Ordinary Men (33 page)

2.
Heinz B., HW 819-20, 2437, 3355, 4414.

3.
Julius Wohlauf, HW 4329-30.

4.
Friedrich Bm., HW 2091.

5.
Hans S., G 328.

6.
Bruno D., HW 1874

7.
Alfred B., HW 440.

8.
Rudolf B., HW 3692.

9.
Otto-Julius S., 1953-54, 4576-79; August W., HW 2041-42, 3298, 4589. S. and W. were the only two witnesses who recalled Trapp’s offer in precisely this way. Several others initially remembered a call for volunteers for the firing squad instead (Alfred B., HW 439-40; Franz G., HW 1189-90; Bruno G., HW 2020). Others, when questioned about the incident, either conceded the “possibility” that Trapp had made the offer (Anton B., HW 2693; Heinz B., HW 3356-57, 4415) or at least said they would not contest or deny it had happened. Trapp’s stipulation about “older” men appears in S.’s testimony (HW 1953, 4578). W., who most explicitly confirmed S.’s testimony in other respects, did not mention this qualification and claimed that younger men stepped out as well. However, he does seem to have understood that Trapp made his offer to the older reservists. When asked to explain why he himself did not step out, he indicated that he was a relatively young volunteer, an “active” policeman—i.e., not a conscripted reservist (HW 2041-42, 4592). The greater precision and vivid detail of the S. and W. testimony and the subsequent behavior of the officers and noncoms of the battalion in accordance with Trapp’s offer (i.e., those who belatedly asked out were released from firing squad duty—something the officers and noncoms could never have done so consistently without the prior sanction of the commanding officer) have persuaded me that a much greater probability rests with their version than with any other.

10.
It may well be that First and Second Platoons of Third Company had already been stationed in a cordon surrounding the village
before
Trapp’s speech. None of the men from these two platoons remembered the speech, and one witness (Bruno G., HW 2020) testified that the two platoons were not present.

11. Heinrich S., HW 1563; Martin D., HW 1596; Paul H., HW 1648; Ernst N., HW 1685; Wilhelm K., HW 1767, 2300; Bruno G., HW 2019; August W., HW 2039; Wilhelm Gb., HW 2147; Heinrich B., HW 2596; Walter Z., HW 2618; Anton B., HW 2656; Ernst Hr., HW 2716; Joseph P., HW 2742; Kurt D., HW 2888; Otto I., HW 3521; Wolfgang H., HW 3565; August Z., G 275; Eduard S., G 639; Hellmut S., G 646; Karl S., G 657.

12.
Georg G., HW 2182.

13.
Hellmut S., G 647.

14.
Friedrich E., HW 1356.

15.
Bruno R., HW 1852.

16.
Harry L., G 223.

17.
Emst G., G 383.

18.
Hans Kl., G 363.

19.
Oskar P., HW 1743.

20.
Erwin G., HW 2503.

21.
Georg K., HW 2633; Karl S., G 657.

22.
Wilhelm K., HW 1769; Friedrich Bm., HW 2091; Ernst Hn., G 506. For other accounts of the search, see Max D., HW 1345—46; Alfred L., HW 1351; Friederick V., HW 1539; Friedrich B., HW 1579; Bruno D., HW 1875; Hermann W., HW 1947-48; Otto-Julius S., HW 1954; Bruno G., HW 2019; August W., HW 2040; Bruno R., HW 2084; Hans Kl., HW 2270; Walter Z., HW 2168-69; Anton B., HW 2687; Ernst Hr., HW 2716; Joseph P., HW 2742; August Z., G 275; Karl Z., G 318; Eduard S., G 640.

23.
Friedrich B., HW 1579; Bruno G., HW 2019; August W., HW 2041.

24.
Ernst Hr., HW 2716-17.

25.
Walter Z., HW 2618. For confirming testimony, see Anton B., HW 2688; Joseph P., HW 2742.

26.
Hermann W., HW 1948.

27.
Ernst Hn., G 507. Two witnesses (Eduard S., G 642; Hellmut S., G 647) remembered the first sergeant but not the doctor.

28.
August W., HW 2042.

29.
Martin D., HW 1597.

30.
Anton B., HW 2658-59.

31.
Heinz B., HW 821-22. Not a single policeman interrogated in Hamburg had been part of the escort, so Buchmann’s account is the only version of the fate of the work Jews. On the Luxembourgers making up the escort, see Heinrich E., HW 2167. For other accounts of the sorting of the workers and their being marched out of Józefów by Buchmann, see Wilhelm K., HW 1768; Hermann W., HW 1948; Friedrich Bm., HW 2092-93; Ernst Hn., G 507.

32.
For the testimony of First Company shooters, see especially Friedrich
B., HW 1580-81; Friedrich Bra., HW 2091-93; Ernst Hn., G 507-8; Heinrich R., G 623; Hellmut S., G 646-47; Karl S., G 658-59.

33.
Paul H., HW 1648-49.

34.
Heinrich H., G 453.

35.
Wilhelm I., HW 2237.

36.
Friedrich Bra, HW 2092.

37.
Hellmut S., G 647.

38.
Heinrich Bl, HW 462.

39.
Hermann W., HW 1948.

40.
Alfred L., HW 1351.

41.
Bruno R., HW 1852.

42.
Erwin N., HW 1686.

43.
Bruno D., HW 1870; Anton B., HW 4347; Wilhelm Gb., HW 4363; Paul M., G 202.

44.
Ernst Hr., HW 2717.

45.
Erwin G., HW 1640, 2505.

46.
Friedrich Bm., HW 2092.

47.
Wilhelm G., HW 2149.

48.
Ernst Hr., HW 2718.

49.
Wilhelm Gb., HW 2538.

50.
Ernst Hr., HW 2719.

51.
Ernst Hr., HW 2720.

52.
Wilhelm Gb., HW 2539, 2149.

53.
Erwin G., HW 1639-40, 2504; Alfred B., HW 2518.

54.
Anton B., HW 4348. See also Max D., HW 2536.

55.
Walter Z., HW 2619-20; Erwin G., HW 4345.

56.
Heinrich S., HW 1567, 4364; Georg K., HW 2634.

57.
Joseph P., HW 2743-15.

58.
Paul M., G 206-7.

59.
Gustav M., G 168.

60.
Hans D., HW 1336, 3542.

61.
Walter N., HW 3926, G 230.

62.
August Z., G 277.

63.
Georg K., HW 2634.

64.
Otto-Julius S., HW 4579; Friederick V., HW 1540.

65.
Rudolf B., HW 2434, 2951, 4357.

66.
Franz K., HW 2483-86.

67.
In addition to the above cases, another policeman who asked to be released when his nerves were finished after a few rounds was Bruno D., HW 1876, 2535, 4361.

68.
Erwin G., HW 2505; confirmed by Rudolf K., HW 2646-47.

69. Anton B., HW 2691-93, 4348.

70.
Willy R., HW 2085.

71.
Alfred B., HW 440; Walter Z., HW 2621; Georg K., HW 2635; August Z., G 278.

72.
Friedrich B., HW 1581.

73.
Julius Wohlauf, HW 758.

74.
Heinrich B., HW 2984.

75.
Alfred B., HW 441.

76.
August W., HW 2042.

77.
Otto-Julius S., HW 1955.

78.
Witness after witness used the terms
erschüttert, deprimiert, verbittert, niedergeschlagen, bedrückt, verstört, empört
, and
belastet
to describe the men’s feelings that evening.

79.
Friedrich Bm., HW 2093; Hellmut S., G 647.

80.
Heinrich Br., HW 3050.

81.
Wilhelm J., HW 1322.

82.
Willy S., HW 2053. See also Wolfgang Hoffmann, HW 774-75; Johannes R., HW 1809; Bruno R., HW 2086.

83.
Karl M., HW 2546, 2657.

84.
Friedrich Bm., HW 2093-94. See also Karl G., HW 2194.

1.
Heinz B., HW 4413; Kurt D., HW 4339.

2.
In her analysis of Polish rescuers, Nechama Tec also notes that the initial decision to help Jews was impulsive and instinctive, not the result of prolonged reflection and calculation.
When Light Pierced the Darkness: Christian Rescue of Jews in Nazi-Occupied Poland
(New York, 1986), 188.

3.
Anton B., HW 2693.

4.
Bruno D., HW 2535, 2992.

5.
August W., HW 4592.

6.
Erwin G., HW 1640, 2505, 4344.

7.
Friedrich M., HW 1708.

8.
IMT
29.151 (1919-PS).

9.
Karl G., HW 2194.

10.
Hans Pz., HW 3938.

11.
Hero B., HW 890.

12.
Arthur S., HW 1165.

13.
Hermann W., HW 1947.

14.
Gustav M., G 169-70.

15.
Heinz B., HW 2439-40.

16. Heinrich Br., HW 3050.

17.
Heinrich R., G 624; August W, HW 3303.

18.
Heinz B., HW 647, 822, 2438, 3940-41.

1.
YVA, 0-53/121/27-31 (order of Kintrupp, KdO Lublin, July 9, 1942).

2.
Brustin-Berenstein, table 2.

3.
Kurt D., HW 1230, 4368; Anton B., HW 4371.

4.
Heinrich B., HW 2600, 2985.

5.
Kurt D., HW 1230, 1232, 2892, 4368; Ernst Hr., HW 2732.

6.
Paul M., G 207.

7.
Max F., HW 1387; Ernst Hr., HW 2722; Walter L., G 184; Fritz S., G 303.

8.
Anton B., HW 2698-99, 4371; Ernst Hr., HW 2722; Wolfgang H., HW 2211; Kurt D., HW 4368; August Z., G 273.

9.
Fritz S., G 303-4. See also Bernhard S., HW 1717; Ernst Hr., HW 2723; Heinrich B., HW 2985; Friedrich P., G 240.

10.
Ernst Hr., HW 2723; Joseph P., HW 2749-50; Walter L., G 185; Paul M., G 208.

11.
Gustav M., HW 1709.

12.
For the phrase, Max F., HW 1386; for the distance, Heinrich B., HW 2601; Walter L., G 185.

13.
Max F., HW 1386; Paul M., G 207.

14.
Walter Z., HW 2624; Georg K., HW 2638; Anton B., HW 4372.

15.
Anton B., HW 2700-2701.

16.
Wilhelm Gb., HW 2150; Karl G., HW 2197; Heinrich B., HW 2600; Georg K., HW 2638; Joseph P., HW 2750; Hermann Bg., G 98; Walter L., G 185; Paul M., G 207; August Z., G 282; Fritz S., G 313.

17.
Kurt D., HW 4335, 4368-70; Anton B., HW 2703, 3960, 4348; Joseph P., HW 2750; Henry D., HW 3071; Walter N., HW 3927; Ernst Hr., HW 3928; Heinz B., HW 3943; Walter Z., HW 3954. The only contrary testimony about Gnade is Ernst Hr., HW 3929; Walter Z., HW 3954; and Wolfgang Hoffmann, HW 4318.

18.
Wilhelm I., HW 2239.

19.
Friedrich P., G 241-42. This account is fully confirmed by August Z., HW 3519.

20.
Hermann Bg., G 98; Joseph P., HW 2750.

21.
Walter Z., HW 2625; Georg K., HW 2638.

22.
Friedrich P., G 241-42.

23.
Ernst H., HW 2725.

24. Johannes R., HW 1810; Rudolf K., HW 2650; Joseph P., HW 2750-51; Kurt D., HW 4368; Paul M., G 209.

25.
Ernst Hr., HW 2725-26.

26.
Ernst Hr., HW 2256.

27.
Ernst Hr., H W 2256-57; Kurt D., HW 4368; August Z., G 282; Joseph P., HW 2750-51; Walter L., G 186-87; Max F., HW 1388.

28.
Bernhard S., HW 1717.

29.
Rudolf B., HW 405; Bruno D., HW 2535; Heinrich B., HW 2613-14; August Z., HW 3365-66, G 284.

30.
Fritz S., G 303-4; Paul M., G 209; Bernhard S., HW 1717.

31.
Anton B., HW 4374.

32.
August Z., G 282.

33.
Ernst Hr., HW 2727-28; August Z., G 284.

34.
Ernst Hr., HW 2727.

35.
Georg K., HW 2638.

36.
Paul M., G 206, 209.

37.
Adolf B., HW 441.

38.
Anton B., HW 2703-4.

1.
Heinrich S., HW 1569.

2.
Georg K., HW 2637; Joseph P. HW 2747.

3.
Erwin G., HW 1642, 2507.

4.
Hans K., HW 2251; Georg K., HW 2636.

5.
On First Company’s role as the “search troops,” see Paul H., HW 1652; Hans K., HW 2251.

6.
For the Parczew deportations in general, see Heinrich S., H W 1569-73, 4383; Erwin G., HW 1641-42, 2507; Paul H., HW 1652; Bruno D., HW 1876-77; Heinrich E., HW 2170; Otto H., HW 2220; Hans K., HW 2251-52; Max D., HW 2536; Heinrich B., HW 2608; Georg K., HW 2636; August Z., HW 3366, G 278-79; Alfred K., G 575-76.

7.
Heinrich S., HW 1572. Steinmetz’s admission was the exception. It was far more common, of course, for the policemen to deny under interrogation that they had any notion about the impending fate of the deported Jews.

8.
Heinrich B., HW 2608; August Z., G 279.

9.
In the memories of almost all the policemen, the August deportation from Międzyrzec was telescoped into a single day. However, one policeman (Heinrich R., G 626) and all the Jewish witnesses (TaubaT., HW 1066-67; Berl C., HW 1092; Rywka G., HW 1112; ZStL, 8 AR-Z236/60 [investigation of KdS Aussenstelle Radzyń], 1:3-4 [excerpt from Feigenbaum]) remember
two-day action. Given the number of Jews deported, two days were almost certainly needed.

10.
YVA, TR-10/710 (Landgericht Dortmund 8 Ks 1/70 judgment against Josef Burger), 16.

11.
Policemen from both First and Third Companies testified that Second Company also took part. However, outside of Third Platoon, not a single member of Second Company—even those who testified quite frankly about Łomazy and Józefów—remembered the August Międzyrzec deportation. I consider it most likely, therefore, that First and Second Platoons of Second Company were not present on this occasion.

12.
Ernst Hn., G 512; Heinrich R., G 625.

13.
*Heirich H., HW 976, 3219. See also Friedrich B., HW 1582, 3529; Hans K., 2252, 3220.

14.
H. evaluations of December 6, 1940, and March 31, 1941, in HW 565-67.

15.
R. evaluation of April 10, 1941, in HW 569.

16.
Trapp evaluation of July 21, 1941, in HW 574-80.

17.
Hans Pg., HW 1945; Ernst Hr., HW 2713.

18.
Heinrich E., HW 3351, 3354.