SOBIBÓR - Holocaust Handbooks

54 J. GRAF, T. KUES, C. MATTOGNO, SOBIBÓR
“The process following the arrival of a transport at the camp
soon became routine. […] After exiting the sorting barracks, the
men were separated from the women and directed to the undressing
area in Lager [camp] 2; the women to another part of the camp. Unless
it had already been done at the platform, this was the point at
which an SS man would give a short speech. Usually – until his
transfer to Treblinka – it was given by Oberscharführer Hermann
Michel. Dubbed ‘the doctor’ by the Arbeitshäftlinge [inmate workers]
because of his habit of wearing a white coat, he delivered his
speech in rapid German […]. Michel’s words ran along the following
lines: ‘In wartime, we must all work. You will be taken to a place
where you will prosper. Children and the elderly will not have to
work, but will still be well fed. You must keep yourselves clean. The
conditions under which you have travelled, with so many of you in
each wagon, make it desirable that hygiene precautions are taken.
This is why you will shortly have to undress and shower. Your
clothes and luggage will be guarded. You must put your clothing into
a neat pile, and your shoes must be paired and tied together. You
must put them in front of you. Valuables such as gold, money and
watches must be handed in at the counter over there. You must remember
carefully the number the man behind the counter calls out,
so that you will be able to retrieve your possessions more easily afterwards.
If we do find any valuables on you after your shower, you
will be punished. There is no need to bring a towel and soap; everything
will be provided; there will be one towel for every two people.’
[…]
Michel was so full of conviction when he delivered his speech,
even as he was pulling the wool over the victims’ eyes, that the Arbeitshäftlinge
also dubbed him ‘the preacher.’ Sometimes he would
make out [sic] that the camp was a transit camp, that the journey to
Ukraine was only a matter of time, and that the Jews would even be
granted autonomy there. Other times he would tell them they would
all be going to Riga.” (English version, p. 69f.)
Soon after, Schelvis tells us, the deluded people would march into
the gas chambers.
What was the use of this entire gobbledygook? Was it necessary to
avoid attempts at breaking out? Such a thing would have been hopeless
from the start, because the Ukrainian guards who “were, generally
speaking, overzealous, displaying a fanatical loyalty to their duty as