02.11.2013 Views

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

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

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

SHOW MORE
SHOW LESS

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

YUMPU automatically turns print PDFs into web optimized ePapers that Google loves.

J. GRAF, T. KUES, C. MATTOGNO, SOBIBÓR 323<br />

gedly gassed prisoners are a bit risky, to say the least. As their sources<br />

they refer to a “historical expert opinion by Pr<strong>of</strong>. Dr. Wolfgang Scheffler<br />

in the Düsseldorf ‘Majdanek Trial,’ p. 173 (unpublished)” and to the<br />

book by “Józef Marszaek, Majdanek. Konzentrationslager Lublin<br />

(Warszawa: Interpress, 1984).” 987<br />

We know nothing <strong>of</strong> pr<strong>of</strong>essor Scheffler’s “historical expert opinion,”<br />

but as far as the alleged gassings at Majdanek are concerned, the<br />

verdict <strong>of</strong> the Düsseldorf trial did not even take it into consideration. No<br />

figures are indicated in the section dealing with gas chambers and gassings.<br />

Regarding this topic the tribunal declared: 988<br />

“The evidence considered has not yielded precise results concerning<br />

the total number <strong>of</strong> persons killed in the KL Majdanek by<br />

gassings, shootings, or some other violent death, through epidemics<br />

or lack <strong>of</strong> food, due to ill-treatment or other privations, or any other<br />

causes. The court, however, regards as certain that there were at<br />

least 200,000 victims, among them 60,000 Jews.” (Emph. added)<br />

The latter figures are so “certain” that, <strong>of</strong> late, Tomasz Kranz, historian<br />

at the Majdanek Museum, has brought them down to 78,000, 989 a<br />

number which includes the 18,000 fictitious dead <strong>of</strong> the “Erntefest” 990<br />

(harvest festival) as well as all <strong>of</strong> the 24,733 deportees mentioned in<br />

Höfle’s telegram.<br />

Among its sources (nearly all <strong>of</strong> them testimonies) the Düsseldorf<br />

court also cites “the pr<strong>of</strong>essional opinion <strong>of</strong> the expert for contemporary<br />

history Pr<strong>of</strong>. Dr. Scheffler.” 991<br />

Józef Marszaek, too, limits himself to general assertions without<br />

producing any figures: 992<br />

“After the gas chambers had been opened, gassing became the<br />

chief form <strong>of</strong> immediate extermination <strong>of</strong> persons unfit for manual<br />

work: the sick, the disabled, elderly people, and children. […]<br />

Selections <strong>of</strong> the new arrivals commenced in the autumn <strong>of</strong> 1942.<br />

These were initially Jews brought from the closed ghettos and la-<br />

987<br />

988<br />

989<br />

990<br />

991<br />

992<br />

Ibid., note 25 on p. 482.<br />

Landgericht Düsseldorf, op. cit. (note 509), pp. 89f.<br />

Tomasz Kranz, Zur Erfassung der Häftlingssterblichkeit im Konzentrationslager Lublin,<br />

Pastwowe Muzeum na Majdanku, Lublin 2007, p. 62.<br />

J. Graf, C. Mattogno, op. cit. (note 686), Chapter IX: “Operation ‘Harvest Festival,’” pp.<br />

209-230.<br />

Landgericht Düsseldorf, op. cit. (note 509), p. 96.<br />

J. Marszaek, Majdanek. The Concentration Camp in Lublin, Interpress, Warsaw 1986,<br />

p. 136.

Hooray! Your file is uploaded and ready to be published.

Saved successfully!

Ooh no, something went wrong!