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From the Final Report by Katzmann, Commander of the
SS and Police in the District Of Galicia,
On "The Solution of the Jewish Problem"
Reich Secret Document
The SS and Police Leader (
SS-und Polizeifuhrer
) in the District of
Galicia Lvov, June 30, 1943
Re
: Solution of the Jewish Question in Galicia.
Reference
: Attached Report
Enclosure
: 1 Report (3 copies)
1 Copy (bound)
To the Higher SS and Police Leader East
SS
Obergruppenfuhrer
and General of the Police
Krüger
Cracow
Enclosed I forward the first copy of the final report on the Solution of the
Jewish Question in the District of Galicia, and request that you may
acknowledge it.
Katzmann
SS
Gruppenführer
and
Generalleutnant
of Police
Solution of the Jewish Problem in the District of Galicia
Owing to the phrase "Galician Jew," Galicia was probably the small corner on
earth most known and most frequently mentioned in connection with the Jews.
Here they lived in great, compact multitudes, forming a world of their own,
from which the rest of world Jewry renewed its population continuously. Jews
were to be met with in their hundreds of thousands in all parts of Galicia.
According to old statistics dating back to 1931, there were then about 502,000
Jews. This number is unlikely to have diminished in the period between 1931
and the summer of 1941. There are no precise figures for the number of Jews
present when the German troops marched into Galicia. The figure of 350,000
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was given by the Judenräte of Galicia for the end of the year 1941. That this
figure was incorrect can be seen from the records concerning evacuation
appended to this report. The city of Lvov alone housed about 160,000 Jews in
the months of July-August 1941....
Our first measure was to identify every Jew by means of a white armlet with
the blue Star of David. In accordance with a decree issued by the Governor
General, the Interior Administration was responsible for the identifying and
registration of the Jews, as well as setting up the Judenräte.
1
* Our task as
police was first of all to fight effectively against the immense black market
operated by the Jews all over the District. Energetic measures also had to be
taken against idlers loafing around and against do-nothings.
The best means for this was the establishment of Forced Labor Camps by the
SS and Police Leader. There was, first of all, work on the urgently needed
reconstruction of [highway] Dg. 4., which was extremely important for the
entire southern section of the Front and which was in catastrophically bad
condition. On October 15, 1941, a start was made on the building of camps
along the railroad tracks, and after a few weeks, despite considerable
difficulties, 7 camps had been put up, containing 4,000 Jews. More camps
soon followed, so that in a very short period of time the completion of 15 such
camps could be reported to the Higher SS and Police Leader. About 20,000
Jewish laborers passed through these camps in the course of time. Despite all
conceivable difficulties that turned up on this project, about 160 km. have now
been completed.
At the same time all other Jews who were fit for work were registered by the
Labor Offices and directed to useful work. Both when the Jews were identified
with the Star of David and when they were registered by the Labor Offices, the
first indications were noted that the Jews were trying to evade the orders
issued by the Authorities. The control measures carried out as a result led to
thousands of arrests. It became increasingly apparent that the Civil
Administration was not in a position to move the Jewish problem to an even
reasonably satisfactory solution. Because repeated attempts of the City
Administration of Lvov, for instance, to move the Jews into a Jewish quarter,
failed, this question, too, was solved by the SS and Police Leader and his
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organizations. This measure had become all the more urgent because in the
winter of 1941 centers of typhus infection had appeared all over the city,
endangering not only the local population but, even more, the German troops
either stationed in the city or passing through....
Owing to the peculiarity that almost 90 percent of the artisans in Galicia
consisted of Jews, the problem to be solved could only be carried out
gradually, as an immediate removal of the Jews would not have been in the
interest of the war economy. Not that one could observe that those Jews who
were working made any special contribution by their work. Their place of work
was often only a means to an end for them: firstly, to escape the sharper
measures taken against the Jews; and, secondly, to be able to carry out their
black-market dealings without interruption. Only continuous police intervention
could prevent these activities. Draconic measures had to be introduced by us
after it was noted in increasing numbers of cases that the Jews had
succeeded in making themselves indispensable to their employers by
provided goods in short supply, etc. It is very sad to have to note that the
wildest black-market deals with the Jews were made by Germans who were
brought here, and in particular those in the so-called "operating firms"
(
Einsatszfirmen
) or the "ill-reputed trustees" (
berüchtigte Treuhänder
), both of
which operated Jewish firms taken from their owners. Cases were known
where Jews seeking to obtain some kind of working certificate not only did not
ask for pay from their employers but paid regularly themselves. In addition,
Jewish "organizing"
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* on behalf of their "employers" reached such
catastrophic dimensions that energetic action had to be taken in the interest of
the reputation of the German people.
As the Administration was not in the position to overcome this chaos, and
proved weak, the whole issue of Jewish labor simply taken over by the SS
and Police Leader. The existing Jewish Labor Offices, which were staffed by
hundreds of Jews, were dissolved. All work certificates issued by firms and
official employers were declared invalid, and the cards given to Jews by the
Labor Offices revalidated by the Police.
In the course of this
Aktion
thousands of Jews were again caught in
possession of forged certificates or labor certificates obtained fraudulently by
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means of all kinds of excuses. These Jews were also sent for special
treatment (
Sonderbehandlung
ii). The Wehrmacht authorities in particular
aided the Jewish parasites by issuing special certificates without proper
control... There were cases where Jews were caught with from 10 to 20 such
certificates. When Jews were arrested in the course of further checks, most of
the employers felt obliged to attempt to intervene in favor of the Jews. This
was often done in a manner that can only be described as deeply shameful....
Despite all these measures for the regulation of Jewish labor, a start was
made in April 1942 on the evacuation of Jews
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* from the District of Galicia,
and this was carried out steadily.
When the Higher SS and Police Leader again intervened in the Jewish
question in general on November 10, 1942, and a Police Order was issued for
the formation of Jewish quarters, 254,989 Jews had already been evacuated
or resettled. Since the Higher SS and Police Leader gave further instructions
to accelerate the total evacuation of the Jews, further considerable work was
necessary in order to catch those Jews who were, for the time being, to be left
in the armaments factories. These remaining Jews were declared labor
prisoners of the Higher SS and Police Leader and held either in the factories
themselves or in camps erected for this purpose. For Lvov itself a large
camp
4
* was erected on the outskirts, which holds 8,000 Jewish labor
prisoners at the present time. The agreement made with the Wehrmacht
concerning employment and treatment of the labor prisoners was set down in
writing...
In the meantime further evacuation was carried out vigorously, with the result
that by June 23, 1943, all Jewish quarters could be dissolved. Apart from the
Jews in camps under the control of the SS and Police Leader, the District of
Galicia is thus free of Jews (
Judenfrei
).
Individual Jews occasionally picked up by the Order Police or the
Gendarmerie were sent for special treatment. Altogether,
434,329
Jews
had
been evacuated up to June 27, 1943.... [This is followed by a list of 21 camps
in which there were still 21,156 Jews.]
Together with the evacuation
Aktionen
Jewish property was collected.
Valuables were secured and handed over to the Special Staff "Reinhard."
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Apart from furniture and large quantities of textiles, etc., the following were
confiscated and delivered to Special Staff "Reinhard":
As of June 30, 1943:
25.580 kg. copper coins
53.190 " nickel coins
97.581 " gold coins
82.600 " silver chains
6.640 " chains, gold
4.326.780 " broken silver
167.740 " silver coins
18.490 " iron coins
20.050 " brass coins
20.952 " gold wedding rings
22.740 " pearls
11.730 " gold teeth bridges
28.200 " powder compacts silver or other metal
44.655 " broken gold
482.900 " silver flatware
343.100 " cigarette cases silver and other metal
20.880 kg. rings, gold, with stones
39.917 " brooches, earrings, etc.
18.02 " rings, silver
6.166 " pocket watches, various
3.133 " pocket watches, silver
3.425 " wrist watches silver
1.256 " wrist watches gold
2.892 " pocket watches gold
68 cameras
98 binoculars
7 stamp collections complete
5 travel baskets of loose stamps
100.500 " 3 sacks of rings, jewelry not genuine