Aktion Krakau
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Aktion or Aktionen Krakau (German for Action Kraków) was a major German Nazi anti-Jewish operation in Kraków, Poland, headed by SS-Oberführer Julian Scherner, as part of the so called Aktion Reinhard, mass murder of Polish Jews in General Government under the command of SS and Polizeifuhrer Odilo Globocnik.
Beginning in 1941, all local Jews were ordered to move into a ghetto situated in Podgórze, a suburb of Kraków. A German Labour Office (Arbeitsamt) was established for those employed outside the Ghetto. At the beginning of 1942, the entire Jewish population of Greater Krakow (including 29 surrounding villages) was forced to move there too, with each person granted 4 cubic meters of space. On 1 June 1942 the ghetto was surrounded by German police and SS. In order to conceal the purpose of the Aktion and to calm the Jewish population the SD and SIPO officers, among them Obersturmbannfuhrer Willi Haase, Obersturmfuhrer Becher and Hauptscharfuhrer Heinrich, told the Jews of a resettlement programme. Jews who worked in German factories were permitted to remain, while the first transport of 7,000 Jews were assembled on Zgody Square and escorted to the railway station in Prokocim. On 5 June 1942 additional 4000 Jews were deported to Belzec, in a similar manner.
The sealing of the Jewish Ghetto in Przemysl had been implemented on July 14, 1942, with Jews being given 24 hours to enter the Ghetto. By the time the sealing took place on the following day, around 22,000-24,000 Jews occupied the Ghetto. On July 27, 1942, the Gestapo notified the Judenrat and posted notices that an 'action' (forced resettlement) would soon be taking place in the Ghetto, and that it would include almost all occupants. Exceptions were made for some essential and Gestapo workers who would have their papers stamped accordingly.
The roundup of Ghetto occupants took place over three separate days (July 27, July 31 and August 3, 1942) and was a combined effort of the Gestapo and GPK (Grenzpolizeikommissariat - Frontier Police Authority). The operation was directed by an officer under Scherner's command - SS-Hauptsturmführer Martin Fellenz. Thousands were murdered and thousands more were deported to Belzec extermination camp. After the Aktion had taken place, Jews in the Ghetto were requested to pay the transportation costs for the so-called 'evacuation'.
It was during this 'Action' however, that a mass rescue took place. On the first day (July 27, 1942), the local military commander (Major Max Liedtke, who was in charge of the Jewish workforce) requested through his adjutant Dr Albert Battel that all Jews working for the Wehrmacht be exempted from the evacuation regardless of whether they had work permits. Upon the refusal of his request by the Gestapo, he took decisive action and ordered his troops to seize the two bridges that connected the divided city and halt all traffic. The Gestapo were forced to contact Scherner's office and finally Liedtke received permission to retain those workers performing service for the Wehrmacht. On the third day of the evacuations, Scherner himself was present, ostensibly to ensure things ran smoothly and to secure order. For the actions undertaken by Liedtke and Battel, Yad Vashem later named them "Righteous Among the Nations".
[edit] References
- Jewish Virtual Library, a division of AICE. "Glossary."
- The Simon Wiesenthal Center, 1997, "Aktion Reinhard." [1]
- "The Krakow Ghetto", Aktion Reinhard. Sources: Robin O’Neil, Belzec; Anna Pioro, The Cracow Ghetto 1941 –1943; Encyclopaedia of the Holocaust, Photographs and Documents, Holocaust Historical Society.
