Nazi Euthanasia

Intercepted radio signal from Erich von dem Bach-Zelewski to Wilhelm Koppe of 18 August 1941 on clearing the asylum Novinki near Minsk (PRO HW 16/32, ZIP/GPD 326, traffic 18.8.41, item 5)
Contemporary Source

1941-08-18 Radio message from von dem Bach-Zelewski to Koppe regarding clearing of the asylum near Minsk: “I request that Lange be made temporarily available”

Two days after Bach-Zelewski requested Sonderkommando Lange to come to Baranowicze, on August 18, 1941, the British intelligence intercepted another radio message from the Higher SS and Police Leader Center, Erich von dem Bach-Zelewski, to the Higher SS and Police Leader Posen, Wilhelm Koppe. Von dem Bach-Zelewksi acknowledged that Sonderkommando is not available at the moment, but stressed again “that Lange be made temporarily available to me upon becoming available” as he would like “to have the procedure demonstrated to me personally” by him.

Contemporary Source

1940-10-22 Letter from Rediess to Wolff on Sonderkommando Lange: “great importance on the care of the men entrusted with this difficult task.”

On October 22, 1940, the Higher SS and Police Leader of East Prussia, SS-Gruppenführer Wilhelm Rediess, forwarded a letter from Wendelin Seith of Sonderkommando Lange to the Chief of the Personal Staff Reichsführer SS, SS-Gruppenführer Karl Wolff, with a request to address Seith’s complaint. Rediess also mentioned that “the commando will be deployed in Holland according to the men’s wishes” and that “the Reichsführer-SS places great importance on the care of the men entrusted with this difficult task”. It can be presumed that the members of Sonderkommando Lange were sent to Holland for a recreational mission (collective vacation).

Sonderkommando Lange in Soldau
Contemporary Source

22-02-1941 Letter from Wilhelm Koppe to Karl Wolff on Sonderkommando Lange in Soldau: “I took 1,558 troublesome people away”

As Wilhelm Rediess declined to pay 10 Reichsmarks for each institutional inmate killed by the Sonderkommando Lange in Soldau and requested a decision from the Reichsführer-SS, Wilhelm Koppe reiterates his position on this matter to Karl Wolff, chief of the personal staff of the Reichsführer-SS. Koppe notes that he “took 1,558 troublesome people away from the Higher SS and Police Leader Northeast for alternative accommodation” and emphasises “it was necessary for a Kommando from my office to stay in East Prussia for 17 days”. He stresses that East-Prussia’s “Gauleiter Koch has agreed to cover all expenses associated with this order”. Additionally, the payment will be also used to fund “Sonderkommando Lange’s stay in Holland ordered by the Reichsführer-SS with over RM 3,000”.

Letter from Wilhelm Rediess to Karl Wolff of 7 November 1940 on Sonderkommando Lange in Soldau
Contemporary Source

1940-11-07 Letter from Rediess to Wolff on Sonderkommando Lange in Soldau: “the matter to be in the interest of the Reich”

This document, dated November 7, 1940, is a response to the letter from Wilhelm Koppe to Jakob Sporrenberg. The former Higher SS and Police Leader of East-Prussia, Wilhelm Rediess, escalated the financial dispute to the Reichsführer-SS over the payment of 10 RM for each victim killed by Sonderkommando Lange in Soldau (East-Prussia). In the letter, addressed to Karl Wolff of Himmler’s personal staff, Rediess mentions “the Kommando Lange” evacuated “1,558 inmates from the East Prussian Provincial Institutions” and “also about 250 to 300 mentally ill (Poles) from the Zichenau region” after “obtaining permission from the Reichsführer-SS”. He explains that he could not take Koppe’s demand for “payment of RM 10.- for each patient…seriously”, as he considered “the matter to be in the interest of the Reich”. Wolff added a handwritten remark “Brack” to the text, referencing to Viktor Brack, a key figure in implementing Nazi Euthanasia.

As Wilhelm Rediess declined to pay 10 Reichsmarks for each institutional inmate killed by the Sonderkommando Lange in Soldau and requested a decision from the Reichsführer-SS, Wilhelm Koppe reiterates his position on this matter to Karl Wolff, chief of the personal staff of the Reichsführer-SS. Koppe notes that he "took 1,558 troublesome people away from the Higher SS and Police Leader Northeast for alternative accommodation" and emphasises "it was necessary for a Kommando from my office to stay in East Prussia for 17 days". He stresses that East-Prussia's "Gauleiter Koch has agreed to cover all expenses associated with this order". Additionally, the payment will be also used to fund "Sonderkommando Lange's stay in Holland ordered by the Reichsführer-SS with over RM 3,000".
Contemporary Source

1940-10-18 Letter from Koppe to Sporrenberg: “The so-called Sonderkommando Lange …evacuated 1,558 sick individuals from the transit camp in Soldau”

In the letter of 19 October, 1940, the Higher SS and Police Leader of the Warthegau, Wilhelm Koppe, disclosed to his counterpart in East Prussia, Jakob Sporrenberg, that “the so-called Sonderkommando Lange…evacuated 1,558 sick individuals from the transit camp in Soldau” in the period from May 21 to June 8, 1940. Koppe mentions that Sporrenberg’s predecessor, Wilhelm Rediess, had agreed “at that time that an amount of RM 10.- should be paid for the evacuation of each sick person”. At the beginning of the operation, the “leader of Sonderkommando Lange, Kriminalkommissar Lange, took an advance of RM 2,000.- from the Inspector of the Security Police and the SD in Königsberg”. Koppe requests from Sporrenberg the “transfer the remaining amount of RM 13,580”. The document provides insight into the administrative and logistical aspects of early Nazi extermination operations, particularly how they managed and funded the tasks involved SS and police units.

Contemporary Source

1940-09-18 Letter from Seith to Redieß on Sonderkommando Lange: “besides the unforgettable comradeship and farewell evening in Soldau, this gift is the only recognition of our mission”

The letter, dated September 18, 1940, is addressed from SS-Oberscharführer Wendelin Seith to the Higher SS and Police Leader of East-Prussia SS-Gruppenführer Wilhelm Redieß. Seith, serving as a driver for Sonderkommando Lange, expresses gratitude for receiving an amber box as gift for their mission in Soldau, noting the challenges faced and the lack of recognition except through this gift. Redieß forwarded the letter to Karl Wolff, chief of the Personal Staff Reichsführer SS Heinrich Himmler. This document stands as one of the earliest explicit references to Sonderkommando Lange within contemporary German records.

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