The daily violence in the camp

The murder of prisoners

The forced labour prisoners at the Maly Trascjanec extermination site were also still in mortal danger. The Seiler report lists some of the reasons why people were murdered by the camp staff. At the same time, the feeling of threat on the part of the prisoners is emphasised.

"Soon some men were shot because they wanted to send a letter home from the camp. These shootings were directed by Dr. Heuser. Soon a lad was shot for leaving the barracks too late, a Russian for leaving them too early, a girl on her way home from work, and Russians for looking for food during working hours. More Russians were shot for looking for food in the dung pit. For a while people didn't dare go out on the street on their own, they went to and from the workplaces in groups." [1]

Murders were often based on the decisions of individual perpetrators. Violating the smallest of rules could be punished with death. The rules and requirements for the prisoners were not always clearly formulated. In addition, many of them did not speak German. This could easily lead to unwanted violations.

The cover-up of the murders

The camp staff sometimes tried to conceal the murders and murder intentions from the prisoners. The Seiler report mentions some terms and phrases that were used to deceive the prisoners. However, as the Seiler report shows, the prisoners repeatedly witnessed murders over time.

"From time to time people were sent from our camp to the 'hospital', soon workers were sent to other 'estates". [2]

"At the same time, we were told about a decree by the Führer that prohibited further killing of Jews." [3]

The concealment of the murders was intended to increase the discipline on the part of the prisoners and prevent resistance. Even in the correspondence and files of many Nazi authorities, murders were not described as such. Instead, camouflage terms were used.

The alcohol consumption

"After that 1st so-called return transport now followed a 2nd one, to which our camp had to provide 80 people. These 80 people were beaten and led away by drunken SS creatures." [4]”

"Herr Rieder was constantly drunk, but always very "friendly" to the camp inmates. He once commented: "before I let someone starve, I'd rather shoot him ..." [5]

In the Seiler Report there are two references to the consumption of alcohol by perpetrators in Maly Trascjanec. Alcohol was consumed by perpetrators in connection with the Holocaust both in the context of murders and other acts of violence, as well as in the context of leisure activities. In the process, consumption also served to numb and dull the mind in the face of the acts of violence. For example, an officer of the security police is said to have distributed several thousand bottles of vodka for use during and after the mass murders in the vicinity of Maly Trascjanec.

Enrichment

The report extensively discusses the organized theft of the property of people who were interned and murdered in the Minsk region. In this context, a case of personal enrichment is also described. Since Wolf Seiler is said to have worked in the warehouse himself, it is obvious that the descriptions were based on his personal observations:

“He [= SS-Sturmfuhrer Wilhelm Madecker] was generous and munificent [...] towards his girlfriend [...]. The most beautiful clothes from the warehouse were just good enough. What a lot of work was done in the tailor's and furrier's shops. Herr Madeker took care of himself, too." [6]

"Pleasure"

Julie Sebek was deported to Minsk in May 1942 and then taken to Maly Trascjanec. There she was employed as a cook on the estate. In a testimony, she reported mistreatment during her interrogation by Georg Heuser. In her statement, she described sexual assaults. A Jewish woman had allegedly had an affair with an Unterscharführer. Heuser had that woman hanged. Julie Sebek was beaten bloody as an alleged confidant.[7]

"The commando from Kiev came to us [...] and then they moved into our barracks, while the Jews had to move together at the workplaces and in the workshops. Battalion 23 consisted of about 400 men [= Ukrainian collaborators], headed by about 20 Germans. Each of the Germans had brought himself a Russian girl, and they were living pleasurably into the day." [8]

The “pleasure” mentioned in the quote apparently also included cases of sexual violence.

Maly Trascjanec and its surroundings also served as a destination for excursions. A German female attendant/ typist later recalled the place as follows:

"On the estate, horses were available for us to ride. There was a small lake near the residential building. There were boats there."[9]

The alcoholic commander of the security police, Eduard Strauch, was allegedly regularly driven to the camp to sober up.

So the Nazis not only murdered, punished, administered and organised things in Maly Tracjanec, but they also spent something like leisure time there.

Sources:

[1] Seiler report, p.4.

[2] Ibid., p.6.

[3] Ibid., p.7

[4] Ibid., p.8.

[5] Ibid., p.10.

[6] Ibid., p.5.

[7] VWI-SWA, I.1, Minsk – Korresp. bez. Aufklaerung von Verbrechen in Minsk – I_II, 2 AR- Z 3/61, Betreff: Aufklärung der NS-Gewaltverbrechen in Minsk, Weisruthenien, Brief an die Zentrale Stelle der Landesjustizverwaltungen. 

[8] Seiler report, p.7.

[9] Cf.: Petra Rentrop: Tatorte der "Endlösung": das Ghetto Minsk und die Vernichtungsstätte von Maly Trostinez, Berlin 2011, 220f.