Topf and Sons: the Nazis you’ve never heard of

We only came to Erfurt to see one thing. The rest of the architectural gushing and declarations of love are merely a bonus.

The Topf and Sons Memorial is dedicated to investigating how one single company was complicit in helping the Nazis and then assessing the mechanism by which the Topf and Sons ownership tried to disclaim their horrific behavior.

Here we are – trekking to the memorial in the rain. As with our Dachau visit, the weather befits the destination.

Here’s the outside of Topf and Sons. The building and property were left to decay after the war, so what you see here is the rehabbed administration building:

Sites like these really make history come to life for me. I get so lost in the big museums, trying to track all the details, that I think I miss out on understanding some of the important concepts.

But with Topf and Sons, the focus was clear. Topf and Sons was approached by the Nazis to make incineration ovens for the concentration camps. They initially provided a mobile incinerator for the SS and then set to work creating ever-more productive ovens at the request of the Nazis. Later, they also designed the ventilation systems for the gas chambers.

It’s all extremely well-documented in the museum. Somehow they have lots of stuff like this: an order confirmation between Topf and Sons and the SS. It’s from 1942, when the Nazis had determined they needed a way burn their victims more quickly. Topf and Sons is agreeing to supply an 8 muffle oven. I’ve pasted a picture of two 3 muffle ovens below, so you can get an idea of what an 8 muffle one might look like:

Here is an example of two triple muffle ovens, from Buchenwald.

Before Topf and Sons became accomplices to mass murder and genocide, they made brewing equipment, then started into trash incineration and funeral home cremation. When their business was failing in the 1930s, the two heir sons – Ludwig and Ernst – joined the Nazi party and started reaping the benefits.

The thing that really did me in at Topf and Sons was the revisionist history of the company staff. Ludwig – finding out that he was about to be arrested for war crimes in 1945 – killed himself and left a note that claimed If I am arrested, the greatest of all wrongs will be done to me. I never consciously or intentionally did anything bad; instead it has been done to me.

And when you learn the history of the company, you know that is absolutely false. The purchase orders, the contracts, the joint meetings to design the most monstrous ovens possible…it’s all irrefutable proof. Moreover, during the war years, Topf and Sons sent their top engineers to Auschwitz for months at a time, so they could watch the ovens in action, trying to find ways to increase their capacity.

For these men to say they had no idea…well it’s hard to stay calm as you wander the museum. I think a lot about what the average German saw or knew. Historians are split as to whether – by 1943 – the typical German knew about the mass murders occurring.

But the Topf brothers clearly knew. While Ludwig killed himself, Ernst fled to the west in 1945 and was never held accountable for his actions. He died clinging to the concept of “innocent ovens” – that the Topf ovens had been used in an unforeseeable manner.

If you want to know more, here’s a good link: https://www.dw.com/en/the-german-company-that-enabled-the-holocaust/a-52128223

It’s an incredible – and infuriating – story. It’s another piece of evidence that floats around in my head – preventing me from knowing that full responsibility or acceptance has ever really been taken for the Holocaust. I know that Germany has made enormous reparations, but doubts sidle their way into my head anyways. This picture – from Nuremberg – really pinpoints my doubts, I think. It’s from the Nazi Party Rally Grounds – the Zeppelin Field area. You know the place, right? Here’s the typical picture of the place in WWII, when there could easily be over 100,000 Nazis there:

But we went there and wandered those grounds ourselves, and, as we walked, I took the picture below. It’s the Congress Hall area of the Rally Grounds – the Nazis were building it so they could hold 50,000 Nazis there – in addition to the 100,000+ at Zeppelin Field.

The contrast bothers me. Whatever pink flamingos mean – beauty, vibrancy, happiness…I don’t ever want to pedal a pink flamingo around the site of so much Nazi hate and I’m troubled that anyone would. It just seems such an insult to the agony inflicted.

I do learn a lot as I travel around. As difficult as Topf and Sons was, the visit was a prime example of how much information we process. But I don’t want to close this with that horrible story. I’ll leave you, instead, with some cool street art in Erfurt:

And this transparent escalator I came across when we were wandering a department store to get out of the ever-present rain:

And then this photo of Ron shopping, which is really serving to let you know that we are having another one of those trips – a la Portugal – where we seem to be acquiring things we cannot possibly get home in our carry on. So far: two ski caps due to poor weather, two pairs of linen shorts, two dressy Vera Moda shirts, two Hawaiian shirts, 4 pairs of thick alpaca socks from a street vendor, two baseball caps, one North Face sweatshirt and one Munich University sweatshirt. And we’ve got 13 days to go! We’re headed to Dresden and I’ll talk with you in a day or two.