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| Dr Robert Jay Lifton |
THE NAZI DOCTORS:
Medical
Killing and
the
Psychology
of Genocide © |
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159 |
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| The Auschwitz Institution |
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[migra…] tion.” Höss’s recollections
make clear how, much this “solution” was influenced by individual
initiative once it was known what the Führer, in fact, wanted.24
Finding a “Suitable” Method
The severe psychological obstacles experienced by the
Einsatzgruppen troops in carrying out face-to-face killing were known to
Nazi leaders. As Rudolf Höss later recalled: |
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I had heard Eichmann’s description of Jews
being mown down by the Einsatzkommandos armed with machine guns and
machine pistols. Many gruesome scenes are said to have taken place, people
running away after being shot, the finishing off of the wounded and
particularly of the women and children. Many members of the
Einsatzkommandos, unable to endure wading through blood any longer, had
committed suicide. Some had even gone mad. Most of the members of these
Kommandos had to rely on alcohol when carrying out their horrible
work.25* |
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In the fall of 1941, one of the leading Einsatzgruppen
generals, Erich von dem Bach-Zelewski, stunned Himmler by declaring to him,
after they had witnessed the killing of about one hundred Jews: “Look at
the eyes of the men in this Kommando, how deeply shaken they are! These men are
finished [fertig] for the rest of their lives. What kind of followers
are we training here? Either neurotics or savages!”27 And Bach-Zelewski himself was to feel the
effects: hospitalized with severe stomach and intestinal ailments, he
experienced, according to Dr. Ernst Robert Grawitz, chief SS doctor,
“psychic exhaustion” and “hallucinations connected with the
shootings of Jews” he instigated and “grievous other experiences in
the East” (see also footnote on page 437).28
As a consequence, as Höss
explained, only gas was seriously considered, “since it would have been
absolutely impossible by shooting to dispose of the large numbers of people
that were expected, and it would have placed too heavy a burden on the SS men
who had to carry it out especially because of the women and children among the
victims.”29 Inevitably, they turned to
earlier Nazi experience with gassing, and Eichmann familiarized Höss with
the “euthanasia” project’s use of carbon monoxide gas released
through showerheads. But the method was inadequate for large numbers of people
because of the great amount of gas an the many installations with gas chambers
that would be required. Mobil gassing units used in the East had similar
limitations. Hence, “Eichmann decided to try and find a gas which was in
ready supply and which would not entail special installations for its
use.” As late as November 1941 Eichmann and Höss had not yet
discovered a suitable gas, though the |
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* Himm1er is said to have
become ill while watching a mass shooting, after which he ordered “more
humane” killing.26 |
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THE NAZI DOCTORS:
Medical Killing and the
Psychology of
Genocide
Robert J. Lifton
ISBN 0-465-09094
©
1986 |
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