SOBIBÓR - Holocaust Handbooks

294 J. GRAF, T. KUES, C. MATTOGNO, SOBIBÓR
a matter concerning male Jews fit for labor, not over 55 years of
age.” 891
On 15 June 1942 Dannecker wrote a note concerning the future deportation
of Jews from France in which he stated that military reasons
stood in the way of a deportation of Jews from the Reich into the eastern
operational zone, because the Führer had ordered to move to the
Auschwitz camp “for the purpose of productive labor” a large number
of Jews from southeastern Europe (Romania) or the occupied territories
in the West. For this the deportees of both sexes had to be between 16
and 40 years old; together with them it was possible to deport 10% of
Jews unfit for work. 892 However, in a secret memo dated 26 June 1942
which dealt with the Jewish deportation Dannecker stressed that this
concerned only physically fit Jews of both sexes aged between 16 and
45. 893
The mass deportation of Jews residing in France, but also of the
Dutch and Belgian Jews, was decided on a week later. On 22 June 1942
Eichmann penned a letter addressed to embassy councillor Fritz Rademacher
of the Foreign Ministry on the subject of “Work assignment for
Jews from France, Belgium, and the Low countries,” specifying: 894
“For the time being it is planned to initially deport to the Auschwitz
camp approximately 40,000 Jews from the occupied French regions,
40,000 Jews from the Netherlands, and 10,000 Jews from
Belgium in special trains running daily with 1,000 persons each
from mid-July or the beginning of August of this year,” but the deportees
were to be only “Jews fit for work.”
The problem of the deportation of children and physically unfit
adults was discussed in July and August. In a memo dated 21 July 1942,
referring to a telephone conversation of the previous day, Dannecker
wrote: 895
“The question of the deportation of children was discussed with
SS-Sturmbannführer Eichmann. He decided that, as soon as transportation
into the General Government is again possible, transports
of children can get moving. SS-Obersturmführer Nowak promised to
make about 6 transports possible to the General Government at the
891 RF-1216.
892 RF-1217.
893 RF-1221.
894 NG-183.
895 RF-1233.