199. Quotes in WL, P.III.h. No. 555, F. Heilbut, “Bergen-Belsen,” n.d. (1945–49), p. 3; S. H. Herrmann, “Austauschlager Bergen-Belsen,” 1944, in Niedersächsische Landeszentrale, Bergen-Belsen, 53. See also Wenck, Menschenhandel, 58–70, 147–55, 180–81, 220–28; OdT, vol. 7, 190–97.
200. Wenck, Menschenhandel, 248–60; Niedersächsische Landeszentrale, Bergen-Belsen, 36–37; OdT, vol. 7, 191–96; Buser, Überleben, 267.
7. Anus Mundi
1. Quotes in IfZ, G 20/2, Aussage J. P. Kremer, July 18, 1947; Kremer, “Tagebuch,” 213. See also Czech, Kalendarium, 295; DAP, Vernehmung J. P. Kremer, June 4, 1964, 9857. More generally, see Lewental, “Gedenkbuch,” 215–20; Vaisman, Auschwitz, 27–32 (written in 1945).
2. Quote in Kremer letter, September 5, 1942, cited in Langbein, Menschen, 391. See also Kremer, “Tagebuch,” 209–29; Rawicz, “Dokument.”
3. Kremer, “Tagebuch,” quotes on 212, 217. See also NAL, HW 16/66, “II. Concentration Camps,” November 27, 1942; Czech, Kalendarium, 209; Schwarz, Frau, 175–76.
4. Mailänder Koslov, Gewalt, 218–22, 484–85.
5. Kremer, “Tagebuch,” quotes on 222, 214, 218. See also Czech, Kalendarium, 336; IfZ, G 20/1, Das Oberste Volkstribunal, Urteil, December 22, 1947, 135–36; Klee, Auschwitz, 407–408; Rawicz, “Document,” 13.
6. For the loot, and its value, see Kremer, “Tagebuch,” 219–28. In 1943, a married SS Untersturmführer without children earned around 2,640 Reichsmark annually (after tax); Buggeln, Arbeit, 401.
7. DAP, Vernehmung K. Morgen, March 9, 1964, 5560–61.
8. StN, Pohl to Himmler, September 30, 1943, ND: PS-1469; Lasik, “Historical-Sociological,” 274; Schulte, “London,” 223 (using the Auschwitz figures for September 1 and October 1 to calculate the average for September 1942).
9. NAL, HW 16/6, Part 2, Bl. 534–35: report on German police, September 26, 1942; Glücks to 1. Lagerärzte, December 28, 1942, in NMGB, Buchenwald, 257–58 (the figure of 12,832 includes 99 prisoners officially executed). The estimate of Jews murdered on arrival in August 1942 is largely based on Czech, Kalendarium, 263–92.
10. Piper, Zahl, 164.
11. Grotum, Archiv, quote on 297.
12. Dirks, “Verbrechen,” 97–99.
13. IfZ, F 13/6, Bl. 343–54: R. Höss, “Oswald Pohl,” November 1946, quote on 350; ibid., F 13/8, Bl. 462–66: R. Höss, “Dr. Ing. Kammler,” n.d. (1946–47).
14. StN, Pohl to Himmler, September 30, 1943, ND: PS-1469.
15. BArchB (ehem. BDC), SSO Pohl, Oswald, 30.6.1892, Pohl to Himmler, April 5, 1944. See also IfZ, G 20/1, Das Oberste Volkstribunal, Urteil, December 22, 1947, 104–105; BArchB, NS 4/Na 9, Bl. 8.
16. APMO, Proces Höss, Hd 6, Bl. 129–312: Vernehmung O. Wolken, April 17–20, 1945, Bl. 202; YVA, 033/989, anonymous testimony (by W. Simoni), n.d. (1947), pp. 2, 7. There were some brick barracks in Birkenau, too; Iwaszko, “Housing,” 54.
17. For this and the previous two paragraphs, see BoA, interview N. Epstein-Kozlowski, August 31, 1946; Boder, Interview; Rosen, Wonder; Matthäus, “Displacing Memory”; Czech, Kalendarium, 531.
18. For example, see Naasner, Machtzentren, 15–17.
19. For the debate about ideology versus economics, see Wagner, “Work.” For reservations about the universal applicability of the concept of “annihilation through labor,” see Browning, Remembering, 153.
20. Ambach and Köhler, Lublin-Majdanek, 94; OdT, vol. 7, 63.
21. Strzelecka, “Women,” 193.
22. For this and the previous paragraph, see Wagner, IG Auschwitz, 62–107, 162, 180–81, 286, 331–33; Schmaltz, “IG Farbenindustrie.” Quotes in Levi, If, 78. Schmaltz argues that general plans for the establishment of KL Monowitz were probably already made in late 1941 or early 1942; even if this is correct, the final decision was not reached until summer 1942.
23. Quotes in WL, P.III.h. No. 198, F. Pagel, “Eines der Vielen Tausende[n] von Schicksalen,” autumn 1955, p. 9; Levi, If, 78, 143. See also ibid., 142–47; Wagner, IG Auschwitz, 141–63.
24. Quotes in Kautsky, Teufel, 254; Levi, If, 43; APMO, Proces Höss, Hd 5, Bl. 24–38: testimony Dr. B. Epstein, April 7, 1945 (translation from Polish by K. Friedla). See also Wagner, IG Auschwitz, 97–100, 125–33, 165, 280–81.
25. LG Osnabrück, Urteil, February 10, 1953, JNV, vol. 10, 347–91, quote on 357.
26. LG Frankfurt, Urteil, June 14, 1968, JNV, vol. 29, 421–523, quote on 514.
27. Setkiewicz, “Häftlingsarbeit,” 584–605, quotes on 599.
28. APMO, Proces Maurer, 7, Bl. 56–64: Auszüge aus IGF Auschwitz-Wochenberichten, ND: NI-15256, quote on 63 (February 10, 1943); Dirks, “Verbrechen,” 125–33, quote on 129; Wagner, IG Auschwitz, 166–67, 173–92, 217–18, 289.
29. DAP, Aussage S. Baretzki, November 20, 1964, 25627–35, quote on 25634.
30. APMO, Proces Höss, Hd 2a, Bl. 20–21: Untersturmführer Kinna, Bericht zu dem Transport nach Auschwitz, December 16, 1942.
31. Maršálek, Mauthausen, 46, 94; Kaienburg, “Funktionswandel,” 265.
32. APMO, Proces Höss, Hd 2a, Bl. 20–21: Untersturmführer Kinna, Bericht zu dem Transport nach Auschwitz, December 16, 1942.
33. Historians and survivors of Auschwitz generally date the shift in SS policy to spring or summer 1943 (e.g., Piper, Mass Murder, 103; Strzelecka, “Hospitals,” 322; APMO, Proces Höss, Hd 6, Bl. 129–312: Vernehmung O. Wolken, April 17–20, 1945, Bl. 203), though it may in fact have occurred in late 1942 (see previous note). For Majdanek, see OdT, vol. 7, 55.
34. Interview with L. Lady, September 19, 1947, in Tych et al., Kinder, 182.
35. Glücks to LK, July 28, 1942, cited in Greiser, “‘Sie starben,’” 106. See also Strzelecka, “Quarantine.”
36. For one example, see APMO, Proces Höss, Hd 6, Bl. 38–45: O. Wolken, “Lager-Bilder,” n.d. (c. spring 1945), Bl. 43.
37. Quote in BArchL, B 162/2985, Bl. 2029–31: Vernehmung Sarah A., October 3, 1973. See also ibid., Nr. 26150, Bl. 541–657: LG Düsseldorf, Urteil, August 14, 1985, Bl. 579–80; OdT, vol. 8, 48; Piper, Mass Murder, 110–12.
38. Testimony of D. Medryk, in Ambach and Köhler, Lublin-Majdanek, 162–67; Langbein, Menschen, 409.
39. YVA, 033/8, “Was is forgekom in di lagern fon estonia,” December 1944; Klüger, weiter, 118.
40. Quote in USHMM, RG-11.001M.03, reel 20, folder 26, Besprechung mit Amtsgruppenchef Kammler, May 22, 1943.
41. NAL, WO 208/4661, statement of H. Aumeier, July 25, 1945, p. 5.
42. Strzelecka, “Hospitals,” 311–12; “Bericht Tabeau,” 132–36.
43. Vaisman, Auschwitz, 21.
44. Hördler, “Ordnung,” 142.
45. BArchL, B 162/26150, Bl. 541–657: LG Düsseldorf, Urteil, August 14, 1985, Bl. 596–606. The infirmary for men could hold around sixty prisoners; ibid., 591.
46. Ibid., 594–95, 612–17, quote on 617. See also ibid., Nr. 26148, Bl. 174–82: Vernehmung Ewald A., February 12, 1980, Bl. 181; ibid., Bl. 148–54: Aussage Jindrich S., November 6, 1979, and April 18, 1980; OdT, vol. 8, 28, 41.
47. Lewental, “Gedenkbuch,” 210.
48. WL, P.III.h. No. 158, R. Lasker-Allais, “Auschwitz,” n.d. (before November 1955), p. 7.
49. Langbein, Menschen, 90, citing Jean Améry’s work.
50. Levi, “Grey Zone,” 37.
51. NARA, M-1174, roll 3, Bl. 1441–65: examination E. Mahl, December 6, 1945, quote on 1447.
52. For this and the previous paragraph, see Piper, Mass Murder, 180–90, 251; Kilian, “‘Handlungsräume’”; Friedler et al., Zeugen, 121, 136–38, 198–200, 372; Nyiszli, Auschwitz, 44; SMAB, Inmitten, 264; ITS, document ID 5618957.
53
. C. Herman to his wife and daughter, November 6, 1944, in SMAB, Inmitten, 262. See also Friedler et al., Zeugen, 377.
54. Friedler et al., Zeugen, 134–35; Greif, Wir weinten, 190–93; Piper, Mass Murder, 190.
55. Nyiszli, Auschwitz, 43–44; Kilian, “‘Handlungsräume,’” 127; Piper, Mass Murder, 190–92.
56. Levi, “Grey Zone,” 38. See also Greif, “Sanity,” 50–53; Nyiszli, Auschwitz, 60.
57. Friedler et al., Zeugen, 136; Vaisman, Auschwitz, 42.
58. Quotes in “Bericht Vrba,” 229. See also Lewental, “Gedenkbuch,” 246; Levi and de Benedetti, Auschwitz Report, 73.
59. Quote in Unbekannter Autor, “Einzelheiten,” 182.
60. Müller, Eyewitness, 47–48; Lewental, “Gedenkbuch,” 215.
61. Kilian, “‘Handlungsräume,’” 121; Friedler et al., Zeugen, 7; Greif, Wir weinten, xli. Recent research by historians like Greif and Kilian has done much to change undifferentiated judgments about the Special Squad.
62. Greif, “Sanity,” 38–41, quote on 41; Lewental, “Gedenkbuch,” quote on 211.
63. Deposition of H. Tauber, May 24, 1945, in Piper, Mass Murder, appendix 3, pp. 250, 258; Nyiszli, Auschwitz, 84.
64. Lewental, “Gedenkbuch,” 212.
65. Quote in Langer, “Dilemma,” 224.
66. Levi, “Grey Zone,” quote on 37; Lewental, “Gedenkbuch,” 209, 213, 224; Nyiszli, Auschwitz, 61, 134.
67. Quote in Unbekannter Autor, “Notizen,” 185. The State Museum in Oświęcim honored the wishes of the unknown prisoner by using his title for its edition of writings by Special Squad prisoners discovered on the grounds of the camp; SMAB, Inmitten.
68. OdT, vol. 7, 48–49. The number of female prisoners was also exceptionally high in the two camps for Jews in western Europe, Herzogenbusch and Bergen-Belsen.
69. Czech, Kalendarium, 691; Strzelecka, “Women,” 180–81.
70. StANü, Pohl to Himmler, September 30, 1943, ND: PS-1469.
71. Piper, Zahl, 158–62.
72. StANü, Pohl to Himmler, September 30, 1943, ND: PS-1469; Kranz, “Erfassung,” 240. The passage above is based on Majdanek and Auschwitz. There are, as yet, no detailed statistics from the KL for Jews set up in eastern Europe in 1943–44.
73. BArchB, NS 3/426, Bl. 94: Runderlass, Chef Sipo und SD, May 6, 1943; Wachsmann, Prisons, 93.
74. NAL, WO 208/4200, CSDIC, SR Report, statement Obergefreiter Till, September 25, 1944; Lengyel, Chimneys, 112.
75. Quote in NAL, WO 309/1699, deposition of J. Schwarzhuber, January 23, 1946. See also APMO, Proces Höss, Hd 6, Bl. 129–312: Vernehmung O. Wolken, April 17–20, 1945, Bl. 254; ibid., Oswiadczenia, vol. 124, Bl. 152–66: testimony of M. Schvalbova, June 8, 1988; Kubica, “Children,” 240, 267–73; OdT, vol. 8, 139; WL, P.III.h. No. 1007, E. Wuerth-Tscherne to Zentralstelle der baltischen Flüchtlinge, April 5, 1949.
76. Lengyel, Chimneys, 111.
77. Kielar, Anus Mundi, 122.
78. Shik, “Mother-Daughter,” 117.
79. WL, P.III.b. No. 1164, N. Rosenberg, “Zwangsarbeiter fuer Siemens-Schuckert,” January 1960, 2; “Bericht Vrba,” 285; Lévy-Hass, Vielleicht, 10–11; Sommer, KZ-Bordell, 194–95.
80. WL, P.III.h. No. 782, E. Zwart, “Incidents in Birkenau,” n.d. (before February 1958), pp. 8–9; ibid., No. 271, interview with L. Reig, June 2, 1956, p. 3 (my thanks to Jeff Porter for the translation); APMO, Proces Höss, Hd 6, Bl. 51–62: O. Wolken, “Chronik des Lagers Auschwitz II,” n.d. (c. spring 1945), Bl. 60; Delbo, Auschwitz, 117.
81. OdT, vol. 8, 159–61, 260; WL, P.III.h. No. 1007, E. Wuerth-Tscherne to Zentralstelle der baltischen Flüchtlinge, April 5, 1949; Rolnikaite, Tagebuch, 189.
82. For example, see Kielar, Anus Mundi, 127.
83. Quote in P. Levi, “Films and Swastikas,” La Stampa, February 12, 1977, in Belpoliti, Levi, 37–38. See also Kootz, “Nachwort,” 193–94; Mailänder Koslov, “Meshes.”
84. Frankl, Ja, 67; Cohen, Human, 73–74; Sommer, KZ-Bordell, 196–98.
85. YVA, 033/989, anonymous testimony (by W. Simoni), n.d. (1947), p. 8. See also Bass, “Love,” 344.
86. Rózsa, “‘Solange,’” quote on 187. On menstruation, see Amesberger et al., Gewalt, 85–88; Flaschka, “‘Pretty,’” 81.
87. Shik, “Erfahrung,” 110–13; Hughes, “Forced Prostitution,” 249; Sommer, KZ-Bordell, 198–201.
88. Langbein, Menschen, 452; Hájková, “Barter,” 516.
89. Semprun and Wiesel, Schweigen, 35. For a discussion of the thesis that the Holocaust was unique, see Stone, “Historiography.”
90. Gradowski, “Tagebuch,” quotes on 162, 166. Gradowski may have arrived on December 8, 1942; Friedler et al., Zeugen, 376.
91. Quote in Cohen, Abyss, 84.
92. YVA, 03/5787, interview with M. Zelikovitz, 1985, quotes on 4 (translation from Hebrew by Kim Wünschmann).
93. Cited in Unger, “Encounter,” 280.
94. OdT, vol. 7, 46; Grotum, Archiv, 255–57; Kubica, “Children,” 206.
95. Interview with J. Erner, n.d. (1945–46), in Tych et al., Kinder, 106; Interview with Z. Minc, April 28, 1947, ibid., 200; Rolnikaite, Tagebuch, 189–93; Buser, Überleben, 158–79; Kubica, “Children,” 246–47.
96. Kubica, “Children,” 249–50; Lenard, “Flucht,” 164.
97. LG Ulm, Urteil, September 8, 1969, JNV, vol. 33, 209. See also OdT, vol. 8, 170–73.
98. Quote in APMO, Proces Höss, Hd 6, Bl. 38–45: O. Wolken, “Lager-Bilder,” n.d. (spring 1945), Bl. 43.
99. Ambach and Köhler, Lublin-Majdanek, 87, 127, 153, 167, 197, Mitron quote on 125; OdT, vol. 7, 55–56.
100. Shik, “Mother-Daughter,” 124.
101. Stargardt, Witnesses, 216–17, 378; Heberer, Children, 300.
102. J. Avram testimony, 1955, in Heberer, Children, 177–80, quote on 179. For “camp mothers,” see Amesberger et al., Gewalt, 251–52. It is not clear if the term “camp fathers” was used at the time, though it seems likely. Otto Wolken, for example, referred to an Italian boy he saved (see chapter 10) as “my son in the camp”; APMO, Proces Höss, Hd 6, Bl. 129–312: Vernehmung O. Wolken, April 17–20, 1945, Bl. 260.
103. Shik, “Mother-Daughter,” 112–21.
104. Buser, Überleben, 133, 215–16.
105. BArchL, B 162/5109, Bl. 1885–90: letter Molly I., October 27, 1964, quote on 1889. Molly I. joined her daughter on the deportation train to Auschwitz and survived the camps, liberated in Bergen-Belsen in April 1945. More generally, see OdT, vol. 8, 138–39, 152–55.
106. OdT, vol. 1, 20–21.
107. For this and the previous paragraph, see Kárný, “Familienlager”; Strzelecka and Setkiewicz, “Construction,” 84–85, 96–97; Kubica, “Children,” 240; “Bericht Vrba,” 252.
108. Keren, “Family Camp”; Stargardt, Witnesses, 215–16; Kárný, “Familienlager,” 134, 172–73, 194–97, 204; Kubica, “Children,” 230, 289; Vrba, Forgive, 190–92; Heberer, Children, 168, 312.
109. Steiner and Steiner, “Zwillinge,” quote on 127; Kárný, “Familienlager,” 214–23; Czech, Kalendarium, 731, 734–37.
110. Buggeln, Arbeit, 262, 550.
111. DAP, Aussage S. Baretzki, February 18, 1965, 29242–43; Buser, Überleben, 150, 188; Stargardt, Witnesses, 216.
112. USHMM, RG-11.001M.03, reel 19, folder 19 (labelled 17 on microfilm), Besichtigung durch SS Obergruppenführer Pohl am 23.9.1942.
113. BArchB, NS 19/14, Bl. 131–33: Pohl to Himmler, September 16, 1942; Perz and Sandkühler, “Auschwitz,” 292; Schulte, “London,” 223.
114. Witte et al., Dienstkalender, 557–58.
115. USHMM, RG-11.001M.03, reel 19, folder 19, R. Höss, Besprechungen im “Haus der Waffen-SS,” September 24, 1942.
116. Ibid., Besichtigung durch
SS Obergruppenführer Pohl am 23.9.1942; Kremer, “Tagebuch,” 217.
117. Quotes in USHMM, RG-11.001M.03, reel 19, folder 19, R. Höss, Bericht über Schlussbesprechung des Hauptamtschefs am 23.9.1942. See also Friedler et al., Zeugen, 89. Though the visit to bunker 2 was on Pohl’s agenda, it is not clear whether it took place; there is no mention in Höss’s summary of the places Pohl saw; USHMM, RG-11.001M.03, reel 19, folder 19, Besichtigung durch SS Obergruppenführer Pohl am 23.9.1942.
118. Ibid. In the end, the brothel was not opened until 1944; Sommer, KZ-Bordell, 45.
119. Broszat, Kommandant, 145.
120. IfZ, F 13/8, Bl. 486–87: R. Höss, “Dr. Lolling,” November 1946; ibid., Bl. 467: R. Höss, “Karl Bischoff,” n.d. (1946–47); ibid., F 13/7, Bl. 393–96: R. Höss, “Hartjenstein,” November 1946; Broszat, Kommandant, 137 (note 2), 138 (note 1).
121. USHMM, 1998.A.0247, reel 15, Bl. 184–93: statement H. Aumeier, December 15, 1947; Dicks, Licensed, 122.
122. IfZ, KL Auschwitz to WVHA, March 25, 1942, ND: NO-2146; BArchB (ehem. BDC), SSO Pohl, Oswald, 30.6.1892, Pohl to Himmler, April 5, 1944.
123. Pohl to LK et al., April 30, 1942, IMT, vol. 38, 365–67, ND: 129–R; Perz, “Wehrmacht,” 69.
124. Quote in BArchB (ehem. BDC), SSO, Koch, Karl, 2.8.1897, Glücks to Pohl, August 28, 1942.
125. BArchL, B 162/5222, Bl. 28–39: Vernehmung Hans K., May 22, 1962. See also Lasik, “SS Garrison,” 329.
126. Mailänder Koslov, Gewalt, 195–201, 224–29.
127. Tuchel, “Wachmannschaften,” 140–41; IfZ, F 13/6, Bl. 369–82: R. Höss, “Theodor Eicke,” November 1946, Bl. 382.
128. Leleu, Waffen-SS, 54–87, 169–89, 1090. For brief overviews, see Heinemann, “Rasse,” 341–49, 539–42; Longerich, Himmler, 621–22, 693–701.
129. Tuchel, “Wachmannschaften,” 142–43; Mailänder Koslov, Gewalt, 130–31.
130. Some also came from western Europe, from countries such as Holland, France, and Denmark; OdT, vol. 7, 137; Buggeln, Arbeit, 457–60.
131. Tuchel, “Wachmannschaften,” 144; Hördler, “Ordnung,” 163–64.
132. Hördler, “Wehrmacht,” 13; idem, “Ordnung,” 168–69; Golczewski, “Kollaboration,” 179–80; Arad, Belzec, 19–22; Pohl, “Trawniki-Männer”; Black, “Foot Soldiers.” One of the transferred Trawniki men was Ivan Demjanjuk, a former Sobibor guard, who arrived in Flossenbürg in autumn 1943. After several decades of investigations, trials, and appeals, Demjanjuk was sentenced to five years’ imprisonment by a Munich court in 2011, one year before his death; Volk, Urteil; Benz, “John Demjanjuk.”
KL: A History of the Nazi Concentration Camps Page 106
