Monday, February 29, 2016

"Alleged" Mass Graves and other Mattogno Fantasies (Part 4, Section 2)

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4, Section 1
Part 4, Section 2
Part 5, Section 1
Part 5, Section 2


Capacity of the Graves (2)

The eyewitness whose testimony I invoked as supporting the possibility of grave space reuse is Kurt Gerstein. Accordingly Mattogno (pp. 1240 ff.) spends much time arguing against Gerstein’s testimony.

Friday, February 26, 2016

"Alleged" Mass Graves and other Mattogno Fantasies (Part 4, Section 1)

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4, Section 1
Part 4, Section 2
Part 5, Section 1
Part 5, Section 2


Capacity of the Graves (1)

In Chapter 7 of the critique, I demonstrated that it would have been possible to bury the corpses of about 434,508 deportees to Bełżec documented in the Höfle message in the 33 mass graves identified in an archaeological investigation led by Prof. Andrzej Kola, assuming that these graves (whose total volume estimated by Kola was 21,310 cubic meters) were the only mass graves in that camp (a later study by Alex Bay suggests that this was not so and there were further graves in the camp not identified by Kola, which are visible on air photography[97]). My calculation of the possible concentration of corpses in the Bełżec mass graves was based on the substantiated assumptions that a) the Jews of Poland killed at Bełżec were not very tall people (the average height being just 1.60 meters), and b) due to their having been exposed to prolonged malnutrition, their average weight was reduced to 43 kg for adults and 16 kg for children up to 14 years old, meaning that the average weight of a population consisting two thirds of adults and one third of children up to 14 would be (43+43+16)/3 = 34 kg.

Keine Liquidierung: Eine Neubeurteilung

I. The Controversy Thus Far

Among the controversies inspired by the publication in 1977 of David Irving's Hitler's War was the reproduction in that volume of a page of Reichsführer-SS Heinrich Himmler's telephone log. In particular, the page cited by Irving, among other content, listed a series of notes taken by Himmler during or pursuant to a telephone conversation with RSHA chief Reinhard Heydrich. At the time of the call, Heydrich was in his office in Prague, while Himmler was at FHQ Wolfsschanze in occupied Poland, where Hitler was then spending a majority of his time.


Tuesday, February 23, 2016

"Alleged" Mass Graves and other Mattogno Fantasies (Part 3)

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4, Section 1
Part 4, Section 2
Part 5, Section 1
Part 5, Section 2


Human Remains Found

Belzec

Sobibor

Treblinka

The section of the critique’s chapter 7 about findings of human remains (in a restrictive sense including only whole corpses or larger human body parts not or only partially burned, to the exclusion of the human cremation remains like ashes and bone fragments) began with a deconstruction of Mattogno’s claim that of 137 (by Mattogno’s count) core drilling samples from mass at graves Bełżec visually represented in Kola’s book, "obviously the most significant ones of the 236 samples taken altogether" in such mass graves, only 5 out of 17 visualized samples from graves nos. 3, 10 and 20 contained human remains [59].

Saturday, February 20, 2016

"Alleged" Mass Graves and other Mattogno Fantasies (Part 2)

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4, Section 1
Part 4, Section 2
Part 5, Section 1
Part 5, Section 2


Nature and Purpose of Archaeological Investigations

In the section of the critique’s chapter 7 dedicated to the nature and purpose of the archaeological investigations conducted at Bełżec in 1997-1999, I had addressed Mattogno’s attempt to present the archaeological investigations carried out in the area of that camp as a (failed) attempt to "furnish the ‘material proof’ of the alleged extermination at Bełżec."[35], and refuted his contentions that the head of these investigations, Prof. Andrzej Kola, had been hired in order to obtain corroboration of eyewitness testimonies through physical evidence, and that the reason why he restricted his work on the mass graves to core drilling instead of excavating the graves and exhuming the corpses had been a concern – motivated by the core drilling results – that excavation would lead to conclusions incompatible with the historical record of Bełżec extermination camp.

Wednesday, February 17, 2016

"Alleged" Mass Graves and other Mattogno Fantasies (Part 1)

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4, Section 1
Part 4, Section 2
Part 5, Section 1
Part 5, Section 2


Number, Dimensions and Contents of the Mass Graves

Chapter 11 of the overlong response by Mattogno, Graf and Kues (MGK) [1] to our critique of some of their books[2] was written by Carlo Mattogno and addresses chapter 7 of the critique, which deals with the mass graves at the Aktion Reinhard(t) camps and at Chełmno extermination camp.

Sunday, February 14, 2016

On the Number of the Zyklon B Introduction Holes in the Roof of Crematorium I

With the publication of Daniel Keren, Jamie McCarthy, Harry W. Mazal’s article “The Ruins of the Gas Chambers: A Forensic Investigation of Crematoriums at Auschwitz  I and Auschwitz-Birkenau” (Holocaust and Genocide Studies, 2004, vol. 18, no. 1) the slow-burning debate on the number of the Zyklon B introduction openings in the morgue of crematorium I in Auschwitz Stammlager moved forward. It was not the last word on the topic, but it was a very prominent contribution.

Thursday, February 11, 2016

Himmler Advocates Slaughter of Russian Soldiers, Oct 24, 1943

According to Porter's translation here:
And we'll have to defeat them, smash them, and slaughter them [abschlacten]. When a people like the Russians already have their whole army full of everything from 16 year-olds to 50 or 55 year-olds, then reason tells us that this whole mass of people is coming to an end, like everything on this earth.
This slaughter was clearly framed in the context of ethnic cleansing:
When you know that, the evolutionary and racial development of the Slavic peoples, then you know that we have a task to do if we wish to purify these areas – and we must do that, if we want to live.
Himmler advocated the creation of "an area in which there will be no one but Germans and Teutons, approximately 1,000 kilometres from the old German Reich border." There would clearly be catastrophic consequences for non-Germans in that zone, and people who had the most "Mongolian" blood by Himmler's reckoning would have the lowest value to justify being kept alive.

The slaughter of Russian soldiers was to be part of a process in which Russians would eventually disappear - "this whole mass of people is coming to an end." Himmler also bemoans the fact that "a Russian military generation consists of two and a half to three times as many men as a German military generation." The killing of soldiers therefore has a genocidal rationale that makes it far more criminal than an act of war. The extinction of the Russian people in Europe, by one means or another, is clearly a long-term goal.

Sunday, February 07, 2016

Mattogno and Grabner's Statement

Having posted Maximilian Grabner’s 1945 statement, it is now time to examine Carlo Mattogno’s conspicuous omission of this document from his body of work.  

The statement touches on many topics dear to Mattogno: the first gassing, the Krema I gassings, the Bunkers, the Krema capacities, the holes in the Krema I roof and the wire-mesh Zyklon B introduction columns... 

And yet, seemingly, there is not a single mention of it in any of his major works. I couldn’t check everything of course, but I did check all the relevant books.

In some cases taking into account the information contained in the statement should have influenced Mattogno's reasoning.  

Saturday, February 06, 2016

Statement of Maximilian Grabner

Here we publish for the first time the statement of Maximilian Grabner as it appears in GARF f.7021 (files of the Soviet Extraordinary Commission), op.108, d.34, ll.29-33.

Several preliminary remarks are necessary.

1. Completeness.

We're publishing the complete typed German text as it appears in the file (with most obvious typos corrected; name spelling irregularities are left intact), which is entitled "Copy of a record made by Obersturmführer Grabner by his own hand". This, however, was not the final version of Grabner's statement. In the files of the Auschwitz Garrison trial we see the same statement with several more pages of material after the last entry reproduced here (NTN 136, vol. 53a, pp. 111ff.).

Both versions stem from the files of the investigation of Grabner's crimes by the Vienna police. Although a typed copy, Grabner's statement in GARF has his signature on each page.

Friday, February 05, 2016

Correction Corner #6: Michael Shermer and Hans Frank's speech

In Michael Shermer's and Alex Grobman’s book Denying History (2009, expanded edn.) we see the following claim (p.186):
On October 7, 1940, in a speech to a Nazi assembly, Hans Frank, head of the Generalgouvernement (the governmental administration over Poland’s four districts of Krakow, Warsaw, Radom, and Lublin), summed up his first year:
“My dear Comrades! … I could not eliminate [ausrotten] all lice and Jews in only one year. But in the course of time, and if you help me, this end will be attained.”28
To those deniers who claim that by ausrotten Frank merely meant deportation, we counter: Did Frank, then, mean to “deport” all the lice? Only one translation makes sense here.
The endnote is:
28. N.D. 3363-PS, 891.
However, PS-3363 has nothing to do with Frank. The speech is from PS-2233, Frank’s official diary. The speech took place not on Oct. 7, but rather on Dec.19 (see IMT vol. 29, p. 415).

And contrary to Shermer and Grobman, Frank used beseitigen instead of ausrotten:
Freilich, in einem Jahre konnte ich weder sämtliche Läuse noch sämtliche Juden beseitigen (Heiterkeit). Aber im Laufe der Zeit und vor allem dann, wenn Ihr mir helft, wird sich das schon erreichen lassen. Es ist ja auch nicht notwendig, dass wir alles in einem Jahre und alles gleich tun, denn was hätten sonst diejenigen, die nach uns kommen, noch zu schaffen?
This claim was also made in Shermer’s book Why People Believe Weird Things and in the first edition of Denying History, and it seemingly first appeared in his article "Proving the Holocaust: The Refutation of Revisionism & the Restoration of History" in Skeptic, 1994, Vol. 2, No. 4.

That Hans Frank made this speech on Oct.7, 1940 was claimed by William Shirer in his classic tome Rise And Fall Of The Third Reich. He specified his source as “NCA, IV, p. 891 (N.D. 2233-C-PS)”. And indeed, when we go to the relevant volume of NCA, we do find the speech in the following form (pp. 890-1):
[Page 943, 4th-6th lines]
10/7/40
The Governor-General then addresses the assembly with the
following words :
My dear Comrades ! * * * * * * *
[Page 946, lines 1-3, 21-30]
10/7/40
* * * There are so few of us here that no one can actually
really conceal himself. Everybody has to fear that the spotlight
will now and then rest on him * * *
* * * It is clear that education will perhaps still be necessary
here and there; furthermore, it is clear that this openminded
comradeship, this common spirit of close contact finds its
counter-part in the unstinted observation of authority in inner
office relations. We cannot permit the offices to become 5 o’clock
tea rooms. But, of course, our position as Germans here must be
such that the lowest of us is still far above the highest Pole in
this room * * *
[Page 1158, 2nd par. to p. 1159 4th line]
* * * And another thing was told me by the Fuehrer in all
seriousness, a few days ago: that the old Japanese proverb:-
after the war tighten your helmet strap-should retain its validity.
Comrades, never again shall we be a weak Reich. The
Armed Forces will represent the crown of community education.
Just as the NSDAP is the crown of social, political and ideological
leadership, so the Armed Forces will be the essence of military
training, of the proud and immaculate bearing of our people.
And you can say: you took part in it as soldiers. I am very
happy about this hour of the Armed Forces, for it joins us all
together. Some of you left your mothers, your parents at home,
others their wives, their brides, their brothers, their children.
In all these weeks, they will be thinking of you, saying to themselves:
my God, there he sits in Poland where there are so many
lice and Jews, perhaps he is hungry and cold, perhaps he is
afraid to write. It would not be a bad idea then to send our dear
ones back home a picture, and tell them: well now, there are not
so many lice and Jews any more, and conditions here in the Government
General have changed and improved somewhat already.
Of course, I could not eliminate all lice and Jews in only one
year’s time.’ (public amused) But in the course of time, and
above all, if you help me, this end will be attained.
After all, it is
not necessary for us to accomplish everything within a year and
right away for what would otherwise be left for those who follow
us to do?
Shirer erroneously assumed that the date “10/7/40” applies to all the paragraphs below. This cannot be, of course, since there are more than 200 pages separating the two excerpts! And if you look at the same speech in IMT, it is clearly dated Dec. 19.

So it was the NCA editors’ oversight in not assigning the date, Shirer’s sloppiness in not noticing the page count and not cross-checking with the IMT version. But at least Shirer gives the correct source.

Shermer clearly relied on Shirer. Here is Shirer:
Frank did not neglect the Jews, even if the Gestapo had filched the direct task of extermination away from him. His journal is full of his thoughts and accomplishments on the subject. On October 7, 1940, it records a speech he made that day to a Nazi assembly in Poland summing up his first year of effort.
My dear Comrades! … I could not eliminate all lice and Jews in only one year. [”Public amused,” he notes down at this point.] But in the course of time, and if you help me, this end will be attained.
Here’s Shermer:
On October 7, 1940, in a speech to a Nazi assembly, Hans Frank, head of the Generalgouvernement (the governmental administration over Poland’s four districts of Krakow, Warsaw, Radom, and Lublin), summed up his first year:
“My dear Comrades! … I could not eliminate [ausrotten] all lice and Jews in only one year. But in the course of time, and if you help me, this end will be attained.”
The phrasing is the same, and they quote basically the same parts (with “my dear comrades” actually belonging to another speech, which is skipped by both authors). Also note that the official English translation has "in only one year’s time" and "and above all, if you help me", whereas both Shirer and Shermer have "in only one year" and "and if you help me".

Let’s compare their endnotes again:
  • Shirer: NCA, IV, p. 891 (N.D. 2233-C-PS)
  • Shermer: N.D. 3363-PS, 891.
Page 891 is a page in the 4th NCA volume, not a page of the original document! It’s meaningless otherwise. Shermer’s endnote should have included the NCA reference. Moreover, as pointed out, Shermer gets the document number completely wrong. But interestingly enough, the same document (PS-3363) is referenced by Shirer in the same chapter (see e.g. note 37 here - and keep in mind that the Frank endnote is 41 - quite close).

This explains why Shermer misdated the Frank speech and possibly explains why he referenced a wrong document (if he was relying on Shirer - without checking the original sources - and somehow mixed up Shirer’s endnotes).

This still doesn’t explain the main error, namely, why Shermer claims that Frank used the word “ausrotten” though he used the word “beseitigen”. The meaning of “ausrotten” plays a big role in Shermer’s book so it’s not just a secondary detail.

PS: this error was also noted by Carlo Mattogno in his critique of Shermer and Grobman. However he wrongly assumed that they were quoting a speech from Dec. 20, which contains a similar passage (IMT vol. 29, p. 416):
Man kann natürlich in einem Jahre nicht sämtliche Läuse und Juden hinaustreiben; das wird im Laufe der Zeit geschehen müssen.
It is obvious though that Shermer quotes the Dec. 19 speech. 

Monday, February 01, 2016

Once More, With Feeling: Deniers And Aktion 1005, 10 Years Later

About 10 years ago I composed a blog post about Mattogno and Graf's treatment of Aktion 1005.

I pointed out that Mattogno and Graf couldn't get the simplest things about the documentary evidence straight: they made a mess of the letter from Müller to Luther and the letter from Himmler to Müller - schoolboy level, one might be tempted to say, but even a schoolboy could have done better; they had no idea about Shmuel Spector's seminal article, which fact demonstrated their utterly dismal level of research; and finally, they made an outlandish claim that the very designation "1005" was a Soviet invention - something that is outright contradicted by Spector's article, which cites this German wartime document:
By special order of the Reichsfuehrer SS, Sonderkommando 1005 arrived, to execute special duties in the area of the army.
Of course, other deniers didn't fail to parrot this ignorant assertion. Denier guru Rudolf in his Lectures on the Holocaust (2nd ed., p. 276):