CHRONICLES OF NAZI MASS MURDER - THE JAEGER REPORT: ONE UNIT, ONE AREA, FIVE MONTHS - AND 137,000 VICTIMS Prepared by Daniel Keren Some photographs of mass executions in the Nazi-occupied USSR (click small image for larger image and source), followed by an analysis of a very detailed report by a high-ranking SS officer, Karl Jaeger, commander of one of the Einsatzkommandos, about the number of victims (including children) executed by his unit. See a historical survey of Jaeger's report. After his arrest by the German Police, the former SS-Standartenfuehrer Karl Jaeger defended himself by stating: "I was always a person with a heightened sense of duty" Among all Nazi documents detailing dastardly acts of mass murder and other atrocities, the "Jaeger Report" is one of the most horrifying. Written by SS-Standartenfuehrer (Colonel) Karl Jaeger, commander of one of the "Einsatzkommandos" (EK 3), it provides a very detailed account of the murderous rampage of this "special squad" in Nazi-occupied USSR. Usually, the figures for Jews who were murdered by EK 3 are broken into "Jewish men", "Jewish women", and "Jewish children". The report commences with (see top of first page): "Secret Reich Business! 5 copies Complete list of executions carried out in the EK 3 area up to 1 December 1941." And goes on to list the daily numbers of the victims; some typical entries are (see sixth page): 20.9.41 in Nemencing 128 Jews, 176 Jewesses, 99 Jewish children 22.9.41 in Novo-Wilejka 468 Jews, 495 Jewesses, 196 Jewish children 24.9.41 in Riess 512 Jews, 744 Jewesses, 511 Jewish children 25.9.41 in Jahiunai 215 Jews, 229 Jewesses, 131 Jewish children 27.9.41 in Eysisky 989 Jews, 1,636 Jewesses, 821 Jewish children During the five months covered by the report, EK 3 murdered over 130,000 people (see total at the bottom of sixth page); about a third of them were listed by Jaeger as "Jewish children". Some other categories of people deemed by the Nazis "unfit for life" are also listed; for instance, on September 1, in Mariampole, Jaeger's unit murdered 109 mentally sick people, in addition to 1,763 Jews, 1,812 Jewesses, 1,404 Jewish children, one German woman who was married to a Jew, and one Russian woman (see bottom of third page). This report makes it clear that the Nazis were not "fighting partisans", as various Nazi-apologists claim. Jaeger flatly describes how the victims were rounded up, taken into secluded areas, and shot - men, women, and children: "Depending on the number of Jews a place for the graves had to be found and then the graves dug. The distance from the assembly point to the graves was on average 4 to 5 Km. The Jews were transported in detachments of 500 to the execution area, with a distance of at least 2 Km between them." (see seventh page, second paragraph from below). Those who were spared for slave labor were not to survive either; Jaeger writes (see eighth page, second paragraph from below, ending with "liquidieren"): "These working Jews and Jewesses still available are needed urgently and I can envisage that after the winter this workforce will be required even more urgently. I am of the view that the sterilization program of the male worker Jews should be started immediately so that reproduction is prevented. If despite sterilization a Jewess becomes pregnant she will be liquidated." Here are the nine pages of the report (click title to view): First page. Second page. Third page. Forth page. Fifth page. Sixth page. Seventh page. Eighth page. Ninth page. For the full text in English, see the excellent book '"The Good Old Days'" , E. Klee, W. Dressen, V. Riess, The Free Press, NY, 1988, p. 46-58.
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