extermination of jews _un

8/13/2019 Extermination of Jews _un

1/12

REPUBLIC OF POLAND,Ministry of

Foreign Affairs

THE MASS EXTERMINATION of JEWS inGERMAN OCCUPIED POLAND

NOTE addreed !o !"e Go#ern$en! of !"e

Uni!ed Na!ion on De%e$&er '(!", ')*+ and

o!"er do%$en!

Published for the Polish MinistryOf Foreign

Affairs by RO- . PUBLISHERS . NEW

-OR/

INTRODUCTOR- NOTE


2/12

The purpose of this publication is to make

public the contents of the Note ofDecember 10th, 1942, addressed by the

Polish Goernment to the Goernments of

the !nited Nations concernin" the mass

e#termination of $e%s in the Polishterritories occupied by Germany, and also

other documents treatin" on the same

sub&ect'

(n the course of the last three years thePolish Goernment has lod"ed a number of

protests %ith the Goernments of the

ciili)ed countries of the %orldcondemnin" the repeated iolations by

Germany of (nternational *a% and the

fundamental principles of morality since+eptember 1st 199, i'e' since Germany-s

a""ression a"ainst Poland'

(n the Note of .ay rd, 1941, presented to

the Goernments of the /llied and NeutralPo%ers the Polish Goernment "ae a

comprehensie surey of the acts of

iolence perpetrated a"ainst the populationof Poland, of offences a"ainst reli"ion and

cultural herita"e and destruction of property

in Poland' /n e#tract of this Note, to"ether%ith a lar"e amount of corroboratin"material, has been published in the form of

a hite ook' 13

+ince the publication of the hite ook,ho%eer, many increasin"ly brutal acts of

iolence and terror hae been committed by

German authorities in Poland' (n recent

months these persecutions hae beendirected %ith particular iolence a"ainst the

$e%ish population, %ho hae beensub&ected to ne% methods calculated tobrin" about the complete e#termination of

the $e%s, in conformity %ith the public

statements made by the leaders ofGermany'

(n the hope that ciili)ed %orld %ill dra% the appropriate conclusions, the Polish Goernment desire to

brin" to the notice of the public, by means of the present hite Paper, these rene%ed German efforts at


3/12

mass e#termination, %ith the employment of fresh horrifyin" methods'

5P!*(6 78 P7*/ND

.inistry of 8orei"n /ffairs

*ondon, December 10th, 1942

our 5#cellency,

7n seeral occasions the Polish Goernment hae dra%n attention of the ciili)ed %orld, both indiplomatic documents and official publications, to the conduct of the German Goernment and

of the German authorities of occupation, both military and ciilian, and to the methods employed

by them :in order to reduce the population to irtual slaery and ultimately to e#terminate the

Polish nation;' These methods, first introduced in Poland, %ere subse


4/12

by a brick %all, the ri"ht of entry and e#it bein" restricted to the holders of special passes, issued

by the German authorities' /ll those %ho left the "hetto %ithout such a pass became liable to

sentence of death, and it is kno%n that German courts passed such sentences in a lar"e number ofcases'

>' /fter the isolation of "hetto, official intercourse %ith the outside %orld %as maintainedthrou"h a special German office kno%n as :Transferstelle;' 7%in" to totally inade00 still surie in the city'

C' (t has been reliably reported that on the occasion of his isit to the General Gouernment ofPoland in .arch 1942, immler issued an order for the e#termination of >0 percent of the $e%s

in Poland by the end of that year' /fter the arsa% "hetto %ould be li


5/12

9' The li


6/12

of Elotys, %here bein" paid for such certificates to the German o%ners' They did not, ho%eer,

sae the purchasers from deportation, %hich %as bein" carried out %ithout discrimination or

identification'

19' The actual process of deportation %as carried out %ith appallin" brutality' /t the appointed

hour on each day the German police cordoned off a block of houses selected for clearance,entered the back yard and fired their "uns at random, as a si"nal for all to leae their homes and

assemble in the yard' /nyone attemptin" to escape or to hid %as killed on the spot' No attempt%as made by the Germans to keep families to"ether' ies %ere torn from their husbands and

children from their parents' Those %ho appeared frail or infirm %ere carried strai"ht to the

$e%ish cemetery to be killed and buried there' 7n the aera"e >0=100 people %ere disposed of inthis %ay daily' /fter the contin"ent %as assembled, the people %ere packed forcibly into cattle

trucks to the number of 120 in each truck, %hich had room for forty' The trucks %ere then

locked and sealed' The $e%s %ere suffocatin" for lack of air' The floors of the trucks %erecoered %ith th' The German machinery for the mass slau"hter of the $e%s %as employed durin" the

interal on the li


7/12

19' (t is not possible to estimate the e#act numbers of $e%s %ho hae been e#terminated in

Poland since the occupation of the country by the armed forces of the German eich' ut all the

reports a"ree that the total number of killed runs into many hundreds of thousands of innocentictims F men, %omen and children F and that of the ,10,000 $e%s in Poland before the

outbreak of %ar, oer a third hae perished durin" the last three years'

20' The Polish population, %hich itself is sufferin" the most "rieous afflictions, and of %hich

many millions hae been either deported to Germany as slae labor or eicted form the homesand lands, depried of so many of their leaders, %ho hae been cruelly murdered by the

Germans, hae repeatedly e#pressed, throu"h the under"round or"ani)ations, their horror of an

compassion %ith the terrible fate %hich has befallen their $e%ish fello%=countrymen' The PolishGoernment are in possession of information concernin" the assistance %hich the Polish

population is renderin" to the $e%s' 8or obious reasons no details of these actiities can be

published at present'

21' The Polish Goernment F as the representatie of the le"itimate authority on territories in

%hich the Germans are carryin" out the systematic e#termination of Polish citi)ens and ofciti)ens of $e%ish ori"in of many other 5uropean countries F consider it their duty to address

themseles to the Goernments of the !nited Nations, in the confident belief that they %ill sharetheir opinion as to the necessity not only of condemnin" the crimes committed by the Germans

and punishin" the criminals, but also of findin" means offerin" the hope that Germany mi"ht be

effectiely restrained from continuin" to apply her methods of mass e#termination'( aail myself of this opportunity to rene% to our 5#cellency the assurances of my hi"h

consideration'

*'+' 5D/D /6EN+B('

/nne# 1I

JEWISH COUNCIL IN WARSAW

NOTICE

arsa%, $uly 22nd, 1942'

1' y order of the German authorities all $e%s liin" in arsa%, %ithout re"ard to a"e or

se#, are to be deported to the 5ast

2' The The follo%in" are e#empted form the deportation orderI =

' /ll $e%s employed by the German authorities or German enterprises, %ho can produce

ade


8/12

4' /ll $e%s %ho are members and employees of the $e%ish 6ouncil accordin" to their status

on the day of publication of this order'

>' /ll $e%s employed in German=o%ned firms %ho can produce ade


9/12

Na!iona5 Con%i5: and !e0! of Reo5!ion

ado2!ed &1 !"e Na!iona5 Con%i5; .

The Polish Goernment, in the fullest understandin" of their responsibilities, not ne"lectin" theirduty to inform the %orld of the mass murders and bestialities of the Germans in Poland, hae

done eerythin" in their po%er to counteract this terror'

e are fully a%are of the fact that the fundamental condition of an effectie counter=action

a"ainst the German pro"ramme %hich, in relation to Poland is best e#pressed by one slo"an F

T7 D5+T7 T5 P7*(+ N7T(7N (P(NG 7!T T5 T/65+ 78 (T+ 5J(+T5N65 Fis to shorten the time of sufferin" and resistance for the Poles in Poland and to defeat the enemy


10/12

After the declaration of Mr. Mikolajczyk, thePolish National Council unanimously adated

the follo!ing resolution"#

The Goernment of the Polish epublic has brou"ht the last ne%s about the massacres of the

$e%ish population in Poland carried out systematically by the German occupyin" authorities, to

the attention of the /llied Goernments and of public opinion in /llied countries' The number

of $e%s %ho hae been murdered by the Germans in Poland so far, since +eptember, 199,e#ceeds 1,000,000'

8rom the be"innin" of the con


11/12

The Polish National 6ouncil appeals to all the /llied nations and to all the nations no% sufferin"

to"ether %ith the Polish nation under the German yoke, that they should at once start a common

action a"ainst this tramplin" and profanation of all principles of morality and humanity by theGermans, and a"ainst the e#termination of the Polish nation and other nations, an e#termination

the most appallin" e#pression of %hich is proided by the mass=murders of the $e%s in Poland

and in the rest of 5urope %hich itler has sub&ected'

To all those %ho are sufferin" and under"oin" torture in Poland, both to Poles and $e%s, to allthose %ho are takin" part in the stru""le for liberation and for the preparation of a &ust

retribution on the German criminals, the Polish National 6ouncil sends %ords of hope and of

unshakable faith in the recoery of freedom for all'

THE DA- OF


12/12

been e#terminated, and ends %ith the appeal for :condemnin" the crimes, punishin" the

criminals and deisin" means offerin" the hope that Germany mi"ht be effectiely restrained

from continuin" to apply her methods of mass e#termination';This mornin", the Goernments of the !nited Nations of the 5uropean 6ontinent united their

oices %ith those of the Po%ers in a solemn declaration, e#pressin" their unshakable

determination to cauteri)e %ith red=hot iron the eil %hich so dan"erously infects the Germanpeople'

(t is tra"ic to contemplate that this policy of e#termination applied to the $e%s by the German

Goernment is bein" carried out %ith the actie help or, at least, support of a considerable

section of the German people, %hile the remainin" part of that people allo% it to pass in silence'

( kno% that in a totalitarian re"ime it is not easy to protest, but the occupied nations neertheless

find the means to manifest their %ill and their opposition to the barbarous methods of Germany'

hen ( think of the German nation, so po%erful in its armed mi"ht and o%nin" so "i"antic a %ar

machine, and at the same time so co%ardly acceptin" the destruction of an entire race, therepresentaties of %hich, such as eine, .endelssohn and 5instein contributed so much to the

Glory of Germany-s ciili)ation and, on the other hand, %hen ( think of my o%n nation, %hich

itself is bein" massacred and neertheless is capable of such acts of defiance and compassion as

the demolition by Polish %orkers of a part of the %all %hich surrounds the "hetto of arsa%,then ( cannot help thinkin" ho% small is this mi"hty German nation F and ho% measureless is its

infamy'

6iili)ed %ords and remonstrance-s are today of no aail %here that nation is concerned' Thebloody crimes call out for &ustice %ithout mercy, and the assurance that een no% they %ill

receie their ans%er in eer more tellin" deeds as the mi"ht of the !nited Nations "ro%s and as

the hour of &ud"ment approaches apace'

13 epublic of Poland, .inistry of 8orei"n /ffairsI :The German 7ccupation of Poland,;5#tract of Note addressed to the Goernments of the /llied and Neutral Po%ers on .ay ,

1941' *ondon and Ne% ork'

The :hite ook; %as subse

extermination of jews _un

Documents