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

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

Another event which is inexplicable from the mainstream <strong>Holocaust</strong><br />

point <strong>of</strong> view has been noted by Jules Schelvis: 939<br />

“The intriguing question is why, in the spring and summer <strong>of</strong><br />

1943, the transports from Western Europe headed for Sobibór rather<br />

than Auschwitz/Birkenau, which was in fact closer.”<br />

Schelvis acknowledges both the argument that the German war industry<br />

near Auschwitz at the time needed Jewish manpower and that the<br />

alleged extermination facilities at Auschwitz-Birkenau would have had<br />

sufficient capacity to handle these Dutch Jews. 940 Hence, the reason for<br />

the deportations <strong>of</strong> these people to Sobibór remains mysterious.<br />

The transports from Westerbork ran along the line Breslau (Wroc-<br />

aw) – Oppeln – Czestochowa – Kielce– Radom – Dbin – Lublino –<br />

Cholm (Chem). Going south from Czestochowa, along the line Zawiercie<br />

– Szczakowa – Mysowice, the Auschwitz camp is only some<br />

100 km away – instead, the transports went east, another 400 km, to<br />

reach Sobibór. Schelvis himself then gives us a solid indication for the<br />

answer to this apparent riddle: 941<br />

“Mirjam Penha-Blits was on the same train. [942] She explained<br />

that the transport was apparently supposed to go to Auschwitz; after<br />

two days’ travelling in passenger wagons that is where it arrived.<br />

For unknown reasons it stood stationary there; nothing else happened.<br />

No one was allowed to leave the wagons. After a few hours<br />

the train departed, and two days later we arrived at Sobibór.”<br />

In the summary <strong>of</strong> this account, supplied by the Dutch Red Cross,<br />

one can read: 943<br />

“Deported by train from Westerbork on 10 March 1943, arrival<br />

at Sobibór around 13 March 1943 (via Birkenau – without lay-over<br />

– to Sobibór).”<br />

The train thus passed through the alleged extermination camp at Birkenau<br />

only to continue east for hundreds <strong>of</strong> kilometers – but why? The<br />

answer is found in a general memorandum dated 5 May 1943 and written<br />

by SS-Gruppenführer Wilhelm Harster, head <strong>of</strong> security police and<br />

SD in Holland: 944<br />

“1) General policy:<br />

939<br />

940<br />

941<br />

942<br />

943<br />

944<br />

J. Schelvis, op. cit. (note 70), p. 14.<br />

Ibid., pp. 14f.<br />

J. Schelvis, op. cit. (note 71), p. 73.<br />

The train from The Hague which reached Sobibór on 13 March 1943.<br />

Het Nederlandsche Roode Kruis, op. cit. (note 124), p.16.<br />

T-544.

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