10 Friday, April 15, 1983 THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS New Vintage Volume Delves Into the Darkness of Treblinka girls weaving drunk, danc- ing, singing, playing music By ALLEN A. WARSEN "I drove there, with- an SS driver," he said. "We could smell it kilometers away. The road ran alongside the railway. When we were about 15-20 minutes' drive from Treblinka, we began to see corpses by the line, first just two or three, then more, and as we drove into Treb- linka station, there were what looked like hundreds of them — just lying there — they'd obviously been there for days, in the heat. "In the station was a train full of Jews, some dead, some still alive . . . that, too, looked as if it had been there for days." The above passage is in Gitta Sereny's book "Into that Darkness," subtitled "An Examination of Con- science," published by Vin- tage Books. This book is based on documents, corre- spondence and mainly interviews. The principal interviewee was Franz Stangl, the kommandant of the largest extermina- tion camp., Treblinka. He also served for a short time as kommandant of Sobibor; (The Jewish News of Dec. 31, 1982, had an extensive article on Sobibor) and before that he administered the Hit- ler euthanasia program. The author, Gitta Sereny, a distinguished English journalist, spent 70 hours in 1971 -interviewing Franz Stangl in the Dusseldorf prison where he served a life sentence for the crimes he had committed, mostly in Treblinka. This review will focus on Franz Stangl's inhumanity and on the Treblinka ex- termination camp. "But all this (the author refers to the introductory statement) was nothing new to you? Yoh, have seen' these transports constantly in Sobibor?" "Nothing like this," he replied. "In Sobibor — I told you — unless one was actually working in the forest, one could live without actually seeing; most of us never saw anybody dying or dead." He continued: "Treblinka that day was the most awful thing I saw during all of the Third Reich." He added: "When I entered the canap and got out of the car on the square, I stepped knee-deep into money; I didn't know which way to turn, where to go . . . the smell was inde- scribable; the hundreds, no, the thousands of bodies, everywhere decomposing, putrefying. Across the square . . . there were tents and open fires with groups of Ukrainian guards and 73 . . • Throughout the inter- views, -Stang' continually tried to justify his misdeeds at Treblinka. He rationalized: "I remember it was Rittmeister Leitner (Stangl's superior in the Austrian police where he served as an ordinary policeman before the Anschluss), who always said that the definition of a crime must meet four re- quirements.. there has to be a subject, an object, an ac- tion and intent . . . I could apply this to my situation; if the 'subject' was the gov- ernment, the 'object' the Jews, and the 'action' the gassing, then I _could tell myself that for me the fourth element, 'intent' (he called it free will) was mis- sing." According to Ms. Sereny's research, Treblinka con- sisted of an upper and lower camp. The former contained the gas chambers and the installations, the so-called "roasts" for the burning of the corpses. The latter in- cluded the 'square where the selections were made, the fake hospital where the old and sick were shot, the undressing barracks and "the Road to Heaven." In addition there were numer- ous other facilities and buildings in the death camp, Profound is Richard Glazar's (an interviewee) characterization of the camp's SS men: "One must always measure whatever they (the SS) aid against the deep fun- damental indifference theyfelt towards all of us. It was, of course, more 'than indifference, but I call it that for want of a better word. "Really, when one wants to evaluate how they be- haved and what they were, one must not forget the in- credible power their au- tonomy within their narrow and yet, as far as we were concerned, unlimited field; but also the isolation created by the unique situa- tion and by what they — Bonds Names Trades Chairman NEW YORK — Arthur H. Joseph of Teaneck, N.J. who, has been serving as the Is- rael Bond Organization's national chairman for rein- vestment, has been ap- pointed to the new position of national chairman for trades. The appointment of Joseph is part of the Bond Organization's expansion of its campaign in some 20 trades. and hardly anyone else within the 'German or Nazi community — had in corn- mon." Perceptive is this obser- vation: "Perhaps if this iso- lation had been the result of good rather than evil deeds, their own relationship towards each other would have been different. As it was, most of them seemed to hate and despise each other and do anything — almost anything — to get at each other." Unusual is this story Stangl told Ms. Sereny . : "When I was on a trip once, years later in Brazil, my train stopped next to a slaughterhouse. The cattle in the pens, hearing the noise of the train, trotted up to the fence and stared at the train. They were very close to my window, one crowding the other, looking at me through that fence. "I thought then, 'Look at this; this reminds me of Poland, that's just how- the people looked, trust- ingly, just before they went into the tins ...' I couldn't eat tinned meat after that. Those big eyes which looked at me .. . not knowing that in no time at all they'd all be dead." The author then asked him a number of penetrat- ing questions. This was one of them: "There were so many children. Did they ever make you think of your children, of how you would feel in the position of their parents?" "No, I can't say I ever thought that way. I rarely saw them as individuals. I was always a huge man .. . they were naked, packed to- gether, running, being dri- ven with whips like . . ." (He didn't finish the sentence.) "Could you have not changed that? In your posi- tion could you not have stopped the nakedness, the whips, the horror of the cat- tle pens?" "No, no, no. This was the system . . . It worked. And because it worked, it was ir- reversible." Unusually, for weeks and weeks in 1943, some of the more daring and intelligent prisoners were planning a camp uprising. At first, only a few inmates knew about the clandestine prepara- tions. Eventually, with the exception of the in- formers, all prisoners were drawn into the con- spiracy. The revolt was planned for Aug. 2, 1943, and was to start at 3 p.m. But because of a misunderstanding, the shooting began an hour ear- lier. Still, "the first mo- ments," according to a sur- vivor, "were madly excit- ing." -With the exception of the gas chambers that were built of brick, all installa- tions and buildings were burned. However, before long an - "indescribable confusion broke out" and "all of the plans came to nothing" as all the people suddenly started to run in the direc- tion of the forest, followed by the SS, their dogs and the Ukrainians who shot at them indiscriminately, kil- ling most of them. The author thus evaluates the rebellion: "The details of the uprising vary greatly in' the memories of different sur- vivors, which may explain why there is hardly any re- liable record of what must be one of the most heroic ef- forts of the war-time years in East or West: a revolt undertaken by people who had virtually no contact with any underground movement 'outside,' no hope of help from the Poles or the Western allies, virtually no - arms except what they might hope to capture at the moment of the uprising, and ' who bore the responsibility for a large group of men and women only a very small minority of whom were con- sidered capable of being `active insurgents.' " Monument Unveilings The family of the late Sam Liberson announces the unveiling of a monu- ment in his memory 10 a.m. Sunday, April 24, at Work- men's Circle Cemetery. Rabbi Arm will officiate. Relatives and friends are asked to attend. _* ** The family of the late Sarah Silver announces the unveiling of a monu-, ment in her memory 11 a.m. Sunday, April 24, at He- brew Memorial Park. Rabbi Gruskin will officiate. Rela- tives and friends are asked to attend. Unveiling announcements may be inserted by mail or by calling The Jewish News, 17515 W. Nine Mile, Suite 865, Southfield, Mich. 48075. 424-8833. Written announcements must be accompanied by the name and address of the person making the insertions. There is a standing charge of $10.00 for an unveiling notice measuring an inch in depth, and $15.00 for a notice two inches deep with a black border. The Family of the Late The "Family of the Late DR. MORRIS LOREN FRANCES • GELLER Announces the un- veiling of a monument in his memory 11:30 a.m. Sunday, April 24, at He- brew Memorial Park. Rabbi Gruskin will of- ficiate. Relatives and friends are asked to attend. Announces the un- veiling of a monument in her memory 11 a.m. Sunday, April 17, at Clover Hill Park Cemetery. Rabbi Arm will officiate. Relatives. and friends are asked to attend. The Family of the Late SAMUEL PERNIKOFF Announces the un- veiling of a monument in his memory 11:30 a.m. Sunday, April 24, at Adat Shalom Memorial Park. Relatives and friends are asked to attend. N The Family of the Late The Family of the Late MAX BELLO ANNA KATZMAN Announces the un- veiling of a monument in his memory 9:30 a.m. Sunday, April 24, at He- brew Memorial Park. Rabbi Nelson will of- ficiate. Relatives and friends are asked to attend. Announces the un- veiling of a monument in her memory 11:45 a.m. Sunday, April 24, at Airon Moshe Cemetery. Rabbi Schnipper will officiate. Relatives and friends are asked to attend. • : The Family of the Late ESTHER LICHTENSTEIN's - Announces the un- veiling of a monument in her memory 12 noon Sunday, April 24, at Clover Hill Park Cemetery. Rabbi Wagner will officiate. Relatives and friends are asked to attend. Family will unveil a stone in her memory 10 a.m. Sunday, April 17, 1983, at Clover Hill Park Cemetery. Officiating, Rabbi Milton Atm. Please join us. ROSE DISKIN The Family of the Late SIMONE S. LOWENSTEIN The Family of the Late ABRAHAM SINAI Announces the un- veiling of a monument in her memory 2:30 p.m. Sunday, April 17, at He- brew Memorial Park. Relatives and friends are asked to attend. Announce _ s the un- veiling of a monument in his memory 11 a.m. Sunday, April 24, at He- brew Memorial Park. Rabbi Schnipper will officiate. Relatives and friends are asked to attend. The Family of the Late The Family of the Late MINNIE MARGULIES Announces the uniel - veiling of a monument in her memory 11 a.m. Sunday, April 17, at Adat Shalom Memorial Park. Rabbi Gorrelick will officiate. Relatives and friends are asked to attend. "Over 65 years of traditional service in the Jewish community with dignity and understanding." HEBREW MEMORIAL CHAPEL RABBI - JOSHUA S. SPERKA Announces the un- veiling of a monument in his memory 11 a.m. Sunday, April 17,. 'at Beth Yehudah Cemet- ery. Relatives and friends are asked to attend. 543.1622 SERVING ALL CEMETERIES 26640 GREENFIELD ROAD OAK PARK, MICHIGAN 48237 Alan H. Dorfman Funeral Director & Mgr. ielsx..a.& 1 If &Si ea ,:,116K11;•AA ,IrwieiStAIA:4iiogle