in The Independent today.

[flag4]

hello hunters...

i have been reading the article in the Independent today about John Demjanjuk and his trial for Nazi war crimes. in a side article called A survivors story by Tony Paterson he (Paterson) talks about the process before the jews are sent to the gas chambers - striped and shaved. then he claims this, and i quote directly from the article 'The collected hair was used in factories in the Nazi Reich to make blankets and socks for the U-Boat crews..'

i have heard this before but never seen any written evidence or document to back it up. the thought of it is really disturbing and most likely would have been for the crews of U Boats had they known and if it was true.

does any one here have evidence in a book or article with real proof that this happened - not just hear-say or rumour, but somewhere i can go and read myself to make my own mind up. i have seen a thread some time ago about this but dont know where it is or what it was called.

at the moment i believe this is some kind of urban war myth because it would fit with the idea of what the Nazis did and how we need to see them.

i apologise in advance if this is not the correct place for this post - its just that the article contained the word 'U boat,' so i thought i might just get away with it!

i do not whish to stir up a debate about Nazi war crimes, just whish to know about the 'blanket and socks' accusation.

[Sailor Steve]

Your comments seem like a reasonble request for a reasonable discussion.

My only observation would be that this properly belongs in General Topics, not Silent Hunter.

[Jimbuna]

A Google search of sites dedicated to places such as Auschwitz should uncover much of the detail.

[timmy41]

Ive not ever heard of this before, but it sounds really silly. Human hair is not in any way a viable hair to make warm clothing out of. The quality of human hair is incredibly inconsistent and variable, and massive amounts of it are needed to do anything since the lengths vary so much. The amount of effort needed to process human hair to any useful form would far outweigh the benefits of using it over something far more commonly available like wool, which is better in every way.

[maillemaker]

I can't imagine hair being used to make clothing - in medieval times a form of penance was to wear a "hair shirt", as they are extraordinarily uncomfortable.

I had always heard the hair was used as packing material.

Steve

[King_Zog]

I did a bit of google searching and found this website containing a translation of an SS circular which seems to be where the 'blanket and socks' accusation stems from.

http://www.nizkor.org/hweb/camps/dachau/use-of-hair.html


Amtsgruppe D - Concentration Camps
D II 288 Ma./Ha. Tgb. 112 geh.
SECRET!
Copy 13
Re: Use of hair cuttings
To the Commandants of the Concentration Camps Arb., Au., Bu., Da., Flo., Gr.Ro., Lu., Maut/Gu., Na., Nie., Neu., Rav., Sahs., Stutth., Mor., SS SL Hinzert.
SS Obergruppen fuhrer Pohl, Chief of the SS Wirtschafts-Verwaltungshauptamt has ordered that the hair of concentration camp prisoners is to be put to use. Hair is to be made into industrial felt or spun into yarn. Woman's hair is to be used in the manufacture of hair-yarn socks for 'U'-boat crews and hair-felt foot-wear for the Reichs-railway.
It is therefore ordered that the hair of female prisoners be disinfected and stored. Men's hair can only be put to use if it is longer than 20 mm. SS Obergruppen fuhrer Pohl therefore agrees for an intial trial period to the growing of the prisoners hair to a length of 20 mm before it is cut. Long hair could facillitate escape and to avoid this the camp commandants may have a middle parting shaved in the prisoners' hair as a distinguishing mark, if they think it is necessary.
It is planned to set up a hair processing workshop in one of the concentration camps. Further details as to the delivery of the accumulated hair will follow.
The total monthly amount of male and female hair is to be reported to this office on the 5th of every month beginning from September 5, 1942.
signed: Glucks
SS-Brigadefuhrer und
Generalmajor der Waffen-SS

(Translation of a report from IMT, Band XX, Nurnberg 1947, taken from Concentration Camp Dachau 1933-1945, ISBN 3-87490-528-4, p. 137; Plate 282 with translation.)

However there is no further evidence to prove that these plans were successful and if the hair was actually used in the production of socks for U-Boat crews. It may well have just become packing material, or the project could well have been abandoned.

A transcription from the Nuremburg Trials refers to photographs from Auschwitz used as evidence during the proceedings:

"7 tons of hair which was taken from dead women, packed for shipment to Germany"

The Nuremburg tribunal go on to state that the hair was used for 'Industrial Applications'. Full transcript here:

http://avalon.law.yale.edu/imt/02-19-46.asp

[Hitman]

My only observation would be that this properly belongs in General Topics, not Silent Hunter.

Agree, moving it :up:

[kranz]

I saw blankets and bags/pouches made of hair in the Auschwitz museum so the fact that it was used by the German industry is kinda confirmed.(in the museum there even documents showing how much they got paid for a certain amount of hair but I forgot the price). There was a discussion on one of the Polish submarine forums about socks made of hair. Cannot recall the outcome, I would have to search for the links and check it.

[flag4]

..thanks all for the responce. i have read the threads. i cant believe it - womans hair for socks.
timmy41 says 'massive amounts of it are needed to do anything since the lengths vary so much'
but they, the nazis, would have had massive amounts. the amount of people they slaughtered in camps is hardly disputable - though numbers vary, it doesnt make any difference. the fact that they would use hair for this purpose, from the dead - or soon to be dead is unbeleivable.
any way, its no point carping on about how brutal they were. i was just shocked to discover this. and thanks again for your links King_Zog

[kranz]

the fact that they would use hair for this purpose, from the dead - or soon to be dead is unbeleivable.

hair for "fibres" and human fat for soaps(also exhibited in the Auschwitz museum)