Language:
English
Year of publication:
2008
Titel der Quelle:
History and Memory; Studies in Representation of the Past
Angaben zur Quelle:
20,1 (2008) 48-88
Keywords:
Eichmann, Adolf,
;
Gerstein, Kurt,
;
Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945) Historiography
Abstract:
Testimonies by Kurt Gerstein delivered in 1942 and 1945 prove that Eichmann was involved in the operation of mass murder centers, in particular in techniques of gassing victims in gas chambers, and not only in the deportation of Jews to the East. Gerstein's mission to Bełżec and Treblinka in 1942 was an initiative of the RSHA, which envisaged the intensification of the killing process and wanted to change the exhaust gases used in the extermination camps to the more toxic Zyklon-B. Examines Gerstein's testimonies and the accounts of his 1942 mission and his job as a provider of Zyklon-B to Nazi killing centers, in an attempt to understand why his 1942 mission failed and what his motives were. The exhaust gas was not changed for Zyklon-B as the killing agent in Bełżec and Treblinka mostly because Christian Wirth was reluctant to change anything in his mass murder machinery. Gerstein was driven by contradictory motives: to alleviate the suffering of victims in the gas chambers, to hamper the mass killing, to keep his own hands clean, and to be a witness of the great crime. Accidental factors played a significant role in his actions and decisions. Stresses that eyewitness accounts can supplement archival documents in creating an adequate picture of RSHA activities and their role in the Final Solution.
URL:
Click here for fulltext (may be restricted to subscribers)
URL:
Locate this publication in Israeli libraries
Permalink
