Ernst
Zündel Replies:Rebuttal # 6
Ernst
Zündel Replies:
It is entitled "Auschwitz:
Myths and Facts." (Full
documentation for footnotes, where indicated, is available here):
"Nearly everyone has heard of Auschwitz, the German wartime concentration
camp where many prisoners -- most of them Jewish -- were reportedly exterminated,
especially in gas chambers. Auschwitz is widely regarded as the most terrible
Nazi extermination center. The camp's horrific reputation cannot, however,
be reconciled with the facts.
Scholars Challenge Holocaust Story
Astonishing as it may seem, more and more historians and engineers have
been challenging the widely accepted Auschwitz story. These "revisionist"
scholars do not dispute the fact that large numbers of Jews were deported
to the camp, or that many died there, particularly of typhus and other
diseases. But the compelling evidence they present shows that Auschwitz
was not an extermination center and that the story of mass killings in
"gas chambers" is a myth.
The Auschwitz Camps
The Auschwitz camp complex was set up in 1940 in what is now south-central
Poland. Large numbers of Jews were deported there between 1942 and mid-1944.
The main camp was known as Auschwitz I. Birkenau, or Auschwitz II, was
supposedly the main extermination center, and Monowitz, or Auschwitz III,
was a large industrial center where gasoline was produced from coal. In
addition there were dozens of smaller satellite camps devoted to the war
economy.
....
Four Million Victims?
At the postwar Nuremberg Tribunal, the Allies charged that the Germans
exterminated four million people at Auschwitz. This figure, which was invented
by the Soviets, was uncritically accepted for many years. It often appeared
in major American newspapers and magazines, for example. (note 1)
Today no reputable historian, not even those who generally accept the extermination
story, believes this figure. Israeli Holocaust historian Yehuda Bauer said
in 1989 that it is time to finally acknowledge the familiar four million
figure is a deliberate myth. In July 1990 the Auschwitz State Museum in
Poland, along with Israel's Yad Vashem Holocaust Center, suddenly announced
that altogether perhaps one million people (both Jews and non-Jews) died
there. Neither institution would say how many of these people were killed,
nor were any estimates given of the numbers of those supposedly gassed.
(note 2) One prominent Holocaust historian, Gerald Reitlinger, has estimated
that perhaps 700,000 or so Jews perished at Auschwitz. More recently, Holocaust
historian Jean-Claude Pressac has estimated that about 800,000 persons
-- of whom 630,000 were Jewish -- perished at Auschwitz. While even such
lower figures are incorrect, they show how the Auschwitz
story has changed drastically over the years. (note 3)
Bizarre Tales
At one time it was seriously claimed that Jews were systematically electrocuted
at Auschwitz. American newspapers, citing a Soviet eyewitness report from
liberated Auschwitz, told readers in February 1945 that the methodical
Germans had killed Jews there using an "electric conveyor belt on
which hundreds of persons could be electrocuted simultaneously [and] then
moved on into furnaces. They were burned almost instantly, producing fertilizer
for nearby cabbage fields." (note 4)
And at the Nuremberg Tribunal, chief U.S. prosecutor Robert Jackson charged
that the Germans used a "newly invented" device to instantaneously
"vaporize" 20,000 Jews near Auschwitz "in such a way that
there was no trace left of them." (note 5) No reputable historian
now accepts either of these fanciful tales.
Many years after the war, British military intelligence sergeant Bernard
Clarke described how he and five other British soldiers tortured the former
commandant to obtain his "confession." Höss himself privately
explained his ordeal in these words: "Certainly, I signed a statement
that I killed two and half million Jews. I could just as well have said
that it was five million Jews. There are certain methods by which any confession
can be obtained, whether it is true or not." (note 7)
Even historians who generally accept the Holocaust extermination story
now acknowledge that many of the specific statements made in the Höss
"affidavit" are simply not true. For one thing, no serious scholar
now claims that anything like two and a half or three million people perished
in Auschwitz.
The Höss "affidavit" further alleges that Jews were already
being exterminated by gas in the summer of 1941 at three other camps: Belzec,
Treblinka and Wolzek. The "Wolzek" camp mentioned by Höss
is a total invention. No such camp existed, and the name is no longer mentioned
in Holocaust literature. Moreover, the story these days by those who believe
in the Holocaust legend is that gassings of Jews did not begin at Auschwitz,
Treblinka, or Belzec until sometime in 1942.
No Documentary Evidence
Many thousands of secret German documents dealing with Auschwitz were confiscated
after the war by the Allies. Not a single one refers to a policy or program
of extermination. In fact, the extermination story cannot be reconciled
with the documentary evidence.
Many Jewish Inmates Unable to Work
For example, it is often claimed that all Jews at Auschwitz who were unable
to work were immediately killed. Jews who were too old, young, sick, or
weak were supposedly gassed on arrival, and only those who could be worked
to death were temporarily kept alive. But the evidence shows that, in fact,
a very high percentage of the Jewish inmates were not able to work, and
were nevertheless not killed. For example, an internal German telex message
dated Sept. 4, 1943, from the chief of the Labor Allocation department
of the SS Economic and Administrative Main Office (WVHA), reported that
of 25,000 Jewish inmates in Auschwitz, only 3,581 were able to work, and
that all of the remaining Jewish inmates -- some 21,500, or about 86 percent
-- were unable to work. (note 8)
This is also confirmed in a secret report dated April 5, 1944, on "security
measures in Auschwitz" by Oswald Pohl, head of the SS concentration
camp system, to SS chief Heinrich Himmler. Pohl reported that there was
a total of 67,000 inmates in the entire Auschwitz camp complex, of whom
18,000 were hospitalized or disabled. In the Auschwitz II camp (Birkenau),
supposedly the main extermination center, there were 36,000 inmates, mostly
female, of whom "approximately 15,000 are unable to work." (note
9)
These two documents simply cannot be reconciled with the Auschwitz extermination
story.
The evidence shows that Auschwitz-Birkenau was established primarily as
a camp for Jews who were not able to work, including the sick and elderly,
as well as for those who were temporarily awaiting assignment to other
camps. That's the considered view of Dr. Arthur Butz of Northwestern University,
who also says that this was the reason for the unusually high death rate
there. (note 10) Princeton University history professor Arno Mayer, who
is Jewish, acknowledges in a recent book about the "final solution"
that more Jews perished at Auschwitz as a result of typhus and other "natural"
causes than were executed. (note 11)
Anne Frank
Perhaps the best known Auschwitz inmate was Anne Frank, who is known around
the world for her famous diary. But few people know that thousands of Jews,
including Anne and her father, Otto Frank, "survived" Auschwitz.
The 15-year-old girl and her father were deported from the Netherlands
to Auschwitz in September 1944. Several weeks later, in the face of the
advancing Soviet army, Anne was evacuated along with many other Jews to
the Bergen-Belsen camp, where she died of typhus in March 1945.
Her father came down with typhus in Auschwitz and was sent to the camp
hospital to recover. He was one of thousands of sick and feeble Jews who
were left behind when the Germans abandoned the camp in January 1945, shortly
before it was overrun by the Soviets. He died in Switzerland in 1980.
If the German policy had been to kill Anne Frank and her father, they would
not have survived Auschwitz. Their fate, tragic though it was, cannot be
reconciled with the extermination story.
Allied Propaganda
The Auschwitz gassing story is based in large part on the hearsay statements
of former Jewish inmates who did not personally see any evidence of extermination.
Their beliefs are understandable, because rumors about gassings at Auschwitz
were widespread.
Allied planes dropped large numbers of leaflets, written in Polish and
German, on Auschwitz and the surrounding areas which claimed that people
were being gassed in the camp. The Auschwitz gassing story, which was an
important part of the Allied wartime propaganda effort, was also broadcast
to Europe by Allied radio stations. (note 12)
Survivor Testimony
Former inmates have confirmed that they saw no evidence of extermination
at Auschwitz.
An Austrian woman, Maria Vanherwaarden, testified about her camp experiences
in a Toronto District Court in March 1988. She was interned in Auschwitz-Birkenau
in 1942 for having sexual relations with a Polish forced laborer. On the
train trip to the camp, a Gypsy woman told her and the others that they
would all be gassed at Auschwitz.
Upon arrival, Maria and the other women were ordered to undress and go
into a large concrete room without windows to take a shower. The terrified
women were sure that they were about to die. But then, instead of gas,
water came out of the shower heads.
Auschwitz was no vacation center, Maria confirmed. She witnessed the death
of many fellow inmates by disease, particularly typhus, and quite a few
committed suicide. But she saw no evidence at all of mass killings, gassings,
or of any extermination program. (note 13)
A Jewish woman named Marika Frank arrived at Auschwitz-Birkenau from Hungary
in July 1944, when 25,000 Jews were supposedly gassed and cremated daily.
She likewise testified after the war that she heard and saw nothing of
"gas chambers" during the time she was interned there. She heard
the gassing stories only later. (note 14)
Inmates Released
Auschwitz internees who had served their sentences were released and returned
to their home countries. If Auschwitz had actually been a top secret extermination
center, the Germans would certainly not have released inmates who "knew"
what was happening in the camp. (note 15)
Himmler Orders Death Rate Reduced
In response to the deaths of many inmates due to disease, especially typhus,
the German authorities responsible for the camps ordered firm counter-measures.
The head of the SS camp administration office sent a directive dated Dec.
28, 1942, to Auschwitz and the other concentration camps. It sharply criticized
the high death rate of inmates due to disease, and ordered that "camp
physicians must use all means at their disposal to significantly reduce
the death rate in the various camps."
Furthermore, it ordered:
The camp doctors must supervise more often than in the past the nutrition
of the prisoners and, in cooperation with the administration, submit improvement
recommendations to the camp commandants ... The camp doctors are to see
to it that the working conditions at the various labor places are improved
as much as possible.
Finally, the directive stressed that "the Reichsführer SS [Heinrich
Himmler] has ordered that the death rate absolutely must be reduced."
(note 16)
German Camp Regulations
Official German camp regulations make clear that Auschwitz was not an extermination
center. They ordered: (note 17)
New arrivals in the camp are to be given a thorough medical examination,
and if there is any doubt [about their health], they must be sent to quarantine
for observation.Prisoners who report sick must be examined that same day
by the camp physician. If necessary, the physician must transfer the prisoners
to a hospital for professional treatment.The camp physician must regularly
inspect the kitchen regarding the preparation of the food and the quality
of the food supply. Any deficiencies that may arise must be reported to
the camp commandant.Special care should be given in the treatment of accidents,
in order not to impair the full productivity of the prisoners. Prisoners
who are to be released or transfered must first be brought before the camp
physician for medical examination.
Telltale Aerial Photos
Detailed aerial reconnaissance photographs taken of Auschwitz-Birkenau
on several random days in 1944 (during the height of the alleged extermination
period there) were made public by the CIA in 1979. These photos show no
trace of piles of corpses, smoking crematory chimneys or masses of Jews
awaiting death, things that have been repeatedly alleged, and all of which
would have been clearly visible if Auschwitz had been the extermination
center it is said to have been. (note 18) For more Aerial photo information,
see John Ball's Air-Photo.com website.
Absurd Cremation Claims
Cremation specialists have confirmed that thousands of corpses could not
possibly have been cremated every day throughout the spring and summer
of 1944 at Auschwitz, as commonly alleged.
For example, Mr. Ivan Lagace, manager of a large crematory in Calgary,
Canada, testified in court in April 1988 that the Auschwitz cremation story
is technically impossible. The allegation that 10,000 or even 20,000 corpses
were burned every day at Auschwitz in the summer of 1944 in crematories
and open pits is simply "preposterous" and "beyond the realm
of reality," he declared under oath. (note 19)
Gassing Expert Refutes Extermination Story
America's leading gas chamber expert, Boston execution technician Fred
A. Leuchter, carefully examined the supposed "gas chambers" in
Poland and concluded that the Auschwitz gassing story is absurd and technically
impossible.
Leuchter
is the foremost specialist on the design and installation of gas chambers
used in the United States to execute convicted criminals. For example,
he designed a gas chamber facility for the Missouri state penitentiary.
In February 1988 he carried out a detailed onsite examination of the "gas
chambers" at Auschwitz, Birkenau and Majdanek in Poland, which are
either still standing or only partially in ruins. In sworn
testimony to a Toronto court and in a technical
report, Leuchter described every aspect of his investigation.
He concluded by emphatically declaring that the alleged gassing facilities
could not possibly have been used to kill people. Among other things, he
pointed out that the so-called "gas chambers" were not properly
sealed or vented to kill human beings without also killing German camp
personnel. (note 20)
Dr. William B. Lindsey, a research chemist employed for 33 years by the
Dupont Corporation, likewise testified in a 1985 court case that the Auschwitz
gassing story is technically impossible. Based on a careful on-site examination
of the "gas chambers" at Auschwitz, Birkenau and Majdanek, and
on his years of experience, he declared:
"I have come to the conclusion that no one was willfully or purposefully
killed with Zyklon B [hydrocyanic acid gas] in this manner. I consider
it absolutely impossible." (note 21)"
So far the IHR pamphlet. There is a wealth of information about Auschwitz
in 15 years' worth of articles in the Journal for Historical Review, indexed
at http://www.ihr.org
Summary:
Seek, and Ye shall find.
This information is such basic stuff that it boggles the mind that Nizkor
would still peddle Auschwitz, that theme park of anti-German hate, as "evidence"
that gassings and burnings of millions or even hundreds of thousands bodies
were going on there as a matter of routine.
That claim has now as many holes as the the proverbial cheese. Any serious
scholar, either on the side of the so-called "Holocaust" or on
the side of those who challenge the "Holocaust" claims will not
be able to get around the facts as they are are now available and summarized
in engineering, architectual and forensic reports and in the aerial photos.
Perhaps two additional things need to be mentioned that are implied in
the Nizkor post:
1) that the "unfit" - meaning the elderly, the children, and most of the women - were immediately sent to the gas chambers" and that (implied)
2) the fuel that was produced at Auschwitz was used on location to burn the genocidal evidence.
Regarding 1): How did it come about, then, that at war's end photos show
the elderly, women and children being "liberated" - very much
alive and not any the worse for the wear? Or why was Elie Wiesel, sent
to the Auschwitz hospital for an operation? and
2) why would the Germans be so foolish as to waste precious heating fuel
to incinerate dead Jews when their own children were freezing to death
in the ditches as they were fleeing from the Communists, when their own
vehicles stalled by the thousands and clogged the roads because there was
no fuel?
The fuel shortage was indeed one of the most serious shortages that Germany
was battling at the time. Anybody who has lived through the last years
of the war will talk of the cold as being the most tormenting reality -
claiming victims in many parts of Germany and on the Eastern front - way,
way ahead of bombs, diseases and starvation!
Why would the Germans have been so foolish as to have wasted something
as precious as fuel that was so desperately needed in the arteries of warfare?
It only stands to reason that the Germans would have used valuable fuel
for urgent military needs, rather than for some harebrained scheme to burn
cadavers in water-filled ditches.
April 22, 1996