bout de papier, Vol. 21, No. 2 (2005) — Spring 2005 // Printemps 2005, pp. 29–32
Sixty years ago, Canada’s Ambassador to France, General Georges P. Vanier, joined an American congressional group which was travelling to the liberated concentration camp at Buchenwald, near Weimar, Germany. Vanier’s initial purpose had been to determine the fate of three Canadians who had been sent there during the war. What he witnessed at Buchenwald so horrified Vanier that he not only reported back to the government in a despatch but he also broadcast to the Canadian people in order to counteract the impression among some people in Canada that stories of the horrors inflicted by Nazi Germany on the people of Europe, especially its Jewish population, had been exaggerated by wartime propaganda. For Vanier, a devout Christian as well as a veteran, it was essential to bear witness for others to the evil that he had seen, which he knew was only one part of a larger and more gruesome picture. The Director of the CBC, Gladstone Murray, wrote to Vanier that the speech was “superbly drafted, perfectly delivered. A very deep impression was made on public opinion here.” Unfortunately, surveys of popular views in Canada after the war suggest that sympathy for the victims of Nazi Germany was not sustained, in spite of Vanier’s eloquence.
As scholars have noted, the overall response of Canadians and their government to the plight of Jewish refugees and then to the horrors of the Holocaust was lamentably characterized by indifference and inaction, even when more became known about the fate of the Jews and, as Vanier notes, that of other victims of Nazi rule. In that context, Vanier is a noble and notable exception, first as an advocate for refugees early in the war, then as an exceptional proponent of a more open door to the survivors of the Holocaust in its aftermath. When considering the estimates of deaths by Vanier, readers should recall that Buchenwald was originally constructed as a concentration camp rather than an extermination camp. At Auschwitz-Birkenau, by contrast, it is estimated that over two million Jews and nearly two million non-Jews (including Soviet prisoners-of-war) were murdered.
In recognition of the sixtieth anniversary of the end of one of the darkest chapters in world history, bout de papier reproduces below the despatch and the text of the broadcast by Georges Vanier. Although there are some duplications of content and language, these accounts convey different aspects of Vanier’s reaction and his effort to put into words what he had seen. The original documents are on file 1426-P-40, part 1, in the records of the Department of External Affairs (RG25) at the Library and Archives of Canada. Minor corrections or clarifications appear within square brackets.
Canadian Ambassador, Paris, to Secretary of State for External Affairs, Ottawa, No. 848, 27th April, 1945.
Sir, Will you please refer to my telegram No. 299, dated 24th April, which relates to my visit to Buchenwald camp.
2. In company with eight members of the United States Congress, I left London for Weimar on Sunday morning, the 22nd April. The names of the Congressmen, and of the States for which they sit, follow:
Marion I. BENNETT, Springfield, Illinois Gordon CANFIELD, Paterson, New Jersey Henry M. JACKSON, Everett, Washington Carter MANASCO, Jasper, Alabama Albert RAINS, 5th District Alabama, Gadsden, Alabama Francis E. WALTER, Easton, Pennsylvania Earl WILSON, Huron, Indiana Eugene WORLEY, Shannock, Texas Half were Democrats, the others Republicans, but whatever their political differences may have been, they were of one mind and one will after the visit, about the necessity for taking any measures, however drastic, which might be required to prevent a recurrence of crimes against humanity.
3. My reasons for going to the camp were to enquire into and to obtain all available information on Canadians who had been interned there, and to make sure also that there were no others among the remaining 20,000 ex-prisoners.
4. We had luncheon in the plane and on arrival at Weimar drove direct to the camp where we spent some hours and were shown over by the American officers in charge. The camp of Buchenwald is situated near a former zoological garden, some five miles from Weimar, where Goethe and Schiller lived and died. The approach is by a road flanked on either side by beautiful trees — pines and chestnuts. It is an idyllic drive which makes the horrible contrast at the end of the journey all the more revolting. The camp was built in 1937 by political prisoners to accommodate themselves. In the first place it was designed to hold 8,000 but when liberation came on the 11th April there were almost 60,000 inhabitants.
5. The official figure given in the camp register of deaths during the months of January, February, March and the first ten days of April of this year, was 18,485. The condition of the internees was such that an average of 60 deaths occurred daily for a week or more following liberation. The number who died at Buchenwald altogether will never be established — well over 50,000, it may be 100,000.
6. We visited the death chambers and saw the quadruple electric lifts on which bodies were raised to the ovens of the crematorium above. In the ovens, the blackened forms of bodies still lay. We saw also the noise-making machine which drowned the screams of the unfortunate victims. We were told that the death quota for the camp was 80 a day. Facilities existed for the easy, continuous cremation of that many. This quota was often exceeded, however, which accounted apparently for the naked bodies, piled like so much cord wood, and on which lime was thrown. We saw some of these emaciated, bruised and blood-stained bodies.
7. In the improvised hospitals were hundreds of men, some with running sores, their bodies so devoid of flesh that they could not lie for long in one position. Some who were able to stand were little more than skin and bone. One marvelled how the knee and ankle joints held together.
8. We saw several hundred children, most of them Polish Jews; some had been in prison camps for years. Those of ten and over worked as slave labourers on munitions. Not one, so far as I know, had any idea of where his parents were; in view of the barbarous treatment inflicted on Poles and Jews by the Germans, it is probable that all have been done to death.
9. A lampshade was found — and this I saw — made from tattooed human skin.
10. There is a famous oak tree at Buchenwald, beneath which Goethe wrote some of his poems. The German gaolers found nothing better than to make of it a gibbet for hanging men by the armpits with their hands tied behind their backs.
11. Shortly after liberation a memorial service was held to honour the dead. This, in part, is the declaration made by the living: “We are assembled here to honour our dead comrades — shot, hanged, trampled down, slain, choked, starved, drowned, poisoned, tortured. The thought that kept us alive, as we saw with helpless rage our comrades fall, was that the day of vengeance would come.” Yes, indeed, the seeds of hate sown by the Germans throughout the world, and more especially in Europe, are such that generations must pass before the grim harvest of revenge will be checked.
12. One is forced to the conviction that those who did these horrible things saw nothing wrong in them; perhaps they were actually proud of their efficiency in producing death. These Germans are not as other humans, they are Satanic. Though they have a veneer of Christianity, deep down they must still be barbarians — in saying this one is unfair to the barbarian because there is a scientific refinement about these horrors which barbarians, uncouth and wild, living in a primitive state, could not invent.
13. After visiting the camp with the Congressmen I went to the Records Office to obtain whatever information I could with regard to the Canadians who were reported as having been executed at the camp in September of last year I was shown a list of French, British and Canadian nationals, upon which were the following names and information:- 9636 JOHN MACALISTER.
Date of birth 9-7-1924 Guelph (Advocat) 8738 GUY SABOURIN.
Date of birth 1-1-1923 Montreal (Officer) 9992 FRANK PICKERSGILL.
Date of birth 28-5-1915 Winnipeg.
The list purported to be a record of the arrivals on the 27th August, 1944. The names were of men who had been doing special work, for example, the transmission of clandestine messages after having been parachuted, etc. They were know as the Robert Benoist group. I did not find any list which indicated that these men had been executed but I was told that the “X” opposite each of the above three names afforded proof of such execution. As a matter of fact the records are most incomplete, many of them were either taken away or destroyed before the camp was liberated. I was assured, however, by a Captain Simms, sent by S.O.E. to investigate, that there could be no doubt that these men had been executed. There were a few names (but not of Canadians) on the list, opposite which no “X” appeared and about which there is some doubt.
14. I found an ex-prisoner who was able to give me some information. His name is Richard Rendl, an Austrian, whose permanent address is Sobieskigasse 9, Vienna IX: present address — Buchenwald Camp. He saw the three Canadians arrive at the camp. They were hand-cuffed and in civilian clothes. They were given other civilian clothes later but not the usual gray striped clothes of other prisoners. Rendl was quite sure that the three had been executed. He did not remember the exact date. They had been in Block No. 17 which was called the Quarantine Block. normal for them to be housed there because they were new arrivals and all newcomers were taken there. He saw them quite often up to an including the evening before they were executed. They were always in good humour, apparently not suspecting for a moment that they would be killed.
Rendl reported that allied bombs fell in the camp towards the end of August (there was a factory nearby in which some of the prisoners worked). A few days later he heard Frank Pickersgill joking and wishing to wager a thousand pounds that they would all be home by Christmas.
Rendl said that the following, who knew the Canadians, might possibly be able to give further information:
Christopher Burney and Major Southgate, who had already left for the United Kingdom. (I have asked S.O.E. representatives in Paris to let me have their addresses so that I may write to them);
Lieutenant Alfred Norman and Mr. Henry Norman (brothers), Box 574, Wimpole Street Post Office, London, or The Esquire Club, 214, Piccadilly, London, W.1. Later I visited the French prisoners and deportees who were still in the camp. There were about 1,600 of them. Gilbert Schwartz, a Militant Communist, and Mademoiselle Anne de Lassus St. Geniès, a French Assistante Sociale, accompanied me. I gave them a message of sympathy and affection in their suffering from the people of Canada, and of admiration for the courage with which they bore the agony of imprisonment. Both Schwartz and Mademoiselle de Lassus St. Geniès asked me to transmit messages to M. Frenay, Minister for Prisoners and Deportees. These I delivered on my return to Paris.
I have the honour to be,
Sir,
Your obedient servant,
Georges P. Vanier
Canadian Ambassador
BUCHENWALD CONCENTRATION CAMP
Broadcast by the Honourable Major General Georges P. Vanier, Canadian Ambassador to France, over the Trans-Canada Network of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation May 1st, 1945, rebroadcast May 2nd, 1945
I have been to Germany — to the camp of Buchenwald, one of the many Nazi prisons for political deportees. You know this camp already from the accounts and the photographs you have seen in the press, but perhaps you could not bring yourself to believe what you read and saw. To many of you listening in Canada I am known. May I ask you to take my word that these things, however, ghastly, are true. My reason for going was to enquire into and to obtain all available information on any Canadians who had been interned in the camp and to make sure also that none remained among the 20,000 ex-prisoners who were still there. I had the privilege of accompanying a party of American Congressmen. They were a real cross-section of their country — they came from the States of Washington, Alabama, Texas, Indiana, Illinois, Pennsylvania and New Jersey; half were Democrats, the others Republicans. Whatever their political differences may have been, they were of one mind and one will about the necessity for taking any and all measures, however drastic, which might be required to prevent a recurrence of such crimes against humanity.
The camp at Buchenwald is situated near a former zoological garden, some five miles from Weimar where Goethe and Schiller lived and died. The approach is by road flanked on either side by beautiful trees — pines and chestnuts. It is an idyllic drive which makes the horrible contrast at the end of the journey all the more revolting. The camp was built in 1937 by political prisoners to accommodate themselves. How deaf we were then to the stories of cruelty and the cries of pain which came to our ears, grim forerunners of the mass torture and murder which were to follow. In the first place the camp was designed to hold 8,000, but when liberation came on the 11th April there were almost 60,000 inhabitants. On arrival my first impression was “This is Babel – the place of many tongues”. The beaten, the sick, the half living, the dying of many lands were gathered together here, a living testimonial to the shame of Germany. They bore witness, these men of all Europe, against the German nation whose sins cry to heaven. Shortly after liberation a memorial service was held to honour the dead. This, in part, is the declaration made by the living – “We are assembled here to honour our dead comrades, shot, hanged, trampled down, slain, choked, starved, drowned, poisoned, tortured. The thought that kept us alive as we saw with helpless rage our comrades fall was that the day of vengeance would come”. Yes, indeed, the seeds of hate sown by the Germans throughout the world and more especially in Europe are such that generations must pass before the grim harvest of revenge will be checked.
I shall let facts speak for themselves. Here are some. I’he official figure given in the camp register of deaths during the months of January, February, March and the first ten days of April of this year was 18,485. Deaths, mark you! The equivalent of a town wiped out in three months, ten days. The condition of the internees was such that an average of 60 deaths occurred daily for a week or more following the liberation. The number who died at Buchenwald altogether will never be established — well over 50,000 – it may be 100,000. We visited the death chamber and saw the quadruple electric lifts on which bodies were raised to the ovens of the crematorium above. In the ovens blackened forms of bodies still lay. We saw also the noise-making machine which drowned the screams of the unfortunate victims when they were being done to death prior to cremation. How considerate were the executioners! We were told that the death quota for the camp was 80 a day. Facilities existed for the easy continuous cremation of that many. This quota was often exceeded which accounted for the naked bodies piled like so much cord wood and sprinkled with lime which were found when the liberating troops arrived. We saw some of the emaciated, bruised and blood-stained bodies. In the improvised hospitals were hundreds of men, some with running sores, their bodies so devoid of flesh that they could not lie for long in one position. Some who were able to stand were little more than skin and bone. One marvelled how the knee and ankle joints held together. We saw several hundred children, most of them Polish Jews. Some had been in prison camps for years. Those of ten and over worked as slave labourers on munitions. Not one, so far as I know, had any idea of where his parents were; in view of the barbarous treatment inflicted on Poles and Jews by the Germans, it is probable that all are dead. A lampshade was found — and this I saw — made from tattooed human’s skin. for the sadistic pleasure of a Nazi Commandant’s wife. There is a famous oak tree at Buchenwald beneath which Goethe wrote some of his poems. The German jailers found nothing better than to make of the tree a gibbet for hanging men by the armpits with their hands tied behind their backs. In the city of Weimar, one was struck by the apparent indifference or apathy of the German inhabitants. The impression created was that army methods, however inhuman, were no concern of theirs; they simply formed part of the war’s general pattern. Our world of today which has had an opportunity of hearing this atrocity against mankind must pause and take account. In this camp of Buchenwald [is] written a record of infamy which time can neither atone nor efface. One is forced to the conviction that those who did these horrible things saw nothing wrong in them. Perhaps they were actually proud of their efficiency in producing death. They are not as other human beings — they are Satanic. They have a veneer of civilization. Deep down they must still be barbarians and, in saying this, one is unfair to the barbarians, because there is a scientific refinement about these horrors which barbarians, uncouth and wild, living in a primitive state, could not invent. Since the very beginning many have considered that this war was really a Crusade, that it was a struggle between Christendom and Satandom, that the Nazi cross was erected against Christ’s Cross and that Christ Himself was being defied — but many did not believe it, and now they must believe. Our fighting men know, as they never knew before, why they are fighting, why some of their comrades have been killed and why others bear wounds. They realize that every sacrifice is worthwhile if at the end this spirit of evil is crushed During my visit I took the opportunity of visiting and speaking to the French political deportees, some 1600 of them. I gave them, from the people of Canada, a message of sympathy and affection in their suffering and of admiration for the courage with which they bore the agony of imprisonment. These are sad days indeed for France. It is true that the stream of prisoners and political deportees flows westward and that many happy reunions are taking place, but tens of thousands are not returning. Relatives and friends in France are only now beginning to learn the awful truth. The hopes which formerly sustained them are in many cases being shattered. To quote one example. A friend of ours whose parents and two brothers were deported to Germany by the Gestapo has just heard that her Mother died last October and her Father this February, and she has no news yet of her brothers. At the airport and the railway stations each returning prisoner has a tale of sorrow to tell. A few days ago my wife spoke to a political deportee whose wife and children had been put through a gas chamber in Germany. He said in a listless sort of way “I suppose I should consider myself lucky to be alive, I am only a Jew.” What an indictment of a nation which calls itself Christian!
What conclusions can we draw. As I gazed on the scenes of degradation and shame which I have described, I felt that people who could commit such crimes held a fundamentally different conception of human life. We believe in the infinite worth of each individual soul and that Christ came on earth to save each one of us by name. “He, Son of God, became man”. No more glorious consecration could He have given us, but to them who treat human beings with less respect than the beasts, there can be nothing God-like in man. They cannot believe in the Soul. And this is the essence of the problem — therein lies the danger; far greater than the danger engendered by ambition for political power and territorial aggrandizement. Unless and until Germany shapes her national life on the principles of the Gospel, she cannot be trusted.
View the original scanned pages →
Originally published in bout de papier, Vol. 21, No. 2 (2005) — Spring 2005 // Printemps 2005, pp. 29–32. Read the rest of this issue →
