Arthur R. Butz – The Hoax Of The Twentieth Century

Chapter 4: Auschwitz
centration camps. 267 We have seen that Russians were used as labor at the concentration
camps, especially at Auschwitz, so they were no doubt one of the principal
sources of typhus. Because they were not considered regular concentration camp
inmates, it is not clear whether or not they were included in the camp death figures
which were reviewed above. However, it is certain that they contributed to
the overall death rates at the camps, and that their bodies were disposed of in the
same crematories, but numbers are not available.
A ridiculous feature of all this, as it strikes the student of the subject, appears
in NMT volume 5, which summarizes Case 4, “U.S. vs. Pohl.” In section B, “The
Concentration Camp System,” we are presented with documents which show that
the camps experienced remarkably high death rates. These have just been summarized
above. Then in section E, “The Extermination Program,” we are presented
with documents showing that the Germans were building crematories at these
camps at the time of the high death rates. Apparently it is believed that nobody
would actually read one of these volumes, or maybe the compilers of the volumes
did not read them!
Taking into account the different death rates, we can see that the number of
muffles at Auschwitz was completely comparable to those which existed at camps
where there were no exterminations. In 1942, crematories were constructed at Dachau
and at Sachsenhausen; each contained four muffles. At Dachau, a crematory
consisting of two muffles had existed prior to 1942, and the older crematory continued
to be used after 1942. It is most likely that the same situation with respect
to an earlier crematory held at Sachsenhausen. At Buchenwald, the pre-war cremation
facilities were those, which existed in the nearby towns of Weimar and
Jena. After the war started, crematories were constructed at the camp, and by the
end of 1941, Buchenwald had a two tripple-muffle oven crematory. It appears that
the Weimar crematory continued to be used until the end of the war. 268 It is also
possible that concentration camp crematories, whether at Auschwitz, Dachau, or
elsewhere, were used to dispose of the bodies of people who had nothing to do
with the camps (e.g. Russian POWs).
This, then, is our view of the “death camp” aspect of the Nazi concentration
camps. It is a view which does not harmonize with those of Christophersen and of
Stäglich, who saw no high death rates and are not convinced that there existed extensive
cremation facilities at Auschwitz. Our view is based on the relevant prosecution
documents and comparable material, and their views are based on their observations
at Auschwitz in 1944. It may seem that their observations are more to
be trusted than the documentary material, but I believe that a careful consideration
of the matter resolves the point in favor of our theory, while not denying their observations.
It is true that there exists a possibility of forged documents; indeed, it is more
than a possibility. We shall see that there was considerable forgery of documents
at Nuremberg. However, it does not appear that the documents dealing with
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268
Encyclopedia Britannica, 12th ed., vol. 32 (third volume supplementing 11th ed.), 157.
Komitee der Antifaschistischen, 86; M.J. Smith, 95; NO-3863 and NO-3860 in NMT, vol. 5, 613-
616; Internationales Buchenwald-Komitee, 206-207 and Fig. 55; Musiol, Figs. 88-91.
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