One reason the Nazis at Auschwitz shot Jews was to eliminate “crowding” of the concentration camp by too many Jews, one of the defendants at the trial here of 22 former Auschwitz-Birkenau officials and medical personnel testified today.
The witness was Klaus Dylewski, 47, who denied he had done any killing but admitted to the court that, at times, he ordered prisoners into solitary confinement and, at other times, he read out orders publicly for the execution of some of the inmates.
Bylewski is one of the defendants charged with murder and complicity in the torture and murder of between 2,500,000 and 4,000,000 Auschwitz inmates, most of them Jews. The trial, now in its sixth day, is the biggest German court proceeding against Nazi war criminals since the Nuremberg War Crimes trials of 1946. The trial is expected to last several months.
Dylewski told the court he saw inmates being led to the execution wall and shot. They were killed, he said, because “room had to be made for new prisoners.” When the court asked him how he felt about the occurrences at Auschwitz, he replied “it was cruel. But I knew German airmen were being treated badly in Russia. War is cruel.”
Help ensure Jewish news remains accessible to all. Your donation to the Jewish Telegraphic Agency powers the trusted journalism that has connected Jewish communities worldwide for more than 100 years. With your help, JTA can continue to deliver vital news and insights. Donate today.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
