Everyday Life in
the
Warsaw Ghetto
Warsaw, Poland - 1941
Scott Masters
adapted by T Stanek from the Yad Vashem
Archives
• A tram at the entrance to
the Warsaw Ghetto – was it
an “open ghetto”?
• Why did the Nazis create
ghettoes? What reasons
did they give; what were
the real reasons?
– To thwart the black
market…
– To thwart Jewish
“subversion”…
– To stop the spread of
disease…
• What was the process for
creating the ghetto? What
were the various
reactions?
• Why did some Polish Jews
favour the ghetto?
• A German
guard
checking
Jews’ papers
• Who guarded
the ghetto
entrance?
• What was the
Judenrat?
• Jews with
armbands on a
ghetto street
• Why was there so
much congestion
in the ghetto?
• An old man a on
a ghetto street –
why is he taking
off his hat?
• A horse-drawn cart – what
types of transportation
were Jews forced to use?
What does this tell you
about their
circumstances?
• Jewish
women on a
rickshaw in
the ghetto
• Children sitting
on a ghetto
street – who
were they? How
did the other
residents treat
them?
• Selling clothes in the market
• How did this fit into the ghetto
economy?
• What were the differences
between the official and
clandestine economies?
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saleswomen on a ghetto street
How are they different from the
stores in the background?
Did economic equality exist in the
ghetto?
• Woman beggar in
the ghetto
• Why would the
owners of the
food store in the
background not
help her?
• A Jewish beggar playing
the violin in the ghetto
• A starving woman lying
in the street
• A woman in the
ghetto eating some
soup
• Waiting in line for a
drink of water
• Who were these
public kitchens
important? What
roles did they play?
• A baby carriage filled with
books for sale
• What does this photograph
show about ghetto life?
• Is this a type of resistance?
• What is the boy selling? Was
censorship used in the ghetto?
• A woman selling
armbands
• Why did residents
continue to have
children? What happened
to birth rates over time?
• What do you notice about
the urban landscape?
• Wealthier Jews on a ghetto
street
• A poster advertising a
nightclub
• Why did this create
conflict in the ghetto?
How did the Nazis exploit
this?
• A Jewish
policeman and
a woman in the
ghetto
• Who were these
policemen?
What role(s) did
they play in the
ghetto as time
went by?
• The Hevra
Kadisha (Jewish
burial society)
• A funeral in the
cemetery
• Coffins and
wagons of the
Jewish Burial
Society
• A man placing
bodies in an open
mass grave
• Swans on the lake
in Chopin Park,
Warsaw
Western Front, Part I:
Fall of France 1940
I. Phony War (Sitzkrieg), September 1939–May 10,
1940
I. Phony War (Sitzkrieg), September 1939–May 10,
1940
A. Vulnerability of Germany to attack from the West during
Polish campaign
1. Maginot Line
2. Dyle Plan
Maginot Line
Maginot Line – Block 14 at Ouvrage du Hochwald
I. Phony War (Sitzkrieg), September 1939–May 10,
1940
B. Hitler wanted to invade Belgium, Netherlands, Luxembourg (Fall
Gelb)
1. rebuff of peace offer October 6
2. provisional date for invasion November 12 (cancelled
November 7)
3. new provisional date for invasion January 17
a. liaison officer captured in Belgium with plans January 10
b. old plan replaced by Manstein plan (Sichelschnitt instead
of Schlieffen)
4. new date for invasion May 10
II. Fall of Norway – invaded April 9, 1940
III. Commanders and Their Strategies
A. French:
1. Maurice Gamelin (1872-1958)
– commanded 1933 – May 18, 1940
2. Maxime Weygand (1867-1965)
– commanded May 18 – June 22, 1940
Maurice Gamelin (1872-1958)
Maxime Weygand (1867-1965)
III. Commanders and Their Strategies
B. German: Franz Ritter Halder (1884–1972) – head of Army
General Staff 1938–1942
1. Army Group A: Fedor von Bock (1881–1945) “Der
Sterber”
2. Army Group B: Gerd von Rundstedt (1875–1953)
3. Army Group C: Wilhelm Ritter von Leeb (1876–1956)
Franz Ritter Halder (1884–1972)
Fedor von Bock (1881–1945)
Gerd von Rundstedt (1875–1953)
Wilhelm Ritter von Leeb (1876–1956)
All behind you, Winston
IV. Battle of France May 10, 1940–June 22, 1940
E. Great Britain
1. Churchill replaces Chamberlain May 10, 1940
2. British Expeditionary Force (BEF)
Lesson of the debacle?
“Some of the lessons that can be learned from what went wrong
from the British point of view are as relevant today as they
were then. First and Foremost, the campaign showed that
politicians must never, even in peacetime, deprive their armed
forces of the equipment they need. Complacently assuming
that the equipment can be manufactured once war is declared
is demonstrably unwise.”
−Hugh Sebag-Montefiore, Dunkirk: Fight to the Last Man
(Cambridge, MA: Harvard Univeristy Press, 2006), xiv.
IV. Battle of France May 10, 1940 – June 22, 1940
A. Disposition of Forces
German
2 million troops
136 divisions
2439 tanks
3200 aircraft
Allies (France and Great Britain)
4 million troops
174 divisions
2689 tanks
2400 aircraft
Matilda Tank
Panzer I German tank (Calais, May 1940)
Panzer II German tank (May 1940 in France)
IV. Battle of France May 10, 1940–June 22, 1940
B. Belgium – Fort at Eben Emael
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iD_rX71O78I
C. The Netherlands – Bombing of Rotterdam
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Foiim649Wh0 (25:50)
German Paratroopers
Rotterdam Blaak Railway Station and Laurenskerk
Bombing of Rotterdam
Rotterdam – “20,000” (war-time propaganda – as high as 25,000 to
30,000)
– 814 Dutch civilians (collateral damage)
– General Kurt Student had ordered carpet bombing
– FDR, Sept. 1939, had asked a promise that belligerents would not
attack civilian targets
– all belligerents complied
– 5/13 downtown Rotterdam bombed / call back not received in time
– 5/15 British allow RAF to attack oil refineries and other civilian
industrial targets in the Ruhr
– 1st German bomber attacks on England / night of June 5/6, 1940
IV. Battle of France May 10, 1940–June 22, 1940
D. Attitude of the French and Expectations of German Generals
1. Heinz Guderian (1888–1954) Achtung—Panzer! (1937)
a. acknowledged influence of B. H. Liddell Hart
b. Panzer divisions exceeded expectations
2. Erik von Manstein (1887–1973) – placed in charge of an
infantry battalion
3. Erwin Rommel (1891–1944) – commanded 7th Panzer
Division
4. Charles De Gaulle (1890–1970) – counterattacked with tanks
5. French Defeatism
Heinz Guderian (1888–1954)
Erik von Manstein (1887–1973)
Erwin Rommel (1891–1944)
Charles De Gaulle (1890–1970)
5. French Defeatism
ROTT
Mrs Miniver (1942)
Director: William Wyler
Title character derived from book Mrs Miniver by Jan Struther
Screenplay: George Froeschel, James Hilton, Claudine West,
Arthur Wimperis
Nominated for 12 Academy Awards / Won 6
1. Best Actress: Greer Garson
2. Best Supporting Actress: Teresa Wright
3. Best Cinematography (Black and White): Joseph Ruttenberg
4. Best Director: William Wyler
5. Best Picture: 1943
6. Best Writing, Screenplay
Mrs Miniver (1942)
“Ramsgate” – eastern coast of Kent / ferry to Dunkirk
– Many boat owners did not skipper their own boats over
– commandeered and sailed by navy personnel
IV. Battle of France May 10, 1940–June 22, 1940
F. Evacuation of Dunkirk – May 27–June 4
– trapped: 630,000 total (250,000 British; 380,000 French)
– evacuated: 335,000 total (215,000 British; 125,000 French)
Why did the German army not destroy the
BEF and French soldiers at Dunkirk?
“It would almost certainly have ended with the capture of most of
the BEF had not Hitler and his generals reined in their panzer
divisions at least three times between 20 and 30 May 1940.”
−Montfiore, Dunkirk, xiv.
Why did the German army not destroy the
BEF and French soldiers at Dunkirk?
“The most convincing evidence indicates that Hitler was indeed trying
to block the evacuation, but wasn’t willing to risk his armor to dot it.
The British looked finished anyhow…. He needed the armor for the
next phase of the campaign, the drive across the Somme and into the
heart of France…. The decision was all the easier when Herman
Göring announced that his Luftwaffe could handle Dunkirk alone….
Still another miracle was provided by the Luftwaffe itself…. The
German planes rarely strafed the crowded beaches; they never used
fragmentation bombs; they never attacked tempting targets like
Dover of Ramsgate.”
−Walter Lord, The Miracle of Dunkirk (New York: Viking,
1982), 273.
Why did the German army not destroy the
BEF and French soldiers at Dunkirk?
“Guderian stated that the order came down to him from Kleist with the
words: ‘Dunkirk is to be left to the Luftwaffe….’ At the same time
there is evidence that even the Luftwaffe was not used as fully or as
vigorously as it could have been − and some of the air chiefs say
that Hitler put the brake on again here. All this caused the higher
circles to suspect a political motive behind Hitler’s military
reasons…. He [Blumentritt] felt that the ‘halt’ … was part of a
political scheme to make peace easier to reach. If the BEF had been
captured at Dunkirk, the British might have felt that their honour
had suffered a stain which they must wipe out. By letting it escape
Hitler hoped to conciliate them.”
−B. H. Liddell Hart, History of the Second World War, 89−90.
IV. Battle of France May 10, 1940–June 22, 1940
G. Capitulation of France – June 22, 1940
1. Vichy France (July 10, 1940−April 22, 1945)
a. Marshal Philippe Pètain − head of state
V. Results
A. French losses
1. battle casualties: 125,000 killed and missing; 200,000 wound
2. civilian displacement – 12 million
B. British losses: battle casualties: 68,000 killed and missing;
C. German losses: battle casualties: 27,000 killed; 18,000 missing;
100,000 wounded
Vichy France and its possessions
Operation Torch (overview)
Mrs Miniver (1942)
Psalm 91: Abiding in the Shadow of the Almighty
1 He that dwelleth in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of
the Almighty. 2 I will say of the LORD, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God;
in him will I trust. 3 Surely he shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler, and
from the noisome pestilence. 4 He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his
wings shalt thou trust: his truth shall be thy shield and buckler. 5 Thou shalt not be
afraid for the terror by night nor for the arrow that flieth by day; 6 nor for the
pestilence that walketh in darkness; nor for the destruction that wasteth at noonday.
7 A thousand shall fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand; but it shall not
come nigh thee. 8 Only with thine eyes shalt thou behold and see the reward of the
wicked. 9 Because thou hast made the LORD, which is my refuge, even the Most
High, thy habitation; 10 there shall no evil befall thee, neither shall any plague come
nigh thy dwelling.11 For he shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all
thy ways. 12 They shall bear thee up in their hands, lest thou dash thy foot against a
stone. 13 Thou shalt tread upon the lion and adder: the young lion and the dragon
shalt thou trample under feet. 14 Because he hath set his love upon me, therefore
will I deliver him: I will set him on high, because he hath known my name.15 He
shall call upon me, and I will answer him: I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver
him, and honor him.16 With long life will I satisfy him, and show him my salvation.
HOLOCAUST
DENIAL
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How can the Holocaust be denied?
Who are the Holocaust deniers?
Are they a small and inconsequential
cluster of socially marginal fanatics or a
large group of mainstream players?
What are the deniers’ main arguments
and what motivates them in their
denial?
Should one argue with them, or are they
better ignored?
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Any person or organization that denies the
Holocaust or doubts the number of Jewish
victims, or the existence of concentration
camps and gas chambers, is a denier of the
Holocaust and not a “revisionist”
The truth is that these people are engaged
not in an innovative alternative
interpretation of history but in the outright
denial of history. All serious historians are
in essence revisionists…
→ Denial takes on other forms too…
relativism – changing the perspective dramatically…some
deniers use “logic” to attempt to discern false premises to
prove to students that the information is incorrect or
incomplete, or that relationships provided between
information is not practical.
Ex: Hitler was bad, but Stalin was worse – the act of the
Holocaust is thus made relative and diminished
reversal – the idea that the Nazis of today are Israelis and
the new Jews are the Palestinians – this approach is seen
in Europe and is connected to the Muslim World
•
Paul Rassinier of France, first
published in 1948, set forth the
main arguments that have been
repeated by all subsequent
Holocaust deniers:
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There had never been a plan for the
systematic annihilation of
European Jewry.
The number of Jewish victims was
about one million.
It was the Jews who had declared
war on Germany.
The survivors’ testimonies are
inflated and unreliable.
Professor Yisrael Gutman traces the origins of
Holocaust denial to the Nazis themselves. In
Gutman’s opinion, the Nazis’ attempts to obscure
their acts of murder sowed the seeds of denial. The
following examples illustrate this point:
1. The absence of any written orders from Hitler
(Fuehrerbefehl) concerning the annihilation of the
Jews, and the use of
verbal commands.
2. The use of code words (Sprachregelung) to denote
the annihilation of European Jewry:
– Aussiedlung (evacuation); Endloesung (the Final
Solution); Sonderbehandlung (special treatment)…
3. The formation in 1942 of Unit 1005,
a secret unit commanded by Paul
Blobel, in order to destroy evidence of
the slaughter of Jews in the death pits
of the east by burning the corpses.
4. Orders concerning the dismantling
of three extermination camps (Belzec,
Sobibor, and Treblinka) and
destruction of evidence concerning
the mass murder of Jews there.
5. Himmler speech to SS officers
in Poznan in October 1943. The
destruction of the Jews, Himmler
explained, was a glorious page in
history that has never been recorded
and never shall be. It was clear to
him that people at large would not
understand this…
These are several of the examples that
point to the efforts by the Nazis to
conceal the murder of Jews. It seems
contradictory: if the annihilation of
Jewry was the goal of Nazi ideology,
why would the Nazis wish to conceal
their actions?
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The Nazi camouflage of their
actions during the war created
opportunities for the postwar
Holocaust deniers.
The death camps Chelmno,
Belzec, Sobibor, and
Treblinka were destroyed and
all traces of their having been
mass extermination camps
were obliterated.
The gas chambers in Birkenau
and Majdanek were
dismantled and detonated in
order to conceal the mass
murder perpetrated there
Nearly all the prisoners who
removed corpses at the
extermination camps and for
Unit 1005 were murdered
once their work was
completed, and many
documents disappeared…
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the “first generation” of deniers sought to cleanse
the Nazis by justifying Nazi anti-Semitism and
argued that the Jews deserved the treatment they
had received because of their hostile behavior
toward Germany.
The “second generation” used different tactics.
They acknowledged the Germans’ anti-Semitism
but still argued that there was no Holocaust...
Thus they could be seen as unprejudiced men
who sought nothing but historical “truth.”
instead of exploring the truth of
the historical event that the
Holocaust represents by
uncovering various documents,
they totally disregard the
vastness of the Holocaust and
focus on several details of this
enormous event, such as:
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proof of the existence of gas
chambers, especially those at
Auschwitz;
proof of the use of Zyklon B on
human beings;
proof of a systematic plan to
annihilate the Jews;
thus, by attempting to challenge
various details without looking
at the “big picture”, they try to
cast doubt on the factuality of
the event itself…
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the real account of the Holocaust is composed of
the following sources:
1. German documents that explicitly mention the
murders and the murder process.
2. German documents that describe the planning
and implementation of the Final Solution
using euphemisms.
3. Jewish documents — diaries, memoirs,
collections of writings — in various localities
such as ghettos and death camps.
4. Testimonies of survivors of the ghettos,
concentration camps, and death camps.
Documents and testimonies of Poles who
lived near the extermination sites and
reports to/by the Polish underground to its
government-in-exile in London.
6. Russian documents from the commissions
of inquiry that were established upon the
liberation of the German-occupied
territories.
7. Legal material from the trials of Nazi
criminals held in Nuremberg at the end of
the war as well as later trials.
8. Recently declassified military intelligence
documents (from Enigma decodings)
5.
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The immediate postwar denial
publications were poor quality and
crude in their approach.
A turning point occurred in the late
1970s. Professor Arthur Butz’s 300page book The Hoax of the
Twentieth Century, with its 450
footnotes, provided details from
various documents that Butz
interpreted in novel ways.
Butz taught at Northwestern
University in Illinois. Although his
field of expertise was not history
but electrical engineering, his
academic status elevated Holocaust
denial several notches.
Butz made the following accusations:
1. The figure of 6 million is not true.
2. The World Jewish Congress in 1942 spread
propaganda stories about “German soap
workshops” and about mass suffocation in sealed
cars.
3. The only evidence about the murder of the Jews
comes from the Nuremberg Trials in 1945 and this
was elicited by torture.
4. No German documents from Auschwitz mention
“gas chambers.”
5. Zyklon B was used, but only as a disinfectant and
an insecticide.
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6. In the Eichmann trial, Eichmann couldn’t
deny what the world thought! He had done
no wrong but his best tactic was to plead
guilty
7. Butz has acknowledged the deeds of the
Einsatzgruppen; he is willing to concede that
as many as 1,000,000 Jews may have died
before them.
8. He reinterprets documents and alleges that
all testimony is inferior to documents and
dismisses survivor literature as “endless
raving about extermination”.
9.Jews invented this hoax to further Zionist
ends!
INSTITUTE FOR HISTORICAL
REVIEW—
• Founded in 1978; Directed since 1981
by Willis A. Carto, “a professional antiSemite”
• They have published a journal called
JHR —Journal of Historical Review
since 1981 and are head of the antiSemitic organ “Liberty Lobby”.
• In 1981, they published an
advertisement offering $50,000 to
anyone who could prove
there were gas chambers!
• They believe in the need for absolutist
government to protect the racial heritage
of the United States.
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DAVID IRVING — GREAT
BRITAIN
British military historian
A self-described “moderate Fascist”
who believes that Britain is in
decline.
1977 —published Hitler’s War (926
pages) and stated that there was no
Fuehrerbefehl (order by the Fuehrer)
to kill all the Jews.
In Feb. 1989 he spoke at the U. of
Calif. at Berkeley and offered a
reward for evidence that Hitler
knew of the murders at Auschwitz.
Irving made the following arguments:
1. Hitler was completely unaware of the
Final Solution and that the mass
extermination policy was carried out
without his knowledge or agreement.
2. Rudolf Hess should have received the
Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts to stop war
between Germany and Britain.
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ERNST ZUNDEL—
CANADA/GERMANY
Born in Germany in 1939,
emigrated to Canada in 1958.
Established a publishing house,
which turns out anti-Semitic,
racist, and Holocaust-denial
publications.
1984 — the Canadian Government
charged Zundel with stimulating
anti-Semitism by distributing
materials.
1985 — found guilty and was
sentenced to 15 months in prison;
he appealed.
1992 — The Canadian Supreme
Court threw out Zundel’s
conviction, ruling that the
prohibition against spreading
false news was too vague and may
restrict legitimate forms of
speech.
Where is he now?
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On January 30, 1941,
Hitler said the following:
“Today I will once more be a prophet. If the
international Jewish financiers in and outside Europe
should succeed in plunging nations once more into a
world war, then the result will not be the
Bolshevization of the earth and thus the victory of
Jewry, but the annihilation of the Jewish race in
Europe!
Hitler threatened the Jews again in September 1942:
“In my speech before the Reichstag on the first of
September 1939, 1 spoke of two matters: first, since
we are forced into war, neither the threat of weapons
nor a period of transition shall conquer us; second, if
world Jewry launches another war in order to destroy
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In late July 1941, Himmler gave explicit orders to
kill the Jews and to drive the Jewish women into
the marshes near Baranowicze.
In August 1941, Himmler visited Arthur Nebe in
Minsk. After observing a mass execution of Jews,
Himmler delivered a brief speech to those
present, stressing the need to carry out these
orders, which came directly from the Fuhrer.
On Oct. 2, 1941, Himmler visited Otto Ohlendorf,
commander of Einsatzgruppe D. Again Himmler
stressed to his soldiers that he and Hitler bore
sole responsibility for these orders; he
emphasized the need to eliminate all Jews and
political commissars.
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In July 1942, Himmler
visited Auschwitz and
Sobibor; he observed the
murder of Jews in gas
chambers.
On September 29, 1942,
Himmler reported to
Hitler on combat against
the partisans and the
elimination of Jews. In
his report, which refers
only to AugustNovember, Himmler
spoke of the liquidation
of 363 211 Jews.
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The Einsatzgruppen reports are the largest set of
documents that refer to the annihilation of the Jews.
The murder of Jews in Kiev (Babi Yar) in late
September 1941 — Report No. 101 of October 2, 1941.
• “Sonderkommando 4-A, in cooperation with the
Einsatzgruppen command and two police units
from the southern region, executed 33,771 Jews in
Kiev on September 30, 1941.”
• With these lines, Paul Blobel reported the first mass
slaughter of Jews on such a scale after Germany
invaded the Soviet Union on June 22, 1941.
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A report by Karl
Jaeger, of
Einsatzkommando 3,
on the murder of
Lithuanian Jews on
December 1, 1941.
Jaeger’s report
specified the dates and
locations of the
murders; at the end,
Jaeger added up the
number of victims —
137,346
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Einsatzgruppe D reported on April 8, 1942, a total of
92,000 dead. Himmler reported to Hitler on December
20, 1942, the following numbers of Jews shot in the
Ukraine, Russia and Bialystok –
• August 1942 - 31,246
• September 1942 - 165,282
• October 1942 - 95,735
• November 1942 - 70,948
• Total - 363,211
According to these reports, 900,000 Jews were
murdered. Other reports speak of another 250,000
Jews murdered, bringing the total murdered
according to these reports to 1,150,000.
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Other German Documents Used Euphemisms
1. A document from Goering to Heydrich on July 31,
1941, on the preparation of a plan for the Final
Solution to the Jewish problem.
“In completion of the task which was entrusted to
you in the Edict dated January 24, 1939, of solving the
Jewish question by means of emigration or
evacuation in the most convenient way possible,
given the present conditions, I herewith charge you
with making all necessary preparations for an overall
solution (Gesamtloesung) of the Jewish question in
the German sphere of influence in Europe… I further
charge you with submitting to me promptly an
overall plan of the preliminary organizational,
practical and financial measures for the execution of
the intended final solution (Endloesung) of the Jewish
question
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A document dated March 1943 by
Richard Korherr, chief statistician of the
Third Reich. In late 1942, Himmler
asked Korherr to prepare an interim
report on the implementation of the
Final Solution to the Jewish question.
According to his 16-page document,
about four million Jews had been given
“special treatment” by the end of 1942
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reports from the German railway authority
(Deutsche Reichsbahn), composed by various
bureaucrats in the German transport
ministry. One of the many reports, dated
January 6, 1943, contains the dates of
deportations, point of departure,
destinations, and number of deportees. This
report speaks of 16,000 Polish Jews who were
taken to Auschwitz or Treblinka in February
1943
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There are several types of Jewish documents:
1. Those written in the ghetto by individuals (diaries,
letters).
2. Those written in the ghetto by institutions (the
Judenrat) and underground bodies. Examples are The
Lodz Ghetto Chronicles and the Oneg Shabbat
collection from the Warsaw ghetto.
• Their info incl.: ghetto industries, production
quantities, quantities of food that reached the
ghetto, death and birth rates, deportation of Jews
who had arrived from the west and were sent on to
destinations unknown, activities of the Judenrat,
and general information on events…
3. Testimonies of Jews who managed to
escape the extermination camps or whose
writings came to light after the war.
Examples are The Last Testament of the Jews
of Chelmno and The Scrolls of Auschwitz ,
written by the Sonderkommando that
worked at the crematorium in Birkenau.
4. Survivors’ postwar testimonies.
Oneg Shabbat:
one of the most important documents
in this collection is the report on “The
Destruction Jewish Warsaw” dated
November 15, 1942. This document,
smuggled out of the ghetto by the Jewish
underground and forwarded to the Polish
government-in-exile in London, describes in
great detail the Great Aktion in Warsaw in
the summer of 1942 and notes the number of
Jews who were sent to Treblinka.
According to Oneg Shabbat, from July 22-31,
66,701 people were deported from the ghetto.
• August, a total of 142,525 people were
deported from the ghetto; 135,120 were sent
to Treblinka and 7,403 to the Dulag (a transit
camp from whence they were sent to labor
camps Germany).
• during this period, 4,517 people died: 2,305
were shot, 155 committed suicide, and 2,057
died of other causes. From September 3 to
September 12, 54,069 people were deported
from the ghetto. . .
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Other reports came from Jews who escaped from
Auschwitz-Birkenau in April-May 1944. The most
significant report was by Rudolf Vrba (formerly
Walter Rosenberg) and Alfred Wetzler, who fled
Auschwitz-Birkenau on April 7, 1944. Vrba, taken to
Auschwitz from Slovakia at the age of 19, worked
from August 1942 to June 1943 in the section of the
camp known as “Canada.”
their testimony was indeed handed to the Soviet
Army and forwarded to the central Soviet archives in
Moscow.
They became known as the Auschwitz Protocols
•
•
•
Overall, very few survived some of the death
camps. Only two Jews are known to have
survived Chelmno, and another two survived
Belzec — Rudolf Rader and Haim Hirshsman.
about 70 prisoners from Treblinka, which was
razed after the revolt of the permanent Jewish
prisoners on August 2, 1943, were alive at the
end of the war. From Sobibor, which had its
own prisoners’ uprising on October 14, 1943,
an estimated 50-70 Jews lived to see liberation
day.
approximately 12,000 prisoners remained
alive at the Majdanek concentration/death
camp when it was liberated by the Soviet
Army in July 1944
•
•
•
SOVIET DOCUMENTS
The entire systematic murder of Jews by the
Einsatzgruppen and in the death camps took place in
areas that were liberated by the Soviet Army in 19431945.
When the Soviets liberated the Majdanek death camp
in July 1944, the first photographs that documented
the results of the Nazis’ annihilation program
reached the west. For the first time, newspapers ran
photos of skeletons and corpses, of gas chambers and
demolished crematoria.
•
When the Soviet Army liberated Auschwitz
in January 1945, Tass, the official Soviet new
agency, published a full report of the
annihilation that had taken place there on the
basis of the testimony of more than 2,000
survivors
•
•
•
•
the trials of Nazi war criminals and their assistants at
the end of the war may be divided into three types:
The first international military tribunal (IMT),
comprised of American, British, French, and Russian
judges, sat from October 18, 1945, to October 1, 1946,
and prosecuted 21 leaders of the Third Reich.
Another 12 trials were held from 1946-8 concerning
various groups: SS, bureaucrats, and industrialists
associated with genocide.
Trials were conducted by military judges of the
victorious countries in their respective postwar zones,
or by liberated countries.
Enigma, Bletchley Park, and the NSA –
“Eavesdropping on Hell”
Credits:
Ephraim Kaye and the Yad Vashem International
School for Holocaust Studies
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