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

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J. GRAF, T. KUES, C. MATTOGNO, SOBIBÓR 163<br />

“In October 2007, acting on the assumption that we knew roughly<br />

where the gas chamber was located, we decided to dig first in the<br />

area bordering the west <strong>of</strong> Kola’s Building E. We worked in 5 × 5m<br />

squares which correspond to Kola’s grid, screened all the sediments<br />

we dug and used s<strong>of</strong>t hair brushes to clean the surfaces we exposed.<br />

The sediment we excavated was sand, heavily mixed with ashes and<br />

burnt materials and artifacts. It was approximately 10 cm deep and<br />

overlaid deep layers <strong>of</strong> sterile sand. The nature and the extension <strong>of</strong><br />

the archaeological deposit and the types <strong>of</strong> artifacts embedded in it<br />

indicate that the part <strong>of</strong> Sobibór we excavated is neither the gas<br />

chamber nor the undressing barrack.”<br />

Thus while knowing “roughly” the location <strong>of</strong> the alleged gas chamber<br />

building, the archeologists failed to turn up any evidence for its existence.<br />

How likely is this, if the gas chamber allegation is indeed true?<br />

While the former area <strong>of</strong> camp III was divided into four hectares by Kola’s<br />

grid, the Rutherford map, 473 which is partially based on the 1944 air<br />

photo and therefore fairly reliable when it comes to the dimensions <strong>of</strong><br />

the camp sections, shows that the actual surface <strong>of</strong> that camp amounted<br />

to no more than approximately 3 hectares. Thanks to the previous research<br />

results <strong>of</strong> A. Kola, the area to be searched for gas chamber remains<br />

could be reduced by approximately 0.5 hectare, i.e. 5,000 square<br />

meter (equaling the surface <strong>of</strong> the identified graves and structures and<br />

some <strong>of</strong> the space between them). For a reasonably well founded and<br />

equipped archeological team, such as that <strong>of</strong> Gilead et al., locating the<br />

remains <strong>of</strong> a large building within such a small area would have been a<br />

matter <strong>of</strong> weeks, if not days – provided, <strong>of</strong> course, that the building really<br />

had existed. Given that the new team had at least the published results<br />

<strong>of</strong> Kola as well as ground penetrating radar and other advanced<br />

equipment available to them, it is radically impossible that no remains<br />

<strong>of</strong> any existing gas chambers were found during the several months<br />

long survey period. The situation that Gilead et al. find themselves in<br />

can thus be likened to a checkmate.<br />

Continuing with the article we learn that the artifacts discovered in<br />

the new excavation area to the west <strong>of</strong> Object E included, among various<br />

mundane objects, “larger jars, some […] produced in the Netherlands,<br />

[which] could contain disinfectants.” 474 This might possibly refer<br />

to a type <strong>of</strong> substance applied to the heads, armpits, and genital areas <strong>of</strong><br />

473<br />

474<br />

www.deathcamps.org/sobibor/pic/bmap21.jpg<br />

I. Gilead, Y. Haimi, W. Mazurek, op. cit. (note 293), p. 30.

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