Sonderkommando Kulmhof

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.

Contemporary Source

1945-02-00 Report of Heinrich May on Kulmhof Extermination Camp

The following report, dated February 1945, was authored by Heinrich May, detailing his experience and knowledge of the Kulmhof (Chelmno) extermination camp in the Warthegau. The document integrates May’s firsthand observations on-site, explanations provided by members of Sonderkommando Kulmhof, and descriptions relayed by other visitors of Sonderkommando Kulmhof.

hans bothmann
Perpetrator

Bothmann, Hans – Commander of Kulmhof Extermination Camp

In March 1942, Hans Bothmann assumed the role of commander at the Kulmhof extermination camp, succeeding Herbert Lange in this position. Witness accounts depict a man who oscillated between calculated professionalism and unpredictable cruelty. He was “generally calm and deliberate,” recalled one former colleague, “except when he had been drinking.” And he drank often. Others remembered him shooting Jewish prisoners in the neck when they were no longer able to work, or casually joking about killing his own men.

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