| AUSCHWITZ: THE RACIAL CURE |
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to be achieved by “harmonizing” with fellow SS
officers and men as well as with significant inmates. While Ernst B. found most
other SS doctors disappointing as people (much less than the élite, in
terms of intellect and family background, he had expected), two of them took on
special meaning for him: Weber, in ways already mentioned; and Josef Mengele,
whose name Dr. B. brought up spontaneously as “the most decent colleague
[anständigste Kollege] that I met [there],” a relationship we
will return to. In addition, B. was impressed by a nonmedical SS officer, who
ran Auschwitz agricultural operations in a way that B. thought was fair and
saved lives, providing him with a model of how one could work in Auschwitz
constructively and “differently” from most others.*
To become
an “insider” among prisoner physicians, he made systematic efforts
“to make contacts, to meet people, and to overcome the barrier”
between them and himself. His method, as recorded in the epigraph to this
chapter, was in the Auschwitz context nothing short of sensational.
Within a few weeks, he felt he had gained the confidence of this
prisoner group, felt accepted by SS colleagues, and found himself becoming
reasonably comfortable in the camp in general. But that comfort was shattered
after about six months by a request from Wirths that B. begin to perform
selections. Wirths could not order him to do so (“I was not his
subordinate”) but, as chief doctor, could and did apply considerable
pressure on him to comply. This was the summer of 1944, when enormous numbers
of Hungarian Jews were arriving, making it virtually impossible for the
relatively small number of camp doctors to handle all of the selections. B. had
the impression that the camp commandant suggested that some of the selections
function be taken over by his own nonmedical officers but that Wirths insisted
the process remain medical and turned to the Hygienic Institute ordinarily
outside of his jurisdiction, as the only source of additional available
doctors. Wirths was successful in persuading Weber to select. But B., when
repeatedly approached by Wirths, gave a series of reasons for refusing: that he
had too much work, found it incompatible with his assignment, and simply could
not — was unable psychologically to — do it. He illustrated the last
reason by telling Wirths, “I ... observed it [selections] and ... could
stand it for only half an hour [and then] had to vomit” — to which
Wirths replied, “That will pass. It happens to everyone … Don’t
make such a fuss about it.”
When the pressure mounted to the point
where Dr. B. felt he might not be able to maintain his resistance, he abruptly
boarded the night express to Berlin to seek out Mrugowsky, and told him he was
simply unable to |
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* SS Lieutenant Colonel Dr.
Joachim Caesar had a degree as an agronomist. According to Dr. B., Caesar had
been close to Himmler, but as the result of a disagreement over SS methods had
been sent to Auschwitz as “ironic punishment.” Nonetheless he was put
in charge of all agricultural operations at Auschwitz, which, as Langbein says,
was a position of great importance to Himmler.¹ |
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