Mass Murder

All of the documents on this Web page were retrieved from the archives of Shamash: The Jewish Internet Consortium. The comments inside the square [ . . . ] brackets were written by Daniel Keren for the Shamash archives.

Letter from Generalkommisar for White Russia, Wilhelm Kube, to Reichkommisar for the Ostland, Lohse, 31 July 1942.
'The Good Old Days' - E. Klee, W. Dressen, V. Riess, The Free Press, NY, 1988, p. 180-181:

During the course of extensive discussions with SS-BrigadefŸhrer Zenner and the very competent Leiter of the SD, SS-ObersturmbannfŸhrer Dr. Strauch, it was established that we have liquidated about 55,000 Jews in the past ten weeks...

Naturally the SD and I would prefer to eliminate the Jews in the Generalbezirk of white Russia once and for all as soon as the Jews are no longer needed by the Wehrmacht for economic reasons. For the time being, the Wehrmacht's requirements, as the principle employer of Jewish labor, are being taken into account.

Report No. 51 of ReichsfŸhrer-SS Heinrich Himmler to Hitler about mass executions in the east, 1942.
Trials of War Criminals Before the Nuernberg Military Tribunals - Washington, U.S Govt. Print. Off., 1949-1953, Vol. XIII, p. 269-272:

August September October November
Prisoners executed
after interrogation		2,1001,4001,5962,731
.
.
Accomplices of guerrilla and
guerrilla suspects executed		1,1983,0206,3333,706
.
.
Jews executed		31,246165,28295,73570,948
.
.
Villages and localities
Burned down or destroyed		35122092

Letter from SS Major-General Stahlecker to SS General Heydrich, January 31, 1942.
The Final Solution: The Attempt to Exterminate the Jews of Europe, 1939-1945 - G. Reitlinger, South Brunswick, T. Yosellof, 1968, p. 233:

The complete removal of Jewry from the eastern territories has been substantially attained, with the exception of White Russia, as a result of the execution up to the present time of 229,052 Jews.

Daily situation report of the Einsatzgruppen (special task forces) in Russia, No. 124, October 25th, 1941.
The Final Solution: The Attempt to Exterminate the Jews of Europe, 1939-1945 - G. Reitlinger, South Brunswick, T. Yosellof, 1968, p. 133:

A second action consisted in applying special treatment to 812 men and women, all persons without interest from the racial and intellectual point of view.

Order by Reichskommissar Hinrich Lohse to halt the killing of Jewish skilled workers, December 2 1941.
Documents on the Holocaust - Edited by Y. Arad, Y. Gutman, A. Margaliot, NY, Ktav Pub. House in Association with Yad-Vashem, 1981, p. 396:

Reichskommissar for OstlandRiga, December 2 1941
IIa diary No. 220/41g

The Chief Quartermaster (Chiefintendant) of the Wehrmacht Command in Ostland has lodged a complaint that armament plants and repair workshops have been deprived of Jewish skilled workers through their liquidation, and that they cannot be replaced there at the present time.

I request most emphatically that the liquidation of Jews employed as skilled workers in armament plants and repair workshops of the Wehrmacht who cannot be replaced by local personnel be prevented.

Ereignismeldung UdSSR, No. 101, October 2 1941.
'The Good Old Days' - E. Klee, W. Dressen, V. Riess, The Free Press, NY, 1988, p. 67:

Einsatzgruppen C
Standort Kiev

In collaboration with the group staff and two Kommandos of Police Regiment South, on 29 and 30 September 1941, Sonderkommando 4a executed 33,771 Jews in Kiev.

Ereignismeldung UdSSR, No. 128, November 3 1941.
'The Good Old Days' - E. Klee, W. Dressen, V. Riess, The Free Press, NY, 1988, p. 68:

In Kiev, difficulties that arose during the execution of a major action of this type - particularly with regard to registration - were overcome by the use of posters announcing that all Jews were to report for resettlement. Although it was initially thought that the action would only involve 5,000 to 6,000 Jews, more than 30,000 Jews reported, who as a result of extremely efficient organization still believed they were going to be resettled right up until the time they were executed.

Despite that fact that up to now a total of some 75,000 Jews have been liquidated in this way, it has nevertheless become apparent that this method will not provide a solution to the Jewish problem.

Report from Chief of Security Police and SD, June 17 1942.
Nazi Conspiracy and Aggression - Washington, U.S Govt. Print. Off., 1946, Supplement A, p. 661:

The Jews in the Crimea.
.
.
 Already in 1939, out of 65,000 Jews in the Crimea, 44,000 (that is almost 70 percent) live in the cities of Simferopol, Sevastopol, Kertch, Jewpatoria, Yalta, and Feodosia alone...
.
.
 Of the Krimtschaks (approx. 6,000) who were generally counted to be Jews, about half lived for the greater part in Simferopol (2,500) and in Karasubarsar. Their annihilation together with that of the real Jews and the Gypsies in the Crimea took place essentially until the beginning of December 1941.

Weekly report from Hans Frank's [Governor of occupied Poland] propaganda department, October 26, 1942.
The Final Solution: The Attempt to Exterminate the Jews of Europe, 1939-1945 - G. Reitlinger, South Brunswick, T. Yosellof, 1968, p. 283:

The resettlement of Jews (which partly assumes forms not worthy of a cultured people) directly provokes comparison of the methods of the Gestapo with those of the GPU. The railway wagons are said to be in such a bad state that it is impossible to prevent Jews breaking out. The result is that at wayside stations there occur wild shootings and regular man-hunts. It is also reported that corpses of shot Jews lie on the streets for days. Although the Reich Germans, as well as the foreign population, are convinced of the necessity of liquidating all Jews, it would still be more appropriate to carry this out in a manner that causes less sensation and offense.

Order of Boehme, Commanding General Serbia, October 10 1941, Regarding Executions of Hostages.
Trials of War Criminals Before the Nuernberg Military Tribunals - Washington, U.S Govt. Print. Off., 1949-1953, Vol. XI, p. 977:

2. In all garrison towns in Serbia all Communists, male residents suspected as such, all Jews, a certain number of nationalistic and democratically inclined residents are to be arrested as hostages, by means of sudden action....

3. If losses of German soldiers or ethnic Germans occur, the territorially competent commanders up to the regimental commanders are to decree the shooting of arrestees according to the following quotas:

a. For each killed or murdered German soldier or ethnic German (man, woman or child) 100 prisoners or hostages.

b. For each wounded German soldier or ethnic German, 50 prisoners or hostages.

The shootings are to be carried out by the troops.

Order of Commanding General in Serbia, October 4 1941, ordering mass execution of concentration camp inmates for the killing of 21 German Soldiers.
Trials of War Criminals Before the Nuernberg Military Tribunals - Washington, U.S Govt. Print. Off., 1949-1953, Vol. XI, p. 976:

Twenty-one soldiers were tortured to death by Communist bandits in a bestial manner on 2 October in a surprise attack on units of the signal regiment between Belgrade and Obrenovac. As reprisal and retaliation, 100 Serbian prisoners are to be shot at once for each murdered German soldier. The Chief of the Military administration is requested to pick out 2,100 inmates in the concentration camp Sabac in Belgrade (primarily Jews and Communists) and to fix the time and place as well as burial place.

A Teacher's Guide to the Holocaust
Produced by the Florida Center for Instructional Technology,
College of Education, University of South Florida © 2005.


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