Sobibor - Holocaust Propaganda And Reality - Unity of Nobility ...

J. GRAF, T. KUES, C. MATTOGNO, SOBIBÓR 107
5. Critical Analysis of Material Evidence
5.1. The State of Evidence
5.1.1. Forensic Post War Survey by Polish Authorities
According to Jules Schelvis, the local Polish prosecutor failed to initiate
a judicial inquiry into the crimes allegedly perpetrated at Sobibór
and an inspection of the former camp area, so that the opportunity to establish
the dimensions of the mass graves and other relevant matters
was lost. 289 At least the latter half of this claim is incorrect, as in 1947 a
report entitled Obóz zagady w Sobiborze (“The extermination camp at
Sobibór”) was published by the Central Commission for the Investigation
of German Crimes in Poland. In this we read: 290
“Today, on the site of the camp, nothing remains of the old facilities
destined specifically for the liquidation of the victims. What does
remain, on the other hand, are a few small houses (in a state of considerable
dilapidation) which served as living quarters for the service
personnel of the camp. In the central part of the area, presumably
at the sites used for the burial of the ashes, there is a growth of
young firs covering some 1,200 square meters. Diggings showed the
presence of ashes and of bone fragments mixed with ashes below a
layer of sand half a meter thick. Close to the eastern limit of the
camp a pit of chloride of lime, 20 by 15 m, was identified. Over the
whole area of the camp human bones can be found here and there.
The purpose of the camp can also be deduced conclusively from
other results of the investigations. An opinion prepared by the institute
of forensic medicine at the Jagellonian University states that the
bones sent there for analysis were human bones. An opinion of the
institute of forensic medicine at Cracow indicates that the sand removed
from the diggings is mixed with bone ashes and fat. A certain
289
290
J. Schelvis, op. cit. (note 71), p. 191.
Z. ukaszkiewicz, op. cit. (note 25), pp. 49f.