The grave marker of Sgt. Josef Frantisek at the Polish Military Cemetery, Northwood, London.  Frantisek was killed when his Hurricane crashed while returning for a patrol.  The circumstances are not exactly clear, but appear to have involved pilot error.  Battle fatigue has (understandably) been suggested as the cause; it has also been suggested that he may have increased the risk by performing some aerobatic feat to impress his girlfriend, who lived nearby.  We will never know, now.  Whatever the exact circumstances, the top RAF pilot of the Battle of Britain was a great loss, however much his maverick nature may have contributed to his success in battle.

His status among his comrades as an "honorary Pole" is eloquently proclaimed by his place of burial, and by his headstone.  Best regards, JR.

Gravestone of Sgt. Josef Frantisek.

On the 18 January 1943 Heinrich Himmler the Reichsfuhrer SS ordered Richard Korherr who was “Inspekteur fur Statiskik” of the SS to produce a report on the Final Solution of the “Jewish Question in Europe.” up to the period of the 31 December 1942.

 

Richard Korrher undertook this work and on the 23 March 1943 sent a sixteen page report to SS- Obersturmbannfuhrer Dr. Rudolf Brandt, who was on the personal staff of the RF-SS Heinrich Himmler.

 

On the 9 April 1943 Heinrich Himmler wrote to Ernst Kaltenbrunner the Chief of the SIPO and SD that he found Korherr’s report to be excellent because it could later serve as camouflage, but for the moment he forbade circulation. Himmler wanted in the future to receive short monthly reports concerning the number of Jews evacuated and how many remained.

 

The next day the 10 April 1943 Rudolf Brandt informed Korherr that his report had been received by Himmler who wished that “nowhere it be spoken of the ‘special action applied to the Jews.’ In the meantime Himmler ordered Korherr to draft a summary of his report “to be presented to Hitler.”  

 

The result was a summary report of six and one half pages addressed to Dr Brandt on the 19 April 1943, which covered the period up to the 31 March 1943 

 

The report produced by Korherr is one of the most damming documents of the whole Nazi period and their brutal policy in pursuit of the destruction of the Jews of Europe. Of particular noteworthy consideration is the figure of 1274166 for the number of Jews passing through the camps in the General Government. 

 

This is the figure quoted by Hans Hofle, the Chief of Staff for Aktion Reinhard controlled by Odilo Globocnik in Lublin. The message sent to SS- Obersturmbannfuhrer Heim, of the BdS office in Krakow dated 11 January 1943 was intercepted by British Intelligence using the replica enigma machine, supplied by the Poles, at Bletchley Park, Buckinghamshire. 

 

Korherr was employed by the West German Ministry of Finance but was dismissed from this post in 1961 following the publicity generated by the book written by Gerald Reitlinger, the “Final Solution” which heavily covered the wartime report drawn up by Korherr. 


The Korherr Report

An American G.I. places his arm around a Japanese girl as they view the surroundings of Hibiya Park, near the Tokyo palace of the emperor, on January 21, 1946. 