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

J. GRAF, T. KUES, C. MATTOGNO, SOBIBÓR 229
was then that Hitler ordered the annihilation of the European Jews
and simultaneously decreed that these murder operations had to be
executed in a most carefully hidden manner and in the greatest possible
secrecy.
Wolfgang Scheffler (1982) insists that all essential decisions concerning
the implementation of the mass annihilation were taken between
March and November of 1941. […]
Finally, we will briefly summarize the latest opinions. In view of
the coincidence of several factors Shlomo Aronson (1984) comes to
the conclusion that Hitler took the decision to kill the European
Jews in ‘late fall of 1941.’ Also, if we follow Saul Friedländer, the
existence of a general annihilation plan by the autumn of 1941 can
no longer be doubted; we must assume that Hitler approved such a
plan ‘some time in the summer of 1941.’” (Emph. added)
As of 2005 the controversy around the Führerbefehl was not only
unresolved but continued to rage to a greater degree to the point where
Ian Kershaw felt the need to write an article on “Hitler’s role in the final
solution,” in which he explained that with a few exceptions: 658
“detailed research on the decisions and policies of genocide began
as late as the 1970s, expanding greatly over subsequent decades,
especially once the archival repositories in the former eastern
bloc were opened. Only in the light of such research has it become
possible to evaluate more precisely the role Hitler played in the
emergence of the Final Solution. Yet even now, after exhaustive
analysis, much remains obscure or contentious. The problems of interpretation
arise from the complexities and deficiencies of the surviving
fragmentary evidence, reflecting in good measure the obfuscatory
language of the Nazi leadership as well as the extreme unbureaucratic
leadership style of Hitler, who, especially once the war
had begun, placed a high premium upon secrecy and concealment,
with orders on sensitive issues usually passed on verbally and on a
need-to-know basis. Until the 1970s it was generally taken for
granted that a single, direct Hitler order launched the Final Solution.
The presumption emanated from a Hitler-centric approach to
the Third Reich, which placed heavy emphasis upon the will, intentions,
and policy-directives of the dictator.” (Emph. added)
658
Ian Kershaw, “Hitler’s role in the final solution,” at:
www1.yadvashem.org/about_holocaust/studies/vol34/Kershaw%20E.pdf, p. 12.