In August 1942, an agreement between Alexianu, the Romanian Governor of Transnistria, and Hoffmeyer, a German SS officer, ensured that the 7,500 German colonists in Odessa would receive all the apartments (including their contents) of the Jews who had been killed or deported from that city. The former Yiddish Theatre in Odessa was turned into the German Community Centre.
That same agreement authorized the Volksdeutsche to organize a self-defence army, which grew to 8,000 men. It was set up to supposedly maintain order and fight against the partisans. In reality, it was strictly a military operation serving the goals of the German army and its anti-Jewish agenda. SS members were chosen from its ranks, and the colonists also supplied personnel for transactions, which benefited Nazi Germany economically. By August 1942, twelve large German companies had appointed representatives in Transnistria. They were to transport to Germany local products as well as goods pillaged from living and murdered Jews. The treatment of the Jews by the Volksdeutsche was most savage. Headed by an SS officer, their kommando units participated in the most ferocious massacres.
Their usual "system of operation" was to assemble a group of 25 to 30 Volksdeutsche, armed to the teeth and with large reserves of ammunition. They would travel in two or three horse-drawn wagons to a Jewish camp. Pretending to "play by the rules," they would request that the commander of the Romanian gendarmerie should release a certain number of Jews into their custody. Usually, the commander would put up some resistance, either because he needed the manpower himself, or, on rare occasions, because he had a spark of humanity left, and wanted to protect the Jews. During the ensuing negotiations, the Germans would accuse the Romanians of protecting the Jews. Finally, an agreement would be reached, and a number of Jews, usually smaller than the number initially requested, would be released into their custody. The Jewish victims were then led to the outskirts of the community and shot.
At some point, the Volksdeutsche organized their own "Sonderkommando R" (the R standing for Russia). This unit was responsible for the affairs of the entire Volksdeutsche community in Transnistria. It dealt with matters concerning upgrading the standard of living for their communities and with recruiting men into the SS units. Eventually Hoffmeyer became head of this Sonderkommando unit and he continued his close cooperation with Alexianu.
When the Germans retreated, most of the Volksdeutsche fled to Germany. Hoffmeyer was in charge of their evacuation. In August 1944, when the Romanians joined the Soviet forces, Hoffmeyer was taken prisoner. He committed suicide in the Romanian camp where he had been detained.
[ Previous |
Index |
Next ]
Home ·
Site Map ·
What's New? ·
Search
Nizkor
© The Nizkor Project, 1991-2012
This site is intended for educational purposes to teach about the Holocaust and
to combat hatred.
Any statements or excerpts found on this site are for educational purposes only.
As part of these educational purposes, Nizkor may
include on this website materials, such as excerpts from the writings of racists and antisemites. Far from approving these writings, Nizkor condemns them and
provides them so that its readers can learn the nature and extent of hate and antisemitic discourse. Nizkor urges the readers of these pages to condemn racist
and hate speech in all of its forms and manifestations.