Fateful Months: Essays on the Emergence of the Final Solution

144 Pages·1991·12.115 MB·English

by  Christopher R. Browning

FATEFUL
MONTHS
Essays on the Emergence of
the Final Solution
REVISED EDITION
with a new Introduction
by the author
Christopher R. Browning

Months
Fateful

Months
Fateful
ESSAYS ON THE EMERGENCE
OF THE FINAL SOLUTION
Revised Edition
Christopher R. Browning
HOLMES & MEIER
New York London
—
Revisededition published in the UnitedStatesofAmerica 1991 by
Holmes & MeierPublishers, Inc.
30 Irving Place
New York, NY 10003
Firstedition published 1985by Holmes& MeierPublishers, Inc.
Copyright © 1985, 1991 byChristopherR. Browning
All rights reserved. No part ofthis book may be reproduced or
transmitted in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means
now known or to be invented, including photocopying, recording, and
information storage and retrieval systems, without permission in
writing from the publishers, except by a reviewer who may quote brief
passages in a review.
Bookdesignby StephanieGreco
Thisbook has been printedonacid-free paper.
LibraryofCongressCatalogingin PublicationData
Browning, ChristopherR.
Fateful months: Essaysontheemergenceofthefinal
solution.
Includes index.
— —
1. Hol—ocaust,Jewi—sh(1939-—1945) Yugoslavia Serbia.
2. Jews Yugoslavia Serbia Persecutions. 3. Serbia
Ethnic relations. 1. Title.
DS135.Y82S493 1991 940.51'150392404971
ISBN 0-8419-1266-1 (alk. paper)
Manufactured inthe United StatesofAmerica
ForJennifer, Kathryn, andAnne

Contents
Acknowledgments viii
Prologue ^
Introduction ^
1 The Decision Concerning the Final Solution 8
2 Wehrmacht Reprisal Policy and the Murder ofthe Male
Jews in Serbia 39
3 The Development and Production ofthe Nazi Gas Van 57
4 The Semlin Gas Van and the Final Solution in Serbia 68
The Semlin Judenlager 68
The German Security Police in Belgrade 72
The Gas Van at Semlin 76
Conclusion ^^
Notes 88
Index 108
Photographs appear between book pages 50 and 51.
Acknowledgments
This book could not have been written without the help of many people
and institutions. Above all, the generous support of the Alexander von
Humboldt Foundation and a sabbatical leave from Pacific Lutheran Uni-
versity madepossibleayearofindispensablearchival research in Europe.
The staffs of the Bundesarchiv Koblenz, the Politisches Archiv des
Auswartigen Amtes in Bonn, the Jevrejski Istorijski Muzej (Jewish His-
tory Museum) in Belgrade, and the Institut fiir Zeitgeschichte in Munich
ably assisted my research at theirrespective institutions. LeitenderOber-
staatsanwalt Dr. Adalbert Riickerl and Herr Krantz ofthe Zentrale Stelle
der Landesjustizverwaltungen, Mr. Daniel Simon and Herr Fix of the
Berlin Document Center, Lieutenant Colonel General Fabian Trgo and
Lieutenant Colonel Antun Miletic of the Vojno Istorijski Institut in Bel-
grade, Herr Meyer of the Bundesarchiv-Militararchiv Freiburg and Ar-
chivoberinspektorin Bauerschafer of the Staatsarchiv Niirnberg deserve
special mention.
My research was heavily dependent upon access to German court rec-
ords. Staatsanwalt Landgraf in Hannover, Staatsanwalt Dr. Gollrad in
Stuttgart, Oberstaatsanwalt Tschepke in Kassel, Staatsanwalt Lang in
Koln, Leitender Oberstaatsanwalt Dr. Wetterich in Konstanz, and Ober-
staatsanwalt Schacht in Dortmund gave the necessary permission and
facilitated my research in the relevant court records under theirjurisdic-
tions.
Professor Dr. Hans Mommsen ofthe Ruhr-Universitat Bochum served
as my Humboldt Foundation sponsor and supported my research en-
deavors in many ways. Leitender Oberstaatsanwalt Pollig in Bonn gave
very helpful advice. Colonel Fred Seamon, Cynthia Efird, and Ruth Kurz-
bauer of the American Embassy in Belgrade provided essential aid in
gaining access to Yugoslav archives. Dr. Menachem Shelah generously
shared his considerable expertise on the Holocaust in Serbia. My col-
VIII