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On June 21,
1943, Reichsfuehrer-SS Heinrich Himmler issued the following order:
"All Jews who may still be found in ghettos in the Ostland must
be confined in concentration camps.... All non-essential inhabitants
of the Jewish ghettos are to be referred to the East.... The
reorganization in concentration camps is to be completed by August
1, 1943." The practical intent of this order was the
elimination of all surviving Jews in the occupied Soviet
territories. However, in keeping with his long-standing policy,
Himmler wanted to exploit the Jews’ labor as he spilled their
blood. Thus, the able-bodied were to be put to work in the
concentration-camp network, while the "non-essential" were
to be "referred to the East," i.e., murdered.
The order
was evidently coordinated with Hitler. Two days before it was
issued, Himmler discussed the matter with Hitler and wrote
afterwards, "After my lecture on the Jewish question, the
Fuehrer expressed the view that the evacuation of Jews should be
implemented in a radical fashion over the next four months."
Thus, a
series of ghettos was liquidated: Bialystok in August; Vilna and
Minsk in September; and, Riga in November. For reasons that are not
clear, two ghettos in Lithuania-Kovno (Kaunas) and Shavli (Siauliai)-were
left intact until mid 1944. Almost no Jews remained in the occupied
Soviet territories. |
