1941

Documents from 1941

Memo of Hauptmann Speckmann from police Kalisch / Kalisz on Sonderkommando Lange dated 22 November 1941
Contemporary Source

1941-11-22 Memo of Police Kalisch on Sonderkommando Lange: “an official of the Special Representative of the Secret State Police…informed that the Jewish action had been temporarily finished”

This document of November 22, 1941 was written by Hauptmann Speckmann from the regular police in Kalisch (Kalisz) and describes procedures for the deportation of Jews by Sonderkommando Lange. The killer commando is referred to as “official of the Special Representative of the Secret State Police.” The handwritten memo provides detailed instructions regarding guard duty. Furthermore, it discusses the consolidation of areas and the apprehension of escaped Jews. The document concludes with the temporary stop of the so-called “Jewish action” as ordered by Sonderkommando Lange, withdrawal of guard duty and the transfer of workshop keys to an official of the Economic Office. Thus, the document provides some valuable insights into the logistics of the deportation of the Jews during the phase when Sonderkommando Lange operated as a mobile killing unit.

Contemporary Source

1941-09-02 Memorandum of SS-Sturmbannführer Höppner: “the ultimate fate of these displaced ethnic groups unwanted in the Greater German Settlement Areas—whether the goal is to secure a certain life for them permanently or to eradicate them entirely.”

On September 2, 1941, Rolf-Heinz Höppner, head of the Central Migration Office in Posen, outlined plans for reorganizing the office to address the impending task of “resettling millions of people”. Höppner stressed that it is “essential…to have complete clarity from the outset about the ultimate fate of these displaced ethnic groups unwanted in the Greater German Settlement Areas—whether the goal is to secure a certain life for them permanently or to eradicate them entirely.”

Contemporary Source

1941-12-18 Letter of Damzog to Krumey: “Providing SS members to the commando Lange”

On December 18, 1941, Ernst Damzog, the Inspector of the Security Police and SD in Posen, wrote to Hermann Krumey, the head of the Migration Central Office Litzmannstadt, that he has “informed SS-Hauptsturmführer Krim.-Kommissar Lange about the delegation of the 3 SS leaders or sub-leaders to his commando”. The notorious obligation declaration, binding all members of the Sonderkommando to strict secrecy, was scheduled to be administered personally by Lange.

Höppner to Eichmann on extermination of Jews
Contemporary Source

1941-07-16 Letter of Höppner to Eichmann: “…to eliminate the Jews, as far as they are not capable of working, by some quick-acting agent.”

On July 16, 1941, authorities in the Reichsgau Wartheland convened to deliberate on what was euphemistically termed the “solution of the Jewish question.” Rolf-Heinz Höppner, head of the SD and Umwandererzentralstelle (Migration Center Office) in Posen, forwarded the discussed proposals to Adolf Eichmann, seeking his feedback. Höppner himself regarded the suggestions as “fantastic,” yet entirely viable.

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