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

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J. GRAF, T. KUES, C. MATTOGNO, SOBIBÓR 125<br />

lume – <strong>of</strong> the mass graves is considerably smaller than estimated by<br />

Kola.<br />

As seen above, the 1947 Central Commission report mentions a pit<br />

with an area <strong>of</strong> (20 × 5 =) 300 m 2 , characterized as being filled with<br />

chloride <strong>of</strong> lime and located “close to the eastern limit <strong>of</strong> the camp.” Of<br />

the seven pits identified by Kola, graves No. 4 and 7 are the ones furthest<br />

to the east. However, grave 7, measuring 10 × 3 m, is clearly too<br />

small to be the same pit. On the other hand, the area <strong>of</strong> grave No. 4 is<br />

(1575 ÷ 300 =) 5.25 times as large as the pit described in the report.<br />

Could it be that Grave No. 4 was drastically enlarged by various diggings,<br />

including those <strong>of</strong> the commission surveyors? According to Kola,<br />

limestone is among the contents <strong>of</strong> Grave No. 4.<br />

Finally it should be noted that Kola’s findings regarding the Sobibór<br />

mass graves contradict certain conclusions arising from his own previous<br />

survey at Beec, where mass graves having a total volume <strong>of</strong><br />

21,310 m 3 were identified.<br />

The Sobibór mass graves have an average depth <strong>of</strong> (14,718.75 ÷<br />

3,210 =) 4,58 m and a total area <strong>of</strong> 3,210 m 2 . With a 30 cm layer <strong>of</strong><br />

sand covering the interred corpses, the available burial space would<br />

have amounted to ([4.58 – 0.30] × 3,210 =) approximately 13,739 m 3 ,<br />

resulting in a density <strong>of</strong> (80,000 ÷ 13,739 =) approximately 5.8 bodies<br />

per cubic meter. On the other hand, at Beec the mass graves were estimated<br />

to have a total area <strong>of</strong> 5,490 m 2 and an average depth <strong>of</strong> 3.88 m,<br />

which means that ([3.88 – 0.30] × 5,490 =) 19,654 m 2 <strong>of</strong> burial space<br />

would have been available. Since it is claimed that 434,508 uncremated<br />

corpses were buried at Beec, the density would have been (434,508 ÷<br />

19,654 =) 22.1 bodies per m 3 .<br />

If the alleged Beec victims had been buried with the same density<br />

as the alleged Sobibór victims, they would have occupied an effective<br />

volume <strong>of</strong> (434,508 ÷ 5.8 =) 74,915 cubic meters, i.e. 3.5 times the total<br />

size <strong>of</strong> the mass graves discovered at Beec! This clearly contradicts<br />

the notion that the Sobibór camp staff did their best to utilize the available<br />

burial space as effectively as possible.<br />

5.2.6. A Note on the Ground Water Level at Sobibór<br />

After the successful prisoner revolt, the Sobibór camp was soon dissolved.<br />

To oversee this operation a number <strong>of</strong> SS men were transferred<br />

from Treblinka to Sobibór. One <strong>of</strong> them was Franz Suchomel, who in

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