CARLO MATTOGNO · THE REAL CASE AUSCHWITZ

CARLO MATTOGNO · THE REAL CASE FOR AUSCHWITZ 217
führer und Generalmajor Glücks. This results from Standortbefehl no.
2/43 of February 8, 1943, which states i.a.: 338
“by order of the head of Amtsgruppe D, SS-Brigadeführer und
Generalmajor der Waffen SS Glücks, a complete camp closure of KL
Auschwitz has again been ordered.”
This was the second “total closure” in the history of the camp, and
for that very reason the Standortbefehl reinstated all dispositions in
force during the first such closure, as per Standortbefehl of July 23,
1942. Hence, if the second camp closure was “again” (erneut) decreed
by Glücks, it is clear that the first had been ordered by him as well.
It is important to recall here that the supply of Zyklon B was also
controlled by Amtsgruppe D, and for this reason the authorizations for
picking up the product at Dessau given to Auschwitz by radio message
from SS-WVHA were signed by SS-Obersturmbannführer Arthur
Liebehenschel, assistant head and Vertreter (deputy) to Glücks. The authorization
of July 29 was signed by Glücks personally.
Thus, Pressac’s allegation that “Höss had succeeded in hiding from
Himmler the true sanitary conditions obtaining in the camp” and that,
therefore, SS-WVHA (and in particular its Amtsgruppe D) was kept uninformed
of the extent of the typhus epidemic at Auschwitz is totally
unfounded. Hence the alleged “subterfuge” used by the camp administration
to blame “the need for such enormous quantities of gas […] on
the murder of the Jews” is actually a subterfuge invented by Pressac in
order to assign a meaning to the request for Zyklon B “für
Sonderbeh.[andlung]” which is quite different from that of the other requests
which were based on the requirements for disinfestation. Let us
take a closer look at the sequence of events:
The first cases of typhus at Birkenau were noted on July 1, 1942. On
July 23, 1942, KL Auschwitz received the following well-known radio
message from WVHA:
“I hereby authorize the dispatch of a 5-ton truck from Auschwitz
to Dessau and back to fetch gas for the gassing of the camp to fight
the disease which has broken out.” (Kogon et al., p. 223)
On that same day Höss decreed the “total camp closure” (vollständige
Lagersperre) to contain the typhus epidemic. 339 On July 29 another
radio message by Glücks personally authorized the reception of gas for
338 APMO, Standortbefehl, D-AuI-1, p. 46.
339 Standortbefehl Nr.19/42 dated July 23, 1942. RGVA, 502-1-66, p. 219.