"Endlösung" in Galizien : der Judenmord in Ostpolen und die Rettungsinitiativen von Berthold Beitz, 1941-1944

Examines the policies, administration, and personnel which carried out the Final Solution in Eastern Galicia. Under Soviet rule (1939-1941), Jewish property had been nationalized, communal organizations abolished, and "enemies of the state" deported. Ukrainians were also persecuted by the communists (among whom were many Jews). After the German invasion, they took revenge by massacring Jews, encouraged by the Einsatzgruppen. Galicia was incorporated into the General Government. Officials of the German civil administration cooperated with the SS at all levels. Describes the Janowska labor camp in Lvov and the labor camps on Durchgangsstrasse IV; these were really death camps. From late 1941, massacres and deportations to Belzec intensified; the labor camps were liquidated. Some employers tried to save their workers, for humanitarian as well as utilitarian reasons. Berthold Beitz, manager of an oil empire in southern Galicia (Boryslav, Drohobych, Stryi and surroundings), saved many Jews by claiming they were indispensable to vital oil production. Periodically, however, he had to surrender some to save the rest. In summer 1944, most of his Jewish workers were deported to Auschwitz or Płaszów. Estimates that ca. 100 survived. Includes characterizations of many SS and civilian officials; pp. 426-458 contain biographies. Map on lining papers. 592 pages : illustrations, map ; 24 cm