Posted on 04/15/2014 4:59:55 AM PDT by Homer_J_Simpson
I wonder if those devils know Russian soldiers are now only about 150 miles away?
What made the Holocaust particularly chilling is that it was extermination on an industrial scale. And that industry had its support system. It was the workers at IG Farben who made the gas. It was the people who built the crematoria ovens.
More than anything, it was the Reichsbahn railway workers who made the Auschwitz and Treblinka run. The railways were the economic fabric of Europe. Everything moved by rail, including millions of people to their deaths. Everyone knew somebody who worked in the rail industry. And everyone in the rail industry knew what the Auschwitz run was all about.
The Germans knew. And probably so did just about everyone else in Europe, too.
Great point. Many trainloads of Jews going into Auschwitz and the other camps and no trains coming out.
I suspect by now, obtaining life insurance for members of a train crew is very difficult and will soon become impossible. From time to time I've wondered how many train crews of the Reichsbahn circa 1942 survived the war?
Sorry, I've never figured out how to control the size of an image, just have to go with whatever it is.
In this case the map is so large, you might easily miss seeing the legend in the upper-right corner.
As you suggest, it is indeed a map of the percentage of Russian speakers in various Ukrainian areas, with the darkest colors being the highest percents -- >75%.
It's the best I could do to summarize today's headlines in Crimea and Ukraine.
Yes, that's not exactly "history repeating itself", but does anyone seriously doubt that today's events are animated, at least in part, by those of exactly 70 years ago?
A teachable moment, thanks to Homer!
Thanks!
You’re spot on.
And they knew what was going on in the camps. Here's a statement from a high DR official I found:
At the end of the Second World War, DR personnel propagated about themselves that they where just a transport organisation and knew nothing about the Holocaust. They stated that they where only interested in the movement of trains, “the wheels rolled” and they where not concerned with the contents. In 1944 Dorpmuller visited Auschwitz where he inspected the rail facilities. From here he could have seen the conditions that the prisoners had to suffer. Being head of the organisation, Dorpmuller was asked after the war if he considered himself as an accessory to murder, in his answer he gave a reply that summed up the attitude of the majority of railroaders:
“It was indeed Known to me during my stay at Auschwitz that crimes where being committed in the camp but I could do nothing about them, I want to emphasize that it was my job to ensure that the wheels rolled and not to concern myself with what was transported”
Like most Germans they just looked away and didn't "concern" themselves with what they knew was going on.
I believe payments were also made for transporting POWs. In his book The Forgotten Soldier Guy Sajer writes of passing an eastbound train somewhere in Russia during the winter that was loaded with Russian POWs in exposed cars, possibly flatcars. Those still alive had stacked the frozen corpses of their comrades towards the front of the car to serve as a windbreak. I would imagine more than a few bottles of schnapps were required by the crews to help cope with such experiences.
And they knew what was going on in the camps. Here's a statement from a high DR official I found:
At the end of the Second World War, DR personnel propagated about themselves that they where just a transport organisation and knew nothing about the Holocaust.
That might have some truth in the West where to maintain the lie of resettlement to the East, Jews were initially transported in 3rd class passenger cars. However, at some point, I assume those trains stopped and the passengers were moved to box cars for the remainder of the journey.
In general, my understanding of the Reichbahn is that like any railroad, crews would periodically be switched. By the time the trains reached Poland, local crews (Volksdeutsch, auxilliaries, etc.) would man the trains as they passed through the camp gates.
They stated that they where only interested in the movement of trains, “the wheels rolled” and they where not concerned with the contents.
In many cases it may have been that they knew but didn't want to know. Being caught displaying curiosity about train contents could result in the severest of penalties.
In 1944 Dorpmuller visited Auschwitz where he inspected the rail facilities. From here he could have seen the conditions that the prisoners had to suffer. Being head of the organisation, Dorpmuller was asked after the war if he considered himself as an accessory to murder, in his answer he gave a reply that summed up the attitude of the majority of railroaders:
“It was indeed Known to me during my stay at Auschwitz that crimes where being committed in the camp but I could do nothing about them, I want to emphasize that it was my job to ensure that the wheels rolled and not to concern myself with what was transported”
Like most Germans they just looked away and didn't "concern" themselves with what they knew was going on.
True but showing concern could result in the severest of punishments.
I suspect most train crews, particularly engine crews alive during 1942/43 didn't survive the war physically intact. By now, allied fighters on their return trips from escorting bombers are following railroads in large numbers just to see what they might happen to see.
It has to suck being in a Reichsbahn locomotive and seeing a flight of P-38s approaching.
It’s apparent now from the war news that Ike’s plan to target the railway infrastructure in anticipation of Overlord is well under way.
Yep. I wouldn't have wanted to have been in a locomotive. I'd be surprised if many "old timers" survived the war intact.
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