Newsgroups: alt.revisionism
Subject: Holocaust Almanac - I.G. Farben "labour problems" at Monowitz
Summary: I.G. Farben management complains that the S.S. is killing too many
         Jews among those shipped to Auschwitz, and productivity is suffering
         because of this.
Reply-To: kmcvay@nizkor.org
Followup-To: alt.revisionism
Organization: The Nizkor Project, Vancouver Island, CANADA
Keywords: Farben

Archive/File: orgs/germany/farben farben.005
Last-modified: 1996/07/10

   This citation sheds some light on the discussions surrounding the
   effect of German economic policy upon the Jews, in that it documents
   I.G. Farben's complaints that too many Jews were being "selected"
   upon arrival at Auschwitz, i.e. sent to the extermination chambers,
   and that productivity was suffering as a result.

   In his chapter entitled "Slave Labor and Mass Murder," some of which
   is reproduced below, Borkin discusses the continuing conflicts
   between I.G. Auschwitz labor requirements and the need to resolve the
   "Final Solution" quickly and efficiently. Even at the risk of denying
   the German military machine sufficient rubber and petroleum products
   to support the war effort, the Jews arriving at Auschwitz must be
   ruthlessly destroyed...

   "It soon became apparent that the 'selections' were being made
   without sufficient regard for the urgent demands of war production.
   Too many skilled and reasonably strong workers were being rushed to
   the ovens although months of useful labor were still in them. For
   example, during the early months of Monowitz, those in charge of the
   construction of I.G. Auschwitz were promised a carefully chosen batch
   of workers culled from a shipment of over 5000 Jews. However, when
   the transports were unloaded near the crematory ovens, the camp
   officials, ignoring the labor needs of I.G. Auschwitz but with
   punctilious devotion to the Final Solution, send 4092 of the 5022 to
   the gas chambers. When objections were raised over such a high rate,
   the explanation offered was that the males were too frail and the
   females were mostly children, little girls incapable of construction
   work.<51> Sometime later, when the transports were reported to
   contain a more choice supply of skilled Jewish workers, and S.S.
   official in charge of labor allocation suggested a possible means of
   avoiding overzealous application of the selection process. He
   recommended that the trains be unloaded near the I.G. works instead
   of the 'usual place' near the crematory. The improvement was
   noticeable. On the next shipment of 4087 Jews, only 2398 were
   selected for extermination; this was a lower rate than before. The
   complaints, however, continued: 'If the transports from Berlin
   continue to have so many women and children as well as old Jews,' an
   official said, 'I don't promise myself much in the matter of labor
   allocation.'<52>" (Borkin, 123-124)

Borkin's end notes:

<51> Hilberg, Raul, p. 587; 'Dokumenty i Materialy', part I, 115-117, 
     letter from Schwarz to WVHA D-ll, dated February 20, 1943.
<52> Hilberg, p. 587; 'Dokumenty i Materialy', part I, pp. 108-110,
     117, letters from Schwarz to WVHA D-ll, dated March 5 and 8, 1943,
     and to WVHA-D, dated March 15, 1943.
           
                             Work Cited

   Borkin, Joseph. The Crime and Punishment of I.G. Farben. New York: 
   The Free Press, 1978, and London: Macmillan Publishing Company. 

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