1943-04-28 / The Korherr Report: Nazi Statistics on the “Final Solution” Through Early 1943

THE REICHSFÜHRER SS
Inspector for Statistics
Ref. No. 51/43 g.Rs. – H.

Berlin W 35, 28 April 1943

Secret Reich Matter

Subject: Amendment of the report on “The Final Solution of the European Jewish Question”
Reference: Your letter of 10 April 1943, Ref. No. — V.

2 copies
1st copy

To the
Personal Staff of the Reichsführer-SS
Attn: SS-Hauptsturmführer Meine
Berlin SW 11
Prinz-Albrecht-Straße 8

Dear Party Member Meine,
Enclosed I return the report sent to me with the above-mentioned letter, following the completed amendment.

Heil Hitler!
[Signature]

1 enclosure

The Inspector for Statistics to the Reichsführer SS
TOP SECRET REICH MATTER
THE FINAL SOLUTION OF THE EUROPEAN JEWISH QUESTION
Statistical Report
Contents:
I. Preliminary Remarks
II. The Jewish Balance in Germany
III. Jewish Demographic Weakness
IV. The Emigration of Jews from Germany
V. The Evacuation of the Jews
VI. The Jews in the Ghettos
VII. The Jews in the Concentration Camps
VIII. Jews in Penal Institutions
IX. The Deployment of Jewish Labor
X. European Jewish Balance Sheet

THE FINAL SOLUTION OF THE EUROPEAN JEWISH QUESTION
Statistical Report

I. PRELIMINARY REMARKS

To draw up a balance sheet of the results achieved on the path toward solving the Jewish Question, it is necessary to record the number of Jews and their development. However, the contradictions in the statistical data regarding Jewry make it necessary to begin with a preliminary remark: that figures concerning Jewry must always be treated with particular caution, and without knowledge of their source and origin, they often lead to false conclusions. The sources of error lie above all in the nature of Jewry and its historical development—in its thousand-year restless wandering, the countless entries and exits, efforts at assimilation, intermixing with host populations, in the Jew’s effort to evade detection unnoticed, and finally in incorrect or misinterpreted statistics concerning Jewry.

Beyond that, statistics—partly as an emergency substitute, partly due to the broad overlap between Jewish faith and Jewish race, partly out of ignorance of racial theory, and partly due to the religious thinking of the respective times—have almost never recorded Jews according to their race, but rather by their religious affiliation. Recording by race requires many years of training and also genealogical research. This has proven difficult, especially in southern and eastern countries, because despite many common traits, a uniform Jewish race is statistically difficult to define.

Affiliation with the Mosaic or Israelite faith is likewise not conclusive evidence, because due to the earlier Jewish missionary movement, which included the incorporation of masses of pagans and Christians, and more recently through conversions to Judaism via mixed marriages and “conversion,” there are not a few professing Jews of non-Jewish race. Conversely, forced conversions to Christianity and, in the last century, the sharply rising number of baptized Jews as well as unaffiliated individuals of Jewish race have reduced the recorded number of Jews.

Thus, in 1893, Leroy-Beaulieu estimated the loss of Jewry to Christianity at four to ten times the number of its then-current adherents. According to Maurice Fishberg and Mathias Mieses, three times the present number of Jews have assimilated into Aryan Europe. Even Hans Günther estimated the number of Jews in Germany at twice the number of Jews of the Mosaic faith who were German citizens. Finally, the Lithuanian Jew Brutzkus went so far as to describe the Jews of Berlin, based on their blood composition, as purer Europeans than the Germans in Berlin.

In line with these views, the proportion of racial Jews, including those of mixed ancestry, in Europe has often been estimated at three times the number of religious Jews (twice as high in Eastern Europe, four times in Central Europe, and as much as eight times in other parts of Europe), with approximately 6% of the European population being assumed to have more or less Jewish blood.

In contrast, Burgdörfer estimated the number of Jews in Germany in 1933 at 850,000 full, half, and quarter Jews (compared to 502,799 religious Jews), and in Austria in 1934 at 300,000 to 400,000 (compared to 191,738 religious Jews). The survey of racial Jews in the 1939 German census yielded, in addition to 307,892 religious Jews, only slightly higher figures: 330,892 full Jews, 72,738 half-Jews, and 42,811 quarter-Jews. These figures, especially regarding half- and quarter-Jews, cannot be regarded as reliable. They can only be considered as minimum numbers.

The data were obtained from a question included in a “Supplementary Card” to the household form of the 1939 census: “Was or is any of the 4 grandparents a full Jew?” The answer had to be marked “yes” or “no” for each grandparent. Since this supplementary card was to be submitted in a sealed envelope and was thus beyond local control, it was often filled out poorly. In many cases, instead of providing answers, people simply made dashes in the relevant fields.

The first official attempt to record Jews according to their race was immediately sabotaged by the Jews. It took place during the Austrian census of March 7, 1923. Shortly before the census, Vice Chancellor Dr. Frank (Greater German People’s Party) signed a decree stipulating that, for question 7 on the census form (language), “ethnic affiliation and race were also to be indicated.” Since the census forms had already been printed, this addition was only mentioned in a red instruction slip—without explanation, guidance, or sample entries.

The Austrian Jews sabotaged this question by having the Jewish-Marxist press, shortly before the day of the census, urge its readers to answer the race question with “white.” The result was that the “white race in Austria became about as widespread as the sphere of influence of the Jewish-Marxist press and parties extended.” Only in Carinthia and Burgenland was the processing of the material carried out—with rather doubtful success—while in the other federal provinces, and especially in Vienna, it was discontinued as futile.

II. THE JEWISH BALANCE IN GERMANY

The following data on the number and development of Jews in Germany are based on the official figures from the national censuses and other surveys conducted by the Reich, as well as on calculations and estimates by scholars. However, they were primarily compiled by the Reich Association of Jews in Germany and the Jewish communities in Vienna and Prague, which carried out enumerations, population movement cards, ongoing records, and additional calculations and estimates. These Jewish agencies operate under the control of the Reich Security Main Office and for its purposes.

Apart from the initial base number of Jews in question, the Reich Association of Jews in Germany appears to be working reliably. Based on the statistics prepared here and verified to date by the Reich Security Main Office, the following balance sheet on the development of Jewry in Germany—from the seizure of power (January 30, 1933) in the Old Reich, March 1938 in Austria, and March 1939 in the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia—can be drawn up as of January 1, 1943:

1. Jewish Balance of the Old Reich including the Sudeten District and Danzig

x) This number of 2,649 Jews in the Sudetenland was determined during the 1939 census. Before the incorporation of the Sudetenland into the Reich, the Jewish population was around 30,000, but they very quickly moved into the Protectorate—without crossing a national border and without loss of property.

2. Jewish Balance of the Ostmark

3. Jewish Balance of the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia

The newly acquired eastern territories (with the exception of Danzig) are not included in the balance sheet. A full accounting for them cannot yet be made. However, there are various estimates concerning the number of Jews in these areas at the time they were incorporated into the Reich, which suggest a figure of approximately 630,000. In addition, there were about 160,000 Jews in the Bialystok district and around 1.3 million Jews in the General Government at the time of its establishment.x) That would result in a total of approximately 2.5 million Jews in the greater German sphere (excluding the occupied eastern territories) at the end of 1939 x), the vast majority of whom were concentrated in the newly acquired East.


x) Excluding the District of Lemberg, which had approximately 700,000 Jews.

As of January 1, 1943, the Reich—excluding the newly acquired eastern territories, the Theresienstadt old-age ghetto, and the labor deployment under Organization Schmelt—counted only 74,979 Jews, of whom 51,327 were in the Old Reich, 8,102 in the Ostmark, and 15,550 in the Protectorate. In the Old Reich including the Sudetenland, only 9.2% of the number of Jews present at the time of the Nazi seizure of power remained. By January 30, 1943, their number had fallen to 48,242, or 8.6%; by February 25, 1943, it was down to 44,589, or 7.9%.
Berlin—which in 1880 was home to one-eighth, in 1910 to over a quarter, and in 1933 to nearly one-third of Germany’s Jews—still counted 32,999 Jews as of January 1, 1943, or 64.3% of all Jews in the Old Reich. On January 30, 1943, Berlin had 30,121 Jews, and on February 28, 1943, 27,281.
In the Ostmark, only Vienna still had any Jews at all.

Of the 51,327 Jews in the Old Reich, 23,197 are men and 28,130 are women. 40,351 are religious Jews, 10,976 are non-religious Jews. 16,760 live in mixed marriages; in the Ostmark, 4,803 (out of 8,102); in the Protectorate, 6,211 (out of 15,550).

III. JEWISH DEMOGRAPHIC WEAKNESS

The Jewish population balance in Germany shows an extraordinary excess of deaths over births, which is not solely due to the very high mortality rate among Jews, but even more to the pronounced low birth rate. The natural population movement in the Old Reich including the Sudetenland developed as follows from 1933 to 1942 (based on the estimates and records of the Reich Association of Jews in Germany, since tallies based on religious Jews are much more complicated and unreliable):

Births and Deaths of Jews in the Old Reich (calculated and estimated up to 1939)

From the day of the seizure of power (January 30, 1933) to January 1, 1943, the excess of deaths over births among Jews in the Old Reich including the Sudetenland amounted to 61,693; this figure results from 14,921 births and 76,114 deaths. On the one hand, population movements, and on the other hand, the initially nonexistent and later inadequate registration of deaths—especially those occurring in concentration camps—by the Reich Association of Jews provide ample sources of error. Nevertheless, even a rough overview shows that, despite the declining Jewish population, the number of deaths remained at about the same level. Jewish mortality would therefore amount to 80–85 per 1,000 (compared to a European average of 10 to 15 per 1,000 in 1942).


Beyond that, the decline in births is striking, as it far outpaces the decline in the overall Jewish population. The Jewish birth rate in the Old Reich in 1942 would thus amount to only about 2.5 per 1,000. Similarly, in the Ostmark, from March 1, 1938 to January 1, 1943, there were 15,188 Jewish deaths compared to only 679 Jewish births.

In the Old Reich, in December 1942, only 14 Jewish children were born; in January and February 1943, only 7 and 8, respectively. It must be noted that Jewry had already been leading the trend of low birth rates for decades in the civilized Western states, as shown by confessional birth statistics. The Jew Felix Theilhaber had already pointed out in 1911 the resulting “decline of the German Jews,” which had been masked only by the constant influx of Eastern Jewish blood. This phenomenon was only partially due to the aging of the Jewish population in European metropolises; primarily, it was a matter of genuine biological weakness.

Given the current extraordinarily high mortality rate among Jews and their extremely low birth rate, the highly unfavorable age structure of the Jewish population must also be taken into account. After the emigration of their most vital age groups, the Jews in Germany now consist largely of elderly people. As a result, their age distribution—when depicted graphically in the form of an age pyramid—resembles a “club” in shape, according to the expression used by the Reich Association of Jews, which is objectively accurate.

There is a lack of children and of people in reproductive age groups, while the older age cohorts are not only disproportionately large but also significantly greater in absolute numbers than the younger ones. This also partly explains the greatly elevated suicide rate among Jews, as suicide is predominantly a cause of death among the elderly.

IV. THE EMIGRATION OF THE JEWS FROM GERMANY

The migration of Jews from Eastern to Central and Western Europe, and from all of Europe to overseas—primarily to the United States of America—has been a widely observed phenomenon for decades. From Germany, especially between 1840 and 1870, many Jews emigrated; however, after 1870, their emigration virtually ceased. Instead, Germans began emigrating in larger numbers. The Jewish emigration from Germany after 1933—effectively a delayed version of the movement that had not occurred in 1870—attracted the special attention of the entire civilized world, particularly the Jewish-governed democratic countries.

Various efforts were made to record the number and composition of emigrants, using a range of methods and sources. Nevertheless, no consistent results were achieved. The figures from German emigration statistics, those of the Reich Association of Jews in Germany and the Jewish communities in Vienna and Prague, the numerous foreign records, estimates, and calculations, the statistics of international Jewry, and the data from scholarly studies all diverge widely.

For example, Prof. Zielenziger in Amsterdam estimated 135,000 emigrants from the seizure of power up to the end of 1937, while the Reich Association of Jews counted 203,000. After 1938, emigration increased significantly, but came almost completely to a halt (except for a few isolated cases per month) due to the ban on Jewish emigration in the autumn of 1941.

The Reich Association of Jews and the Jewish religious communities in Vienna and Prague arrived at the following high emigration numbers by January 1, 1943 (including some double counting):

The initially rushed emigration made precise records virtually impossible. Likewise, the stated emigration destinations—at least in the case of European countries—must often be considered merely as stopovers.

Of the emigrants from the Old Reich, approximately 144,000 went to other European countries, about 57,000 to the USA, 54,000 to South America, 10,000 to Central America, 53,000 to Palestine, 15,000 to Africa (primarily South Africa), 16,000 to Asia (China), and 4,000 to Australia.

Of the 144,000 Jews who emigrated to European countries, over 32,000 went to England, 39,000 to Poland or the General Government, 18,000 to France, 8,000 to Italy, 7,500 to the Netherlands, and 6,000 to Belgium. It is assumed that the majority of these emigrants moved on from these countries to overseas destinations.

For Jewish emigrants from the Ostmark, the following destinations are reported: 65,500 to European countries, 50,000 to America, 20,000 to Asia, 9,000 to Palestine, 2,600 to Africa, and 2,000 to Australia.

V. THE EVACUATION OF THE JEWS

The evacuation of the Jews, at least within the territory of the Reich, replaced Jewish emigration. It was prepared on a large scale following the ban on Jewish emigration beginning in the autumn of 1941 and was largely carried out throughout the entire Reich territory in 1942. In the Jewish population balance, it appears under the term “relocation” (Abwanderung).

By January 1, 1943, according to the compilations of the Reich Main Security Office (Reichssicherheitshauptamt), the following numbers had been relocated:

These figures also include the Jews who were evacuated to the Theresienstadt old-age ghetto.

The total evacuations within the territory of the Reich, including the eastern territories, and beyond that within the German sphere of power and influence in Europe from October 1939 or later up to December 31, 1942, resulted in the following figures:

The above figures do not include the inmates of the ghettos and concentration camps. The evacuations from Slovakia and Croatia were initiated by those states themselves.

VI. THE JEWS IN THE GHETTOS

The following are to be mentioned here:

The reduction in numbers occurred primarily due to deaths. Apart from Theresienstadt, there are a number of Jewish old-age and infirmaries within the Reich territory with smaller capacities, but these are not considered ghettos or evacuation sites.

2. The Litzmannstadt Ghetto had, at the beginning of 1943, 87,180 Jews, of whom 83,133 held former Polish citizenship.

3. The Jews of the General Government, who were predominantly housed in residual ghettos, are reported or estimated as follows for December 31, 1942:

VII. THE JEWS IN THE CONCENTRATION CAMPS

From the seizure of power up to December 31, 1942, there were 73,417 admissions of Jews to the concentration camps.
Of these:
36,943 were released,
27,347 died,
Remaining as of December 31, 1942: 9,127 Jews.

It should be noted that the number of admissions of Jews will be higher than the number of individual Jews admitted to concentration camps, since repeated admissions of the same person are counted multiple times.

Not included are the Jews housed in the Auschwitz and Lublin concentration camps as part of the evacuation operations.


Broken down by concentration camp, the following figures result—categorized by admissions, releases, deaths, and the population as of December 31, 1942.

Jews in the Concentration Camps

VIII. JEWS IN PENAL INSTITUTIONS

At the beginning of 1943, 458 Jews were imprisoned in penal institutions within the territory of the Reich. These were distributed by gender and type of penal detention as follows:

II. THE DEPLOYMENT OF JEWISH LABOR

Engaged in war-essential labor at the beginning of 1943 within the territory of the Reich

185 776 Jews

1) Within the inspectorates of the Security Police and the SD (excluding Posen and Soviet Russian Jews), 21,659 were employed, of whom 18,546 held German citizenship, 107 were citizens of the Protectorate, 2,519 were stateless, and 487 were foreigners. They were distributed among the inspectorate districts (excluding Posen) as follows:

1) excluding Organisation Schmelt 2) excluding Soviet Russian Jews


2) In the Inspectorate district of Königsberg, in addition, 18,435 foreign Jews, i.e., almost exclusively Soviet Russian Jews.
3) In the Inspectorate district of Posen, employed in ghettos and camps, 95,112, mainly Polish Jews.
4) Within the framework of Organisation Schmelt (Breslau), 50,570 Jews, of whom 42,382 were stateless and 8,188 were foreigners.

X. EUROPEAN JEWISH BALANCE

The collapse of European Jewry had already begun decades earlier—on the one hand through the ethnic decline of Jewish populations in Europe’s large cities, on the other through Jewish emigration. The Jewish statistician Lestschinsky illustrated the decline of Jewry in Europe in 1927 as follows:

“At the beginning of the 19th century, 85% of all Jews lived in Europe, with 80% of them concentrated in Russia, Austria-Hungary, and Germany; in America, there were only 2,000–3,000 Jews at that time. By 1925, 63% of all Jews resided in Europe, and within the borders of Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Russia only 57% of world Jewry remained. In contrast, 30% lived in America and 7% in other parts of the world.”

According to calculations by the Reich Statistical Office, the Jewish share of the world population in Europe was 88.4% in 1880, but had declined to only 60.4% by 1937. By 1943, Europe’s share likely amounted to just one-third of world Jewry.

Around 1930 and in the last few years, the number of Jews in some of the more important European countries was as follows:

1) New territorial boundaries
2) New territorial boundaries, including Eastern Poland; the figure is an estimate
3) New territorial boundaries; the figure is a calculated value

The total number of Jews in the world around the year 1937 was generally estimated at approximately 17 million, of which over 10 million were in Europe. In Europe, they were—or had been—concentrated primarily in the formerly Polish-Russian territories occupied by Germany, between the Baltic and the Gulf of Finland and the Black and Azov Seas, as well as in commercial centers and in the Rhine region of Central and Western Europe and along the coasts of the Mediterranean.

Between 1937 and the beginning of 1943, the number of Jews in Europe is estimated to have decreased by approximately 4 million—partly due to emigration, partly due to excess mortality among Jews in Central and Western Europe, and partly due to evacuations, especially in the more ethnically concentrated eastern regions, which are counted here as losses.

It should not be overlooked that only a portion of the deaths of Soviet Russian Jews in the occupied eastern territories was recorded, while those in the rest of European Russia and at the front are not included at all. Added to this are unknown movements of Jews within Russia into the Asian regions. The migration of Jews from European countries outside German influence also remains largely unknown.

Overall, European Jewry since 1933—thus within the first decade of National Socialist German rule—likely lost nearly half of its population.