Books & Discussion on the Holocaust Showing 601-650 of 1,027

[Jonny]

Born failure or born weasel strike me as more likely comments.

[zed]

Jonny wrote: "Born failure or born weasel strike me as more likely comments."

Bit tough on weasels there Jonny :-)

[Jonny]

If they were a bit less weasel-ly they'd duck it. Stoat just doesn't have the right ring!

[Dj]

Jonny wrote: "If they were a bit less weasel-ly they'd duck it. Stoat just doesn't have the right ring!"

And for some reason Mongoose are thought of as too cute to be Weasely. LOL.

[J.]

Dj wrote: "I find the comment somewhat unlikely since Himmler seems to be somewhat less intimidating as a child than others. Also, it isn't really the type of thing that Father's are likely to say of their own children..."

Who gives an aerobatic assignation what Himmler was like as a child? He was such a mean little creep, his father put him in charge of discipline at his school. As an adult, Himmler did hideous things.

And yes, you're right, "He's a born criminal" is not what fathers typically say of their children. But most children are not Heinrich Himmler. Most children are not eventually known to be the person most directly responsible for carrying out the Holocaust. There is no doubt of that whatsoever, and there is very little doubt of the quotation's authenticity, either.

[zed]

I didn't have much time for Padfields bio admittedly but the book never gave me the impression he was a monster as a youth. If I get around to reading on him further I will take a bit more notice on his youth I suppose. As I wrote in my review "Himmler was a cowardly sycophant who followed Hitler without question. He was responsible for crimes against humanity through his unwavering beliefs in a moribund ideology. He had not one redeeming feature."

[Dj]

J. wrote: "Dj wrote: "I find the comment somewhat unlikely since Himmler seems to be somewhat less intimidating as a child than others. Also, it isn't really the type of thing that Father's are likely to say ..."

I would have to agree that must Children are not Himller, it might even be safe to say all of them but one was not.

[J.]

Dj wrote: "I would have to agree that m[o]st Children are not [Himmler;] it might even be safe to say all of them but one was not.."

You may be right! But I often wonder if there were lots of little Himmlers out there, but only one who wandered into a Nazi Party gathering ~1923 and fell under Hitler's spell. One was certainly enough--there were plenty of underlings to carry out Himmler's orders.

[J.]

4triplezed wrote: "As I wrote in my review "Himmler was a cowardly sycophant who followed Hitler without question. He was responsible for crimes against humanity through his unwavering beliefs in a moribund ideology. He had not one redeeming feature...."

Right. He was all of that. Ever the weasel, he tried to do a few good works, starting in November '44, releasing a trainload or two of Jews, ordering the destruction of the crematoria, and keeping camp prisoners in place, where they could be rescued by Allied forces.

His orders were largely ignored, but were enough to get him fired by Hitler. Far too little, far too late. Himmler died horribly when he ingested cyanide, was quickly upended by US interrogators and forced to vomit much of the dose through his nose and mouth. It took him about 15 minutes, possibly a little longer, to die.

[Colin]

I have all the scoop on Himmler throughout the war, especially his sudden humanity being displayed as mentioned above, or his secret proxy meeting with Alan Dulles, when he was working on a deal for a separate peace, which Hitler found out about. Goering did the same thing with the Swiss Red Cross, hence his being dumped as well. SS Lt. Gen. Karl Wolff was one of my best interviews, and one of my first with Germans. Another interview, Leon Degrelle also gave me interesting data on his meeting with Himmler in Denmark in 1945.

[J.]

Colin wrote: "I have all the scoop on Himmler throughout the war, especially his sudden humanity being displayed as mentioned above, or his secret proxy meeting with Alan Dulles, when he was working on a deal fo.....SS Lt. Gen. Karl Wolff was one of my best interviews...Leon Degrelle also gave me interesting data on his meeting with Himmler in Denmark in 1945. .."

Wolff must have been interesting. He worked closely with Dulles on the N. Italy surrender and got off easy. I'd like to read the intereview. I'm not sure I'd trust Degrelle as far as I can throw a live bull up a silo.

[Geevee, Assisting Moderator British & Commonwealth Forces]

I am continuing through this excellent book. Final Solution: The Fate of the Jews 1933-49 by David Cesarani

I have been adding a few updates as I go but thought people maybe interested in this one (character limited) on the Lodz ghetto:
Jan 1942 Lodz Ghetto: 162K Jews; food & fuel shortages but it's a productive area. They must fit in 20k more. Jewish leaders agree to take 10K but must make room. A Jewish resettlement commission of medical & respected figures draw up lists. Half report and so using their own Order Service they seize the other deportees, and so 10,103 Jews on 14 transports each of 20 freight cars are taken to their end at Chelmno.

['Aussie Rick', Moderator]

Sounds like your book is an excellent but depressing read Geevee!

A bit like this account from the book; "Bloodlands":

"In October 1941, Mahileu became the first substantial city in occupied Soviet Belarus where almost all Jews were killed. A German (Austrian) policeman wrote to his wife of his feelings and experiences shooting the city's Jews in the first days of the month. 'During the first try, my hand trembled a bit as I shot, but one gets used to it. By the tenth try I aimed calmly and shot surely at the many women, children and infants. I kept in mind that I have two infants at home, whom these hordes would treat just the same, if not ten times worse. The death that we gave them was a beautiful quick death, compared to the hellish torments of thousands and thousands in the jails of the GPU. Infants flew in great arcs through the air, and we shot them to pieces in flight, before their bodies fell into the pit and into the water.' On the second and third of October 1941, the Germans (with the help of auxiliary policemen from Ukraine) shot 2,273 men, women, and children at Mahileu. On 19 October another 3,726 followed."

[Mike, Assisting Moderator US Forces]

"a beautiful quick death " huh? If there is a hell, I trust this person is roasting slowly. Amazing how someone can justify the worst evils.

[J.]

Geevee wrote: "I am continuing through this excellent book. Final Solution The Fate of the Jews 1933-49 by David Cesarani..."

I got partway into it, then abandoned it in favor of something else. Anything else.

Mike wrote: ""a beautiful quick death " huh? If there is a hell, I trust this person is roasting slowly. Amazing how someone can justify the worst evils."

Tu quoque arguments cover a multitude of sins, in their minds. That same fallacy is used daily by people here without a qualm, a sign that, though we may not have a Hitler, yet, we still have plenty of little ones in training.

[Doreen]

I just finished reading Night by Elie Wiesel. Was an outstanding read that I would recommend to all.

['Aussie Rick', Moderator]

From the book; "Bloodlands", a typically Stalinist view:

"The logic of the Soviet system was always to resist independent initiatives and to value human life very cheaply. Jews in ghettos were aiding the German war effort as forced laborers, so their death over pits was of little concern to authorities in Moscow. Jews who were not aiding but hindering the Germans were showing signs of a dangerous capacity for initiative, and might later resist the reimposition of Soviet rule. By Stalinist logic, Jews were suspect either way: if they remained in the ghetto and worked for the Germans, or if they left the ghetto and showed a capacity for independent action."

[Sweetwilliam]

Thanks Rick. I have got to make time for this one.

[Colin]

Stalin had a similar view of all Eastern Europeans, especially the Poles, hence the Katyn massacre, and his stopping the Red Army short of Warsaw in 1944 during that uprising.

[Geevee, Assisting Moderator British & Commonwealth Forces]

I've finished Final Solution: The Fate of the Jews 1933-49 by David Cesarani and my review is here should people wish to read it: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

['Aussie Rick', Moderator]

Geevee wrote: "I've finished Final Solution: The Fate of the Jews 1933-49 by David Cesarani and my review is here s..."

Excellent review Geevee and I will keep my eyes out for a copy of this book for my library.

[Colin]

Cesarani is a solid historian, met him.

[J.]

Geevee wrote: "I've finished Final Solution: The Fate of the Jews 1933-49 by David Cesarani and my review is here s..."

Thanks, Geevee; it's a good review. I tried to read The Final Solution, based on mention of it here, but gave up about 100+ pages in. Knowing why* Hitler wanted to kill all the Jews, I guess I'm Hitlered out.

Congratulations on reading the whole thing. The repatriation you mention is new to me, though I knew the survival rate for Jews was higher in Germany than in many other countries.

And we do need to remember. We need especially to recall where Hitler came from and watch that faction carefully.

* [Geli Raubal was probably the first victim.]

[Geevee, Assisting Moderator British & Commonwealth Forces]

Thank you J. For me a non-Jew it is a difficult read. For those with Jewish heritage and direct connections it must be so painful and like your experience one that cannot be completed. History, I am sorry to say, repeats (or rather mankind doesn't learn from history); not always mirror images of the past but repeat it does and why for me remembrance and hard, open accounts are right to be promoted and read.

[J.]

Geevee wrote: "Thank you J...History, I am sorry to say, repeats (or rather mankind doesn't learn from history); not always mirror images of the past but repeat it does and why for me remembrance and hard, open accounts are right to be promoted and read...."

Yes, it is necessary to learn as much as we can from this experience, going all the way back to WWI to understand the roots of Naziism. Peripheral works, like A E Samaan's shocking book on Eugenics outside of Germany, are also useful.

https://www.amazon.com/Race-Masters-M...

[Bev]

I have recently finished reading a PDF version of the novel (based on true life) Robert Karmon Isaac


It was one I requested to review and would recommend to others. You can read my review here. https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Dimitri]

The Warsaw Ghetto Diaries by Hillel Seidman

Yes, the famous "hidden in milk jugs" diary. I'll be reading it soon.

[Bev]

I have just returned to my hotel room after a visit to Terezin. I am still processing it but I think it had more impact on me than my visit to Auschwitz a week or so ago.

[Dimitri]

The Bloomsbury Companion to Holocaust Literature by Jenni Adams (editor)

The Bloomsbury Companion to Holocaust Literature is a comprehensive reference resource including a wealth of critical material on a diverse range of topics within the literary study of Holocaust writing. At its centre is a series of specially commissioned essays by leading scholars within the field: these address genre-specific issues such as the question of biographical and historical truth in Holocaust testimony, as well as broader topics including the politics of Holocaust representation and the validity of comparative approaches to the Holocaust in literature and criticism. The volume includes a substantial section detailing new and emergent trends within the literary study of the Holocaust, a concise glossary of major critical terminology, and an annotated bibliography of relevant research material.

Featuring original essays by: Victoria Aarons, Jenni Adams, Michael Bernard-Donals, Matthew Boswell, Stef Craps, Richard Crownshaw, Brett Ashley Kaplan and Fernando Herrero-Matoses, Adrienne Kertzer, Erin McGlothlin, David Miller, and Sue Vice

[Doreen]

Just started reading Clara's War by Clara Kramer. Looks to be very promising.

[Pamela]

Finished an utterly chilling, powerful memoir by a Catholic priest who survived Dachau. Will write a review shortly but it is worth five stars: "Priestblock 25487" by Father Jean Bernard. Probably the best memoir by a non-Jewish Holocaust survivor that I've read.

[Bev]

sounds interesting!

[Dimitri]

Consciously published in English to reach as wide an audience as possible, this Yad Vashem pub boosts a team of Belgian sholars with solid credentials and mastery of the orignal sources in French, Dutch and German.

Belgium and the Holocaust: Jews, Belgians, Germans

"Historical research on the Holocaust has not dealt evenly with all the persecuted Jewish communities. The fate of the Jews in Belgium has been relatively neglected.Since what little has been published or written is in either Dutch or French, the material has been largely unavailable to readers outside West Europe. This volume is the first of its kind in English. A variety of researchers from Belgium, France, and Israel discuss issues such as the make-up of Belgian Jewry before the war; Nazi anti-Jewish policies; the attitudes of various segements of Belgian society to the Jews before, during, and after the occupation; Jewish strategies and activities for survival; the problematics of reconstruction in the aftermath of the war; the contacts with the Yishuv in Palestine; emigration to the United States; and the policies of postwar commemoration."

[Devika]

So Czechs were also put into concentration camps?

[Derek]

Pamela wrote: "Finished an utterly chilling, powerful memoir by a Catholic priest who survived Dachau. Will write a review shortly but it is worth five stars: "Priestblock 25487" by Father Jean Bernard. Probably the best memoir by a non-Jewish Holocaust survivor that I've read."

While researching my current book I came across the following eavedropped conversation between two Scharnhorst survivors:
‘N 2140: A clean sweep must be made of the Catholics too.
N 2166: Not now, but when we have won the war we will do so.’
Once you start down that road it never ends.

[Colin]

As a WW II and Holocaust historian,I can assure you that no nation under German occupation escaped the round ups.

[Dimitri]

Erich Fried Die Maßnahmen:

Die Faulen werden geschlachtet,
die Welt wird fleißig.

Die Häßlichen werden geschlachtet,
die Welt wird schön.

Die Narren werden geschlachtet.
die Welt wird weise.

Die Kranken werden geschlachtet,
die Welt wird gesund.

Die Alten werden geschlachtet,
die Welt wird jung.

Die Traurigen werden geschlachtet,
die Welt wird lustig.

Die Feinde werden geschlachtet,
die Welt wird freundlich.

Die Bösen werden geschlachtet,
die Welt wird gut.


the lazy are killed, the world becomes industrious.
the ugly are killed, the world becomes beautiful.
the fools are killed, the world becomes wise.
the sick are killed, the world becomes healthy
the old are killed, the world becomes youthful.
The sad are killed, the world becomes joyful.
The enemy is slaughtered, the world becomes benevolent.
The Evil is exterminated, the world becomes Good.

It all depends how literally you interpret each noun & adjective.

['Aussie Rick', Moderator]

Excellent post Dimitri!

['Aussie Rick', Moderator]

This January 2018 release may be of interest to a number of our group members:

Anatomy of a Genocide: The Life and Death of a Town Called Buczacz by Omer Bartov
Description:
A fascinating and cautionary examination of how genocide can take root at the local level--turning neighbors, friends, and even family members against one another--as seen through the eastern European border town of Buczacz during World War II.
For more than four hundred years, the Eastern European border town of Buczacz--today part of Ukraine--was home to a highly diverse citizenry. It was here that Poles, Ukrainians, and Jews all lived side by side in relative harmony. Then came World War II, and three years later the entire Jewish population had been murdered by German and Ukrainian police, while Ukrainian nationalists eradicated Polish residents. In truth, though, this genocide didn't happen so quickly.

In Anatomy of a Genocide Omer Bartov explains that ethnic cleansing doesn't occur as is so often portrayed in popular history, with the quick ascent of a vitriolic political leader and the unleashing of military might. It begins in seeming peace, slowly and often unnoticed, the culmination of pent-up slights and grudges and indignities. The perpetrators aren't just sociopathic soldiers. They are neighbors and friends and family. They are human beings, proud and angry and scared. They are also middle-aged men who come from elsewhere, often with their wives and children and parents, and settle into a life of bourgeois comfort peppered with bouts of mass murder: an island of normality floating on an ocean of blood.

For more than two decades Bartov, whose mother was raised in Buczacz, traveled extensively throughout the region, scouring archives and amassing thousands of documents rarely seen until now. He has also made use of hundreds of first-person testimonies by victims, perpetrators, collaborators, and rescuers. Anatomy of a Genocide profoundly changes our understanding of the social dynamics of mass killing and the nature of the Holocaust as a whole. Bartov's book isn't just an attempt to understand what happened in the past. It's a warning of how it could happen again, in our own towns and cities--much more easily than we might think.

[Dimitri]

This book sounds like it needs a time machine to 1990's Yugoslavia. Then again, the people who'd lived through WWII were still alive & that didn't stop them.

[Colin]

Bartov is a solid historian.

['Aussie Rick', Moderator]

I found his book; "Hitler's Army: Soldiers, Nazis, And War In The Third Reich" an interesting read.

Hitler's Army: Soldiers, Nazis, and War in the Third Reich by Omer Bartov

[Doreen]

I just finished reading Clara's War by Clara Kramer. It was soo good I would recommend this one to all.

['Aussie Rick', Moderator]

Doreen wrote: "I just finished reading Clara's War by Clara Kramer. It was soo good I would recommend this one to all."

Good to hear you enjoyed the book Doreen and thanks for the recommendation for the group.

[Dimitri]

A unique letter by Sondernkommando survivor Marcel Nadjari, unearthed inside a thermos in 1980, was reconstructed through advanced computer scans.

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-...

Die Zeit posted the full document in German. An official translation isn't planned until Dececember, so I'll try.

An meine Lieben (1), Dimitris Athan[asius] Stefanidis (2), Ilias Koen, Georgios Gounaris.

An meine geliebten Gefährten, Smaro Efraimidou (3) und so viele andere, an die ich immer denken werde, und schließlich an mein geliebtes Vaterland: "ELLAS", dem ich immer ein guter Bürger war.

To my beloved(s)... and my beloved Fatherland Greece of which I was always a good citizen.

Am 2. April 1944 sind wir aus unserem Athen abgefahren, nachdem ich einen Monat im Lager Chaidari durchlitten habe, wo ich immer die Pakete der guten Smaro erhalten habe, und deren Bemühungen um mich mir unvergesslich geblieben sind in diesen schlimmen Tagen [...].

On 2.4.44 we were transported out of our Athens, after which I spent a month in Camp Chaidara, where I always received the packages of the kind Smaro, whose worry over me I have always kept in mind in these hard days.

Nach einer Reise von zehn Tagen kamen wir am 11. April in Auschwitz an, wo sie uns ins Lager Birkenau brachten, wir blieben etwa einen Monat in der Quarantäne, und von da haben sie uns, die Gesunden und Kräftigen, verlegt. Wohin? Wohin, lieber Misko? Zu einem Krematorium, ich werde euch weiter unten unsere schöne Arbeit erläutern, die der Allmächtige uns verrichten lassen wollte.

After a 10 days' travel we came to Auschwitz on April 11. They took us to Birkenau, where we spent about a month in Quarantine. They relocated us, the strong and healthy. Where?Whereto, my dear Misko? To a crematorium. I'll explain to you the work the Almighty had us do.

Es ist ein großes Gebäude mit einem breiten Schornstein mit 15 Öfen. Unterhalb eines Gartens gibt es zwei große, endlose Kellerräume. Der eine dient uns zum Auskleiden und der andere als Todeskammer, wo die Leute nackt hineingehen, und nachdem er mit etwa 3.000 Personen gefüllt ist, wird er verschlossen, und sie vergasen sie, wo sie nach 6 bis 7 Minuten Martyrium den Geist aushauchen.

It's a big building with a wide chimney and 15 ovens. Half buried under the garden lie two vast, sheer endless basement rooms. The first one serves to undress, the other as an execution chamber that people enter naked & is sealed after about 3.000 people have entered. They gas them. they expire after 6 to 7 minutes of martyrdom.

Unsere Arbeit bestand darin, erstens sie in Empfang zu nehmen, die meisten kannten den Grund nicht .... (4) zusammenbrachen oder weinten sagten sie ihnen, dass .... es sich um ein Bad handelt .... gingen sie nichtsahnend in den Tod. Bis heute .... Ich sagte, dass jeder .... sagte ich ihnen, dass ich ihre Sprache nicht verstehe, in der sie mit mir reden (5), und den Menschen, Männern und Frauen, bei denen ich gesehen habe, dass ihr Schicksal besiegelt ist, habe ich die Wahrheit gesagt.

Our task was to receive them. Most people didn't know why they were here. If they collapsed or cried, we told 'em it was a bathhouse. To this day.. I told each.. told'em I didn't speak their language. Those people, men and women, whose faith I saw sealed, I told'em the truth.

Nachdem .... alle nackt, gingen sie weiter in die Todeskammer, da drinnen hatten die Deutschen an der Decke Rohre angebracht .... damit sie glauben, dass sie das Bad vorbereiten, mit Peitschen in der Hand zwangen die Deutschen sie, immer enger zusammenzurücken, damit möglichst viele hineinpassen, eine wahre Sardinendose von Menschen, danach haben sie die Tür hermetisch verschlossen.

Afterwards they all went naked into the execution chamber. The Germans had installed piping on the ceiling to make them believe.
The Germans, whip in hand, forced them closer and closer together to fit in as many people as possible, like a can of human sardines. Then they hermetically sealed the doors.

Die Gasbüchsen kamen immer mit dem Auto des Deutschen Roten Kreuzes mit zwei SS-Leuten .... Sie sind die Gasleute, die ihnen dann das Gas durch Öffnungen hineingeschüttet haben.

The gas cilinders were always delivered by Red Cross car with two SS-men, the gas operators who shake the gas [crystals] into the openings.

Nach einer halben Stunde öffneten wir die Türen, und unsere Arbeit begann. Wir trugen die Leichen dieser unschuldigen Frauen und Kinder zum Aufzug, der sie in den Raum mit den Öfen beförderte, und dort steckten sie sie in die Öfen, wo sie verbrannten, ohne Zuhilfenahme von Brennmaterial, aufgrund des Fetts, das sie haben.

We opened the doors after half an hour and our work began.
We carried the bodies of these innocent women and children into the elevator that took'em to the room with the ovens and there we put them in the ovens, were they burned without added fuel, because of the body fat.

Ein Mensch ergab nur etwa ein halbes Okka Asche (6), die uns die Deutschen zu zerkleinern zwangen, um sie dann durch ein grobes Sieb zu pressen, und danach holte es ein Auto ab und schüttete es in den Fluss Vistula, der in der Nähe vorbeifließt, und so beseitigen sie alle Spuren.

A human results in about [640g] ash, which the Germans made us compress and sieve. A car then picked up the remains and dumped them in the Vistula [ actually a side river, the Sola] which flows nearby, to erase all trace.

Die Dramen, die meine Augen gesehen haben, sind unbeschreiblich. An meinen Augen sind etwa 600.000 Juden aus Ungarn vorbeigezogen, – Franzosen – Polen aus Litzmannstadt, ungefähr 80.000, und jetzt zuletzt trafen erstmals etwa 10.000 zehntausend Juden aus Theresienstadt in der Tschechoslowakei ein.

the horrors I've seen with my own eyes defy description. I've seen about 600.000 Hungarian Jews pass - French - Poles from Litzmannstadt, about 80.000 and finally about 10.000 Jews from Theresienstadt in Czechoslovakia.

Heute kam ein Transport aus Theresienstadt, aber Gott sei Dank haben sie die nicht zu uns gebracht, sie behielten sie in Lagern, es hieß, dass der Befehl kam, man solle keine Juden mehr töten, und das stimmt allem Anschein nach, da haben sie jetzt im letzten Moment ihre Meinung geändert – jetzt, da allerdings kein einziger Jude mehr in Europa übrig geblieben ist, doch für uns liegt die Sache anders, wir müssen von der Erde verschwinden, weil wir so vieles wissen über die unvorstellbaren Methoden ihrer Misshandlungen und Vergeltungsaktionen.

Today the transport from Theresienstadt arrived, but thank God they weren't brought to us. They were kept in the camp.
It was rumoured the order came to no longer kill Jews. They probably changed their mind at the last moment.
Now that there is not a Jew left in Europe. For us it's a different matter: we are to vanish off the face of the Earth because we know so much about their unimaginable methods, their cruelty and vengefullness.

Unser Kommando nennt sich Sonderkommando , es bestand anfangs aus rund 1.000 Leuten, davon 200 Griechen und die übrigen Polen und Ungarn, und nach heroischem Widerstand, deswegen, weil sie nur 800 abziehen wollten, weil alle hundert außerhalb des Lagers und die anderen innerhalb (8). Gefallen sind meine guten Freunde Viko Brudo und Minis Aaron aus Thess/niki.

Our team named Sondernkommando consisted initially of about 1000 men, 200 of'em Greek and the rest Polish or Hungarian.
This took heroic effort, since the Germans only succeeded to kill 800, with 100 from outside the camp and the rest from inside.
My good friends V.K. & M.A. from Thessaloniki are dead.

[Dimitri]

Jetzt, wo dieser Befehl gekommen ist, werden sie auch uns eliminieren, wir sind insgesamt 26 Griechen, und die übrigen sind Polen. Zumindest wir Griechen sind entschlossen, zu sterben wie wahre Griechen, so wie jeder Grieche aus dem Leben zu scheiden weiß, indem er bis zum letzten Augenblick zeigt, trotz der Überlegenheit der Verbrecher, dass in unseren Adern griechisches Blut fließt, wie wir es auch im Krieg gegen Italien gezeigt haben.

Now that the order has been given, they want to kill us too. We’re 26 Greeks altogether, the others are Polish. We are determined to die as true Greeks, to show until the final moment that, in spite of the power of these criminals, that Greek blood flows through our veins, as we have proven in the war against Italy.

Meine Lieben, wenn ihr lest, welche Arbeit ich erledigt habe, werdet ihr sagen: Wie konnte ich, der Manolis, oder irgendjemand anders diese Arbeit machen und ihre Glaubensgenossen verbrennen.

My dear, when you read this, the things I’ve done, you’ll say: how could I, Manolis, or anyone for that matter, perform this task and cremate my fellow believers.

Auch ich habe mir das anfangs gesagt, viele Male habe ich daran gedacht, zusammen mit ihnen reinzugehen, um Schluss zu machen. Aber davon abgehalten hat mich immer die Rache; ich wollte und will leben, um den Tod von Papa und Mama zu rächen und [den] meiner geliebten kleinen Schwester Nelli.

I asked myself the same question in the beginning & I’ve often contemplated to put an end to it when they passed away. But my desire for vengeance kept me from doing it. I wanted to live, I want to live, to avenge the deaths of Papa and Mama & my precious little sister Nelli.

Ich fürchte den Tod nicht, wie könnte ich ihn auch fürchten nach all dem, was meine Augen gesehen haben? Deshalb, lieber Ilias, mein geliebter kleiner Cousin, sollst du, wenn es mich nicht mehr gibt, du [und] alle meine Freunde wissen, was eure Pflicht ist. [...] Mein einziger Wunsch ist, dass in eure Hände gelangt, was ich euch schreibe.

I didn’t fear death; how could I after all that I’ve seen before my very eyes? That’s why, dear Ilias, my beloved little nephew, you and all my friends should know your duty when I’m no longer there. My only wish is to pass into your hands what I write you.

Den Besitz meiner Familie vermache ich dir, Misko , mit der Bitte, den Ilias zu dir zu nehmen, meinen Cousin. Der Ilias ist [ein] Koen, und du sollst ihn ganz so betrachten, als ob ich selbst es wäre, sollst immer auf ihn aufpassen, und falls je meine Cousine Sarika Chouli zurückkehrt, sollst du sie so behandeln, lieber Misko, wie deine geliebte Nichte Smaragda, denn wir alle hier erleiden Dinge, die sich der menschliche Verstand nicht vorstellen kann.

I leave you, Misko, the family possessions with the request to take in my nephew Ilias. He’s brave, watch over him as if he were me, and if my niece Sarika should return, dear Misko, treat her as you would your own beloved niece Smaragda. Because the human mind can’t begin to comprehend our sufferings here.

Denkt ab und zu an mich, so wie auch ich an euch denke. Das Schicksal will es nicht, dass auch ich unser Griechenland frei sehe, so wie ihr es am 12/10/43 erlebt habt. Wann immer jemand nach mir fragt, sagt einfach, dass es mich nicht mehr gibt und dass ich dahingegangen bin wie ein wahrer Grieche. Hilf allen, lieber Miskos, die zurückkommen aus dem Lager von Birkenau.

Think about me sometimes as I think of you. Destiny won’t allow me to see our Greece liberated as you saw on 12/10/43 ??. Whenever somebody asks about me, just tell them I’m no longer with you and passed as a true Greek. Help all those, dear Miskos, that make it back from Birkenau.

Ich bin nicht traurig, lieber Miskos, dass ich sterben werde, wohl aber, dass ich mich nicht werde rächen können [...]. Falls du einen Brief von meinen Verwandten im Ausland bekommst, gib bitte die passende Antwort, dass die Familie A. Nadjari ausgelöscht ist, ermordet von den kultivierten Deutschen [...].

I’m not afraid to die, dear Miskos, only sad that I’m won’t get my revenge. If you get a letter from our relatives abroad, give them a fitting answer, that the Nadjari family was massacred by the civilized German people.

Hol bitte, Misko, das Klavier meiner Nelli von der Familie Sionidou ab und gib es dem Ilias, damit er es zur Erinnerung immer bei sich hat, er hat sie so sehr geliebt und sie ihn auch.

Misko, Please hold onto the piano that my Nelli got from the Sionidou family and give it to Ilias, so that he can forever hold onto her memory, for he loved her so & she loved him.

Fast immer, wenn sie töten, frage ich mich, ob Gott existiert, und dennoch habe ich immer an Ihn geglaubt und glaube nach wie vor, dass Gott es will, dass sein Wille geschehe... Ich sterbe glücklich, weil ich weiß, dass in diesem Augenblick unser Griechenland frei ist, mein letztes Wort wird sein: Es lebe Griechenland. [...]

I almost always wonder, amidst the killing, whether God exists, but in the end I have always believed in Him and tell myself, His will be done…. I die content in the knowledge that Greece is free at this moment. My last words shall be: long live Greece!

Seit nunmehr etwa vier Jahren töten sie die Juden .... sie töteten Polen, Tschechen, Franzosen, Ungarn, Slowaken, Holländer, Belgier, Russen und ganz Thess/niki. Ausnahme die etwa 300, die bis heute am Leben sind, [in] Athen, Arta, Kerkyra, Kos und Rhodos. Insgesamt ungefähr 1.400.000 (9).

Die verehrte griechische Botschaft, die diese Notiz erhalten wird, wird gebeten, von einem guten griechischen Bürger namens Emmanouil oder Marcel Nadjari aus Thess/niki, früher wohnhaft in der Odos Italias Nr. 9 in Thess/niki, diese Notiz an untenstehende Adresse zu schicken. Dimitrios Athanassiou Stefanidis / Odos Krousovou Nr. 4 / Thess/niki / Griechenland.

Dies ist mein letzter Wunsch.
Zum Tode verurteilt von den Deutschen
weil ich jüdischen Glaubens bin.
Danke
Nadjaris

They have been killing Jews for about four years now: They kill Poles, Czechs, French, Hungarians, Slovaks, Dutch, Belgians, Russians and all of Thessaloniki. Apart from about 300 who are still alive today, in Athens, Arta, Kerkyra, Kos and Rhodes, about 1.400.000 in total.
[please adress this letter to…]
This is my final wish.
Condemned to die by the Germans
because I adhere the Jewish faith.
Thanks,
Nadjaris

[Bev]

Thank you for sharing Dmitri. It feels as if it had just been written and is both horrifying and touching. I wish that humanity had learned from this time but I am so afraid that we haven't. Letters like this one are important. His message still needs to be heard.

['Aussie Rick', Moderator]

Thanks for taking the time to type out those posts Dimitri, really appreciate you sharing the details with the group.

[Pamela]

Dimitri wrote: "Jetzt, wo dieser Befehl gekommen ist, werden sie auch uns eliminieren, wir sind insgesamt 26 Griechen, und die übrigen sind Polen. Zumindest wir Griechen sind entschlossen, zu sterben wie wahre Gri..."

Thank you Dimitri.

[Sweetwilliam]

This forum has inspired me to read several books about the Holocaust and a a few books that chronicled Hitler's ascent to power. I read these books because I think it is important to remember the past and all the suffering of the innocent so that we may prevent it from happening again. But what about the other holocaust? Where can we discuss the holocaust that happened behind the Iron Curtain? I just read Solzhenitsyn's Gulag Archipelago. The good news about Stalin is that in his holocaust he didn't discriminate as much as Hitler. He was an equal opportunity murderer and in some ways made Hitler look like a piker!

Solzhenitsyn wonders why Soviet prisoners who were repatriated were sent to the gulag? He wonders why none of the other countries' POWs were not sent to concentration camps after the war? Why did the west not feel the need to do this? He also documents how the west was at times complicit in the repatriation of these fighters back to Stalin. This was shameful.

BTW - if this corner is only to be reserved for the killing of Jews than don't worry. There were plenty of pogroms against Jews in the Soviet Union.

Rick - if this book doesn't belong, please move this post to the correct forum. This should be required reading.


And now for some shameless self-promotion. I wrote the following review. I was inspired to read this book because the local High School recently decided to allow the children to start a Communist Club. I have offered to buy each member of the club a copy of Solzhenitsyn's book. Here is my review:https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...