Nazi Conspiracy & Aggression B. Segregation into Ghettos.
The second step was to segregate and concentrate the Jews
within restricted areas, called ghettos. This policy was
carefully worked out, as is illustrated by the confidential
statement taken from the files of Rosenberg (212-PS). This
memorandum of Rosenberg's, entitled "Directions for Handling
of the Jewish Question", states:
"The first main goal of the German measures must be
strict segregation of Jewry from the rest of the
population. In the execution of this, first of all, is
the seizing of the Jewish population by the
introduction of a registration order and -similar
appropriate measures ***."
*******
"*** All rights of freedom for Jews are to be
withdrawn. They are to be placed in ghettos and at the
same time are to be separated according to sexes. The
presence of many more or less closed Jewish settlements
in White Ruthenia and in the Ukraine makes this mission
easier. Moreover, places are to be chosen which make
possible the full use of the Jewish manpower in case
labor needs are present. These ghettos can be placed
under the supervision of a Jewish self-government with
Jewish officials. The guarding of the boundaries
between the ghettos and the outer world, is, however,
the duty of the Police. "Also, in the cases in which a
ghetto could not yet be established, care is to be
taken through strict prohibitions and similar suitable
measures that a further intermingling of blood of the
Jews and the rest of the populace does not continue." (212-PS)
In May 1941 Rosenberg, as the Reich Minister for the
Occupied Eastern Territories, issued directions confining
the Jews to ghettos in the Ukraine:
"After the customary removal of Jews from alI public
offices, the Jewish question will have to have a
decisive solution, through the institution of ghettos."
(1028-PS)
The policies set forth in the foregoing utterances of
Rosenberg t were not accidental, isolated, or the views of
one individual. They were the expressed State policies. Von
Schirach played his
[Page 986]
part in the program of ghettoization. His speech before the
European Youth Congress held in Vienna on 14 September 1942
was reported on page 2, column 2 of the Vienna edition of
the "Voelkischer Beobachter" of 15 September, as follows:
"Every Jew who exerts influence in Europe is a danger
to European culture. If anyone reproaches me with
having driven from this city, which was once the
European metropolis of Jewry, tens of thousands upon
tens of thousands of Jews into the ghetto of the East,
I feel myself compelled to reply: I see in this an
action contributing to European culture." (3048-PS)
One of the largest ghettos was within the city of Warsaw.
The official report made by SS Major General Stroop
concerning this ghetto is entitled "The Warsaw Ghetto Is No
More." (1061-PS)
The report thus describes the ghetto:
"The Ghetto thus established in Warsaw was inhabited by
about 400,000 Jews. It contained 27,000 apartments with
an average of 21/2 rooms each. It was separated from
the rest of the city by partition and other walls, and
by walling up of the thoroughfares, windows, doors,
open spaces, etc.***" (1061-PS)
Conditions within this ghetto are indicated in the statement
of the report that an average of six persons lived in every
room. (1061-PS)
Himmler received a report from the SS Brigade Fuehrer Group
A, dated 15 October 1941, which further illustrates the
establishment and operation of the ghettos. (L-180) The
report states:
"Apart from organizing and carrying out measures of
execution, the creation of ghettos was begun in the
larger towns at once during the first day of
operations. This was especially urgent in Knowno
because there were 30,000 Jews in a total population of
152,400."
"In Riga the so-called 'Moskau Suburb' was designated
as a ghetto. This is the worst dwelling district of
Riga, already now mostly inhabited by Jews. The
transfer of the Jews into the ghetto district proved
rather difficult because the Latvians dwelling in that
district had to be evacuated and residential-space in
Riga is very crowded. 24,000 of the 28,000 Jews living
in Riga have been transferred into the ghetto so far.
In creating the ghetto, the Security Police restricted
themselves to mere policing duties, while the es-
[Page 987]
tablishment and administration of the ghetto as well as
the regulation of the food supply for the inmates of
the ghetto were led to civil administration; he labor
officers were left in charge of Jewish labor.
"In the other towns with a larger Jewish population
ghettos shall be established likewise." (L-180)
Jews were forced into ghettos in the Polish Province of
Galicia. The conditions in these ghettos are described in
the report from Katzmann, Lt. General of Police, to Krueger,
General of the Police East, dated 20 June 1943, and entitled
"Solution of Jewish Question in Galicia." (L-18):
"Nothing but catastrophical conditions were found in
the ghettos of Rawa-Ruska and Rohatyn ***."
*******
"*** The Jews of Rawa-Ruska, fearing the evacuation,
had concealed those suffering from spotted fever in
underground holes. When evacuation was to start the
police found that 3,000 Jews suffering from spotted
fever lay about in 'this ghetto. In order to destroy
this center of pestilence at once every police officer
inoculated against spotted fever was called into
action. Thus we succeeded to destroy this plague-boil,
losing thereby only one officer. Almost the same
conditions were found in Rohatyn ***"
*******
"Since we received more and more alarming reports on
the Jews becoming armed in an ever increasing manner,
we started during the last fortnight in June 1943 an
action throughout the whole of the district of Galicia
with the intent to use strongest measures to destroy
the Jewish gangsterdom. Special measures were found
necessary during the action to dissolve the ghetto in
Lwow where the dug-out mentioned above had been
established. Here we had to act brutally from the
beginning, in order to avoid losses on our side; we had
to blow up, or to burn down several houses. On this
occasion the surprising fact arose that we were able to
catch about 20,000 Jews instead of 12,000 Jews who had
registered. We had to pull at least 3,000 Jewish
corpses out of every kind of hiding places; they had
committed suicide by taking poison. ***"
*******
"*** Despite the extraordinary burden heaped upon every
single SS-Police officer during these actions, mood and
[Page 988]
spirit of the men were extraordinarily good and
praiseworthy from the first to the last day ***." (L-18)
These acts of removal and slaughter were not entirely
without profit. The report continues:
"Together with the evacuation action, we executed the
confiscation of Jewish property. Very high amounts were
confiscated and paid over to the Special Staff
'Reinhard'. Apart from furniture and many textile
goods, the following amount were confiscated and turned
over to Special Staff 'Reinhard' ***
"20.952 kilograms of gold wedding rings.
The thoroughness of the looting is illustrated by an item
listing 11.73 kilograms of gold teeth and inlays. (L-18)
By the end of 1942, Jews in the General Government of Poland
had been crowded into fifty-five localities, whereas before
the German invasion there had been approximately 1,000
Jewish settlements within this same area. This fact is
reported in the 1942 Official Gazette for the General
Government, No. 94, page 665, 11 January 1942.
The
original plaintext version
of this file is available via
ftp.
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Volume
I Chapter XII
The Persecution of the Jews
(Part 5 of 14)
7 Stamp collections, complete.
1 Suit case with pocket knives.
1 basket of fountain pens and propelled pencils.
3 bags filled with rings -- not genuine.
35 wagons of furs." (L-18)