held by the United Kingdom German prisoners of war in World War II held by the United States