Rare Nazi diary, describing life inside Lodz Ghetto, published

[Behind the Aegis]

In the diary the Nazis detail how they punished Jews and their use of brutal methods to extract information

A Nazi diary documenting day-to-day life within Polish Lodz Ghetto's walls was recently uncovered, it was reported Thursday.

The Shem Olam Institute for Education, Documentation and Research on Faith and the Holocaust recently got hold of the rare text, which the Nazis attempted to hide, and has chosen to publish the diary on the occasion of the memorial day for victims of the Holocaust whose dates of death are unknown, Israeli news site Ynet reported.

In the diary the Nazi officers describe their "treatment" of the local Jews, including how they punished them over thoughts of escape, and their use of brutal methods to extract information from the "smart alecks" among them.

The diary features descriptions of the use of torture in interrogations of Jews, who dared to talk back or resist the Nazis, arrests of Jews suspected of possessing "prohibited items," and an account of contacts with the Judenrat, a Jewish governing council established in each ghetto, which was forced to cooperate with the Nazi regime.

more: http://www.i24news.tv/en/news/international/europe/56409-150102-rare-nazi-diary-describing-life-inside-lodz-ghetto-published

[JustAnotherGen]

1. A very sad wow here

It always amazes me how such detailed "record keepers" could think these horrors would never come to light.

A great companion documentary - A Film Unfinished

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Film_Unfinished

It's a film about the making of one of their unfinished "documentaries" about the Ghetto.

[Lurks Often]

2. They expected to win and didn't care if it came to light

The hard core, true believers in the Nazi Party never really thought they would lose the war, so they had no reason to worry about being tried for their crimes.

[JustAnotherGen]

4. This was to go in their national archives

So they could honor those who did it.

[Jesus Malverde]

3. "Give me your children"

One of the most shocking aspects about Jewish life in the "Łódź Ghetto" is the role of members of their own faith and background in their own destruction and enslavement.

The Nazis established the Lodz ghetto in December 1939 as a temporary camp for the some 200,000 Jews of that city; they renamed it Litzmannstadt and sealed it up in May 1940. The Lodz ghetto was unique. Its story is well known because, administered by the Jews themselves under the control of the monstrous Jewish elder Mordecai Chaim Rumkowski, it became a major source of supply for the German war machine. The ghetto made a net profit of 10m marks for the Nazi state in 1942. Because of its productivity, it outlasted all others in Poland.

Rumkowski was an obsessive, a paedophile who also enjoyed abusing women, and an egomaniac who, once appointed by the Nazis, set out to create a slave-labour camp in which his rule was law.

http://www.theguardian.com/books/2011/jul/08/emperor-lies-steve-sem-sandberg-review

"Give me your children" a haunting speech for the ages by Mordecai Chaim Rumkowski.

In this notorious speech he makes a "devils bargin" with the captive population of "Łódź Ghetto".

Give me your children

Yesterday afternoon, they gave me the order to send more than 20,000 Jews out of the ghetto, and if not - "We will do it!” So the question became, 'Should we take it upon ourselves, do it ourselves, or leave it to others to do?". Well, we - that is, I and my closest associates - thought first not about "How many will perish?" but "How many is it possible to save?" And we reached the conclusion that, however hard it would be for us, we should take the implementation of this order into our own hands.

I must perform this difficult and bloody operation - I must cut off limbs in order to save the body itself. I must take children because, if not, others may be taken as well - God forbid.

A grievous blow has struck the ghetto. They are asking us to give up the best we possess - the children and the elderly. I was unworthy of having a child of my own, so I gave the best years of my life to children. I've lived and breathed with children, I never imagined I would be forced to deliver this sacrifice to the altar with my own hands. In my old age, I must stretch out my hands and beg: Brothers and sisters! Hand them over to me! Fathers and mothers: Give me your children!

In retrospect knowing the background of those administering the "Łódź Ghetto" on behalf of the nazi's the speech is a milestone in the depravity of man...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chaim_Rumkowski

A sad immortal tale of betrayal and wretched collaboration by those given absolute power over others.

http://www.jewishgen.org/Yizkor/terrible_choice/ter005.html

To this day there are some who argue his "devils bargain" was the right choice.

http://chgs.umn.edu/museum/exhibitions/horseman/willingCollaborator.html

The complete speech

RUMKOWSKI: (September 4, 1942) "A grievous blow has struck the ghetto. They are asking us to give up the best we possess - the children and the elderly. I was unworthy of having a child of my own, so I gave the best years of my life to children. I've lived and breathed with children, I never imagined I would be forced to deliver this sacrifice to the altar with my own hands. In my old age, I must stretch out my hands and beg: Brothers and sisters! Hand them over to me! Fathers and mothers: Give me your children!

I had a suspicion something was going to befall us. I anticipated "something" and was always like a watchman: on guard to prevent it. But I was unsuccessful because I did not know what was threatening us. The taking of the sick from the hospitals caught me completely by surprise. And I give you the best proof there is of this: I had my own nearest and dearest among them and I could do nothing for them!

I thought that would be the end of it, that after that, they'd leave us in peace, the peace for which I long so much, for which I've always worked, which has been my goal. But something else, it turned out, was destined for us. Such is the fate of the Jews: always more suffering and always worse suffering, especially in times of war.
Yesterday afternoon, they gave me the order to send more than 20,000 Jews out of the ghetto, and if not - "We will do it!". So the question became, 'Should we take it upon ourselves, do it ourselves, or leave it to others to do?". Well, we - that is, I and my closest associates - thought first not about "How many will perish?" but "How many is it possible to save?" And we reached the conclusion that, however hard it would be for us, we should take the implementation of this order into our own hands.

I must perform this difficult and bloody operation - I must cut off limbs in order to save the body itself. I must take children because, if not, others may be taken as well - God forbid.

I have no thought of consoling you today. Nor do I wish to calm you. I must lay bare your full anguish and pain. I come to you like a bandit, to take from you what you treasure most in your hearts! I have tried, using every possible means, to get the order revoked. I tried - when that proved to be impossible - to soften the order. Just yesterday, I ordered a list of children aged 9 - I wanted at least to save this one aged-group: the nine to 10 year olds. But I was not granted this concession. On only one point did I succeed: in saving the 10 year olds and up. Let this be a consolation to our profound grief.

There are, in the ghetto, many patients who can expect to live only a few days more, maybe a few weeks. I don't know if the idea is diabolical or not, but I must say it: "Give me the sick. In their place we can save the healthy."

I know how dear the sick are to any family, and particularly to Jews. However, when cruel demands are made, one has to weigh and measure: who shall, can and may be saved? And common sense dictates that the saved must be those who can be saved and those who have a chance of being rescued, not those who cannot be saved in any case...

We live in the ghetto, mind you. We live with so much restriction that we do not have enough even for the healthy, let alone for the sick. Each of us feeds the sick at the expense of our own health: we give our bread to the sick. We give them our meager ration of sugar, our little piece of meat. And what's the result? Not enough to cure the sick, and we ourselves become ill. Of course, such sacrifices are the most beautiful and noble. But there are times when one has to choose: sacrifice the sick, who haven't the slightest chance of recovery and who also may make others ill, or rescue the healthy.

I could not deliberate over this problem for long; I had to resolve it in favor of the healthy. In this spirit, I gave the appropriate instructions to the doctors, and they will be expected to deliver all incurable patients, so that the healthy, who want and are able to live, will be saved in their place.

I understand you, mothers; I see your tears, alright. I also feel what you feel in your hearts, you fathers who will have to go to work in the morning after your children have been taken from you, when just yesterday you were playing with your dear little ones. All this I know and feel. Since 4 o'clock yesterday, when I first found out about the order, I have been utterly broken. I share your pain. I suffer because of your anguish, and I don't know how I'll survive this - where I'll find the strength to do so.

I must tell you a secret: they requested 24,000 victims, 3000 a day for eight days. I succeeded in reducing the number to 20,000, but only on the condition that these be children under the age of 10. Children 10 and older are safe! Since the children and the aged together equals only some 13,000 souls, the gap will have to be filled with the sick.

I can barely speak. I am exhausted; I only want to tell you what I am asking of you: Help me carry out this action! I am trembling. I am afraid that others, God forbid, will do it themselves .

A broken Jew stands before you. Do not envy me. This is the most difficult of all orders I have ever had to carry out at any time. I reach out to you with my broken, trembling hands and beg: Give into my hands the victims! So that we can avoid having further victims, and a population of 100,000 Jews can be preserved! So, they promised me: If we deliver our victims by ourselves, there will be peace!!!

(shouts from the crowd about other options....some saying "We will not let the children go alone - we will all go!!!" and such).

These are empty phrases!!! I don't have the strength to argue with you! If the authorities were to arrive, none of you would be shouting!

I understand what it means to tear off a part of the body. Yesterday, I begged on my knees, but it did not work. From small villages with Jewish populations of 7000 to 8000, barely 1000 arrived here. So which is better? What do you want? That 80,000 to 90,000 Jews remain, or God forbid, that the whole population be annihilated?
You may judge as you please; my duty is to preserve the Jews who remain. I do not speak to hot-heads! I speak to your reason and conscience. I have done and will continue doing everything possible to keep arms from appearing in the streets and blood from being shed. The order could not be undone; it could only be reduced.

One needs the heart of a bandit to ask from you what I am asking. But put yourself in my place, think logically, and you'll reach the conclusion that I cannot proceed any other way. The part that can be saved is much larger than the part that must be given away!"

It's a speech that will never be be forgotten. Reading about the actual administration implemented by this monster, the Nazi appointed dictatorial chairman of the Judenrat of the Lodz-Litzmannstadt Ghetto, Poland, one can only shake ones head in shock, revulsion and sadness. Some describe it as a terrible choice, others paint it as a clear case of collaboration, examining his words and actions are all we have to go by.

http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Holocaust/lodz.html

Rumkowski's own fate remains an enigma. On 28 August 1944, the final transport left Lodz for Auschwitz-Birkenau. Among the deportees were Rumkowski, his wife, their adopted son, Rumkowski's brother, Jozef, and Jozef's wife, Helena. All kinds of rumours circulated concerning Rumkowski's end, although no definitive evidence has ever emerged.

The money they issued in the "Łódź Ghetto" signed with the monsters name


The Łódź Ghetto was hell on earth.

[randys1]

5. So it's the Jewish people's fault that the Nazi's slaughtered millions of them?

that is what this comment says to me

One of the most shocking aspects about Jewish life in the "Łódź Ghetto" is the role of members of their own faith and background in their own destruction and enslavement.

[Telcontar]

6. Then you really need to concentrate on reading comprehension

Because that's pretty much NOT what is said. There were collaborators in every group - hell, where do you think the term Quisling comes from?

[stevenleser]

9. No one doubts that. The question is, why is a particular person always interested in the

negative perspective where Jews are concerned?

This idea of collaborators is something I talk about a lot in terms of Jewish Kapos and other turncoats in the beginning stages of the holocaust (almost all of the collaborators were eventually killed by the Nazis), African Americans who were overseers during slavery, women like Phyllis Schlafly who are against equal rights for women, etc.

This exists with every group. That's not the question.

[hack89]

10. This is the most important thing you took away from the OP?

really?

[Quantess]

7. Interesting.

[Recursion]

8. Fascinating. Thanks for posting this! (nt)