Details On Kamenets-Podolsk Massacre Here then is a more detailed report of the Kamenets-Podolsk Massacre which took place in late August-Early September 1941. The Hungarian Goverment manages to put in a law that states that Jews who could not prove their citizenship will be deported to the Ukraine.It was hard to prove this because many of these places had changed hands at least twice and the law states you must prove you had lived in this region before 1914.It was done this way purposely in order to make sure the most Jews could be kicked out to the Ukraine. Jews in Carpathia are crammed into freight cars similar to the cattle cars used for concentration camp transports.They then journeyed to Korosmezo which took around 24-48 hours.At Korosmezo the Jews are transfered to the Germans at the rate of about 1,000 per day.By August 10TH about 14,000 had been processed and by the end of the month an additional 4,000. From Korosmezo the Jews were handed over to S.S. Units who put them into trucks and drove them to Kolomea (kolomyya).They wre then marched in groups of 300-400 to temporary housing around Kamenets-Podolsk.Along the way most were assaulted and robbed of any valuables by the S.S. and their Ukrainian Henchmen.Those who refused to do this were beaten and probably killed on the way. Becuase the local Jews were mostly women and children and because of the economic situation these Jews could not cope with the prospect of having to feed all these refugee Jews.This task would have to fall on the Germans so the Germans now told the Hungarians to halt the transports and after that they also tried to "repatriate" the Jews back to Hungary.The Hungarians refused to either feed or "repatriate" these Jews so the Germans held a conference on 8/25/41.The conference was held at the Nazi Headquaters Generalquatiermeister-OKH in Vinnitsa,Ukraine.It was headed by S.S.Major Wagner.S.S.Obergruppenfuhrer Franz Jaekeln,the higher S.S. and Police Leader gave the assurance that all these Jews would be liquidated by Sept.1,1941. The liquidation of the Jews at Kamenets-Podolsk began on Aug.27,1941.From an eyewitness report we learn the gruesome facts.The Jews are told they are to be relocated and that Kamenets-Podolsk would be cleared of all Jews.Surrounded by units of S.S.,their Ukrainian hirelings,and most probably a Hungarian Army Unit.The Jews are forced to march 10 miles untile they reached an area filled with bomb craters.There they are forced to undress and murcered by machine guns.Many are buried alive being gravely wounded and not yet dead..It is now estimated that at least 16,000 Jews from Hungary are killed and the total amount is over 23,000. There were soldiers in the Hungarian Army who halted the Actions and also were very angry at this event.the proof of this is in letters written home or the talk told during a soldier's furlogh home.Many are upset at the brutal killings by machine gun of unarmed citizens and when the Minister Of The Interior,Kereztes-Fischer, learned of the killings he pushed to have all deprtations stopped.The evidence available shows that the higher ranking (at least some or all) had no idea that by deporting Jews to German Occupied Territories would mean their extinction.It is possible that most of the members of the Hungarian Cabinet had only wanted to expel the Jews not murder them outright.This is the first showing of the "Final Solution" in Hungary.It should also be noted that Keresztes-Fischer tried to be decent towards the Jews and later on he himself would be arrested and sent to the Mauthausen Concentration Camp. NOTE:Around this time Germans would begin to want a "better" solution to kill Jews and undesirables.It appears that the machine gun killings will take a toll on some of the S.S. so soon we will see that Germans will experiment with new ways of mass killing.Mobile Death Vans would be the first approach.Prisoners are put into a van which is sealed and pumps in exhaust fumes till all is dead inside.This will eventually become the Gas Chamber with exhaust fumes and then the Gas Chamber using the infamous Xyclon-B poison gas with Crematorium located next to the Gas Chambers.This is what was built in Auschwitz.And special for all the Hungarian Jews the railway would be extended to drive right up to these Gas Chambers,When the Hungarian Jews arrive in Auschwitz May-June 1944 the killing machine is so efficient it is able to kill and dispense with the bodies of at least 10,000 per day. The same execution and this one zoomed back out.Now you can see there are hundreds waiting to be shot.
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