From "Euthanasia" to Sobibor: An SS Officer's Photo Collection

The mass murder of the European Jews by Nazi Germany went hand in hand with the destruction of evidence attesting to this genocide. As Holocaust survivor Jules Schelvis puts it, "very few documents relating to Sobibor and the other death camps" remain. With its rich photographic imagery, the collection featured in From "Euthanasia" to Sobibor: An SS Officer's Photo Collection sheds new light on the Holocaust and other key aspects of Nazi extermination policy. The materials were compiled by Johann Niemann, an SS officer whose earlier participation in the Nazi "euthanasia" murders made him second-in-command at Sobibor and the first to get killed in the prisoner uprising of October 13, 1943. These documents allow crucial insights into the making of mass murderers, the evolution of the "final solution," and its consequences for the victims. As prevalent as the perpetrator perspective is in Niemann's collection, From "Euthanasia" to Sobibor offers a welcome corrective by complementing his images and documents with testimonies of Sobibor survivors, many of which also available in the US Holocaust Memorial Museum (USHMM) archives. With its compilation of unique primary sources and skillful explication, From "Euthanasia" to Sobibor addresses under-researched aspects of Nazi mass violence beyond the Holocaust and offers a rich resource for researching and teaching. Published in Association with the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum

Table of Contents:
Foreword, by Bildungswerk Stanisław Hantz Preface, by Jetje Manheim Acknowledgments Abbreviations Map 1. The Niemann Photographs: A Unique Collection from the Holocaust, by Martin Cüppers 2. Johann Gerhard Niemann: From Völlen to Sobibor, Part 1, by Karin Graf and Florian Ross Photos from the Niemann Collection, up to 1942 3. Johann Gerhard Niemann: From Völlen to Sobibor, Part 2, by Karin Graf and Florian Ross Photos from the Niemann collection, from the Period of Operation T4 4. Realizing the Unthinkable: Operation T4, Operation Reinhard, and their Actors, by Martin Cüppers 5. Belzec: The First Operation Reinhard Killing Center, by Florian Ross and Steffen Hänschen Niemann's Photos from Belzec 6. The Sobibor Death Camp, by Steffen Hänschen, Annett Gerhardt, Andreas Kahrs, Anne Lepper, and Martin Cüppers Niemann's photos from Sobibo 7. The Trawnikis: Auxiliaries to the Holocaust, by Martin Cüppers 8. Reward for Genocide: A Trip to Berlin for Perpetrators from Operation Reinhard, by Martin Cüppers and Steffen Hänschen The Berlin Album and Additional Travel Pictures 9. The Revolt at Sobibor and the End of the Death Camp, by Anne Lepper, Andreas Kahrs, Annett Gerhardt, and Steffen Hänschen 10. Henriette Niemann: Wife and Mother, Confidante and Profiteer, by Anne Lepper and Martin Cüppers Henriette Niemann in the Photo Collection 11. Living with the Memory: Meetings with Semion Rozenfeld, by Anne Lepper Photos with Semion Rozenfeld and a Map of Sobibor Drawn by Him Appendix 1: The Brandenburg Album Appendix 2: Documents from the Niemann Collection Appendix 3: Short Biographies of Survivors of the Sobibor Camp Appendix 4: Short Biographies of German Perpetrators Sources and Bibliography Index

About the Author :
Martin Cüppers, academic director of the Ludwigsburg Research Center and professor of modern history at the University of Stuttgart. He is the author of numerous works in German, including Walther Rauff—In deutschen Diensten: Vom Naziverbrecher zum BND-Spion. Anne Lepper, historian, educational consultant, and project coordinator. She represents the International School for Holocaust Studies at Yad Vashem in the German-speaking countries. In her work with the Bildungswerk Stanisław Hantz e. V. (BSH), she organizes Holocaust educational trips in Lithuania. Jürgen Matthäus, historian and director for Applied Research at the USHMM's Jack, Joseph and Morton Mandel Center. He is the editor of the center's source volume series Documenting Life and Destruction (14 vols.).

Review :
With stunning clarity, the editors bring to light the lessor known experiences of those associated with the Operation Reinhard death camps at Belzec, Sobibor, and Treblinka. In publishing Niemann's photo collection, the editors are informing a broad audience of Germany's systematic murder of medically institutionalized patients within Germany and the attempted extermination of European Jews at the Operation Reinhard death camps. - Darren Johnson (H-Net)