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

J. GRAF, T. KUES, C. MATTOGNO, SOBIBÓR 313
6. According to information from RSHA, the evacuation of
633,300 Jews from the Russian territories including the former
Baltic states since the beginning of the eastern campaign
must be taken into account. Not included in the above figures
are the detainees in the ghettos and the concentration
camps.”
Concerning item 4 Witte and Tyas write: 957
“It should be noted that the seemingly harmless euphemism
‘passed through the camps in the General Gouvernment’ already
carried a sinister meaning for insiders in 1942/43. The phrase derives
from the common term ‘transit camp.’ For example Theresienstadt
and Westerbork were officially termed transit camps,
whence transportation to the East meant in fact dispatch to death.
But there are other examples of transit camps that served exclusively
as killing sites. The extermination camps Sobibór and Chemno were
also designated by this term. But the euphemism used by Himmler
and Korherr was calculated to make outsiders believe that there really
were transports ‘to the East.’”
This interpretation ranks with those of R. Hilberg and C. Browning
examined above and is just as nonsensical: As the term transit camp appears
in Himmler’s letter of 5 July 1943 on the specific subject of Sobibór
and as the letter is labeled “top secret,” why should any outsiders
be kept in the dark? 958
Witte and Tyas then discuss the alleged “euphemisms” of the Korherr
report: 957
“To fully understand Höfle’s telegram we have to take into account
Himmler’s criticism of the first, March 23, Korherr report.
The Reichsführer-SS rejected several phrases in the sixteen-page
paper and had Dr. Brandt, the head of his Personal Office, write
Korherr on 14 April [recte: on 10 April] 1943:
The Reichsführer-SS has received your statistical report on the
‘Final Solution of the European Jewish Problem.’ He does not wish
the words ‘special treatment of Jews’ to be used at all. On page 9,
point 4, the text must read as follows:
‘Transportation of Jews from Eastern Provinces to the Russian
East: Number of those passed through the camps in the General
957
958
P. Witte, S. Tyas, op. cit. (note 18), p. 477.
All members of the SS who had access to this “geheime Reichssache” knew the truth and
did not need any euphemisms.