Addition

Brief explanation of references from Chapter I of the Publication Auschwitz IV

(statements regarding the transports of 24 August, 14 and 21 September 1943)

Concerns the reference to Chapter 1 – paragraph 2

The deportation period to be discussed also relates to the preserved part of the administration of the "Krankenbau Monowitz", containing the personal details of all men who were admitted to this institution from 7 July 1943 to 19 June 1944. (total more than 15000 names, some of which appear twice or more; below 2375 names of deportees from the Netherlands, many of whom belonged to the autumn transports of 1943, but also a number to the spring transports of this year).

 The document has been edited very carefully, so that name corruptions (first names are written out in full) and other errors occur rarely. The matricule numbers under which the persons involved were registered in Auschwitz are stated in front of the names, and the dates of "Zugang" and "Abgang" are stated behind the names, with the addition of one of the following designations (deceased): "nach Birkenau" - "nach Auschwitz" - "Entlassen". 

Based on these indications, general conclusions can immediately be drawn with regard to the fate of those involved, which are elaborated in the next section.  

Regarding the reference to Chapter 1 – paragraph 3 – sub I:  General conclusions regarding the deaths of men whose personal details appear in the administration of the "Krankenbau Monowitz".

A): Those who, according to the Krankenbau administration, died in Monowitz: The dates of death of these men are of course those on which they were removed from the Krankenbau administration, according to the "Abgang" column. 

B): Those who were taken to Birkenau: From the fact that Birkenau was the gassing camp, as well as from the fact that almost none of the men who belonged to this group returned or were found anywhere afterwards (except in a few exceptional cases, where it has become apparent that those involved were in a special position), it must be concluded that, unless it individually appears otherwise, all these men were killed by gassing no later than the day after the day on which they were written off from the Krankenbau administration. 

C): Those who were deported to Auschwitz: From witness statements (in particular that of a Jewish doctor from the transport of 14 September 1943, who worked in the Auschwitz Mental Hospital for more than a year), as well as from the fact that several of the men deported to Auschwitz returned or later have been found somewhere, it must be concluded that in general these men were not immediately gassed, but were given another chance to live. As a rule, they were admitted to the "Krankenrevier" (hospital) in Auschwitz for a certain period and then put to work again. Only after they were later found unfit for further work due to illness or weakness were they also taken to Birkenau for gassing. 

To avoid the appearance that the date of death could be determined exactly, when applying this conclusion, the latest date of death will always be fixed at the last day of the month in which the calculation of 3 months results.  

D): Those who were "entlassed" from the Krankenbau Monowitz: This could not have meant anything else than that those involved were re-employed in Monowitz after their dismissal from the Krankenbau. Insofar as they were not repatriated or were found in other camps after the great evacuation, they could either have died in Monowitz (possibly without being readmitted to the Krankenbau), or they could have died during the evacuation. The Krankenbau could also be regarded as a selection site, where the strong who could withstand the hard work were selected and the weak were dropped. 

On these grounds it has been concluded that the "Entlassenen", (dismissed) unless individually proven otherwise, were still alive at the time of the great evacuation, so that, insofar as they were not repatriated, they did not remain behind in Monowitz during the evacuation. or were not found in other camps after the evacuation, must have died during the evacuation marches. The times of their death can be determined in accordance with the information regarding the evacuation transports given in the Auschwitz VI section of these publications. 

Concerning the reference to Chapter 1 – paragraph 3 – sub II:  General conclusion regarding the deaths of men sent from Auschwitz to Warsaw. (not applicable to the transports of 24 August, 14 and 21 September 1943).  

Concerns the reference to Chapter 1 – paragraph 3 – sub III:   General conclusions regarding women who have been included in the so-called "experiment blocks". From various transports of 1943, but mainly from those of 24 August, 14 and 21 September 1943, a number of married women, who had no young children with them, and some unmarried women, who had registered as married, were designated for of "medical" experiments, and therefore included in the so-called "experiment blocks" ("Block 10" and later also "Block 1" of the Auschwitz camp).   

The following facts have also been established with regard to the fate of these women:

1st. Apart from the experiments applied to them, they experienced relatively good treatment. Only a few women died from the actual experiments. This is reflected in the particularly large number of survivors (more than 45% of the total number of women selected to undergo experiments).

2nd. However, in the beginning a number of women died from infectious diseases (typhoid fever, dysentery, scarlet fever). Some women affected by these diseases were taken to Birkenau for gassing.

3rd. Women who were found unsuitable for further experiments, or who refused to submit to them any longer, or who were removed from the experimental blocks because more women than necessary were available for the experiments at the relative time, also went to Birkenau. However, they were not, at least not immediately, gassed, but were put to work in various labor commands ("Strassenbau-kommando" (road construction), "Wascherei", (laundry), "Lederbearbeitungs-abteilung", (leather processing),  "Strickerei",(knitting), "Schneiderei" (tailoring) and the like). The work in these commands was not equally hard everywhere (heaviest in the "Strassenbaukommando", which was also a punitive command). 

Unless further information is available in individual cases, there is no other option for determining a final date of death for these women than to place them all in one category. Before the dissolution of "Block 10", a total of 3 groups of women were deported to Birkenau for employment, namely: on 18 September 1943,12 women; on 23 June 1944, ±80 women and on 13 July 1944, ±30 women.       

Source: Archive Red Cross, publicatiion "Auschwitz IV", October 1953, from chapter 1.

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