Genocide
Document 1. The conference in Wannsee (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 n° 56-58, a conference was held on the final solution of the Jewish question [...]
ll. 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 indicated that the objective of this meeting was to clarify the substantive issues. [...]
III. Henceforth, instead of emigration, the new solution with the prior approval of the Führer is the evacuation of the Jews to the east. These actions, however, are to be considered only as transitional solutions, but which will allow us to acquire practical experiences that will be very valuable for the 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, the Eastern Jews will have to be mobilized for work with the desired framework. In large columns of workers, separated by gender, the Jews capable of work will be led to build roads in these territories, which undoubtedly will allow a substantial natural decrease in their number.
Finally, it will be necessary to apply appropriate treatment to all those who remain because they will obviously be the most resistant elements, since they come from natural selection, and which would be likely to be the germ of a new Jewish strain, as long as they are left at liberty
[...] The evacuated Jews will first pass by convoy by convoy, through transit ghettos, and from there be transported further east
[...] In conclusion, the various resolutions were discussed, and it emerged [...] that it was felt that some preparatory work for the implementation of the final solution should be carried out immediately in the territories in question, by however avoiding to cause the concern of the population.
Report by Heydrich, appointed 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 by the men of the commando, they calmed down and went towards the gas chambers while playing or teasing each other, a toy in their arms. I have sometimes observed women conscious of their destiny who, with a 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 little one move forward on a difficult terrain: "How can you make the decision to kill these beautiful little children? So you don’t have a heart. "
- I also heard the scathing words of an old man who was standing close to me: "This massacre of the Jews, Germany will pay dearly." I read the hatred in his eyes. But he calmly entered the gas chamber, without worrying about others.
Source: Rudolf Hoess,
Document 3. At the opening of the doors of the gas chambers
" A horrible painting is then offered to the eyes of the spectators. The corpses are not lying down all over the room, but crammed into a heap from the entire height of the room. The explanation lies in the fact that the gas first floods the lower layers of air and only slowly rises towards the ceiling. It is this that forces the unfortunate ones to trample and climb on 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 people; at the top, the strongest. Their bodies, which bear numerous scratches, are often entwined. The bleeding nose and mouth, the swollen and blue face, 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 services in the SS economic administration, to the camp commanders.
August 6, 1942 " Ref.: Use of hair
The head of the Central Service of the SS economic administration, SS Lieutenant-General Obergruppenf hrer Pohl, gave the order to use all cut hair in concentration camps. The hair will be transformed into industrial felt and yarn. The hair of women, cut and combed, will serve as material to make socks for submarine crews and felt skates for railways. You are therefore ordered to store the hair of the prisoners after disinfection.
Men’s hair can only be used if it is at least twenty millimeters long (...)
[...] The quantities of hair recovered monthly - classified into female hair and male hair - will be communicated to this office every 5th of the month, starting from 5 September 1942.
Source: T. Berenstein ed.,
Fascismus-Getto-Massenmord.Dokumentalion über Ausroretiring und Préparatifs of the Jews in Poland about the World Cloud Camps, Frankfurt, s.d. (1960?), p, 402.
Auschwitz-I crematorium |
Photo taken in secret by a prisoner member of a Special Commando. Auschwitz - 1944 |
This documentary set also included information on the Auschwitz complex extracted from the site of the Center for Contemporary Jewish Documentation.
