On 16 July 1941, officials of the Reichsgau Wartheland discussed the "solution of the Jewish question", which was picked up by the head of the SD and Umwandererzentralstelle (migration centre office) Posen Rolf-Heinz Höppner and forwarded to Adolf Eichmann with the request "to have your reactions sometime". Höppner himself considered the proposals "in part fantastic, but in my view...thoroughly feasible". Among mass sterilisation and erection of a huge camp for the Jews of the Warthegau, it was discussed "to finish off those of the Jews who are not employable by means of some quick-working agent" as "this winter there is a danger that not all the Jews can be fed anymore" (Document 15). The feasibility of the secret mass killing of people in the Warthegau had been previously demonstrated by the clearing of the asylums by Sonderkommando Lange with its carbon monoxide gas van (see the previous posting of this series Sonderkommando Lange in German Documents: Euthanasia 1940/41). On 2 September 1941, Höppner urged Eichmann for a policy decision: [1]
"It is by the way essential that it is entirely clear from the start what shall happen with those evacuated ethnic groups, which are undesirable for the greater German settlements: if the aim is to permanently assure them a certain life or if they shall be wiped out [ausgemerzt] entirely."
According to the historian Michael Alberti, the Reich Gouverneur Arthur Greiser obtained Heinrich Himmler's permission to murder 100,000 unfit Jews of the Warthegau on 19 or 20 September 1941 in exchange for accepting the deportation of Jews from the Altreich and the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia to the Warthegau requested by Himmler the day(s) earlier [2]. In contrast to this, the historian Peter Klein argues that Greiser received the authorization to kill the unfit Jews already on 18 July 1941 in his military headquarters Wolf's Lair from Adolf Hitler [3].
In any case, the Nazi mass murder of Jewish families in the Warthegau begun in September 1941 when the Konin district was cleared by Sonderkommando Lange. Correspondence of the local authorities indicates that the "district is free of Jews" by 3 October 1941 [4]. The Polish prisoner Henryk Mania assigned to the commando described the killings as follows in 1967: [5]
"...[F]irst we had to dig pits in the forest. Jews, I believe from Konin
and surrounding towns, were transported to the forest in trucks. First,
they completely undressed and entered the gas van, which then drove to a
pit we had dug. I did not witness the loading and gassing of the Jews; I
just assume this is what occurred based on previous experience. Our job
was to unload the naked corpses and throw them into the pit. Entire
families were gassed, as among the bodies were men, women and children.
Following our work each day, we loaded the clothing into the gas van,
which was driven to the Gestapo office in Konin. We then had to search
the clothing for valuables. I am unable to say how long this operation
lasted or how many victims there were, but it continued for several
days. This was the beginning of the campaign of exterminating the Jews."
The use of the gas van is confirmed by the local resident (?) Kazimierz Szymczak, who saw "a large automobile, lined with sheet metal, in which a running engine pumped gases through a pipe" [6], and the Polish prisoner Mieczyslaw Sekiewicz, who was brought from Konin prison and observed "a large, dark gray ambulance-like car that opened in the rear...human corpses of men, women and children, also Jews fell out from the inside" [7]. The day before the gas van arrived, Sekiewicz also described what looks like the mass killing with quicklime and water or some other liquid in a pit, which is regarded as factual by some historians and as evidence that Lange was experimenting with killing techniques [8].
Next, Sonderkommando Lange turned to the unfit Jews of the district Kalisch (Kalisz). According to a report of the Schupo Kalisch of 22 November 1941, "a special delegation of the Secret State Police" deported the "unfit" in the period 16 to 21 November 1941 [9]. 127 victims were brought away from Kalisch on 18 November 1941, another batch of victims was fetched on 1 December 1941 [10]. From 26 November 1941, 700 Jews were driven away with a dark painted, closed truck from Kozminek[11].
The gas van was noticed on its way to the Jedlec forest by the Polish workers Antoni Ja. ("a big black automobile, which looked like a bus, but was without any windows") [12] and Michel Me. ("a closed, black automobile, looking like a bus, without windows") [13], by Jozef Go. ("a large car with the appearance of a bus, but no windows...I heard big noise in the car, as if someone was banging something against the walls") [14] and by Twardowski Wl., who observed the vehicle in the forest with binoculars ("...backwards to the grave and when the rear of the vehicle was opened, I saw the white interior and that the vehicle was half filled with people, like they were dead") [15].
So far, Sonderkommando Lange visited its victims and brought them to a nearby forest for execution and burial. The decentralised operation was feasible for the small scale mass killings, but at some point it was decided, likely for logistic and camouflage reasons, to transport the victims of the forthcoming large scale mass murder of the unfit Jews of the Warthegau to a central extermination site.
The Waffen-SS driver Walter Burmeister, who joined Sonderkommando Lange already in July 1941 according to a proposal list for the War Merit Cross II with swords [16] and so could have been involved in the above described killings of Jews in Konin and Kalisz, described the erection of the extermination site as follows: [17]
"One day in late Autumn 1941, I received the order from the State Police
office Posen for a trip with my vehicle with Hauptsturmführer Lange. We went directly or via Litzmannstadt to a
small
village called Kulmhof. A Sonderkommando was to be found here as Lange told me either already during the journey or after our arrival in Kulmhof.
The following persons were assigned to the Sonderkommando from the State Police office Posen, who came with us or arrived there about the same time:
1.) Bürstinger...
2.) Behm and
3.) Richter....
Around the same time, SS men from other agencies, e.g. the State Police Office Litzmannstadt arrived in Kulmhof. I remember the following persons:
1.) Otto...
2.) Görlich...
3.) Plate...
Likewise from Posen was a Polish working detail of six or seven persons, who
had been
prisoners of Fort VII in Posen. Shortly after our arrival in Kulmhof a
guard detail consisting of police men showed up...
The SS and police men were accommodated in the houses of the village, which was situated at both sides of the road…Somewhat offside the village was
the palace, which was connected to the road with a farm track. Next to this was a stony granary. The area
was first
fenced with a wire mesh fence, later a timber fence was erected. There was a church on a hill in the village, which we used a garage for our vehicles...
The
Polish
working detail constructed a fenced ramp at the palace. The Polish working detail was accommodated in the palace and could move around freely. The Jewish working details formed of the first Jewish transports arriving in Kulmhof lived either in the palace or in the granary...
Before the first
transports of people came to Kulmhof, we had to sign a declaration that
we will
not speak about anything we hear and see, because it was a secret state
affair."
Chełmno nad Nerem (in the following Kulmhof according to its German name at the time) is a small village near Koło at the river Ner. Figure 1 shows a pre-1943 photograph of Kulmhof viewed from the South and across the Ner. The church of the village is readily visible, left to it the so called "palace" (Figure 2a), which was to become the centre of the mass extermination. These buildings and the surrounding houses were confiscated by Sonderkommando Kulmhof [18], as Lange's men became known to when it settled in the village.
Figure 1: Photograph of Kulmhof, undated but before 1943 (YVA 1007/1)
Figure 2a: Photograph of the palace, dated 1880 (from Pawlicka-Nowak, Swiadectwa Zaglady, photo 4)
Below is a close up of the palace, supposedly dated 1939 (for another view see Montague, Chelmno and the Holocaust, photograph 3)...
Figure 2b: Kulmhof palace, 1939 (schondorf.pl, cf. Bednarz, Oboz Stracen w Chelmnie nad nerem, p.1)
Figure 10: Village hall (AIPN GK 165/271, tom 6, p. 23)
The location of the various buildings is shown on the map in Figure 11.
Figure 11: Map of Kulmhof from Montague, Chelmno and the Holocaust (reproduced with the author's permission)
The occupation of the palace by Sonderkommando Kulmhof and its use of Polish and Jewish working details is borne out by a letter of the local health office to the president of the government of Hohensalza (Inowrocław) of 24 January 1942 on typhus cases in Kulmhof (Document 18). The report identifies the staff of the camp as the "members of the Sonderkommando", the "Polish working detail", each accommodated in separate "housings", and the "Jewish working detail", which was "accommodated in the palace of Kulmhof".
Furthermore, the Sonderkommando leased a garden area behind the palace to extend the perimeter of the site. According to correspondence between the county administration and the Gestapo Litzmannstadt (Lodz), the "SS-Sonderkommando Kulmhof" paid 150 RM for the period 1 October 1941 to 30 September 1942 (Documents 19 and 20). The amount might be a typo in the copy the Gestapo Litzmannstadt forwarded to the Kulmhof deputy commandant Albert Plate to certify the correctness of the additional payment for the period 1 October 1942 to 31 March 1943, since the annual leasing costs were given as 100 RM only. The formal begin of the leasing on 1 October 1941 is not necessarily tied to the arrival of Lange in Kulmhof as the contract could have been back-dated. According to the Kulmhof resident Andrzej Miszczak, it was "in mid-November 1941, the 'Gestapo' group led by Lang[e] came to Chelmno" [19]. The date November of 1941 is also mentioned as foundation of the camp by Leopold Fjalkowski, Zofja Potyralska, Helena Krol and Ignacy Kantorowski [20].
The initial SS personnel from the Gestapo offices Posen and Litzmannstadt was considered insufficient for the operation of the Kulmhof extermination camp and Lange was to receive further manpower from the migration centre office Litzmannstadt. On 15 December 1941, the head of the office Hermann Krumey agreed to the Inspector of the Security Police and SD in Posen Ernst Damzog to provide three SS leaders and NCOs for the "Kommando Lange" (Document 16). The SS men Herbert Otto, Fritz Ismer and Karl Göde were subordinated together with the criminal policeman Grebe to Lange on 6 January 1942 (Document 17).
Footnotes
[1] Alberti, Die Verfolgung und Vernichtung der Juden im Reichsgau Warthegau, p. 375
[2] Alberti, Die Verfolgung und Vernichtung der Juden im Reichsgau Warthegau, p. 402
[3] Klein, Die 'Gettoverwaltung Litzmannstadt' 1940 bis 1944, p. 347 - 352
[4] Alberti, Die Verfolgung und Vernichtung der Juden im Reichsgau Warthegau, p. 412
[6] Pawlicka-Nowak (ed.), Swiadectwa Zaglady, p. 366
[7] Testimony of Mieczyslaw Sekiewicz of 27 October 1945, reproduced in Pawlicka-Nowak (ed.), Chelmno Witnesses Speak, p. 95, cf. Montague, Chelmno and the Holocaust, p. 45 and Krakowski, Das Todeslager Chelmno/Kulmhof, p. 24; Sekiewicz dated the action to November 1941
[8] Curilla, Der Judenmord in Polen und die deutsche Ordnungspolizei 1939-1945, p. 175; Alberti, Die Verfolgung und Vernichtung der Juden im Reichsgau Wartheland 1939-1945, p. 413; Krakowski, Das Todeslager Chełmno/Kulmhof, p. 25; Montague, Chelmno and the Holocaust, p. 47; Rhodes, Masters of Death: The SS-Einsatzgruppen and the Invention of the Holocaust, p. 201; still, the testimony of a single witness, who later stated that he was shocked and half-conscious during the event (Pawlicka-Nowak (ed.), Swiadectwa Zaglady, p. 498), on such atrocity should be taken carefully. The large scale described by Sekiewicz seems to stand in contrast to its experimental character.
[9] Alberti, Die Verfolgung und Vernichtung der Juden im Reichsgau Warthegau, p. 415
[10] The Kalish Book, p. 266; online available here
[11] Justiz und NS-Verbrechen, volume VII, case no. 231
[12] interrogation of Antoni Ja. of 20 October 1945, BArch B 162/20934, p. 153
[13] interrogation of Michel Me. of 20 October 1945, BArch B 162/20934, p. 155
[14] interrogation of Jozef Go. of 20 October 1945, BArch B 162/20934, p. 154
[15] interrogation of Twardowski Wl. of 20 October 1945, BArch B 162/20934, p. 156
[16] Alberti, Die Verfolgung und Vernichtung der Juden im Reichsgau Warthegau, p. 370
[17] interrogation of Walter Burmeister of 24 January 1961, BArch B162/3246, p. 147ff.
[18] e.g. interrogation of Konrad Schulz of 27 April 1962, BArch B162/3249, p. 217; interrogation of Wa. of 23 March 1962, BArch B162/3249, p. 199 ff.; interrogation of Lö. of 21 March 1962, BArch B 162/3249, p. 191 ff.; interrogation of Se. of 22 March 1962, BArch B162/3249, p. 195 ff.; interrogation of Erhard Mi. of 18 April 1962, BArch B162/3249, p. 210 ff.; interrogation of Adele Fr. of 16 April 1962, BArch B162/3249, p. 207 ff.; interrogation of Andrzej Miszczak of 14 July 1945, AIPN GK 165/271, tom 1, p. 51
[19] interrogation of Andrzej Miszczak of 14 July 1945, AIPN GK 165/271, tom 1, p. 51, cf. Pawlicka-Nowak (ed.), Chelmno Witnesses Speak, p. 139
[20] interrogation of Leopold Fjalkowski of 9 July 1945, AIPN GK 165/271, tom 3, p. 61; interrogation of Zofja Potyralska of 13 July 1945, AIPN GK 165/271, tom 3, p. 102; interrogation of Helena Krol of 14 June 1945, AIPN GK 165/271, tom 1, p. 55; interrogation of Ignacy Kantorowski of 16 June 1945, AIPN GK 165/271, tom 1, p. 70
Archive Abbreviations
AGK: Archivum Glownej Komisji Badania Zbrodni przeciwko Narodowi Polskiemu
APL: Archiwum Państwowe w Łodzi
APP: Archiwum Państwowe w Poznaniu
AIPN: Archiwum Instytutu Pamięci Narodowej
BArch: Bundesarchiv
NTN: Najwyzszy Trybunai Narodowy
Contemporary German Documents
15.) Letter of Rolf-Heinz Höppner to Adolf Eichmann of 16 July 1941:
DOCUMENT
TRANSCRIPTION
L Hö/S
An das Reichssicherheitshauptamt
Amt IV B 4
z.Hd.SS-Obersturmbannführer Eichmann
Berlin
Lieber Kamerad Eichmann!
In der Anlage übersende ich einen Aktenvermerk, in dem verschiedene Besprechungen in der hiesigen Reichsstatthalterei zusammengefaßt sind. Ich wäre Ihnen gelegentlich für eine Stellungnahme dazu dankbar. Die Dinge klingen teilweise phantastisch, wären aber meiner Ansicht nach durchaus durchzuführen.
SS-Sturmbannführer
1 Anlage
L Hö/S Posen, den 16. Juli 1941
Aktenvermerk
Betr.: Lösung der Judenfrage
Bei Besprechungen in der Reichsstatthalterei wurde von verschiedenen Stellen die Lösung der Judenfrage im Reichsgau Wartheland angeschnitten. Man schlägt dort folgende Lösung vor:
1. Sämtliche Juden des Warthegaues werden in ein Lager für 300 000 Juden genommen, das in möglichster Nähe der Kohlenmagistrale in Barackenform errichtet wird, und in dem barackenmäßige Einrichtungen für Wirtschaftsbetriebe, Schneidereien, Schustereien usw. enthalten sind.
2. In dieses Lager werden sämtliche Juden des Warthegaues verbracht. Arbeitsfähige Juden können nach Bedarf zu Arbeitskommandos zusammengestellt und aus dem Lager herausgezogen werden.
3. Ein derartiges Lager läßt sich nach Meinung von SS-Brigadeführer Albert mit bedeutend weniger Polizeikräften bewachen, als dies jetzt der Fall ist. Außerdem ist die Seuchengefahr, die in Litzmannstadt und in anderen Ghettos für die umliegende Bevölkerung immer wieder besteht, auf ein Mindestmaß beschränkt.
4. Es besteht in diesem Winter die Gefahr, daß die Juden nicht mehr sämtlich ernährt werden können. Es ist ernsthaft zu erwägen, ob es nicht die humanste Lösung ist, die Juden, soweit sie nicht arbeitseinsatzfähig sind, durch irgendein schnellwirkendes Mittel zu erledigen. Auf jeden Fall wäre dies angenehmer, als sie verhungern zu lassen.
5. Im übrigen wurde der Vorschlag gemacht, in diesem Lager sämtliche Jüdinnen, von denen noch Kinder zu erwarten sind, zu sterilisieren, damit mit dieser Generation tatsächlich das Judenproblem restlos gelöst wird.
6. Der Reichsstatthalter hat sich zu dieser Angelegenheit noch nicht geäußert. Es besteht der Eindruck, daß Regierungspräsident Übelhör nicht wünscht, daß das Ghetto in Litzmannstadt verschwindet, da er mit ihm ganz gut zu verdienen scheint. Als Beispiel, wie man an Juden verdienen kann, wurde mir mitgeteilt, daß das Reichsarbeitsministerium aus einem Sonderfonds für jeden in der Arbeit eingesetzten Juden RM 6 bezahlt, der Jude aber nur 80 Pfg. kostet.
SS-Sturmbannführer
TRANSLATION
L Hö/S
To the Reichssicherheitshauptamt
Office IV B 4
to the attention of SS-Obersturmbannführer Eichmann
Berlin
Dear Comrade Eichmann,
Enclosed is a memorandum on the results of various discussions held locally in the office of the Reich Governor. I would be grateful to have your reactions sometime. These things sound in part fantastic, but in my view are thoroughly feasible.
SS-Sturmbannführer
1 Enclosement
L Hö/S
Memorandum Posen, 16 July 1941
Subject: Solution of the Jewish Question
During discussions in the office of the Reich Governor various groups broached the solution of the Jewish question in Warthe province. The following solution is being proposed:
1. All the Jews of Warthe Province will be taken to a camp for 300,000 Jews which will be erected in barracks form as close as possible to the coal precincts and which will contain barracks-like installations for economic enterprises, tailor shops, shoe manufacturing plants, etc.
2. All Jews of Warthe Province will be brought into this camp. Jews capable of labor may be constituted into labor columns as needed and drawn from the camp.
3. In my view, a camp of this type may be guarded by SS Brig. Gen. Albert with substantially fewer police forces than are requirednow. Furthermore, the danger of epidemics, which always exists in the Lodz and other ghettos for the surrounding population, will be minimized.
4. This winter there is a danger that not all the Jews can be fed anymore. One should weigh honestly, if the most humane solution might not be to finish off those of the Jews who are not employable by means of some quick-working agent. At any rate, that would be more pleasant than to let them starve to death.
5. For the rest, the proposal was made that in this camp all the Jewish women, from whom one could still expect children, should be sterilized so that the Jewish problem may actually be solved completely with this generation.
6. The Reich Governor has not yet expressed an opinion in this matter. There is an impression that District President Übelhör does not wish to see the ghetto in Lodz disappear since he seems to profit quite well with it. As an example of how one can profit from the Jews, I was told that the Reich Labor Ministry pays 6 Reichmark from a special fund for each employed Jew, but that the Jew costs only 80 Pfennige.
SS-Sturmbannführer
(images from forum.axishistory.com, cf. phdn.org, translation based on Montague, Chelmno and the Holocaust, p. 37 [citing Hilberg, Documents of destruction: Germany and Jewry, 1933-1945, p. 87] with archivial reference of the document [AGK] NTN 36, p. 161 & 166)
16.) Letter from Ernst Damzog to Hermann Krumey of 18 December 1941:
TRANSCRIPTION
Abschrift.
Posen, den 18. Dezember 1941
Fritz-Reuter-Straße 2a
Der Inspekteur
der Sicherheitspolizei und des SD
Posen
Tgb. Nr. 839/41 g. D/Gzl.
An den Chef der Sicherheitspolizei und des SD
Umwandererzentralstelle Posen
Dienststelle Litzmannstadt
z.Hd. von SS-Obersturmbannführer Krumey
in Litzmannstadt
Betrifft: Abstellung von SS-Angehörigen für das Kommando Lange.
Vorgang: Dort. Bericht vom 15.12.1941 - I/5 Kr./En. Tgb. 16595/41-.
Ich habe den SS-Hauptsturmführer Krim.-Kommissar Lange von der Abordnung der 3 SS-Führer bzw. -Unterführer zu seinem Kommando unterrichtet. Eine Abordnung der 3 Genannten zur Verpflichtung nach Posen erübrigt sich; die Verpflichtung kann durch SS-Hauptsturmführer Krim.Kommissar Lange vorgenommen werden.
Gez.: Damzog
F.d.R. d. Abschrift:
[Unterschrift]
Pol.-Oberinspektor
TRANSLATION
Copy.
Posen, 18 December 1941
Fritz-Reuter-Straße 2a
The Inspector
of the Security Police and the SD
Posen
Diary no. 839/41 g. D/Gzl.
To the chief of the Security Police and the SD
Migration Central Office Posen
Office Litzmannstadt
to the attention of SS-Obersturmbannführer Krumey
in Litzmannstadt
Re: Providing SS members to the commando Lange.
Procedure: your report of 15 December 1941 - I/5 Kr./En. diary 16595/41-.
I have informed SS-Hauptsturmführer Krim.-Kommissar Lange about the delegation of three SS leaders and NCOs to his commando. It is unnecessary to the sent the three named to Posen to receive their commitment; the commitment can be done by SS-Hauptsturmführer Krim.Kommissar Lange .
Signed: Damzog
For the correctness of the copy:
[signature]
Pol.-Oberinspektor
For the correctness of the copy:
[signature]
Pol.-Oberinspektor
Auf
Wunsch des Inspekteurs der Sicherheitspolizei und des SD, SS-Oberführer
Damzog, sollen soviel SS-Führer, -Unterführer und -Männer als möglich
für das Kommando Lange von UWZ abgesellt werden. Zur vorübergehenden
Dienstleistung beim Kommando Lange werden ab 8.1.1942 abgeordnet:
SS-Obersturmführer Otto
SS-Hauptscharführer Ismer
SS-Scharführer Goede
Krim-Angestellter Grebe
On request of the Inspector of the Security Police and the SD, SS-Oberführer Damzog, the UWZ shall provide as much as possible SS leaders, NCOs and privates to the commando Lange. For temporarily duty in the commando Lange are delegated from 8 January 1942:
SS-Obersturmführer Otto
SS-Hauptscharführer Ismer
SS-Scharführer Goede
Krim-Angestellter Grebe
Signed: Krumey
SS-Obersturmbannführer
For the correctness of the copy:
[signature]
Pol.-Oberinspektor
(BArch B 162/20952, p. 189; cited in Alberti, Die Verfolgung und Vernichtung der Juden im Reichsgau Warthegau, p. 423 with archivial reference AGK, UWZ/L 205, p. 21, see also here)
18.) Report of the Health Office Wartbrücken (Kolo) to the Regierungspräsidenten Hohensalza (Inowroclaw) of 24 January 1942:
DOCUMENT
TRANSCRIPTION
Der Landrat
- Gesundheitsamt -
Dr. K./Br.
Wartbrücken (Kolo)
Reg.-Bez.-Hohensalza
24.1.42
An den
Herrn Regierungspräsidenten
Hohensalza
Betrifft: Fleckfieberfälle Kajetan Skrypczynaki und Piekarski Franz aus Kulmhof.
Hiermit berichte ich, daß im Laufe des 23.1.42 die beiden Angehörigen des polnischen Arbeitskommandos im Sonderkommando Kulmhof Kajetan Skrypczynaki geb. 14.7.1917 und Franz Piekarski beg. [sic!] am 3.6.1884 wegen Fleckfieberverdacht ins Kreiskrankenhaus Warthbrücken gebracht worden sind. Die beiden Polen erkrankten unter denselben stürmischen Erscheinungen wie die derzeit wegen Fleckfieberverdacht ins Krankenhaus eingewiesenen Polen des Sonderkommandos in Kulmhof. Bei beiden liegt die Temperatur um 40°. Beide haben objektiven [sic!] Krankheitserscheinungen eine schwere Kreislaufschwäche und ein makkulöses Exanthem, welches besonders dicht auf der Brust und den vorderen Seiten der oberen Extremitäten besteht. Bei beiden besteht ein Milztumor. Subjektiv klagen die Kranken über heftige Kopf- und Halsschmerzen und über starkes Krankheitsgefühl. Blut zur Untersuchung auf die Reaktion nach Weil-Felix wurde auf meine Veranlassung heute entnommen und per Eilboten an das Staatl. Medizinaluntersuchungsamt gesandt. Über das Ergebnis geht Ihnen sofortiger Bericht zu. Der Skrypczynski Kajetan ist einer von den beiden polnischen Gefangenenarbeitern, bei denen das Auftreten des Fleckfiebers in Anbetracht dessen, daß er besonders exponiert arbeitete, erwartet wurde. Der 2. Arbeiter über den ich in dem vorigen Bericht andeutete, daß man den Ausbruch des Fleckfiebers bei ihm erwartete, ist inzwischen aus anderen Gründen verstorben. Bei Piekarski Franz kam die Erkrankung insofern überraschend, als daß er lediglich an Material arbeitet, welches durch die das Material absendenden Behörden als nicht Fleckfieberverdächtig und Läusefrei bezeichnet wurde.
Es wurden von mir am gestrigen Tage folgende Maßnahmen angeordnet und zum großen Teil durchgeführt:
1. Entlausung der Unterkünfte des polnischen Arbeitskommandos mit deren gesammten [sic!] Zubehör, einschließlich ihrer Insassen.
2. Entlausung der Unterkünfte und ihres Zubehörs der Mitglieder des Sonderkommandos.
3. Um eine erneute Verlausung der Einrichtungen des Sonderkommandos wirksam zu verhüten, wurde das in Kulmhof beschäftigte jüdische Arbeitskommando strengstens abgesondert. Da es Nachts im Kulmhofer Schloß untergebracht ist, muß ein besonderer Eingang, der von sonst niemand benutzt wird, geschaffen werden, und nach jeder Benutztung mit Desinfektionsmittel ausgespritzt wird.
Darüber hinaus wurde angeordnet, daß das jüdische Arbeitskommando täglich nach beendetem Dienst völlig entlaust in seine Unterkünfte geht. Die Kleidungsstücke werden über Nacht entlaust. Die gleichen Maßnahmen wurden für das polnische Arbeitskommando angeordnet, ganz gleich ob es mit Fleckfieberverdächtigen oder mit Läusenbehafteten in irgend eine Brührung [sic!] kommt.
Für diejenigen des Sonderkommandos und derjenigen Angehörigen des polnischen Arbeitskommandos, die mit Juden schlechthin im Rahmen des Arbeitsprozesses in Berührung kommen, wurden Schutzanzüge angeordnet und bestellt; die Lieferung wird in 4-5 Tagen erfolgen können.
Um für die sachgemäße Durchführung Gewähr zu haben, wurde von mir für diese vordringliche Arbeiten der Gesundheitsaufseher Otto Scharnat dem Sonderkommando bis auf Weiteres täglich für eine gewisse Zeit zur Verfügung gestellt. Die Arbeiten werden mit Instrumenten und mit Mitteln, die das Sonderkommando stellt, bewältigt, sodaß dem Gesundheitsamt selbst keine Kosten entstehen können.
Ich selbst werde mich alltäglich an Ort und Stelle von dem Stand der Arbeit überzeugen. Da entgegen der Auffassung des Sonderkommandos die polnischen Arbeiterunterkünfte und zum Teil die Sonderkommandounterkünfte verlaust waren, mithin grundsätzlich als Fleckfieberverdächtig zu gelten haben, bitte ich wenn möglich weiterer Portionen Impfstoff, um diesen gegebenenfalls verimpfen zu können.
i.V.
[Unterschrift]
Medizinalrat
TRANSLATION
The County Administrator
- Health Service -
Dr. K./Br.
Wartbrücken (Kolo)
Gov. District Hohensalza
24.1.42
To
Mr. President of the Government
Hohensalza
Subject: Spotted fever cases Kajetan Skrypczynaki and Piekarski Franz from Kulmhof.
Hereby I report that in the course of 23.1.42 two members of the Polish working detachment in the Kulmhof Sonderkommando, Kajetan Skrypczynaki born 14.7.1917 and Franz Piekarski born on 3.6.1884, were brought to the Warthbrücken district hospital on suspicion of spotted fever. The two Poles fell sick with the same intense symptoms as the Poles of the Kulmhof Sonderkommando currently interned in the hospital on suspicion of spotted fever. In both the temperature is around 40°. Both have as objective symptoms heavy circulation weakness and a spotted rash, which is especially dense on the chest and the front sides of the upper extremities. Both have a spleen tumor. Subjectively the patients complain about heavy headaches, sore throat and a strong feeling of being sick. Blood for examination regarding the reaction according to Weil-Felix was extracted at my instructions and sent per courier to the State Medical Examination Service. About the result you will receive an immediate report. Skrypczynski Kajetan is one of the two Polish prisoners workers in whom the occurrence of spotted fever was expected due to his being especially exposed when working. The 2nd worker, about whom I mentioned in the previous report that the outbreak of spotted fever was expected in his case, meanwhile deceased for other reasons. In the case of Piekarski Franz the illness came as a surprise insofar as he merely works with material which was stated by the issuing authorities as not being suspect of spotted fever and free from lice.
Yesterday I ordered and largely carried out the following measures:
1. Delousing of the barracks of the Polish working detachment with all its accessories, including the inhabitants.
2. Delousing of the lodgings and accessories of the members of the Sonderkommando.
3. In order to efficiently avoid another lice infestation of the special detachment’s installations, the Jewish working detachment working in Kulmhof was strictly isolated. As it is accommodated in Kulmhof Castle at night, a special entrance to be used by no one else must be created and sprayed with disinfectant after every use.
Furthermore it was ordered that the Jewish working detachment shall go to its lodgings completely deloused after completing service every day. The piece of clothing shall be deloused over night. The same measures are ordered for the Polish working detachment, regardless of whether it comes into any contact with spotted fever suspects or with people carrying lice.
For those of the Sonderkommando and those members of the Polish working detachment who are in contact with Jews in general in the course of their work, protection suits were instructed and ordered; it will be possible to supply these within 4-5 days.
In order to have a guarantee of due execution, I made health inspector Otto Scharnat available to the special detachment for some time until further developments regarding these priority tasks. The works can be carried out with instruments and means made available by the special detachment, so that the health service itself has no costs.
I shall inform myself on site on a daily basis about the status of the work. As, contrary to the opinion of the special detachment, the lodgings of the Polish workers and in part also the lodgings of the special detachment were lice-infested, and must thus in principle be considered suspect of spotted fever, I ask to send further doses of vaccine whenever possible, in order to eventually administer the same.
In representation
[Signature]
Medical Official
(APP/299/2111, p. 405 & 406; cited in Alberti, Die Verfolgung und Vernichtung der Juden im Reichsgau Wartheland 1939-1944, p. 430; Roberto Mühlenkamp's translation, see also here)
19.) Letter of the Landrat Kreis Wartbrücken to the Gestapo Litzmannstadt (Lodz) of 24 June 1943:
DOCUMENT
TRANSCRIPTION
Abschrift
Der Landrat des Kreises Wartbrücken Wartbrücken, den 24.6.1943
Reg.Bez.Hohensalza.
Az.: K. I 960/01-W
An die Staatspolizeistelle Litzmannstadt
in Litzmannstadt C2
Betrifft: Beteiligung des SS-Sonderkommandos Kulmhof an der Jahrespacht der Kreisgärtnerei in Kulmhof.
Infolge Benutzung eines Teiles des Kreisgärtnereigeländes durch das SS-Sonderkommando in Kulmhof ist im dem Kreise Wartbrücken ein jährlicher Pachtausfall von 100.- RM entstanden. Dieser Pachtausfall wurde für die Zeit vom 1.10.41 - 30.9.42 mit 150.- RM erstattet. Nach der Auflösung des Kommandos hat der frühere Pächter die fraglichen Ländereien Anfang April d.Js. wieder übernommen; er zahlt ab 1.4.43 wieder den vollen Pachtpreis, sodaß vom Sonderkommando noch der Pachtausfall für die Zeit 1.10.42 bis Ende März in Höhe 50.- RM zu erstatten wäre.
Ich bitte, die Erstattung des vorstehenden Betrages von dort aus veranlassen zu wollen.
gez.: Unterschrift
Beglaubigt
[Unterschrift]
Kanzleiangestellte.
TRANSLATION
Copy
The County Administrator of Wartbrücken County Wartbrücken, 24.6.1943
Gov. District Hohensalza.
Az.: K. I 960/01-W
To the State Police Office Litzmannstadt
in Litzmannstadt C2
Subject: Participation of the SS Special Detachment Kulmhof in the annual lease of the county market garden in Kulmhof.
Due to the use of a part of the county marked garden area by the SS Special Detachment in Kulmhof, Warthbrücken County lost annual lease revenues of 100.- RM. This loss of revenue was compensated for the time from 1.10.41 - 30.9.42 in the amount of 150.- RM. After dissolution of the detachment the former lessee again took over the areas in question in early April of this year; since 1.4.43 he is again paying the full lease, so that the special detachment still has to compensate the loss of lease revenue for the time from 1.10.42 until the end of March, in the amount of 50.- RM.
I ask you to see to it that the aforementioned amount is compensated.
Signed.: Signature
Certified
[Signature]
Office employee.
(APL/221/29678, p.115; cited in Alberti, Die Verfolgung und Vernichtung der Juden im Reichsgau Wartheland 1939-1944, p. 415 and Klein, "Die Gettoverwaltung Litzmannstadt" 1940 bis 1944, p. 384f.; Roberto Mühlenkamp's translation)
20.) Letter of the Gestapo Litzmannstadt to Albert Plate of 28 June 1943 and his reply of 13 August 1943:
DOCUMENT
TRANSCRIPTION
Geheime Staatspolizei Litzmannstadt, den 28. Juni 1943
Staatspolizeistelle Litzmannstadt
- L I -
Abschriftlich
gegen Rückgabe an Herrn KOS. Plate
SS-Feldpost-Nr. 47 188 G
mit der Bitte um Aussprache bzw. Bescheinigung der sachlichen Richtigkeit.
Im Auftrage:
[Unterschrift]
/En.
SS-Dienststelle Feldpost.Nr. 43059 O.U, den 13.8.1943.
Urschriftl.
der Geheimen Staatspolizei
Staatspolizeistelle Litzmannstadt
z.Hd.v. Pol.Oberinsp. Lenk
in Litzmannstadt
zurückgesandt.
Der Pachtausfall des vom SS-Sonderkommando benutzten Kreisgärtnereigeländes in Kulmhof für die Zeit vom 1.10.1942 bis Ende März 1943 in Höhe von 50 RM (fünfzig) muß noch beglichen werden.
Die sachliche Richtigkeit wird hiermit bescheinigt.
Im Auftrage:
[Unterschrift]
SS-Untersturmführer
TRANSLATION
Secret State Police Litzmannstadt, 28 June 1943
State Police Office Litzmannstadt
- L I -
Transcription
Against return to Mr. KOS. Plate
SS-Field Post no. 47 188 G
Requesting discussion or confirmation of factual correctness.
By order:
[Signature]
/En.
SS-Office Field Post Nr. 43059 Local quarters, 13.8.1943.
Original.
Sent back to
Secret State Police
State Police Office Litzmannstadt
To the attention of Chief Police Inspector Lenk
in Litzmannstadt.
The loss of lease revenue regarding the market garden area in Kulmhof used by the SS special detachment for the time from 1.10.1942 until the end of March 1943, in the amount of 50 RM (fifty), must still be compensated.
The factual correctness is herewith confirmed.
By Order:
[Signature]
(APL/221/29678, p.116; cited in Klein, "Die Gettoverwaltung Litzmannstadt" 1940 bis 1944, p. 384f.; Roberto Mühlenkamp's translation)
Now that I have gotten Roberto's attention, he told I can't post on older blogs. Since this is relatively new, I am going to attempt this one more time. I would like to see this alleged Himmler permission you talk about.
could you please explain to me why you want to "see this alleged Himmler permission" when it should be clear from the posting - already because historian argue over it - that such permission does not physically exist as document but is inferred from other evidence?
Such evidence is actually discussed and shown in the next posting of this series (which you commented on but did not read?).
Now that I have gotten Roberto's attention, he told I can't post on older blogs. Since this is relatively new, I am going to attempt this one more time. I would like to see this alleged Himmler permission you talk about.
ReplyDeleteSee part 2 of the series.
ReplyDeleteAndrew Mikhailov,
ReplyDeletecould you please explain to me why you want to "see this alleged Himmler permission" when it should be clear from the posting - already because historian argue over it - that such permission does not physically exist as document but is inferred from other evidence?
Such evidence is actually discussed and shown in the next posting of this series (which you commented on but did not read?).
I am sorry. You are right, I should read learn to read more carefully
ReplyDelete