1 00:00:00,120 --> 00:00:01,920 Speaker 1: This Day in History Class is a production of I 2 00:00:02,080 --> 00:00:07,800 Speaker 1: Heart Radio. Greetings everyone, welcome to this Day in History Class, 3 00:00:08,160 --> 00:00:11,640 Speaker 1: where we bring you a new tidbit from history every day. 4 00:00:13,080 --> 00:00:24,560 Speaker 1: Today is June seven, nineteen. The day was June seventh, 5 00:00:24,760 --> 00:00:29,360 Speaker 1: nineteen fifty one. Paul blow Bill, a German s S 6 00:00:29,400 --> 00:00:32,559 Speaker 1: commander and war criminal in charge of Zonder Acton one 7 00:00:32,600 --> 00:00:36,400 Speaker 1: thousand five, was hanged at Landsburg Prison just after midnight. 8 00:00:37,600 --> 00:00:41,599 Speaker 1: The exact number of people killed under Nazi policies is unknown, 9 00:00:42,120 --> 00:00:44,159 Speaker 1: but there is no doubt that the death toll is 10 00:00:44,200 --> 00:00:48,200 Speaker 1: in the millions. Despite the lack of an official number 11 00:00:48,240 --> 00:00:52,680 Speaker 1: and the destruction of Nazi documents, the devastation and atrocity 12 00:00:52,760 --> 00:00:57,600 Speaker 1: of Nazi actions is well documented still. Once Western countries 13 00:00:57,640 --> 00:01:01,680 Speaker 1: began receiving reports of the atrocities Nazis perpetrated in Europe, 14 00:01:01,960 --> 00:01:06,280 Speaker 1: the Nazis began devising ways to conceal and destroy evidence 15 00:01:06,319 --> 00:01:11,520 Speaker 1: of so called Jewish Extermination. Actillon one thousand five or 16 00:01:11,680 --> 00:01:15,440 Speaker 1: zonder Acton one thousand five, was Nazi Germany's campaign to 17 00:01:15,480 --> 00:01:18,600 Speaker 1: destroy all evidence of the mass murder it had committed 18 00:01:18,840 --> 00:01:25,040 Speaker 1: during World War Two. Action means action. Actillon one thousand 19 00:01:25,080 --> 00:01:28,920 Speaker 1: five was overseen by Zonder Commando one thousand five, the 20 00:01:28,959 --> 00:01:34,240 Speaker 1: Security Service and the police force of Nazi Germany. Zonder 21 00:01:34,319 --> 00:01:40,480 Speaker 1: Commando euphemistically meant special unit. In March of nineteen forty two, 22 00:01:40,800 --> 00:01:45,680 Speaker 1: German s S official Reynard Hydra put SS Stan dartin 23 00:01:45,760 --> 00:01:49,680 Speaker 1: fire Paul Blobel at the head of the operation, but 24 00:01:49,760 --> 00:01:54,160 Speaker 1: the operation was delayed after Hydrich was killed in early June. 25 00:01:55,160 --> 00:01:58,840 Speaker 1: Later that month, head of the Gestapo, Hirach Mueller, gave 26 00:01:58,920 --> 00:02:02,880 Speaker 1: Blowbell the go ahead it The point of the operation 27 00:02:03,240 --> 00:02:06,440 Speaker 1: was to get rid of all evidence of Jewish genocide, 28 00:02:06,960 --> 00:02:11,840 Speaker 1: but evidence was also destroyed of non Jewish murders. Part 29 00:02:11,880 --> 00:02:14,160 Speaker 1: of the Nazi plan to get rid of the evidence 30 00:02:14,280 --> 00:02:18,800 Speaker 1: was to burn corpses. The first corpses were burned at Kelmno, 31 00:02:19,320 --> 00:02:24,200 Speaker 1: an extermination camp in Poland. At first, Blobel attempted to 32 00:02:24,320 --> 00:02:29,399 Speaker 1: use incendiary bombs to destroy bodies dug up from mass graves, 33 00:02:29,440 --> 00:02:34,519 Speaker 1: but that set nearby forests on fire, so instead Blowbell 34 00:02:34,639 --> 00:02:39,120 Speaker 1: decided to build pires of bodies on iron grills. He 35 00:02:39,240 --> 00:02:43,600 Speaker 1: layered corpses between firewood, soaks the pire and fuel, and 36 00:02:43,639 --> 00:02:49,480 Speaker 1: burned everything. Bones were crushed and reburied. The land was 37 00:02:49,520 --> 00:02:54,520 Speaker 1: then flattened, plowed, and replanted. Acting on one thousand five 38 00:02:54,600 --> 00:02:59,920 Speaker 1: officially begin at Sobibor, an extermination camp in Poland. Prisoner 39 00:03:00,080 --> 00:03:03,880 Speaker 1: is known as Liking Commando or Corps units were forced 40 00:03:03,919 --> 00:03:07,120 Speaker 1: to dig up bodies for mass graves and burn them. 41 00:03:07,160 --> 00:03:10,200 Speaker 1: Since the operation was a secret, the prisoners who were 42 00:03:10,240 --> 00:03:12,680 Speaker 1: forced to take part in the cover ups were killed. 43 00:03:13,960 --> 00:03:17,280 Speaker 1: German staff who had been sworn to secrecy were not 44 00:03:17,440 --> 00:03:20,600 Speaker 1: sent back to their units in nineteen forty two. In 45 00:03:20,680 --> 00:03:25,120 Speaker 1: nineteen forty three, corpses were also burnt in Treblinka, Belzec 46 00:03:25,440 --> 00:03:30,000 Speaker 1: and Auschwitz. By mid nineteen forty three, corpses were being 47 00:03:30,040 --> 00:03:36,480 Speaker 1: systematically destroyed and occupied Soviet Union, Poland and Yugoslavia. Extermination 48 00:03:36,560 --> 00:03:40,560 Speaker 1: camps that had crematoria, like Auschwitz and Belson did not 49 00:03:40,760 --> 00:03:44,400 Speaker 1: need acting on one thousand five commands, and the operation 50 00:03:44,600 --> 00:03:48,800 Speaker 1: went to the scenes of earlier mass killings at Bobby Yard, Ponary, 51 00:03:49,200 --> 00:03:54,160 Speaker 1: the ninth Fort and Rona Gora. As Soviet armies advanced 52 00:03:54,160 --> 00:03:58,880 Speaker 1: in nineteen forty four, s S official Wilhelm Coppa ordered 53 00:03:58,920 --> 00:04:02,280 Speaker 1: that each of the gain are all government five districts 54 00:04:02,400 --> 00:04:04,920 Speaker 1: set up as own units to get rid of evidence 55 00:04:04,960 --> 00:04:09,240 Speaker 1: of the mass murders quickly. The Gainerall Government was an 56 00:04:09,280 --> 00:04:12,640 Speaker 1: administrative unit that the Germans established made up of the 57 00:04:12,680 --> 00:04:16,520 Speaker 1: parts of Poland that were not incorporated into the Third Reich, 58 00:04:17,200 --> 00:04:19,960 Speaker 1: but Soviet troops reached some of those sites before all 59 00:04:19,960 --> 00:04:24,160 Speaker 1: the corpses could be destroyed. The operation continued until late 60 00:04:24,200 --> 00:04:28,599 Speaker 1: nineteen forty four. The Nuremberg Trials, conducted between nineteen forty 61 00:04:28,640 --> 00:04:32,720 Speaker 1: five and nineteen forty nine prosecuted Nazis for war crimes 62 00:04:32,760 --> 00:04:36,760 Speaker 1: and their participation in the Holocaust. The Ironst scrup In 63 00:04:36,760 --> 00:04:40,320 Speaker 1: trial took place from September nineteen forty seven to April 64 00:04:40,440 --> 00:04:44,200 Speaker 1: nineteen forty eight. Ms At Scrubbing were units of the 65 00:04:44,440 --> 00:04:47,880 Speaker 1: s S Security Police and Order Police that carried out 66 00:04:48,000 --> 00:04:51,440 Speaker 1: mass killings during the German invasions of Poland and the 67 00:04:51,480 --> 00:04:56,279 Speaker 1: Soviet Union. In this trial, a U S military tribunal 68 00:04:56,360 --> 00:05:00,960 Speaker 1: tried and convicted Paul Blowbell for crimes against humanity, war crimes, 69 00:05:00,960 --> 00:05:06,880 Speaker 1: and membership and criminal organizations. On June seven, ninete, Paul 70 00:05:06,960 --> 00:05:11,520 Speaker 1: Blowbill was executed along with other Nazi criminals. The destruction 71 00:05:11,600 --> 00:05:14,240 Speaker 1: of the remains of victims of Nazi killings through acting 72 00:05:14,279 --> 00:05:20,120 Speaker 1: on one thousand five contributed to Holocaust denial. I'm Eves 73 00:05:20,160 --> 00:05:23,159 Speaker 1: Jeffcote and hopefully you know a little more about history 74 00:05:23,200 --> 00:05:27,520 Speaker 1: today than you did yesterday. If you feel like correcting 75 00:05:27,520 --> 00:05:31,000 Speaker 1: my pronunciation or my accent on anything that I've said 76 00:05:31,000 --> 00:05:33,719 Speaker 1: in the show, feel free to leave a very kind 77 00:05:33,880 --> 00:05:38,680 Speaker 1: comment on Twitter, Instagram or Facebook at t d i 78 00:05:39,200 --> 00:05:43,080 Speaker 1: h C podcast. If you want to learn even more 79 00:05:43,120 --> 00:05:46,080 Speaker 1: about history, you can listen to a podcast I host 80 00:05:46,120 --> 00:05:50,800 Speaker 1: called Unpopular. Unpopular is a podcast about people in history 81 00:05:50,839 --> 00:05:54,680 Speaker 1: who challenged the status quo. They rebelled, and they resisted 82 00:05:54,760 --> 00:05:58,360 Speaker 1: the conventions of the day, and sometimes they were persecuted 83 00:05:58,360 --> 00:06:02,279 Speaker 1: for it. Thanks again for listening and we'll see you tomorrow. 84 00:06:14,080 --> 00:06:16,160 Speaker 1: For more podcasts from I Heart Radio, visit the I 85 00:06:16,240 --> 00:06:18,800 Speaker 1: Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to 86 00:06:18,800 --> 00:06:19,559 Speaker 1: your favorite shows.