KL: A History of the Nazi Concentration Camps
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210. Wachsmann, Prisons, 325; Neander, Mittelbau, 160–61.
211. Blatman, Death, 153–54; Greiser, Todesmärsche, 57, 76; StANü, Erklärung H. Pister, July 2, 1945, p. 41, ND: NO-254; Broszat, Kommandant, 280; IfZ, G 01/31, Zeugenaussage R. Höss, April 15, 1946, p. 14; Overesch, Buchenwald, 81–82.
212. StANü, Erklärung H. Pister, July 2, 1945, pp. 40–41, ND: NO-254; Orth, System, 310–11.
213. DaA, 21.079, Hauptsturmführer Schwarz, “The raport [sic] about my way to Flossenbürgk [sic],” April 24(?), 1945. This is a poor English translation (probably by former prisoners) of the German original, which has been lost. I have followed the translation, with a few corrections of grammar and idiom (notably “abused” instead of “mishandled”). For an analysis of this much-misunderstood order, see Zámečník, “Kein Häftling”; Zámečník’s version of Himmler’s telex includes a sentence (“The camp must be evacuated immediately”) that is not part of the English translation (of the lost German original).
214. Zámečník, “Kein Häftling,” 229; Orth, System, 326; NAL, WO 309/408, deposition of M. Pauly, March 30, 1946, p. 2.
215. Abzug, Inside, 3–8; OdT, vol. 1, 315; Van Pelt, Case, 154–57; Klemperer, Zeugnis, vol. 2, 648; Zelizer, Remembering, 49–61; Struk, Photographing, 138–49.
216. Frei, “‘Wir waren blind’”; Abzug, Heart, 21–59.
217. NAL, FO 188/526, report N. Masur, April 1945. Himmler made similar complaints to Bernadotte (Bernadotte, Fall, 51) and also complained about adverse reports about Bergen-Belsen following liberation.
218. OdT, vol. 3, 67; ibid., vol. 4, 55–57, 513.
219. For example, see OdT, vol. 3, 79; ibid., vol. 4, 225, 242, 530; ibid., vol. 6, 244.
220. Himmler may have made such a “concession” himself; Zámečník, “Kein Häftling,” 220; Greiser, Todesmärsche, 58–59.
221. Maršálek, Mauthausen, 127.
222. Flanagan and Bloxham, Remembering, quotes on 9, 13; Wenck, Menschenhandel, 374–82; Kolb, Bergen-Belsen, 157–64, 225–27; Shephard, Daybreak, 33–42; Reilly, Belsen, 22–28; Niedersächsische Landeszentrale, Bergen-Belsen, 175–80; Orth, SS, 265. At least one satellite camp, Amersfoort, also officially surrendered (on April 19, 1945); OdT, vol. 7, 153.
223. It was now more than a year since the first KL in Eastern Europe had closed.
224. Hertz-Eichenrode, KZ, vol. 1, quote on 340; Baganz, “Wöbbelin”; Volland, “Stalag”; Greiser, Todesmärsche, 78–80; Knop and Schmidt, “Sachsenhausen,” 25; Buggeln, Arbeit, 635–36; Schalm, Überleben, 102; Blatman, Death, 142, 166, 214.
225. Jacobeit, “Ich,” quote on 162; Greiser, Todesmärsche, 82; Perz and Freund, “Tötungen,” 258–59; Morsch, “Tötungen,” 275; Hertz-Eichenrode, KZ, vol. 1, 197; Buggeln, Arbeit, 637; APMO, Proces Maurer, 5a, Bl. 117–20: H. Pister, “Strafen für Häftlinge,” July 21, 1945, ND: NO-256.
226. Greiser, Todesmärsche, 83–84; Blatman, Death, 299; Obenaus, “Räumung,” 527–28.
227. Distel, “29. April,” 6–7; Zarusky, “Dachau,” 51; Zámečník, Dachau, 382–84. Another 137 prominent German and foreign prisoners, assembled from other KL, left by bus.
228. Greiser, Todesmärsche, 64–76, 240, 500–508; idem, “‘Sie starben,’” 112.
229. See also Greiser, Todesmärsche, 73, 241.
230. Overesch, “Ernst Thapes,” 646, quote on 644; Greiser, Todesmärsche, 71–73, 243–44; Distel, “29. April,” 7.
231. Greiser, Todesmärsche, 91–95, 146, 206, 502–503; Neander, Mittelbau, 88, 128–51; Blatman, Death, 143, 177, 208–209; Kielar, Anus Mundi, 388; Bessel, 1945, 63, 85, 92–93. In addition to trains and marches, the SS occasionally used boats; Orth, System, 334.
232. StANü, G. Rammler report, January 30, 1946, ND: NO-1200; ibid., EE by K. Sommer, January 22, 1947, ND: NO-1578; BArchB, Film 44563, Vernehmung O. Pohl, September 26, 1946, p. 51; Schulte, Zwangsarbeit, 426–28.
233. IfZ, F 13/6, Bl. 343–54: R. Höss, “Oswald Pohl,” November 1946, Bl. 354.
234. First described in detail in Orth, System, 313–35.
235. StANü, Erklärung R. Höss, March 14, 1946, ND: NO-1210; ibid., G. Rammler report, January 30, 1946, ND: NO-1200; ibid., testimony O. Pohl, June 13, 1946, ND: NO-4728; ibid., EE by G. Wiebeck, February 28, 1947, ND: NO-2331; IfZ, F 13/6, Bl. 343–54: R. Höss, “Oswald Pohl,” November 1946, Bl. 354; Orth, SS, 264–65.
236. Orth, System, 317–19, 328–29; Wildt, Generation, 726–27; OdT, vol. 2, 459–61; JVL, JAO, Review of Proceedings, United States v. Weiss, n.d. (1946), p. 77; BArchL, B 162/7998, Bl. 623–44: Vernehmung J. Otto, April 1, 1970, Bl. 626; StANü, Erklärung H. Pister, July 2, 1945, p. 41–42, ND: NO-254; Tuchel, “Die Kommandanten des KZ Dachau,” 347–48.
237. For a different view, see Buggeln, Arbeit, 655.
238. Orth, System, 322, 325–26, 329–35. See also Lange, “Neueste Erkenntnisse”; OdT, vol. 6, 518–19; Hertz-Eichenrode, KZ, vol. 1, 262; NAL, WO 208/4661, statement H. Aumeier, June 29, 1945, p. 13.
239. Orth, SS, 267–68; StANü, Erklärung R. Höss, March 14, 1946, ND: NO-1210; ibid., G. Rammler report, January 30, 1946, ND: NO-1200; Wildt, Generation, 731–34; Kershaw, End, 352, 400; Hördler, “Ordnung,” 154; Broszat, Kommandant, 222, 281–82; Hillmann, “‘Reichsregierung.’”
240. Greiser, Todesmärsche, 151–52; Kaplan, “Marsch,” 26.
241. Several hundred prisoners were released or handed to the ICRC during the stop at Below forest. See OdT, vol. 3, 291–93; Zeiger, “Todesmärsche,” 66–68; Orth, System, 323; Farré, “Sachsenhausen.” The site may also have held some female prisoners from Ravensbrück; Blatman, Death, 169–70.
242. LG Cologne, Urteil, October 30, 1967, JNV, vol. 26, 797–98; Greiser, Todesmärsche, 164; Lasik, “Organizational,” 184 (n. 80); Neander, Mittelbau, 143; JVL, DJAO, United States v. Becker, RaR, n.d. (1947), pp. 49–50; NARA, RG 549, 000–50–9, Box 438, statement S. Melzewski, September 6, 1945. For the reluctance of other guards, see Blatman, Death, 110, 114, 420; Greiser, Todesmärsche, 99–100, 154, 272–73; Jacobeit, “Ich,” 84.
243. Goldhagen, Executioners, 332, 363, 367, 371. See also Rothkirchen, “‘Final Solution’”; Bauer, “Death Marches,” 4, 8. For criticism of this thesis, see Blatman, Death, esp. 416; Sprenger, “KZ Groß-Rosen,” 1120; Greiser, Todesmärsche, 27–29; Buggeln, Arbeit, 625.
244. Estimate in Greiser, Todesmärsche, 27–28. See also Blatman, Death, 194; Kolb, “Kriegsphase,” 1135.
245. For the opposite argument, see Goldhagen, Executioners, 345.
246. Blatman, Death, 417. See also Greiser, Todesmärsche, 136, 139–40; BoA, testimony of B. Warsager, September 1, 1946; de Rudder, “Zwangsarbeit,” 230–31. The WVHA introduced new insignia for Jews in November 1944, with a yellow stripe over a triangle, though this was rarely used in practice; Hördler, “Ordnung,” 272.
247. Laqueur, Bergen-Belsen, 106, 112–13, 121.
248. For the opposite view, see Bauer, Jews, 241; Sofsky, Violence, 104–107; idem, “Perspektiven,” 1160–63.
249. See also Neander, Mittelbau, 164–65.
250. Some ten to twelve thousand Buchenwald inmates and over eight thousand Neuengamme inmates perished on death transports; Greiser, Todesmärsche, 9; Buggeln, Arbeit, 635, 653.
251. Gedenkstätte Buchenwald, Buchenwald, 204–206; Röll, Sozialdemokraten, 139–56; VöB, September 1, 1944; IfZ, F 13/6, Bl. 355–58: R. Höss, “Gerhard Maurer,” November 1946; Kirsten and Kirsten, Stimmen, 188–92.
252. For example, see OdT, vol. 2, 285; ibid., vol. 4, 459.
253. Kupfer-Koberwitz, Tagebücher, quote on 383; Antelme, Menschengeschlecht, 89; Langbein, Menschen, 149.
254. Kaienburg, Wirtschaft, 683; Wagner, Produktion, 280–81; Bessel, Germany 1945, 12, 24.
255. Strebel, Celle.
256. Hertz-Eichenrode, KZ, vol. 1, 53–55, 265–74, quote on 272; Lange, “Neueste Erkenntnisse”; Garbe, “‘Cap Arcona.’”
257. NARA, RG 549, 000–50–9, Box 438, statement C. Schmalzl, Septembe
r 11, 1945; ibid., statement X. Triebswetter, September 11, 1945; ibid., statement S. Melzewski, September 6, 1945.
258. Greiser, Todesmärsche, 284, 500–502; NARA, RG 549, 000–50–9, Box 438, statement X. Triebswetter, September 11, 1945.
259. Horwitz, Shadow, 144–51; Greiser, Todesmärsche, 262–68.
260. For example, see NARA, M-1174, roll 2, Bl. 762: examination of G. Neuner, November 26, 1945. See also Horwitz, Shadow, 151; Zarusky, “Dachau,” 58.
261. Laqueur, Bergen-Belsen, 120–28; Herzberg, Between, 213; Horwitz, Shadow, 152–53; Greiser, Todesmärsche, 269–70.
262. For example, see YVA, O 15 E/1761, Protokoll V. Jakubovics, July 9, 1945.
263. Buggeln, Arbeit, 145–48; WVHA-D to WVHA-B, August 15, 1944, ND: NO-1990, TWC, vol. 5, 388–92.
264. Jacobeit, “Ich,” 113–15; Greiser, Todesmärsche, 190–93, 197, 273–75; Wagner, Produktion, 555; Blatman, Death, 429–31.
265. Zarusky, “‘Tötung,’” 85; Distel, “29. April,” 8. See also Holzhaider, Sechs.
266. Greiser, Todesmärsche, 125, 161; Erpel, Vernichtung, 176–77; Neander, Mittelbau, 135–36.
267. Horwitz, Shadow, 146–47, 153; NARA, M-1174, roll 2, Bl. 762–70: examination of T. Weigl, November 26, 1945.
268. NARA, RG 549, 000–50–9, Box 438, statement X. Triebswetter, September 11, 1945; Greiser, Todesmärsche, 125, 160.
269. Maršálek, Mauthausen, quotes on 296; Dietmar, “Häftling X,” 131. See also Greiser, Todesmärsche, 260–61; Neander, Mittelbau, 161–62; Blatman, Death, 399, 401–402.
270. JVL, JAO, Review of Proceedings, United States v. Weiss, n.d. (1946), quote on 68; Greiser, Todesmärsche, 160; Horwitz, Shadow, 154.
271. Blatman, Death, 270–71, 396–400, 405, 418–19. See also Neander, Mittelbau, 135; Schulze, Zeiten, 291; Herbert, Fremdarbeiter, 330–31, 338–39.
272. Blatman, Death, 394–405, 419; Greiser, Todesmärsche, 115–23, 132, 167.
273. Most of the survivors were forced on a death march toward Bergen-Belsen. See Strebel, Celle, 52–123, quote on 61; Bertram, “8. April 1945.”
274. ASL, Kam 5539, L4, Bl. 26–29: Schwertberger Postenchronik, 1945, quote on 28.
275. Obenaus, “Räumung,” quote on 542; Blatman, Death, 272–342; Neander, Mittelbau, 466–73; Gring, “Massaker.”
276. Blatman, Death, 343–46; Bessel, 1945, 45, 65.
277. Greiser, Todesmärsche, 126–27, 199–201, 274.
278. Broszat, Kommandant, 222–23, 281–82, quote on 222; StANü, Erklärung R. Höss, March 14, 1946, ND: NO-1210; Kershaw, End, 359–60; Orth, SS, 268–69.
279. IfZ, F 13/7, Bl. 388: R. Höss, “Richard Glücks,” November 1946; Broszat, Kommandant, 224–25; DAP, Aussage W. Boger, July 5, 1945, 3251; Naasner, SS-Wirtschaft, 334; IfZ, ZS-1590, interrogation G. Witt, November 19, 1946, 9; BArchB, Film 44840, Vernehmung G. Maurer, March 13, 1947, pp. 3–5.
280. Goeschel, Suicide, 149–66.
281. Longerich, Himmler, 757; BArchL, B 162/7996, Bl. 381–85: Liste von SS-Führern und Unterführern, November 6, 1967; OdT, vol. 2, 486. Hans Kammler is also said to have killed himself (Fröbe, “Kammler,” 316–17), though there are rumors that he was captured and taken to a U.S. detention center (Karlsch, “Selbstmord”).
282. Delmotte shot himself soon after fleeing Dachau in 1945; Langbein, Menschen, 559; Lifton, Doctors, 311.
283. Sigl, Todeslager, 84; Raim, “Westdeutsche Ermittlungen,” 223.
284. For this mind-set, see Broszat, Kommandant, 222–23.
285. Rózsa, “Solange,” 278–79; Maršálek, Mauthausen, 331–32; Kaplan, “Marsch,” 34.
286. Greiser, Todesmärsche, 102; JVL, JAO, Review of Proceedings, United States v. Weiss, n.d. (1946), p. 67.
287. Greiser, Todesmärsche, quote on 177.
288. Blatman, Death, 207; Neander, Mittelbau, 150.
289. YVA, 033/989, anonymous testimony (by W. Simoni), n.d. (1947), 40.
290. Kaplan, “Marsch,” 31–33, quote on 31; Zeiger, “Todesmärsche,” 68; WL, P.III.h. No. 804, M. Flothuis, “Arbeit für die Philips-Fabrik,” January 1958, p. 16.
291. Perhaps 150,000 prisoners died in the last five weeks of the war (out of around 550,000 KL prisoners at the start of April). Of the remaining c. 400,000 prisoners, maybe 250,000 were liberated inside, around 20,000 were released abroad, and thousands more released inside Germany. This would mean that well over one hundred thousand men, women, and children found freedom during marches and train transports.
292. Bárta, “Tagebuch,” quote on 96; Freund, “KZ Ebensee,” 22, 31; Freund, Toten, 337; Evans, “Introduction,” xvi. Among the last satellites to be reached by Allied troops were the small Mauthausen camp St. Lambrecht on May 11, 1945, and the even smaller Flossenbürg camp Schlackenwerth the following day; OdT, vol. 4, 250–52, 429–33.
293. Rózsa, “Solange,” 302–22, quotes on 290, 316, 323; OdT, vol. 4, 151–54.
294. Overesch, Buchenwald, 60–85, quote on 68; Greiser, Todesmärsche, 76.
295. “Dachau Captured by Americans Who Kill Guards, Liberate 32,000,” New York Times, May 1, 1945; KZ-Gedenkstätte Dachau, Gedenkbuch, 9, 13, 19; Rost, Goethe, 302.
296. Quote in W. Cowling to his parents, April 30, 1945, in Dann, Dachau, 21–24. See also Zámečník, Dachau, 390–96; Distel, “29. April,” 8–11; Rost, Goethe, 304–305; Antelme, Menschengeschlecht, 401.
297. Kupfer-Koberwitz, Tagebücher, 419, 425, 444–45.
298. Quotes in Kupfer-Koberwitz, Tagebücher, 445; Ballerstedt, “Liebe,” 207. See also Czech, Kalendarium, 322, 328–29; Stein, Juden, 126; Zámečník, Dachau, 365–67; ITS, docs 5278997#1, 5323555#1, 5364738#1, 5376484#1, 9896136#1, 9918546#1, 9934351#1, 9943226#2 (my thanks to Susanne Urban for these documents); BLA, EG 74002, EE by M. Choinowski, March 1, 1946 and June 16, 1958; ibid., Bay. Hilfswerk, Fürsorgebericht, April 24, 1949; ibid., Antrag M. Choinowski, June 23, 1958.
Epilogue
1. Antelme, Menschengeschlecht, 401–402; BoA, interview with J. Bassfreund, September 20, 1946. On the postwar use of the term “survivor,” Reinisch, “Introduction.” For the liberation of the camps, see now also Stone, Sorrows (my thanks to Dan Stone for sharing an early draft).
2. Testimony of P. H., February 1946, in Heberer, Children, 384.
3. For this and the previous paragraph, see BLA, EG 74002. Additional information in R. König to M. Choinowski, n.d. (late 1953) (copy in possession of the author); ITS, Doc. No. 90343219#1; Shephard, Road, 364–79; Cohen, Case, 30. Quotes in BLA, EG 74002, M. Choinowski, Antrag auf Erteilung eines Bezugsscheins, April 14, 1948; ibid., M. Choinowski to Landesentschädigungsamt, April 20, 1957; M. Choinowski to R. König, May 10, 1965 (copy in possession of the author; my thanks to Rita von Borck for this letter and other information).
4. For the quotes in this and the previous paragraph, see DaA, Nr. 27376, E. Kupfer to K. Halle, September 1, 1960; StAL, EL 350 I/Bü 8033, E. Kupfer to Landesamt für Wiedergutmachung, November 28, 1979. For Kupfer’s postwar life, see StAL, EL 350 I/Bü 8033; Distel, “Vorwort,” 15–17; ITS, doc. 81062064#1.
5. Todorov, Facing, 263; Orth, SS, 273–95.
6. WL, P.III.h. No. 494, A. Lehmann, “Im Lager Bergen Belsen,” 1946, quote on 4; ibid., No. 573, A. Lehmann, “Das Lager Vught,” n.d., 33; ibid., No. 416, A. Lehmann, “Die Evakuations-Transporte,” n.d. (1946); Koker, Edge, 369–70.
7. My calculation is based on an estimated 250,000 prisoners being liberated from the KL during the final five weeks of Nazi rule.
8. WL, P.III.h. No. 494, A. Lehmann, “Im Lager Bergen Belsen,” 1946, quote on 5; Stiftung, Bergen-Belsen, 217; Reilly, Belsen, 25–26; report G. Hughes, June 1945, in Niedersächsische Landeszentrale, Bergen-Belsen, 186–93.
9. Shephard, Road, 69–72; idem, Daybreak, 28–32; Zweig, “Feeding,” 843–45; Zelizer, Remembering, 64.
10. Abzug, Inside, passim.
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��11. Quote in Strebel, Ravensbrück, 503. See also Gutterman, Bridge, 225–26; Erpel, Vernichtung, 193–94; WL, P.III.h. No. 864, G. Deak, “Wie eine junge Frau Auschwitz und den Todes-Marsch überlebt hat,” March 1958, p. 18; ibid., No. 828, T. Krieg, “Der ‘Totenzug’ von Bergen-Belsen nach Theresienstadt,” December 1957, p. 8. For mass rapes of German women by Soviet soldiers during the occupation more generally, see Grossmann, Jews, 48–71; Beevor, Berlin.
12. WL, P.III.h. No. 494, A. Lehmann, “Im Lager Bergen Belsen,” 1946, quote on 5; Helweg-Larsen et al., Famine, 255–62; Reckendrees, “Leben,” 101–102; Vaisman, Auschwitz, 65–66; Kielar, Anus Mundi, 402; Goldstein et al., Individuelles, 188; YVA, M-1/E 121, Aussage M. Weiss, June 24, 1946, p. 8; MacAuslan, “Aspects,” 50–55. The problem of overeating was exacerbated by well-meaning soldiers who handed out excessive amounts of rich food, upsetting the inmates’ already damaged digestive system.
13. Laqueur, Bergen-Belsen, 129–32, quote on 132; Greiser, Todesmärsche, 201, 207–14.
14. Laqueur, Bergen-Belsen, 136.
15. Quote in Schulze, Zeiten, 299. See also Meyer, Kriegsgefangenen, 80.
16. Schulze, Zeiten, 91, 120–21, 295–96, 299–300; Meyer, Kriegsgefangenen, 81–85; Vogel, Tagebuch, 166; Greiser, Todesmärsche, 281.
17. Quotes in Abzug, Inside, 132; Reilly, Belsen, 41; MacAuslan, “Aspects,” 74. See also Shephard, Road, 67, 101–102; Flanagan and Bloxham, Remembering, 65–66.
18. Quote in letter by A. Horwell, May 1945, in Flanagan and Bloxham, Remembering, 65. For the use of the term “organize,” see Laqueur, Bergen-Belsen, 131; YVA, 033/989, anonymous testimony (by W. Simoni), n.d. (1947), p. 41.
19. Rovan, Geschichten, 293–97; Zámečník, Dachau, 398.
20. WL, P.III.h. No. 494, A. Lehmann, “Im Lager Bergen Belsen,” 1946, p. 5.
21. MacAuslan, “Aspects,” 65, 69–82, 106–107, 110–11, quote on 75. See also Reilly, Belsen, 26–28, 33–40; Flanagan and Bloxham, Remembering, 21–40; Kolb, Bergen-Belsen, 315; Stiftung, Bergen-Belsen, 253.
22. Benz, “Befreiung.” See also Overesch, “Ernst Thapes,” 657, 661–63, 670; Greiser, Todesmärsche, 280; Erpel, Vernichtung, 195.