Erich Muhsfeldt was the man they relied on for the worst of the work. He didn't just appear in November 1941 at Majdanek and assume control of the crematoria. That was his specialty. Burning people down until there was nothing left. He did it like it was second nature. Like it was his job.
The Nazis were extremely anxious by 1943. There were uprisings at Sobibor and Treblinka. Jews were not going down without a fight. Himmler instructed to destroy the threat once and for all. He gave the order for Aktion Erntefest. They called it Harvest Festival. It was nothing but a bloodbath. Tens of thousand's of Jewish prisoners were compelled to dig their own graves and then gunned down by machine guns.
The killing was only half the job. The bodies had to disappear. Muhsfeldt was present to make it happen. He did it with efficiency moving from pile to pile as if he had been anticipating this moment.
He was captured after the war. He was tried by the American's first then by Poland. He was executed in 1948. His tale is not history. It is a warning
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