From the mid-1300's, Jews had begun to concentrate in a large strip of
eastern European territory known as the "Pale of the Settlement." By 1900,
there were, perhaps, as many as 7 million Jews living in this area bounded
by Germany on the east, the Baltic sea on the north, the Black Sea on the
south and the Dnieper River in Russia on the east. The Jewish population
of Poland in 1939 was about 3.3 million with an additional 2.1 million in
the occupied Russian provinces. There were also heavy concentrations of
Jews in Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia to the north and Hungary and the
Slavic states to the south.
Antisemitism had long been evident in Poland. Jews were not
considered Poles and, as in Nazi Germany, were defined as a race. It
appears that, until 1939, Poland saw its destiny as tied to Germany's and
its policies toward Jews mirrored those of Germany -- forced emigration.
This was all to change with the Nazi invasion of Poland on September 1,
1939. The consequences of this invasion were disastrous for Poland as a
nation and, especially for Poland's Jewish population.
Immediately following the invasion, Himmler was appointed to take
measures to strengthen German ethnicity in the occupied territories and to
create lebensraum, or living space for German citizens. To this end,
Himmler created special task forces within the SS, the Einsatzgruppen, and
placed them under the command of Reinhard Heydrich. On September, 21,
1939, Heydrich instructed those under his command to observe a distinction
between the "final aim," which would take some time and "the steps
necessary for reaching it which can be applied more or less at once."
The Einsatzgruppen became "mobile killing units" charged with liquidating
all political enemies of the Reich. Heydrich issued the following:
21.September.1939
Berlin
To Chiefs of all Einsatzgruppen of the Security Police Subject: Jewish
Question in Occupied Territory
I refer to the conference held in Berlin today, and again point out
that the planned total measures (i.e., the final aim) are to be kept
strictly secret.
Distinction must be made between:
1. the final aim (which will require extended periods of time)
and
2. the stages leading to the fulfillment of this final aim
(which will be carried out in short periods).
It is obvious that the tasks ahead cannot be laid down from here in
full detail. The instructions and directives below must serve also for
the purpose of urging chiefs of the Einsatzgruppen to give practical
consideration to [the problems involved.]
For the time being, the first prerequisite for the final aim is the
concentration of the Jews from the countryside into the larger cities.
*******************************************
Initially, the weapon of the Einsatzgruppen was the gun and the
"action groups" served as mobile firing squads to eliminate anyone who
appeared to be a political threat to the regime: communists, political
dissidents, Polish government officials who did not line up with the
invaders. There is little questions that a significant number of Jews were
in the list of victims; however, the apparent purpose, initially, was
political.
By 1941, however, the focus and function of the Einsatzgruppen had
changed significantly. With the initiation of Operation Barbarossa,
Germany's assault on the Soviet Union, the mobile killing units operated
over a wide area of Eastern Europe from the Baltic to the Black Sea. There
were four main divisions of the Einsatzgruppen -- Groups A, B, C and D.
These groups, all under Heydrich's general command, operated just behind
the advancing German troops eliminating "undesirables: political
"criminals," Polish governmental officials, gypsies and, mostly, Jews.
Jews were rounded up in every village, transported to a wooded area, or a
ravine (either natural or constructed by Jewish labor). They (men, women
and children) were stripped, shot and buried. Sachar provides a
description of one of the most brutal mass "exterminations" -- at a ravine
named "Babi Yar," near the Ukranian city of Kiev:
"Kiev ... contained a Jewish population of 175,000 on the eve of
the Nazi invasion of the Soviet Union in 1941. The Nazi forces
captured the city in mid-September; within less than a fortnight, on
the 29th. and 30th., nearly 34,000 Jews of the ghetto were brought to
a suburban ravine known as Babi Yar, near the Jewish Cemetary, where
men, women, and children were systematically machine-gunned in a
two-day orgy of execution. In subsequent months, most of the remaining
population was exterminated.
This, the most appalling massacre of the war, is often alluded to
as a prime example of utter Jewish helplessness in the face of
disaster. But even the few desperate attempts, almost comletely
futile, to strike back served as a reminder that the difference
between resistance and submission depended very largely upon who was
in possession of the arms that back up the will to do or die. The Jews
in their thousands, with such pathetic belongings as they could carry,
were herded into barbed-wire areas at the top of the ravine, guarded
by Ukrainian collaborators. There they were stripped of their clothes
and beaten, then led in irregular squads down the side of the ravine.
The first groups were forced to lie on the ground, face down, and were
machine-gunned by the Germans who kept up a steady volley.
The riddled bodies were covered with thin layers of earth and the
next groups were ordered to lie over them, to be similarly despatched.
To carry out the murder of 34,000 human beings in the space of two
days could not assure that all the victims had died. Hence there were
a few who survived and, though badly wounded, managed to crawl from
under the corpses and seek a hiding place.
After the main massacre, the site was converted into a more
permanent camp to which thousands of victims from other parts of the
Ukraine could be sent for extermination. It became known as the
Syrets
camp, taking its name from a nearby Kiew neighborhood. Several hundred
selected prisoners were quartered there -- carpenters, showmakers,
tailors, and other artisans -- to serve the needs of the SS men and
the Ukrainian guards. They were usually killed within a few weeks and
replaced by others who continued their duties. In charge of the
administration and ultimate killing was Paul von Radomski, who seemed
to crace a reputation for outdoing his sadist colleagues in other
camps." (from Sachar, Abram L. The Redemption of the Unwanted. New
York: St. Martin's/Marek, 1983).
Kenneth McVay (see the link to the Nizkor Homepage) makes available
the following data: (Note, particularly, the language used in the report on
October 29, 1941 -- "superfluous Jews").
The effectiveness of these Einsatzgruppen can be determined from the
following report:
The Commander of the security police and the SD Einsatzkommando 3
Kauen [Kaunas], 1 December 1941
Secret Reich Business! 5 copies
4th copy - Complete list of executions carried out in the EK 3 area
up to 1 December 1941
Security police duties in Lithuania taken over by Einsatzkommando 3 on
2 July 1941. (The Wilna [Vilnius] area was taken over by EK 3 on 9 Aug.
1941, the Schaulen area on 2 Oct. 1941. Up until these dates EK 9 operated
in Wilna and EK 2 in Schaulen.)
On my instructions and orders the following executions were conducted by
Lithuanian partisans:
4.7.41 Kauen-Fort VII 416 Jews, 47 Jewesses 463
6.7.41 Kauen-Fort VII Jews 2,514
Following the formation of a raiding squad under the command of
SS-Obersturmfuhrer Hamman and 8-10 reliable men from the
Einsatzkommando the following actions were conducted in cooperation with
Lithuanian partisans:
7.7.41 Mariampole Jews 32
8.7.41 Mariampole 14 Jews, 5 Comm. officials 19
8.7.41 Girkalinei Comm. oficcials 6
9.7.41 Wendziogala 32 Jews, 2 Jewesses, 1 Lithuanian
(f.), 2 Lithuanian Comm., 1
Russian Comm. 38
9.7.41 Kauen-Fort VII 21 Jews, 3 Jewesses 24
14.7.41 Mariampole 21 Jews, 1 Russ., 9 Lith. Comm. 31
17.7.41 Babtei 8 Comm. officals (inc. 6 Jews) 8
18.7.41 Mariampole 39 Jews, 14 Jewesses 53
19.7.41 Kauen-Fort VII 17 Jews, 2 Jewesses, 4 Lith.
Comm., 2 Comm. Lithuanians (f.),1
German Comm. 26
21.7.41 Panevezys 59 Jews, 11 Jewesses, 1
Lithuanian (f.), 1 Pole, 22 Lith.
Comm., 9 Russ. Comm. 103
22.7.41 Panevezys 1 Jew 1
23.7.41 Kedainiai 83 Jews, 12 Jewesses, 14 Russ.
Comm., 15 Lith. Comm., 1 Russ.
O-Politruk 125
25.7.41 Mariampole 90 Jews, 13 Jewesses 103
28.7.41 Panevezys 234 Jews, 15 Jewesses, 19 Russ.
Comm., 20 Lith. Comm. 288
Total carried forward 3,384
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Sheet 2
Total carried over 3,384
29.7.41 Rasainiai 254 Jews, 3 Lith. Comm. 257
30.7.41 Agriogala 27 Jews, 11 Lith. Comm. 38
31.7.41 Utena 235 Jews, 16 Jewesses, 4 Lith.
Comm., 1 robber/murderer 256
31.7.41 Wendziogala 13 Jews, 2 murderers 15
1.8.41 Ukmerge 254 Jews, 42 Jewesses, 1 Pol.
Comm., 2 Lith. NKVD agents, 1
mayor of Jonava who gave order
to set fire to Jonava 300
2.8.41 Kauen-Fort IV 170 Jews, 1 US Jewess, 33 Jewesses,
4 Lith. Comm. 209
4.8.41 Panevezys 362 Jews, 41 Jewesses, 5 Russ. Comm.,
14 Lith. Comm. 422
5.8.41 Rasainiai 213 Jews, 66 Jewesses 279
7.8.41 Uteba 483 Jews, 87 Jewesses, 1 Lithuanian
(robber of corpses of German
soldiers) 571
8.8.41 Ukmerge 620 Jews, 82 Jewesses 702
9.8.41 Kauen-Fort IV 484 Jews, 50 Jewesses 534
11.8.41 Panevezys 450 Jews, 48 Jewesses, 1 Lith.
1 Russ. 500
13.8.41 Alytus 617 Jews, 100 Jewesses, 1 criminal 719
14.8.41 Jonava 497 Jews, 55 Jewesses 552
15-16.8.41 Rokiskis 3,200 Jews, Jewesses, and J. Children,
5 Lith. Comm., 1 Pole, 1 partisan 3207
6-14.8.41 Rokiskis 493 Jews, 432 Russians, 56 Lithuanians
(all active communists) 981
18.8.41 Kauen-Fort IV 689 Jews, 402 Jewesses, 1 Pole (f.),
711 Jewish intellectuals from Ghetto
in reprisal for sabotage action 1,812
19.8.41 Ukmerge 298 Jews, 255 Jewesses, 1 Politruk,
88 Jewish children, 1 Russ. Comm. 645
22.8.41 Dunaburg 3 Russ. Comm., 5 Latvian, incl. 1
murderer, 1 Russ. Guardsman, 3 Poles,
3 gypsies (m.), 1 gypsy (f.), 1 gypsy
child, 1 Jew, 1 Jewess, 1 Armenian
(m.), 2 Politruks (prison inspection
in Dunanburg 21
Total carried forward 16,152
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sheet 3
Total carried forward 16,152
22.8.41 Aglona Mentally sick: 269 men, 227 women,
48 children 544
23.8.41 Panevezys 1,312 Jews, 4,602 Jewesses, 1,609
Jewish children 7,523
18-22.8.41 Kreis Rasainiai 466 Jews, 440 Jewesses, 1,020
Jewish children 1,926
25.8.41 Obeliai 112 Jews, 627 Jewesses, 421
Jewish children 1,160
25-26.8.41 Seduva 230 Jews, 275 Jewesses, 159
Jewish children 664
26.8.41 Zarasai 767 Jews, 1,113 Jewesses, 1 Lith.
Comm., 687 Jewish children, 1 Russ.
Comm. (f.) 2,569
28.8.41 Pasvalys 402 Jews, 738 Jewesses, 209
Jewish children 1,349
26.8.41 Kaisiadorys All Jews, Jewesses, and Jewish
children 1,911
27.8.41 Prienai All Jews, Jewesses, and Jewish
Children 1,078
27.8.41 Dagda and 212 Jews, 4 Russ. POW's 216
Kraslawa
27.8.41 Joniskia 47 Jews, 165 Jewesses, 143
Jewish children 355
28.8.41 Wilkia 76 Jews, 192 Jewesses, 134
Jewish children 402
28.8.41 Kedainiai 710 Jews, 767 Jewesses, 599
Jewish children 2,076
29.8.41 Rumsiskis and 20 Jews, 567 Jewesses, 197
Ziezmariai Jewish children 784
29.8.41 Utena and 582 Jews, 1,731 Jewesses, 1,469
Moletai Jewish children 3,782
13-31.8.41 Alytus and
environs 233 Jews 233
1.9.41 Mariampole 1,763 Jews, 1,812 Jewesses, 1,404
Jewish children, 109 mentally sick,
1 German subject (f.), married to a
Jew, 1 Russian (f.) 5,090
Total carried over 47,814
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sheet 4
Total carried over 47,814
28.8-2.9.41 Darsuniskis 10 Jews, 69 Jewesses, 20
Jewish children 9
Carliava 73 Jews, 113 Jewesses, 61
Jewish children 24
Jonava 112 Jews, 1,200 Jewesses, 244
Jewish children 1,556
Petrasiunai 30 Jews, 72 Jewesses, 23
Jewish children 125
Jesuas 26 Jews, 72 Jewesses, 46
Jewish children 144
Ariogala 207 Jews, 260 Jewesses, 195
Jewish children 662
Jasvainai 86 Jews, 110 Jewesses, 86
Jewish children 282
Babtei 20 Jews, 41 Jewesses, 22
Jewish children 83
Wenziogala 42 Jews, 113 Jewesses, 97
Jewish children 252
Krakes 448 Jews, 476 Jewesses, 97
Jewish children 1,125
4.9.41 Pravenischkis 247 Jews, 6 Jewesses 253
Cekiske 22 Jews, 64 Jewesses, 60
Jewish children 146
Seredsius 6 Jews, 61 Jewesses, 126
Jewish children 193
Velinona 2 Jews, 71 Jewesses, 86
Jewish children 159
Zapiskis 47 Jews, 118 Jewesses, 13
Jewish children 178
5.9.41 Ukmerge 1,123 Jews, 1,849 Jewesses, 1,737
Jewish children 4,709
25.8-6.9.41 Mopping up in: 16 Jews, 412 Jewesses, 415
Rasainiai Jewish children 843
Georgenburg all Jews, all Jewesses, all
Jewish children 412
9.9.41 Alytus 287 Jews, 640 Jewesses, 352
Jewish children 1,279
9.9.41 Butrimonys 67 Jews, 370 Jewesses, 303
Jewish children 740
10.9.41 Merkine 223 Jews, 640 Jewesses, 276
Jewish children 854
10.9.41 Varena 541 Jews, 141 Jewesses, 149
Jewish children 831
11.9.41 Leipalingis 60 Jews, 70 Jewesses, 25
Jewish children 155
11.9.41 Seirijai 229 Jews, 384 Jewesses, 340
Jewish children 953
12.9.41 Simnas 68 Jews, 197 Jewesses, 149
Jewish children 414
11-12.9.41 Uzusalis Reprisal against inhabitants who
fed Russ. partisans; some in
possesion of weapons 43
26.9.41 Kauen-F.IV 412 Jews, 615 Jewesses, 581
Jewish children (sick and
suspected epidemic cases) 1,608
Total carried over 66,159
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sheet 5
Total carried over 66,159
2.10.41 Zagare 633 Jews, 1,107 Jewesses, 496
Jewish children (as these Jews were
being led away a mutiny rose, which was
however immediately put down;
150 Jews were shot immediately;
7 partisans wounded) 2,236
4.10.41 Kauen-F.IX 315 Jews, 712 Jewesses, 818
Jewish children (reprisal after
German police officer shot in ghetto) 1,845
29.10.41 Kauen-F.IX 2,007 Jews, 2,920 Jewesses, 4,273
Jewish children (mopping up ghetto
of superfluous Jews) 9,200
3.11.41 Lazdijai 485 Jews, 511 Jewesses, 539
Jewish children 1,535
15.11.41 Wilkowiski 36 Jews, 48 Jewesses, 31
Jewish children 115
25.11.41 Kauen-F.IX 1,159 Jews, 1,600 Jewesses, 175
Jewish children (resettlers from
Berlin, Munich and Frankfurt am main) 2,934
29.11.41 Kauen-F.IX 693 Jews, 1,155 Jewesses, 152
Jewish children (resettlers from
from Vienna and Breslau) 2,000
29.11.41 Kauen-F.IX 17 Jews, 1 Jewess, for contravention
of ghetto law, 1 Reichs German who
converted to the Jewish faith and
attended rabbinical school, then 15
terrorists from the Kalinin group 34
EK 3 detachment in Dunanberg
in the period 13.7-21.8.41: 9,012 Jews, Jewesses and Jewish
children, 573 active Comm. 9,585
EK 3 detachment in Wilna:
12.8-1.9.41 City of Wilna 425 Jews, 19 Jewesses, 8 Comm. (m.),
9 Comm. (f.) 461
2.9.41 City of Wilna 864 Jews, 2,019 Jewesses, 817
Jewish children (sonderaktion because
German soldiers shot at by Jews) 3,700
------------------------------------------
Total carried forward 99,084
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
sheet 6
Total carried forward 99,804
12.9.41 City of Wilna 993 Jews, 1,670 Jewesses, 771
Jewish children 3,334
17.9.41 City of Wilna 337 Jews, 687 Jewesses, 247
Jewish children and 4 Lith. Comm. 1,271
20.9.41 Nemencing 128 Jews, 176 Jewesses, 99
Jewish children 403
22.9.41 Novo-Wilejka 468 Jews, 495 Jewesses, 196
Jewish children 1,159
24.9.41 Riesa 512 Jews, 744 Jewesses, 511
Jewish children 1,767
25.9.41 Jahiunai 215 Jews, 229 Jewesses, 131
Jewish children 575
27.9.41 Eysisky 989 Jews, 1,636 Jewesses, 821
Jewish children 3,446
30.9.41 Trakai 366 Jews, 483 Jewesses, 597
Jewish children 1,446
4.10.41 City of Wilna 432 Jews, 1,115 Jewesses, 436
Jewish children 1,983
6.10.41 Semiliski 213 Jews, 359 Jewesses, 390
Jewish children 962
9.10.41 Svenciany 1,169 Jews, 1,840 Jewesses, 717
Jewish children 3,726
16.10.41 City of Wilna 382 Jews, 507 Jewesses, 257
Jewish children 1,146
21.10.41 City of Wilna 718 Jews, 1,063 Jewesses, 586
Jewish children 2,367
25.10.41 City of Wilna 1,776 Jewesses, 812 Jewish children 2,578
27.10.41 City of Wilna 946 Jews, 184 Jewesess, 73
Jewish children 1,203
30.10.41 City of Wilna 382 Jews, 789 Jewesses, 362
Jewish children 1,553
6.11.41 City of Wilna 340 Jews, 749 Jewesses, 252
Jewish children 1,341
19.11.41 City of Wilna 76 Jews, 77 Jewesses, 18
Jewish children 171
19.11.41 City of Wilna 6 POW's, 8 Poles 14
20.11.41 City of Wilna 3 POW's 3
25.11.41 City of Wilna 9 Jews, 46 Jewesses, 8 Jewish
children, 1 Pole for possesion of arms
and other military equipment 64
EK 3 detachment in Minsk from
28.9-17.10.41:
Pleschnitza 620 Jews, 1,285 Jewesses,
Bischolin 1,126 Jewish children and 19
Scak Comm.
Bober
Uzda 3,050
_________
133,346
Prior to EK 3 taking over security police duties, Jews liquidated
by pogroms and executions (including partisans) 4,000
---------
Total 137,346
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Today I can confirm that our objective, to solve the Jewish problem
for Lithuania, has been achieved by EK 3. In Lithuania there are no more
Jews, apart from Jewish workers and their families.
.....
The distance between from the assembly point to the graves was on average
4 to 5 Km.
.....
I consider the Jewish action more or less terminated as far as
Einsatzkommando 3 is concerned. Those working Jews and Jewesses still
available are needed urgently and I can envisage that after the winter
this workforce will be required even more urgently. I am of the view
that the strelization programme of the male worker Jews should be
started immediately so that reproduction is prevented. If despite
sterlization a Jewess becomes pregnant she will be liquidated.
(signed) Jager
SS-Standartenfuhrer
The "Jager report" was written by a commander of one of the
"Einsatzgruppen" (special task forces) which were in charge of
liquidating Jews, communist leaders, partisans and others in the
Soviet Union.
To understand the magnitude of the massacres, note the total number
of victims - 137,346. This is for one Einsatzgruppen, in a five month
period, in one area.
************************************************************************
In mid-August of 1941, Himmler became aware of the psychological costs
to his military personnel of the mass murder of women and children.
Accordingly, he ordered experimentation with more "humane" methods of
killing. Drawing upon experience gained in the "euthanasia" programme,
these experiments led to the creation of the mobile killing vans -- vans
especially constructed for gassing victims. The vans were air-tight. They
had a drain in the center for cleaning of human excrement. Exhaust fumes
from the truck's engine were piped into the van. A couple of these vans
could pull into a small village, Jews could be rounded up for transport to
some unknown destination and, within a few minutes they would all be dead.
The same van could transport them to a burial area, unload them and return
to the village for another load.
The following German military reports confiscated after the war
provide crucial information regarding the activities of the Einsatzgruppen.
These reports were collected by Mr. Kenneth McVay. Director of the Nizkor
Project.
[5] ESG.KIEV.MAY42
Kiev, 16.May.1942
Reich Secret Document
To SS-Obersturmbannfuehrer Rauff Berlin
The overhauling of the vans of Einsatzgruppe D and C has been
completed...
I have had the vans of Einsatzgruppe D disguised as house trailers, by
having a single window shutter fixed to each side of the small vans, and on
the large ones, two shutters, such as one often sees on farm houses in the
country. The vans had become so well known that not only the authorities
but the civilian population referred to them as the "Death Vans" as soon as
one appeared....
I also gave instructions that all personnel should stay as far away as
possible from the vans when the gassing is in progress to prevent damage to
their health in the event of gas leaking out...
The gassing is generally not carried out correctly. In order to get
the Aktion finished as quickly as possible the driver presses down on the
accelerator as far as it will go. As a result the persons to be executed
die of suffocation and do not doze off as was planned....
Dr. Becker
SS Untersturmfuehrer
************************************************************************
[6] ESG.KIEV.DEC42
Commander of the Security Police and the SD Einsatzkommando 3
Kovno, 1.December.1941
Reich Secret Document
.. . .I confirm today that Einsatzkommando 3 has achieved the goal of
solving the Jewish problem in Lithuania: There are no more Jewish in
Lithuania, apart from working Jews and their families.
I wanted to eliminate the working Jews and their families as well, but
the Civil Administration and the Wehrmacht attacked me most sharply and
issued a prohibition against having these Jews and their families shot.
**************************************************************************
[7] ESG.OCT41
This extract comes
from a report by Einsatzgruppe A in the Baltic countries. It is a general
report of their progress up to October 15, 1941.
----------------------------------------------
Basing oneself on the consideration that the population of the Baltic
countries had suffered most severely under the rule of Bolshevism and Jewry
while they were incorporated into the USSR, it was to be expected that
after liberation from this foreign rule they would themselves to a large
extent eliminate those of the enemy left behind after the retreat of the
Red Army. It was the task of the Security Police to set these
self-cleansing movements going and to direct them into the right channels
in order to achieve the aim of this cleansing as rapidly as possible. I was
no less important to establish as unshakable and provable facts for the
future that it was the liberated population itself which took the most
severe measures, on its own initiative, against he Bolshevik and Jewish
enemy, without any German instruction being evident.
In Lithuania this was achieved for the first time by activating the
partisans in Kovno. To our surprise it was not easy at first to set any
large-scale anti-Jewish pogrom in motion there...In Estonia there was no
opportunity of instigating pogroms owing to the relatively small number of
Jews.
*************************************************************************
[8] ESG.REPORTS
[Thread from another network discussing Einsatzgruppen reports and their
significance in the extermination program. The discussion begins with a
denial opponent providing documentation regarding the Einsatzgruppen]
The following several messages are from the Einsatzgruppen Reports.
The number of the report and the date will be noted with each excerpt. The
Einsatzgruppen reported on their activities to their respective
headquarters which sent the information to Berlin. There the RSHA compiled
concise reports in the name of the Chief of Sipo and the SD. Copies were
distributed to high- ranking army, police and SS officers, diplomats,
members of the foreign office an even to industrialists as they related to
economic factors in the Soviet territories. The Einsatzgruppen Reports
were discovered by the U.S.Army in Gestapo headquarters in Berlin after the
war. They were initially impounded by a research analyst attached to the
Berlin branch of the Office of the Chief of Council for War Crimes. They
were sealed and transported in the custody of the US Army to Nuremberg.
During the first days of the Einsatzgruppen Trial, the authenticity of the
reports was established beyond doubt and none of the German defendants
challenged their validity.
After the trial, the original reports were sent to the National
Archives in Washington, DC. In 1960 they were given to the Bundesarchiv in
Koblenz. Photocopies of all the reports remain in the National Archives and
at Yad Vashem in Jerusalem.
Operational Situation Report USSR No. 17
7.July.1941
According to instructions by RSHA, liquidations of government and
party officials, in all named cities of Byelorussia, were carried out.
Concerning the Jews, according to orders, the same policy was adopted. The
exact number of the liquidated has not as yet been established.
Operational Situation Report USSR No. 19
11.July.1941
In Kaunas, up to now a total of 7,800 Jews have been liquidated,
partly through pogroms and partly through shooting by Lithuanian Kommandos.
All of the corpses have been removed. Further mass shootings are no longer
possible. Therefore, I summoned a Jewish committee and explained that up
to now we had no reason to interfere with the internal arrangements between
the Lithuanians and the Jews.
Operational Situation Report USSR No. 106
7.October.1941
In agreement with the city military command, all the Jews of Kiev were
ordered to appear at a certain place on Monday, 29 September, by 6 o'clock.
This order was publicized by posters all over the town by members of the
newly organized Ukrainian militia. At the same time, oral information was
passed that all the Jews of Kiev would be moved to another place. In
cooperations with the HQ of EGC and two Kommandos of the police regiment
South, Sonderkommando 4a executed 33,771 Jews on September 29 and 30.
[NOTE: This took place in the ravine of Babi Yar outside of Kiev.]
Operational Situation Report USSR No. 111
12.October.1941
These were the reasons for the executions carried out by the
Kommandos: political officials; plundereres and saboteurs; active
Communists and political representatives; Jews who gained their release
from prison camps by false statements; agents and informers of the NKVD;
persons who by false depositions and witness influencing were instrumental
in the deportation of ethnic Germans; Jewish sadism and revenge;
undesirable elements; partisans; politruks; danger of plague and epidemics;
members of Russian bands; armed insurgents supplying Russian bands; rebels
and agitators; drifting juveniles; JEWS IN GENERAL. [emphasis mine]
Operational Situation Report USSR No. 117
18.October.1941
The districts occupied by the Kommandos were cleansed of Jews. 4,091
Jews and 46 Communists were executed during the time span covered by the
report, bringing the total to 40,699 [for the period of 1-15 October 1941
by Einsatzgruppen D].
Operational Situation Report USSR No. 126
27.October.1941
The difficulties in carrying out such a large action - first of all
with respect to sowing disunity - were overcome in Kiev by a call via
posters to the Jewish population that they were to move. Although at the
start, one could count on the participation of about 5,000-6,000 Jews, more
than 30,000 Jews turned up who, due to extraordinarily skillful
organization, believed in the transfer right up to the moment of their
execution.
Thus, even if about 75,000 Jews had been liquidated so far, it has
already become clear that a solution of the Jewish question will not be
possible in this way. True, we have succeeded in bringing about a total
solution to the Jewish problem, particularly in smaller towns and also in
the villages. However, in bigger towns it was observed that all the Jews
have disappeared after such an execution.
Operational Situation Report USSR No. 173
25.February.1941
In the course of a routine Security Police screening of an additional
part of the civilian population around Leningrad, 140 more people had to be
shot. The reasons for this were as follows:
a) Active participation in the Communist Party before the arrival of
the German troops;
b) Seditious and provocative activity since the arrival of the
German Army;
c) Partisan activity;
d) Espionage;
e) Belonging to the Jewish race.
So, from the Einsatzgruppen Reports we learn that Jews were being
executed for no reason other than being Jewish, that these reports were
being transmitted to Berlin and that these executions continued. From this
we can conclude that Berlin did indeed order these executions. After all,
Report 17 states that the executions were ordered and, if this was false,
it is reasonable to expect that that misconception would be corrected
quickly. However, almost 8 months later executions are still taking place
because individuals belong to the "Jewish race."
In Report 126 we learn that these executions are considered part of
the Final Solution. This not only supports the conclusion that the
Einsatzgruppen were performing these executions based upon orders but also
that this was just a part of a bigger program to solve the "Jewish
question."
From this, even though a small fraction of the evidence has been
presented, to conclude anything other than the fact that there was an
extermination program against the Jews would defy Occam's Razor.
[The Holocaust denier responds with the following remarks]
However, you mention reports. Let's talk about some of the reports you
have omitted reproducing. How about no. 127, from 31.Oct..1941, which
states:
"In this area the Security Police has come up against two major
groups of adversaries. They are: 1) the Jews, 2) those once active in
the former Soviet regime ... In this regard it should be pointed out
that in the Ukraine, those who sympathized with the Soviets were
prodominantly Jews ... It can now be stated without reservation that
the Jews were, without exception, supporters of Bolshevism.
"Over and over again, particularly in the cities, the Jews are
cited as the real Soviet rulers who exploited the people with
indescribable brutality and delivered them to their deaths at the
hands of the NKVD. The (German Security Police) units have carried
out approximately 10,000 interrogations during the past four months.
Again and again, the Jews were cited as having worked actively for
the Soviets, if not in responsible positions then at least as agents,
collaborators or informers. Not a single Jewsh corpse had been found
in any of the numerous mass graves. In any case, it is evident that
the Jews share the greatest guilt with others for the slaughter of
the Ukrainian people and the ethnic Germans.
"For this reason, special measures against the Jews are
considered necessary by the Security Police." --- You might have
mentioned the reports of 24.July.1941 and 5.Aug.1941, which refer to
the establishment of Jewish health centers in the newly-created
Jewish ghettos to prevent the outbreak of diseases. --- You might have
mentioned the report of 12.Sept.1941 (no. 81), which shows how
relieved the Einsatzgruppen was to find large numbers of Jews gone
upon entering areas previously under Soviet control.
"During the first weeks considerable numbers of Jews fell under
our control, whereas in the central and eastern Ukrainian districts it
has been observed that in many cases 70 to 90 percent, and sometimes
100 percent, of the Jewish population has fled. This can be seen as
an indirect result of the work of the Einsatzgruppen, since the
removal at no cost of hundreds of thousands of Jews --- most of them
reportedly to beyond the Urals --- represents a considerable
contribution to the solution of the Jewish question in Europe." ---
When you made reference to the "Final Solution," you might have
reminded everyone that this did not mean extermination. This was
pointed up in report 63, 25.Aug.1941:
"Slowly but surely, one of the most important problems, the
SOLUTION OF THE JEWISH QUESTION, is being tackled. In Kishiven, there
were approximately 60-80 thousand Jews before the war. Most of them
were deported with the withdrawal of the Russians. When the city was
captured, there were only about 4,000 Jews present, but that number
has since increased. Upon the initiative of the Einsatzkomando the
Rumanian city commander established a Jewish ghetto in the old city
which currently contains about 9,000 Jews. The Jews are being
organized into work groups and assigned to various German and
Rumanian units for clean-up work and other kinds of labor." --- On the
topic of the casualty figures, you forgot to mention that historians
Reitlinger, Hilberg, Shirer, Paget, Maser, Bauer, Cargas, Krausnick,
and Wilhelm acknowledge that these figures bear little resemblance to
reality. For that matter, the testimony of Einsatzgruppen defendants
Blobel and Nosske bear this out. Even Ohlendorf, who squealed like a
stuck pig about high casualties in an effort to get himself off,
changed his tune when he saw he was not immune from prosecution.
--- As to your opinion that Hitler must have had some hand in this,
even Hilberg no longer believes that. To quote Mayer: "Apparently,
neither Heybrich, Hitler, nor Himmler ever issued a written
command to liquidate these noncombatants." --- Finally, to your
statement that none of the Einsatzgruppen defendants challenged the
authenticity of the documents, I can only say that all the war crimes
trials were kangaroo courts, and they must have adopted the position
they thought best at the time. However, Mayer has recently
interpreted and then eliminated one by one all of the documents or
arguments which up until now have been used to make people believe
that the Germans practiced a policy of exterminating the Jews (the
Goering-to Heydrich letter of 31.July.1941, the Wannsee Conference
transcript, the conduct of the Einsatzgruppen in Russia, Himmler's
speeches at Posen in October, 1943, etc.). And if that is not enough,
Hilberg acknowledges that the Einsatzgrupen did not kill Jews without
a security reason (1985 edition). --- Perhaps most importantly,
however, you neglected to mention that the Germans were fighting a
guerrilla war in that area, which was started by Stalin's order of
3.July.1941. Under the circumstances, the Germans performed admirably.
Indeed, the Germans were effective. According to historian, Raul
Hilberg, the mobile killing units murdered 1.4 million Jews between 1941
and the end of the war in 1945.
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