The Einsatzgruppen in the Occupied Eastern Territories: Genesis, Missions and Actions

Foreword ............................................................................................................ 11
Introduction ....................................................................................................... 23
PART ONE: THE EINSATZGRUPPEN ......................................................... 27 
1. The Einsatzgruppen: Structure, Missions and Reports .............................. 29 
1.1. The Einsatzgruppen in the Polish Campaign ........................................... 29 
1.2. Structure of the Einsatzgruppen .............................................................. 34 
1.3. Missions of the Einsatzgruppen ............................................................... 39 
1.4. Drafting and Reliability of the Einsatzgruppen Reports .......................... 47 
1.5. Einsatzgruppen “Justifications” for Killing Jews .................................... 63 
1.6. The Historical Value of the Einsatzgruppen Trial ................................... 78
2. The Einsatzgruppen and the Order to Exterminate the Soviet Jews .......... 85 
2.1. Positing the Problem ................................................................................ 85 
2.2. National-Socialist Plans for an Extra-European Jewish Reserve ............. 85 
2.3. Operational Service Orders Issued to the Einsatzgruppen ..................... 100 
2.4. Military Orders Concerning the Jews .................................................... 108 
2.5. Ghettoization and Use for Labor ........................................................... 110 
2.6. The “Führerbefehl” ............................................................................... 118 
2.7. The General Order to Exterminate the Jews before the Beginning of
Operation Barbarossa ............................................................................. 128 
2.8. The General Order to Exterminate the Jews after the Beginning of
Operation Barbarossa ............................................................................. 133 
2.8.1. The Start of the Executions ............................................................... 133 
2.8.2. The “Cleansing Operation” in the Pripyat Marshes .......................... 136 
2.9. Reichsminister Rosenberg and the Extermination of the Jews .............. 142 
2.10. Wetzel’s Letter of 25 October 1941 ...................................................... 146 
2.11. Himmler’s Orders in 1942 ..................................................................... 152
3. Jews in Incident Reports and Reports from the Occupied Eastern 
Territories ................................................................................................. 160 
3.1. The Great Flight ..................................................................................... 160 
3.2. Pogroms ................................................................................................. 169 
3.3. Soviet Atrocities and Reprisals .............................................................. 171 
3.4. Executions of Party Officials, Intellectuals and Activists ...................... 176 
3.5. Ghettoization.......................................................................................... 181 
3.6. Judeo-Bolshevism and German Propaganda ......................................... 185
4. The Jäger Report and the Executions at Kaunas and Riga ....................... 191 
4.1. The Jäger Report .................................................................................... 191 
4.1.1. History of the Document ................................................................... 191 
4.1.2. Jäger’s Arrest and Interrogation ........................................................ 192 
4.1.3. The Executions of the “Jäger Report” ............................................... 197 
4.1.4. Wolfram Wette’s Analysis ................................................................ 199 
4.1.5. Critical Analysis of the “Jäger Report” .............................................. 201 
4.2. The Execution at Kaunas of “Resettlers” from the Reich and the
Protectorate ............................................................................................ 208 
4.3. Jeckeln and the Order to Exterminate the Ghetto at Riga ...................... 218 
4.4. The Liquidation of the Ghettos in the Baltic Countries ........................... 228
5. The Death Toll .......................................................................................... 235 
5.1. The Statistics .......................................................................................... 235 
5.1.1. Hilberg, Krausnick/Wilhelm, Arad, Curilla ....................................... 235 
5.1.2. The Korherr Report ............................................................................ 238 
5.2. The Himmler Report of 29 December 1942 ........................................... 242 
5.3. Executions in the Incident Reports......................................................... 251 
5.3.1. General Summary of Einsatzgruppen Executions ............................. 251 
5.3.2. Analysis of the Data ........................................................................... 265 
5.3.3. Unverifiable Data ............................................................................... 272 
5.4. Daniel Goldhagen and the Police Battalions .......................................... 273 
5.4.1. Soviet Union in General ..................................................................... 274 
5.4.2. Rovno ................................................................................................. 275 
5.4.3. Stanisławów (Stanislavov, Stanislav; today: Ivano-Frankivsk) ......... 275 
5.4.4. Białystok ............................................................................................ 278 
5.4.5. Zhitomir (Zhytomyr) .......................................................................... 279 
5.4.6. Tarnów and Nowy Sącz ..................................................................... 280 
5.4.7. Kharkov ............................................................................................. 280 
5.4.8. Minsk ................................................................................................. 280 
5.4.9. Kielce ................................................................................................. 281
6. The Genesis of the “Gas Vans” and Their Use by the Einsatzgruppen .... 283 
6.1. Preamble ................................................................................................ 283 
6.2. Erich von dem Bach-Zelewski and Himmler’s Visit to Minsk:
Historiographical Interpretations ........................................................... 283 
6.3. Mathias Beer and the Origins of the “Gas Vans” ................................... 291 
6.4. Number and Distribution of the “Gas Vans” ......................................... 307 
6.5. The Use of “Gas Vans” in the Einsatzgruppen Operational Zones ........ 310 
6.5.1. The Reichskommissariat Ostland ....................................................... 310 
6.5.2. The Reich Commissariat Ukraine and Crimea ................................... 340 
6.6. “Gas Vans” in the British Intercepts ...................................................... 359 
6.7. “Gas Vans” in Allied Propaganda .......................................................... 359 
6.8. British “Gas Vans” ................................................................................. 360
PART TWO: “AKTION 1005” ...................................................................... 367 
1. Mass Graves ............................................................................................. 368 
1.1. Mass Graves in Soviet War-Crimes Reports .......................................... 368 
1.2. Mass Graves in the Ukraine According to Soviet Experts ..................... 378 
1.3. Conclusions of the Soviet Expert Reports .............................................. 387 
1.4. Patrick Desbois and the Mass Graves in the Ukraine ............................ 391 
1.5. Rabbinical Legislation on Jewish Bodies and Post-War Exhumations .. 395 
1.6. Mass Grave at Serniki ............................................................................ 397 
1.7. Mass Graves in the Ukraine and in the Baltic Countries According to 
Jewish Institutions .................................................................................. 399 
1.8. Photographic Documentation ................................................................ 402
2. “Aktion 1005” .......................................................................................... 411 
2.1. The Sources ........................................................................................... 411 
2.2. Documentary Evidence .......................................................................... 413 
2.3. The Origins of “Aktion 1005”: Müller’s Presumed Order to Blobel ..... 433 
2.4. Judge Bednarz Versus Orthodox Holocaust Historians ......................... 441 
2.5. “Aktion 1005”: Organization and Working Plans ................................. 442 
2.5.1. Sonderkommando 1005-Lvov ........................................................... 445 
2.5.2. Sonderkommando 1005 A ................................................................. 446 
2.5.3. Sonderkommando 1005 B ................................................................. 447 
2.5.4. Sonderkommando 1005-Center ......................................................... 447 
2.5.5. “Sonderkommando” Micholl ............................................................. 448
3. Sonderkommando 1005 in Galicia: Leon Weliczker and the “Death 
Brigade” ................................................................................................... 449 
3.1.  “Aktion 1005” in the Area of Lvov in Orthodox Historiography ......... 449 
3.2. Leon Weliczker and the “Death Brigade” ............................................. 452 
3.2.1. Captures and Escapes ........................................................................ 453 
3.2.2. The Number of Bodies Exhumed and Cremated ............................... 454 
3.2.3. The Technology of Exhumation and Cremation ............................... 457 
3.2.4. Critical Analysis of the Weliczker Account ...................................... 462 
3.3. Leon Weliczker Wells at the Eichmann Trial in Jerusalem ................... 467 
3.4. The Janowska Road ............................................................................... 471 
3.5. Weliczker Wells and Patrick Desbois .................................................... 474 
3.6. Other Witnesses from the “Death Brigade” ........................................... 476 
3.6.1. Heinrich Chamaides .......................................................................... 476 
3.6.2. Moische Korn .................................................................................... 478 
3.6.3. David Shmulevich Manusevich (Manussevitch) ............................... 479 
3.7. The Bone-Grinding Machine ................................................................. 481
4. Sonderkommando 1005 at Babi Yar ......................................................... 485 
4.1. The Legal Context and the Witnesses .................................................... 485 
4.2. The Witnesses ........................................................................................ 489 
4.2.1. Vladimir Yuryevich Davydov (Davidov) .......................................... 489 
4.2.2. Leonid Kivovich Ostrovsky .............................................................. 492 
4.2.3. Yakov Andreyevich Steyuk............................................................... 493 
4.2.4. Semen Borisovich Berlyant ............................................................... 495 
4.2.5. Isaak Moiseyevich Brodsky .............................................................. 496 
4.2.6. Vladislav Frantsevich Kuklya ........................................................... 496 
4.2.7. Iosif Yakovlevich Doliner ................................................................. 497 
4.2.8. Yakov Abramovich Kaper ................................................................ 498 
4.2.9. Zyama Abramovich Trubakov .......................................................... 499 
4.2.10. David Iosifovich Budnik ................................................................. 500 
4.2.11. Mikhail Fyodorovich Matveyev ...................................................... 502 
4.2.12. Paul Blobel ...................................................................................... 502 
4.2.13. Gerhard Adametz ............................................................................ 503 
4.2.14. Davydov (Davidov), Budnik and Kaper at the Stuttgart Trial ......... 507 
4.3. Discussion of the Testimonies ............................................................... 511 
4.3.1. The Number of Victims ..................................................................... 511 
4.3.2. “Gas Vans” at Kiev in 1943? ............................................................. 513 
4.3.3. The Exhumation and Cremation Technique ...................................... 513 
4.3.4. The Cremation of 33,771 Executed Jews ........................................... 516 
4.4. The Executions ....................................................................................... 524 
4.5. The Execution Procedure ....................................................................... 528 
4.5.1 The Soviet Version ............................................................................. 528 
4.5.2.The German Version ........................................................................... 532 
4.5.3. The Executions in the Light of Hähle’s Photographs ........................ 534 
4.5.4. The Execution Procedure According to the German Version ............ 537
5. Sonderkommando 1005 A: Other Activities ............................................. 540 
5.1. Berdichev, Belaya Tserkov and Uman ................................................... 540 
5.2. Kamenets-Podolsky ............................................................................... 542 
5.3. Zamość ................................................................................................... 550 
5.4. “Documents” on “Aktion 1005” in Volhynia. The Rovno
“Sonderkommando 1005” Phantasm ...................................................... 551 
6. Sonderkommando 1005 B and … Center ................................................. 555 
6.1. The Activities of Sonderkommando 1005 B According to the Verdict
of the Stuttgart District Court ................................................................. 555 
6.2. Krivoy Rog ............................................................................................. 556 
6.3. Nikolayev ............................................................................................... 557 
6.4. Voskresensk and Voznesensk ................................................................ 557 
6.5. The Verdict’s Anecdotal Sources ........................................................... 558 
6.6. Sonderkommando 1005-Center .............................................................. 560 
6.6.1. Maly Trostenets (Trostinets) .............................................................. 560 
6.6.2. “Smaller Burial Site Northwest of Minsk” ........................................ 569 
6.6.3. Smolevichi ......................................................................................... 569 
6.6.4. “Large Burial Site Northwest of Minsk” ........................................... 570 
6.6.5. The “Partial Unit Rübe” ..................................................................... 571 
6.6.6. Pinsk .................................................................................................. 571 
6.6.7. Brona Gora (Bronnaya Gora) ............................................................. 571 
6.6.8. Kobrin ................................................................................................ 574 
6.6.9. Slonim ................................................................................................ 574 
6.6.10. Lomscha (Łomża) ............................................................................ 574 
6.7. “Aktion 1005” in Western Byelorussia .................................................. 575 
6.7.1. The Witness Stefan Ivanovich Pilunov .............................................. 575 
6.7.2. Pilunov’s Assertions and the Orthodox Holocaust Narrative ............ 579 
6.7.3. The Soviet Report on Mogilev ........................................................... 580 
6.7.4. Gomel ................................................................................................ 583 
6.7.5. Ozarichi .............................................................................................. 585 
6.7.6. Pilunov’s Claimed Cremation Technique .......................................... 586 
6.7.7. “Aktion 1005” at Krupki .................................................................... 588 
6.8. “Sonderkommando” Macholl in the Białystok General District ............ 589 
6.8.1. Spektor and His Polish Source ........................................................... 589 
6.8.2. The Witnesses Simon Amiele and Salman Edelman ......................... 591 
6.8.3. Szymon Amiel’s 1945 Testimony...................................................... 592 
6.8.4. Szymon Datner and “Aktion 1005” in the Białystok General
District .............................................................................................. 597 
7. “Aktion 1005” in the Baltic Countries ..................................................... 599 
7.1. “Aktion 1005” in Lithuania and the “Jäger Report” .............................. 599 
7.2. Riga and Latvia ...................................................................................... 604 
7.3. Kaunas ................................................................................................... 615 
7.3.1. A Report by Eleven Escapees ........................................................... 615 
7.3.2. The Witnesses Mikhail Ilyich Geltrunk and Alex Faitelson ............. 617 
7.3.3. The Witnesses Mikhal Gelbtrunk, Makar Eftropevich Kurganov
and Dmitrii Gelpern (Gelpernas)....................................................... 624 
7.3.4. Escape from Fort IX .......................................................................... 626 
7.4. From Leningrad to Vilnius .................................................................... 627 
7.5. Ponary (Paneriai) ................................................................................... 627 
7.5.1. Knowledge and Sources of Orthodox Holocaust Historians ............. 627 
7.5.2. The Testimony of Yuri Farber (The Black Book) .............................. 628 
7.5.3. The Testimony of Yuri Farber (NKGB) ............................................ 631 
7.5.4. The Witness A. Blyazer (Blazer) ...................................................... 635 
7.5.5. The Witness Matvey Fedorovich Zaydel .......................................... 637 
7.5.6. The Witness Szloma Gol ................................................................... 638 
7.5.7. The Witnesses Motle Zaidl (Zaïdel) and Itzhak Dugin (Doughin,
Dogim) .............................................................................................. 641 
7.5.8. The Witness Pflüger .......................................................................... 646 
7.5.9. Yitzhak Arad and the “Cremations at Ponar” .................................... 647 
7.5.10. How Many Victims Were There at Ponary? ................................... 648 
7.5.11. The Soviet Investigations and Post-War Photographs..................... 649 
7.6. The Controversy Concerning the Mass Graves at Mariampole
(Marijampole) ........................................................................................ 652 
7.7. The Zichenau (Ciechanów) District ....................................................... 657 
7.8. “Aktion 1005” in Yugoslavia ................................................................ 658 
7.8.1. Shmuel Spektor’s Exposition ............................................................ 658 
7.8.2. The Witness Momčilo Damjanović ................................................... 659
8. Shootings, Gassings, Exhumations, Cremations and Soviet 
Investigations: Other Significant Examples ............................................. 664 
8.1. The Mogilev “Death Camp” .................................................................. 664 
8.2. The Mass Graves at Kherson ................................................................. 670 
8.3. The Crimea ............................................................................................ 673 
8.3.1. The Fantastic 7,000 Bodies at Kerch ................................................. 673 
8.3.2. Simferopol ......................................................................................... 678 
8.3.3. Other Executions in the Crimea ........................................................ 681 
8.4. Kharkov ................................................................................................. 683 
8.4.1. The Graves of “Sonderkommando Spacil” ........................................ 683 
8.4.2. Executions and Mass Graves ............................................................. 684 
8.4.3. The Kharkov Trial ............................................................................. 686 
8.4.4. Soviet Photographs ............................................................................ 693 
8.5. Bobruisk ................................................................................................. 695 
8.6. The Brest Ghetto and the Bronnaya Gora “Extermination Site” ........... 699 
8.7. A Mass Cremation in the Golta District? ............................................... 712 
Conclusion ........................................................................................................ 715
Appendices........................................................................................................ 717 
1. SS Ranks and U.S. Army Equivalents ...................................................... 717
2. Documents ................................................................................................ 718
3. Abbreviations ........................................................................................... 792 
3.1. Archives and Collections ....................................................................... 792 
3.2. Acronyms ............................................................................................... 793
4. Bibliography ............................................................................................. 794 
4.1. Published Works .................................................................................... 794 
4.2. Incident Reports (Ereignismeldungen) ................................................... 812
5. Index of Names......................................................................................... 813