21 Nov. 45
worth less than a handful of tobacco--ersatz tobacco. There were,
however, some traces of the milk of human kindness. On August 11,
1942 an order went from Himmler to the commanders of 14 concentration
camps that only German prisoners are allowed to beat other German
prisoners (2189-PS).
Mystery and suspense was added to cruelty in order to spread
torture from the inmate to his family and friends. Men and women
disappeared from their homes or business or from the streets, and no
word came of them. The omission of notice was not due to overworked
staff; it was due to policy. The Chief of the SD and SIPO reported
that in accordance with orders from the Führer anxiety should be
created in the minds of the family of the arrested person. (668-PS)
Deportations and secret arrests were labeled, with a Nazi wit which
seems a little ghoulish, "Nacht und Nebel" (Night and Fog)
(L-90, 833-PS). One of the many orders for these actions gave this
explanation:
"The decree carries a basic
innovation. The Führer and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed
Forces commands that crimes of the specified sort committed by
civilians of the occupied territories are to be punished by the
pertinent courts-martial in the occupied territories only when
(a) the sentence calls for the death penalty, and (b) the sentence is
pronounced within eight days after the arrest.
"Only when both conditions are met does the Führer and
Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces hope for the desired deterrent
effect from the conduct of punitive proceedings in the occupied
territories.
"In other cases, in the future, the accused are to be
secretly brought to Germany, and the further conduct of the trial
carried on here. The deterrent effect of these measures lies (a) in
allowing the disappearance of the accused without a trace, (b)
therein that no information whatsoever may be given about their
whereabouts and their fate." (833-PS)
To clumsy cruelty, scientific skill was added.
"Undesirables" were exterminated by injection of drugs into
the bloodstream, by asphyxiation in gas chambers. They were shot with
poison bullets, to study the effects. (L-103)
Then, to cruel experiments the Nazi added obscene ones. These
were not the work of underling-degenerates but of master-minds high
in the Nazi conspiracy. On May 20, 1942 General Field Marshal Milch
authorized SS General Wolff to go ahead at Dachau Camp with so-called
"cold experiments"; and four female gypsies were supplied
for the purpose. Himmler gave permission to carry on these
"experiments" also in other camps. (1617-PS) At Dachau,