Newsgroups: alt.revisionism,soc.history,soc.culture.jewish,soc.culture.netherlands,soc.culture.polish
Subject: Holocaust Calendar: May 16
From: Ken McVay 
Followup-To: alt.revisionism
X-Remember: http://www.nizkor.org

[Follow-ups set]

May 16

1942

Becker, the operator of vans used to gas Jewish victims,
complains to Rauff, the head of the technical section of Amt
II of the RSHA, that the Sauer vans skid off the road in wet
weather, and can only be used when the road is completely
dry. Becker describes the camouflaging of the vans as house-
trailers, but notes that the vans became so well known in
the area that the people referred to them as "death vans."
(501-PS) (NCA II, 275-6)

1943

The Warsaw ghetto uprising comes to an end
as the Germans blow up the main synagogue on Tlomackie
Street as a symbol of their victory. SS Gruppenfuehrer
(Major General) Juergen Stroop reports that "the Warsaw
ghetto no longer exists." According to (probably
inflated) German figures, 14,000 Jews are killed during
the uprising and liquidation. Of the 56,000 who
reportedly surrender at the end, 7,000 are shot
immediately and the remainder are sent to concentration
camps. According to Polish underground estimates, the
Germans suffer 400 dead in the fighting. Although the
uprising is crushed, some Jews are able to continue to
hide out in the bunders in the rubble of the ghetto, and
sporatic fighting continues until mid-July. (USHMM 1993, 33-34)


1944
----

At 4 A.M. Dutch SS and police arrest individuals
with the characteristics of Gypsies. More than five
hundred people are imprisoned at Westerbork transit camp:
three hundred of them are classified as Gypsies, and
about 245 individuals are classified as "asocials." On
May 19, 245 of the prisoners are sent to Auschwitz, of
whom thirty survive. At Westerbork the prisoners' heads
are shaven, delousing occurs, and money, property, and
jewelry are confiscated. In late July seventy-two male
Dutch Gypsy prisoners are transported to Buchenwald, and
thirty-five female Durch Gypsies are sent to Ravensbrueck
concentration camp. A total of sixteen female and
fourteen male Roma and Sinti from the Netherlands survive
the war. (USHMM 1994, 42)

A complete lockup (Lagersperre) of the Gypsy camp BIIe at
Birkenau is ordered. The first SS attempt to liquidate
the Gypsy camp begins at 7 P.M. and fails because of
armed resistance by Roma and Sinti prisoners. Armed with
knives,shovels, wooden sticks, and stones, the Gypsies
resist the armed SS, who withdraw. (Ibid.)

The United Nations War Crimes Commission adopts
recommendations for its members on measures to capture
war criminals, including the compilation of lists of such
criminals and the need for the Allies to arrest all
members of the "SS and Gestapo" upon surrender. (USHMM 1994, 43)



                         Work Cited
                              
NCA II. Office of the United States Chief of Counsel for
Prosecution of Axis Criminality. Nazi Conspiracy and
Aggression, Volume II. Washington: United States Government
Printing Office, 1946

USHMM (United States Holocaust Memorial Museum). Fifty
Years Ago: Revolt Amid the Darkness: Days of Remembrance,
April 18-25, 1993. Washington, D.C.: 1993

USHMM (United States Holocaust Memorial Museum). Fifty
Years Ago: Darkness Before Dawn: Days of Remembrance, April
3-10, 1994. Washington, D.C.: 1994

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