Suppression of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising 1943

[hawkins]

I would imagine this is a remarkably rare tunic and related set of documents from someone who took part in the liquidation of the Warsaw Ghetto, thank you for sharing it.

If he survived the war I don't think there was any great danger of Posch being pursued for war crimes, the Western Allies especially the US quickly dropped the search and arrest of Nazis and their whole de-Nazification policy as the Cold War with the Soviets started to become apparent and became a higher priority than the hunt for Nazi war criminals. I believe the Soviets arrested and tried significantly more German war criminals than all of the western Allies.

thanks for noticing rare when you see it , posch survied the war the family says but no more then that on the topic . specking of the Dirlewanger troops . most were plucked from Danzig-matzkau ss and police punishment camp (prison)were posch was at one stage

[StefanM]

My eye was immediately drawn to the fourth pic as that along with pic number two was one of those I knew or had seen before.

The reason for my interest for that partucular photo is that JOSEF BLÖSCHE is in the fourth pic.

I mentioned JOSEF BLÖSCHE in this old post describing what I thought an interesting tale:

https://www.warrelics.eu/forum/discu...lished-172329/

Something which BTW was TOTALLY ignored by the forum, who evidently did not deem it worthy of notice....and now Im going to sulk in a corner!
(he said, arms akimbo and blue in the face from holding his breath)

There is an interesting webpage which discusses this iconic ghetto photo in some detail:

"A famous Holocaust Photo"

[StefanM]

thanks for noticing rare when you see it , posch survied the war the family says but no more then that on the topic . specking of the Dirlewanger troops . most were plucked from Danzig-matzkau ss and police punishment camp (prison)were posch was at one stage

How did you find such rarities? Would it be possible to see scans of the document pages?

[Scout]

News to me, that they had ID'ed that many in the pic.

An interesting read, thank you.

[StefanM]

German soldiers spectating as a section of the "Jüdischen Wohnbezirk" burns in the background... definitely a humourous event for some of the soldiers in the photo.



On the far right of the photo stands a man in a dark uniform, not sure if he is German or possibly a Polish police officer (Granatowa policja) who wore dark navy blue uniforms—nicknamed "Blueys" by Jewish Varsovians? Or maybe from "Trawniki" unit?

Although I have a very large collection of original photographs of Jewish life in Warsaw and the ghetto this is the only one I have related to the destruction of the ghetto.

I am surprised that there are not many more such photos given the number of Germans stationed in Warsaw during 1942-43 to handle not only the liquidation and transport of Jews to Treblinka but also the previous mass deportations of Poles to forced labour in Germany being carried out spring-summer of 1942...one of those being my late father, a very young teenager at the time.

[Scout]

Given the German fondness for documenting even the tiniest details and for taking pics, it is indeed surprising.

I find it even more strange, that they took the time out to make elaborate photo documentation & albums and stand around grinning at this stage in the war, considering the impending doom of the Russians not far away.

Even the most dense of soldiers must at this point have grasped, that the war was not going to (the German) plan.

The events surrounding the Uprising is almost like a competition in cynicism - I dont know which is worst; jaded German soldiers behaving as they did in the Ghetto or the Russians deliberately halting their advance.

[StefanM]

Given the German fondness for documenting even the tiniest details and for taking pics, it is indeed surprising.

I find it even more strange, that they took the time out to make elaborate photo documentation & albums and stand around grinning at this stage in the war, considering the impending doom of the Russians not far away.

Even the most dense of soldiers must at this point have grasped, that the war was not going to (the German) plan.

The events surrounding the Uprising is almost like a competition in cynicism - I dont know which is worst; jaded German soldiers behaving as they did in the Ghetto or the Russians deliberately halting their advance.

Although the German defeat at Stalingrad had already occurred by the time of the 1943 Ghetto Uprising the more decisive defeat of German forces in the battle of Kursk salient had yet to happen so the Red Army were nowhere near in a position to enter occupied Poland.

By the time of the 1944 Rising it is true the German's could see the writing on the wall in the East, the Red Army was advancing across German occupied Polish territory which meant the Germans had been reducing both their forces and civilian administration staff in Warsaw which in part prompted the AK to decide it was time to try and take back the city with what turned out to have disastrous consequences for Varsovians and the insurgents, but that is for another thread

[HPL2008]

The events surrounding the Uprising is almost like a competition in cynicism - I dont know which is worst; jaded German soldiers behaving as they did in the Ghetto or the Russians deliberately halting their advance.

I'm afraid you're confusing this with the 1944 Warsaw uprising by the Polish Home Army.

[youthcollector1]

I'm afraid you're confusing this with the 1944 Warsaw uprising by the Polish Home Army.

This is correct. However, I give you this analogy. For a moment consider if the Jewish ghetto uprising was indeed in 1944. With that in mind and the rest of the history we know, take a sports team, no matter what sport it is. Say they are 0-12. On there thirteen game, if they win, would they not be overcome with joy? No matter how direr the situation, forlorn, or how defeated they maybe, one will find positive within anything to eclipse the negative, IMO.

[HPL2008]

I cannot follow you and fail to understand the relevance of this sports analogy.

I merely stated an objective fact, namely that the halting of the Soviet advance took place during the Warsaw uprising of 1944 and thus was simply not one of the events surrounding the Ghetto Uprising of 1943.