JG Auschwitz

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The Black Rabbit of Inlé
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JG Auschwitz

#1

Post by The Black Rabbit of Inlé » 09 Oct 2011, 19:48

This picture has a sign which reads:

Betriebssportgemeinschaft JG Auschwitz
http://fotos.fotoflexer.com/9e79b8869d7 ... a44294.jpg

What exactly does that mean, and what was it?

AUSCHWITZ: Technique and Operation of the Gas Chambers (1989)
Jean Claude Pressac
Page 507
http://www.holocaust-history.org/auschw ... 0507.shtml

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Re: JG Auschwitz

#2

Post by David Thompson » 09 Oct 2011, 21:19

The Black Rabbit of Inlé -- Is the photo supposed to have something to do with the holocaust or war crimes? If so, what?


The Black Rabbit of Inlé
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Re: JG Auschwitz

#3

Post by The Black Rabbit of Inlé » 09 Oct 2011, 21:27

David Thompson
Is the photo supposed to have something to do with the holocaust or war crimes? If so, what?
It was taken at Auschwitz in 1944

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Re: JG Auschwitz

#4

Post by David Thompson » 09 Oct 2011, 21:39

It was taken at Auschwitz in 1944
So what?

The Black Rabbit of Inlé
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Re: JG Auschwitz

#5

Post by The Black Rabbit of Inlé » 09 Oct 2011, 21:47

So what?
Auschwitz ... the site of the largest mass murder in history.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/worldwars/ ... z_01.shtml
It's a reasonable question, I just wanted to find out what the sign translates to and what the JG stands for.

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Re: JG Auschwitz

#6

Post by David Thompson » 09 Oct 2011, 22:10

The Black Rabbit of Inlé -- You wrote:
It's a reasonable question, I just wanted to find out what the sign translates to and what the JG stands for.
The question is reasonable enough. My question is, what does it have to do with the subject matter of this section of the forum? So far, there's nothing to link this "Operating Sports Association" with either the holocaust or war crimes. We don't know who the masked fencers are, and Pressac doesn't tell us. Though the photograph isn't particularly clear, the spectators appear to be a mixed group of civilians. At this point our well-educated readers should know that Auschwitz was also a city (Oświęcim) with a fair population that pre-existed before the establishment of the concentration camp, that the nearby concentration camp had a garrison of administrators and Waffen-SS troops as well as prisoners, and that not everyone imprisoned in the concentration camp was Jewish.

The Black Rabbit of Inlé
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Re: JG Auschwitz

#7

Post by The Black Rabbit of Inlé » 09 Oct 2011, 22:24

Yes, and the Americans had a work camp just outside Oświęcim after WW1. Something I'd bet neither my siblings know, regardless of their PhDs.

Any idea what the JG stands for?

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Re: JG Auschwitz

#8

Post by David Thompson » 09 Oct 2011, 22:34

The Black Rabbit of Inlé -- You asked:
Any idea what the JG stands for?
The abbreviation "JG" suggests "Jagdgeschwader" (fighter squadron), but rather than hazard a guess, I'll let our readers respond. If it turns out that this thread has nothing to do with the subject matter here, I'll move it to another section of the forum.

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Re: JG Auschwitz

#9

Post by siwiec » 10 Oct 2011, 00:57

That photo was used, among many others, as evidence for defence at the IG Farben trial. Walther Dürrfeld tried to show that conditions at IG Farben plants were quite civilized. Photos were from the collection of Berthold Zahn, IG Farben engineer. Dürrfeld did not explain where photo was taken, but said that "it is an excerpt from one of our sport meetings", suggesting that event was organized by IG Farben.

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Kentaurus
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Re: JG Auschwitz

#10

Post by Kentaurus » 10 Oct 2011, 04:01

Sportgemeinschaft means sports association. A Betriebssportgemeinschaft is a sports association run and attended by workers of one factory or one company (Betrieb = factory or company or company offices). So this would be the worker's sports club of a company called J.G. (or possibly I.G.) in Auschwitz.

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Sergey Romanov
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Re: JG Auschwitz

#11

Post by Sergey Romanov » 22 Jul 2017, 10:22

"JG" should be read as "IG", Interessengemeinschaft. I don't know what it is with the Germans sometimes replacing I with J, but you can also see this in numerous wartime documents.

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Sergey Romanov
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Re: JG Auschwitz

#12

Post by Sergey Romanov » 22 Jul 2017, 10:49

siwiec wrote:That photo was used, among many others, as evidence for defence at the IG Farben trial. Walther Dürrfeld tried to show that conditions at IG Farben plants were quite civilized. Photos were from the collection of Berthold Zahn, IG Farben engineer. Dürrfeld did not explain where photo was taken, but said that "it is an excerpt from one of our sport meetings", suggesting that event was organized by IG Farben.
Could you please specify the document number? I went through Dürrfeld's document book but did not find the photo.

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wm
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Re: JG Auschwitz

#13

Post by wm » 23 Jul 2017, 10:48

There is nothing unbelievable in that picture. In Auschwitz and in other concentration camps prisoners were playing football - even with the SS, boxing matches were organized, musical bands were playing - earning a comfortable living for the musicians, theater shows were staged, movies shown.
But the other shit was going on all the time too, at full strength. All the sport and cultural activities didn't mean hell wasn't there, it was just a slightly different, and actually even worse kind of hell than shown on TV.

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Re: JG Auschwitz

#14

Post by history1 » 23 Jul 2017, 12:52

Sergey Romanov wrote:"JG" should be read as "IG", Interessengemeinschaft.[...]
While I agree partialy with Kentauros explanation of "Betriebssportgemeinschaft" I disagree with IG = Interessensgemeinschaft. Correct is, IMHO, "Interessensgebiet" as it´s known from many maps at the time. In this case the Betriebsgemeinschaft doesn´t mean one single company but a contest of all companies within the Interessensgebiet Auschwitz.
Höss mentions a couple times in his location commands soldiers of the Auschwitz SS- units who took succesfully part in such contests and congratulates them officialy.

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Sergey Romanov
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Re: JG Auschwitz

#15

Post by Sergey Romanov » 23 Jul 2017, 20:06


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