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The Conclusion to Aktion Reinhard
Heinrich Himmler the Reichsfuhrer –SS visited Lublin in March 1943 and toured the death camps of Sobibor and Treblinka, it became clear that the Aktion Reinhard death camps had fulfilled their gruesome task, and that virtually all of the Jews in the General Gouvernment had been exterminated.
The SS were determined to erase all traces of their crimes, and Himmler ordered all the corpses to be exhumed and cremated. In addition the camp structures were to be destroyed the area ploughed over, and trees to be planted.
The first camp to be dismantled and closed was Belzec, with transports ceasing in mid –December 1942, thereafter cremations became the main focus of activity.
SS-Oberscharfuhrer Heinrich Gley made a statement on the 6 February 1962 about the cremations in Belzec:
“I was assigned with a big Jewish work brigade to the cremation of the corpses by means of railway lines which served as a grate. About 80 -90 Jews then worked under my supervision in three shifts.
The cremation site was as long as a rail and about 4-5 m wide. The rails were placed on top of big rocks and narrow-gauge rails served as a cross-mesh.
The cremation surface could take about 200 corpses. First, a wood fire was kindled under the iron grate. During the course of the cremation operation the corpses later served as the only fuel.
From time to time the badly twisted rails had to be replaced by new ones.”
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Gisela Gdula, On the right Michael Tregenza, Belzec investigator (circa 2002) |
Gisela Gdula a Belzec villager interviewed in 2004 said:
“We used to take round loaves to the camp from our bakery, we saw pyres like a volcano - the villagers had to scrape human fat off the windows.”
Another of the Belzec SS garrison SS-Scharfuhrer Werner Dubois testified:
“The transports to Belzec and consequently the gassing operations, stopped quite suddenly. As staff members of the Belzec camp, we were informed that the place would be rebuilt completely.
A working group of Jews whose size I don’t remember was in charge of the demolition work. It is worth mention that at the time (March – April 1943) the cremation of the corpses was terminated and the graves levelled.
The camp was emptied entirely and levelled accordingly. I heard that some planting was done there. The Jewish work commando, after accomplishing this work, was taken to Sobibor.
I remained in Belzec for two more days, together with some of my colleagues and guards, to carry out the last clearing and loading. Some time later when I was in Sobibor, I heard that during the transport of the Jewish work commando from Belzec to Sobibor some mutiny and shooting took place which led to some deaths.”
After the camp buildings were dismantled and the German and Ukrainian staff had left people from the neighbouring villages and townships started digging in the area of the camp, searching for gold and valuables. A Pole Edward Luczynski, who lived in Belzec, testified:
Read more about the conclusion to Aktion Reinhard here:
http://www.holocaustresearchproject.org/ar/arconclusion.html
The Holocaust Education & Archive Research Team
www.HolocaustResearchProject.org
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The creation of
Jewish quarters and the imposition of residential and economic restrictions on
the Jews are nothing new in the history of the East. These practices began as
far back as the Middle Ages and have continued through the last few centuries.
These restrictions were imposed with the intention of protecting the Aryan
population from the Jews.
By February 1940,
the same considerations led to the idea of creating a Jewish quarter in Warsaw.
The original plan called for the establishment of a Jewish quarter in the part
of Warsaw that is bounded on the east by the Vistula River.
The situation
prevailing in the city of Warsaw at first seemed to make this plan unworkable.
There were also objections from various parties, especially from the city
administration, which claimed that the establishment of a Jewish quarter would
cause extensive disruptions in industry and the economy, and that it would be
impossible to assure food supplies for Jews who were concentrated in an enclosed
quarter.
Due to these
objections, the plan to create a Ghetto was set aside at a conference in March
1940. At the same time, consideration was given to making the Lublin District a
reservation for all Jews in the General Government, particularly for evacuated
and fleeing Jews arriving from the Reich. But the Higher SS and Police Leader
East in Krakow informed us in April 1940 that such a concentration of Jews in
the Lublin District was not intended.
In the interim,
the number of arbitrary and unwarranted frontier crossings by Jews increased.
This was especially true at the border of the Lowicz and Skierniewice districts.
These illegal migrations of Jews began to threaten not only hygienic but also
security conditions in the town of Lowicz.
In order to avert
these dangers, the senior district official began to create Jewish quarters in
his district. The experiences derived from the establishment of Jewish quarters
in the Lowicz District showed that these methods were the only suitable ones to
banish the dangers which emanate from the Jews.
The need to
create a Jewish quarter in the city of Warsaw as well became more and more
pressing in the summer of 1940, when with the end of the French campaign, even
larger number of troops assembled in the district of Warsaw.
At this point,
the Department of Health strongly urged the establishment of a Jewish quarter in
order to preserve the health of the German troops as well as that of the
civilian population.
Considering that
a regrouping of almost 600,000 people was required, implementation of the
original plan of February 1940 to establish a Jewish quarter in the suburb of
Praga would have taken four to five months. Since experience indicated that a
high incidence of epidemics could be expected in the winter months, the plan for
a suburban Ghetto in Praga was dropped – and the city’s quarantine district was
chosen instead for use as a Jewish quarter.
On the advice of
the district medical officer, resettlement had to be completed by 15 November
1940 at the latest. The Governor ordered the plenipotentiary of the Warsaw
District Chief to complete the resettlements necessary to the creation of a
Jewish quarter within the city of Warsaw by this date.
About 400,000
Jews lived in this Jewish quarter. It contained 27,000 apartments, averaging two
and a half rooms. It was separated from the rest of the city by fire and
partition walls and by walled-up thoroughfares, windows, doors, and empty lots.
The Jewish
Council administered the new Jewish quarter – it received its instructions from
the Commissioner for the Jewish quarter, who was directly subordinate to the
Governor. The Jews had administrated autonomy, and German supervision was
limited to occasions when German interests were affected.
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A Jewish Police
was established to implement orders of the Jewish Council. They were identified
by special arm bands and caps, and were armed with rubber truncheons.
The Jewish police
force was responsible for maintaining order and security within the Jewish
quarter and was subordinate to the German and Polish Police. It soon became
clear that not all dangers had been banished by confining the Jews to one
district. Security considerations necessitated that Jews be completely removed
from the city of Warsaw.
The first large
removal occurred during the period from 22 July to 3 October 1942 when 310,322
Jews were removed. In January 1943, another resettlement operation was carried
out, which encompassed a total of 6,500 Jews.
On the occasion
of his visit to Warsaw in January 1943, the Reichsfuhrer –SS ordered the SS and
Police Leader of the Warsaw District to transfer from the Ghetto to Lublin all
armament and defence industries inclusive of their workforce and machines.
Read more here:
http://www.holocaustresearchproject.org/nazioccupation/stroop.html
The Holocaust Education & Archive
Research Team
www.HolocaustResearchProject.org
Himmler Visits
“Aktion Reinhard” Facilities
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The preparation for the extermination of the Jews of the Generalgouvernement had actually started months before the "Wannsee Conference". A special organisation was formed which came to be called “Aktion Reinhard”, probably named in honour of Reinhard Heydrich after his assassination in Prague.
This organisation was established under the command of SS and Police Leader Lublin Odilo Globocnik, who had been appointed by Himmler, to manage the murder programme.
On 20/21 July 1941, Himmler visited Globocnik in Lublin and decided to enlarge and extend the SS economic enterprises there. In an official note, Himmler instructed the SSPF Lublin to establish a concentration camp in the city for 25,000 to 50,000 prisoners, with a view to employing them in the workshops and on the building sites of the SS and Police.
Towards the end of 1941 it was decided that the KL Majdanek would also serve as a camp for Soviet POWs. He also ordered the expansion of the work camp 7 Lipowa Street, and the settlement of Germans in the Zamosc region.
On 19 July 1942, on the eve of the Great Action concerning the Jews of Warsaw, Himmler visited Sobibor, one of the “Aktion Reinhard” death camps in the Lublin area. On the same tour he also visited the SS Training Camp at Trawniki, where a number of photographs were taken.
He ended his tour with a visit to the “Aktion Reinhard” headquarters in Lublin, and following discussions with Globocnik, concluded that with the completion of the death camps, the Jews of the Generalgouvernement could be exterminated.
While still in Lublin on 19 July 1942, Himmler issued an order to “HSSPF Ost”, Friedrich Wilhelm Krüger, to complete the deportation of all of the Jews of the Generalgouvernement by 31 December 1942.
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In early March 1943, Himmler once again visited the “Aktion Reinhard” Headquarters and the death camps of Sobibor and Treblinka. In anticipation of Himmler’s visit the camps were thoroughly cleansed. Karl Frenzel (Sobibor), testified at his trial regarding this visit:
"The visit was announced a few days ahead. The leadership of the camp took steps to make order in the camp… I was ordered, toget
her with some Unterführer’s and Ukrainian guards, to take over the outside security of the camp and guarantee Himmler’s personal security. When Himmler visited the gassing installation in Camp III, I guarded the surrounding area.
I remember that afterwards all the Unterführer were assembled in the canteen, and Himmler delivered an address to them…”
In honour of Himmler’s visit a special gassing of several hundred young Jewish girls took place. This is confirmed by the testimony of SS-Oberscharführer Hubert Gomerski who served at Sobibor:
Read more about Himmler and Aktion Reinhard here:
http://www.holocaustresearchproject.org/ar/himmlerARvisit.html
The Holocaust Education & Archive Research Team
Papa Eicke of the Concentration Camps
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Theodor Eicke was born in Hudingen Alsace- Lorraine on 17 October 1892, the son of a station-master. He was discharged from the Imperial army after reaching the rank of sub-paymaster and being decorated with the Iron Cross (Second Class).
Eicke joined the police administration in Thuringia after qualifying as an inspector in 1920, he was briefly employed by the security police and the criminal police and by the police administration in Ludwigshafen on the Rhine.
He lost various jobs because of his anti-republican political activities, but in 1923 he was hired as a commercial executive by I.G. Farben (Ludwigshafen), also looking after their anti-espionage service.
Eicke joined the Nazi Party and the SA on 1 December 1928 and was transferred to the SS on 20 August 1930 where he was quickly promoted. Appointed SS-Standartenfuhrer on 15 November 1931, he was put in charge of the SS regiment in the Rhine-Palatinate.
Read more about Eicke and Dachau Here
The Holocaust Education & Archive Research Team
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