Evidence of Destruction

In addition to the material remains of the victims of Maly Trascjanec, evidence of the extermination of thousands of people can also be found in the archaeological finds. A total of six pistol or rifle casings, manufactured between 1931-1941, were found in the immediate vicinity of the gravesites and illustrate the way in which the extermination in Maly Trascjanec was carried out by the SS and the Schutzpolizei. According to the indictment of the senior public prosecutor in Koblenz against Georg Wilhelm Heuser and others, the prisoners were killed by shooting them in the neck with a pistol. This sequence of events is confirmed by the 4 pistol casings found in the graves, but the rifle casings show that other weapons were also used for the murder.

The cases come from different manufacturers and thus illustrate how strongly the German economy kept the armament going during the National Socialist regime from all parts of the country. From 1941/42 onwards, inmates of concentration camps were also increasingly used as slave labourers in the industrial complexes to replace the missing workers who had gone off to war. Until the end of the war, the producers of the presented cases also employed forced labourers who had to produce ammunition, which was subsequently used by the National Socialists for the war or for the extermination of thousands of people.

2 pistol cases, caliber 9x19mm

Two pistol cases of caliber 9x19mm. These matched the Parabellum or Bochardt-Luger weapon types. The ammunition was produced by forced laborers, among others. The factory in Skarzysko Kamiena in what is now Poland had a Jewish forced labour camp, and Jewish prisoners were forced to produce ammunition for the war here from 1941.

2 pistol cases, caliber 7.65x17mm

Two pistol cases from the manufacturers Gustav Genschow & Co. AG and Rheinisch-Westfälische Sprengstoff-Aktien-Gesellschaft. The caliber size can be read from the inscriptions. The cartridges fit the weapons Walther PKK or Browning M1900.

2 rifle cases, caliber 7.92x57mm

Two rifle cases, suitable for the Mauser 98K rifle. The first case was produced in 1931, before Hitler became Chancellor of the Reich. The producer of the second case was a branch of the already mentioned Polte-Werke plant in Magdeburg and existed before World War 2. From 1942 onwards, it produced mainly infantry and anti-aircraft ammunition. Here too, as in Skarzysko Kamienna, female forced labourers were used and in 1944, a satellite camp of the Neuengamme concentration camp was set up nearby. About 3000 women were imprisoned there, who had to work in 12-hour shifts in the factory. [1]

Sources:

Dietrich Eichholtz: Geschichte der deutschen Kriegswirtschaft 1939-1945. Band I: 1939-1941. München 1999.

• Eichholtz 1999b

Dietrich Eichholtz: Geschichte der deutschen Kriegswirtschaft 1939-1945. Band II: 1941-1943. Teil I. München 1999.

• Felicja Karay: Death Comes in Yellow. Skarzysko-Kamienna Slave Labor Camp. Amsterdam 1996.
• Salzwedel, online at: https://www.kz-gedenkstaette-neuengamme.de/geschichte/kz-aussenlager/ aussenlagerliste/salzwedel/ (accessed on 27 May 2021)
• http://www.detektorforum.de/smf/militaria/hulsen_und_bodenstempel_bestimmen-t40918.0.html (accessed on 27 June 2021)