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Memo of May 17, 1943
Contemporary Source

1943-05-15 Opera and Gas-Chamber: Italian Fascist Delegation’s Visit to Nazi-Occupied Minsk

Between 20 and 29 September 1942, an Italian delegation led by Fascist Party secretary Aldo Vidussoni traveled from Milan through Litzmannstadt, Brest-Litowsk, Minsk, and Kharkov, reaching Millerovo near Rostov. Vidussoni’s account, recorded in Mussolini’s Secretariat documents, notes that “in Minsk, at the Opera Theater, we saw the belongings of thousands and thousands of murdered Jews piled up” and that “what struck the Italians the most was the method of killing”. In mid-May 1943, the German Foreign Office learnt about the incident from a report that Wilhelm Kube, the Generalkommissar for Belarus, had shown the Italian fascist delegation in Minsk “a gas chamber where the killing of Jews was supposedly carried out.” At the time, in September 1942, homicidal gas vans were actively operating near Minsk.

Memo of 8 July 1942
Contemporary Source

1942-07-08 Iron and Fuel: Sonderkommando Kulmhof’s Negotiations with the Ghetto Lodz Administration on Supplies for Extermination Operations

On 8 July 1942, Albert Plate from the Sonderkommando Kulmhof discussed with the Ghetto Lodz Administration regarding the supply of cement, iron girders, and railroad tracks necessary for constructing open-air cremation furnaces in the forest camp of the extermination site. The Sonderkommando required a total of 30 tons of iron. In turn, Plate committed provision of 2,000 kg of diesel fuel to the Ghetto Lodz Administration to fuel the trucks used for transporting the belongings of murdered Jews to the sorting camp in Pabianice. Later, Ghetto Administration head Hans Biebow confirmed with Sonderkommando leader Hans Bothmann that they would receive 5,000 liters each of gasoline and diesel fuel.

Memo of October 18, 1944
Contemporary Source

1944-10-18 Insights from RSHA Memo: Polish people “fear that they, similar to the Jewish people, are to be annihilated in their ethnic substance”

Memo by SS-Sturmbannführer Herbert Strickner, head of RSHA Department III (Volkstum, or Ethnicity), analyzing occupation policy from 1939 to 1944 and outlining considerations for reorganizing Polish policy. The document, dated October 18, 1944, explores various approaches to manage the Polish population, with a particular focus on the Generalgouvernement. Strickner notes that “a final and official decision on the ultimate fate of the Polish people was not reached” and the Polish people “fear that they, similar to the Jewish people, are to be annihilated in their ethnic substance.”

Report of the Cash Office of Operation Reinhardt
Contemporary Source

1944-01-05 Report of the Cash Office of Operation Reinhardt

Operation Reinhardt (also Reinhard), a Nazi campaign to exterminate Jews in the Generalgouvernement region of occupied Poland, systematically seized the property of Jewish victims. According to a report by the Cash Office of Operation Reinhardt, a total of 178,745,960.59 Reichsmarks (RM) was confiscated from April 1, 1942, to December 15, 1943. The report is a supplementary to the report by Odilo Globocnik on the Economic Part of Operation Reinhard enclosed to his letter to the Reichsführer-SS Heinrich Himmler dated January 5, 1944.

Letter from April 16, 1942
Contemporary Source

1943-04-16 A Missing Drive Belt Unveils Łódź Ghetto Administration’s Complicity in Chełmno Operations

On April 16, 1943, Hans Biebow, head of the Nazi’s Łódź (Litzmannstadt) Ghetto Administration, penned a letter to Friedrich Ribbe regarding the retrieval of a “transmission belt” promised by Sonderkommando Kulmhof. His letter contained a revealing remark that inadvertently exposed the Ghetto Administration’s complicity in the Chełmno extermination process: “The Gestapo has us to thank that the operation out there in K[ulmhof] ran smoothly.” Biebow urged Ribbe to discuss the issue with Alfons Rosse, the deputy head of the Gestapo in Litzmannstadt. Ribbe’s inquiry revealed that the transmission belt is no longer available, as it has been taken by SS-Standartenführer Paul Blobel, the commander of Aktion 1005.

Radio message of July 15, 1942
Contemporary Source

1942-07-15 Flamethrower Requested by Blobel for Mass Grave Disposal Trials at Chełmno Extermination Camp

On 15 July 1942, SS-Obersturmbannführer Ernst Fick, commander of the Sennheim training camp, requested a portable flamethrower unit from the SS Cavalry Brigade at the Waffen-SS training camp in Dębica to be provided to SS-Standartenführer Paul Blobel’s Sonderkommando 1005. Blobel subsequently tested the effectiveness of the flamethrower for corpse disposal at the Chełmno/Kulmhof extermination camp.

Recorded Radio Message of September 15, 1942
Contemporary Source

1942-09-15 Auschwitz Delegation Visits Chełmno / Kulmhof: Inspection of Field Ovens and Discussion on Implementation at Auschwitz

According to a radio message from September 15, 1942 and a trip report dated September 17, 1942, on 16 September 1942, a delegation from Auschwitz — consisting of Commandant SS-Obersturmbannführer Rudolf Höß, SS-Untersturmführer Franz Hößler, who was responsible for clearing mass graves, and SS-Untersturmführer Walther Dejaco from the Central Construction Office — visited Litzmannstadt to inspect “the test station for field ovens as part of Aktion Reinhard”, i.e. the open air cremation furnaces at the Kulmhof / Chełmno extermination camp The group examined the “special facility” and discussed its implementation at Auschwitz with SS-Standartenführer Paul Blobel. Blobel also ordered the delivery of “construction materials” and reserved a “ball mill for substances for Auschwitz concentration camp.”

Affidavit of Franz Bock on Chelmno extermination camp
Contemporary Source

1942-05-05 Franz Heinrich Bock’s Diary on the Deportation of Jews to Chełmno / Kulmhof Extermination Camp

Between 1940 and 1942, Franz Heinrich Bock served as Mayor and Official Commissioner of the Polish village of Poddębice. During this period, he kept a detailed diary documenting his experiences in Nazi occupied Poland, which was later published in 1961 under the pseudonym Alexander Hohenstein, with names of people and places changed (Poddębice became “Poniatowec”). On May 12, 1942, Bock described the visit of an SS officer to Poddębice, who came to oversee the collection of belongings left behind by the deported Jews. During their conversation, the SS officer disclosed that the Jews were killed in “specially constructed trucks” that “quickly and painlessly” kill those inside. The following day, Bock traveled to the Łódź Ghetto Administration to negotiate financial compensation for the deportation.

Memo from Janisch June 28, 1943 on Auschwitz Cremation Capacity
Contemporary Source

1943-06-28 Central Construction Office Report on Auschwitz’ Cremation Capacity: “Total for 24-hour Operation: 4,756 Persons”

On June 28, 1943, the Central Construction Office Auschwitz wrote a report addressed to the SS-WVHA on the completion of the third crematorium at Auschwitz-Birkenau. The document was written by SS-Untersturmführer Josef Janisch and prepared for the signature of SS-Sturmbannführer Karl Bischoff, head of the office. According to the report, Crematoria II and III each had the ability to cremate “1,440 persons” per day, while Crematoria IV and V could handle “768 persons” per day. Combined with the older crematorium at Auschwitz I, the camp’s total daily capacity reached “4,756 persons”.

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