KL: A History of the Nazi Concentration Camps

by Nikolaus Wachsmann

    89. Piper, Zahl, 183, 190, 193, 198; Czech, Kalendarium, 347–70; Broszat, Kommandant, 208.

    90. Quote in Broad, “Erinnerungen,” 188. During the first months, the responsibility for selections apparently fell to camp compound leaders. From around spring 1943, it lay with SS doctors; Dirks, “Verbrechen,” 101–104; Wagner, IG Auschwitz, 174; DAP, Vernehmung H. Stark, April 23, 1959, 4540–41. However, some prisoners testified to the participation of doctors prior to spring 1943 (e.g., Greif, Wir weinten, 58). For labor action leaders, BArchB, Film 44840, Interrogation G. Maurer, March 13, 1947, p. 9.

    91. The SS had not encountered children, women, or old men during the selections among Soviet “commissars” in 1941.

    92. Quote in Van Pelt, Case, 238.

    93. Kubica, “Children,” 205, 217, 289; Buser, Überleben, 116–21; Pohl, Holocaust, 106–107; the figures exclude deportations from Theresienstadt (see chapters 7 and 9). I use the term “children” for all those under the age of eighteen.

    94. Strzelecka, “Women,” 171; IfZ, EE by F. Entress, April 14, 1947, ND: NO-2368; APMO, Proces Höss, Hd 6, Bl. 46–50, O. Wolken, “Frauen u. Kinderschicksale,” February 18, 1945.

    95. Lengyel, Chimneys, 27 (first published in 1947).

    96. Gerlach and Aly, Kapitel, 290; men could claim to be slightly older than forty.

    97. For example, see Wiesel, Nacht, 50–53 (first published in 1958).

    98. Langer, “Dilemma,” quote on 224. See also Shik, “Erfahrung,” 108.

    99. NAL, HW 16/21, Höss to Eichmann, October 7, 1942; Steinbacher, “Musterstadt,” 278.

  100. Broszat, Kommandant, 205–206, quote on 205.

  101. Broad, “Erinnerungen,” quote on 188; Dirks, “Verbrechen,” 102.

  102. Broszat, Kommandant, 246; IfZ, F 13/8, Bl. 480–85: R. Höss, “Dr. Grawitz,” January 1947.

  103. IfZ, F 13/6, Bl. 355–58: R. Höss, “Gerhard Maurer,” November 1946; Broszat, Kommandant, 246; testimony of R. Höss, April 2, 1946, in Mendelsohn, Holocaust, vol. 12, 109.

  104. Broszat, Kommandant, 208, 246.

  105. Piper, Mass Murder, 143.

  106. Langfus, “Aussiedlung,” 123; Czech, Kalendarium, 352; Greif, Wir weinten, 58; APMO, Proces Höss, Hd 5, Bl. 24–38: testimony of Dr. B. Epstein, April 7, 1945; Lewental, “Gedenkbuch,” 204; BoA, testimony of H. Frydman, August 7, 1946.

  107. Quotes in Delbo, Auschwitz, 7 (in Delbo’s text, the last phrase precedes the first one); IfZ, F 13/8, Bl. 480–85: R. Höss, “Dr. Grawitz,” January 1947, Bl. 485. See also Friedler et al., Zeugen, 71; Piper, Mass Murder, 136–37.

  108. Quotes in IfZ, G 20/2, testimony of J. P. Kremer, July 18, 1947; LSW, Bl. 44–66: Vernehmung S. Dragon, May 10, 11, and 17, 1946. See also Friedler et al., Zeugen, 73; Broad, “Erinnerungen,” 173. The two wooden barracks were completed after mid-August 1942.

  109. Pressac and Van Pelt, “Machinery,” 213–14; NAL, WO 208/4661, statement of H. Aumeier, July 25, 1945, p. 9.

  110. For this and the previous paragraph, see LSW, Bl. 44–66: Vernehmung S. Dragon, May 10, 11, and 17, 1946, Bl. 45–46; Friedler et al., Zeugen, 92–98, 206; Greif, Wir weinten, 60–63; Hördler, “Ordnung,” 142; Schmid, “Moll,” 125–28; Czech, Kalendarium, 356. Earlier on December 9, 1942, the SS had murdered all prisoners of the old Special Squad, following a spate of escapes.

  111. Greif, Wir weinten, 49–58; Czech, Kalendarium, 352; Piper, Zahl, 204.

  112. Quotes in LSW, Bl. 44–66: Vernehmung S. Dragon, May 10, 11, and 17, 1946, Bl. 47, 51. For “dentists,” see also Friedler et al., Zeugen, 176.

  113. Pressac and Van Pelt, “Machinery,” 215–16; Van Pelt, Case, 255; Friedler et al., Zeugen, 88; “Bericht Tabeau,” 154.

  114. Van Pelt, Case, 80, 214, 352, 465–66; Pressac and Van Pelt, “Machinery,” 216–19, 223–24; Piper, Mass Murder, 164–73; Fröbe, “Kammler,” 310–11. Another reason why SS planners regarded the new crematoria complex as more effective was related to the chemical reaction of Zyklon B. During the long winter months, cyanide took longer to evaporate in the unheated bunkers 1 and 2. By contrast, the new crematoria IV and V could be preheated with the help of stoves, while the ovens above the gas chambers of crematoria II and III had a similar effect (I am grateful to Robert Jan van Pelt for clarifying this point).

  115. For this and the previous paragraph, see Friedler et al., Zeugen, 88–92, quote on 91; Broszat, Kommandant, 243–44; Arad, Belzec, 170–71; NAL, WO 208/4661, statement of H. Aumeier, July 25, 1945, pp. 3–4; USHMM, RG-11.001M.03, reel 43, folder 336, W. Dejaco, Dienstfahrt nach Litzmannstadt, September 17, 1942; Strzelecki, “Utilization,” 412–13; Broad, “Erinnerungen,” 166; Montague, Chelmno, 114–19. Between September 1942 and March–April 1943, smaller transports of Jews still went to Chelmno, before the camp was closed down, only to be briefly reopened in June–July 1944; OdT, vol. 8, 310–17.

  116. Pressac and Van Pelt, “Machinery,” 223, 232–36; Van Pelt, Case, 450–51. For Topf & Sons, see Knigge, Techniker; Schüle, Industrie.

  117. Bischoff to WVHA, June 28, 1943, in Kogon et al., Massentötungen, 219; Van Pelt, Case, 342–50. In addition, 340 corpses could still be burned in the old crematorium I.

  118. Broad, “Erinnerungen,” 181.

  119. Broszat, Kommandant, quote on 199; USHMM, RG-11.001M.03, reel 20, folder 26, Besuch des Hauptamtschefs in Auschwitz, August 17, 1943; deposition H. Tauber, May 24, 1945, in Piper, Mass Murder, appendix 3, 255.

  120. P. Levi, “A Past We Thought Would Never Return,” Corriere della Sera, May 8, 1974, in Belpoliti, Levi, 31–34, p. 33.

  121. Bauman, Modernity, 7–9.

  122. Quotes in KL Auschwitz to WVHA, February 20, 1943, in Kogon et al., Massentötungen, 222; DAP, Vernehmung H. Stark, July 24, 1959, 4581–82; IfZ, G 20/1, Das Oberste Volkstribunal, Urteil, December 22, 1947, p. 108. See also Van Pelt, Case, 296; Kagan, “Standesamt,” 153; BArchL, B 162/7999, Bl. 768–937: StA Koblenz, EV, July 25, 1974, Bl. 895; ibid., B 162/7998, Bl. 623–44: Vernehmung J. Otto, April 1, 1970, Bl. 641; testimony of defendant Sommer, TWC, vol. 5, 677–78. The Birkenau SS apparently kept a separate record of corpses burned; deposition of H. Tauber, May 24, 1945, in Piper, Mass Murder, appendix 3, 262.

  123. For one example, see Kotek and Rigoulot, Jahrhundert, 416.

  124. Pressac and Van Pelt, “Machinery,” 233–39. Faults and breakdowns forced the quick closure of crematorium IV.

  125. For some thoughts on the mechanical nature of Nazi genocide, see Bauman, Modernity, 83–116.

  126. DAP, Aussage R. Böck, August 3, 1964, 14149–50; Kogon et al., Massentötungen, 228; Kremer, “Tagebuch,” 222.

  127. Deposition of H. Tauber, May 24, 1945, in Piper, Mass Murder, appendix 3, 251–57; Friedler et al., Zeugen, 164–65.

  128. Quote in Langfus, “Aussiedlung,” 126.

  129. On the historiography, see Marrus, “Jewish Resistance.”

  130. Quotes in Bettelheim, “Foreword,” 7, 12. See also Wünschmann, “‘Scientification,’” 112 (n. 5).

  131. For this and the previous paragraph, see Friedler et al., Zeugen, 150, 158, quote on 147; Greif, Wir weinten, xxxi–ii; Müller, Eyewitness, 75–80.

  132. Quote in Greif, Wir weinten, 32.

  133. Borowski, “This Way,” 89 (first published in 1946).

  134. Quotes in Unbekannter Autor, “Einzelheiten” (1943–44), 180, 183.

  135. Bettelheim, “Foreword,” 12.

  136. YVA, 03/2874, protocol I. Gönczi, January 11, 1966; Longerich, Politik, 492–93.

  137. Marszałek, Majdanek, 74–75; Schwindt, Majdanek, 103–11.

  138. OdT, vol. 7, 42, 47; Schulte, “London,” 224; Glücks to Pohl, July 15, 1942, in Marszałek, Majdanek, 155.

  139. For this and the previous paragraph, see Lenard, “Flucht,” quotes on 149, 150, 161. Lenard’s trail disappears after summer 1944. See also OdT, vol. 7, 56–59, 62; Mailänder Koslov, Gewalt, 86–90; Marszałek, Majdanek, 97–99; Hö
rdler, “Ordnung,” 128, 133; HLSL, Anklageschrift gegen Koch, 1944, p. 2, ND: NO-2366; YVA, 03/2874, protocol I. Gönczi, January 11, 1966; Ambach and Köhler, Lublin-Majdanek, quote on 187.

  140. Quote in USHMM, RG-11.001M.76, reel 421, folder 157, WVHA-C/III, Dienstreise zur Zentralbauleitung Lublin, January 20, 1943. For mortality figures, see Kranz, “Erfassung,” 234, 241.

  141. Marszałek, Majdanek, quote on 136–37; Mailänder Koslov, Gewalt, 288–93; OdT, vol. 7, 51; YVA, Tr-10/1172, LG Düsseldorf, Urteil, June 30, 1981, 78.

  142. Arad, Belzec, 56–58; White, “Majdanek”; Marszałek, Majdanek, 14–15; Berger, Experten, 82. In some cases, Jews were even selected in Sobibor and Treblinka for slave labor in Majdanek; ibid., 391.

  143. Schwindt, Majdanek, 158–67, 289; Kranz, “Massentötungen,” 220–22; Mailänder Koslov, Gewalt, 310–12. The first gassings probably took place some weeks before the completion of the killing complex.

  144. OdT, vol. 8, 354–55; Arad, Belzec, 370–71. There were only sporadic killings of Jews in Belzec in 1943; Berger, Experten, 190.

  145. Witte and Tyas, “Document,” 471–72; Kranz, “Erfassung,” 234.

  146. Quotes in testimony of R. Awronska, in Ambach and Köhler, Lublin-Majdanek, 101. See also Schwindt, Majdanek, 290; OdT, vol. 7, 54; Marszałek, Majdanek, 150; Longerich, Politik, 539; Mailänder Koslov, Gewalt, 322–23; Kranz, “Massentötungen,” 219; idem, “Erfassung,” 243.

  147. Quotes in BArchB (ehem. BDC), SSO, Florstedt, Hermann, 18.2.1895, Glücks to SS-Personalhauptamt, March 5, 1943; “Bericht Vrba” (1944), 282. See also Conway, “Augenzeugenberichte,” 269; OdT, vol. 7, 61–65. For most of its life, Majdanek held ten thousand prisoners or less; ibid., 50.

  148. Arad estimates that around 135,000 of 1.7 million Jews murdered in the Globocnik death camps came from outside Poland and the Soviet Union; Arad, Belzec, 149, 379. See also Hayes, “Auschwitz,” 339; BArchK, All. Proz. 6/106, Bl. 24.

  149. Quote in IfZ, F 13/6, Bl. 359–68: R. Höss, “Globocnik,” January 1947. See also Black, “Globocnik,” 112; Berger, Experten, 85.

  150. Berger, Experten, 252–53; Piper, Zahl, tables D and 15.

  151. Arad, Belzec, 30, 69, 84, 153; Pohl, “Holocaust,” 153; Berger, Experten, 224–25; YVA, TR-10/1069, vol. 8, Bl. 78–88: Vernehmung Erich B., December 10, 1962; Strzelecka and Setkiewicz, “Construction,” 73; BArchB (ehem. BDC), SSO Pohl, Oswald, 30.6.1892, Pohl to Himmler, April 5, 1944; Schulte, “London,” 223.

  152. Quote in YVA, O.3/4039, Bl. 1921–29: Vernehmung E. Rosenberg, February 11, 1961, Bl. 1921–22. See also Arad, Belzec, 23–88; Berger, Experten, 52, 78, 96, 110–11, 129, 144–46, 207, 210–13; Krakowski, Todeslager, passim.

  153. Friedlander, Origins, 279–302; Berger, Experten, 190.

  154. YVA, TR-10/1069, vol. 6, Bl. 74–76: Vernehmung Karl F., April 10, 1962, quotes on 74; Arad, Belzec, 105–13; Berger, Experten, 300–301.

  155. Perz and Sandkühler, “Auschwitz,” 291–93; Berger, Experten, 180–81.

  156. To fully exploit his labor camps, Globocnik set up the limited company Osti (Ostindustrie GmbH) in a joint venture with the WVHA; Kaienburg, Wirtschaft, 550–51.

  157. See, for example, the involvement of the Gauleiter of Upper Austria, August Eigruber, in Mauthausen; YUL, MG 1832, Series II—Trials, 1945–2001, Box 10, folder 50, Affidavit A. Eigruber, February 19, 1946.

  158. YVA, Globocnik to Himmler, January 5, 1944, p. 12, ND: 4024–PS.

  159. Schwindt, Majdanek, 75–76; Kranz, “Konzentrationslager Majdanek,” 239–41; idem, “Massentötungen,” 220.

  160. BArchB (ehem. BDC), SSO, Florstedt, Hermann, 18.2.1895, SS Personalhauptamt to SS Oberabschnitt Fulda-Werra, September 14, 1943; IfZ, F 13/6, Bl. 359–68: R. Höss, “Globocnik,” January 1947.

  161. IfZ, F 13/6, Bl. 359–68: R. Höss, “Globocnik,” January 1947, quotes on 364, 367.

  162. Affidavit of R. Höss, April 5, 1946, IMT, vol. 33, 275–79, ND: 3868–PS, quotes on 277; Broszat, Kommandant, 256–57.

  163. Hilberg, Vernichtung, vol. 2, 955; Arad, Belzec, 100–104; Berger, Experten, 98.

  164. Quote in IfZ, F 13/6, Bl. 359–68: R. Höss, “Globocnik,” January 1947, Bl. 366.

  165. For this view, see Orth, System, 199.

  166. Quote in Himmler to Pohl et al., October 2, 1942, in Heiber, Reichsführer!, 189–90 (another publication dates the letter to October 9, 1942; TWC, vol. 5, 616–17). See also Longerich, Himmler, 684–88; Pohl, “Holocaust,” 156–57, also used below.

  167. Kárný, “Waffen-SS,” 246.

  168. Paserman, “Bericht,” quotes on 151–52. See also OdT, vol. 8, 91–109; Finder, “Jewish Prisoner Labour”; Longerich, Himmler, 684–85; Snyder, Bloodlands, 286–92; Friedländer, Jahre, 550–53. Himmler had first ordered the establishment of a KL in Warsaw back in October 1942, to bring its ghetto workshops under SS control. This order was never implemented, however, and once Himmler decided to liquidate the ghetto, the function of the proposed camp changed.

  169. IfZ, Himmler to Pohl et al., June 21, 1943, ND: NO-2403. More generally, see Snyder, Bloodlands, 189–94, 228; Dieckmann, Besatzungspolitik, vol. 1, 451; ibid., vol. 2, 1248–49.

  170. Quote in USHMM, RG-11.001M.05, reel 75, 504–2–8, Einsatzgruppe A, Vermerk, October 1, 1941. See also ibid., Stahlecker to RSHA, August 21, 1941 and October 6, 1941; Angrick and Klein, “Endlösung,” 207–11.

  171. OdT, vol. 8, 17–87; Angrick and Klein, “Endlösung,” 391–405, 420; IfZ, F 37/2, Himmler diary, entries for March 13, 14, and 16, 1943.

  172. Quote in BArchB (ehem. BDC), SSO, Aumeier, Hans, 20.8.1906, Glücks, Personal-Antrag, August 22, 1944. See also OdT, vol. 8, 131–83.

  173. Quote in unknown correspondent to M. Lubocka, August 27, 1943, in Harshav, Last Days, 660. See also Dieckmann, Besatzungspolitik, vol. 2, especially pages 1268–1321; idem, “Ghetto”; IfZ, Himmler to Pohl et al., June 21, 1943, ND: NO-2403; OdT, vol. 8, 185–208. Jürgen Matthäus suggests that Kovno was not subordinated to the WVHA (OdT, vol. 8, 200). This conclusion rests on a misunderstanding of the role of the regional SS economic officer (see below). The WVHA certainly regarded Kovno as one of its KL (e.g., BArchB, NS 4/Na 9, Bl. 9–11).

  174. OdT, vol. 1, 223; ibid., vol. 8, 18, 106, 133, 200; Dieckmann, “Ghetto,” 454; idem, Besatzungspolitik, vol. 2, 1282, 1287–96; Megargee, Encyclopedia, I/B, 1230.

  175. SS economic officers were attached to regional higher SS and police leaders, with whom they shared reports from local KL commandants; Schulte, Zwangsarbeit, 313–20; Allen, Business, 180–81; OdT, vol. 8, 132.

  176. Steinbacher, “Musterstadt,” 305; Rudorff, “Arbeit,” 35–36; OdT, vol. 5, 186–91; OdT, vol. 6, 204.

  177. Quote in BArchB (ehem. BDC), SSO Pohl, Oswald, 30.6.1892, Aktenvermerk, September 7, 1943. See also YVA, Globocnik to Himmler, January 5, 1944, ND: 4024–PS (here reference to Pohl order of October 22, 1943).

  178. Schelvis, Sobibor, 145–72; Pohl, “Zwangsarbeiterlager,” 427–28; Berger, Experten, 254; Friedländer, Jahre, 588; Longerich, Himmler, 687.

  179. For this and the previous paragraph, see Mailänder Koslov, Gewalt, 205, 302–308, 324–26, quote on 305; OdT, vol. 7, 52–53; Ambach and Köhler, Lublin-Majdanek, 85, 98, 183.

  180. OdT, vol. 7, 48–49; Kranz, “Massentötungen,” 226.

  181. Kaienburg, Wirtschaft, 540–48, 551–52; Berger, Experten, 261–64; Goldhagen, Executioners, 300–311; YVA, Globocnik to Himmler, January 5, 1944, ND: 4024–PS.

  182. Kaienburg, Wirtschaft, 559–61; Longerich, Himmler, 686; Pohl, “Zwangsarbeiterlager,” 429–31; Friedländer, Jahre, 614–15. Himmler was thwarted by the Warthegau Gauleiter Greiser in his efforts to turn the Lodz ghetto into a KL.

  183. For this and the previous paragraph, see BArchL, B 162/1124, Bl. 2351–2418: Dr. A. Biberstein, “Das Lager Plaszow,” n.d., quotes on 2396, 2398; OdT, vol. 8, 239–87; Megargee, Encyclopedia, vol. 1/B, 862–66.

  184. Fröhlich, Tagebücher, II/4, June 2, 1942, 432. See also Witte et a
l., Dienstkalender, 572–73; APMO, Proces Maurer, 6, Bl. 52–56: EE by A. Kaindl, June 15, 1946, ND: NI-280; AdsD, KE, E. Büge, Bericht, n.d. (1945–46), 157–58; BStU, MfS HA IX/11 ZUV 4, Bd. 24, Bl. 190–96: Vernehmungsprotokoll H. Hempel, August 23, 1946; Wein, “Krankenrevier,” 51 (n. 27).

  185. For the figures, see above and Schulte, “London.” For the nationality of Jewish prisoners, e.g., BArchB, NS 4/Bu 143, Rapport, October 17, 1942.

  186. BArchL, B 162/7999, Bl. 768–937: StA Koblenz, EV, July 25, 1974, Bl. 894; Witte et al., Dienstkalender, 573 (n. 155); Longerich, Himmler, 644.

  187. Quote in HLSL, WVHA to LK, October 5, 1942, ND: 3677–PS. See also ITS, DE ITS 1.1.0.6, RSHA to Stapo(leit)stellen, November 5, 1942, ND: NO-2522. As these documents show, some SS and police leaders wrongly thought of Auschwitz as being located outside the German Reich.

  188. Buggeln, System, 47–48.

  189. Sprenger, Groβ-Rosen, 130.

  190. Külow, “Häftlinge,” 197–98, quote on 197. See also Piper, Mass Murder, 105; Czech, Kalendarium, 325, 328–29; Kwiet, “Leben,” 238.

  191. BArchB, NS 19/1570, Bl. 12–28: Inspekteur für Statistik, Endlösung der Judenfrage, Bl. 24. Of course, not all Jews inside the KL were identified by the German authorities (Kogon, Theory, 2006, 192), despite the use of prisoner informants (NAL, HW 16/11, Buchenwald to Auschwitz, October 19, 1942).

  192. NAL, HW 16/21, GPD Nr. 3, Pister to WVHA, October 29, 1942.

  193. WL, P.III.h. No. 228, Bericht E. Federn, n.d. Federn was liberated from Buchenwald in April 1945.

  194. For this and the previous paragraph, see de Rudder, “Zwangsarbeit,” 206–19, quote on 212 (n. 36); Burger, Werkstatt, 89–198 (the source for the film The Counterfeiters, 2007); Witte et al., Dienstkalender, 475; Hohmann and Wieland, Konzentrationslager, 38–39.

  195. Quote in Bauer, Jews, 252.

  196. OdT, vol. 7, quotes on 188. See also Wenck, Menschenhandel, 33–93.

  197. For the POW camp, see Stiftung, Bergen-Belsen, 41–141.

  198. OdT, vol. 1, 220–21; OdT, vol. 7, 188–93; WVHA to LK, June 29, 1943, in Kolb, Bergen-Belsen, 208–209. See also Wenck, Menschenhandel, passim.