This Holocaust Author's Auschwitz Blog

Day 20: Hitler Commanded all He knew!

1941 August 29th. 11,000 Hungarian Jews are murdered at Kamanets-Podolsk while 3,782 of the Jews from Utena and Moletai, Jewish Men, Women and Their Children are murdered. The catalogue of atrocity swells the growing account as 784 of Rumsiskis’s and Ziezmariai’s Jewish Men, Women and Their Children are also murdered. Hitler is at von Runstedt’s HQ in Uman.

There is a long standing debate over what Hitler knew, or what Hitler was aware of in connection to The Final Solution. It is incomprehensible that a Hitler whose involvement was in the minutiae of detail could have overlooked the Jewish Question. When the attention of a Warring effort was drawn away because of the lack of rolling stock to attend to the logistics of War, the logistics of The Holocaust could not have failed to become impressed upon those concerned with the need for Trains, Transport or Personnel for that War. While the German soldier fought for Fuhrer and Fatherland, der Fuhrer deprived them of the necessary support in order to feed the Death Camps, Gas Ovens and Crematoria with the Jews of Europe.

1942 August 29th. All of Olesko’s Jews have now been murdered at Belzec.

Once an assessment has been made, that all the Jews of a certain Community have been Murdered, it heightens our awareness that an inordinate penalty has been inflicted upon the Jewish People. I agree, that one Jew Murdered is too many, and when we are reminded that entire Jewish Community’s have been obliterated from existence, the Tragedy becomes more comprehensive and fatal and not merely in scale but in the reference point that deepens the wound.

1943 Sunday, August 29th. “..two thirds and more ..Axis world’s Jewish population has been murdered ..foully ..unnaturally murdered.” Rabbi Dr. Stephen S. Wise.

A Book a Day, or so of suggested reading!

22. Sevillas, Erikkos Athens to Auschwitz.

Day 19: Mass Murder has Identified Too Many!

1941 August 28th. the entire Jewish Community of Kedainiai, we are talking about some 2,201 Jewish Men, Women and Their Children are all murdered. There are 1,349 Pasvalys Jewish Men, Women and Their Children also murdered. There are 1,000’s of Czyzewo-Szlachecki Jews murdered and some 402 of Wilkia’s Jewish Men, Women and Their Children are murdered too.

The daily assault upon the senses bears nothing in comparison to what it must have been like for these Jews of the former Community’s of Czyzewo-Szachecki, Kedainiai, Pasvalys or Wilkia. Who are we, who write solemnly of this awful tragedy, to impose our words on the Massacre of Innocent Jews? That there are some, like myself, who have chosen to add a voice to the condemnation of the period of Slaughter that is The Holocaust, it comes 70 years too late after that voice should have been heard, and more vociferously!

1942 August 28th. 14,000 of Sarny’s Jews are murdered while 10,000 of Nowy Sacz’s Jews are murdered within Belzec in a 4 day operation. Rabbi Dr. Stephen S. Wise, receives the Riegner Cable.

As Rabbi Wise, the World Jewish Congress President, (WJC), is convinced now of what he had become aware of in relation to The Final Solution, the World should have been expected to issue an unequivocal response. An escalation of a World’s abhorrence should have been expected. Mixed with that World anger, the protest should have outlined the repercussions to be had for such atrocity. The World was simply silent in its overall response, however. With this seeming acquiescence, which allows no doubt to be had that Hitler has combined all effort to destroy all traces of any Jewish Existence within Europe, and quite systematically, the World does not rebuke, the World does not demand cessation of the Slaughter. The World, on the Whole looks idly by, as more and more Jews are devoured in a systematic and calculated way.

1944 August 28th. Slovak National Uprising begins.

The inevitable demise of Hitler’s reign is fast approaching and all sovereign states look to themselves now to seek a path beyond what had been imposed upon them by Hitler and his Nazi regime. Allied to these efforts, forces are steadily pressing what remains of Germany’s Forces into an ever decreasing circle bordering Germany from the East and the West.

A Book a Day, or so of suggested reading!

21. Schleunes, Karl A The Twisted Road to Auschwitz.

Day 18: No Need to Feed the Jews!

1939 August 27th. Ration Cards ‘Lebensmittelkarten’ were issued.

So as to ensure the certain Destruction of The Jews of Germany, which could be accomplished by the means of starvation also, Jews were restricted to between 1,400/2,100 calories a week. This is not an equivalent to a daily need for most of us! Meanwhile Germany is placed on a War Footing!

1941 August 27th. some 7,000 Jews murdered at Kamanets-Podolsk while all 1,078 of Prienai’s Jewish Men, Women and Their Children are also murdered. Murdered additionally were 355 of Joniskia’s Jewish Men, Women and Their Children and so too were 212 Jews of Dagda and Kraslawa.

The sheer scale of the atrocity has the burden of detail and I make no apology for repeating the known Fact that these were Jews, Murdered because they were Jews. Murdered because of an antecedence which requires their Jewishness be worn like a trusty glove, recognised and admonished simultaneously! There has been a religious fervour added to an antisemitism which has persisted for more than 2,000 years and it is a sickness that permeates every fabric of Church and State.

1942 August 27th. 8,000 of Wieliczka’s Jews are murdered at Belzec while 6,000 of Miedzyrzec’s Jews suffocated en-route to Treblinka.

There are no limits to the suffering of the Jews of Europe! There are no limits to which Nazi authority will not descend in order to deliver for der Fuhrer the required solution to a question that is ostensibly a Jewish one! If it is difficult to imagine, be repulsed or recognise the revulsion to be felt by reading such atrocity as this, please read on because the atrocity does not abate, the horror does not relinquish its hold on our senses, nor does the terror lift the soul of those whose concern is being tested here!

1943 August 27th. the Bialystok Ghetto liquidation is completed.

Here at Bialystok, where some 30,000 Jews have been murdered, no articulation of concern can begin to comprehend what measure of Human suffering was felt by these Jews of Bialystok. I reiterate it often and state it with persistence that no measure of our own individual grief could come close to the Fact of the cumulative suffering of so many, so often and for far too long!

A Book a Day, or so of suggested reading!

20. Pressac, Jean-Claude Auschwitz: Technique and Operation Gas Chambers.

Day 17: Eichmann has Jurisdiction.

1938 August 26th. Office for Jewish Emigration, ‘Zentralstelle fur Judische Auswanderung’ established in Vienna. Decreed for the facilitating of Jewish emigration and comes under Adolf Eichmann jurisdiction.

The name of Eichmann permeates The Holocaust arena like the veritable stench of Death and Destruction. Much has been attributed to this Architect of the Genocide of The Jewish People. A radical influence of the conduct of operations against the Jews. Knowledgeable in small part about the Jews! Yet ignorant of the Fact that Genocide is crippling to the intelligence of those who seek to peruse its darker corners in order to gain sovereignty over the threshold of Life and Death of another People. Eichmann was always a small cog in a very big wheel, but his ability to command senior officials remained an invaluable asset to Hitler’s call for that final resolve.

The Final Solution sees Eichmann range throughout Europe, orchestrating the very timbre of that eventual solution, with an impunity beyond his rank, though his profile was far greater. At his Trial in Jerusalem his tone was in stark contrast to an arrogant stature on a European stage, and as he admits to the heinous nature of the Crimes he was largely guilty of progressing, there is little remorse. Forging ahead with the programme of Hitler’s Final Solutions, through varying stages leading toward the eventual Destruction of the Jews of Europe, Eichmann remained uniquely placed to decide the future of all Jews within reach of Hitler. One of the lowest ranked officials at The Wannsee Conference, it is clear his position was greatly enhanced by his Murderous expertise. When the call to annihilate 11,000,000 of World Jewry became the protocol, Eichmann was to be the auditor of the account.

“..I must state that I consider this murder ..this extermination of ..Jews ..to be one of ..most heinous crimes in ..history of mankind.” Adolf Eichmann.

1939 August 26th. Hitler guarantees neutrality of Belgium, Holland, Luxembourg and Sweden.

What we know of Hitler’s promises need not be contended with. Pledges were delivered which were broken. Treaties brokered were ignored. The direct involvement of Hitler’s word was a calculated ploy to ensure those guarantees placated those they were intended to deceive. What is clear, however, what Hitler fully intended, a conquest of the World to forward German expansion was a guaranteed certainty. What he had proposed all through his political infancy and burgeoning War cry was the Destruction of the Jewish People, both Territorially and finally, in the removal of the Jewish Person from existence.

1941 August 26th. more than 2,560 Zarasai Jewish Men, Women and Their Children are murdered while all 1,911 of Kaisiadory’s Jewish Men, Women and Their Children are also murdered. Over a 2 day period some 664 of Seduva’s Jewish Men, Women and Their Children faced the same fate, as they too are murdered. Hitler flew from his Vinnitza HQ to von Kluge’s HQ at Brest-Litovsk to add his vocal presence to the advancement of the Wehrmacht East.

The scale of the Slaughter might overwhelm the conscious mind as we attempt to comprehend and even contend with such a murderous undertaking. But all the while we must reflect solely on that aspect of The Catastrophe which Facts and figures do not relate, and that is the Human dimension of what took place, what occurred and what was forced upon the Jewish People who were systematically sought out and ritually Destroyed before the altar of Hitler’s perverse demand! I was asked by a Student body once how was it best to comprehend such a huge undertaking.

As a Football fan it was easy to see, in gate attendances, a measure of what it might mean over such a loss? If we take the 2,560 Jews of Zarasai as an example and place such a travesty in and around the Football arena, the anxiety of perhaps 10,000 or 12,000 people would be heightened over the loss of those immediately affected. The grief of an entire Community has no match here though, because there will be no one to grieve from Zarasai, no one to know of the scale of Destruction, until later, and no one to express the vibrancy of those 2,560 individuals, Murdered at the behest of Hitler, discarded by the demands of a clear hatred and left to add a dimension to atrocity we seek newer terms to comprehend its horrifying conduct.

1942 August 26th. 1,000 Belgian Jews deported East while further South 7,000 Jews are arrested in Unoccupied, Vichy France. Meanwhile, 518 Parisian Jewish Children are murdered upon arrival in Birkenau.

Brought to the attention by the studious work of Serge Klarsfeld the fate of the Jewish Children of France is a grim reminder of what an obscenity resides within the Facts and figures related to The Holocaust. Belgian Jews who had lived peaceably amongst their Neighbours are trawled from their homes and brought to non-existence by the relentless wheel of Hitlerite savagery! Vichy France, who had little in common with what happened with Occupied France had to open its doors to the German demands for the transport East of all Jews with that Territory! Nowhere was safe for Jews! No Jew was safe! Not even the Jewish Children! There is a poignancy to the Fact of those who entered the Destructive process at Auschwitz, and Gisella Perl has an enlightening insight to the horrors that prevailed.

A Book a Day, or so of suggested reading!

19. Perl, Gisella I was a Doctor in Auschwitz.

Day 16: Ha’avara exit from Germany!

1933 August 25th. Hitler now sought a wider emigration policy for the Jews of Germany. The Ha’avara Agreement Transfer of Jews from Germany to Palestine would be formally agreed between the German Ministry of Economy, and the Zionist Federation of Germany (die Zionistische Vereinigung fuer Deutschland)

1935 August 25th. Pastor Martin Niemoeller an anti-Nazi minister, preaches that the Jews are ‘The Christ Killers’ and their history is both:-

“..dark and sinister and under a curse for they brought ..Christ of God to ..cross but are also responsible for ..blood of all ..righteous men who were ever murdered.” Martin Niemoeller.

Pastor Niemoeller acknowledged too that when they had Destroyed all of the Jews, there would be no one left to defend the rights of the rest of us. History has shown that the relentless struggle against the Intolerant is not won by an indifference to the struggle of others.

1939 August 25th. Anglo Polish Alliance Treaty of mutual assistance signed.

Barely a week before Hitler’s aggression and Invasion of Poland, the timely pact between Britain and Poland signals a resolve that will eventually secure the end of Hitler’s dalliance with territorial gain and World domination. It will take approximately six more years, cost some 50 to 70 Million lives including the systematic slaughter of 6,000,000 Jews of Europe, Men, Women and Their Children.

1940 August 25th. Britain launches first air raid on Berlin.

The fight is to be brought to the door of the German people. They will be made aware that all such aggressions as Hitler forges will be met by the might of a World not weary from World War I to act in accordance with what is right. That right , with regard to support to fellow nations will be seen to lack that same effort when it comes to standing tall when faced with the realisation that All Jews, wherever they are, face Annihilation.

1941 August 25th. 1,500 Tykocin Jews are murdered while more than 2,100 Tykocin Jews will be murdered and 1,160 of Obeliai’s Jewish Men, Women and Their Children are also murdered. Meanwhile, in Belgrade 8,000 Jews are deported to Topovske Supe and are murdered. Winston Churchill hints at the emerging destruction within the Holocaust.

“..scores of thousands ..executions ..civilians ..perpetrated by German troops in ..Soviet Union” Winston Churchill.

While much of History continues to debate the exact timing of when the West, the Allies, even The Church knew of the emerging nature of The Holocaust of The Jews of Europe, Churchill acknowledges the Fact here. It clearly cannot be ignored that while Churchill was privy to Allied Intelligence, the intercepts from der Einsatzgruppe made this particular statement, an assessment that was all too categorical, given the nature of the Slaughter that faced the Jewish People in Russia! While it is not clear that Churchill is invoking the texts of der Einsatzgruppe transcripts, or that he is even referring to the Jews, it is clearly recognising what was being accomplished in Russia. When we look to the next paragraph, the Destruction of the Jewish People is being clearly undertaken, and the West obviously knew this!

1942 August 25th. 53,750 Warsaw Jews murdered at Treblinka in a 2 week period while 10,000 of Miedzyrzec’s Jews are also murdered. Taking place at this time is the Great Aktionen at Bochnia where 500 Jews are murdered in a nearby Forest. The final resolve is hindered temporarily as the Treblinka transports are halted due to an accumulation of unburied and uncremated corpses all littering the entire area.

1944 August 25th. Paris is finally liberated and Romania now declares War upon Germany.

The War is not going well for Hitler as Allied gains in Europe push the German forces steadily back toward the German Border. As we have seen, Hitler’s former axis members are jumping ship, noting, no doubt the precarious nature of the stricken hull will leave them exposed to the might – and certain victory – of the Allied Forces.

A Book a Day, or so of suggested reading!

18. Nyiszli, Miklos Auschwitz: A Doctor’s Eyewitness Account.

Day 15: An Appeal to Catholics goes unheeded!

1939 August 24th. Pope Pius XII appeals for peace.

As the prospect for War intensifies, our Pope calls for a peaceful solution to Hitler’s demands. I will remind myself, that within the depths of The Holocaust, this same Pope was not vocal enough to warrant such comment about the Slaughter of Innocent Jews. The usual output from the Vatican pertaining to this Human Tragedy was that a Pope does not become embroiled in the Political Affairs of Sovereign nations?

1941 August 24th. Hitler calls a halt to the present Euthanasia Program.

Throughout 1941, Murder operations move into wider aspects of der Einsatzgruppe aktionen and the Death Camp’s capacity is increasingly expanded.

1942 August 24th. 19,000 of Kielce’s Jews are murdered at Treblinka in a 4 day operation and Franz Paul Stangl becomes its new Kommandant. Elsewhere 1,000 of Zdunska Wola’s Jews are murdered.

Stangl is clearly brought in to increase the efficiency of The Death Camp, after bringing his expertise in Mass Murder from Sobibor. Stangl had emerged from the T4 Euthanasia programme and was a well able and proficient Slaughterer of Human Beings. And he clearly proved his worth to his Fuhrer’s programmed Final Solution.

“..Regarding ..question of ..optimum amount of people gassed in one day ..I can state ..transport ..30 freight cars ..3,000 people ..liquidated in 3 hours. When ..work lasted ..14 hours ..12,000 to 15,000 people were annihilated.” Franz Paul Stangl.

1943 August 24th. Himmler appointed Minister of Interior.

Himmler’s influence and profile is increasing exponentially! All this is without regard to his intrinsic incapability and inability to perform at such Ministerial level. His shortcomings as a Bureaucrat will be tested in the last stages of the 1,000 year Reich and clearly exposed as he takes up his position in command of Waffen SS units!

1944 August 24th. 3,000 Jews of the Mielec Labour Camp are murdered and on the War front General Dietrich von Choltitz, the German City Commandant, surrenders Paris to the approaching Allied and Free French Forces.

The clearest indications have been realised by many of Hitler’s Generals that there is very little point in continuing in any sustained fight. The inevitable tide of victory has turned solidly in Allied favour. The constriction of German Forces sees them forced gradually into retreat and a concerted front is moving relentlessly toward Germany and will corner Hitler in his last hiding place, the Berlin Bunker!

A Book a Day, or so of suggested reading!

17. Nomberg-Przytyk, Sara Auschwitz: True Tales.

Day 14: A Treaty is a Treaty is a Treaty?

1939 August 23rd. Ribbentrop and Molotov, respective Foreign Ministers for Germany and Russia, sign the ‘Treaty of Nonaggression’.

This treaty was designed to engage the Territorial demands of Stalin while Hitler prepared to launch an attack on an unsuspecting Poland. Not only that, but Hitler had in mind to make all preparations in readiness for a confrontation with Britain and France. Finally, when Victory in the West had been secured, and he had safely manoeuvred his way through Scandinavia, Hitler would turn his attentions to the major territorial prize, Russia! The World could not have expected anything less if they had managed to claw their way through his missal, his right of passage of Mein Kampf – My Struggle!

1941 August 23rd. 7,523 of Panevezys’s Jewish Men, Women and Their Children are murdered as 17,000 of Lutsk’s Jews are trudged to where they are finally murdered at Polanka Hill. This Lutsk aktion is conducted over a 4 day period. On the War front General von Paulus launches his attack on Stalingrad.

1943 August 23rd. after a week long aktion, 26,000 of Bialystok’s Jews are murdered in Auschwitz and Treblinka. Hitler suffers a reverse of fortunes in Russia when a counter stroke by the Russians mean they retake Kharkov.

Part of that Military victory is tinged with a great deal of sadness as to the pertinent fact in this whole sorry saga that some 14,000 Jews of Kharkov, Men, Women and Their Children were murdered, and this becomes apparent too late for 14,000 Human beings. I tend to labour certain aspects of this tragedy. When it comes down to any critical analysis of the statistical return we tend to argue over, it is more important that we emphasise the fact that hidden amongst the numbers are People. That they are Jewish People, whose very lives have been extinguished in the most senseless, horrible and systematic manner, has no bearing upon my involvement except in knowing what happened to them is WRONG.

My own life has been touched by an inordinate amount of grief, but I cannot begin to imagine the horror facing a Family whose entire existence is on the edge of an open abyss and that abyss is already filled with Bodies? Add to that the trauma of life aboard a Train, locked into Cattle Cars, no form of sanitation! Heat! Children crying! Dying! What can one’s own life experience, let alone tragedy, comprehend?

1944 August 23rd. the Allied forces nearing Drancy come across the Camp, which is finally liberated. Elsewhere, while Romania surrenders to the advancing Russians, Eichmann moves swiftly to deport all of Romanian Jewry.

“..By resettling ..Jews out of ..European economic area to a yet to be determined territory. In ..framework of this ..5,800,000 Jews will be affected.” Adolf Eichmann.

Romania, where some 469,632 Jews will be murdered is a point in question when we seek to discover the True cost of The Tragedy! Statistics exists which show a Pre-existent Jewish population within Romania of between 650,000 and 850,000 Jews. If that isn’t ambiguous enough, the range for those Romanian Jews Murdered varies even more starkly. For between a low estimate of 204,000 Romanian Jews Murdered there is a massive divergence rising to some 469,632 Romanian Jewish Men, Women and Their Children Murdered, or euphemistically termed ‘resettled’. All of this is without delving into that particular void that percentages of those lost against such pre-existing, somewhat unreliable figures, are even entered into? But be mindful of the Fact, 6,000,000 Jews of Europe have disappeared from the Face of Europe and that causal effect has its ramification written into the detailed fabric of The Holocaust!

A Book a Day, or so of suggested reading!

16. Nieuwsman, Milton. J Survivng Auschwitz.

Day 13: Lebensraum’s Solution!

1939 August 22nd. Hitler’s delivers his speech on the requirement for Living Space.

What Hitler fancifully calls, ‘Lebensraum,’ a basic territorial grab of lands from other States, this time, initially, it is within Poland’s borders. Here too, Hitler urges his Wehrmacht Generals toward the total eradication of the Polish People. What we are evidencing here is to be the subjugation of All Peoples, wherever Hitler divests his interest. The Destruction of World Jewry and an eradication of all those people Hitler might consider inferior!

1941 August 22nd. over a 4 day period more than 1,900 Kreis Rasainiai Jewish Men, Women and Their Children are murdered while the remaining 90 Jewish Children of Bjala-Zerkow are also murdered. Elsewhere Jews are murdered at Dunaburg and at Aglona, including Men, Women, Their Children, even the sick and the infirm. The Jasenovac Concentration Camp begins operations.

When we read through the daily account, it is difficult enough to imagine that we are looking at the Cold Blooded and Systematic nature of a Genocide. What the World Media recognises as ‘Ethnic Cleansing’ today, Hitler called The Final Solution! The end result would amount to the total Destruction of 6,000,000 Jewish, Men, Women and Their Children.

1942 August 22nd. over 40,000 of Lvov’s Jews are murdered in under a 2 week period while 10,000 of Wielun’s Jews are murdered at Chelmno and 10,000 of Siedlce’s Jews are murdered at Treblinka. At Treblinka the entire Losice Jewish Community have been murdered.

It is not too difficult to look at these words, and amidst the intonations and spaces we can discern and acknowledge that, with the introduction of The Death Camps into an emerging Jewish Catastrophe, the escalating terms are going to be punctuated by an endless stream of those Murdered. All of this acknowledgement is adding up in ever increasing dimensions toward a devastating blow to the Jews of Europe. What proliferates a language is the words used. While some speakers choose to Resurrect a Memory, or Writers Recall a Moment or the Articulate Recant a Notion that is fixed in the mindset of Historians, we simply cannot ignore the terms used to describe events in The Holocaust, or any part of History for that matter!

Resettlement can mean a myriad of details in the removal of any People to another place, but in the context of The Holocaust, it is understood to be the Slaughter of The Jews of Europe. Transport East can have meant so much for Jews from Holland, France, Belgium or any part of the Continent, but within the confines of The Holocaust, it is the Destruction of The Jews of Europe in one or all of The Death Camps. We can be ambiguous in interpreting the fundamental details of the move from a Territorial Resolve to a Destruction Solution, but we can also derive from the sheer scale and volume of that Transport, that delivery to The Death Camp could mean nothing other than total devastation for those Jews arriving East. That delivery was pre-determined. It had been calculated and it had been systematically brought about.

A Book a Day, or so of suggested reading!

15. Mueller, Filip Auschwitz Inferno.

Day 12: Prevarication is as Costly as the Indecision!

While it proved essential to not allow the World to know what The Final Solution truly meant for The Jews of Europe, Film crews followed the very path of Destruction, and while we can never be certain, Hitler must have been a witness to what was eventually screened. We know the Leni Riefenstahl was with a Film Crew following in the Blitzkrieg wake, can History allow her to have forgotten to Film what was being witnessed!

1941 August 21st. Over a 5 week period 9,012 of Dunanberg’s Jewish Men, Women and Their Children will be murdered. Roundups in France sees 4,300 Jews taken from Paris and sent to the Drancy Transit Camp culminating, over a 5 day period, with more than 70,000 Jews transiting through Drancy and toward Birkenau.

“..primary importance ..not ..capture ..Moscow ..but ..Crimea.” Adolf Hitler.

While the ablest of German Generals insist that Hitler stick to the original plan and push straight through to Moscow, Hitler prevaricated. When in fact elements of German forces had managed to reach the gates to Moscow before Hitler called a halt, he still diverts attention away from this primary goal. It is with this form of meddling, in what his Military experts were authorities in, Warfare, which allowed for the waste of German manpower and eventual gain and Hitler’s failure to lead a 1,000 year Reich past its Bloody youth!

Some people see the spectacular gains the Wehrmacht made, Poland, France, The Low Countries and they persist to credit Hitler with all gains, but never the losses. When the losses piled heaps of German bodies before the Reich door, Hitler apologists insist, as Hitler himself did, that it was the fault of others, his General’s, bad fortune or the weather. What Hitler commanded he also saw only the potential in the successes. There was no going back to his insignificant day job, a failed artist, rabble rouser and and itinerant delinquent

1942 August 21st. 3,500 Jews from Minsk Mazowiecki, Poland, are murdered at Treblinka while the Jewish community at Ozorkow, also in Poland, is murdered.

There is no relenting in the campaign to Murder all Jews within reach of Hitler’s Armies. As the seeming push for more and more gain gathers pace, the relentless pursuit of Hitler’s ‘ideological’ (sic) demand shows no sign of relinquishing its hold upon all logistical concerns brought about, even in War!

A Book a Day, or so of suggested reading!

14. Menashe, Albert Birkenau.

Day 11: One Boycott does not a Concerted Effort Make!

These are just some of the Children of Lodz. History acknowledges their presence was amongst us, the evidence is clear. What cannot be known, was the destination Chelmno or a ditch at the side of the Road. Has the ignominy of a few taken the lives for these many and discarded them?

1933 August 20th. American Jewish Congress declares boycott against Nazi Germany.

Under increasing weight of evidence that Nazis in Germany were being given a free hand to deal deliberately, with both a committed and brutal savagery, the World of Jewry was forced to act in defence of its own! The Jews of the World could not conscript its own Army, so relied upon the beneficence of Nations to do so. That charitable trust was so negated during the period of The Holocaust.

1941 August 20th. 90 Jewish Children of Bjala-Zerkow are locked up in a building on the edge of Town.

“..these were children of Jews ..Jewesses ..already ..shot.” Josef Maria Reuss.

We are reminded that Dr. Reuss was a Catholic Priest, and he had been informed by another Catholic Priest, Ernst Tewes, of the appalling conditions in which these Jewish Children were being detained and then Murdered. In all the communication that ensued, between Tewes, Reuss and then onto Generals Groscurth, Korfes and von Reichenau, none of Hitler’s Generals protested the murders as such, just the manner in which certain delays impacted upon the sensibilities of those Soldiers who witnessed these actions? But in relaying their horror to the German Command, they would have been equally strident in the protestations to their respective Churches.

1942 August 20th. The majority of Croatian Jews have been already murdered at Auschwitz while Kurt Gerstein witnesses the gassing operation at Treblinka. On the War front, General Friedrich von Paulus’s 6th Army is at Stalingrad.

The turning point in the War has now been reached. The tide has logistically turned and once Russia launches its Winter Campaign, Hitler’s legions will be battered, frozen and destroyed. Hitler’s own conceit, which did not recognise in Napoleon’s failure in Russia any ill omen, the defeat was ignored. All the signs it has to be argued, were there to assess what German might and could achieve, and it achieved massively. It had steamrollered Poland. Blitzed France and The Low Countries. Took Scandinavia and saw such unprecedented numbers of Russian POWs captured in swift succession. What could now stop the juggernaut?

1943 August 20th. 3,000 of Glebokie’s Jews are murdered after a brave Resistance.

Throughout the History of The Holocaust, individual Resistance, Group Resistance and an air of resignation has bolstered what is becoming the remnant of European Jewry. For the remnants of European Jewry to see a chance for Survival can exist, it must have raised their spirit no end. News is reaching more widely that is certain Hitler has been losing the War effort, with more and more German soldiers now paying the ultimate price of Hitler’s ineptitude. Germany is to become besieged by a rampant and justified Allied response to a Nazi evil of immeasurable cruelty. Hitler’s hatred and a Destructive Capacity all aimed at a single People, The Jewish People, will be measured in the Millions systematically Slaughtered.

A Book a Day, or so of suggested reading!

13. Mannheimer, Max. From Theresienstadt to Auschwitz.