The face of a killer in one of history's most haunting photos

History · Published 20 October 2026 · Updated 21 October 2026 Swipe more like this →

In short: For decades, the identity of the gunman in the iconic 'Last Jew in Vinnitsa' photograph remained a mystery. Now, using artificial intelligence and open-source sleuthing, historians have finally put a name to the face of the executioner, revealing a chillingly ordinary life behind a horrific act.

The photograph, which first gained global attention in 1961 during the trial of Adolf Eichmann, depicts a Nazi soldier pointing a gun at a kneeling man before a mass grave. For years, it was widely believed to have been taken in the town of Vinnitsa. However, recent research by historian Jürgen Matthäus, utilizing facial recognition and geolocation, has corrected the record. The image was likely captured in the early afternoon of July 28, 1941, in the Ukrainian town of Berdychiv, specifically at the Berdychiv citadel.

The gunman has been identified as Jakobus Onnen, a 34-year-old man born in 1906 in the German village of Tichelwarf. Onnen was not a career soldier; he was an educated man who worked as a gym and languages teacher before joining the Nazi Party in 1931. He served as a member of Einsatzgruppe C, a mobile unit tasked with the mass murder of Jews in the Soviet Union. Onnen was eventually killed in battle in August 1943 near Zhitomir.

The identification was made with 99.9 percent confidence by matching family photos of Onnen with the image using AI tools. This project involved collaboration with volunteers from Bellingcat, a digital sleuthing group. While the identity of the gunman is now known, the victim remains unidentified. Matthäus emphasizes that the photo is significant because it captures the 'hands-on nature' of the Holocaust—the direct, intimate confrontation between a killer and the person being killed.

The location of the massacre is also clarified by the diary of Walter Materna, an Austrian captain whose records mention the execution of approximately 70 Jews at the citadel on July 28, 1941, following hundreds of deaths in the preceding days. This research highlights the transition from the mobile mass executions of the Einsatzgruppen to the industrialized murder later perfected at Auschwitz.

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