Part I

By Wilfried Heink

“Slavica Publishers” in their Fall 2005 Journal “Kritika” published an article by Marina A. Sorokina titled:

“People and Procedures: Toward a History of the Investigation of Nazi Crimes in the USSR”.

(Read more…)

By Wilfried Heink

The third chapter in the book “Neue Studien zu nationalsozialistischen Massentötungen durch Giftgas” (New studies on National Socialist mass murder by poisonous gas) is titled: “Die Tötungsanstalten der ‘Aktion T4’” (The T4 killing facilities).

As the title suggests, this is about the T4 action in six of the facilities, with a sort of foreword “Vernichtung lebensunwerten Lebens” im Nationalsozialismus: Die “Aktion T4” (Extermination of life unworthy of life under National Socialism. The Action T4), by Brigitte Kepplinger, Dr. Mag., Soziologin und Historikerin, wissenschftliche Beamtin am Institute für Gesellschafts- und Sozialpolitik der Johannes Kepler-Universität Linz. (Read more…)

By Wilfried Heink

The second essay in chapter two is titled, “Technische Aspekte des Massenmordes durch Giftgas als Argument vor Gericht”(Technical aspects of mass murder by poisonous gas as presented in court). It is written by two authors, Volker Bieler, Judge at the court in Landau, Palatine – up to 31 August 2010 also department head of the Central Agency for the Investigation of Nazi Crimes in Ludwigsburg and Kurt Schrimm, head prosecutor and head of the Ludwigsburg Central Agency for the Investigation of Nazi Crimes. (Read more…)

By Wilfried Heink

The second chapter in the book: “Neue Studien zu nationalsozialistischen Massentötungen durch Giftgas” is captioned: “Technische und pharmakologische Aspekte und der Stellenwert der Überreste” (Technical and pharmacological aspects and how remnands should be rated)

The first essay in this chapter is titled: “Die todbringenden Gase” (The deadly [death carrying] gasses), by Achim Trunk, Dr. phil., historiographer, with a degree in biology – biochemicals.[1] (Read more…)

By Wilfried Heink

The second study in chapter one is by Dr. Moshe Zimmermann, Prof. for contemporary history and head of the Richard Koebner Minerva Center for German History at Hebrew University of Jerusalem. The essay is titled “Massenmord durch Giftgas in der Wahrnehmung der Überlebenden” (How survivors perceive the mass murder by poisonous gas).

Before we go into this, the book this article is part of is about new studies on killing with poisonous gas by the Nazis, and the denial by Revisionists of said killings. The first article by Mr. Evans contributed nothing to the issue supposedly under discussion, the title of the second seems to follow that trend. One has to wonder why we need to know how the alleged murder by poisonous gas was perceived by the, ahem, survivors. But let’s not judge a book by its cover and see what Mr. Zimmermann has to say. (Read more…)

The first chapter in the book Neue Studien zu nationalsozialistischen Massentötungen durch Giftgas is captioned: “Massentötungen durch Giftgas: Zwischen wissenschaftlicher Einordnung und individueller Erinnerung” (Mass murder by poisonous gas: Amid scientific cataloguing and the recollection by individuals).

The chapter contains two essays, the first one by the British historian Richard J. Evans, titled: “Wie einzigartig war die Ermordung der Juden durch die Nationalsozialisten?”(How unique was the killing of the Jews by the National Socialists?). (Read more…)

On May 16 – 18, 2008, 200 scientists from around the world met in Berlin to discuss the historical significance-, the technical developments-, and Revisionist denial of “The Holocaust”. The “Stiftung Brandenburgische Gedenkstätten” (Brandenburg Memorials Foundation), as well as the “Wiener Institute für Zeitgeschichte” (Vienna Institute for Contemporary History) were the organizers of this conference. In a press release by Constanze Haase on May 18 at the conclusion of the conference, Prof. Dr. Günter Morsch, director of the Brandenburg Foundation, stated that the existence of National Socialist gas chambers is still being questioned, but that at this conference contributions by the scientists — and the discussions which followed — have in no uncertain terms confirmed the accounts provided by survivors.

“25 years after the publication of ‘Nationalsozialistische Massentötung durch Giftgas’(National Socialist mass murder by poisonous gas), authored by the survivors Eugen Kogon and Hermann Langbein, the aim of this conference is to update this work by adding recently discovered material,” said Haase. At the end of the article we are informed that the depiction of the gas chambers is fictitious, as no photos exist — all we have are eyewitness tales (Erzählungen von Augenzeugen). Prof. Morsch continued by saying that what has been presented and discussed will be summarized and published. The book will be made available to teachers, scientists and interested citizens (Bürger).[1] After some delays this summary (Sammelband) was published (2011) under the title: “Neue Studien zu nationalsozialistischen Massentötungen durch Giftgas” (New studies on National Socialist mass murder by poisonous gas).
(Read more…)

By Wilfried Heink

In 2010 a National Geographic Documentary was shown titled Sonderkommando: The living dead of Auschwitz (produced in 2009). This featured the self-styled Sonderkommando member Henryk Mandelbaum, who was interviewed by Stanislav Motl, a Czech author and journalist. We are told in this documentary by the narrator, Chris Plumley, that Motl “…spent years courting this last survivor” and that now the role played by the Sonderkommando in the extermination process can be revealed. Their role, he continues, posed a moral dilemma for them. Most of them were eventually executed by the Nazis “…as inconvenient witnesses, and those who survived the death camps were hunted down by the Russians who believed they were Nazi collaborators”. Still others were murdered by “…Zionist terror groups who roamed Europe, killing anyone seen as being a collaborator, seeking revenge…This is why Sonderkommando have rarely given interviews…”. Therefore, he concludes, the Mandelbaum testimony is an important document about events 65 years ago.

This, however, is not quite true, as several Sonderkommando members, such as Henryk Tauber and Filip Müller, gave testimonies right after the war which helped shape the holocaust story as we know it. Also later many Sonderkommando members were interviewed. For example, 8 of them were interviewed by Gideon Greif in his book We Wept Without Tears¹, and another, Shlomo Venezia, gave statements to Italian journalists before publishing his memoirs.² Yet another Sonderkommando survivor, Daniel Bennahmias, “spoke out” in the early 90s.³ The Mandelbaum interview is thus far from as unique as it is made out to be.

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By Wilfried Heink

Revisionists are continually asked the above question, the implication being that if the Jews were not murdered, where are they then? In this essay I will try to demonstrate that it is near impossible to give a satisfactory answer to the above question. The numbers of Jews killed, as presented by the historians who believe in “The Holocaust”, are based on transport lists, telegrams, counting of rail cars, etc., etc. This is not an exact science. In fact, the data provided of Jews being deported is no evidence that they were murdered. The numbers game is tricky for another reason: we have no precise figures of how many Jews were under the control of the Germans, how many survived, how many were able to flee or survive somehow, and to migrate from Europe before or after the war. This then is the topic of the present essay. I will merely present the numbers as they are available, without much of commentary. Admittedly, this is also not exact science, but because of the many unknowns, mentioned above, it is near impossible to come up with accurate figures.
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On October 6, 2009, Lady Renouf took part in a conference on “Denial and Democracy in Europe” called by the European Parliament in Brussels. During her address, she held up a handbook, titled “Guidelines for Teaching about the Holocaust”, and quoting from the section “Avoid legitimizing the denial of the past”.

To that day, I had never heard of those “Guidelines”, so I decided to look them up. As it turns out, they are available online:
http://www.herinneringseducatie.be/Portals/portal01/docs/Londen/Holocaust_Ex_TeachHbook.pdf

The first question that needs to be asked is: Why are special guidelines needed to teach any topic? We are told that “The Holocaust” has been thoroughly researched, so, why not read up on it, collect the data provided and simply teach? Why are special guidelines needed to teach “The Holocaust”? Or: What other topic needs special teaching guidelines? I am not aware of any, and indeed, the authors of the “Guidelines” start out by asking:
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