1942

Documents from 1942

Contemporary Source

1942-11-18 Letter from Kurt Blome to Arthur Greiser: “approximately 35,000 incurable and contagious Poles would be ‘specially treated’….one day even the relatives of the patients will notice that ‘something is not right here,’ even with the best efforts at secrecy.”

While the Nazi authorities in the Warthegau were already planning the killing of Polish individuals incurably afflicted with tuberculosis, concerns were raised by the Main Office for Public Health of the NSDAP. In a letter dated 18 November 1942 to Arthur Greiser, the Reich Governor of the Wartheland, Kurt Blume detailed the plan of the Warthegau authorities where “approximately 35,000 incurable and contagious Poles would be given special treatment.” He also noted that Greiser “obtained approval for the special treatment from the appropriate authorities,” (e.g. the Security Police and Reichsführer SS) but stressed the need to ensure “explicitly that the Führer truly agrees with such a solution.” Blume pointed out that Hitler “already halted the action in the asylums some time ago, and currently does not consider ‘special treatment’ of the hopeless patients politically expedient or acceptable.” Overall, Blume expressed that “secrecy is simply impossible… one day even the relatives of the patients will notice that ‘something is not right here,’ even with the best efforts at secrecy.”

Contemporary Source

1942-06-09 Letter from Heinrich Müller to Heinrich Himmler: “no objections to Polish nationals…afflicted with open tuberculosis, being subjected to special treatment..the implementation must be as inconspicuous as possible.”

After receiving the request from the government of the Warthegau to kill Polish nationals suffering from incurable tuberculosis through the use of the Sonderkommando Lange, Rudolf Brandt from the Personal Staff of the Reichsführer-SS sought a statement from the Chief of the Security Police, Reinhard Heydrich, on this matter. On June 9, 1942 ( after Heydrich’s death), Gestapo Chief Heinrich Müller reported that there were “no objections to Polish nationals of the Wartheland region, who are afflicted with open tuberculosis and stateless individuals of Polish ethnicity, being subjected to special treatment as proposed by Gauleiter Greiser”, however, “the implementation must be as inconspicuous as possible”.

Contemporary Source

1942-05-03 Letter from Wilhelm Koppe to Rudolf Brandt: “the transfer of those Poles who are demonstrably suffering from open tuberculosis to Kommando Lange for special treatment”

On May 3, 1942, in a coordinated action with the Reich Governor Arthur Greiser of the Reichsgau Wartheland, Wilhelm Koppe, the Higher SS and Police Leader in the same region, reached out to Rudolf Brandt, Personal Staff of the Reichsführer-SS. Their aim was to secure Himmler’s approval “for the transfer of those Poles who are demonstrably suffering from open tuberculosis to Kommando Lange for special treatment”, effectively meaning their execution by the Sonderkommando Lange, then operating the Kulmhof extermination camp.

Contemporary Source

1942-05-01 Letter from Arthur Greiser to Heinrich Himmler: “The action of special treatment of around 100,000 Jews in my district…will be completed in the next 2-3 months…the existing and incorporated Sonderkommando”

On May 1, 1942, Arthur Greiser, the Reich Governor in the Reichsgau Wartheland, relayed to Reichsführer-SS Heinrich Himmler that “The action of special treatment of around 100,000 Jews in my district, which you approved in agreement with the Chief of the Reich Security Main Office, SS-Obergruppenführer Heydrich, will be completed in the next 2-3 months”, pertaining to the death toll of Kulmhof extermination camp. Additionally, Greiser proposed “to eradicate cases of open TB within the Polish ethnic group here in Warthegau” by “using the existing and incorporated Sonderkommando after the Jewish action”, suggesting the involvement of Sonderkommando Lange (then under the leadership of Hans Bothmann) in the extermination of Poles with open tuberculosis.

Contemporary Source

1942-02-28 Letter from Heinrich Müller to Martin Luther: “Geheime Reichssache (1005)…alleged incidents in the course of the solution of the Jewish question in the Warthegau”

On February 6, 1942, Martin Luther of the German Foreign Office forwarded an anonymous letter to Gestapo chief Heinrich Müller. The letter concernced “alleged incidents in the course of the solution of the Jewish question in the Warthegau”. In his response to Luther two weeks later, classified under the reference number “Geheime Reichssache (1005)”, Müller acknowledged misconduct against Jews in the Warthegau, noting that “where the axe falls, chips will fly”. However, he pointed out that these “measures” were often exaggerated to elicit sympathy and foster hope for an end to them. Müller emphasized that “the Jew tries to escape his well-deserved fate.” The letter is considered as a starting point for the later operation known by the codename “Aktion 1005.”

Contemporary Source

1942-01-24 Report of the Health Office Warthbrücken (Kolo): “the Jewish work detail employed in Kulmhof has been strictly isolated…it is housed in the Kulmhof Castle at night”

In January 1942, authorities in the Warthegau region grappled with the spread of typhus originating from Sinti and Roma victims, who had been deported from the Litzmannstadt ghetto, to the extermination site of Sonderkommando Kulmhof. At least half of the Polish workers in the Sonderkommando were infected. The local health office detailed these typhus cases in Kulmhof in a letter to the president of the government of Hohensalza (Inowrocław) on January 24, 1942. The report referred to the camp staff as “members of the Sonderkommando” and the Polish laborers as the “Polish working detail,” each group housed separately. Additionally, it mentioned the “Jewish working detail,” who were accommodated in the palace of Kulmhof.

Contemporary Source

1942-01-06 Memorandum of SS-Obersturmbannführer Krumey: “as many SS leaders, sub-leaders, and men as possible are to be detached…for the Kommando Lange”

On January 6, 1942, Herman Krumey, the head of the Migration Central Office in Litzmannstadt, recorded the names of three SS men provided by the Migration Central Office to Sonderkommando Lange: SS-Obersturmführer Herbert Otto, SS-Hauptscharführer Fritz Ismer, and SS-Scharführer Karl Goede. The group was accompanied by the driver Grebe, whose first name remains unknown.

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