AUSCHWITZ: FIRST TRANSPORT

Auschwitz is one of the most notorious concentration camps established by the Nazis during the Second World War. The name alone is synonymous with genocide and extermination.1  At no other place in the Nazi sphere of power were so many people killed as in Auschwitz. But it was by no means the center of the genocide of European Jews.2 The Nazis invaded Poland on September 1, 1939, and within a month they had completely occupied the country. Within six months of the occupation, they erected Auschwitz, the flagship of concentration camps.

Auschwitz was located in Zasole3, a suburb of Oswiecim, a small Galician town in Upper Silesia. It had about 12,000 inhabitants, about half of whom were Jewish. Construction on the camp began early in May 1940, using existing Imperial Austrian artillery barracks, a collection of about twenty dark and dinghy single-story brick buildings. The town was evacuated and the homes demolished to pave the way for the camp. On May 20, 1940, Auschwitz opened with 30 German prisoners transferred from Sachsenhausen, a camp located in the Reich itself. They received the first 30 numbers assigned to prisoners.(( Website:  Holocaust History. Holocaust Resources. Holocaust Remembrance .)) These 30 technically skilled German prisoners assisted in erecting the camp.

The first transport to Auschwitz, from the Polish city of Tarnow, contained 728 young Polish dissidents, 20 of whom happened to be Jews. They arrived on June 14, 1940, and were assigned numbers 31 to 758. This first transport contained many young Poles who tried to get to France to join the Polish Army in Exile.((Website: The first transport to Auschwitz-Tarnow, June, 1940:Wiadomosci24.pl (Polish News story) June 10, 2010.)) Out of these first 728 prisoners transported to Auschwitz, 298 survived the war and 272 did not survive; the fate of the remaining 158 is unknown.4)

The first transport of non-Poles contained 60 Czech citizens and arrived on June 6, 1941. They were from Brunn, Czechoslovakia, and were assigned numbers 17045 to 17104.

The first transport of Jews was on February 15, 1942. They were from Bytom, (Beuthen) in German-annexed Upper Silesia. They were not assigned numbers, as they were gassed on arrival.

Polish historian Aleksandra Pietrzykowa, who specializes in World War II topics related to the area of Tarnow claims that the original transport leaving from Tarnow initially had 753 prisoners. According to eyewitness testimony, one prisoner was released before transport and for some reason 24 prisoners were sent back to Tarnow the next day. According to testimonies of other inmates Jan Stojakowski (number 577, arrested on November 2, 1939), E. Geissler and Wladyslaw Pilat (number 330), the remaining 24 might have been prisoners from Stalowa Wola, who reached Auschwitz, but were brought back to Tarnow the next day for unknown reasons. In Tarnow the prison records for the date June 15, 1940, have a single short entry: transport Stalowa Wola, 24 persons. We do not know what happened to these inmates or why they were transported back, if they were transported back at all.((Website:  Wikpedia: First mass transport to Auschwitz concentration camp:(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_mass_transport_to_Auschwitz_concentration_camp)))

Upon arrival, the Poles were lined up in five rows and met by the first Auschwitz Commander Karl Fritzsch, who greeted them with the following speech translated into Polish by two selected inmates: “You did not come to a sanatorium here but to a German concentration camp, and the only way out is through the chimney of the crematorium. If there’s anybody who doesn’t like it, he can walk into the wire right away. If there are any Jews in a transport, they have no right to live longer than 2 weeks, priests for a month, and the rest for three months.”5)

Among the first group of prisoners was a 19 year-old youth named Karol Zajonc from Neu Sandez. He was arrested in January of 1940 because of his participation in the resistance movement. He, along with many other Polish youths, tried to reach France in order to join the Polish Army in Exile. Karol Zajonc was held in prison at Neu Sandez and was then transferred to the prison in Tarnow, which was located in the Tarnow Mikvah (the Jewish ritual bath).

He wrote back to his parents in Neu Sandez on October 30, 1940:

My dearest parents and sister,

Your letter as always brought me great happiness. Mother, did you celebrate your name day*? I am well. I thank father for the boots. What is new with Mr. Wojczik and Maria? Thank Mr Wojczik for his regards and please send mine. We have had our first snow. Please send my regards to Grandmother and Aunt Magdusia and Uncle and also Mrs. Srokowska. I would be grateful if one of my friends wrote a note to me.

How are you? What have you heard? Everything is in order here. I am miss you a lot. How is Dad doing with his work? Thank G-d that everyone is healthy. You don’t have to send me so much money; you need it for the house. I don’t smoke. Did we have a good crop of apples from the tree? Is everything set for the winter?

Can’t wait to hear from you,

With greetings and kisses from your loving son,

Lolek

Zajonc wrote several letters to his parents back in Neu Sandez with content similar to that of the letters above. The letter has very generic wording and conveys little negative emotion. Any complaints or criticism would not be tolerated and punishment would be the result. He also indicates he has everything needed in the camp, as the camp mailing directions indicate. He signed it with his nickname, Lolek.

Karol Zajonc survived the war in prison in Auschwitz until he was transferred to the Neuengamme concentration camp in March of 1943 and was assigned number 17925. Finally, he was released in June of 1945 from the Bergen-Belsen camp. He was one of the 298 prisoners in the first transport to Auschwitz to survive.

*The name day, referenced in the letter, is a tradition in some eastern European and South American Catholic countries where each day of the year is assigned to a saint. Traditionally in Poland name day celebrations (Polish: imieniny) have enjoyed a greater emphasis than birthday celebrations. Imieniny involve the gathering and socializing of friends and family at the celebrant’s home, as well as the giving of gifts and flowers at home and elsewhere, such as at the workplace. Local calendars often contain the names celebrated on a given day.((Website: Wikapedia: Name day: (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Name_day)))

 

 

 

Bibliography:

Czech, Danuta: Auschwitz Chronicle: 1939-1945, I B Tauris & Co Ltd, 1990.

Friedrich, Otto: The Kingdom of Auschwitz, New York, Harper Perennial, 1982.

Gutman, Yisrael, Berenbaum, Michael, Anatomy of the Auschwitz Death Camp, Bloomington and Indianapolis, Indiana Press:: 1994.

Lore, Shelly: Secretary’s of Death, New York, Shengold Publishers, Inc.
1986.

Steinbacher, Sybille: Auschwitz: A History, Great Britain:Penguin Books, 2005.

Edited by State Museum of Auschwita-Birkenau: Death Books from Auschwitz, K.G. Saur, Munchen, New Providence, London, Paris: 1995.

 

Websites:

Wikapedia: Name day:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Name_day.

Memorial and Museum: Auschwitz-Berkinau: June 14 National Remembrance Day:June14,1940: (http://en.auschwitz.org.pl/m/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=779&Itemid=8)

Wikpedia: First mass transport to Auschwitz concentration camp:

(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_mass_transport_to_Auschwitz_concentration_camp)

 

Footnotes:

[footnotes]

Figure 1

Letter written October 27, 1940 with a “Auschwitz(Oberschels)2 October 30, 1940” by prisoner 481, Karol Zajonc to his parents in Neu-Sandez. The vertical return address indicates he is a Protective Prisoner of Polish decent, it gives his birth date, block number and camp location.

 

Figure 2:

The folded letter sheet with the postal directions and the message written by Karol Zajonc to his parents.

  1. Lore Shelly, Secretary’s of Death (New York:Shengold Publishers, Inc.1986) XV ↩

  2. Sybille Steinbacher, Auschwitz: A History (Great Britain: Penguin Books, 2005) 29 ↩

  3. Otto Friedrich The Kingdom of Auschwitz  (New York: Harper Perennial 1982) 1 ↩

  4. Website: Memorial and Museum: Auschwitz-Berkinau: June 14—National Remembrance Day: June 14, 1940 (http://en.auschwitz.org.pl/m/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=779&Itemid=8 ↩

  5. Danuta Czech, Auschwitz Chronicle: 1939-1945(by I B Tauris & Co Ltd:1990 ↩