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

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

rived with friendly members <strong>of</strong> the TODT organization and saved<br />

her. She was right now in the camp Vievis. After about a month, she<br />

was transferred to Milejgany and from there to the Zezmarai camp.”<br />

This clearly shows that Vievis served not only as a labor camp, but<br />

as a transit camp as well.<br />

On 19 April 1943 Kruk confided to his diary (p. 519):<br />

“Europe will be purged <strong>of</strong> Jews. The Jews <strong>of</strong> Warsaw are being<br />

taken to be killed in Malkinia, near Lwów or near Zamosc. [1095] The<br />

Jews from Western Europe are being taken east, their wandering<br />

goes on.”<br />

The last sentence involuntarily reflects a formulation used twice by<br />

Oswald Pohl in his report for Himmler from 15 September 1942 where<br />

Pohl spoke <strong>of</strong> “Jews destined for migration to the east.” 1096<br />

On 30 April 1943 Kruk again mentioned the Dutch Jews (p. 525):<br />

“We have already written about the packing up <strong>of</strong> 130,000 Jews<br />

from Holland and their transport to the East. We have also mentioned<br />

that carloads filled with goods from the Dutch Jews are in the<br />

Vilna railroad station. Now an issue that clears all up – beautiful<br />

old furniture has been brought here, to our joiner’s workshops, to be<br />

repaired. In the drawers people find Dutch documents, including<br />

documents from December 1942, which means that ostensibly the<br />

Dutch were not taken to the East before January <strong>of</strong> February. Thus<br />

the Jews did not know they were going to be exterminated. The rich<br />

Dutch Jews even brought bridge tables with them in case, God forbid,<br />

such things wouldn’t be found among the backward Ostjuden.<br />

Now it is clear that they were slaughtered. […] In our area dozens<br />

<strong>of</strong> railroad cars are scattered filled with Jewish junk, remnants <strong>of</strong><br />

the former Dutch Jewry”<br />

Kruk does not mention why he is convinced that the Dutch Jews<br />

were “slaughtered.” The fact that the local population found Dutch documents<br />

in the drawers <strong>of</strong> the furniture removes the last doubts about the<br />

origin <strong>of</strong> these deportees, because the Yiddish-speaking inhabitants <strong>of</strong><br />

the ghetto could most certainly tell Dutch from German.<br />

On 23 June 1943 Kruk wrote in his diary (p. 570):<br />

“In the Minsk ghetto 3,000 – 4,000 Jews now live. Next to the<br />

ghetto is another ghetto. In the first ghetto are Jews from Minsk,<br />

1095 Malkinia was situated near the alleged “extermination camp” <strong>of</strong> Treblinka.<br />

1096 See chapter 9.2., p. 290.

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