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EVICTIONS ASSOCIATED WITH THE CREATION OF THE AUSCHWITZ CONCENTRATION CAMP “ZONE OF INTEREST”

EXPULSION OF POLISH AND JEWISH POPULATION FROM OŚWIĘCIM AND THE SURROUNDING VILLAGES

EVICTIONS ASSOCIATED WITH THE CREATION OF THE AUSCHWITZ CONCENTRATION CAMP “ZONE OF INTEREST”

Subsequent evictions were associated with the creation of the Auschwitz “zone of interest”, which started being planned at the end of 1940. The plan involved expelling the still remaining residents of the left-bank district of Oświęcim – Zasole, and especially the inhabitants of villages to the west and south-west of Oświęcim, that is: Broszkowice, Babice, Brzezinka, Pławy, Harmęże, Rajsko, Bór and Budy.

Source: A-BSMA

Plan of the Auschwitz concentration camp zone of interest.

The zone of interest was created on the initiative of the Auschwitz concentration camp commandant Rudolf Höss, who, seeking to find ways of employing prisoners, came to the conclusion that they could be made to work on the farms in the countryside if the current residents were removed. In addition to this, creating such a zone would involve expelling the Polish civilian population from territories adjacent to the camp, which would make it more difficult for prisoners to prepare escapes and maintain contacts with the outside world. There were also plans to create two training villages for “armed farmers”, who were to prepare for the future cultivation and development of land in the German East (this idea never came to fruition). Towards the end of 1940, Höss’s plans were officially approved by Heinrich Himmler.

Preparations to expel the residents of Oświęcim and neighbouring villages were carried out in the first weeks of 1941. In November, German officials accompanied by policemen carried out a census of the local population, and recorded the real estate, chattel and livestock in the villages that were to be evacuated. Next, they marked the houses with red or green crosses. After some time, the inhabitants deduced that the red crosses (on the houses of farmers) meant deportation to the General Government and the green crosses (usually on the houses those employed in the Brzeszcze coal mine or on the railway) meant resettlement in the local area. These crosses were presumably for the orientation of the policemen (or SS-men) who would later carry out the evictions. Also, in the town of Oświęcim, a committee carried out a census, and reviewed apartments with view for German settlement (after the prior eviction of the current residents).

Excerpts from the account of Józefa Paszek, née Bieżańska, a resident of Pławy:

On Saturday, 8th March 1941, all the farmers were evicted together with their families. A few days before the actual evictions, SS-men carried out a census and stocktaking of livestock and chattel. During the stocktaking, they painted red or blue [green] crosses on the walls of houses and barns. As it later turned out, the red crosses were put on the houses of farmers, who were to be deported. On the other hand, the blue [green] crosses were painted on the houses of people employed in industry, who were to be resettled in nearby towns and villages and not included in the deportation. … None of the inhabitants had been told why the census and stocktaking was being carried out. I knew about the imminent deportation, because I was informed by my brother, Jan Bieżański, who worked in the camp as a carter and learned about it there.

Source: A-BSMA, Testimonies Fond, vol. 50, p. 157.

The forcible displacements from Auschwitz and neighbouring villages were carried out gradually from the first days of March to the second half of April 1941. Various organisations were involved, including several SS settlement headquarters, the Katowice branch of the SS Race and Settlement Main Office, the Katowice Gestapo, the Katowice Regierungsbezirk Presidium, the Bielsko Landrat, various Oświęcim administrative offices and the Auschwitz concentration camp SS. Functionaries of the 83rd Reserve Police Battalion were responsible for actual eviction of the residents. The whole operation was coordinated by Rudolf Höss and the aforementioned Fritz Arlt.