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Appendix A: Demography of the Holocaust in the East

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Appendix A: Demography of the Holocaust in the East Reliable demographic data concerning the Holocaust in the east is especially difficult to obtain. The available census material for Belorussia and Ukraine is presented here to provide an indication of the population of these areas during the 1930s. A number of considerations have to be taken into account in attempting to convert these numbers into an estimate of the Jewish population affected by the German occupation. The Polish 1931 figures should be increased by about 10 per cent to reflect demographic growth over the following decade. War in 1939 involved the flight of approximately 300 000 Jews from western to eastern Poland; of these probably more than half were amongst those sent to the central and eastern parts of the USSR due to Soviet deportations and other labour projects. Further deductions must be made for the deportation of local inhabitants, recruitment to the Soviet Army and the effects of flight and Soviet evacuation. Evacuation was consider­ ably more effective further east and was proportionately greater from the towns than amongst the rural population. Despite these uncertainties, the 1931 census provides a reasonable base estimate for the number of Jews present in the former districts of eastern Poland on 22 June 1941 (see Tables A.l and A.2). The results of the Soviet 1939 census published recently by Mordechai Altshuler (Tables A.3 and AA) should be treated with the caution appropriate for most Soviet estimates of the Jewish population: that is, the results probably slightly understate Jewish numbers. Nevertheless these detailed figures are most useful, if allowance is also made for subsequent recruitment to the Red Army. The degree of evacuation from the Soviet areas was considerably higher, reportedly exceeding 70 per cent from some large towns in the east. Some of the Jews retreating eastwards were also trapped behind German lines during their flight and therefore might appear as losses in these eastern areas. According to the available population figures it can be concluded that more than one million Jews were living in 1939 in those areas which came under German civil administration by the end of 1941 (Weij3ruthenien, Volhynia­ Podolia, Zhitomir, Kiev and Nikolayev). The 1941 estimates presented here (Table A.S) are intended only as a 'rough guide' to assist in assessing the number of Jews who came under the German civil administration in Belorussia and Ukraine. How can one estimate the level of Jewish losses? Most available figures for the numbers of persons killed in specific actions constitute estimates made by the Germans, local inhabitants and survivors. These sources must be treated with considerable caution, as numerous examples can be found where they are contradictory and clearly imprecise. A range has been given here to indicate the inevitable uncertainties in the sources. Only a detailed analysis of available information for each location permits a 'rough estimate' to be adduced. The figures presented here are no more than an outline sketch drawn from the many sources referred to elsewhere in this book. They should be viewed sceptically as an initial marker and an inspiration for the more detailed local studies yet to come. A definitive figure for most locations is not to be expected. 168 Demography of the Holocaust in the East 169 The level of Jewish survival for these areas is also problematic, with estimates ranging from 1 to 5 per cent for those trapped by the German occupation. Post-war demographic movements render a precise figure almost impossible. Much work still remains to be done in this field, evaluating and incorporating the newly available Soviet sources into the results of existing research. Table A.l Jewish population of Novogrudok province, 1931 census District Jews Total population % Jewish Baranovichi 16074 161 038 9.98 Lida 14913 183 485 8.13 Nesvizh 8880 114464 7.76 Novogrudok 10 462 149 536 7.00 Slonim 12344 126510 9.76 Stolpce 6975 99389 7.02 Shchuchyn 7883 107 203 7.35 Volozhin 5341 015522 4.62 Total Novogrudok 82872 1 057 147 7.84 Source: Published results of Polish 1931 census. Table A.2 Jewish population of eastern Poland, according to adjusted 1931 census figures District Jews Total population % Jewish Vilnius 111 000 1275900 8.7 Novogrudok 83000 1 057 100 7.8 Polesia 114000 I 131 900 10.1 Volhynia 208000 2085600 10.0 Total 516000 5550500 9.3 Note: the western half of the Vilnius district was transferred to Lithuania in 1940; part of Polesia (Pruzhany) was included in Bialystok. The estimated Jewish population in the former Polish areas which came under German civil administration in Ukraine and Weif3ruthenien during the course of 1941 is 430--470 000. Approximately 540000 Jews lived in Galicia in June 1941. Sources: Polish 1931 census results from T. Piotrowski, Poland's Holocaust, pp. 346 and 353; D. Pohl, Nationalsozialistische Judenverfolgung, p. 9. Table A.3 Jewish population of Soviet parts of Ukraine, 1939 District Jews % Jewish Kiev 297409 8.4 Vinnitsa 141 825 6.1 Zhitomir 125007 7.4 Kamenets-Podolsk 121 335 7.0 170 Demography of the Holocaust in the East Dneprpetrovsk 129439 5.7 Nikolayev 60402 5.5 Kirovograd 26419 2.2 Odessa 233 155 14.2 Moldavia 37035 6.2 Total (west and central) I 172 026 Total 1 532 776 5.0 Source: M. Altshuler, Distribution of the Jewish Population, pp. 9-12. Table AA Jewish population of Soviet parts of Belorussia, 1939 District Jews % Jewish Minsk 117615 9.0 Mogilev 79739 5.7 Vitebsk 77 173 6.0 Gomel 67578 7.5 Poles'e 32987 4.9 Total 375092 6.7 Source: M. Altshuler, Distribution of the Jewish Population, pp. 9-12. Table A.5 'Rough estimates' for Jewish losses during the First and Second Waves of 1941 and 1942-43 in Weij3ruthenien and Volhynia-Podolia District 1941 losses 1942-43 losses 1941 estimate Glubokoye* 5-10000 40-50000 60000 Novogrudokj: 25-35000 55-75000 90000 Minskt 30-50000 30-50000 100000 Weij3ruthenien 60-95000 125-175000 250000 Polesiat 20-30000 75-85000 110 000 Volhynia 25-35000 150-200000 240000 Podolia 25-45000 40-85000 120000 Volhynia-Podolia 70-110 000 265-375 000 460000 * Glubokoye represents the eastern part of the Vilnius district (including Vileyka) not incorporated into Lithuania. t Minsk does not include eastern parts of the Minsk district under military administration. t Polesia: the northern fringes of the Polish district of Polesia were divided between Weij3ruthenien (Novogrudok) and Bialystok. Abbreviations for Notes and Archival Sources AANW Archive of New Documents, Warsaw Abt. Abteilung Section Ani. Anlage Appendix BA Federal German Archive (Bundesarchiv) Many Bundesarchiv docu­ ments have recently been transferred from Koblenz to Berlin BA-MA Bundesarchiv-Militdrarchiv Federal German Archive, Military Archive, Freiburg BDC Former Berlin Document Center collection BdO Befehlshaber der Ordnungspolizei Senior Commander of the Order Police BNAM Belorussian National Archive, Minsk Brest Archive Brest Regional (oblast) Archive, Brest CDJC Centre for Contemporary Jewish Documentation, Paris Co. Company CSAK Central State Archive, Kiev Div. Division Dorking Committal Proceedings in Dorking, England 1996 EM Ereignismeldung UdSSR Events report Soviet Union (Einsatzgruppen report) EWZ Einwandererzentrale German immigration centre Inf. Infantry INRW Institute for National Remembrance, Warsaw (formerly Polish Main Commission) KTB Kriegstagebuch War Diary LSHA Latvian State Historical Archive, Riga MGFA Militd'rgeschtichtliches Forschungsamt Military Historical Research Institute MHAP Military Historical Archives, Prague Moreshet Moreshet Archives, Israel MRA Minsk Regional Archive, Minsk NAW National Archives, Washington PAAA Politisches Archiv, Auswdrtiges Amt, Political Archive, Foreign Min­ istry, Bonn Pol. Police (Order Police) PUST Polish Underground Study Trust, London Rgt Regiment SAL District Court Lodz, Poland SAM Special Archive, Moscow (Osobi) (Centre for Historical-Document­ ary Collections) SARF State Archive of the Russian Federation, Moscow SIU Special Investigations Unit, Australia SSA State Security Archives, Ukraine (formerly KGB) 171 172 Abbreviations for Notes and Archival Sources SSPGF SS and Police District Leader Sta Staatsanwaltschaft Public Prosecutor's Office UKGB KGB Archives, Belarus USHMMA US Holocaust Memorial Museum Archives, Washington DC Yolyn SRA Volhynian Regional State Archive, Lutsk WAST Wehrmachtauskunftstelle, Berlin German Armed Forces Personnel Records Office, Berlin WCU Metropolitan Police War Crimes Unit, New Scotland Yard Vivo Vivo Archives, New York YV Yad Vashem Archives, Jerusalem ZA Zhitomir oblast Archive, Zhitomir ZSL Zentrale Stelle, Ludwigsburg German Central Office (War Crimes investigation) Notes 1 The Soviet Occupation of Eastern Poland, 1939-41 1. S. Spector, The Holocaust of Volhynian Jews, p. 23; S. Cholawski, Soldiers from the Ghetto, p. 14; The Dark Side of the Moon, pp. 41-2. 2. B. Pinchuck, Shtetl Jews, p. 5. 3. M. Iwanow, 'The Byelorussians of Eastern Poland', p. 257. 4. WCU D8160. 5. J.T. Gross, Revolution from Abroad, pp. 71-113. 6. M. Iwanow, 'The Byelorussians of Eastern Poland', p. 264; S. Spector, The Holocaust of Volhynian Jews, p. 24; Public Record Office FO 371/23685, pp. 129-72. 7. M. Iwanow, 'The Byelorussians of Eastern Poland', pp. 256-8; A. Skrzypek, 'Die polnische Minderheitenpolitik', p. 401. 8. M. Iwanow, 'The Byelorussians of Eastern Poland', pp. 260-1. 9. J.T. Gross, Revolution from Abroad, p. 4. See especially the results of the 1931 Polish census for the district of Polesia, WCU D9093. 10. J.T. Gross, Revolution from Abroad, p. 21. II. For a brief overview of modem historical knowledge of these events see W.A. Serczyk, 'Die sowjetische und die "polnische" Ukraine zwischen den Weltkriegen', pp. 211-13. 12. D.R. Marples, 'The Ukrainians in Eastern Poland', p. 237. 13. WCU D8158. 14. WCU D7309. 15. K. Sword, Deportation and Exile, p. 4 n. 15; A. Paul, Katyn: The Untold Story, pp. 113-14 gives the figure of 4143 Polish officers killed near Katyn and approximately 15 000 in total from three separate camps.
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