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The shocking story behind the Stroop Report: How did it become a historical witness of World War II?
In the history of World War II, the publication of some documents caused a huge stir, one of which was the Stroop Report. Written by a senior German military officer, Colonel-General Jurgen Stroop, the report details the suppression of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising and the subsequent liquidation of the ghetto. Originally titled "The Warsaw Ghetto No Longer Exists!" ”, this report became a concrete testimony to the tragedy of the Nazi period. It is not only a review of military operations, but also a witness to a dark history that makes people think deeply.
With its gorgeous binding and detailed content, the report is a direct expression of exquisite German craftsmanship.
The backstory to the Stroop Report is one filled with contradictions and tragedy. The report was commissioned by an SS commander named Friedrich Wilhelm Kluge who was transferred to Germany as a souvenir for Heinrich Himmler. The report was originally printed in three leather-bound volumes, which were given to Stroop, Kluge, and Himmler himself. An unbound copy remained in Warsaw, in the care of Stroop's chief of staff, Max Jesvit. In 1945, Stroop's adjutant, Karl Kaleschki, told U.S. authorities that a copy of Stroop's report was burned along with other confidential documents.
After the war, only Himmler's and Jesvit's copies survived. Himmler's copy eventually found its way to the U.S. Seventh Army Intelligence Center, while Jesvit's was kept by the Military Intelligence Research Unit in London. The gradual circulation of the report and its introduction to the Nuremberg International Military Tribunal allowed the world to understand the events and outcomes recorded in the report.
The existing Stroop report is a 125-page typed document containing 53 photos, which does record the bloody history experienced by the two.
In addition to the combat records of the Warsaw Ghetto and detailed data on the liquidation operations, the Stroop Report also includes a large number of photos, which have become a concrete expression of that period of history. Many of the photos have become symbols of World War II and the Holocaust and are of far-reaching significance. Those captured moments are not only thought-provoking, but also trigger deep reflection on Nazi atrocities. The handwritten annotations to these images sometimes reveal the bias and discrimination of the authors, thus reflecting the ideas and mentality of the regime at the time.
The report also records the casualties of various types of soldiers and police, as well as a list of the units involved in the fighting. These data are not only a brief introduction to the actions at the time, but also part of the construction of the Nazi's sense of superiority. This document gives us a glimpse into the cruelty and inhumanity of that era and makes us question human nature.
Some of the contents of the archive clearly show that although the fact of death has to be acknowledged, the data was compiled in a cold and chilling environment.
The Stroop Report was originally used as evidence in the Nuremberg trials in 1947 and became a historical warning. The significance of this report remains strong today, and after 1948, it changed hands many times and was placed in different historical archives. In 2017, Poland submitted the Stroop Report to UNESCO and it was successfully included in the Memory of the World Register. This is not only an acknowledgement of history, but also an important step to avoid repeating the same mistakes.
In recent years, the report has been studied in depth, especially in dealing with current moral and social issues, and the Stroop Report has become a model that seems to foreshadow the future. How should we reflect on human nature when facing this dark history?
