Sonderkommando Lange

Sonderkommando Lange

Perpetrator

Willi Lenz (1894–1945): The “Doctor” of Kulmhof

Willi Lenz, a Schutzpolizei officer born in 1894, was one of the most brutal perpetrators at the Kulmhof (Chełmno) extermination camp. Known as the “Doctor,” he supervised forced laborers in the forest camp, personally shot those who were exhausted or survived the gas vans, and later used his experience in operations to exhume and burn the bodies of Nazi victims. Returning to Kulmhof in 1944, he continued killing prisoners during the liquidation of the Łódź Ghetto. In January 1945, while helping to execute the camp’s remaining Jewish prisoners before the German retreat, Lenz was killed during their resistance in the granary.

Becker Letter dated May 16, 1942 on gas vans
Contemporary Source

1942-05-16 / The Becker Letter on Gas Vans: “The gassing is generally not carried out correctly … the persons being executed die of suffocation”

On May 16, 1942, SS-Untersturmführer August Becker submitted a report to the head of RSHA department II D, Walther Rauff, on his inspection of the operation of the homicidal gas vans at the Einsatzgruppen. Becker noted that the vehicles had become widely recognized, “that not only the authorities but also the civilian population referred to them as ‘death vehicles’ as soon as one of them appeared”. He also observed “various units have their own men unload the vehicle after the gassing,” and warned the commanders of “what enormous psychological and physical harm this work can cause to the men.” He states that “the gassing is generally not carried out correctly,” as drivers “consistently apply full throttle,” with the result that victims “die of suffocation.”

Memo of June 5, 1942 on gas vans
Contemporary Source

1942-06-02 / SS-Officer Just’s Memo on Gas Vans: “97,000 have been processed using 3 deployed vehicles”

Memo dated June 5, 1942, authored by SS-Hauptsturmführer Willy Just of RSHA office II D 3 a (Motor Vehicle Department of the Security Police) on technical modifications to the gas vans used in mass killing operations. Just reports that “since December 1941 97,000 have been processed using 3 deployed vehicles, without any defects occurring in the vehicles” and “the known explosion in Kulmhof (Chełmno) is to be considered an isolated case due to an operating error”. He proposes the following “technical modifications to the special vehicles currently in operation and those under production”, among other things ventilation slots on the upper rear wall to allow “a rapid inflow of CO without causing overpressure”. The proposal was reviewed by Walther Rauff, head of the Motor Vehicle Department, on June 10, 1942. He approved the implementation of the modifications on a prototype vehicle.

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”.

Sonderkommando Lange Nowgorod
Contemporary Source

1941-10-03 Intercepted Radio Message from Koppe to Himmler’s Staff on Dispatch of Sonderkommando Lange to Clear Asylums in Novgorod

In this radio communication dated 3 October 1941, intercepted by British intelligence, the Higher SS and Police Leader Posen, Wilhelm Koppe, asked for Himmler’s decision to “dispatch Sonderkommando Lange with appropriate aparatus to clear three asylums near Novgorod” in occupied Northwest Russia. This request followed an initiative by Hans Hefelmann from the Chancellery of the Führer. The Army High Command offered to provide logistical support by sending “a Ju 52 to Posen on the morning of October 5th so that Krimiminal-Kommissar Lange with approximately 5 employees can promptly begin his work”.

Contemporary Source

1941-08-16 Radio message from von dem Bach-Zelewski to Koppe: “Please order the immediate deployment of Hauptsturmführer Lange, etc., to Baranowicze.”

On 16 August, 1941, the British intelligence intercepted a 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. In this communication, von dem Bach-Zelewski requested Koppe to “order the immediate deployment of Hauptsturmführer Lange, etc., to Baranowicze. On August 15, 1941, the day before, Himmler attended a demonstration shooting in Minsk and visited the Novinki asylum near Minsk. According to von dem Bach-Zelewski, Himmler ordered the facility to be cleared using a more humane method than shooting.

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”.

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