Keeping the functioning of Auschwitz in secrecy

Transcript of the podcast

Although the SS took various measures to keep the functioning of the camp secret, especially when Auschwitz became both a concentration and extermination camp, news about the camp got out. Dr. Piotr Setkiewicz, the head of the Museum Research Centre, talks about how information about Auschwitz was able to reach the world.

As an extermination centre, Auschwitz was located quite atypically, unlike other extermination centres such as Sobibór, Bełżec or Treblinka, which were situated in the middle of nowhere, in forested areas. How did the camp authorities ensure that news about Auschwitz and the Extermination did not leak out beyond the camp?

A considerable number of people lived around the camp who may not have had an exact insight into what transpired at Auschwitz or Birkenau; however, following the various activities of the extermination centre, they could have figured out without any doubt what was truly going on inside the camp. Here, I’m referring specifically to the inhabitants of the town of Oświęcim, including the Polish people, as well as and German settlers who were brought to Oświęcim, as well as the substantial group of forced labourers and German specialists to relocated to the city to work on the construction of the huge IG Farben chemical factory. So, it was a fundamentally different quality compared to camps like Treblinka, where the witnesses to the extermination, besides the perpetrators, the SS men themselves, could only be the inhabitants of a few surrounding villages numbering a few hundred people, privy to or aware of what was going on there. However, in Oświęcim, the inhabitants were primarily the SS men and their families, officers or senior NCOs with their families, Poles living in the town and the Germans. Over time, IG Farben brought numerous civilian workers to Oświęcim from France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Norway, Italy, etc. These people also lived near the camp, which meant they could observe or see the flames coming out of the crematoria chimneys, smell the stench of burning bodies and observe the daily work of the prisoners at the factory site from a distance of literally a few dozen metres.

Moreover, these people had the opportunity to talk to their relatives, visit them, and travel for festive occasions, for example - this was true of the French or Belgian workers - so it was simply impossible to keep what was happening at Auschwitz secret under these conditions. Therefore, the inhabitants of the surrounding towns and villages should certainly be included. This applies to Chełmek, Libiąż, Bieruń and Brzeszcze, which are a few kilometres from Auschwitz. Take Libiąż, for example, a town situated on a hill some 10 kilometres from Auschwitz, and from which one could see pretty clearly whether it was smoke or clouds of smoke emanating almost daily from the Birkenau site. Also, if anyone believed it was possible to keep the mass atrocities committed at Auschwitz secret, that would certainly be a sign of gullibility, as it was indeed impossible. Additionally, the Birkenau camp was also close to the railway station and the railway line leading from Oświęcim to Czechowice. Later still, trains arrived there, heading towards Vienna. According to the 1944 timetable, 15 trains passed through this railway line daily in both directions. A total of 30 passenger train carriages and passengers on these trains had the opportunity to peer into Birkenau and see the crematoria chimneys from less than a kilometre away. This, too, undoubtedly sparked and continues to spark scepticism, as evidenced by accounts. Indeed, these passengers included Germans, Poles and other travellers. These individuals also had the opportunity to directly witness the camp site, something that was perhaps afforded only to the civilian workers employed by the German companies in the camp expansion.

Here is a fascinating fragment of an account or entry in the parish book of the Salesian Fathers' Institution in Oświęcim from 1944, which illustrates what Oświęcim looked like back then at the peek of the so-called Hungarian action, i.e. the extermination of Hungarian Jews.

I quote: "Mass burning of corpses occurs in the concentration camp. They poison entire transports of Jews with gases. Today, clouds of smoke drift across the ground in the low cloud ceiling and humid air. The city is engulfed in a noxious stench, even with the pyres burning kilometres away. Walking around the city is unpleasant. The unbearable odour even squeezes into the flats, and an after-dinner stroll is impossible. So terribly suffocating is the stench of burnt bodies."

Taking this into account, did the camp authorities employ any measures in their documentation to disguise the truth about the camp?

Yes, many cryptonyms and euphemisms were employed that referred directly to carrying out either executions or mass murders in the gas chambers in such a way as to conceal the procedure, at least formally. These euphemisms were applied during the deportation of people to Auschwitz, which shows that the German authorities, particularly the police and the Gestapo, were aware of what it meant to deport a free person or a group of people to a concentration camp, especially if they were Jews. In the early days of the mass extermination at Auschwitz, in 1942, the German police units in Silesia dispatched alongside Jews who had been recognised in the local ghettos in the area of Zagłębie Dąbrowskie, people who had previously committed all sorts of offences. They were dispatched together with old people, children and pregnant women to Auschwitz for "special treatment", as such was the heading of these documents – “Sonderbehandlung”, additionally bearing the symbol "4B4", that is, it was pronounced by the Reich Main Security Office, which, under the command of Adolf Eichmann, was charged with organisation of the extermination and deportation of Jews to the camps. Furthermore, for crimes such as the removal of the Star of David, for hiding or helping Jews transferred from the areas of the General Government to the ghettos in Upper Silesia and Zagłębie Dąbrowskie, as well as for illegal slaughter, for various petty thefts, etc., all these people were included in the transports bound for extermination, as evidenced by the note "Sonderbehandlung" indicating that they were to receive special treatment.

Additionally, other euphemisms, such as evacuation, were also employed. These Jews are to be evacuated. Jews who do not turn up in the ghetto square to be sent to forced labour should expect to be evacuated. By all indications, this was a clear-sounding warning and threat to the Jews in the ghetto. Resettlement is also mentioned as one of the several euphemisms used. Regarding the German documents, one may get the impression that it was almost amusing for the SS or Gestapo to invent them. They were aware of the purpose of these deportations, and it was a game for them to coin up unique expressions, which were apparently the subject of some jokes. These formulations are also abundant in documents related to the deportation of Jews to the camps and those created in the camps. For example, when organising the supply of Zyklon B gas to Auschwitz, in the telegrams relating to the departure of the lorries which were to transport the Zyklon B gas to the camp, it is stated that a lorry should be sent to the factory where the Zyklon B gas was produced to bring material for the “resettlement of the Jews”. Furthermore, the camp administration records also mention the compilation of a list of items that remained in the camp following the displacement action of the Jews – “Judenumsiedlung”, such as watches and shaving razors. Finally, in various official opinions or applications for decorations of outstanding merit for certain SS men who were directly involved in the looting of Jews deported to Auschwitz explicitly, it is mentioned that they will receive some medal or cross for participating in the various resettlement actions and thus contributing to the success of these actions through their prudent attitude.

Here, we have another application for a decoration intended for an SS man who was involved in the "Umsiedlungen" resettlement efforts and played a significant role in ensuring its successful execution. This likely refers to an SS man stationed at the ramp or crematorium, actively working to dispel the notion among deported Jews that they would be killed imminently. Perhaps this SS man was making all sorts of speeches or addresses to the deportees, saying: “behold, you have arrived at Auschwitz. And all those who are fit for work will be employed, and in general, after bathing, after disinfection, you will go to a nice camp to clean and functionally equipped barracks”. Additionally, based on these euphemisms and formulations discovered in German documents, the true nature of the actions carried out by the SS men and the specific activities they were engaged in becomes readily apparent. The most common phrase masking the killing of people in the camp was perhaps all kinds of expressions containing the prefix 'Sonder', meaning special. It usually referred to special actions and was probably the most popular word to describe the selection and killing of Jews in the gas chambers, as it is found in documents and even in some private records of SS men who, for some reason, presumably preferred to use this kind of expression even in their diaries and memoirs. One also comes across the expression or phrase “special task.” This phrase appeared in the warnings that SS men had to sign at Auschwitz, warnings against disclosing official secret. "Sonderauftrag", which means special task. If I disobey the order to keep the events at Auschwitz secret, I may even be sentenced to death for treason.

Finally, it can be seen here that documents of this kind were only presented for signature to SS men who participated in the selections on the ramp or were in the immediate vicinity at the time. Here, I am referring specifically to those employed in the Canada commando because not all SS men in Auschwitz had to sign this kind of pledge, this document from 1940, but only those SS men who could be in the vicinity of the gas chambers or crematoria during the selection. Besides, such phrases can be found in the correspondence of German companies that performed various types of work at the camp. One of them stated, for example, that they had to take frequent breaks because of the regular implementation of special actions or “Sondermaßnahmen” near the locations where the company conducted its construction work. The simple truth, however, is that at such times, these civilians or foremen who supervised the prisoners' work had to be led out or removed from the places associated with the extermination. The main issue here is the makeshift gas chambers at the time. Also, the company had a problem. How should they account for the working days of such workers? Accordingly, the company asked the authorities what it should do, as these special actions often interrupt work. Additionally, in correspondence relating to the construction or extension of the gas chambers, one can come across expressions alluding to the fact that special talks “Sondergesprache” were held at the time. The camp's construction office set aside a group of prisoners to work on immediate projects "Maßnahmen.” Finally, even in such a collection of documents as the files of the camp dental station, it is also mentioned that an SS man came to Auschwitz from Berlin and instructed the head of the dental station to carry out “special tasks”, which presumably involved removing gold teeth from the corpses of the murdered and then processing and melting them into bars and taking record of them. Then again, the camp documentation has quite a few such expressions. However, at a slightly higher level, the more common phrase is “migration” or “wandering”.

At a higher level, the Berlin level, and no longer centred around camp documents.

Yes, yes, I am referring to the highest authorities, including the Reichsführer himself, Heinrich Himmler, who mentioned, for example, that when he gave the order to send a large group of Jews to Auschwitz instead of Soviet prisoners of war, he formulated it in such a way that these Jews should be selected from among those who had just been evacuated. On another occasion, during a discussion at the Ministry of Armaments and Munitions, when the camp authorities were trying to ensure a steady flow of workforce to Birkenau, it was said that this was the time when the “Ostwanderung”, the journey of the Jews to the East, was underway. Due to the needs of the war economy, they decided that some of these Jews should be left in Birkenau and, as such, interrupt their journey or migration to the East. Finally, the SS correspondence also included phrases that are perhaps most commonly associated with the mass killing of Jews in the gas chambers, i.e., the term “final solution to the Jewish question”, which, admittedly, also appeared rarely. In other words, the summary construction report, which states in its introduction what Auschwitz was in the past, mentions that Auschwitz was initially intended to be a quarantine camp but soon became a standard concentration camp run by the Reich authorities and that recently, the final solution to the Jewish question has also been carried out, is being carried out, at Auschwitz. These formulations are also abundant and used at various levels. As it seems, none of the SS men had trouble recognising the correct nature of the events described using such terms because they all knew what was happening anyway.

You mentioned that from 1942 onwards, SS men had to sign statements pledging to keep secret what they witnessed in the camp. However, the SS garrison members was also leaking this information outside the camp. In what instances did this occur?

One can only assume that such cases must have been quite prevalent. I mean, well, on the one hand, the SS men were warned repeatedly to keep what they witnessed at Auschwitz secret, be it in private conversations or informal situations when speaking to civilians. Nevertheless, this warning was occasionally disregarded, such as during extravagant social functions. And here again, one can find references to this in the SS correspondence or the personal files of the SS men. Thus, for example, SS man Ludwig Damm, who was on leave, "during a meeting with the civilian population", as mentioned in the related criminal report against him, "described ways of solving the Jewish question in Auschwitz, which may have aroused justified anxiety among the local population". This is how it was formulated. So, on the one hand, it is stated that the SS man committed a crime; however, the incident was treated leniently, as he was only severely reprimanded regarding the impropriety of his conduct. Presumably, this SS man in civilian attire was the mayor of a small town in Rhineland-Palatinate. We also know that news of what was happening at Auschwitz reached the local population in Upper Silesia because, as deduced from the events described in the SS reports, the SS men were out in restaurants drinking alcohol and, well, didn't keep it a secret. News of this also spread throughout practically the entirety of Upper Silesia. As an illustration, there is a report of an incident in Katowice involving several SS men on leave who began consuming alcohol early in the day. In the third or fourth establishment, where they drank alcohol, a fight broke out because these SS men approached local women or girls, and the Silesians, Wehrmacht soldiers, intervened to protect them. These reports also indicate the Silesians' or drafted German soldiers' aversion towards the SS men, clearly understanding who they were dealing with.

Were there any references to Auschwitz in the press during that period?

Journalists were not interested in writing about Auschwitz or the events that occurred in the town of Oświęcim. There may have been censorship or a general understanding that it was better to avoid the topic altogether. While it is clear that the concentration camp was a subject of interest, the impression is that the broader context of Oświęcim was not given much attention. This is all the more intriguing when one examines the 1944 German press notes discussing the Allied bombing of Upper Silesia by American heavy bombers from mid-1944 onwards. If there is any reference, it pertains to air strikes and the resultant suffering of the population. As for other German towns in the Silesian region, Auschwitz is seldom mentioned or not mentioned at all. In these press notes, Auschwitz is mentioned in some fragments as one of the towns affected by the bombing, with a considerable delay of two weeks or more. Looking at newspaper articles, too, one can barely find a few such texts that only refer to the city. According to an article published in the tabloid "Dziennik Poranny" in 1941, the small town of Oświęcim had not experienced any progress due to the Jews residing there, who had practically extended their influence over the entire economic activity in the area. However, it is only now, with the arrival of the German administration and dealing with this economic threat posed by the Jews, that Auschwitz has a chance of becoming a normal and decent German city in the future. Among the activities of the German authorities, it was only mentioned that a greasy spoon had been organised and that they had set about clearing the town of ruins and rubbish. And that prisoners from the local labour camp were employed to perform this sort of work. Since there was no other labour camp in Oświęcim then, it must be assumed that this journalist who came to Oświęcim described the Auschwitz concentration camp in this way for the first time. Conversely, in 1944, we have a rather lengthy account of a visit to Auschwitz by notables from Katowice, the Presidium of the Katowice District, who came to Oświęcim to open a German hall - a kind of auditorium to serve as a German cultural centre. The report states that in the past, Auschwitz was a hotbed of pestilence and poverty precisely because Jews lived there. However, the Jews have been removed, and the new German authorities are working hard to transform Oświęcim into a German town. This will enable German settlers who come here to develop their businesses, engage in cultural activities, and more. So, it is an exceedingly lengthy article. It suggests that this journalist was physically present at the site. Interestingly, the place he described, this German cultural centre, was built on the edge of a plateau on the Soła River. Although it was situated on the other side of the concentration camp, one could still see both the Auschwitz concentration camp and smoke emerging from the crematoria chimneys. However, the journalist failed to mention any of this in the article. There are references to various events involving SS men, such as a football match between a team of SS soldiers from Auschwitz and some Volksdeutsche in Silesia. Additionally, there are reports of SS soldiers participating in a skiing competition in Zakopane, where they won some medals and a singing choir competition. The first place went to the choir from the “Gemeinschaftslager”, a forced labour camp from Oświęcim. Nevertheless, these were unique and sporadic mentions. I believe this should be attributed to the fact that local journalists exercised caution or abstained from writing about Auschwitz altogether, just as a precaution.

You mentioned that the local population was aware of what was happening. Logically, they lived and stayed in the area. The SS garrison may also have contributed to disseminating this information outside the camp. What other sources of information were there?

A vast amount of correspondence was exchanged among prisoners and resistance members. It included the members of Witold Pilecki's organisation, prisoners later affiliated with the left-wing organisations and numerous other independent prisoners who attempted to inform their relatives about the camp's activities, their personal experiences, and the truth. The civilian workers mentioned earlier in this context were not only German foremen but also included local Poles from the Western Lesser Poland or Upper Silesia areas. These civilian workers were permitted to stay within the camp premises, and it was almost impossible to prevent them from interacting or communicating with the prisoners. As a result, these prisoners could send private correspondence with the help of civilian workers beyond the reach of the camp censors. It was the most important source of information about what was happening in the camp. The news and reports reached the Home Army Headquarters in Warsaw and were sent via couriers or radio to London, the seat of the Polish government in exile. They tried to alert the world about the situation in Auschwitz but with varying degrees of success.

In the later periods of 1943 and 1944, several extensive reports were already written intentionally by the camp's fugitives to be sent to Warsaw and, most importantly, to inform the international public. This effort only began to have a significant impact in 1944 after receiving extensive coverage in the world press. However, it is crucial not to overlook another very important source of information that may have significantly contributed to spreading news about Auschwitz to the public. Specifically, I am referring to the British cryptologists who, during the war, successfully decrypted German dispatches transmitted using a device known as Enigma, referred to in the West as Ultra-Secret. The British intercepted and deciphered tens of thousands of reports and telegrams daily, some of which, particularly in 1942, were extensive and concerned Auschwitz. These were radiograms sent directly from the radio communication of is here at Auschwitz to various German institutions. I am explicitly referring to the concentration camp headquarters in Oranienburg, the authorities in Berlin, or other concentration camps. These telegrams contained information which, if correctly interpreted, could have served as indisputable proof of the crimes committed by the Nazis at Auschwitz as early as 1942. It's important to note that the official reports from the camp to Berlin about the number of prisoners and their attendance were accurate and precise. However, using euphemisms referring to extermination in these reports made it difficult for people in London and Great Britain to interpret them correctly. These euphemisms were sometimes naive and primitive-looking, but they turned out to be effective in concealing the true nature of the reports. It is a fact that in the collective opinions of many, there is sometimes a hint of surprise or disbelief that the mortality rate in some camps in the Reich, such as Buchenwald, could reach 100 prisoners per month, while in Auschwitz in the autumn of 1942, it was as high as 6,000, right? Thus, it was a bit surprising, as seen from the reports of the officers who read these radiograms or tried to extrapolate something from them but could not comprehend why as many as 6,000 prisoners in a given month died or perished in Auschwitz.

A second such example, perhaps the most characteristic, is the telegram sent by commandant Rudolf Höss to Berlin requesting permission to leave on official business. To save fuel, Berlin had to formally approve every business trip from Auschwitz longer than 200 kilometres. Accordingly, a radiogram was sent to Berlin with the following information: “It’s the commander. He intends to travel to Litzmannstadt, i.e., to the city of Łódź, to see the field furnaces of Operation Reinhardt”. In reality, Höss went to the extermination camp at Kulmhof or Chełmno because in the period in question, the late summer of 1942, the burning of prisoners' corpses on large piles of wood began at Birkenau, on the edge of the forest. And it is fair to assume that the camp staff had an issue with this. To put it simply, either the combustion was incomplete, or it was carried out in some uncontrolled manner. So Höss went there to see how these incineration pyres were constructed and to gain relevant experience. The phrase used in that telegram, “to see the field furnaces of Operation Reinhardt” - Operation Reinhardt is also one of the codenames used at Auschwitz very rarely to refer to the mass extermination - it was construed in the UK as “a business trip to see the field kitchens”. It is clear that, yet again, British officers were at a loss as to what this might be about. As one can see, some methods of hiding the truth about Auschwitz were quite clumsy and easy to decipher for those privy to it, while for those not so privy, they sometimes served their purpose.