KL: A History of the Nazi Concentration Camps

by Nikolaus Wachsmann

    43. Quote in IfZ, Himmler to Pohl, May 29, 1942, ND: NO-719.

    44. Affidavit G. Maurer, May 22, 1947, TWC, vol. 5, 602; testimony O. Pohl, 1947, in ibid., 430.

    45. APMO, Proces Maurer, 5a, Bl. 115–16: EE by H. Pister, March 3, 1947, ND: NO-2327; BArchB, Film 44840, Vernehmung G. Maurer, March 20, 1947, pp. 22–24.

    46. Judgment of the U.S. Military Tribunal, November 3, 1947, TWC, vol. 5, 993, 1022; BArchB, Film 44840, Vernehmung G. Maurer, March 18, 1947, p. 13; StANü, G. Rammler report, January 30, 1946, ND: NO-1200, p. 10.

    47. For the historiography, see Paul, “Psychopathen,” esp. 13–37.

    48. Himmler to Pohl, March 5, 1943, in Heiber, Reichsführer!, 245–47, quote on 246.

    49. Pohl inspected Auschwitz in early April 1942 (chapter 6), on September 23, 1942 (chapter 7), on August 17, 1943 (USHMM, RG-11.001M.03, reel 20, folder 26, Besuch des Hauptamtschefs, August 17, 1943), and on June 16, 1944 (ibid., RG-11.001M.03, reel 19, folder 21, Aktenvermerk, Besuch des Hauptamtschefs, June 20, 1944).

    50. IfZ, F 13/6, Bl. 343–54: R. Höss, “Oswald Pohl,” November 1946, quote on 352.

    51. BArchB (ehem. BDC), SSO, Glücks, Richard, 22.4.1889, Dienstlaufbahn. There is no evidence of any serious tensions between Pohl and Glücks.

    52. Previously, much of the initiative had been left to Pohl’s then-external apparatus, even after the establishment of an IKL office for labor in autumn 1941. For the IKL administrative structure, see Tuchel, Konzentrationslager, 231.

    53. The Representative for the Labor Action Burböck was sacked in spring 1942 and left the Camp SS. As for Maurer, he was seconded to the V2 production between January and March 1945, during which time Hans Moser headed D II. See Schulte, Zwangsarbeit, 389–90, 464, 472–73.

    54. Allen, Business, especially pages 13, 24–26, 32.

    55. BArchB (ehem. BDC), SSO, Maurer, Gerhard, 9.12.1907; ibid., Film 44840, Vernehmung G. Maurer, March 13, 1947, pp. 1–3.

    56. BArchB, Film 44563, Vernehmung O. Pohl, October 7, 1946, p. 18; ibid., Film 44840, Vernehmung G. Maurer, May 13, 1947 (pp. 6–7) and June 19, 1947 (p. 5); IfZ, F 13/6, Bl. 355–58: R. Höss, “Gerhard Maurer,” November 1946.

    57. Buggeln, Arbeit, 109–10; Wagner, Produktion, 292–96; Lasik, “Organizational,” 216–17; Strebel, Ravensbrück, 201; BArchB, NS 3/391, Bl. 4–22: Aufgabengebiete in einem KL, n.d. (1942), Bl. 19–20; ibid., Film 44840, Vernehmung G. Maurer, March 20, 1947, pp. 24–25. The labor action leaders—often experts in their field who moved from one camp to the next—were fully absorbed into the organizational chart of the KL in 1942. Their new offices (III/E or IIIa) for work deployment were nominally part of department III (camp compound), but in practice acted largely independently, reporting to the commandant or, higher up the chain, directly to Maurer’s department. The offices oversaw all aspects of the local organization of forced labor, including the formation of prisoner commandos and transports, the supervision during work by SS officials and Kapos, and the establishment of new work sites.

    58. NAL, HW 16/21, GPD Nr. 3, WVHA-D to KL Auschwitz, October 27, 1942. For the meeting, which took place on October 28, 1942, see Müller, “Speer,” 448.

    59. BArchB, Film 44837, Vernehmung A. Liebehenschel, October 7, 1946, quote on 11; StANü, EE by K. Sommer, April 4, 1947, ND: NO-2739; BArchL, B 162/7998, Bl. 623–44: Vernehmung J. Otto, April 1, 1970, Bl. 632; IfZ, F 13/6, Bl. 355–58: R. Höss, “Gerhard Maurer,” November 1946; Schulte, Zwangsarbeit, 390; Allen, Business, 183.

    60. IfZ, F 13/6, Bl. 343–54: R. Höss, “Oswald Pohl,” quote on 353.

    61. BArchB, NS 3/425, WVHA-D to LK, May 6, 1942. The letter was signed by Glücks and drafted by Liebehenschel, but given the level of Pohl’s engagement with the KL at the time, he must have been involved.

    62. LG Cologne, Urteil, April 20, 1970, JNV, vol. 33, 640, 643. More generally, see Hördler, “Ordnung,” 51, 137.

    63. In May 1942, Himmler ordered that SS leaders under thirty years of age should be moved from the KL to the front line (camp compound leaders were exempt); NAL, HW 16/18, GPD Nr. 3, May 13, 1942. More generally, see Sydnor, Soldiers, 208–35; Broszat, Kommandant, 276.

    64. Trouvé, “Bugdalle,” 37–41; LG Bonn, Urteil, February 6, 1959, JNV, vol. 15, 422.

    65. Most changes were set out in a letter by Pohl to Himmler on July 28, 1942 (TWC, vol. 5, 303–306, ND: NO-1994), in which he included the SS special camp Hinzert as a fifteenth KL (its commandant remained unchanged). Some parts of the plan were later amended. In his letter, Pohl had earmarked Kaindl for Dachau and Weiss for Sachsenhausen, but he later reversed the order. Also, Pohl’s initial choice of commandant for Flossenbürg, Hans Hüttig, remained on SS service in Norway (he had left his post as Natzweiler commandant in January 1942; OdT, vol. 6, 36); as a result, the Flossenbürg camp compound leader Fritzsch temporarily acted as commandant until Zill was appointed in October 1942 (OdT, vol. 4, 38). For Himmler’s acceptance of Pohl’s proposals, see BArchB (ehem. BDC), SSO, Koch, Karl, 2.8.1897, Stab Reichsführer SS to Pohl, August 13, 1942. More generally, see Orth, SS, 213–14.

    66. BArchB, Film 44563, Vernehmung O. Pohl, October 28, 1946, quotes on 10–11.

    67. For example, see Orth, SS, 205–206, 210, 250.

    68. For Kramer, see Orth, SS, 103–104, 137; Segev, Soldiers, 67–73.

    69. Orth, SS, 157, 211, 214. Other wartime commandants who had served in the SS Death’s Head division were Johannes Hassebroek, Friedrich Hartjenstein, Adam Grünewald, and Richard Baer.

    70. BArchB (ehem. BDC), SSO, Kaindl, Anton, 14.7.1902; Pohl to Himmler, July 28, 1942, TWC, vol. 5, 305, ND: NO-1994; Sydnor, Soldiers, 50.

    71. The connection between the reshuffle and the functional change of the camps is emphasized in Orth, SS, 206. However, the motive for the dismissals cannot be reduced to the economic reorientation alone. For example, it seems likely that a man like Hans Loritz—generally regarded in SS circles as a capable manager—would have kept his job had he not been caught up in an embarrassing corruption scandal.

    72. BArchB (ehem. BDC), SSO, Künstler, Karl, 12.1.1901; Tuchel, “Kommandanten des Konzentrationslagers Flossenbürg,” 207–209. Künstler was sent to the SS Division Prinz Eugen and is said to have been killed in April 1945.

    73. For example, see Tuchel, “Kommandanten des Konzentrationslagers Flossenbürg,” 214; idem, “Kommandanten des KZ Dachau,” 345–49.

    74. Orth, SS, 211–13, 219–20; Sprenger, Groβ-Rosen, 93–94.

    75. See chapter 7.

    76. BArchB (ehem. BDC), SSO, Kaindl, Anton, 14.7.1902. For other new commandants like Suhren, Hoppe, and Kramer, see Orth, SS, 103–104, 115–24, 144–45, 157, 215–16; Strebel, Ravensbrück, 59.

    77. If economic motives had been all-decisive, Pohl would have made more of this in his communications with Himmler; Pohl to Himmler, July 28, 1942, TWC, vol. 5, 303–306, ND: NO-1994.

    78. See also Orth, SS, 253.

    79. For persistent dreams of settlement and cities, see Himmler to Kaltenbrunner, July 21, 1944, in Heiber, Reichsführer!, 343–45; Kershaw, Nemesis, 777–78.

    80. StANü, K.-O. Saur, Niederschrift über Besprechung, March 17, 1942, ND: NO-569.

    81. Pohl to Himmler, April 30, 1942, IMT, vol. 38, ND: 129–R.

    82. Quotes in APMO, Proces Maurer, 8a, Bl. 137–38: Himmler to Pohl, July 7, 1942, ND: NO-598; BArchB, NS 19/14, Bl. 131–33: Pohl to Himmler, September 16, 1942. See also Kaienburg, Wirtschaft, 498–99.

    83. StANü, K.-O. Saur, Niederschrift über Besprechung, March 17, 1942, ND: NO-569; BArchB, NS 19/14, Bl. 131–33: Pohl to Himmler, September 16, 1942; Buggeln, System, 15–22; Naasner, Machtzentren, 302–303.

    84. OdT, vol. 7, 107–30, quote on 108. For brief surveys, see Orth, System, 169–71; Megargee, Encyclopedia, vol. 1/A, 198–
201; Kaienburg, “Vernichtung,” 236. More generally, see Mommsen and Grieger, Volkswagenwerk; Siegfried, Leben. In the literature, the closure of the camp is linked to a decision by Speer in mid-September. However, the decision clearly came earlier (Pohl to Himmler, July 28, 1942, TWC, vol. 5, 303–306, ND: NO-1994).

    85. BArchB, NS 19/14, Bl. 131–33: Pohl to Himmler, September 16, 1942, quote on 131.

    86. APMO, Proces Maurer, 8a, Bl. 137–38: Himmler to Pohl, July 7, 1942, ND: NO-598; Kaienburg, Wirtschaft, 498–99; Schulte, Zwangsarbeit, 214–16.

    87. Himmler to Pohl, March 5, 1943, in Heiber, Reichsführer!, 245–47. On June 17, 1943, Hitler and Himmler discussed weapons production involving one hundred and forty thousand KL prisoners; BArchB, Film 4141, Vortrag beim Führer, June 17, 1943.

    88. OdT, vol. 4, 40–42, 48; Kaienburg, Wirtschaft, 618–22; BArchB, Film 44563, Vernehmung O. Pohl, July 31, 1946, p. 6, ND: NI-389. For DESt armaments production in other KL, see OdT, vol. 4, 374, 392–94; Perz, “Arbeitseinsatz,” 541–43; Schulte, Zwangsarbeit, 228–29.

    89. Rede bei der SS Gruppenführertagung in Posen, October 4, 1943, IMT, vol. 29, ND: 1919–PS, quote on 144–45.

    90. Schulte, Zwangsarbeit, 221–32; Kaienburg, Wirtschaft, 687–88; Allen, Business, 240–42; NAL, HW 16/21, GPD Nr. 3, Maurer to KL Mauthausen, October 6, 1942.

    91. APMO, Proces Maurer, 10, Bl. 50–52: Pohl to Brandt, April 19, 1943.

    92. Schulte, Zwangsarbeit, 216–18; Kaienburg, Vernichtung, 239–42; Strebel, Ravensbrück, 384–418.

    93. Kaienburg, Wirtschaft, 28, 1035, quote on 500; Naasner, Machtzentren, 302, 306–307; Kroener et al., “Zusammenfassung,” 1010–11.

    94. Buggeln, Arbeit, 38.

    95. BArchB, NS 19/14, Bl. 131–33: Pohl to Himmler, September 16, 1942; protocol conference Hitler-Speer, September 20–22, 1942, in Boelcke, Rüstung, 187–88; Naasner, Machtzentren, 303–306, 452; Schulte, Zwangsarbeit, 218–21. As a sop to the SS, its troops were to receive a small proportion of weapons produced by its prisoners.

    96. Kaienburg, Wirtschaft, 434–36; idem, “Vernichtung,” 243; Schulte, Zwangsarbeit, 212–13. For other early joint ventures between industry and the SS, see OdT, vol. 3, 205–206; OdT, vol. 4, 437–40.

    97. Fröbe, “KZ-Häftlinge,” 640, 668–69; Orth, System, 180; Buggeln, Arbeit, 42; idem, System, 18–19, 54; Schalm, Überleben, 72–74.

    98. Werner, Kriegswirtschaft, 168–90; Schalm, Überleben, 80, 95–98; OdT, vol. 2, 425–30.

    99. Buggeln, System, 57–61; Orth, System, 175–79; OdT, vol. 3, 245–48. For a detailed account, see Budraß, “Schritt.”

  100. Schröder, “Konzentrationslager,” 52–63; Megargee, Encyclopedia, vol. 1/B, 1143–45; Fröbe, “KZ-Häftlinge,” 664; Buggeln, Arbeit, 71–74.

  101. Fings, Krieg, 48–68, 84–103, 94–98, 188. For bomb disposal squads, see also Wachsmann, Prisons, 232; IfZ, RSHA, AE, 2. Teil, Runderlaß Chef Sipo und SD, September 25, 1940; AdsD, KE, E. Büge, Bericht, n.d. (1945–46), 197, 203, 205.

  102. Buggeln, Arbeit, 42; idem, System, 53; Orth, System, 180; StANü, Pohl to Himmler, September 30, 1943, Anlage, ND: PS-1469.

  103. OdT, vol. 1, quote on 189; Fröbe, “KZ-Häftlinge,” 667–69; Schulte, Zwangsarbeit, 394, 397.

  104. Pohl to LK et al., April 30, 1942, IMT, vol. 38, 365–67, ND: 129–R; BArchB, Film 44564, EE by O. Pohl, March 21, 1947; IfZ, Maurer to LK, November 21, 1942, ND: PS-3685. On rare occasions local commandants still went ahead and made their own deals.

  105. BArchB, Film 44840, Vernehmung G. Maurer, August 12, 1947, pp. 1–3; extract testimony of Sommer, June 30 to July 2, 1947, TWC, vol. 5, 595–96; BStU, MfS HA IX/11 ZUV 4, Bd. 24, Bl. 235–51: Vernehmung P. Rose, December 10, 1946.

  106. Orth, System, 181.

  107. StANü, WVHA-D II, Häftlingssätze, February 24, 1944, ND: NO-576.

  108. Kaienburg, Wirtschaft, 29–30, 1078; Naasner, Machtzentren, 399–402; BArchB, Film 44840, Vernehmung G. Maurer, March 18, 1947, pp. 18–19; StANü, EE by K. Sommer, January 22, 1947, ND: NO-1578, p. 5.

  109. See also Kaienburg, “Vernichtung,” 236–47.

  110. Buggeln, “Slaves?” For the revisionist view, see Spoerer and Fleischhacker, “Forced Laborers,” 176; Sofsky, Ordnung, 193–99.

  111. Kupfer-Koberwitz, Tagebücher, quote on 75. More generally, see Buggeln, “Slaves?,” 103.

  112. BArchB, NS 19/2065, Bl. 36–37: Himmler to Pohl, March 23, 1942.

  113. Quotes in Schulte, Zwangsarbeit, 351.

  114. BArchB, NS 19/2065, Bl. 36–37: Himmler to Pohl, March 23, 1942.

  115. BArchB, NS 4/Na 6, Bl. 9–10: Glücks to LK, February 12, 1942; IfZ, Maurer to LK, June 24, 1942, ND: PS-3685; Kaienburg, “Vernichtung,” 326–27; Wagner, Ellrich, 62.

  116. OdT, vol. 4, 43; Kaienburg, Wirtschaft, 432. See also chapter 4.

  117. BArchB, NS 19/2065, Bl. 36–37: Himmler to Pohl, March 23, 1942.

  118. Sommer, KZ-Bordell, 112–14.

  119. Himmler to Pohl, March 5, 1943, in Heiber, Reichsführer!, 245–47; IfZ, F 37/2, Himmler diary, entry February 26, 1943.

  120. Quotes in IfZ, O. Pohl, DV für Gewährung von Vergünstigungen, May 15, 1943 (extracts), ND: NO-400. See also Strebel, Ravensbrück, 198; Sommer, KZ-Bordell, 76–80.

  121. Wachsmann, Prisons, 95.

  122. Wagner, IG Auschwitz, 221.

  123. Buggeln, Arbeit, 302; Sommer, KZ-Bordell, 81.

  124. Wagner, IG Auschwitz, 221.

  125. ITS, KL Flossenbürg GCC 5/88, Ordner 87, Aufstellung der ausbezahlten Häftlingsprämien, September 4, 1943; extracts testimony of Sommer, June 30 to July 2, 1947, TWC, vol. 5, 598; Kaienburg, “Vernichtung,” 406–409; Sommer, KZ-Bordell, 84; Sprenger, Groβ-Rosen, 181–82; KB Nr. 6/44, April 22, 1944, in Frei et al., Kommandanturbefehle, 439.

  126. WL, P.III.b. No. 1164, N. Rosenberg, “Zwangsarbeiter für Siemens-Schuckert,” January 1960.

  127. Himmler to Pohl, March 5, 1943, in Heiber, Reichsführer!, quote on 246; Sommer, KZ-Bordell, 78, 80, 161–65; BArchB, NS 3/426, Bl. 84: WVHA-D to LK, June 15, 1943.

  128. Borowski, “Auschwitz,” 122. See also Sommer, KZ-Bordell, 174–89; Hughes, “Forced Prostitution,” 204–205.

  129. Sommer, KZ-Bordell, 81–82, 126, 174, 239, 242–44, 251; Hughes, “Forced Prostitution,” 209; Gross, Zweitausend, 207–208; Wagner, Produktion, 418. Some main camps (including Majdanek and Gross-Rosen) never had a brothel. And contrary to some suggestions, there was apparently no systematic SS policy of “curing” homosexuals by sending them to camp brothels; Sommer, KZ-Bordell, 250–51.

  130. Quotes in APMO, Proces Maurer, 5a, Bl. 150: Dr. Rascher, Bericht über KL-Dirnen, November 5, 1942, ND: NO-323; LULVR, interview No. 239, March 20, 1946. See also Sommer, KZ-Bordell, 101, 107–108, 234–37, 259–60, 278.

  131. Sommer, KZ-Bordell, 77, 83; Weiss-Rüthel, Nacht, 143.

  132. Ovrashko survived the KL; Gedenkstätte Sachsenhausen, Gegen das Vergessen (CD-Rom).

  133. NMGB, Buchenwald, 699–700.

  134. Estimates based on Schulte, “London”; OdT, vol. 3, 29; ibid., vol. 4, 45; ibid., vol. 6, 513; ibid., vol. 7, 48–49, 190–91; ibid., vol. 8, 25, 103–104, 134; NMGB, Buchenwald, 699–700; StANü, Pohl to Himmler, September 30, 1943, Anlage, ND: PS-1469; Maršálek, Mauthausen, 126; Strebel, Ravensbrück, 182, 293, 349; KZ-Gedenkstätte Neuengamme, Ausstellungen, 22; Steegmann, Struthof, 50, 64; Sprenger, Groß-Rosen, 168–71, 225; DaA, ITS, Vorläufige Ermittlung der Lagerstärke (1971); Koker, Edge, 301 (n. 556); Czech, Kalendarium, 691; Kaienburg, Neuengamme, 315; Dieckmann, Besatzungspolitik, vol. 2, 1317; Stiftung, Bergen-Belsen, 163. The composite figures sent by Pohl to Himmler in September 1943 need to be treated with some caution, especially those for late 1942, which are evidently too low (see also Kárný, “‘Vernichtung,’” 143).

  135. The SS special camp Hinzert is not included here.

  136. Pohl to Himmler, April 30, 1942, IMT, vol. 38, 363–65, ND: R-12
9.

  137. The number of deported Jews rose from around 197,000 (1942) to 270,000 (1943); Piper, Zahl, table D.

  138. Picker, Tischgespräche, 474.

  139. Quotes in Hillgruber, Staatsmänner, vol. 1, 611; Jochmann, Monologe, 126; Picker, Tischgespräche, 282–83, 617; Fröhlich, Tagebücher, II/4, May 30, 1942, 405.

  140. The speech was recorded by Goebbels; Fröhlich, Tagebücher, II/4, May 24, 1942, 361.

  141. Wagner, Volksgemeinschaft, 316–29, 338–43; Roth, “Kriminalpolizei,” 326–28, 341–47; Strebel, Ravensbrück, 117–21; Longerich, Himmler, 658.

  142. Zimmermann, “Entscheidung”; Fings, “‘Wannsee-Konferenz’”; Czech, Kalendarium, 423.

  143. LHASA, MD, Rep. C 29 Anh. 2, Nr. Z 98/1, Bl. 27: Bürgermeister Quedlinburg, Umzugs-Abmeldebestätigung, March 1, 1943; SMAB, Memorial Book, 7.

  144. For this and the previous paragraph, see Rede bei der SS Gruppenführertagung in Posen, October 4, 1943, IMT, vol. 29, ND: 1919–PS, Himmler quote on 133; Spoerer, Zwangsarbeit, 37–39, 50, 66, 80, 89, 93–95, 116–44, 179; Herbert, Fremdarbeiter, 246, 301–306. See also Gellately, Gestapo, 226–27; Wachsmann, Prisons, 225–26; Kárný, “Waffen-SS,” 257; Buggeln, System, 46; Wildt, “Funktionswandel,” 85. For Gestapo camps, see Lotfi, KZ; Thalhofer, Entgrenzung.

  145. Walter, “Kinder,” 185–86; Spoerer, Zwangsarbeit, 79; Spoerer and Fleischhacker, “Forced Laborers,” 199, table 9; BArchB, NS 3/426, Bl. 29: WVHA-D to LK, February 2, 1943; ibid., Bl. 30: RSHA, Richtlinien, January 29, 1943. More generally, see Steinert, Deportation.

  146. Zarusky, “‘Russen,’” 127.

  147. Kupfer-Koberwitz, Tagebücher, 101.

  148. Longerich, Himmler, 672–82; Wachsmann, Prisons, 271–74; Tillion, Ravensbrück, 192–97; Nacht- und Nebel-Erlaβ, August 4, 1942, extract in Schnabel, Macht, 157–58.

  149. Schulte, “London,” 220–22; Stein, “Funktionswandel,” 179. In Mauthausen, by contrast, the major influx of foreigners did not come until 1944; Kranebitter, “Zahlen,” 137.