The
Stroop Report

The creation of
Jewish quarters and the imposition of residential and economic restrictions on
the Jews are nothing new in the history of the East. These practices began as
far back as the Middle Ages and have continued through the last few centuries.
These restrictions were imposed with the intention of protecting the Aryan
population from the Jews.

By February 1940,
the same considerations led to the idea of creating a Jewish quarter in Warsaw.
The original plan called for the establishment of a Jewish quarter in the part
of Warsaw that is bounded on the east by the Vistula River.

The situation
prevailing in the city of Warsaw at first seemed to make this plan unworkable.
There were also objections from various parties, especially from the city
administration, which claimed that the establishment of a Jewish quarter would
cause extensive disruptions in industry and the economy, and that it would be
impossible to assure food supplies for Jews who were concentrated in an enclosed
quarter.

Due to these
objections, the plan to create a Ghetto was set aside at a conference in March
1940. At the same time, consideration was given to making the Lublin District a
reservation for all Jews in the General Government, particularly for evacuated
and fleeing Jews arriving from the Reich. But the Higher SS and Police Leader
East in Krakow informed us in April 1940 that such a concentration of Jews in
the Lublin District was not intended.

In the interim,
the number of arbitrary and unwarranted frontier crossings by Jews increased.
This was especially true at the border of the Lowicz and Skierniewice districts.
These illegal migrations of Jews began to threaten not only hygienic but also
security conditions in the town of Lowicz.

In order to avert
these dangers, the senior district official began to create Jewish quarters in
his district. The experiences derived from the establishment of Jewish quarters
in the Lowicz District showed that these methods were the only suitable ones to
banish the dangers which emanate from the Jews.

The need to
create a Jewish quarter in the city of Warsaw as well became more and more
pressing in the summer of 1940, when with the end of the French campaign, even
larger number of troops assembled in the district of Warsaw.

At this point,
the Department of Health strongly urged the establishment of a Jewish quarter in
order to preserve the health of the German troops as well as that of the
civilian population.

Considering that
a regrouping of almost 600,000 people was required, implementation of the
original plan of February 1940 to establish a Jewish quarter in the suburb of
Praga would have taken four to five months. Since experience indicated that a
high incidence of epidemics could be expected in the winter months, the plan for
a suburban Ghetto in Praga was dropped – and the city’s quarantine district was
chosen instead for use as a Jewish quarter.

On the advice of
the district medical officer, resettlement had to be completed by 15 November
1940 at the latest. The Governor ordered the plenipotentiary of the Warsaw
District Chief to complete the resettlements necessary to the creation of a
Jewish quarter within the city of Warsaw by this date.

About 400,000
Jews lived in this Jewish quarter. It contained 27,000 apartments, averaging two
and a half rooms. It was separated from the rest of the city by fire and
partition walls and by walled-up thoroughfares, windows, doors, and empty lots.

The Jewish
Council administered the new Jewish quarter – it received its instructions from
the Commissioner for the Jewish quarter, who was directly subordinate to the
Governor. The Jews had administrated autonomy, and German supervision was
limited to occasions when German interests were affected.

A Jewish Police
was established to implement orders of the Jewish Council. They were identified
by special arm bands and caps, and were armed with rubber truncheons.

The Jewish police
force was responsible for maintaining order and security within the Jewish
quarter and was subordinate to the German and Polish Police. It soon became
clear that not all dangers had been banished by confining the Jews to one
district. Security considerations necessitated that Jews be completely removed
from the city of Warsaw.

The first large
removal occurred during the period from 22 July to 3 October 1942 when 310,322
Jews were removed. In January 1943, another resettlement operation was carried
out, which encompassed a total of 6,500 Jews.

On the occasion
of his visit to Warsaw in January 1943, the Reichsfuhrer –SS ordered the SS and
Police Leader of the Warsaw District to transfer from the Ghetto to Lublin all
armament and defence industries inclusive of their workforce and machines.

Read more here:

http://www.holocaustresearchproject.org/nazioccupation/stroop.html

The Holocaust Education & Archive
Research Team

www.HolocaustResearchProject.org