I am trying to read this book at the moment. It is about the Sonderkommando’s at Auschwitz Birkenau.
They were the predominantly- almost totally- Jewish prisoners who were forced by the SS to undertake a variety of jobs at the Extermination camp. These included (there were a number of shifts) enticing the victims to the gas chambers, shaving their hair and ripping out teeth (after death) and removing the bodies to the crematoria. They were then tasked with disposing of the ashes, including grinding up bones that weren’t fully incinerated.
Of course, a Sonderkommando could be removing the body of a wife, child or parent that they had seen alive 24 hours before.
Not many Sonderkommando survived as the SS considered them bearers of secrets and wanted no evidence of the atrocities. Some did survive, and some managed to bury diaries before they too were executed.
They were pretty much reviled as collaborators after the war however eventually a few- plus the buried transcripts- cast a light on what they had to deal with.
It is an extremely difficult book to read. However I would suggest if you can lay your hands on a copy, please read it.
Whilst I don’t doubt your sincerity Panache45, I would be extremely surprised if he was an actual Sonderkommando in the context of the Jewish prisoners involved in this work. As an example fewer than 30 survived the war - out of thousands- and in some camps the term also applied to the SS Guards (Chelmno). In Treblinka they had a totally different name. The chances of meeting one who was prepared to talk would be Gold Lotto odds (of course it could happen).
I have no intention of trying to be an expert in the field- I really can’t imagine what those poor bastards went through. We visited Auchwitz Birkenau last year and it was horrific. Last night I ordered a book “Matters of Testimony- Interpreting the Scrolls of Auschwitz”.
What to me is distressing is how some of the guards , those in charge etc justify what they did by “Oh, you have to realise what the Jews did to us. They would always charge too much for a pig.” That is an excuse? Plus Jews in many countries were restricted in ownership of land and produce so they did what they could.
I would add I am not Jewish, so I hope to present a balanced view.
The books are extremely harrowing - Matters of Testimony tends towards a more scholarly interpretation (I think that is the correct expression). Before tackling this subject I suppose I had a general understanding of what happened but when you get into the detail it is sickening.