Arthur R. Butz – The Hoax Of The Twentieth Century

Arthur R. Butz, The Hoax of the Twentieth Century
deaths in the camps and with the constructions of crematories were forged, for the
simple reason that there is absolutely nothing about extermination in them, as the
reader can verify by consulting the “selections” of documents in NMT volume 5.
They speak of a very high death rate, at certain times, in penal institutions (concentration
camps), which a relatively small country, fighting against overwhelming
odds for its existence, was attempting to exploit for labor. That high death
rates might have been one consequence is perfectly plausible.
While the documents we have reviewed say nothing of extermination, they are
nevertheless somewhat unsatisfactory in the sense that one does not get a full picture
from them in regard to the causes of the death rates and the specific victims
involved. The unhealthy prisoners contributed by the Ministry of Justice do not
explain everything. The picture must be guessed and inferred, so here we will offer
our impressions.
German concentration camps during the Thirties had only punitive and security
functions, and no economic function. After the war with Russia got started,
the camps underwent rapid expansion and also assumed their economic roles.
Thus in 1942, there were three things happening in the camps:
(a) the rapid expansion was accompanied by the general chaos, unanticipated
problems, and organizational difficulties which are common when large new enterprises
are put into operation; this is particularly true of Auschwitz, which was a
new camp in the process of rapidly expanding into the largest of all camps;
(b) the continued German victories and advances in Russia resulted in hordes
of Russian POWs, some of whom were absorbed by the camps;
(c) unhealthy prisoners were contributed by the Ministry of Justice.
There were probably other problems, but these three factors seem to me sufficient
to explain a high death rate in late 1942 – early 1943.
By late 1943 the death rate, while still deplorably high, was relatively under
control as compared to the previous year and remained under control until the collapse
at the end of the war. The statement of the Birkenau camp commander (Appendix
D) indicates that at Auschwitz, by 1944, the deaths occurred primarily
among ordinary criminals who had been transferred out of prisons. I have seen no
documents, comparable to those we have reviewed, which deal with high death
rates for late 1943 or any later period.
Now we are in a position to consider the observations of Christophersen and of
Stäglich, which included neither crematories nor a high death rate at Auschwitz.
Very simple considerations support their observations. First, deaths are naturally
not things that the Auschwitz camp administration would have advertised; both
the deaths and the associated cremations would naturally have been concealed to
the extent that such concealment was possible. Thus in mid-1943, Pohl complained
to concentration camp commanders that, too commonly, crematory buildings
were situated in excessively public locations where “all kinds of people”
could “gaze” at them. In response to Pohl’s complaint, Höss had a belt of trees
planted around Crematories II and III. Moreover, it was the policy to carry
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