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Operation 1005 - How the Nazis Concealed Their Atrocities

July 24, 2024

The Nazis meticulously planned and documented their acts of mass murder. They were just as meticulous when it came to covering their tracks.

https://p.dw.com/p/4hv73
Operation 1005 - How the Nazis Concealed Their Atrocities
Operation 1005 was the name given to the opening of the mass graves of the previously murdered Jewish population and prisoners of war as well as the cremation of the exhumed bodies that had been buried in numerous mass graves of the Einsatzgruppen. The aim was to destroy as much evidence as possible that could provide information about the extent of the genocide and individual massacres.Image: WDR

Their systematic, cruel methods are a chapter of war history that’s still largely unknown.

On their advance to the east, Nazi perpetrators initially buried the victims of their executions in mass graves. But after the war seemed lost, following the Red Army counter-offensive, they feared their atrocities would be discovered. They began using more sophisticated methods to remove incriminating evidence.

Operation 1005 - How the Nazis Concealed Their Atrocities
Image: GBF / ZDF

The systematic way the "bureaucrats of mass murder” went about erasing their tracks and the gruesome, inhumane methods they used is still a largely unknown chapter of World War Two history. Many relatives of Jews, Sinti and Roma, partisans or civilians killed in the conflict are still waiting to this day for any information about the whereabouts of their loved ones’ remains, so that they can at least be given a dignified memorial. 

Operation 1005 - How the Nazis Concealed Their Atrocities
Yahad-In Unum is an organisation that researches the mass shootings of Jews, Roma and Sinti by German troops in Eastern Europe.Image: GBF / ZDF

The documentary film accompanies the French organization Yahad-In Unum as it conducts research in Ukraine. In the Lviv region, researchers attempt to identify the locations of mass shootings and find any eyewitnesses who might still be alive and able to recount what they saw.

Operation 1005 - How the Nazis Concealed Their Atrocities
Rüdiger SchallockImage: GBF / ZDF

The film also tells the story of Rüdiger Schallock, whose grandfather Walter was a member of the SS. Rüdiger Schallock is also in Lviv searching for information about his grandfather’s involvement in Nazi crimes. The deeds of Walter Schallock still cast a dark shadow over the family to this day.

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