Polish-Jewish Relations: 1,300 Keyword-Phrase-Indexed Book Reviews (by Jan Peczkis)

Auschwitz Chronicle 1939-1945, by Danuta Czech. 1997

Auschwitz: Slow Non-Gassed Polish Deaths Just as Significant as Fast, Gassed Jewish Deaths. Tactical Reasons For Germans Not Using Mass Gassing to Kill Poles. Low Auschwitz-Inmate Survivorship

Auschwitz was originally opened, in 1940, for Poles. In 1942, it became a tool for the mass gassing of Jews, who were not even registered upon arrival. Among those actually incarcerated in Auschwitz I, in July 1944, there were 8,200 Jews and 3,800 Poles. (p. 664). According to the camp resistance, there were incarcerated, in several of the main camps in August 1944, a total of 18,600 Poles and 23,000 Jews. (p. 693).

DIE QUICKLY OR DIE SLOWLY…BUT DIE JUST THE SAME

Holocaust-uniqueness proponents have made much of the fact that, unlike the vast majority of arriving Jews, most arriving Poles were not gassed. But so what? Most murdered Poles perished in locations different from that of  the Jews, and non-Jews in Auschwitz got to die other ways–usually slower but no less sure.

CONCENTRATION-CAMP SURVIVORSHIP BETTER THAN DEATH-CAMP SURVIVORSHIP–BUT NOT BY MUCH

French Jew Walter Laqueur writes: “While the Jews were systematically murdered, the survival chances of the other prisoners were somewhat better–but not by much. Thus, for example, of a total of 13,000 Russian prisoners of war brought to Auschwitz, only 92 were alive when the camp was shut down.” (p. xvii).

VICTIMHOOD COMPETITION AT AUSCHWITZ: RUSSIANS, NOT JEWS, WIN THE VICTIM TROPHY

According to another source, 960,000 out of 1,095,00 Jews (88%) died at Auschwitz-Birkenau. For Soviet POWs, 12,908 out of 13,000 died at Auschwitz Birkenau (99%). [Remember, only 92 survived]. Should Auschwitz now be “owned” by the Russians, and not the Jews? After all, the Russians have won the victim trophy. This also means that the Russians, and not the Jews, are now the ones dictating terms to others with regards to Auschwitz.

THE GERMANS HAD PRACTICAL REASONS FOR NOT MAKING POLE-KILLING TOO OBVIOUSLY SIMILAR TO JEW-KILLING

Why wasn’t gassing used more on Poles? The Germans’ motivates were tactical in nature. For instance, they were about to announce the impending gassing of some ill Jewish inmates when an argument arose between SS Garrison Doctor Wirths and Hermann Langbein. The relevant issues were: “1). There could be a panic in the camp, since the Polish prisoners could assume that their turn would come after the Jews. 2). Sick prisoners would avoid the prisoners’ infirmary in the future. 3). As a result, infectious diseases could spread and this would result in a decline in labor productivity.” (p. 574).

Poles slated for immediate death upon arrival usually had the “privilege” of not dying from gas. But so what? Murder is murder. Multitudes of Polish children, arriving as part of the genocidal “Operation Zamosc”, were not sent to the gas chambers. They were killed by cardiac injections. (p. 336).

THE UNFOLDING POLOKAUST: LONG-TERM NAZI GERMAN EXTERMINATION OF POLES

In fact, the Germans were working on mass sterilization methods for long-term genocide of groups such as Poles. (p. 65, 297). This heinous endeavor has over 30 mentions in this diary. The seriousness of this project can be gauged by the fact that 700 women were subject to chemical and surgical sterilization experiments (p. 810), and about 1,000 men and women were subject to X-ray sterilization experiments (p. 549, 616).

DEFIANCE IN THE FACE OF DEATH

Some of those about to be put to death at Auschwitz were defiant, as in the case of this Polish woman (March 1944): “In the crematorium a young woman steps forward from among the condemned and says, facing the SS men, that all those present are clear about the fact that they are about to die in the famous Auschwitz gas chambers and be burned in the crematorium…Today the entire world knows what is going on in Auschwitz, and for every person murdered here by the Germans will have to pay dearly.” (p. 591).

[Instead, the Germans largely dodged blame via various German guilt diffusion strategies, and nowadays the Holocaust is being blamed more and more on Poles and other Eastern Europeans. Or it is blamed on Christianity.]

GERMANS SLAY POLES FOR HELPING JEWS

Various historical tidbits are included in this diary. For instance, a secret Polish radio station reported that, just in Krakow during the period between October 1943 and February 1944, 1,004 Poles had been executed by the Germans for aiding Jews. (p. 620).

AUSCHWITZ INMATES (NON-JEWISH AND JEWISH) SURVIVED ONLY BECAUSE A GERMAN OFFICER DISOBEYED ORDERS TO KILL THEM ALL

With the advance of the Red Army in winter 1944/1945, the Auschwitz complex was evacuated. Thousands of inmates, too sick to be moved, avoided a planned death because of the following: “The order to liquidate the sick prisoners in the Birkenau and Auschwitz camps is not carried out by SS Major Franz Xaver (sic) Kraus, the representative of SS Lieutenant Schmauser, for the liquidation division of the SD is threatened by encirclement by the approaching Red Army.” (p. 801).