"As a German, I Am Ashamed of My People’s Crimes"

For the Jews crammed by SS officers at the Borislav train station into cattle cars bound for the Belzec extermination camp, there was one last chance for salvation. This chance was called 'Berthold Beitz'.

Berthold Beitz, a young 27-year-old German who managed oil refineries in Drohobych, was in a strong economic position. He arrived in July 1941 in the city of Borislav, Eastern Galicia, under his professional role. He unhesitatingly stood against the murders. He managed to save hundreds of Jews, often at the very last moment, pulling them from death trains destined for the Belzec extermination camp. He demanded the SS release Jews under the pretense that they were essential skilled workers, saving many from certain death with fake work permits.

"An angel from heaven took us off the cars"

Many Jewish survivors and non-Jewish witnesses described numerous instances where Beitz succeeded in rescuing men and women from the death trains at the very last moment.

At the beginning of August 1942, when rumors of an SS deportation action were spreading in Borislav, Beitz was about to go on an extended business trip. The Jewish employees in his carpathian oil company office asked him to postpone his trip until the intentions of the SS were clear. Thus, Beitz was present when, on August 6, 1942, the SS began removing Jews from Borislav and leading them to the train station. Shortly after the action began, Beitz discovered that one of his Jewish secretaries, Mrs. Lukshpeizer, had been arrested and taken to the loading area at the train station. Without hesitating for even a minute, Beitz set out. He walked the platform accompanied by several SS officers. Many of the people awaiting transport, who already believed their fates were sealed, recognized Manager Beitz, who seemed to be coming to pick some for work, thereby granting them life, sparking a glimmer of hope once more.

One person whose life Beitz saved that day was Shmuel Wagner, who was 19 at the time. Wagner recounted: "I was just about to board the car when Mr. Beitz arrived. He asked me about my profession and workplace. I answered that I was a gardener. He sent me to join the selected professional workers he had already chosen." 

Arthur Bierman, who was then 14, also survived in this way. Arthur Bierman knew Manager Beitz because he once did a small tinwork job at his house. Bierman recounted: "Mr. Beitz was looking for some people to work in the Carpathian oil company. It was said he was only taking skilled workers. Then, suddenly Mr. Beitz noticed me. He recognized me and said 'hello'. He immediately turned to the SS officer next to him and told him he needed me for work in the company. He ordered me to join the professional workers standing on the other side. While standing there, I told Mr. Beitz that my mother was with the others in the warehouse. He asked me to show him where she was. He got her out of the warehouse and ordered her to also join the professional workers. I must note that my mother never had a profession nor a workplace. 

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Intern Moses Bergman was also waiting that day at the loading site. Suddenly, an unknown man approached him, grabbed his arm, and said to the SS officer nearby: "This young man works for me, I can't do without him". Moses Bergman was also permitted to join the professional workers, having his life spared at that moment by Beitz. 

In the second action in October 1942, Beitz again arrived and selected 250 men and women for work in the camp, thus saving their lives.

Berthold Beitz was not content merely with removing many Jews from the cars destined for their end. He also strove to house the people he saved to protect them as much as possible from SS actions. For this purpose, he established, together with Radecke, the technical manager of Borislav's administrative oversight, what was called "the white house."

In "the white house" Beitz housed skilled Jewish workers employed in the oil industry, along with their wives and children. During inspections, Beitz repeatedly claimed that all the people living in this house were essential experts of the Carpathian oil company. In fact, some of the men and women living there lacked any technical training or performed only household tasks.

Beitz also ensured that his proteges received additional supplies. With the help of Polish baker Moreski, Beitz established a special bakery that secretly supplied bread to the Jewish camp residents.  

"As a German, I am ashamed of my people's crimes"

Almost as crucial as the daily bread ration was the certainty for the labor camp internees that someone nearby shared their plight and to whom they could turn in distress. Many survivors reported that in their moments of despair, Beitz always instilled courage in them and predicted a swift end to their suffering. The humiliated individuals drew encouragement also from Beitz's words, in which he repeatedly expressed his shame, as a German, for his fellow countrymen's crimes.

Many Jews who worked in the Carpathian oil company office and initially still lived in Borislav ghettos recounted that Beitz allowed them to stay at the company's office when the actions lasted more than a day. Beitz took a considerable risk with the possibility of being arrested as a helper of Jews. The risk increased when Beitz hid the Jewish furrier Ignatz Lienhard and his fifteen-year-old son Salek at his house for several days during an action in August 1942. Ignatz Lienhard was fatally shot by the SS some months later. However, his son Salek survived thanks to the help of Berthold and Elsa Beitz.

Since the early days of the oil industry in Borislav, many Jews worked in its plants as laboratory workers and support staff. Even in higher positions within the oil plants, chemist engineers and Jewish salespeople were employed. Many Jews tried to reach this labor camp illegally and find shelter with relatives working there. 

The punishment that awaited Beitz if discovered aiding Jews was losing his position in the Carpathian oil company and immediate transfer to the front lines. Under these circumstances, it would be hard to blame him if he acted like almost all other Carpathian oil company employees, who stood idly by as Borislav's Jews were murdered, doing nothing, especially as his intervention risked not only himself but also his wife and home.

When asked why Berthold Beitz nonetheless resolutely acted for the Jews' salvation, he modestly defends: "Courage is closely linked with ignorance. Had I been only 28 back then, and if I had realized the true scale of the danger, perhaps I would have acted more cautiously".

But neither complacency nor his relatively young age is enough to explain why Berthold Beitz was one of the few Germans in Borislav who found the courage to risk their lives to save Jews. Many others, who turned away and refused to see the murders, were not older than he was.

There is no doubt: Berthold Beitz was aware of the significant risk he took upon himself and his young family when he helped the Jews of Borislav in various ways. He employed Jews with no technical training as skilled workers, hid Jews in his office and private home. The fact that he did this, despite knowing that those Nazi-Germans working in the Carpathian oil company suspiciously monitored his every move, undoubtedly attests to great bravery.