TREBLINKA: - Holocaust Handbooks

Chapter III: Investigations, Camp Plans, Statistics 97
would be to determine the number of transports as accurately as possible.
Enumerations based on the capacity of the chambers would not have been
accurate, since it is of course unknown how frequently they were filled and
to what degree. In determining the number of transports, I have referred to
the testimony of witnesses, in particular train workers, and documents of
the Treblinka station. In the time span from August 1942 until the middle of
December 1942, the transports were extremely numerous. In this period I
am assuming, with very conservative calculations, one transport per day.
(Jewish witnesses declare that most of the time there were 3 transports
daily, while Polish railway workers say 2). Afterward, in the period of time
from the middle of January until the middle of May 1943, the average
number of transports was one per week (witnesses: Reisman [sic] and Abe
Kohn [sic] even say that there were 3 transports weekly). The number of
cars in one transport was determined to be 50. (It emerges from the documents
that many transports consisted of 50 cars.) The number of days in a
month – 30; the number of weeks in a month – 4. In this way, we arrive at
the total number of 7,500 cars from August 1, 1942, to May 15, 1943.”
The author then cites some German railway documents, to which we shall
return later and from which it can be seen that, from August 17 to August 23,
1943, 266 cars left Bia�ystok for Treblinka. He continues:
“A total of 266 cars. I assume an average of 100 persons in a car.
However, most of the witnesses say the number was 200. Thus, without any
exaggeration, we must set the number of victims at 781,000. For illustration
I add that I am able, on the basis of objective documents: telegrams,
railway time-tables, bills of lading etc., to determine with complete accuracy
the shipment of over 2,000 cars with Jews, although the documents
mentioned represent only a small fraction of the railway documents. In my
opinion, this proves that the above mentioned calculation is very conservative.”
However, the Polish judge’s claim that, according to which 2,000 railroad
cars have been documented, does not correspond to reality. In the second of
his two writings from in 1946, he mentions the railway documents in his possession,
to wit:
– railway schedule no. 548 of August 3, 1942;
– railway schedule no. 562 of August 25, 1942;
– railway schedule no. 594 of September 21, 1942;
– railway schedule no. 552 of February 1, 1943;
– railway schedule no. 567 of March 26, 1943;
– railway schedule no. 290 of August 7, 1943;
Further:
– railway travel sheet of August 17, 1943.
– telegram of August 18, 1943.