Auschwitz I and III: Exploring Operational and Managerial Efficiencies or Lack Thereof within Auschwitz James Michael Hogan His 471 Fall 2016 "T" Hogan 2 Introduction to Parameters of Project: This project examines the operational and managerial efficiencies or lack thereof within the Auschwitz concentration camp operated by the Nazis during World War II as part of the "Final Solution." In order to examine both the efficiencies and inefficiencies of the camp, it is necessary to consider the founding, construction, administrative layout, basic processes, overall goals, and the way in which the Auschwitz camps affected prisoners and administrators. The proposed result of this examination is to weigh whether the policies and practices within Auschwitz I and III effectively implemented the objectives of Volkstrum and Lebensraum within the Reich's empire. While frequently thought of as a single entity, Auschwitz actually had two main camps (Auschwitz I and Auschwitz II - Birkenau), the third biggest sub-camp was Auschwitz III - Monowitz; it was one of the "40 subsidiary camps (Nebelager) [that] arose."1 This project focuses on two of the main camps within Auschwitz. The first is Auschwitz I, the original concentration camp. The second is Auschwitz III - Monowitz, this was one of the largest sub-camps at Auschwitz and was located immediately outside of the IG Farbenindustrie factory. This focus promotes a concentrated discussion on the stated area of interest. They also have a sufficient body of primary and secondary sources covering all aspects. Primarily, this project draws from secondary monographs that cite primary source material - official correspondence, first-hand accounts, interviews, speeches, memoirs and similar reference materials. The focus of this discussion intentionally leaves out considerations on Auschwitz II - 1 Zentner, Christian, Friedemann Bedurftig, and Amy Hackett. The Encyclopedia of the Third Reich. New York: Macmillan, 1991. 51. Hogan 3 Birkenau. This was for several reasons. First, the purpose of Auschwitz II was, for the most part, singular and thus did not add depth to the discussion and analysis at hand. Second, it seems as though the 'story' of Auschwitz II (also known as Auschwitz Birkenau) has been explored and is familiar to many because of the scale and brutality of the operational focus of this specific camp. The idea of Auschwitz II being 'familiar1 is another reason for its omission. I have been drawn to the nature of the concentration camp system from a young age and wanted to explore this area from a different angle. Leaving Auschwitz II out of the discussion did cause some difficulty during the research phase of the project. Due to the fact that it was the most brutal arm of the Auschwitz system as a whole, the amount of research, data, and analysis on this camp is immense. This sometimes worked against my focus by clouding sources as it was unclear whether they were referring to Birkenau or a different sub-set of the camp. Research of Auschwitz often focuses on Birkenau and so tends to dominate the discussion. This focus has created a specific 'popular' understanding, such that a nuanced and contextualized view of Auschwitz in its entirety can be lost in the shadow. This discussion tries to examine the 'other parts' of Auschwitz and give consideration to hundreds of thousands that labored languished, and died. Another difficulty encountered during the research process was the somewhat limited perspective offered by the research methods, time, and access to materials available to an undergraduate student. As a result, I relied on only a handful of sources, both primary and secondary, that had been translated from German. This is not to say that this discussion is insufficient for a 'Senior Thesis'. Rather, a successful scholarly project would require travel, more time, knowledge of varying languages, and a budget. However, with more time, Hogan 4 resources, or a 'graduate level1 approach, I could have incorporated more detail into this analysis. For example, to access transport records, prisoner correspondence, and camp chancellery records, travel to the official Auschwitz museum in Poland would be required. Furthermore, these records are in a multitude of different languages and would require a translator or personal knowledge of the language at hand. These options are possible but are clearly out-of-reach for the scope of an undergraduate thesis. Background and Introduction to Key Terms: In the post-World War I - Pre-World War II period the concept of aggravated nationalism took a strong grip in Germany and across central and eastern Europe. Prior to 1914, there was a prevailing sentiment among Germans that Germany needed to find its appropriate place in the sun, which translated to a bigger German Empire or Reich. Few considered any possibility that Germany would not succeed. In the mind of the German populace, the country had been superior in all ways to the remainder of Europe and Asia for ages and had suffered a surprising, shocking defeat in 1918. Shock turned to anger stoked further by the restrictions imposed by the Treaty of Versailles. Germans viewed this treaty as further humiliation and looked towards perceived cracks domestically to explain their loss. The concept of a "stab-in- the-back... [and a] betrayal at home by socialists and Jews."2 was a popular target for this anger. The distrust and shock created by the defeat left a void within Germany society that was to be 2 Hayes, Peter, and John K. Roth. The Oxford Handbook of Holocaust Studies. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2010. 65. Hogan 5 filled with "a pathos of German victimhood."3 The Nazi party effectively used the lingering uncertainty and sense of victimhood to turn the sensibilities of many on their head. The Nazi Party-infused ideas on "German power and racial purity... [and completed a merger] of race thinking and nationalism."4 Terms such as Volkstrum (German-ness) became the standardized vocabulary when one referred to the key element that made the German nation strong. With the development and acceptance of the right type of person came the development and acceptance of those who were fundamentally antithetical to what Germany stood for. The majority of the Germans' held the belief that these Non-Volkstrum or 'foes' were one of the main causes behind the defeat that had become seared into every German's mind. The collectively national feeling of a Dolchstofi (Stab-in-the-back) was set in stone and soon to be leveraged by the Nazi Party. To reestablish Germany on the World stage, Hitler proposed and pursued an aggressive foreign policy that pushed his ideas on colonialism and imperialism to their extremes. This called for "an extractive empire as the British had in India, but also settler colonies- enriched by plunder- as had developed in North America."5 In this policy system war was an inescapable tool to establish the new Reich. Once the war began and the Nazi Empire was expanded into Poland, the pillars of Hitler's occupation policy were distinct. In Eastern Europe, these policies were "economic exploitation (which included slave labor), population resettlement, and security."6 These policies were interpreted rigidly and thus became instrumental in the Reich's 3 The Oxford Handbook of Holocaust Studies, 65 4 The Oxford Handbook of Holocaust Studies, 65 5 The Oxford Handbook of Holocaust Studies, 74 6 The Oxford Handbook of Holocaust Studies, 74-75 Hogan 6 occupation of countries like Poland. However, the main tenants of the occupation agendas proved to be "incompatible...[and] reconciling [them],..was impossible."7 From the vein of long­ term colonialism and exploitation came groups like Hakatisten (promoted Germanization of Polish territory and outright destruction of Polish national identity) and the concept of Lebensraum (living space). The term Lebensraum was first coined by Friedrich Ratzel in 1901. Ratzel is the architect of the school of thought known as "political geography."8 This concept gained momentum in Germany in the wake of the significant territorial losses incurred after 1918, which led to the claim that Germans were Volk ohne Raum ("a people without adequate space.")9 Hitler and the Nazi party adopted this concept and added a foundation of racial entitlement to geographic expansion. The movement spurred by this idea was no longer just about retrieving lands thought to be "implicit" within traditional German borders.10 11 It had become "about economic growth and conceived a competitive...game of national survival."11 The German people, supposedly motivated by the utopian nature of Volksgemeinschaft (people's community) at home were urged to shift their focus abroad. The intention was to "galvanize Germans to conquer, colonize, and exploit the newly won territories."12 One of the primary goals of the war to come was the acquisition of Lebensraum, "German colonists would occupy fortified settlements whence they would rule over a 'helot1 population of denationalized 'slaves'."13 7 The Oxford Handbook of Holocaust Studies, 75 8 The Oxford Handbook of Holocaust Studies, 310 9 The Oxford Handbook of Holocaust Studies, 311 10 The Oxford Handbook of Holocaust Studies, 75 11 The Oxford Handbook of Holocaust Studies, 312 12 The Oxford Handbook of Holocaust Studies, 312 13 The Oxford Handbook of Holocaust Studies, 75 Hogan 7 However, this vision could not be realized until the War had been won. In the meantime, potential sites for the physical manifestation of Lebensraum were groomed. This meant that Nazi infrastructure within occupied Poland served a dual purpose; meeting both short-term war requirements long-term demands of colonialization and the expansion of the German empire. The ideas of rapid expansion of the physical German nation and protection of national identity created an atmosphere where all those who were representative of Volkstrum needed to be guarded against outsiders who were assumed to be agents of corruption and hatred.