Grossaktion Warsaw (1942)

The Grossaktion or Gross-Aktion in Warsaw (German: Großaktion Warschau) was a Nazi German operation of mass extermination of Jews from the Warsaw Ghetto beginning July 22, 1942.^[1][2] It was a key part of the countrywide Operation Reinhard headed by the SS- und Polizeiführer Odilo Globocnik.

The Nazi forces conducted most of the mass deportations of the inhabitants of the Ghetto from Umschlagplatz of the Warsaw Ghetto (collection points) to the Treblinka extermination camp between Tisha B'Av (July 23) and Yom Kippur (September 21) of 1942.^[3][4][5] The Grossaktion (a large-scale operation in German) was directed by SS- und Polizeiführer Ferdinand von Sammern-Frankenegg, the commander of the Warsaw area since 1941.^[6] He was relieved of duty by SS- und Polizeiführer Jürgen Stroop sent to Warsaw by Heinrich Himmler on April 17, 1943.^[7][8] Stroop took over from Sammern following his unsuccessful ghetto offensive.^[9]

The turning point in the life of the Ghetto was April 18, 1942, marked by a new wave of mass executions by the SS.

"Until that day, no matter how difficult life had been, the ghetto inhabitants felt that their everyday life, the very foundations of their existence, were based on something stabilized and durable... On April 18th the very basis of ghetto life started to move from under people's feet... By now everybody understood that the ghetto was to be liquidated, but nobody yet realized that its entire population was destined to die." — Marek Edelman^[10]

The deportations

On July 22, 1942, the German SS headed by the "Resettlement Commissioner", SS-Sturmbannführer Hermann Höfle called a meeting of the Ghetto Jewish Council Judenrat and informed its leader Adam Czerniaków about the "resettlement to the East". Czerniakow – whose voice carried a great deal of authority – committed suicide the moment he realised the treacherous Nazi plan. He was promptly replaced by Marc Lichtenbaum.^[11] The population of the Ghetto was not informed about the real state of affairs^[10]; only by the end of 1942 did it became clear that the deportations, overseen by the Jewish Ghetto Police designated to supervise them,^[10] were to the Treblinka death camp and not for the purpose of resettlement.

During the two months of summer 1942, about 254,000 Ghetto residents were sent to Treblinka and exterminated there (or at least 300,000 by different accounts,^[12][1] possibly, with the inclusion of the Ghetto falling considered by many a part of the operation).^[13] The sheer death-toll among the Jewish inhabitants of the Ghetto during the Gross-aktion would have been difficult to compare even with the liquidation of the Ghetto in spring of next year during and after the Ghetto Uprising which meant annihilation of around 50,000 people. The Gross Aktion resulted in the death of five times as many victims. It is fair to assume then, that it was not the actual razing of the ghetto that resulted in the destruction of the Jewish population of Warsaw, but mainly the murderous operation of a previous summer that did it.^[2]

For eight weeks the rail shipments of Jews to Treblinka went on without stopping: 100 people to a cattle truck, 5,000 to 6,000 each and every day including hospital patients and orphanage children. Dr Janusz Korczak, a famed educator went with them in August 1942. He was offered a chance to escape from the deportations by Polish friends and admirers, but he chose instead to share the fate of his life's work.^[14][15] On arrival at Treblinka, stripped victims were marched to one of ten chambers disguised as showers, and suffocated to death in batches of 200 with the use of monoxide gas (Zyklon B was introduced at Auschwitz some time later). In September 1942, new gas chambers were built, which could kill as many as 3,000 people in just 2 hours. Civilians were forbidden to approach the area.^{[10][16][17][18]}

The tragic end of the Ghetto could not have been changed, but the road to it might have been different under a stronger leader. There can be no doubt that if the Uprising of the Warsaw Ghetto had taken place in August—September 1942, when there were still 300,000 Jews, the Germans would have paid a much higher price. — David J. Landau^[19]

Many of the remaining Jews decided to fight, and many of them were helped by the Polish underground.^[20][21] The Jewish Combat Organization (ŻOB, Hebrew: הארגון היהודי הלוחם‎) was formed in October 1942 and tasked with resisting any future deportations. It was led by 24 year–old Mordechai Anielewicz. Meanwhile, the Polish Home Army, Armia Krajowa, began to smuggle weapons, ammunition and supplies into the Ghetto for the uprising.^[20][10]

Ferdinand von Sammern-Frankenegg was court-martialed by Himmler on April 24, 1943 for his ineptitude, and sent to Croatia where he died in a partisan ambush.^[9] Jürgen Stroop was awarded the Iron Cross First Class by the supreme commander of the Wehrmacht, Field Marshal General Wilhelm Keitel for his "murder expedition" (Alfred Jodl)^[22] and after the war, was placed on trial by the Americans and sentenced to death. His execution was not carried out; instead, he was handed over to the Polish authorities for re-trial. He was again sentenced to death in Poland and executed on the scene of his crime on September 8, 1951.

References