N O T E B O O K #11

Directions: Read Maurice Ogden’s poem, “The Hangman” below. Then design a cover including the title, author, and a picture/design created by you to symbolize the main idea of the poem. Worth 100 points. Then answer the 20 questions that follow related to the poem. Worth 100 points.
1.
Into our town the Hangman came,
Smelling of gold and blood and flame.
And he paced our bricks with a diffident air,
And built his frame in the courthouse square.
2.
The next day's sun looked mildly down
On roof and street in our quiet town,
And stark and black in the morning air
Was the gallows-tree in the courthouse square.
The scaffold stood by the courthouse side,
Only as wide as the door was wide;
A frame as tall, or little more,
Than the capping sill of the courthouse door.
And we wondered, whenever we had the time,
Who the criminal, what the crime
That the Hangman judged with the yellow twist of knotted hemp in his busy fist.
And the Hangman stood at his usual stand
With the yellow hemp in his busy hand;
With his buckshot eye and his jaw like a pike
And his air so knowing and business-like.
And we cried, "Hangman, have you not done
Yesterday, with the foreign one?"
Then we fell silent, and stood amazed,
"Oh, not for him was the gallows raised."
And innocent though we were, with dread,
We passed those eyes of buckshot lead --
Till one cried: "Hangman, who is he
For whom you raised the gallows-tree?"
Then a twinkle grew in the buckshot eye,
And he gave us a riddle instead of reply:
"He who serves me best," said he,
"Shall earn the rope of the gallows-tree."
And he stepped down, and laid his hand
On a man who came from another land.
And we breathed again, for another's grief
At the Hangman's hand was our relief
And the gallows-frame on the courthouse lawn
By tomorrow's sun would be struck and gone.
So we gave him way, and no one spoke,
Out of respect for his Hangman's cloak.
He laughed a laugh as he looked at us:
"Did you think I'd gone to all this fuss
To hang one man? That's a thing I do
To stretch a rope when the rope is new."
Then one cried "Murder!" and one cried "Shame!"
And into our midst the Hangman came
To that man's place. "Do you hold," said he,
"with him that was meant for the gallows-tree?"
And he laid his hand on that one's arm.
And we shrank back in quick alarm!
And we gave him way, and no one spoke
Out of fear of his Hangman's cloak.
That night we saw with dread surprise
The Hangman's scaffold had grown in size.
Fed by the blood beneath the chute,
The gallows-tree had taken root;
Now as wide, or a little more,
Than the steps that led to the courthouse door,
As tall as the writing, or nearly as tall,
Halfway up on the courthouse wall.

3.
The third he took -- we had all heard tell --
Was a usurer, and an infidel.
"What," said the Hangman "have you to do
With the gallows-bound, and he a Jew?"
And we cried out, "Is this one he
Who has served you well and faithfully?"
The Hangman smiled: "It's a clever scheme to try the strength of the gallows-beam."
The fourth man's dark, accusing song
Had scratched our comfort hard and long;
"And what concern," he gave us back.
"Have you for the doomed -- the doomed and Black?"
The fifth. The sixth. And we cried again,
"Hangman, Hangman, is this the man?"
"It's a trick," he said. "that we hangmen know
For easing the trap when the trap springs slow."
And so we ceased, and asked no more,
As the Hangman tallied his bloody score.
And sun by sun, and night by night,
The gallows grew to monstrous height.
The wings of the scaffold opened wide
Till they covered the square from side to side;
And the monster cross-beam, looking down,
Cast its shadow across the town.
4.
Then through the town the Hangman came,
Through the empty streets, and called my name --
And I looked at the gallows soaring tall,
And thought, "There is no one left at all
For hanging, and so he calls to me
To help pull down the gallows-tree."
So I went out with right good hope
To the Hangman's tree and the Hangman's rope.
He smiled at me as I came down
To the courthouse square through the silent town.
And supple and stretched in his busy hand
Was the yellow twist of the hempen strand.
And he whistled his tune as he tried the trap,
And it sprang down with a ready snap --
And then with a smile of awful command
He laid his hand upon my hand.
"You tricked me. Hangman!," I shouted then,
"That your scaffold was built for other men...
And I no henchman of yours," I cried,
"You lied to me, Hangman. Foully lied!"
Then a twinkle grew in the buckshot eye,
"Lied to you? Tricked you?" he said. "Not I.
For I answered straight and I told you true --
The scaffold was raised for none but you.
For who has served me more faithfully
Then you with your coward's hope?" said he,
"And where are the others who might have stood
Side by your side in the common good?"
"Dead," I whispered. And amiably
"Murdered," the Hangman corrected me:
"First the foreigner, then the Jew...
I did no more than you let me do."
Beneath the beam that blocked the sky
None had stood so alone as I.
The Hangman noosed me, and no voice there
Cried "Stop!" for me in the empty square.

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Stanza 1 Questions
1. What did the Hangman build?
2. Where did he build it?
3. What is hemp?
4. What did the townspeople wonder?
5. Who does the Hangman say the structure is for?
6. Who did the Hangman hang first?
7. How did the townspeople feel about this? Why?
Stanza 2 Questions
8. What did the townspeople say when they saw the hangman had not left?
9. In your own words, explain why the Hangman had not left.
10. What do you think happened to the one who spoke out against the Hangman?
11. “The gallows-tree had taken root.” Explain what this sentence means.

Stanza 3 Questions
12. Who was the third person the Hangman executed?
13. What do the townspeople ask the Hangman after the third execution?
14. Who was the fourth executed?
15. How do the townspeople react after the sixth execution?
16. “The gallows grew to monstrous height.” Explain what is meant by this.
Stanza 4 Questions
17. According to the speaker, why has the Hangman called for him?
18. Why did the Hangman really call out for the speaker?
19. What does the Hangman ask the speaker?
20. What is the point of the entire poem?
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 By spring 1943, few Jews remained alive throughout Europe o
 Rest in concentration camps or hiding

 August 1943, Bialystok destroyed & prisoners murdered
 Early 1944, only Lodz ghetto (w/ 69,000 inmates) remained o In Lithuania, the Vilna ghetto was cleaned out 1943 – inhabitants sent to camps o In Italy, 8,000 Italian Jews killed by 1943
 o In Holland & Belgium, few Jews survived o In Greece, Nazis killed 65,000 Greek Jews
 Most of the 6 million Jews who died in Holocaust died before Soviets reached Poland 1944

 1944, Finland signed armistice with Soviet Union o
 A few Jewish soldiers from Finland actually fought alongside Germans against Soviet
Union
 By Fall 1944, Romania & Bulgaria signed armistices w/ Soviet Union & declared war on Germany
 March 1944, Germans tried to make sure Hungary (their allies) did not give up as well o October 1944, Hungarian leader tried to make deal with Soviet Union

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
 o Until Spring 1944, Jews of Hungary had stayed out of German hands o Summer 1944, Germans began deporting Hungarian Jews to Auschwitz
 o Some Hungarian Jews had their deaths postponed
 Hitler ordered 100,000 Jews from Hungary be brought to Germany (to work in military production) o His book –
– is single most widely read account of Holocaust
Directions: Elie Wiesel, a survivor, was born in Sighet, Transylvania, in 1928. Imprisoned as a young teen in Birkenau,
Auschwitz, Buna, Gleiwitz, and finally liberated from Buchenwald, Wiesel writes about his experiences in Night . Read the excerpt below from Night and answer the questions as you go. Worth 14 points.
At four o’clock in the afternoon of the same day, as usual the bell summoned all the heads of the blocks to go and report.
They came back shattered. They could only just open their lips enough to say the word: evacuation. The camp was to be emptied, and we were to be sent farther back.
1. Why does “evacuation” make the heads of the barracks so worried?
Where to? To somewhere right in the depths of Germany, to other camps; there was no shortage of them. “When?”
“Tomorrow evening.” “Perhaps the Russians will arrive first.” “Perhaps.” But we knew perfectly well that they would not.
2. If the people knew that the Russians would not get to them before the evacuation, why would anyone even mention the possibility?
The camp had become a hive. People ran about, shouting at one another. In all the blocks, preparations for the journey were going on. I had forgotten about my bad foot [Note: Wiesel had recently had an infection on the sole of his foot drained]. A doctor came into the room and announced:
“Tomorrow, immediately after nightfall, the camp will set out. Block after block. Patients will stay in the infirmary. They will not be evacuated.”
3. Why do you think the patients in the infirmary would not be evacuated by the Nazis?

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This news made us think. Were the SS going to leave hundreds of prisoners to strut about in the hospital blocks, waiting for their liberators? Were they going to let the Jews hear the twelfth stroke sound? Obviously not. “All of the invalids will be summarily killed,” said the faceless one. “And sent to the crematory in a final batch.”
“The camp is certain to be mined,” said another. “The moment the evacuation’s over, it’ll blow up.” As for me, I was not thinking about death, but I did not want to be separated from my father. We had already suffered so much, borne so much together; this was not the time to be separated.
4. Many of the inmates were worried about dying. But Wiesel was not – so what was he worried about?
I ran outside to look for him. The snow was thick, and the windows of the blocks were veiled with frost. One shoe in my hand, because it would not go onto my right foot, I ran on, feeling neither pain nor cold.
“What shall we do?”
My father did not answer. “What shall we do, father?” He was lost in thought. The choice was in our hands. For once we could decide our fate for ourselves. We could both stay in the hospital, where I could, thanks to my doctor, get him entered as a patient or a nurse. Or else we could follow the others.
“Well, what shall we do, father?” He was silent. “Let’s be evacuated with the others,” I said to him. He did not answer.
He looked at my foot. “Do you think you can walk?” “Yes, I think so.” “Let’s hope that we shan’t regret it, Eliezer.”
5. Parents are supposed to know what to do for their kids in times of trouble. But Wiesel’s father is not sure what to do.
What choices does he have?
I learned after the war the fate of those who had stayed behind in the hospital. They were quite simply liberated by the
Russians two days after the evacuation. …
[The next day]
Two o’clock in the afternoon. The snow was still coming down thickly. The time was passing quickly now. Dusk had fallen. The day was disappearing in a monochrome of gray. The head of the block suddenly remembered that he had forgotten to clean out the block. He ordered four prisoners to wash the wooden floor. . . .An hour before leaving the camp! Why? For whom? “For the liberating army,” he cried. “So that they’ll realize there were men living here and not pigs.”
6. Why did the block leader want the barracks cleaned before they were evacuated?
Were we men then? The block was cleaned from top to bottom, washed in every corner. At six o’clock the bell rang. The death knell. The burial. The procession was about to begin its march. “Formup! Quickly!” In a few minutes we were all in rows, by blocks. Night had fallen. Everything was in order, according to the prearranged plan. The searchlights came on. Hundreds of armed SS men rose up out of the darkness, accompanied by sheepdogs. The snow never ceased. The gates of the camp opened. It seemed that an even darker night was waiting for us on the other side. The first blocks began to march. We waited. We had to wait for the departure of the fifty-six blocks who came before us. It was very cold.
In my pocket I had two pieces of bread. With how much pleasure could I have eaten them! But I was not allowed to.

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Not yet.
Our turn was coming: Block 53 . . . Block 55. . .
Block 57, forward march!
It snowed relentlessly.
7. How do you think Wiesel felt as he waited for his turn to be evacuated? Explain.
 July 1944, Hungarians suspended shipment of Jews to Auschwitz o The new Hungarian govt. – the Arrow Cross government – o o Ferenc Szálasi – leader of Arrow Cross – and other Arrow Cross leaders were tried as war criminals by Soviet courts

 As the Nazi war machine was being destroyed, the SS hurried to kill as many victims as possible before the end
 o Opened May 26, 1940 o Closed January 27, 1945 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rh3rsREaIIA
Directions: KAMP is a live performance created by the theater company Hotel Modern. The members spent 8 months building a model of Auschwitz along with 3000 small prisoners. While it may seem strange at first, the film does an excellent job of showing you what conditions were like for prisoners in Auschwitz (and you get to see it from a different perspective). After watching the film, answer the questions below. Worth 15 points.
1. What was your first reaction at the start of the video? Explain.

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2. Do you think this video pays respect to the victims of the Holocaust or shows them disrespect? Explain.
3. Why do you think the theater company decided to create this performance in the way in which they did?
4. What benefits does seeing the Holocaust from this unique perspective give to the viewer?
5. Do you think the company did a good job with the performance? (In other words, was it easy to understand and follow the performance, did you learn from it, was it interesting, etc.)
 By 1942, Auschwitz only accounted for 11% of victims of Final Solution
 August 1942, however, planning started for building of 4 gas chamber facilities (II & III, IV &
V) o
 After being told to undress, victims were pushed into gas chambers
 20 minutes later, they were all dead o In II & III, killings done underground –
 Before cremation, all valuables (gold teeth, rings, fillings) were removed from corpses o In IV & V, ovens were so badly built that they malfunctioned constantly –
 April 1943-March 1944, 160,000 Jews killed o Nazis claimed the camp was not being utilized to its potential
 March 1944-November 1944 (when all other death camps abandoned), Birkenau was a factory of death o

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
 November, Himmler ordered gassings to stop o Instead, a cleanup operation was started to hide evidence of mass murder
 January 1945, Germans evacuated 58,000 prisoners (who could walk)

 Soviet troops liberated Auschwitz on January 27, 1945
 They found: o o 836,525 items of women’s clothing o 348,820 items of men’s clothing o o 460 artificial limbs o
 Company “Alex Zink” used hair

 This is just an estimate – actual number probably much higher
 Belzec opened November 1, 1941 o Camp closed December 1942
 o About 12,000 Gypsies killed as well
 March 1942-May 1942, Belzec had 3 gas chambers in wooden barrack

P a g e | 12 o o Killing process took up to 30 minutes
 o To clean up afterwards, remove valuables, sort clothing & luggage, one section of a transport took 3 hours total to “process”
 In May, transports stopped so killing system could be improved
 o Would allow SS to kill 1200 Jews at a time
 Now Jews could be moved through stages of undressing & shaving more quickly
 Those still alive when camp shut down were sent to Sobibor & murdered o
Directions: Examine the photo below taken from a concentration camp after liberation. Then answer the discussion questions that follow. Worth 10 points.

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1. Believe it or not, those are all shoes taken from prisoners before they were executed. What is your initial reaction upon seeing this photograph? Explain.
2. If the Nazis went through the trouble of taking all of these shoes from their prisoners, why are the shoes still in the camp? Why weren’t they sent to people in Germany who needed them?
3. Certain prisoners were in charge of collecting all of the shoes and other personal possessions of the prisoners. Those prisoners knew what was going to happen to the new arrivals. So why didn’t they warn them?
4. How do you think the workers collecting these personal possessions were affected by helping steal property from innocent civilians who were being sent to their deaths?
5. After this camp was liberated, pretend you are in charge. What are you going to do with all of these shoes?

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 Early 1943, corpses of Jews at Belzec were dug up & burned o Camp was then officially closed
 o Finally, camp was ploughed over and turned into a farm
 Camp opened December 7, 1941 – closed March 1943 o Reopened June 23, 1944 – closed permanently January 17, 1945

 o Herbert Lange organized gassings – he was transferred to Chelmno from the T-4 euthanasia program
 Lange & his people started use of vans that would pump carbon monoxide into back (where prisoners were held)
 Lange unit took over run-down castle in Chelmno & converted it into a camp
 Prisoners taken down to castle basement to “washroom” via a ramp –
 50-70 people packed into van
 Exhaust pipe connected to opening in back

 Driver drove 2.5 miles to another camp where mass graves were prepared (by other Jewish prisoners) o Later, the camp used cremation pyres instead of graves


P a g e | 15 o Camp was later reopened to liquidate the Jews of the Lodz ghetto
 Opened as concentration camp February 16, 1943 o
 Later, chambers placed in brick building
 Killing operations began April 1942 & ended July 1944 o
 Camp was liquidated July 1944 o But it was only partially destroyed when Soviet Army arrived

 Soviets managed to liberate 1000s more
 Sobibor opened March 1942 o 3 gas chambers used carbon monoxide originally o 3 more gas chambers added later


 July 1943, Heinrich Himmler visited the camp & ordered it be turned into extermination camp o
 These workers then organized resistance movement & escape plan o October 14, 1943, the revolt began
 11 SS men & few Ukrainian guards killed


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 But dozens killed in mine field outside camp
 Dozens more hunted down & killed days after escape

 Camp destroyed that month & disguised as a farm
 Camp opened July 23, 1942 (when Warsaw ghetto began being evacuated) o Opened with 3 gas chambers but quickly expanded to 6

 Pipes attached to ceiling brought gas in through “shower heads”

 Took between 30-40 minutes for all victims to die
 Then all body cavities were searched for hidden valuables

 Fall 1942, Germans instead started burning bodies to erase evidence
 Biggest resistance happened August 1943 o o Suspicious guard forced plan to go on ahead of schedule o In panic, many tried to escape but were shot by guards in watchtowers

 Fall 1943, as Allies approached, SS evacuated camp o Camp was destroyed & farm built on site (a Ukrainian paid to run it) o

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 o At same time, they opened labor camps in areas still safe from Allied advance
 o They sent inmates (healthy enough to walk), under guard, marching in columns farther away from front

 For days or even weeks, prisoners were marched hundreds of miles throughout countryside o Prisoners died of starvation, disease, wounds (shot by SS) o Along the way, some prisoners did manage to escape (but this was rare)
 o Death marches continued until German surrender – May 8, 1945

 Hitler once said that if Germany lost war, they would bring everyone down with them, creating “a world in flames”
 o All men 15-60 were to mobilize (total of 1.5 million men) o They were supposed to defend Germany from invading armies while also helping Wehrmacht in combat

 o But the whereabouts of his body are unknown to this day

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 Some evidence suggests he may have survived the war & escaped Germany

 By late April, Soviet forces were inside Berlin & making their way to Chancellery building o April 22, Hitler had a “breakdown” and admitted war was lost o
 Asked Werner Haase (physician) what best way to do it would be
 Haase told him gunshot & cyanide (to be sure)
 o He also learned about Mussolini’s execution (who’s body was hung up & beaten after murder)

 April 29, Hitler married long-time girlfriend, Eva Braun o o After having lunch, Hitler said his goodbye’s to staff members o He & Eva then went into Hitler’s study at about 2:30 o
Directions: After watching Hitler’s suicide scene from the film Downfall, answer the questions that follow.
Worth 12 points. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c2r9SALR55o&feature=related
1. Why do you think Hitler gave Frau Goebbels his Nazi Party pin?
2. As Hitler says goodbye to his staff, does he look like the bloodthirsty maniac who started the most destructive war in the history of the world? If not, describe the Hitler you see at this moment.

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3. Hitler says that he “will be cursed by millions.” In other words, Hitler is not some delusional maniac who thinks what he is doing is moral and right. So what DOES it say about Hitler?
4. As soon as the soldier tells everyone that the Führer is dead, they don’t cry or panic or run. What do they do? Why?
5. As you’ll notice in the film, very few people actually saw Hitler’s dead body. So how can we trust those few people who claim that they actually saw Hitler’s corpse?
6. According to the film, what happened to the bodies of Hitler & Eva Braun?
 Hitler’s valet, Heinz Linge, opened door & smelled almonds (cyanide) o Bodies were found on small sofa

 Eva had merely taken poison
 Witnesses claim the bodies were carried upstairs to garden o o As Russian bombs fell down around them, SS guards could not finish the burning o They buried remains in shallow grave at about 6:00 and left
 That night, remains of Hitler, Braun, & 2 dogs found in shell crater by Russians o
 Hitler’s remains have repeatedly been dug up & reexamined by Russians & then moved again to maintain secrecy o A skull fragment from body the Russians claimed was Hitler was examined 2009


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 There are three noted stories about Himmler’s death: o 1 – while running to Switzerland (in disguise), he was arrested by British & killed himself in their custody o 2 – o 3 – British Intelligence murdered Himmler to hide a secret
 At end of war, Himmler disguised himself as German policeman (with 2 bodyguards) o o Caught by British Army at road block and arrested as “Heinrich Hitzinger”
 While in custody, Himmler told British his true identity o o Upon search of Himmler’s mouth, British realized the other capsule was in a tooth o When they tried to get it, Himmler bit the examiner’s hand & bit down on capsule
 He died few minutes later

 The details of this story are the same as #1 o o Evidence given to support this theory:
 Himmler had scar on cheek (from fencing) – Hitzinger did not
 Himmler would have discoloration above upper lip after shaving mustache
– Hitzinger did not

 British have refused all requests to dig up Hitzinger’s body to test DNA

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 Himmler had scar from assassination attempt (on shoulder) – Hitzinger had no scar

 Story claims Himmler was killed by British Intelligence to prevent his peace dealings with
British from becoming public o
 Himmler wanted Allies & Germany to join forces against Soviet Union
 Secretly, Winston Churchill establishED the Political Warfare
Executive (PWE) o PWE was to deal with Himmler
 British Intelligence documents state that they wanted to prevent Himmler from having a trial or being questioned by Americans
 o Other documents also state: “…successfully intercepted HH last night…before he could be interrogated. As instructed, action was taken to silence him permanently”
 As other Nazi leaders encouraged Hitler to escape, Goebbels told him to take stand in ruins of Reich capital o Goebbels moved his wife & children into Fuehrerbunker to be with Hitler at the end
 o Goebbels became Reich Chancellor after Hitler’s death (for one day)
 May 1, 1945, Goebbels had SS dentist – Helmut Kunz – o Magda Goebbels & Dr. Stumpfegger (Hitler’s doctor) actually gave the cyanide
 Goebbels & his wife then went outside & committed suicide (he shot himself while Magda took cyanide) o SS officer ordered soldier to shoot Goebbels again (to be sure)

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
 Remains were buried in Brandenburg

 o He controlled access to Hitler, the Nazi Party, & the Adolf Hitler Endowment Fund of German
Industry (Hitler’s money)

 Bormann left Fuehrerbunker May 1, 1945 o
 Early reports assumed he was shot in back (no wounds could be seen at night)
 Postal Employees buried his body few days later
 1972, construction workers uncovered human remains near Reichstag building in West Berlin o
 1998, DNA testing was done on body, confirming it was Bormann o Tests also confirmed he died from cyanide poisoning
 o Many believed them when one of Bormann’s sons – a priest – requested transfer to South
America
 Ratlines – o Most led to South America (Argentina, Paraguay, Brazil, Chile) o Other destinations included U.S., Canada, & Middle East

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 Two main routes: o 1 – Germany  Spain  Argentina o 2 –
 Catholic clergy, as early as 1942, negotiated with govt. of Argentina for future immigration of
Catholics to the country o
 Spain, not Rome, was first center of ratline activity that helped Nazis escape o
 December 1944, Vatican (pope) appointed someone to “visit the German-speaking civil internees in Italy” – o
 Franz Stangle (commandant of Treblinka), Gustav Wagner (commandant of
Sobibor), & Adolf Eichmann o These wanted men were held in internment camps (under false names) o As Hudal’s reputation spread, other hiding Nazis sought out Hudal’s help

 Vatican papers they received helped them get passports from Red Cross & then visas
 Hudal’s operation was small compared to what came later
 The major Roman ratline was operated by small group of priests led by Fr. Krunoslav
Draganovic o Their headquarters was at San Girolamo Seminary College in Rome


P a g e | 24 o Then the men would be sent, by ship, to South America o
 U.S. intelligence officers also made use of San Girolamo ratline o They did not want to hand over Nazi war criminals to Soviets (who would not give them fair trial) o
 President of Argentina – o Argentines collaborated with San Girolamo ratline (& then started their own) o Spring 1946, the Argentines smuggled several French war criminals (who helped
Nazis) out of Europe o
 ODESSA – o Supposedly was international Nazi network set up at end of WWII by SS officers to avoid capture & prosecution for war crimes o ODESSA established escape routes (ratlines) for SS members out of Germany & Austria into South America & Middle East o Most likely was nickname for all the ratlines & groups who helped Nazis escape o
 There are various estimates as to how many Nazi war criminals actually escaped (100s-10,000)


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 Wiesenthal was survivor of Holocaust (survived camps of Plaszow & Mauthausen) o o 1947, he started Jewish Historical Documentation Center (in Austria) – to gather information for future war crime trials
 April 20, 1943, SS guards wanted to honor Hitler on his 54 th birthday by shooting 54 prisoners o o After several dozen were killed, Wiesenthal was one of 3 left o Loudspeaker shouted: “Wiesenthal is needed at the front” – he was saved
 After Chemnitz was evacuated, Wiesenthal survived the 170-mile death march o Prisoners were marched to Mauthausen on February 15, 1945 o
 Wiesenthal spent the rest of his life hunting down suspected escaped Nazis like: o o Karl Silberbauer (man who arrested Anne Frank) o o Hermine Braunsteiner-Ryan (female guard who tortured 1000s of prisoners at
Majdanek) o 9 of the 16 Nazis put on trial for murder of Jewish population of Lwow
 Unfortunately, many people have claimed that Wiesenthal exaggerated how much he helped capture these war criminals o
 During WWII, Friedman was imprisoned in concentration camp (escaped 1944)

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 1945, he became interrogation officer in Danzig jail o
 1946-1952, Friedman worked to hunt down escaped Nazis o
 During WWII, Nazis transferred large amounts of gold to overseas banks o
 Precise identities of thieves & the exact things (& amounts) they stole remain unknown
 By end of 1930s, Germany was low on money o
 These sources increased Germany’s gold reserve by $71 million o Much gold was also taken from Holocaust victims (watches, gold teeth, jewelry) o
 $223 million from Belgium & $193 million from Netherlands
 These figures do not include gold from private citizens or companies

 Present whereabouts of Nazi gold is controversial o o Swiss National Bank (largest gold distribution center in Europe) was logical place for
Nazis to put the gold
 But no concrete evidence has come about to prove this

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
 Lake Toplitz is located in Austrian Alps o According to several reports & witnesses, Nazis dumped millions of counterfeit pounds (British money) into the lake
 o It is believed the lake also holds other plunder taken by Nazis
 Supposedly several SS soldiers dumped large quantities of gold & other valuables into lake at end of war
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 Before & during WWII, Nazi Party stole number of priceless works of art & other treasures from all over Europe o Nazis stole all of the following:
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 Cultural items – o Allies recovered many of these items –
 Approximately 20% of art in Europe was stolen by Nazis
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