Holocaust Museum (2 of 3)- SELEKTION

The Nazis' program to physically destroy the Jews of Europe evolved over time. Before 1940, Nazi policy focused on forced Jewish emigration from Germany but this failed to provide a "solution" to the "Jewish question" since few countries were willing to offer Jews a haven. As German troops overran countries in the East and West, more Jews fell under Nazi control. Eventually, Hitler and the Nazi leadership turned to a policy of genocide, the "Final Solution."

Before being dragged from their homes and losing all their worldly possessions, Jews attempted to preserve their history for “those that would survive”. One successful attempt was the Oneg Shabbat Archive, burying documents and artwork in metal containers (this milk can was unearthed in 1950 from the ruins in Warsaw). We now treasure this history and traditions that have been uncovered from this time and the Jewish artifacts saved as trophies by the Nazis.

As many as 100 victims were packed into a single car with deportation trains carrying between 1,000 and 2,000 persons (up to 5,000). Their weight slowed the speed of travel to about 30 miles an hour, dragging out the ordeal. Most deported Jews endured a torturous train journey to death camps in freight cars, under conditions of hunger and thirst, extreme over-crowding, and horrible sanitation. In winter they were exposed to freezing temperatures, and in summer they were enveloped in suffocating heat and stench. Many of those deported, especially elderly people and young children, died during the journey.

“Who Shall Live and who shall die.” SELEKTION is German for selection, referring to the process used by Nazis in concentration camps to sort out prisoners for forced labor vs extermination, a human version of natural selection (Darwin) and artificial selection in breeding. Those who were sent to other installations stood a better chance of survival, but many died from disease, ill-treatment, starvation, medical experiments, and executions. It was the ultimate inhuman act of the Nazis as they killed 6 million either by terrible immediate “actions” or working them to death.

A day in a Nazi concentration camp consisted of a series of deprivations and torments. As early as 4:00 in the morning, prisoners were awakened for the Appell, or roll call, during which they had to stand at attention to be counted, often for hours (many died during this process). At 6:00, prisoners were marched to work. With only short breaks, they remained at grueling slave labor for 11 hours. SS men and Kapos used whips, sticks, and fists on those unable to keep up. Curfew fell at around 9:00 at night, after the evening Appell. Prisoners slept on overcrowded and lice-ridden wooden bunks. The prisoners' food was scarcely edible with not enough calories to support life. Prisoners wore ragged, filthy clothing and there were epidemics that caused great numbers of deaths. During a typhoid epidemic at Dachau in the winter of 1942-1943, the death rate was about 25 percent.

A sad example: See the photos of more than 100 families of Eishishok, between the years 1890 and 1941, a small town near Vilna, in what is now Lithuania. Eishishok, one of many Jewish communities in eastern Europe. In 1939, its Jewish population of 3,500 constituted a majority in the town. The cemetery tombstones bore witness to the fact that Jews had lived in Eishishok for almost 900 years. The Jewish community had a rich religious culture and an energetic secular life. Famed for its Talmudic academy, it also fostered a wide range of political and cultural organizations, in which young people were especially active. Only a few dozen Jews from Eishishok survived and there are none today.

The invasion of the Soviet Union was one of the ironies of this time where Countries took sides and then switch allegiances when they became the enemy. Mass shooting of Jews began in the newly conquered areas of the Soviet Union in June 1941, soon after the start of the German invasion.

This post provides a small idea of the travel to the camps, the conditions, and the dehumanization that went on for 12 years prior to the eventual German retreat when they lost the War. This Holocaust Memorial is a memorial, museum, source of education, source of research, a commemoration, and a place that provides ongoing action to prevent a recurrence.Læs mere