Arthur R. Butz – The Hoax Of The Twentieth Century

Chapter 4: Auschwitz
DR. KAUFMAN: That is enough for me. I have no further questions.”
It is possible that there was a language difficulty at the time of this exchange,
and that a misunderstanding existed, and that Kaufman really meant “persons”
rather than “Jews” in his question. In any case this episode suggests the utterly irrational
atmosphere that must have pervaded the IMT trial; Höss was not caught
in a clumsy and transparent lie. It is not possible for us to grasp the spirit of these
proceedings except to classify them as a form of hysteria. Speer was there, and he
could have seen through this lie easily. Was he effectively asleep, resigned to the
futility of opposition Was he or his lawyer merely being careful to avoid becoming
entangled in the extermination question Only he can tell us; we do not know.
All that is certain is that the spirit of the trial was such that even a simple truth
such as the true source of the stench, exposing with great deftness that the witness
was lying and suggesting the nature of the factual basis for the charges, could not
emerge.
The stench was the basis for quite a bit of witness testimony to knowledge of
exterminations, 239 and its use at one particular point of the Farben trial, to be discussed
on page 226, was not only rather amusing but also revealing and illustrative
of an important point to bear in mind when reading the records of these trials.
This is discussed later.
In his booklet, Christophersen considered the problem of the factual basis, if
any, for references to a pervasive stench at Auschwitz. The only thing he could
recall was a blacksmith establishment at Auschwitz I; when horses were being
shod, the burning hoofs created a stench, which could be perceived in the immediate
neighborhood. Christophersen recognized that this could not account for a
stench of the extent claimed in connection with the exterminations.
I communicated with Christophersen on this point, inquiring into the possibility
that Christophersen might have forgotten the stench of industrial origin, in
searching his memory for some stench that might have approximated the stench of
burning flesh. Christophersen recalled no stench of industrial origin. I also communicated
with Stäglich, who distinctly recalled only clean and fresh air near
Auschwitz.
The recollections of Christophersen and Stäglich are, however, consistent with
the theory that the stench of the hoax is none other than the stench associated with
the Farben plant. With reference to Fig. 5, the map of the Auschwitz area, Christophersen
was quartered at Raisko during his year at Auschwitz and had occasional
business at Auschwitz I and Birkenau. Stäglich was quartered in the town
of Osiek, which is about 6 miles due south of the town of Owicim, and mentions
that he visited the “KZ-Lager Auschwitz” (presumably meaning Auschwitz
I) “three or four times.” We do not know exactly where the Farben plants were,
but we know that the camp called “Monowitz” was either within or immediately
next to the town of Monowitz, and that the camp had been placed there so that it
would be close to the Farben plants. In consideration of the locations of the rail
lines, rivers and roads in the area, it is probable that the Farben plants were either
239
DuBois, 218, 230, 232.
153