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

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

Beec: This camp was closed down in November <strong>of</strong> 1942, hence no<br />

deportations can have originated there in 1943.<br />

Sobibór: Jules Schelvis speaks <strong>of</strong> 68,795 Jews arriving at this camp<br />

in 1943. Even though his figure may be slightly on the high side, 1045<br />

we shall use it in compensation <strong>of</strong> any possible transfers from Majdanek<br />

and round it to 69,000 for the sake <strong>of</strong> simplicity.<br />

Treblinka: In the third edition (2003) <strong>of</strong> his standard work, Hilberg<br />

sets the total number <strong>of</strong> Jews taken to Treblinka at “up to<br />

800,000.” 1046 Using Hilberg’s maximum as a working hypothesis<br />

and deducting from it the 713,555 deportees mentioned in the Höfle<br />

radio message 1044 as having been taken to Treblinka up to the end <strong>of</strong><br />

1942, we obtain a maximum figure <strong>of</strong> 86,445, rounded to 86,000<br />

persons.<br />

On this basis we can estimate the number <strong>of</strong> Jews moved from the<br />

camps <strong>of</strong> Aktion Reinhardt to the eastern areas in 1943 as being (69,000<br />

+ 86,000 =) 155,000 persons at the utmost. Together with the deportees<br />

<strong>of</strong> 1942, i.e. 1,274,166 or roughly 1,274,000 persons, we obtain a combined<br />

maximum <strong>of</strong> about 1,429,000 persons.<br />

Now, what was the share <strong>of</strong> non-Polish deportees within this group?<br />

On the subject <strong>of</strong> Jews deported to the Aktion Reinhardt camps from<br />

Western and Southern Europe, the only precise indications concern Sobibór<br />

and Treblinka:<br />

Sobibór: If we follow Jules Schelvis, out <strong>of</strong> the total <strong>of</strong> about<br />

170,165 (rounded to 170,200) deportees moved to this camp, some<br />

54,550 came from Poland and another 13,700 from Ostland. 1045<br />

Hence, if Schelvis’ figures are correct, about (170,200 54,500 <br />

13,700 =) 102,000 Jews from other countries must have reached Sobibór.<br />

Treblinka: According to the Enzyklopädie des <strong>Holocaust</strong> the following<br />

non-Polish Jews arrived at the Treblinka camp: 7,000 from Slovakia,<br />

8,000 from Theresienstadt, 4,000 from Greece, 2,800 from<br />

Saloniki (which for unknown reasons is treated separately from the<br />

remainder <strong>of</strong> Greece), as well as 7,000 from Macedonia, 1047 yielding<br />

a total <strong>of</strong> 28,800 persons. As the documented number <strong>of</strong> Jews from<br />

Theresienstadt was not 8,000, but 18,004 (rounded <strong>of</strong>f to 18,000 per-<br />

1045 Cf. chapter 2.3.19.<br />

1046 R. Hilberg, op. cit. (note 33), p. 1320.<br />

1047 Enzyklopädie des <strong>Holocaust</strong>, op. cit. (note 15), vol. I, p. 1430.

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