Holocaust Memoir Reading- Inside The Gas Chamber: 8 Months in the Sonderkommando of Auschwitz

Hey all. The latest memoir that I have been reading is, "Inside the Gas Chambers: Eight Months in the Sonderkommando of Auschwitz" by Shlomo Venezia. 

The Sonderkommando was a specific group of individuals who were assigned to remove, burn and clean-up after the innocent victims that the Nazis gassed. Mr. Venezia was on the Sonderkommando. He assisted the Jewish victims before their death, removed hair or any other "useful" parts of the victim's body,  burned/ ground up the bones of the victims and cleaned up any other evidence which would have been suspicious to the next group of innocent victims.

A Holocaust Survivor, David Olere's artistic depictions of the work of the Sonderkommando.

Links for further research: 

1. http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Holocaust/Sonderkommando.html

2. http://www.yadvashem.org/yv/en/education/newsletter/29/photographs_sonderkommando.asp

3. http://www.holocaustresearchproject.org/revolt/sonderevolt.html

4. http://hmd.org.uk/resources/stories/hmd-2016-sonderkommando
5. https://www.ushmm.org/research/publications/academic-publications/full-list-of-academic-publications/inside-the-gas-chambers-eight-months-in-the-sonderkommando-of-auschwitz

Night Witches

"Night Witches", also known as Nachthexen, were female military aviators for the 588th Night Bomber Regiment of the Soviet Air Force. They flew harassment bombing and precision bombing missions against the German military from 1942 to the end of the war. The regiment flew over 23,000 sorties and is said to have dropped 3,000 tons in bombs. The most highly decorated unit of the Soviet Air-Force, each pilot flew over 1,000 missions by the end of the war and 23 individuals on the crew were awarded the Hero of the Soviet Union. 

Commanders: 

Yevdokiya Bershanskaya—Regimental Commander

Yevgeniya Zhigulenko, Hero of the Soviet Union—Flight Commander

Tat'yana Makarova, Hero of the Soviet Union—Flight Commander

Nina Ul'yanenko, Hero of the Soviet Union—Flight Navigator

Notable Members:

• Vera Bjelik
• Rufina Gasheva
• Polina Gelman
• Natalya Meklin
• Nadezhda Popova
• Yevgeniya Rudneva
• Irena Sebrova

                                                   Senior Lieutenant Yevgeniya Redneva. 

Nazi Euthanasia

From their earliest days of power, beginning in 1933, the Nazis began to target minority groups like the mentally and physically disabled. Unable to fully provide and defend for themselves, the group which arguably needs the most support and protection from society, was murdered and robbed of their unalienable human rights.

In 1933, the "Law for the Prevention of Genetically Diseased Offspring" and the "Law Against Dangerous Habitual Criminals" were introduced and enacted. These laws forced eugenics (sterilization) of an estimated 200,000 to 350,000 individuals by 1939 and made the definition and characterization of mental illness fuzzier.

Early forms of euthanasia included, the killings of deformed newborns by Karl Brandt, Philip Bouhler and Viktor Brack. By the summer of 1939, the 'Reich Committee for the Scientific Registering of Serious Hereditary and Congenital Illnesses' was established and all practitioners and midwives were required to report every case of "deformed" newborns.

In October of 1939, the slaughter of children expanded to the murder of adults. Killings took place in mobile killing buses, gas chambers and even shootings. The justification for these killings were to provide "mercy" for "life unworthy of life".

This is a typical Nazi propaganda poster. The photo shows a mentally of physically disabled child being held up by, what is assumed, their caretaker. This paints the image that they are a burden, not only to those who must care for them but for, German society as a whole. 

A group of mentally or physically disabled children awaiting to hear the verdict of their eugenics case at a German courthouse. 

  

Hadamar, one of the eugenic killing centers. 

One of the mobile killing buses. The victims were driven around the countryside and gassed to death. 

This is the last child murdered through euthanasia at the Kaufbeuren-Irsee euthanasia center. 

For a more detailed look into Nazi Euthanasia, I recommend: 

1. http://www.holocaustresearchproject.org/euthan/index.html

2. https://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/article.php?ModuleId=10005200

3. http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Holocaust/t4.html

4. http://hmd.org.uk/education/case-study-t4-euthanasia-programme

Note: Thank you to the Holocaust Research Project for providing content for this article. 

Child of the Kindertransport

Henry Foner was a child of the Kindertransport. A rescue missions to ensure the safety of thousands of Jewish children. The postcards below were sent from Foner's father, up until his deportation to Auschwitz, where he was murdered a week later.

                                 
                                    Henry Foner, the child recipient of his father's postcards. 

Links for further research:
1. Yad Vashem: http://www.yadvashem.org/
2. United States Holocaust Memorial Museum:  http://www.ushmm.org/
3. Jewish Virtual Library: http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/

Final Diary Entry of Anne Frank

On this day in history, Anne Frank wrote her final diary entry in which she expressed her hope for humanity and her belief that although there were individuals who committed the unspeakable, there was still a reason to hope and it is the goodness that still lived within society and within humans.

The final diary entry, written on August 1st, 1944:

"Dearest Kitty,

"A bundle of contradictions" was the end of my previous letter and is the beginning of this one. Can you please tell me exactly what "a bundle of contradictions" is? What does "contradiction" mean? Like so many words, it can be interpreted in two ways: a contradiction imposed from without and one imposed from within.

The former means not accepting other people's opinions, always knowing best, having the last word; in short, all those unpleasant traits for which I'm known. The latter, for which I'm not known, is my own secret.

As I've told you many times, I'm split in two. One side contains my exuberant cheerfulness, my flippancy, my joy in life and, above all, my ability to appreciate the lighter side of things. By that I mean not finding anything wrong with flirtations, a kiss, an embrace, an off-colour joke. This side of me is usually lying in wait to ambush the other one, which is much purer, deeper and finer. No one knows Anne's better side, and that's why most people can't stand me.

Oh, I can be an amusing clown for an afternoon, but after that everyone's had enough of me to last a month. Actually, I'm what a romantic movie is to a profound thinker – a mere diversion, a comic interlude, something that is soon forgotten: not bad, but not particularly good either.

I hate having to tell you this, but why shouldn't I admit it when I know it's true? My lighter, more superficial side will always steal a march on the deeper side and therefore always win. You can't imagine how often I've tried to push away this Anne, which is only half of what is known as Anne-to beat her down, hide her. But it doesn't work, and I know why.

I'm afraid that people who know me as I usually am will discover I have another side, a better and finer side. I'm afraid they'll mock me, think I'm ridiculous and sentimental and not take me seriously. I'm used to not being taken seriously, but only the "light-hearted" Anne is used to it and can put up with it; the "deeper" Anne is too weak. If I force the good Anne into the spotlight for even fifteen minutes, she shuts up like a clam the moment she's called upon to speak, and lets Anne number one do the talking. Before I realize it, she's disappeared.

So the nice Anne is never seen in company. She's never made a single appearance, though she almost always takes the stage when I'm alone. I know exactly how I'd like to be, how I am… on the inside. But unfortunately I'm only like that with myself. And perhaps that's why-no, I'm sure that's the reason why I think of myself as happy on the inside and other people think I'm happy on the outside. I'm guided by the pure Anne within, but on the outside I'm nothing but a frolicsome little goat tugging at its tether.

As I've told you, what I say is not what I feel, which is why I have a reputation for being boy-crazy as well as a flirt, a smart aleck and a reader of romances. The happy-go-lucky Anne laughs, gives a flippant reply, shrugs her shoulders and pretends she doesn't give a darn. The quiet Anne reacts in just the opposite way. If I'm being completely honest, I'll have to admit that it does matter to me, that I'm trying very hard to change myself, but that I I'm always up against a more powerful enemy.

A voice within me is sobbing, "You see, that's what's become of you. You're surrounded by negative opinions, dismayed looks and mocking faces, people, who dislike you, and all because you don't listen to the advice of your own better half."

Believe me, I'd like to listen, but it doesn't work, because if I'm quiet and serious, everyone thinks I'm putting on a new act and I have to save myself with a joke, and then I'm not even talking about my own family, who assume I must be sick, stuff me with aspirins and sedatives, feel my neck and forehead to see if I have a temperature, ask about my bowel movements and berate me for being in a bad mood, until I just can't keep it up anymore, because when everybody starts hovering over me, I get cross, then sad, and finally end up turning my heart inside g out, the bad part on the outside and the good part on the inside, and keep trying to find a way to become what I'd like to be and what I could be if… if only there were no other people in the world.

Yours, Anne M. Frank"

Gisella Perl

Gisella Perl was a successful Jewish gynaecologist in Romania during the 1930's and 1940's. In the year of 1944, she was taken to Auschwitz where she was known to treat women with kindness and compassion. Her job was to report all pregnancies to Dr. Josef Mengele, "The Angel of Death". Once the inhumane and horrible medical experiments given to pregnant women were uncovered, Perl vowed that there would never again be a pregnant woman in Auschwitz. Such experiments were torture and being thrown alive into the crematorium. She began to perform abortions in order to preserve as much life as possible. 

Here are a few links for further research: 

1. In the Matter of Joseph Mengele, Pg# 83: 

https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Holocaust/osimengele.pdf

Gerda Weissmann Klein

Gerda Weissmann Klein was born on May 8th, 1924 in Bielsko, Poland. Her life suddenly changed when the Germans invaded Poland in 1939. She is the only survivor of her family and group of friends.

In 1942, Gerda was separated from her father (who was murdered that following April in an extermination camp) and survived a selection where she was also separated from her mother (who was selected for death). Klein survived Bolkenhain, Márzdorf, Landeshut and Grünberg. At the end of the war, Gerda witnessed the death of her friend, Ilse, while on the 350-mile death march.  She was only one of the 120 women who survived out of the original 4,000.

On May 7th, 1945, the surviving prisoners of the death march were liberated. One of the liberators was Lt. Kurt Klein. Lt. Klein could relate to the group of survivors he had just liberated because his own parents died in Auschwitz. Once anti-semetism began to escalate in pre-war Germany, Klein's parents sent their children to America, in the hope that they would have a better future. In 1942, he joined the U.S. Army which eventually led him to Gerda.

On June 18th, 1946, Kurt and Gerda Klein were married in Paris. After 54 years of marriage and three children, Kurt Klein passed in 2002. Gerda Weissmann Klein is now the author of a Holocaust memoir, "All But My Life", a humanitarian, a human rights activist, the founder of Citizenship Counts and a Presidential Medal of Freedom recipient.

Links for further research: 

1. https://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/media_oi.php?ModuleId=10005131&MediaId=1134

2. https://jwa.org/encyclopedia/article/klein-gerda-weissmann

3. http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/biography/gerdawklein.html

4. http://www.tolerance.org/kit/one-survivor-remembers