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AUSCHWITZ, AS THE LOCAL CENTRE FOR THE EXTERMINATION OF THE JEWS (MAY–AUGUST 1942)

THE EXTERMINATION OF JEWS AT AUSCHWITZ

AUSCHWITZ, AS THE LOCAL CENTRE FOR THE EXTERMINATION OF THE JEWS (MAY–AUGUST 1942)

Early in 1942, the process of concentrating Jews in the ghettos on the Polish territory occupied by Germany was in fact over. There were two major clusters of Jews in its western part, incorporated directly into the Reich. In Greater Poland (Warthegau) this was Litzmannstadt Ghetto, and in Upper Silesia (Provinz Oberschlesien) these were a number of smaller and larger ghettos, most of which were scattered in the central section of Zagłębie Dąbrowskie Basin (Sosnowiec, Czeladź, Będzin, Dąbrowa Górnicza). At this time, the German administration embarked on their gradual liquidation, yet retaining a large contingent of the Jews in the original ghettos which served to supplement the numbers of those working in the numerous forced labour camps in the area. To this end, the first extermination centre in Greater Poland was opened in Chełmno nad Nerem (Kulmhof) in December 1941. It had Jews considered “unproductive”, and posing a burden on the German system of provisioning, brought from all over the Warthegau region.

Initially, there was no such camp in Upper Silesia. Nevertheless, the German authorities in the local area, especially the civil servants in the Gestapo headquarters in Katowice and the Sosnowiec headquarters of Schmelt, already knew that Jews could be sent for extermination to Auschwitz, which had both gas chambers and methods for mass cremation (or burial) of corpses at its disposal. Talks concerning the matter must have been conducted with Commandant Höss as early as in the spring of 1942. It is also known that lists of those to be deported began to be drafted in the ghettos late in April. The resettlement campaign proper began on 12 May; by the end of August around 30,000 Jews were transported from the ghettos of the Zagłębie Region to Auschwitz.

Portrait of a married couple with a baby boy. Their heads are turned towards each other. Faces smiling, gaze directed towards the lens. The family dressed elegantly, the man in a suit with a star of David sewn on it with the word

Sara and Icchak Małach with their son Abraham (b. 1937), Będzin, 29 December 1942. During the war, the family remained in the city’s ghetto, from where they were deported to Auschwitz. None of them survived the Holocaust.

Source: A-BSMA

A woman and two children sitting on a bench. Behind them two women. In the background a meadow, a fence, trees.

A photograph of the Broder and Kohn family, taken by Elie Broder in Będzin in 1939. First row, left to right: Dawid Kohn, Hadasa Broder, and Renia Kohn; with Bronka Kohn above left. They were all deported from the Będzin ghetto to the camp in Auschwitz, where they were murdered. Standing top right is the childminder. Elie Broder was the only member of the family to survive the Holocaust.

Source: A-BSMA

Numbers of Jews in individual ghettos of the Upper Silesian Province before and after deportations to Auschwitz:

The total number of Jews in the various ghettos in the Province of Upper Silesia in the period from 1 May 1942 to 20 August 1942 declined from 85,957 to 61,334.

Source: AP Katowice, RK 2779, p. 4. Statistische Angaben den Stadt der jüd. Bevölkerung Regierungsbezirk Kattowitz, Sosnowitz 24 August 1942. As stated in the document, the data do not cover the last few transports from August 1942.

The Jews arriving in these transports did not undergo selection, but were all killed immediately on arrival in the camp, primarily in the gas chambers of Bunker I. However, due to its limited capacity, some of those sentenced to death were at times walked to Auschwitz and murdered in its gas chamber at Crematorium I. Later their bodies were transported to mass graves on the edge of the forest in Birkenau and buried.