Genocide
Document 1. The Wannsee Conference (on the outskirts of Berlin) (20 January 1942)
Classified Secret of the Reich - Protocol of the conference
I. On 20 January 1942 in Berlin, Grosser Wannsee no. 56-58, a conference was held on the final solution of the Jewish question [...]
All. The head of the security and SD police, Obergruppenführer SS Heydrich, gave an opening statement on the mission entrusted to him by the Reich Marshal for the preparation of the final solution of the Jewish question in Europe, and stated that the purpose of this meeting was to clarify the substantive issues. [...]
III. From now on, instead of emigration, the new solution with the prior approval of the Führer is the evacuation of the Jews to the east. These actions are however to be considered only as transitional solutions, but which will allow us to acquire practical experiences that will be very valuable for the future final solution of the Jewish question. During the final solution of the Jewish question in Europe, about 11 million Jews will have to be taken into consideration [...] During the final solution, Eastern Jews will have to be mobilized for work with the appropriate supervision. In large columns of workers, separated by gender, able-bodied Jews will be led to build roads in these territories, which undoubtedly will allow a substantial natural decrease in their number.
Finally, appropriate treatment will have to be applied to all those who remain, because these will obviously be the most resistant elements, since they are derived from natural selection and could be the germ of a new Jewish strain. as long as they are left at large
[...] The evacuated Jews will first pass through convoy by convoy, through transit ghettos, and from there will be transported further east.
[...] In conclusion, the various resolutions were discussed, and it emerged [...] that it was felt that certain preparatory work should be carried out immediately in the territories in question for the unfolding of the final solution, however, by avoiding to cause the population’s concern.
Report from Heydrich, appointed as responsible for the preparation of the "Final Solution"
Document 2. The Gassing - Testimony of the commander of the Auschwitz camp
" In this unusual atmosphere, young children generally began to whine. But after being consoled by their mother or the commando’s men, they calmed down and went to the gas chambers playing or teasing each other, a toy in their arms. I have sometimes observed women aware of their destiny who, with deadly fear in their eyes, still found the strength to joke with their children and reassure them.
One of them approached me in passing and whispered, showing me her four children who were gently holding hands to help the youngest move forward on difficult terrain: "How can you make the decision to kill these beautiful grandchildren? So you have no heart. "
- I also heard the scathing words of an old man who was standing near me: "Germany will pay dearly for this massacre of the Jews." I read the hatred in his eyes. But he quietly entered the gas chamber, without worrying about others."
Source: Rudolf Hoess,
Document 3. At the opening of the gas chamber doors
" A horrible painting is then offered to the eyes of the spectators. The corpses are not lying down all over the room, but piled up in a heap for the entire height of the room. The explanation lies in the fact that the gas first floods the lower layers of the air and only slowly rises towards the ceiling. This is what forces the unfortunate to trample and climb on top of each other. A few meters higher, the gas reaches them a little later. What a desperate struggle for life! However, it was only a respite of two or three minutes. If they had known how to think, they would have realized that they were trampling their children, their parents, their wife. But they cannot think. Their gestures are no more than automatic reflexes of the instinct of conservation. I notice that at the bottom of the pile of corpses are the babies, children, women, and old men; at the top, the strongest. Their bodies, which bear many scratches, are often entwined. The bleeding nose and mouth, the face swollen and blue, deformed, make them unrecognizable."
Source: Dr. Miklos Nyiszli, Doctor at Auschwitz:
Document 4. An industrial organization. Letter from SS Gruppenf hrer (Major General) Richard Gluecks, head of one of the SS economic administration services, to camp commanders.
August 6, 1942 " Ref.: Use of hair
The head of the SS Central Economic Administration, SS Obergruppenf hrer (Lieutenant General) Pohl, ordered to use all hair cut in concentration camps. The hair will be transformed into industrial felt and thread. Women’s hair, cut and combed, will be used as material to make socks for submarine crews and felt skates for railways. You are therefore ordered to store the prisoners' hair after disinfection.
Men’s hair can only be used if it is at least twenty millimeters long (...)
[...] The quantities of hair collected monthly - classified into female and male hair - will be communicated to this office every 5th of the month, starting from 5 September 1942."
Source: T. Berenstein ed.,
Shh-Getto-Massenmord.Extraits de l'Ausrofascia und Colourful of the German World Wars, Frankfurt, s.d. (1960?), p.
The Auschwitz-I crematorium |
Photo taken secretly by a prisoner who was a member of a Special Commando. Auschwitz - 1944 |
This collection of documents also included information on the Auschwitz complex extracted from the site of the Contemporary Jewish Documentation Center.
