while the dead and dying were taken directly to the furnaces. It often happened that small children were thrown alive into the trucks along with the dead. Parcels and luggage were taken to the warehouses and sorted out in the previously described manner.

Between July and September, 1942 a typhus epidemic had raged in Auschwitz, especially in the women's camp of Birkenau. None of the sick received medical attention and in the first stages of the epidemic a great many were killed by phenol injections, and later on others were gassed wholesale. Some 15,000 to 20,000, mostly Jews, died during these two months. The girls' camp suffered the most, as it was not fitted with sanitary installations, and the poor wretches were covered with lice. Every week large "selections" took place and the girls had to present themselves naked to the "selection committee," regardless of weather conditions. They waited in deadly fear whether they would be chosen or given another week's grace. Suicides were frequent and were mostly committed by throwing one's self against the high-tension wires of the inner fence. This went on until they had dwindled to 5 percent of their original number. Now there are only 400 of these girls left and most of them have been able to secure some sort of clerical post in the women's camp. About 100 girls hold jobs at the staff building in Auschwitz where they do all the clerical work connected with the administration of the two camps. Thanks to their knowledge of languages they are also used as interpreters. Others are employed in the main kitchen and laundry. Of late these girls have been able to dress themselves quite well as they have had opportunities to complete their wardrobes which, in some cases, even include silk stockings. Generally speaking they are reasonable well off and are even allowed to let their hair grow. Of course this cannot be said of other Jewish inmates of the women's camp. It just so happens that these Slovak Jewish girls have been in the camp the longest of all. But if today they enjoy certain privileges, they have previously undergone frightful sufferings.

I was not to hold this comparatively good job with the "clearance squad" for long. Shortly afterwards I was transferred to Birkenau on disciplinary grounds and remained there over a year and a half. On April 7, 1944 I managed to escape with my companion.

On August 6, 1944 a report was received in Switzerland covering the happenings in Birkenau during the period between April 7 and May 27. This second report was drawn up by two other young Jews who succeeded in escaping from this camp and reaching Slovakia.

Their declarations complete the first report, particularly in regard to the arrival of the Hungarian Jews in Birkenau. They also add certain new details not contained in the previous accounts. It has not been possible, however, to check the origin of this "second report" as closely as it was the first.

After the flight of the two Slovak Jews from Birkenau on April 7, 1944 great excitement reigned in the camp. The "Political Division" of the Gestapo instituted a thoroughgoing investigation, and the friends and superiors of the two escapees were closely questioned, although in vain. Since the two had held posts as "block recorders," all Jews exercising such functions, by way of punishment and also as a precautionary measure, were removed and, as the Gestapo suspected that they had succeeded in escaping through Building No. 3, the outer chain of sentry posts was considerably shortened so now it cuts through the middle of Building of No. 3.

At the beginning of the month of April, a transport of Greek Jews arrived, of whom about 200 were admitted to the camp. The remainder of circa 1,500 were immediately gassed.

Between the 10th and 15th of April some 5,000 "Aryans" arrived in Birkenau, mainly Poles, some 2,000 to 3,000 women among them being from the abandoned camp of Lublin-Majdanek. They were given numbers running from approximately:

176,000-181,000 Among the women were about 300

Jewish girls from Poland. The greater part of the new arrivals were ill, weak, and very run down. According to their information the healthy ones had been

Approx.

No. 182,000

sent from Lublin to German concentration camps. Concerning the fate of the Jews held in the camp of LublinMajdanek, we learned from them, especially from the Jewish girls, that on November 3, 1943 all Jews in this camp, that is some 11,000 men and 6,000 women, were killed.

We recalled that about this time the SS in Birkenau had reported that Lublin had been attacked by partisans and, in order to fight against the latter, a number of the SS personnel from Birkenau had been temporarily transferred to Lublin. It was now clear to us for what purpose our SS had gone to Lublin.

Apparently the Jews had been compelled to dig a long, deep grave in Field V of the camp of Majdanek and on November 3 they were brought out in groups of 200 to 300, shot and thrown into the grave. Within 24 hours everything was over. During the execution loud music was played to drown out the shots.

Three hundred girls who were active in Lublin on the "clearing-up Commando" and as recorders were left alive. Three days after their arrival in Birkenau they were all gassed and burned on special order of Berlin. Through an error on the part of the "recorder" two of the girls were not sent to the gas chamber. This was discovered, however, the next day, and the girls were immediately shot and the recorder replaced.

The fate of the Lublin Jews caused great depression among the Jews in the camp of Birkenau who became afraid that one day the whole of Birkenau would suddenly be “liquidated" in the same way.

Toward the end of April more Greek

Jews were brought to Birkenau. Some 200 were admitted to the camp and about 3,000 exterminated.

183,000 to 185,000 At the beginning of May, 1944 smaller

transports of Dutch, French, Belgian, and Greek Jews arrived, as well as Polish "Aryans." Most of them were put to work in the Buna plant.

On May 10, 1944 the first transport of Hungarian Jews arrived in Birkenau. They were principally from the prisons of Budapest, including those who had been arrested in the streets and railroad stations of the city. Among the women were:

Ruth Lorant

Mici Lorant

Ruth Quasztler

Irene Roth

Barna Fuchs

The transport was received in Auschwitz and Birkenau according to the well-known procedure (heads shaved, numbers tattooed, etc.). The men were given numbers beginning with 186,000 and the women were placed in the women's camp. About 600 men, of whom some 150 were between the ages of 45 and 60, were brought to Birkenau where they were divided up among various work detachments. The remainder stayed in Auschwitz where they worked in the Buna plant.

The members of the transport were all left alive and none of them, as had been customary, were sent directly to the crematoria. In the postcards which they were allowed to write, they had to give "Waldsee" as return address.

On May 15 mass transports from Hungary began to arrive in Birkenau. Some 14,000 to 15,000 Jews arrived daily. The spur railroad track which ran into the camp to the crematoria was completed in great haste, the crews working night and day, so that the transports could be brought to the creamtoria. Only about 10 percent of these transports were admitted to the camp; the balance were immediately gassed and burned. Never had so many Jews been gassed since the establishment of Birkenau. The "Special Commando" had to be increased to 600 men and, after two or three days, to 800 (people being recruited from among the Hungarian Jews who had arrived first). The size of the "Clearing Commando" was stepped up from 150 to 700 men. Three crematoria worked day and night (the 4th was being repaired at that time) and, since the capacity of the crematoria was not enough, great pits 30 meters long and 15 meters wide were once more dug in the "Birkenwald" (as in the time before the crematoria) where corpses were burned day and night. Thus the “exterminating capacity" became almost unlimited.

The Hungarian Jews who were left alive (about 10 percent) were not included in the normal camp "enrollment." Although they were shaved and shorn and received convict's clothing, they were not tattooed. They were housed in a separate section of the camp, section “C”, and were later transferred to various concentration camps in the German Reich: Buchenwald, Mauthausen, Grossrosen, Gusen, Flossenburg, Sachsenhausen, etc. The women were temporarily quartered in the "gypsy camp" in separate blocks and then also transferred elsewhere. Jewish girls from Slovakia were "blocks eldests" there.

The first Hungarian transports came from: Munkacs, Nagyszuöllös, Nyiregyhaza, Ungvar, Huszt, Kassau, Beregszasz, Marmarossziget, Nagyberezna. Among those remaining alive were:

Robert and Ervin Waizen Stark

Ehrenreich

Katz, Chaim

The last two have already been transferred. The parents of the Waizen brothers were gassed.

The transports of Hungarian Jews were under the particular control of the former Camp Commander "Haupsturmbannführer" Höss, who travelled continually between Auschwitz and Budapest. The Commandant of Birkenau at this time was Höss' former adjutant, "Hauptsturmführer" Kramer.

187,000-189,000 1,600 French "Aryans," almost exclusively intellectuals and prominent persons, including a small number of Polish "émigrés." Among the French were high officers, members of leading French financial circles, well-known journalists and politicians, and even, it was said, former ministers. On their arrival some of them rebelled but were put down in an exceedingly brutal fashion by the SS, some of them being shot on the spot. The French were very courageous and self-possessed. They were strictly isolated in Birkenau and no one was allowed to have any contact with them. After two weeks, on orders from Berlin, they were sent to Mauthausen (near Linz, in Austria).

Since the middle of May the newly arrived Jews no longer received consecutive numbers, as formerly. A new numbering system was inaugurated beginning with No. 1. preceded by the tattooed letter "A." We do not know the reason for this measure. At the time of our flight on May 27, 1944 about 4,000 Jews had received these new numbers. The 4,000 were composed of 1,000 Dutch, French, and Italian Jews and 3,000 Jews from Theresienstadt who reached Birkenau on May 23, 1944. These were treated exactly as the previous two transports from Theresienstadt. They were quartered (unshorn) with the members of the previous convoy from Theresienstadt (who have been in Birkenau since December 20, 1943 and whose “quarantine” is due to be up on June 20, 1944) in Section IIB.

According to the statement of a Jew from the "Special Commando," "Reichsfuhrer" Himmler was said to have visited Birkenau on the 15th or 16th of May. On one of these days I myself saw three automobiles and five men in civilian clothing drive toward the crematoria. The Jew who made this statement declared that he, as well as others, recognized Himmler, who had visited crematorium No. 1 and after a stay of about half an hour had again driven off with those accompanying him. On the day after there was an account in the Silesian newspapers of Himmler's visit to Cracow, so that this report could be true.

One other happening should not be forgotten which was told to us by the men of the "Special Commando." In the late summer of 1943 a commission of four Dutch Jews-distinguished looking men-came to Auschwitz. Their visit had already apparently been announced to the Camp Commander, for the Dutch Jews in Auschwitz received better clothes, as well as regular eating equipment (plates, spoons, etc.) and better food. The commission of four were very politely received and were shown over the camp buildings and particularly those portions which were clean and made a good impression. Dutch Jews from the camp were brought to them who reported that only a portion of the Dutch Jews were in this camp, the other being in other similar camps. In this manner the four men were satisfied and signed a statement according to which the commission had found everything in good order in Auschwitz. After the signing the four Dutch Jews expressed a desire to see the camp of Birkenau and particularly the crematoria about which they had heard some stories. The camp authorities declared themselves quite willing to show them both Birkenau and the crematoria, the latter being used, they said, to cremate those who died in the camp. The commission was then taken to Birkenau, accompanied by the camp leader, Aumayer, and immediately to crematorium No. 1. Here they were shot from behind. A telegram was supposedly sent to Holland reporting that after leaving Auschwitz the four men had been victims of an unfortunate automobile accident.

There is a biological laboratory in Auschwitz where SS, civilian, and internee doctors are occupied. The women and girls on whom the experiments are performed are housed in Block 10....

Experiments were carried out only on Jewish girls and women, although to date no Slovakian girls have been used. Experiments were also performed on men but the latter were not housed separately. A great many died as a result of these experiments. Often gypsies were used. Block 10, where the "subjects" of the experiments are housed, is completely isolated, and even the window openings are walled up. No one whatsoever had admission to it.

The Commandants of Auschwitz and Birkenau have been to date the following: Aumayer, Schwarzhuber, Weiss, Hartenstein, Höss, and Kramer.

The Bombing of Auschwitz

An appeal from Budapest that the Allies bomb rail lines leading from Hungary to Auschwitz, thus disrupting the death transports, reached Switzerland in mid-May 1944. Initial attempts to relay the suggestion to the United States failed, as did a few other similar requests during this period. Finally in June one such request did reach the Agudath Israel World Organization (AIWO) in New York. Jacob Rosenheim, President of the AGWO, wrote to several government officials urging that two main railway centers-Kosice and Presov-on the deportation route to Auschwitz be bombed. This appeal was sent to the War Refugee Board (WRB); and on 21 June John Pehle, WRB executive director, forwarded the request to John McCloy, Assistant Secretary of War, although Pehle apparently had some reservations about bombing at that time.

On 26 June the Operations Division of the War Department ruled against such bombings. The decision was based on a policy set forth in January 1944 which stated that the Armed Forces would not be used to save victims of oppression unless such a rescue was the direct result of military operations against the enemy. In the view of the War De

partment, the most effective way to aid such victims was to bring about a speedy end to the war. Before an official reply could be drafted, however, another request was forwarded to McCloy by Pehle, this one based upon an appeal from the WRB representative in Switzerland, Roswell McClelland. McClelland had received information from the "Auschwitz Report" and supported the bombing of five railway deportation routes. John McCloy's letter rejecting both of Pehle's requests, dated 4 July is reproduced below.

The focus of subsequent discussions was the bombing of the gas chambers at Auschwitz. More appeals came in August and September, mostly from Jewish groups in the United States, and one more from the WRB, which was not answered by the War Department. After the complete Auschwitz Report reached Washington in November, Pehle wrote McCloy once more, strongly urging the bombing of the gas chambers at Auschwitz. Again, Pehle's request was turned down, and Auschwitz did not become a target of Allied bombs.

Reprinted from David S. Wyman, Bombing Auschwitz and the Auschwitz Escapees' Report, a volume of America and the Holocaust (New York: Garland Publishing, 1990), 152.