On January 12th. 1893 Hermann Goering is born and Hitler’s proxy peddler in The Final Solution will attempt to conceal Hitler’s role. On January 11th. 1923 French and Belgian troops occupy Ruhr and this is a precursor to what Hitler will frame his belligerence. On January 6th. 1929 Himmler is appointed ‘Reichsfuhrer SS’ and a key role in the burgeoning effort to destroy the Jewish People has been set in motion. During the January period of 1933 a pastoral letter from Austrian Bishop Gfollner of Linz states that it is the duty of all Catholics to adopt a ‘moral form of anti-Semitism.’ What this means in the moral ethics of Christianity is bearing no relation to what Christ insists upon. On January 4th. that year in a Secret meeting between Hitler and Franz von Papen to establish a governmental role for Hitler, Hitler moves a step closer to ultimate power and as German Chancellor Kurt von Schleicher resigns on January 28th., that step is closer still. On January 30th. Adolf Hitler is appointed, ‘Reichskanzler’ with Franz von Papen as his vice-Chancellor. The Nazi’s are in power.
On January 1st. 1934 the SS is fully in control of the Concentration Camp system and Hitler orders a military building program of 4,000 new aircraft to be completed within 20 Months. Remember here too, that while all credit is afforded Hitler for the expansionism of the Reich, the accreditation for the mounting assault upon the Jewish People, Gypsies, the Slavic nations and any one else Hitler’s hatred consumes, is to be ignored by those in favour of Hitler as some form of ‘messiah’? All Jewish holidays are now removed from German calendar and during the early part of the year Nazi Youth members are targeting Catholic youth groups throughout Germany, and intimidating and beating them. German laws are now being passed allowing for the sterilisation of the ‘unfit,’ laws which were passed in July of the previous year. On January 24th. The Jewish People are banned from the German Labour Front and two days later on January 26th. Germany and Poland sign a 10 year non-Aggression Pact. On January 30th. Hitler now declares he will not be deterred from rearming.
On January 26th. 1937 Jews are prohibited from working in German offices and the following year, on January 21st. 1938 Jews have their citizenship revoked by the Goga-Cuza Fascists in Romania.
Friday January 21st. 1938 “..Jews must leave Romania ..it is for ..world to find a residence for ..world’s Jews ‘Madagascar seems a suitable spot’.” Alexander Cuza.
On January 1st. 1939 all Jewish Capital is expropriated and the Israel or Sarah ‘name’ decree comes into force. This identifies all passports as Jewish with the identifying Jewish names penned on them.
Sunday January 15th. 1939 “..Church ..always regarded living side by side with Jews ..as long as they remain Jews ..dangerous to ..faith ..tranquility of Christian people. ..for this reason ..intended to brake ..limit ..action ..influence of ..Jews ..isolating Jews.” Bishop Giovanni Cazzani.
Two days later on January 17th. Jewish dentists, pharmacists and vets lose their license to work. On January 24th. Goering gives Heydrich power to establish a ‘Reichszentale fur Judische Auswanderung’, a Reich Bureau Central Office for Jewish Emigration from Germany and this is based upon the Eichmann Vienna model. There are 80,000 Jews left in Germany as Heydrich then appoints Heinrich Mueller, the Gestapo Chief, to lead the Jewish emigration push. The following day, January 25th. the German Foreign Office circulates the deportation essential of Polish Jews from Germany.
Monday January 30th. 1939 “..shameful spectacle to see how ..whole democratic world is oozing sympathy for ..poor ..tormented Jewish people ..but remains hard hearted and obdurate when it comes to helping them.” Adolf Hitler.
Here, as Hitler feels for the mood of the Western nations, he senses the enmity that should be expected for the way he has treated the Jewish People is missing. This clearly gives Hitler carte blanche with what he will now pursue as a final resolve for all the Jews of Europe. The following year, on January 2nd. 1940 there will be No Jewish obituaries allowed in the de facto Generalgouvernment within Poland. Meanwhile, on January 6th. the Jews in Warsaw are denied heating fuels. On January 12th. 300 Hordyszcze asylum inmates murdered while on January 14th., of the 880 Jewish Prisoners of war who are force marched across Poland, more that 600 of them are shot.
On January 15th. 1940 Gorlice Judenrat created and 3 days later on January 18th. 255 Warsaw Jews were shot in Palmiry Forest. A week later on January 22nd. the Vatican attacks the German conduct in Poland. On January 24th. Hans Frank adds a newer decree in order that all Jewish property in Generalgouvernment be registered. The following day, January 25th. Though in containment operation since 1939, Oswiecim, Auschwitz, is chosen as the site of a new Concentration Camp. On January 26th. the Warsaw Judenrate are fined after an ethnic German is beaten. Four days later on January 30th. Heydrich holds conference on resettlement of Jews and Volkdeutche and Heydrich establishes Office IVD4 for the purpose of ‘resettling’ all Jews from the Reich.
On January 1st. 1941 439 Jews gassed at Kalisz with the use of Mobile Gassing Vans used by der Einsatzgruppe in the field of operations. On January 10th. the Jews in Holland are forced to register and the following day, January 11th. Hans Frank gains a stay of Himmler’s deportation plans. On January 20th. Cardinal Theodor Innitzer, Archbishop of Vienna, informed Pope Pius XII of the looming threat to 60,000 of Vienna Jews now facing deportation. On January 21st. in Bucharest 130 of its Jews are Murdered while 25 Synagogues are desecrated or set on fire, 616 Jewish shops are Destroyed, 547 Jewish Homes are looted as the Romanian Army quells the unrest. The following day, January 22nd. Bulgaria dislodges its Jews from all professional positions, as Public Sector workers and as Doctor’s and Lawyer’s and a punitive tax is also imposed on Jewish Homes and Businesses. On January 26th. 120 of Bucharest’s Jews are murdered as 1,000’s of Bucharest’s Jews are brutalised in anti-Jewish riots. By January 28th. There is a new Romanian Government formed by General Antonescu and the racial persecutions against its Jewish Citizens continues. There a newer anti-Jewish laws promulgated as January 30th. sees Hitler repeat his threat to destroy all of European Jewry. Rhetoric has surely given way to a power surge of hatred that has clearly delineated all aspects of The Final Solution being resolved into the mass Murder of the Jewish People which is already being realised.
Thursday January 30th. 1941. “..Today I will once more be a prophet. If ..international Jewish financiers in and outside Europe should succeed in plunging nations once more into a world war then ..result will not be .. bolshevisation of ..earth and ..victory of Jewry ..but ..annihilation of ..Jewish race in Europe.” Adolf Hitler.
On January 31st. 3,000 of Pruszkow’s Jews are deported to the Warsaw Ghetto along with some 70,000 other Jews from outlying areas set to soon follow. Meanwhile there are German attempts to establish a Polish styled imposed Judenrat in Frankfurt and even in France. On January 1st. 1942 the United Nations declaration is ratified by 26 Allied Nations and a UN War Crimes Commission is established. SS Sturmbannfuhrer Christian Wirth was appointed the first Commandant of the Belzec Death Camp. On January 3rd. 27 of Gorlice’s Jews were shot in the streets of their Town.
Saturday January 3rd. 1942 “..rumour is abroad ..execution was filmed.” SS Obersturmbannfuhrer Fritz Dietrich.
This is a serious breach of discipline, when we consider the supposedly ultra secretive nature of the mass murder undertakings against the Jewish People. Severest retribution was proposed for any individual who photographed the murder operations, let alone filmed them. We are, however, indebted to the many who, through curiosity or callous intent, have brought the brutal truth of The Holocaust to life, and while it is conveyed in exacting detail, it is limited to a few minutes of Film, The Liepaja Massacred at Skeden and a series of photographs. On January 4th. Chaim Rumkowski makes the boast that Jews can be saved, ‘Through Work.’ The following day January 5th. the Kharkov Ghetto is finally liquidated. On January 6th. the Russian Foreign Minister, Vyacheslav Mikhaylovich Molotov hands over information on the Babi-Yar massacre. As well as this, there are other mass murder actions disclosed and their locations of graves are exposed before a British and US Government intelligence service which already knows much of the detail contained.
On January 7th. Chelmno Death Camp gassing of Jews from surrounding area had already commenced as the expelling of Jews from Lodz to Chelmno begins. 5,000 Gypsies from Lodz are also gassed at Chelmno. On January 8th. 1942 Stutthof becomes a Concentration Camp and the following day, January 9th. 1,000 of Theresienstadt’s Jews are deported to Riga.
“..extermination of whole categories of human beings ..was ..foremost instrument of ..Nazi doctrine.” Ben Ferenz.
On January 12th., as a precursor to the Nuremberg Trials, Europe and China resolve to try All Axis Leaders as War Criminals and for all war crimes:
“..whether they have ordered ..perpetrated ..or in any way participated in them.”
On January 13th. 10,000 of Lodz’s Ghetto Jews are marked for Forced Labour and the following day, January 14th. Dutch Jewry is being prepared for ‘resettlement’ which is swiftly followed the following day, January 15th. With an Allied pledge to punish War Criminals.
Thursday 15th. January 1942 “..a Jew. ..tied ..to ..sleigh ..forced to run. ..couldn’t run anymore ..they dragged him along ..then shot him.” David Rubinowicz.
On January 16th. 10,000 of Lodz’s unproductive Jews are murdered at Chelmno and the Soviet report on the Mass Murder of 52,000 Jews of Kiev is published in The Jewish Chronicle. Two days later, on January 18th. a First Theatre performance is held in the Vilna Ghetto. On January 20th. The Wannsee Conference is convened and Hitler now ensures all arms of the Reich, all Government Agency’s and the wider German public are signed up to The Final Solution and Heydrich will outline Plans to Annihilate 11,293,300 Jews! On January 21st. the United Partisan Organisation is established in Vilna and on January 23rd. 1,500 of Novi Sad’s Jews are murdered and thrown into the Danube River. Also, Hitler met with over 50 High Ranking Nazi officials to no doubt approve and commission the 3 Death Camps at Belzec, which commenced its work, March 17th, the Death Camp at Sobibor, where mass murder commenced in May and at the Death Camp Treblinka, where the destruction of the Jews began on July 22nd. This certainly suggests that all of this was a final resolve that had now become Hitler’s Final Solution of the Jewish Question, die Endlosung der Judenfrage.
“..One must act radically. ..Jews must clear out. ..if they refuse to go voluntarily ..no other solution but extermination.” Adolf Hitler.
On January 24th. 400 of Kolomyia’s Jews are murdered and the following day, January 25th., Hitler once more states his intention to exterminate the Jews. There should be no confusion over Hitler’s terms of reference. Memo’s from der Einsatzgruppe had been landing on his desk since the launch of Barbarossa, June 22nd. 1941, detailing the wholesale slaughter undertaken by Hitler’s units of Murderer’s. Jus to convince the rabid audience, on January 30th. Hitler reaffirms his aim to completely annihilate the Jews, which by the following day, January 31st. SS Brigadefuhrer Franz Stahlecker’s ‘Einsatzgruppe A’ report has confirmed for Hitler his immediate wish with the liquidation of 229,052 Baltic Jews.
Saturday January 31st. 1942 “..According to ..orders of establishing basic principles to be followed ..systematic purge operations in ..Ostland, including ..elimination ..as completely as possible of Jewry.” SS Brigadefuhrer Franz Walter Stahlecker.
On January 4th. 1943 the Czestochowa Ghetto Uprising and the following day, January 5th. the reprisals against the Jews of Czestochowa sees 250 Elderly Jews and Jewish Children shot. On January 6th. 2,000 of Ujazd’s Jews are murdered at Treblinka followed by, on January 7th. 15,000 of Lvov’s Jews are murdered in a 2 day action. Also, 4,000 of Augustow’s Jews are deported to Auschwitz. On January 9th. of 8,000 Warsaw’s Jews are ordered toward a final ‘resettlement.’ Meanwhile, the ‘German People’s Winter Aid Campaign’ wrote to the German administration of the Lodz Ghetto complaining that a part of the clothing sent from Chelmno was marked with ‘The Jewish Badge’. On January 12th. 20,000 of Zambrow’s Jews are deported Auschwitz.
1,000 Berlin Jews deported Auschwitz.
Wednesday January 13th. 1943. “..Day and night ..dragged off. ..deprived ..of ..possessions. Families ..torn apart ..all ..separated. Children coming home ..find ..their parents have disappeared. Women return ..to find ..their families gone.” Anne Frank.
On January 14th. 8,000 Lomza Jews deported Auschwitz and on January 18th. 6,000 more of the Warsaw Ghetto Jews are murdered at Treblinka. Meanwhile, Jewish Resistance plans to disrupt ‘resettlement’ operations as 1,000 Jews are murdered after Resisting. This is the 1st. Jewish Resistance in the Warsaw Ghetto a resistance which lasts for 4 days. On January 20th. Jews from Theresienstadt are again expelled toward Auschwitz. On January 21st. the ‘January Aktion’ of Resistance of the Jews of the Warsaw Ghetto ends. On January 25th. 2,120 of Jasionowka’s Jews are deported to Auschwitz. The following day, on January 26th. 1,000 of Stanislawow’s Jews are murdered. Elsewhere a week long Transport of 5,000 Jews from Theresienstadt are ‘resettled’ to Auschwitz. On January 27th. 1,300 of Grodek Jagiellonski’s Jews are murdered and the following day, January 28th., 12,000 of Pruzana’s Jews are deported to Auschwitz. On January 29th. 4,000 Dutch Jews from Westerbork are sent to Auschwitz and 1,000 Berlin Jews too are deported to Auschwitz as an RSHA Directive establishes the Gypsy Camp in Birkenau.
Friday January 29th. 1943 “..completed furnaces have been started up in ..presence of Engineer Prufer ..Topf. ..planks cannot yet be moved from ..ceiling of ..mortuary cellar on account of frost ..but this is not important ..as ..gassing cellar can be used for that purpose. ..ventilation plant has been held up by restrictions on rail transport ..but ..installation should be ready by February 20th.” SS Sturmbannfuhrer Karl Bischoff.
On January 6th. 1944 Jewish Partisan activity escalates and on January 12th. 1,000 Jews from the Stutthof Camp are sent to Auschwitz as are 95 of Lodz’s Jews and 23 of Trieste’s Jews. On January 16th. Tuczyn (Tuchin) is Liberated with 20 of the original 3,000 Jews left to Survive. On January 17th. over 400 of Malines’s Jews are ‘resettled’ to Auschwitz and the following day, January 18th. a further 300 of Buczacz’s Jews are murdered. On January 20th. over 1,000 Parisian Jews from Drancy are sent to Auschwitz. Tragically, as January 25th. is reached, we are forced to realise that about 100,000 Jews remain alive in the General Gouvernment. This represents some 3,400,000 of Poland’s Jews of the General Gouvernment having been Murdered within a 3 year period. On January 27th. over 680 Dutch Jews from Westerbork are sent to Auschwitz and on January 30th. 1944 over 560 of Milan’s Jews are ‘resettled’ to Auschwitz.
On January 6th. 1945 Edith Frank died in Birkenau and Roza Robota, Ella Gartner, Regina Safirsztain and Ester Wajcblum all Hanged in Auschwitz. On January 11th. the Russian forces are at Warsaw and on January 16th. Russian forces liberate 800 of Czestochowa’s Jewish Survivors. The following day, January 17th. Russian forces liberate Warsaw where more than 374,000 Jews of Warsaw were murdered. Too few of Warsaw’s Jews have Survived. On January 18th. Auschwitz Camp is being abandoned by the Nazi’s as The Death March begins with some 66,000 of these Auschwitz Survivors being moved toward Wodzislaw. Meanwhile Russian forces take Cracow with more than 7,000 Jews of Cracow who were eventually murdered adding to the 17,000 of Cracow’s Jews who are still missing. On January 19th. Russian forces liberate Lodz where more than 200,000 Lodz Jews were murdered with less than 900 of the Jewish community left to Survive. On January 20th. 4,200 Jews are shot in Birkenau as the SS Dynamite the remaining Krematoria in Birkenau. On January 25th. a Death March for Stutthof Camp Survivors begins. The following day, January 26th. the Budapest Ghetto is Liquidated.
On January 27th. Russian forces liberate the Auschwitz Camp and the Birkenau Death Camp. The remaining Jewish prisoners are liberated, along with many non-Jews all severely debilitated and many will not Survive these first moments of freedom. There are estimates as high as 2,500,000 Jews having been murdered at Auschwitz and Birkenau, though the accepted assessment accounts for more than 1,100,000 Murdered Jews alone, with Poles, Gypsies, Jehovah’s Witnesses and Citizens of so many nations interred within the Camp confines.
On January 4th. 1946 Colonel Telford Taylor makes the prosecution case for the Nuremberg Trials against the German High Command. His impressive performance will help secure his appointment as lead prosecutor in the subsequent Nuremberg trials. On January 8th. the prosecution at Nuremberg begins its case against the individual defendants. On January 28th. during the French phase of the prosecution, French journalist Marie Claude Vaillant-Courturier provides heart-wrenching eyewitness testimony of the atrocities at Auschwitz.
“..SS men and women who stood guard over us would beat us with cudgels and set their dogs on us. Many of our friends had their legs torn by ..dogs. I even saw a woman torn to pieces and die under my very eyes when Tauber ..a member of ..SS ..encouraged his dog to attack her and grinned at ..sight.” Marie Claude Vaillant-Courturier.
