1942

Documents from 1942

Interrogation of September 1, 1942 Dirlewanger Jews
Contemporary Source

1942-09-01 Dirlewanger’s Testimony to an SS Investigator on the Poisoning of Jews

In 1942, the SS Main Office pursued an investigation into Oskar Dirlewanger, commander of the notorious penal unit, Sonderkommando Dirlewanger. The charges, raised by the SD and the SS and Police Court in Cracow, included racial defilement, abuse of his men, extortion, illegal hunting and confiscations, unlawful arrests, and unauthorized killings within the General Government. During his interrogation on September 1, 1942, Dirlewanger told the SS court martial officer that the KdS Lublin was overwhelmed by the volume of Jews to be executed. He stated that, in November 1941, Odilo Globocnik, SS and Police Leader of the Lublin district, ordered that these detainees be transferred to him for execution. Initially, Dirlewanger “had these Jews shot”; however, later “they were then injected with strychnine by the SS doctor, and their teeth were extracted”.

Letter of March 4, 1942 on SS-Obergruppenführer von dem Bach "Suffers from Thoughts of the Executions of Jews He Himself Oversaw"
Contemporary Source

1942-03-04 The Psychological Toll of Atrocity: Bach-Zelewski “Suffers From Thoughts Related to the Executions of Jews He Himself Oversaw”

In this letter dated March 4, 1942, the Reichsarzt SS Ernst-Robert Grawitz describes the medical condition and recovery process of the Higher SS and Police Leader for the central zone in Russia Erich von dem Bach-Zelewski, whose role in leading executions in the East left mental scars. Grawitz notes that von dem Bach suffered from “severe nervous exhaustion…from thoughts related to the executions of Jews that he himself oversaw”.

Letter of February 13,1942
Contemporary Source

1942-02-13 SS-Sturmbannführer Kriegsheim Criticized Over Remark That “The Executions of Jews Is Unworthy of a German”

On February 13, 1942, Reinhard Heydrich’s adjutant, SS-Hauptsturmführer Hans-Achim Ploetz, forwarded a report from Einsatzgruppe A to the staff of Reichsführer-SS Heinrich Himmler on the “defeatist” remarks made by SS-Sturmbannführer and Oberstleutnant Arno von Kriegsheim. Among other statements, Kriegsheim expressed that “executing Jews is unworthy of a German.” The report also noted that “similar statements, albeit in less severe forms, were made by almost all the officers of the Commander of the Rear Army Area North during the first months of the Eastern campaign.”

Order of July 19, 1942
Contemporary Source

1942-07-19 Himmler’s Order for the Complete “Resettlement” of Jews in the General Government

On July 19, 1942, Heinrich Himmler, the Reichsführer of the SS, issued a directive ordering the complete “resettlement of the entire Jewish population of the General Government” to be carried out by December 31, 1942. The order specified that no persons of Jewish origin were to remain in the area after this date, except those confined in designated “collection camps” located in Warsaw, Krakow, Częstochowa, Radom, or Lublin. Himmler emphasized that this action was “in the interest of the security and cleanliness of the German Reich and its spheres of interest.”

Contemporary Source

1943-06-16 “Extermination of State Enemies”: Gestapo Proposes Sonderkommando Kulmhof Operating Chełmno Extermination Camp for War Merit Cross

Proposal for the Award of the War Merit Cross II Class with Swords by the Gestapo Headquarters in Posen, dated June 16, 1943. This document lists four members of Sonderkommando Kulmhof operating Chełmno extermination camp – Herbert Hiecke-Richter, Walter Burmeister, and gas van drivers Oskar Hering and Gustav Laabs – who were involved in the “direct combat and extermination of state enemies.” Their actions are described as requiring “a particularly manly and strong mental attitude” in service of “solving one of the most critical racial issues”.

Contemporary Source

1942-09-30 Poison and Human Soap – SS Investigator Interrogates Member of Sonderkommando Dirlewanger

Interrogation report dated September 30, 1942, documenting the questioning of SS-Oberscharführer Heinrich Feiertag by an SS court officer regarding allegations against Oskar Dirlewanger, infamous leader of the “Sonderkommando Dirlewanger”, known for its brutality on the Eastern Front. In his testimony, Feiertag acknowledged “hearing rumors about the poisoning of Jews with strychnine”. When confronted with accusations that he was involved in producing soap from human fat, he dismissed them as “slander spoken against me” and stated, “I only shot one Jew, so I would have been lacking material of this origin”.

Memo of 8 July 1942
Contemporary Source

1942-07-08 Iron and Fuel: Sonderkommando Kulmhof’s Negotiations with the Ghetto Lodz Administration on Supplies for Extermination Operations

On 8 July 1942, Albert Plate from the Sonderkommando Kulmhof discussed with the Ghetto Lodz Administration regarding the supply of cement, iron girders, and railroad tracks necessary for constructing open-air cremation furnaces in the forest camp of the extermination site. The Sonderkommando required a total of 30 tons of iron. In turn, Plate committed provision of 2,000 kg of diesel fuel to the Ghetto Lodz Administration to fuel the trucks used for transporting the belongings of murdered Jews to the sorting camp in Pabianice. Later, Ghetto Administration head Hans Biebow confirmed with Sonderkommando leader Hans Bothmann that they would receive 5,000 liters each of gasoline and diesel fuel.

Contemporary Source

1942-12-29 Himmler’s Report to Hitler on the Execution of 363,211 Jews in Four Months

On December 29, 1942, SS-Reichsführer Heinrich Himmler delivered a report to Adolf Hitler, mentioning the execution of 363,211 Jews within only four months, between August and November of that year. Himmler’s report, known as report no. 51 to the Führer on Bandit Fighting, provides one of the clearest examples of high-level documentation of the Holocaust.

Radio message of July 15, 1942
Contemporary Source

1942-07-15 Flamethrower Requested by Blobel for Mass Grave Disposal Trials at Chełmno Extermination Camp

On 15 July 1942, SS-Obersturmbannführer Ernst Fick, commander of the Sennheim training camp, requested a portable flamethrower unit from the SS Cavalry Brigade at the Waffen-SS training camp in Dębica to be provided to SS-Standartenführer Paul Blobel’s Sonderkommando 1005. Blobel subsequently tested the effectiveness of the flamethrower for corpse disposal at the Chełmno/Kulmhof extermination camp.

Recorded Radio Message of September 15, 1942
Contemporary Source

1942-09-15 Auschwitz Delegation Visits Chełmno / Kulmhof: Inspection of Field Ovens and Discussion on Implementation at Auschwitz

According to a radio message from September 15, 1942 and a trip report dated September 17, 1942, on 16 September 1942, a delegation from Auschwitz — consisting of Commandant SS-Obersturmbannführer Rudolf Höß, SS-Untersturmführer Franz Hößler, who was responsible for clearing mass graves, and SS-Untersturmführer Walther Dejaco from the Central Construction Office — visited Litzmannstadt to inspect “the test station for field ovens as part of Aktion Reinhard”, i.e. the open air cremation furnaces at the Kulmhof / Chełmno extermination camp The group examined the “special facility” and discussed its implementation at Auschwitz with SS-Standartenführer Paul Blobel. Blobel also ordered the delivery of “construction materials” and reserved a “ball mill for substances for Auschwitz concentration camp.”

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