During discussion about the Holocaust it is easy to get caught up in the notion of good versus evil. To many people the Jews imprisoned in the Concentration Camps are all good and the Nazis are bad. While it is true that the Nazis committed countless horrendous acts the question of the role of good and evil in the concentration camps is one that can't be broken down into such simplistic terms. One interesting component of this complexity is the role of the Sonderkommando. Sonderkommando were Jewish prisoners whose primary duties were to get rid of human corpses after Nazis committed mass executions. This job entailed putting people into the crematorium ovens as well as digging graves and burying people, many of whom could very well be members of their own family. Due to the fact that the Sonderkommando were doing a lot of the Nazis' “dirty work” and had a lot of inside information about the concentration camps, they were given special treatment including better meals and sleeping conditions.(Shields, "Sonderkommando"). Many of the acts committed by these Sonderkommandos delay the advancement of their own people, but an organized revolt against Nazi officers at Auschwitz in October of 1944 shows that these people still had the determination to act courageously to free themselves as well as others from Nazi rule. While the Sonderkommandos of Auschwitz did many unspeakable things against their own people, this essay will aim to show how they still deserve to be remembered as an important resistance against Nazis during the Holocaust.
The Sonderkommandos were a crew consisting typically of young males coming into the camp looking strong and healthy (Shields, "Sonderkommandos"). In exchange for more confortable sleeping conditions, better food, and better clothing, the Sonderkommandos did the camp's "dirty work." Another important thing to note about the selection of Sonderkommandos is expressed in the following quote by Auschwitz survivor Primo Levi, "recruitment was easier if one drew from them among those desperate, disoriented people, exhausted from the journey, bereft of resistance, at the crucial moment of stepping off the train," (Levi, "The Gray Zone"). These people were desirable to work as Sonderkommandos because they were so desperate from all the hardships that they had been through and would agree to anything to be in a better situation.
When new prisoners entered into the camps it was the Sonderkommandos who led those chosen for the gas chambers to their death and disposed of their bodies in the crematorium ovens. Other tasks of the Sonderkommandos included extracting gold teeth from prisoners' mouths, shaving new prisoners' hair, and sorting out confiscated personal property and luggage from the new arrivals (Shields, "Sonderkommandos"). The Sonderkommandos and other people who worked for the guards were often referred around the camp as "Kapos." The Kapos were notoriously known for their mistreatment of other prisoners (Grobman, "The Holocaust-A Guide for Teacher"). The Concentration Camps had hierarchal system within them, and many of the Kapos probably believed that since they worked for the guards they were on a higher pedestal than other prisoners. That being said it could have seemed justified for them to mistreat "lower-class," prisoners since they themselves experienced mistreatment from the S.S. Guards who were higher in the hierarchy then the Kapos.
Many of the Kapos, especially the Sonderkommandos were eventually murdered by S.S. guards due to their participation in such unspeakable acts. All the inside knowledge about the Nazis killing methods that were witnessed by these people was considered a dangerous form of evidence that needed to be disposed of. A group of Sonderkommandos had been aware of the fact that other prisoners in their position were being murdered after awhile, and at Auschwitz in October of 1944 these Sonderkommandos "rebelled against the S.S., blew up one of the crematoria, and were exterminated in an unequal battle," (Levi, "The Gray Zone"). The Sonderkommandos initially were going to be part of a mass rebellion in the camp, but after learning that they would soon be killed they decided to take these plans into their own hands. The Sonderkommandos who worked in the third crematorium used homemade weapons to overpower Nazi guards and blow up a crematorium. The Sonderkommandos who worked in the first crematorium caught wind of what was going on and joined in on the revolt. Eventually most of the members of the revolt were caught and killed by the guards (Shields, "Sonderkommando").
In order to come through with any hope of successfully staging a rebellion the Sonderkommando members depended on help from other Jewish resistance members in Auschwitz. As I talked about before there was an original plan for a camp wide revolt at Auschwitz. According to the website for the Holocaust museum located in Jerusalem Yad Vashem, the Sonderkommando collaborated with members of other resistances that had come together in Auschwitz. When it came down to the wire the other resistance groups dropped out of the plan and the Sonderkommando had to go on with the rebellion on their own before they were to meet their soon expected demise (Yad Vashem, "October 7: Sonderkommando Uprising at Auschwitz"). The other help that they depended on was from women prisoners who worked in an ammunition factory and snuck them materials needed to set the buildings on fire. They went on with the revolt and as stated before they had limited success compared to the amount of their side that were captured and killed. Later on, the women who helped out the Sonderkommando were exposed, and on January 6, 1945 four of them were killed. (Yad Vashem, October 7: Sonderkommando Uprising at Auschwitz).
It is reasonable to think that the other resistance group members were against being on the same side as the Sonderkommando due to the fact that the Sonderkommandos were doing many immoral and unethical jobs around the camp. There are many questions like these that we must consider when discussing the topic of the Sonderkommando. In one point of view they should be considered terrible people for going against their own people. Essentially by becoming a Sonderkommando it was the same as committing treason against your own people. Treason is a serious crime punishable by law in most places. While keeping this in mind one must ask them self if it is moral on our side to judge these people when we were not in the camps. Only the people who went through it will ever really have a sense of understanding of went on in the Holocaust. Did the Jewish prisoners who worked for the SS have a choice whether or not they were going to do these tasks asked of them? There is no reason to believe, after seeing all the other atrocities caused by the Nazis, that they would have surely punished them severely for not following their orders. While what these people were doing were morally wrong, they deserve some sort of reconciliation due to the aspects of the conditions they were in. They were going through extremely difficult times and believed that doing these jobs would be the best way for them to survive. This is what is referred to as the "Gray Area," the title of a piece of literature from Primo Levi often cited throughout this essay. The "Gray Area," expresses the fact that the Holocaust was a complex situation and there was more to it then just a good and bad side.
While the Sonderkommando as well as other people who worked for the SS did many horrendous crimes, this certain situation deserves to be remembered as a positive story related to them. They risked their lives to fight against the people who were holding them captive. In their minds if this situation turned out to be successful they would free themselves and many other people. They used their higher status to smuggle ammunition and negotiate with other resistance groups. They did what ever they could to better themselves and others and perished for it. The Sonderkommando who took part in this revolt are to be remembered in Holocaust history as important resistance figures.
Works Cited
Levi, Primo. "The Gray Zone."
October 7: Sonderkommando Uprising at Auschwitz." 30 Apr. 2009
"Sonderkommando." Jewish Virtual Library - Homepage. 30 Apr. 2009
The Holocaust-A Guide For Teachers. Copyright 1990 by Gary M. Grobman.
"The Sonderkommando Revolt at Auschwitz/Birkenau www.HolocaustResearchProject.org." Holocaust Education & Archive Research Team. 30 Apr. 2009