Jäger Report

Karl Jäger Report
Month[n 1] Entries Killed
June 1 entry 4,000
July 20 entries 4,400
August 33 entries 47,906
September 38 entries 40,997
October 12 entries 31,829
November 10 entries 8,211

The Jäger Report, also Jaeger Report (full title: Complete tabulation of executions carried out in the Einsatzkommando 3 zone up to December 1, 1941)[1] was written on 1 December 1941 by Karl Jäger, commander of Einsatzkommando 3 (EK 3), a death squad of Einsatzgruppe A attached to Army Group North in the Operation Barbarossa. It is the most detailed and precise surviving chronicle of the activities of one individual Einsatzkommando, and a key record documenting the Holocaust in Lithuania as well as in Latvia and Belarus.[2]

Description

Map Stahlecker attached to his report to Reinhard Heydrich using the execution tally from the updated Jäger's report

The Jäger Report is a tally sheet of actions by Einsatzkommando 3, including the Rollkommando Hamann killing squad.[1] The report keeps an almost daily running total of the murders of 137,346 people, the vast majority Jews, from 2 July 1941 to 25 November 1941. The report documents date and place of the massacres, number of victims and their breakdown into categories (Jews, communists, criminals, etc.). In total, there were 112 executions in 71 different locations in Lithuania, Latvia, and Belarus.[3] On 17 occasions, daily casualties exceeded 2,000 people.[3] On 9 February 1942, in a handwritten note for Franz Walter Stahlecker, Jäger updated the totals to 138,272 people: 136,421 Jews (46,403 men, 55,556 women and 34,464 children), 1,064 communists, 653 mentally disabled, and 134 others.[4] The report concluded that Lithuania was now free of Jews except for about 34,500 Jews concentrated in Vilnius, Kaunas and Šiauliai Ghettos.[2] However, Jäger Report did not tally all Jewish deaths in Lithuania as it did not include executions by Einsatzkommando 2 in Šiauliai area (approx. 46,000 people), in some border areas (for example, in Šakiai on September 13, Kudirkos Naumiestis on September 19, Kretinga in July–August, Gargždai on June 24, 1941), or even in Vilnius (for example, the report is missing the October 1 (Yom Kippur) massacre of some 4,000 Jews).[5][6]

Jäger concluded his report with the following:

German original English translation

Ich kann heute feststellen, dass das Ziel, das Judenproblem für Litauen zu lösen, vom EK. 3 erreicht worden ist. In Litauen gibt es keine Juden mehr, ausser den Arbeitsjuden incl. ihrer Familien.
Das sind
in Schaulen ca. 4 500
in Kauen ....." 15 000
in Wilna........" 15 000.

Diese Arbeitsjuden incl. ihrer Familien wollte ich ebenfalls umlegen, was mir jedoch scharfe Kampfansage der Zivilverwaltung (dem Reichskommissar) und der Wehrmacht eintrug und das Verbot auslöste: Diese Juden und ihre Familien dürfen nicht erschossen werden! Das Ziel, Litauen judenfrei zu machen, konnte nur erreicht werden durch die Aufstellung eines Rollkommandos mit ausgesuchten Männern unter der Führung des SS-Obersturmführers Hamann, der sich meine Ziele voll und ganz aneignete und es verstand, die Zusammenarbeit mit den litauischen Partisanen und den zuständigen zivilen Stellen zu gewährleisten.
...

I can establish today that the goal to solve the Jewish problem for Lithuania has been reached by EK. 3. There are no Jews anymore in Lithuania, with the exception of the Arbeitsjuden ["labor Jews"] and their families.


These number
in Šiauliai ca. 4 500
in Kaunas ..." 15 000
in Vilnius...." 15 000.

These Arbeitsjuden and their families I also wanted to off, which earned me sharp criticism from the civil administration (the Reichskommissar) and the Wehrmacht, and led to the prohibition: "these Jews and their families cannot be shot!" The goal of making Lithuania judenfrei could only be achieved by setting up a Rollkomando with selected men under the leadership of SS-Obersturmführer Hamann, who fully embraced my goals and knew how to guarantee collaboration with the Lithuanian partisans and the competent civil authorities.
...

The nine-page report was prepared in five copies,[1] but only one survives, kept by the Special Archive of the Russian State Military Archive [ru] in Moscow.[7] The copy was discovered in 1944 when the Red Army reoccupied Lithuania, but it was not made known to scholars or the judiciary evaluating Nazi war crimes.[8] Only in 1963, during the in absentia trial of Hans Globke in East Germany[9] and four years after Jäger's suicide, did the Soviet Ministry of Foreign Affairs disclose the document to the German Central Office of the State Justice Administrations for the Investigation of National Socialist Crimes.[8] The document was first published in a Lithuanian collection of documents Masinės žudynės Lietuvoje in 1965[10] and in the Western press by Adalbert Rückerl [de] in 1972 as a facsimile.[8]

Report tabulation

Date[11] Location Jews[n 2] Others[n 3] Total[n 4] Notes
Men Women Children
4 Jul 1941 Kaunas Seventh Fort 416 47 463 By "Lithuanian partisans", i.e. TDA
6 Jul Kaunas Seventh Fort 2,514 2,514 By TDA
7 Jul Marijampolė 32 32 By Rollkommando Hamann (from here on)
8 Jul Marijampolė 14 5 19
8 Jul Girkalnis 6 6 Communist officials
9 Jul Vandžiogala 32 2 4 38
9 Jul Kaunas Seventh Fort 21 3 24
14 Jul Marijampolė 21 10 31
17 Jul Babtai 6 2 8 All communists
18 Jul Marijampolė 39 14 53
19 Jul Kaunas Seventh Fort 17 2 7 26
21 Jul Panevėžys 59 11 33 103
22 Jul Panevėžys 1 1
23 Jul Kėdainiai 83 12 30 125
25 Jul Marijampolė 90 13 103
28 Jul Panevėžys 234 15 39 288
29 Jul Raseiniai 254 3 257
30 Jul Ariogala 27 11 38
31 Jul Utena 235 16 5 256
31 Jul Vandžiogala 13 2 15
1 Aug Ukmergė 254 42 4 300
2 Aug Kaunas Fourth Fort 171 34 4 209
4 Aug Panevėžys 362 41 19 422
5 Aug Raseiniai 213 66 279
7 Aug Utena 483 87 1 571
8 Aug Ukmergė 620 82 702
9 Aug Kaunas Fourth Fort 484 50 534
11 Aug Panevėžys 450 48 2 500
13 Aug Alytus 617 100 1 719 (Error in math)
14 Aug Jonava 497 55 552
15–16 Aug Rokiškis 3,200 7 3,207
9–16 Aug Raseiniai 294 4 298
27 Jun – 14 Aug Rokiškis 493 488 981 All active communists
18 Aug Kaunas Fourth Fort 1,409 402 1 1,812 Including 711 Jewish intellectuals from Ghetto in reprisal for sabotage action
19 Aug Ukmergė 298 255 88 2 645 (Error in math)
22 Aug Daugavpils 1 1 20 21 Prison inspection (Error in math)
22 Aug Aglona 544 544 Mentally ill (269 men, 227 women, and 48 children). Located in Latvia.
23 Aug Panevėžys 1,312 4,602 1,609 7,523
18–22 Aug Raseiniai environs 466 440 1,020 1,926
25 Aug Obeliai 112 627 421 1,160
25–26 Aug Šeduva 230 275 159 664
26 Aug Zarasai 767 1,113 687 2 2,569
28 Aug Pasvalys 402 738 209 1,349
26 Aug Kaišiadorys 1,911 1,911 Unspecified
27 Aug Prienai 1,078 1,078 Unspecified
27 Aug Dagda and Krāslava 212 4 216 Located in Latvia
27 Aug Joniškis 47 165 143 355
28 Aug Vilkija 76 192 134 402
28 Aug Kėdainiai 710 767 599 2,076
29 Aug Rumšiškės and Žiežmariai 20 567 197 784
29 Aug Utena and Molėtai 582 1,731 1,469 3,782
13-31 Aug Alytus and environs 233 233
1 Sep Marijampolė 1,763 1,812 1,404 111 5,090 Others include 109 mentally ill
28 Aug – 2 Sep Darsūniškis 10 69 20 99
28 Aug – 2 Sep Garliava 73 113 61 247
28 Aug – 2 Sep Jonava 112 1,200 244 1,556
28 Aug – 2 Sep Petrasiunai 30 72 23 125
28 Aug – 2 Sep Jieznas 26 72 46 144
28 Aug – 2 Sep Ariogala 207 260 195 662
28 Aug – 2 Sep Josvainiai 86 110 86 282
28 Aug – 2 Sep Babtai 20 41 22 83
28 Aug – 2 Sep Vandžiogala 42 113 97 252
28 Aug – 2 Sep Krakės 448 476 201 1,125
4 Sep Pravieniškės 247 6 253
4 Sep Čekiškė 22 64 60 146
4 Sep Seredžius 6 61 126 193
4 Sep Veliuona 2 71 86 159
4 Sep Zapyškis 47 118 13 178
5 Sep Ukmergė 1,123 1,849 1,737 4,709
25 Aug – 6 Sep Raseiniai 16 412 415 843
25 Aug – 6 Sep Jurbarkas 412 412
9 Sep Alytus 287 640 352 1,279
9 Sep Butrimonys 67 370 303 740
10 Sep Merkinė 223 355 276 854
10 Sep Varėna 541 141 149 831
11 Sep Leipalingis 60 70 25 155
11 Sep Seirijai 229 384 340 953
12 Sep Simnas 68 197 149 414
11–12 Sep Užusaliai 43 43 Reprisal against locals helping Russian partisans
26 Sep Kaunas Fourth Fort 412 615 581 1,608 Sick and suspected epidemic cases
2 Oct Žagarė 633 1,107 496 2,236 As Jews were led away, they mutinied but it was quickly subdued
4 Oct Kaunas Ninth Fort 315 712 818 1,845 Reprisal after a German police officer shot in ghetto
29 Oct Kaunas Ninth Fort 2,007 2,920 4,273 9,200 "Mopping up ghetto of superfluous Jews" (see Kaunas massacre of October 29, 1941)
3 Nov Lazdijai 485 511 539 1,535
15 Nov Vilkaviškis 36 48 31 115
25 Nov Kaunas Ninth Fort 1,159 1,600 175 2,934 Jews from Berlin, Munich and Frankfurt am Main (see Ninth Fort massacres of November 1941)
29 Nov Kaunas Ninth Fort 693 1,155 152 2,000 Jews from Vienna and Breslau
29 Nov Kaunas Ninth Fort 17 1 17 34 (Error in math)
13 Jul – 21 Aug Daugavpils 9,012 573 9,585 EK 3 detachment in Daugavpils, Latvia
12 Aug – 1 Sep Vilnius 425 19 17 461 EK 3 detachment in Vilnius[n 5] (from here on)
2 Sep Vilnius 864 2,019 817 3,700 Reprisal for shooting at German soldiers
12 Sep Vilnius 993 1,670 771 3,334 (Error in math)
17 Sep Vilnius 337 687 247 4 1,271 (Error in math)
20 Sep Nemenčinė 128 176 99 403
22 Sep Naujoji Vilnia 468 495 196 1,159
24 Sep Riešė 512 744 511 1,767
25 Sep Jašiūnai 215 229 131 575
27 Sep Eišiškės 989 1,636 821 3,446
30 Sep Trakai 366 483 597 1,446
4 Oct Vilnius 432 1,115 436 1,983
6 Oct Semeliškės 213 359 390 962
9 Oct Švenčionys 1,169 1,840 717 3,726
16 Oct Vilnius 382 507 257 1,146
21 Oct Vilnius 718 1,063 586 2,367
25 Oct Vilnius 1,766 812 2,578
27 Oct Vilnius 946 184 73 1,203
30 Oct Vilnius 382 789 362 1,533
6 Nov Vilnius 340 749 252 1,341
19 Nov Vilnius 76 77 18 171
19 Nov Vilnius 14 14 POWs and Poles
20 Nov Vilnius 3 3 POWs
25 Nov Vilnius 9 46 8 1 64
28 Sep – 17 Oct Plieščanicy, Bischolin,[n 6]
Šack, Bobr [be], Uzda		 620 1,285 1,126 19 3,050 EK 3 detachment in Minsk, Belarus
4,000 4,000 Prior to EK 3 taking over (see: Kaunas pogrom)
Totals 57,338 48,592 29,461 2,058 137,346  
Notes:
  1. ^ Grouped by the ending date of the massacre
  2. ^ If breakdown of Jews not specified, men, women and children are included in a single column
  3. ^ Includes mostly communists and mentally ill
  4. ^ Total is given per original report. Errors in addition are noted with "(Error in math)".
  5. ^ EK 3 took over from EK 9 in Vilnius
  6. ^ As spelled in the original report

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c Karl Jäger, Commander of the Security Police and the SD, Einsatzkommando 3 (December 1, 1941). "The Jaeger Report: A Chronicle of Nazi Mass Murder". English Translation of the Report Along with Scanned Images of the Original. Kauen: The Holocaust History Project. webpages 1–9 with transcriptions of photostat facsimiles.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  2. ^ a b Headland, Ronald (1992). Messages of Murder: A Study of the Reports of the Einsatzgruppen of the Security Police and the Security Service, 1941-1943. Fairleigh Dickinson University Press. p. 152. ISBN 9780838634189.
  3. ^ a b Gaunt, David (2010). "Reichskommissariat Ostland". In Friedman, Jonathan C. (ed.). The Routledge History of the Holocaust. Routledge. pp. 210–220. ISBN 9781136870590.
  4. ^ Wette, Wolfram (2011). Karl Jäger. Mörder der litauischen Juden (in German). Frankfurt am Main: S. Fischer Verlag. p. 147. ISBN 9783596190645. as cited by Muehlenkamp, Roberto (November 30, 2012). "The Jäger Report (8)". Holocaust Controversies. Retrieved 2016-10-22.
  5. ^ Arad, Yitzhak (1976). "The "Final Solution" in Lithuania in the Light of German Documentation" (PDF). Yad Vashem Studies. 11: 245–246. ISSN 0084-3296.
  6. ^ Dieckmann, Christoph; Sužiedėlis, Saulius (2006). The Persecution and Mass Murder of Lithuanian Jews during Summer and Fall of 1941: Sources and Analysis (PDF). The Crimes of the Totalitarian Regimes in Lithuania. Vol. III. Margi raštai. p. 172. ISBN 9986-09-280-9.
  7. ^ Gitelman, Zvi Y. (1997). Bitter Legacy: Confronting the Holocaust in the USSR. Indiana University Press. p. 103. ISBN 9780253333599.
  8. ^ a b c Excerpt from Wette, Wolfram (2011). Karl Jäger. Mörder der litauischen Juden (in German). Frankfurt am Main: S. Fischer Verlag. pp. 28–29. ISBN 9783596190645. translated and published by Muehlenkamp, Roberto (April 28, 2012). "The Jäger Report (1)". Holocaust Controversies. Retrieved 2016-10-22.
  9. ^ Brazaitis, Juozas (1990). Vienų vieni (PDF) (in Lithuanian) (4th ed.). Vilnius: Viltis. p. 389. ISBN 5-89942-568-7.
  10. ^ Stankeras, Petras (2006). "Vokiečių saugumo policijos ir saugumo tarnybos (SD) vado institucija Lietuvos generalinėje srityje 1941-1944 metais". Karo Archyvas (in Lithuanian). 21: 206. ISSN 1392-6489.
  11. ^ Klee, Ernst; Dressen, Willi; Riess, Volker (1988). "The Good Old Days": The Holocaust as Seen by Its Perpetrators and Bystanders. The Free Press. pp. 46–58. ISBN 9781568521336.
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