Is there any record of anyone in the SS refusing to participate in their crimes against humanity? And if so, what sort of consequences did they suffer for it? Were they imprisoned or killed, or were they simply transfered to another assignment?
There is a famous tape recording of Himmler speaking of the FInal Solution. It is important as it is proof from the horse’s mouth that there was a campaign of mass murder. Bethatasitmay, Himmler specifically says that those who work at the murder camps have difficult duty and that any man who wanted to could opt out with no adverse action.
So, if you believe Himmler, there’s your answer right there.
. . .Except that you’d get a one-way ticket to the Russian Front, of course. Which I think qualifies as “adverse.”
Citationk please? Because I have a very, very hard time believing that an SS officer – or anyone, for that matter – could tell Himmler “no” and not be shot on the spot.
Ever heard of Google? It took me a few seconds
The closest I’ve been able to find on this is a quote from the postwar testimony of Otto Ohlendorf, commander of Einsatzgruppe D:
His answer doesn’t mention whether it ever actually happened, though.
One can request a transfer or request other duties without having to directly refuse an order.
Did the German military have the concept of an illegal order?
Have I got my facts wrong or didn’t all members of the SS swear an oath of allegiance? I think that means refusing to obey an order was treason and punishable by death.
Q
Every army shot people for refusing orders back in those days. It was seen as necassery to have perfect discipline in battle. What the OP is asking about is the exterminations.
EXACTLY MY POINT, TOO!
Look, it’s all well and good if Himmler OFFICIALLY SAID:
“Oh, yes you don’t have to do it even if I order you to. If you simply don’t feel like it, I’ll reassign you to passing out bread and flower arrangements in soup kitchens over in lovely picturesque Vienna. Say Guten Tag to the Von Trapps while you’re there, and bring me back some Strudel!”
But what Himmler probably actually MEANT was:
“Oh, so you don’t want to follow my orders to gas the Jews as Poland!? Very well, I’ll ‘reassign’ you to another task. (Pointing to two SS henchmen, now suddenly standing beside you). Hans and Franz here will ‘escort’ you. Have a ‘nice’ day. Heil Hitler!”
Except that sailor’s link clearly contradicts this. Now, I have no idea what really happened, but so far I have one citation saying that, while exceptional, refusal did not seem to meet with dire consequences. Where’s your cite saying otherwise?
Well Goldhagen wasn’t looking specifically at SS men - it is certainly true from what I understand that Wehrmacht and Police Reserve troops were not disciplined for refusal to participate in action against the Jews.
The Waffen SS, on the other hand, were held ideologically and racially apart from the rest of the German military. Well, in theory at least, and certainly as the war went on, recruiting requirements were altered. SS training placed an incredible emphasis on discipline and blind obedience to authority.
I remember seeing in Goldhagen’s book evidence that the reservists were not punished for refusal. I haven’t seen anything suggesting SS men ever refused, or whether they were punished or not for their actions.
Other examples (non-Holocaust related) exist of refusal to follow orders not resulting in punishment. I don’t believe Rommel was punished for refusal to execute British PoWs in North Africa, for example. The Nazi authorities were wary of antagonizing the Wehrmacht too much for a lot of the war.
I haven’t heard that there was a tape recording of it, only somebody’s notes. Can you refer me to a cite?
Thanks,
greatshakes
I’ve read that some Germans volunteered to serve in the Waffen SS for pragmatic reasons. They figured they’d get conscripted into military service anyway, so they might as well join the force that got priority on the best equipment.
My grandfather volunteered for the Waffen SS in 1936 (on behest of is father who was a rabid Nazi). He died on the Russian front, and not until after the fall of the wall did we find out from a great-aunt (who was living in Eastern Germany) that he was executed for refusing to work at a “Vernichtungslager” (either Sobibor or Treblinka, we’re not sure). The “Vernichtungslager” were the camps solely for killing as many Jews, Gipsies, homosexuals, etc. as possible as opposed to the “Konzentrationslager” where there were also slave laborers, etc.
My great aunt has shown us letters and the death certificate that pretty conclusively prove that he was shot for refusing the “offer”.
My point exactly. And my sentiments for your grandfather.
Not to nitpick, but the Waffen-SS wasn’t created until 1939.
There is the problematic example of Hans Münch, the doctor and SS officer who successfully objected to taking part in the direct exterminations at Auschwitz on moral grounds. All the SS doctors in the camp were expected to do stints conducting “selections”; choosing who out of a group of prisoners, usually a newly arrived trainload, were to be sent immediately to the gas chambers. Münch refused and appealed to his superior in Berlin, who agreed that he couldn’t be forced to take part. He continued to work in the camp and his status as an honorable exception seems to have been accepted by the other officers. However, this may have been in part because his medical experiments on inmates were seen as “mucking in”, so to speak.
There’s an interesting coda to his case. Part of the agreement that he could be excused was that another doctor be appointed to the camp to do his share of the selections. Hans Delmotte then had almost exactly the same reaction as Münch and basically broke down completely when he discovered what the job entailed. He then also refused to take part. However, probably because he was already the replacement, the senior officers of the camp felt that he would have to do selections, but took a softly, softly approach to persuading him. This eventually succeeded.
Delmotte committed suicide after being captured by US troops at the end of the war.
SS doctors, though, are hardly a typical set of perpetrators, precisely because they were so central to the running of the likes of Auschwitz. Lifton’s The Nazi Doctors goes through both cases in detail; he’s particularly sympathetic to Münch, disguised as “Ernst B.” in the book.
Might make a great film for a German director. Wim Wenders oder Wolfgang Petersen?
Q