Bischoff

The second, but real building director of camp Auchwitz was SS Major Karl Bischoff. Bischoff was brought over from the air force by Kammler and was appointed construction chief in Auschwitz on November 1, 1941. Bischoff had been active in the air force for many years when he built airports in France and Belgium in 1940-41. He was usually sent to places where progress was going slowly. Bischoff was a tough, headstrong and stubborn construction expert. He saw everything from the viewpoint of a builder. He was a workhorse and demanded that his subordinates give him their best. There was nothing he couldn’t cope with when it came to the technical aspects of construction. He was a great organizer, but exceeded himself when it came to obtaining construction material of all kinds. Whatever could be gotten in Germany or from the occupied countries, Bischoff got it. He had several buyers constantly on the move.

From the very beginning he correctly assessed the terrible conditions at Auschwitz. He threw himself completely into his work until he dropped so that he could push Auschwitz’s construction projects ahead.

Bischoff and I had many serious arguments because he could not see the need to modify the sequence of the projects. I was often forced to change plans because of unforeseen events. He could not see that or he would view it only from a technical standpoint as a builder. Another problem was his desire to have the prisoners at the different sites, which I refused for security reasons. One sore point between us was the use of civilian laborers. He believed that he could not do the work without them. But I had to refuse him because with the large number he demanded the work sites would be terribly difficult to see and guard. So there was friction between us which could not be resolved until Kammler took Bischoff aside and gave him hell.

But in spite of everything, Bischoff worked to build up Auschwitz as if he were possessed. For a time he was on provisional duty to build Mittelbau. But he didn’t rest until he was at Auschwitz again, in spite of the fact that he had great chances for promotion if he stayed at Mittelbau. No matter how much construction material Bischoff could get either legally or illegally, or from I. G. Farben, it was never enough to solve the problems in Auschwitz. All the department heads were furious with him because their projects were always last in line. He was constantly at war with everyone. He could never accept the fact that prisoner labor had to be used because he felt they achieved too little; no one could change his mind on that subject. He also demanded too much from the men. He was always complaining that there weren’t enough prisoners working. He always blamed the poor work of the prisoners for the lack of progress in construction. And, of course, he used this excuse to avoid meeting the deadlines. He did everything in his power for Auschwitz. No one else could have accomplished more.