He refused to be guided, but on that morning requested to be shown first one thing and then another. In the women’s camp he saw the cramped quarters, the insufficient latrine accommodation, and the; deficient water supply, and he got the administrative officer to show him the stocks of clothing. Everywhere he saw the deficiencies. He had every detail of the rationing system and the extra allowances for the heavy workers explained to hirn.
In the women’s camp he attended the whipping of a female criminal (a prostitue, who was continually breaking in and stealing whatever she could lay her hands on) in order to observe its effect. Before any woman was whipped, permission had to be obtained from Himmler personally. Some women were produced to him, who had been imprisoned for insignificant offenses, and he set them free. He talked with some female Jehovah’s Witnesses and discussed with them their fanatical beliefs.
After the inspection, he held a final conference in my office and, in Schmauser’s presence, addressed me, more or less, in the following words:
“I have now made a thorough inspection of Auschwitz. I have seen everything and I have seen enough of the deficiencies and difficulties and I have heard enough of them from you. I can, however, do nothing to alter them. You will have to manage as best you can. We are now in the middle of a war and we must learn to think in terms of war. The actions, which I have ordered the security police to carry out, will not be stopped under any circumstances, least of all because of the lack of accommodation and so on, which I have been shown. Eichmann’s program will continue to be carried out and will be intensified month by month. You must see to it that swift progress is made with the building of Birkenau. The gypsies are to be destroyed. The Jews who are unfit for work are to be destroyed with the same ruthlessness. Soon the labor camps at the armaments factories will absorb the first large contingents of able-bodied Jews, and that will give you some breathing space again. Armaments factories will also be built in Auschwitz camp, so prepare yourselves for that. Kammler will give you far-reaching support in matters connected with their construction.
“The agricultural experiments will be intensively pursued, for the results are urgently required.
“I have seen your work and the results you have achieved, and I am satisfied and thank you for your services. I promote you to Obersturmbannführer!”
So ended Himmler’s great inspection of Auschwitz. He saw everything and knew what the ultimate results would be. Was his remark, “Even I cannot help,” intentional?
After the conference in my office, I took him around my house and showed him my furniture, in which he took a great interest, and he spent some time in animated conversation with my wife and children.
I drove him to the airport where he bade me a brief farewell and flew back to Berlin….
On May 3, 1945, I met Himmler for the last time. What remained of the Inspectorate of Concentration Camps had been ordered to follow Himmler to Flensburg. Glücks, Maurer, and I duly reported to him there. He had just come from a conference with the surviving members of the government. He was hale and hearty, and in the best of humor. He greeted me and at once gave the following orders: “Glücks and Hoess are to disguise themselves as noncommissioned officers of the army and make their way across the green frontier to Denmark as stragglers, and hide themselves in the army. Maurer and what is left of the Inspectorate of Concentration Camps are to disappear into the army in the same way. All further matters will be dealt with by Standartenführer Hintz, the police president of Flensburg.” He shook each of us by the hand. We were dismissed!
He had with him at the time Professor Gebhardt and Schellenberg of the Reich Security Head Office. Like Gebhardt, Glücks said that Himmler intended to go into hiding in Sweden.
APPENDIX 3
Eichmann
Eichmann originally came from Linz and was therefore on friendly terms with Kaltenbrunner during the time of the illegal SS activities in Austria. After the occupation he went to the SD and later to the Gestapo. Finally he joined Müller in Section IV of the Reich Security Head Office.
Eichmann had concerned himself with the Jewish question since his youth and had an extensive knowledge of the literature on the subject. He lived for a long time in Palestine in order to learn more about the Zionists and the growing Jewish state. Eichmann knew all the places where Jews had settled and also their approximate numbers, which latter were kept a secret even from the Jews themselves. He also knew the habits and customs of the orthodox Jews, as well as the views of the assimilated Jews of the West.
It was because of his special knowledge that he was made head of the Jewish section.
I myself first got to know him after I had received from the Reichsführer SS the orders for the destruction of the Jews, when he visited me in Auschwitz to discuss the exact details of the extermination process.
Eichmann was a vivacious, active man in his thirties, and always full of energy. He was constantly hatching new plans and perpetually on the look out for innovations and improvements. He could never rest. He was obsessed with the Jewish question and the order which had been given for its final solution.
Eichmann had to make continual reports to the Reichsführer SS, directly and by word of mouth, concerning the preparation and completion of the individual actions. He was the only person in a position to give the exact figures involved.
He kept almost everything in his memory. His memorandums consisted of a few pieces of paper which he always carried with him, inscribed with signs that were unintelligible to anyone else. Even his permanent representative in Berlin, Günther, could not always furnish detailed information. Eichmann was constantly away on service matters and it was only rarely that he could be found in his Berlin office.
The arrangements for an action against the Jews were made by members of Eichmann’s staff stationed in the countries concerned, who were thus fairly well acquainted with the country and able to prepare the necessary groundwork for him. Wisliceni, for example, operated in Slovakia, Greece, Romania, Bulgaria, and Hungary. The negotiations with the governments of the countries concerned were conducted by the German diplomatic representatives, in most cases by specially commissioned delegates from the Foreign Office.
Those governments which agreed to the extradition of the Jews appointed a department to organize their arrest and delivery. Eichmann then discussed the details of transportation direct with this department and gave them the benefit of his experience on matters connected with their arrest. In Hungary, for example, the action was carried out by the Ministry for Internal Affairs and the police. Eichmann and his colleagues supervised the operation, and intervened if it was being done too slowly or too carelessly. Eichmann’s staff also had to make transport available and arrange timetables with the Ministry of Transport.
On Pohl’s orders I made three visits to Budapest in order to obtain an estimate of the number of able-bodied Jews that might be expected. This gave me the opportunity of observing Eichmann’s methods of negotiating with the Hungarian government departments and the army. His manner of approach was extremely firm and matter-of-fact, but nevertheless amiable and courteous, and he was liked and made welcome wherever he went. This was confirmed by the innumerable private invitations he received from the chiefs of these departments. Only the Hungarian army showed no pleasure in Eichmann’s visits. The army sabotaged the surrender of the Jews whenever they could, but they did it in such a manner that the Hungarian government was unable to intervene. The majority of the Hungarian population, particularly in eastern Hungary, were unfavorably disposed toward the Jews and there cannot have been many Jews in that part, in 1943, who escaped being rounded up. If they did, it was only because they were lucky enough to make their way across the Carpathians to Romania.