Sunday, October 07, 2012

Index of Published Evidence on Mass Extermination in Auschwitz and Auschwitz-Birkenau

The following is a list of evidence on large scale killings in the Auschwitz camp complex, in particular - but not limited to - homicidal gassing. The aim is to highlight the range, diversification and scale of the published evidence on mass extermination in Auschwitz.

The index already includes a large bunch of material, but is still far from being complete or nearly complete. So more items will be added when new sources are obtained. The readers of this blog are also encouraged to provide any additions and corrections. We would also be happy to include previously unpublished sources if they can be released here.

The references have been shortened as far as possible. The DVD "Digitale Bibliothek 101: Der Auschwitz-Prozess" is referenced as [Auschwitz trial DVD], all cited accounts from this source can be also accessed here. Holocaust denier Carlo Mattogno's books have been abbreviated as follows: ACI - Auschwitz: Crematorium I, ASS - Auschwitz: assistenza sanitaria, ATFG - Auschwitz: The First Gassing, ATCFS - Auschwitz: The Case For Sanity, IFCDA - I Forni Crematori di Auschwitz, STIA - Special Treatment in Auschwitz, TBOA - The Bunkers of Auschwitz.

Contemporary German documents

  • Letter of 14 July 1941 from the Topf engineer Paul Erdmann to the construction office Mauthausen on a cremation rate of 33 to 40 min per corpse "without overloading" the two-muffle oven [Rebuttal of Mattogno on Auschwitz, Part 1: Indoor Cremation]
  • Report of 30 October 1941 from the construction office Auschwitz on "60 men can be cremated" in the Topf five three muffle ovens within one hour Bartosik, The origins of the Birkenau camp, p. 170, see also Rebuttal of Mattogno on Auschwitz, Part 1: Indoor Cremation]
  • List of constructions of 31 March 1942 on "5 horse stable barracks | special treatment" [Mattogno, STIA, p. 36] 
  • Letter from central construction office Auschwitz to SS-WVHA of 9 June 1942 on “for the special treatment of Jews, erection of 4 horse stable barracks for accomodation of effects" [Bartosik, The beginnings of the extermination of Jews..., p.109]
  • List of barracks of 30 June 1942 on “effect barracks for special treatment 3 pieces” [Bartosik, The beginnings of the extermination of Jews...,p.118]
  • List of work done by company Lenz & Co of 8 July 1942 on "2 doors at 2nd [?] gas-chamber [Bartosik, The beginnings of the extermination of Jews...,p.66]
  • Letter of construction office Auschwitz to construction office Stuthof on "an incineration takes about ½ hour according to the Topf company” in the three-muffle oven [Mattogno, IFCDA, p. 424
  • Estimate of costs of 15 July 1942 on “4 barracks for special treatment of prisoners in Birkenau” [Bartosik, The beginnings of the extermination of Jews..., p.114]
  • Explanatory report of 15 July 1942 on “5 barracks for special treatment of detainees” [Mattogno, STIA, p. 37] 
  • List of barracks of 17 July 1942 on “Purpose: special treatment Type: 260/9 Needed: 5 Erected: 3 Still to erect: 2” [Bartosik, The beginnings of the extermination of Jews..., p.121]
  • List of prisoner's details of 17 August 1942 on "for Sonderkommando 475 prisoners and 25 functionaries" [Bartosik, The beginnings of the extermination of Jews...,p.69]
  • Memo of Fritz Ertl of 21 August 1942 on „bathing installations for special actions" [Schüle, Industrie und Holocaust, p. 440; color scan p.1 & p.2
  • Work of the electricians' detail between 20 and 22 August 1942 on "Installation and supply line for the Sonderkommando" [Bartosik, The beginnings of the extermination of Jews...,p.75]
  • Radio signal of 26 August 1942 on “material [Zyklon-B, back-up link] for special treatment” [Death Books From Auschwitz: Remnants, Vol. I, p. 144] 
  • Letter from Kurt Prüfer of 8 September 1942 on "the number of muffles [37 with a capacity of 1850 corpses per day] is not yet sufficient; we should deliver more ovens as quick as possible" [Schüle, Industrie und Holocaust, p. 442] 
  • Travel permit of Arthur Liebehenschel of 14 September 1942 on “5 trucks…for special actions” [Mattogno, STIA, p. 135] 
  • Report from Fritz Sanders of 14 September 1942 on "stuffing the individual muffles with several corpses" [Schüle, Industrie und Holocaust, p. 443] 
  • Radio signal of 15 September 1942 on “experimental station for field ovens Aktion Reinhard” [Johannes Tuchel, Inspektion der Konzentrationslager 1938-1945, p. 176, back-up link]
  • Report of 17 September 1942 on “inspection of special facility” in Chelmno and order for “a ball mill for substances” [Shmuel Krakowski, Das Todeslager Chełmno/Kulmhof: Der Beginn der"Endlösung", p. 120, English translation
  • Speech of Oswald Pohl of 23 September 1942 on “special tasks, about which we do not have to speak words” [The Van Pelt report, VI Blueprints of the Genocide
  • Schedule for the visit to Auschwitz by Oswald Pohl on 23 September 1942 on "Station 2 of Aktion Reinhardt" [Bartosik, The beginnings of the extermination of Jews...,p.81] 
  • Order of 5 October 1942 on “doors for special t[reatment] of the Jews” [Mattogno, STIA, p. 48]
  • Letter from Karl Bischoff to SS-WVHA of 13 October 1942 on “due to the situation created by the special actions, the construction of the crematorium had to be begun immediately just this past July”  [Bartosik, The beginnings of the extermination of Jews...,p.226] 
  • Patent draft from Fritz Sanders of 26 October 1942 on “continuously operating corpse cremation oven for mass use” [Schüle, Industrie und Holocaust, p. 450] 
  • List of construction projects of 28 October 1942 on "POW camp Auschwitz (carrying out the special treatment)" [Florian Freund et al., Der Bau des Vernichtungslagers Auschwitz-Birkenau]
  • Report from Karl Bischoff of 4 November 1942 on “special cellar” in crematorium 2 [  A new document mentioning "special cellars" (Sonderkeller) in the crematoria 2 and 3 at Birkenau ]
  • Memo from Fritz Wolter of 27 November 1942 on “special cellars” in crematorium 2 [Schüle, Industrie und Holocaust, p. 180] 
  • Assignement of barracks of 8 December 1942 on “Purpose: special treatment (old) Type: 260/9 Needed: 5 Erected: 5” in Birkenau [Bartosik, The beginnings of the extermination of Jews...,p.130] 
  • Report from the duty officer of 9 December 1942 on “6 prisoners escaped from special detail I” [Czech, Kalendarium, p. 355]
  • Report (1,2) from Heinrich Kinna of 16 December 1942 on “imbeciles, idiots, cripples and sick people have to be removed from the camp within a short time by liquidiation to unburden the camp…Poles have to die of a natural death contrary to the measures applied on the Jews” [IPN GK 69/169, reproduced in Jaczynska, Sonderlaboratorium SS, p. 423, see also The Kinna Report - German Document on the Killing of Unfit Jews in Auschwitz]
  • Explanationary report from Karl Bischoff of 16 December 1942 on “the individual crematoriums and other special facilities” [Mattogno, STIA, p. 61] 
  • Receipt of coke delivery of 18 December 1942 to "Sonderkommando 2" [Bartosik, The beginnings of the extermination of Jews...,p.205] 
  • Order of Rudolf Höss of 5 January 1943 on “the solution of the Jewish question in Auschwitz” [Czech, Kalendarium, p. 845]
  • Letter from Karl Bischoff of 13 January 1943 on “doors for crematorium I in the POW camp, ordered with letter dated Oct. 26, 1942 are urgently required for the carrying out of the special measures” [Mattogno, STIA, p. 91]
  • Letter from Eduard Wirths of 21 January 1943 on “undressing room” in crematorium 2 [Mattogno ATCOS, vol. 1, p. 72] 
  • Letter from Karl Bischof to Hans Kammler of 27 January 1943 on “carrying out of the special action” in Birkenau [Mattogno, STIA, p. 131] 
  • Memo from Heinrich Swoboda of 29 January 1943 on “cremation with simultaneous special treatment” in crematorium 2
  • Letter from Karl Bischoff of 29 January 1943 on “gassing cellar” in crematorium 2 [Pressac, Technique, p. 432
  • Report of Oswald Pohl of 6 February 1943 on ""realization of textile-salvage from the Jewish resettlement" [NO-5742, english]
  • Memo of Karl Bischoff of 10 February 1943 on "at special unit 1, three horse stable baracks" and "at special unit 2, three horse stable baracks" available "for the storage of personal effects" [Bartosik, The beginnings of the extermination of Jews...,p.135]  
  • Order of 10 February 1943 for 200 kg chlorinated lime "for the Sonderkommando Birkenau" [Bartosik, The beginnings of the extermination of Jews...,p.203]  
  • Camp employement record book on 10 February 1943 on "request of dentists for the special action" [Bartosik, The beginnings of the extermination of Jews...,p.209]   
  • Letter from Karl Bischoff to Rudolf Höß of 12 February 1943 on the “sixth crematorium…an open incineration chamber with the dimension 48.75 x 3.76 m” [Schüle, Industrie und Holocaust, p. 450] 
  • Memo from Fritz Sander of 17 February 1943 on “the gas cellar” in crematorium 2 [Schüle, Industrie und Holocaust, p. 456, back-up 1st and 2nd page]
  • Order of 13 February 1943 on “12 gas tight doors approx. 30/40” for crematorium 4 and 5 [Pressac, Technique, p. 444]
  • Order of 15 February 1943 on “210 anchors for gas tight doors” for crematorium 4 [Pressac, Technique, p. 448]
  • Note from Josef Janisch of 15 February 1943 on “for undressing, a horse stable barrack has been erected infront of the cellar entrance” of crematorium 2 [Mattogno, ATCFS, vol. 1, p. 74]
  • Order of 19 February 1943 on “4 tight doors” for crematorium 4 [Pressac, Technique, p. 452
  • Telex from Heinrich Schwarz to SS-WVHA of 20 February 1943 on “the men were specially accommodated because of infirmity, the women because most of them were children” [Sterbebücher von Auschwitz, document 56, back-up]
  • List of materials of 24 February 1943 on “12 gas tight doors approx. 30/40” for crematorium 4 and 5 [Pressac, Technique, p. 444]
  • Delivery note of 24 February 1943 on “fittings of 12 gas tight doors” for crematorium 4 and 5 [Pressac, Technique, p. 443]
  • Work time sheet of 28 February 1943 on “fit gas tight windows” in crematorium 4 [Pressac, Technique, p. 445]
  • Work time sheet of 2 March 1943 on “concrete in gas chamber” in crematorium 4 [Pressac, Technique, p. 446
  • Letter from Topf to central construction office Auschwitz of 2 March 1943 on “display devices for hydrogen cyanide residues” for crematorium 2 [Pressac, Die Krematorien von Auschwitz, p. 92]
  • Order of 5 March 1943 of “handle for gas door” for crematorium 2 [Pressac, Technique, p. 433]
  • Telex from Heinrich Schwarz to SS-WVHA of 5 March 1943 on “918 women and children sent to special treatment“ [Blumental, Dokumenty i materiały, volume 1, p. 109]
  • Telex from Heinrich Schwarz to SS-WVHA of 8 March 1943 on “151 men and 492 women and children were specially treated“ [Blumental, Dokumenty i materiały, volume 1, p. 110]
  • Letter from Karl Bischoff to Topf of 6 March 1943 on “preheating cellar 1” and “undressing room” in crematorium 2 and 3 [Pressac, Technique, p. 433]
  • Working time sheet from Heinrich Messing of 14 March 1943 on “undressing cellar 2” in crematorium 2 [Pressac, Technique, p. 434]
  • Plan of Birkenau camp of 20 March 1943 indicating a barrack at crematorium 2 [Pressac, Technique, p. 226, also p. 462]
  • Memo of 25 March 1943 on “hot air supply device for corpse cellar 1” in crematorium 2 [Pressac, Technique, p. 230]
  • Order from the central construction office of 29 March 1943 on 4 “iron grilles” for windows 30 x 40 cm of crematoria 4 and 5 (i.e. the gas tight windows) [Mattogno, ATCFS, p. 169]
  • Duty testimonial for [Hans?] Kühnemann of 30 March 1943 on "the action 'resettlement of the Jews', where he supervised, collected and drove away the effects that accumulated at special detail 1 [So. Kdo. I] and crematorium 2" [Perz and Sandkühler, Auschwitz und die "Aktion Reinhard" 1942 - 45, p. 296]
  • Order from Karl Bischoff of 31 March 1943 on “3 gas tight doors” of crematorium 4 and 5 and “gas door 100/192 for corpse cellar 1…with double 8 mm glass and peephole” of crematorium 2 and 3 [Pressac, Technique, p. 436]
  • Transfer document of 31 March 1943 on “gas door” in crematorium 2 [Pressac, Technique, p. 437]
  • Transfer inventory of 31 March 1943 on “4 wire mesh slide in devices” and “wooden covers” in the crematorium 2 basement [Pressac, Technique, p. 430]
  • Order of 6 April 1943 on “24 anchor bolts for gas tight doors” for crematorium 4 and 5 [Pressac, Technique, p. 454]
  • Work time sheet from Heinrich Messing of 13 April 1943 on “undressing cellar” in crematorium 3 [Pressac, Technique, p. 439
  • Material list of 13 April 1943 on “extension of the aeration and deaeration device (warm air supply) of the crematorium II” [Rudolf Report, 2nd edition]
  • Order of 16 April 1943 on “iron for fittings for 5 gas doors” for crematorium 4 and 5 [Pressac, Technique, p. 438]
  • Order of 16 April 1943 on “fitting for 1 gas door” for crematorium 3 [Pressac, Technique, p. 439]
  • Work time sheet of 16 April 1943 on “fit gas door” in crematorium 5 [Pressac, Technique, p. 454]
  • Letter from Karl Bischoff to Rudolf Höß of 17 April 1943 on "the horse stable barracks erected at special unit II and at crematorium III are urgently needed for troop accommodation...After the operation of special unit II has stopped and the corresponding quarters by Crematorium III are available as well, information is requested as to when the barracks can be dismantled"  [Bartosik, The beginnings of the extermination of Jews...,p.139] 
  • Order from Rudolf Höß of 20 April 1943 on “2 Jews escaped from the Sonderkommando” [Standort- und Kommandanturbefehle, p. 251]
  • Order from the central construction office of 27 April 1943 on “12 pieces of window grids 50 x 70 cm” (i.e. for the gas tight windows) [Pressac, Technique, p. 441
  • Report from Alfred Franke-Gricksch of May 1943 on the extermination of Jews unfit for work in Auschwitz [see Nazi Document on Mass Extermination of Jews in Auschwitz-Birkenau ]
  • Memo of Karl Bischoff of 9 May 1943 on "two horse stable barracks from 'special action 1'" [Bartosik, The beginnings of the extermination of Jews...,p.144] 
  • Map of 2 June 1943 with a “prohibited area” near the Bunker 1 and 2 extermination sites [Pressac, Die Krematorien von Auschwitz, doc. 21, see also The prohibited area Birkenau]
  • Order from Glücks via Liebehenschel of 15 June 1943 on “special buildings” should be “located offside in accordance with their purpose and cannot be stared at by all sorts of people” [NO-1242]
  • Transfer inventory of 24 June 1943 on “14 showers” and “1 gas tight door” in crematorium 3 [Pressac, Technique , p. 430
  • Report from Karl Bischoff to Hans Kammler of 28 June 1943 on “capacity of existing crematoria…in 24 h…4756 persons” [Schüle, Industrie und Holocaust, p. 460]
  • Order of Hans Aumeier of 6 August 1943 on "the performed work on the occasion of the special action" [Standort- und Kommandanturbefehle, p. 320] 
  • List of female prisoners of 21 August 1943 (signed by Maria Mandel), who were “specially lodged” (abbreviated G.U. in German) [Sterbebücher von Auschwitz, document 32, see also Auschwitz-Birkenau Selection List of 21 August 1943]
  • Letter from the central construction office to the camp administration of 24 December 1943 on "stores of the special actions" [Mattogno, STIA, p. 74]
  • Letter of the camp administration to  the central construction office of 24 December 1943 on "narrow-gauge material, namely tracks and wagons, had been provided to Sonderkommando 1"  [Bartosik, The beginnings of the extermination of Jews...,p.211]
  • Letter for Hans Kori to concentration camp Majdanek that the cremation time of his ovens can be halved to 30 min per corpse by employing multiple cremations [Mattogno, IFCDA, p. 422
  • Letter of the central construction office Auschwitz to the camp administration of 4 February 1944 on "the loaned barracks at Sonderkommando 1 are no longer required there" [Bartosik, The beginnings of the extermination of Jews...,p.147]
  • Proposal list of 9 February 1944 on "after finishing his daily tours, Sch[ramme] was used for the tours due to 'special tasks', Dylewski was "significantly involved in carrying out the 'special tasks' in the camp, and was there to be on duty at day and night"
  • Letter of the camp administration to the central construction office Auschwitz of 18 March 1944 on "it is requested to provide the cable - 4 x 6 m² [sic] 1 KV - to Bunker I., Birkenau, which is no longer needed" [Bartosik, The beginnings of the extermination of Jews...,p.101]
  • Telegram of Kammler to the central construction office Auschwitz on "for the special action Hungary, immediately erect three horse-stable barracks at the swerve bunkers" [Bartosik, The beginnings of the extermination of Jews...,p.149]
  • Duty notes from August Bielisch of 20 May [Leide, NS-Verbrecher und Staatssicherheit, p. 262], Gottfried Weisse of 24 May and Gerhard Appel of 25 May 1944 [Faschismus - Getto - Massenmord, p. 373]: "I will maintain unconditional secrecy during the measures to carry out the Jewish evacuation, and also vis-à-vis my comrades" 
  • Telegram from Hans Kammler to the central construction office of 25 May 1944 on “for special action Hungary/program 3 horse stable barracks are immediately to be erected at the swerve bunkers” [Bartosik, The beginnings of the extermination of Jews...,p.150]
  • Memo from Werner Jothann of 17 June 1944 on “camouflage of the crematoria and security measures by erection of a second fence“ [Auschwitz 1940-1945, Volume 3 p. 183] 
  • Labour force report of 28 July 1944 on "807 stokers" and "30 wood unloader" at the crematoria in Auschwitz-Birkenau [similar reports exist also for later dates, see here
  • Escape report of 7 September (actually October) 1944 on “special detail (crematorium)” [originally from the website of the Auschwitz State Museum]
  • Strength reports of the female camp in Birkenau of October 1944 on "special treatment [abbreviated SB]" as loss of prisoners
  • 3 October 1944 [Hefte von Auschwitz 8, p. 115] 
  • 4 October 1944 [Deaths books of Auschwitz; image originally from the Auschwitz Museum website]
  • 6 October 1944 [Baum, Widerstand in Auschwitz, p. 28] 
  • 8 October 1944 [Kogon, Nationalsozialistische Massentötungen durch Giftgas, p. 223]
  • 15 October 1944 [Baum Widerstand in Auschwitz, p. 29] 
  • Letter to Dachau camp administration of 25 October 1944 on "deportation of unfit Jews to Auschwitz" and "transport of invalids to Auschwitz" [back up here
  • Letter to Dachau camp administration of 31 October 1944 on "transfer of 1020 sick and unfit prisoners to Auschwitz" [back up here]

Contemporary testimonies of SS personnel and German military

  • Diary of SS doctor Johann Kremer between August - November 1942 on "special actions" and "Auschwitz the camp of extermination" [Auschwitz State Museum, KL Auschwitz seen by the SS]
  • Testimony of Heinrich Kittel (military commander), conversation with Hans Schäffer (lieutenant-general) of December 1944 (in British capture) on "[i]n Upper Silesia, they simply slaughtered the people systematically. They were gassed in a big hall" [Andrew Roberts, The Genocide Generals]

Contemporary German photographs

  • central construction office photograph of crematorium 2 gas chamber with its gas introduction chimneys (enlargement, see also here for a discussion) 
  • photograph of the Auschwitz identification service of Jews selected as unfit for work just in front of crematorium 5 site  
  • photograph of the Auschwitz identification service of Jews selected as unfit for work in front of crematorium 2 site  
  • photograph of the Auschwitz identification service of the seized shoes from Hungarian Jews and heavy smoke from crematorium 5 site in the background

Contemporary Sonderkommando photographs

  • photograph of women undressing within the area enclosed by a camouflage fence in front of crematorium 5 [close up from Teresa Swiebocka, Auschwitz: A History in Photographs, see here for a discussion of the photograph]
  • photographs (1, 2) of open air cremation behind crematorium 5 [see here and here for references and a discussion]

Contemporary aerial photographs (see also Auschwitz-Birkenau Aerial Photographs)

  • Allied aerial photograph of 31 May 1944
  • Allied aerial photograph of 26 June 1944 
  • German Luftwaffe photograph of 8 July 1944 
  • Allied aerial photograph of 20 and 23 August 1944
  • Allied aerial photograph of 25 August 1944 
  • Allied aerial photograph of 13 September 1944

Contemporary Sonderkommando handwritings (see also The Contemporary Sonderkommando Handwritings on Mass Extermination in Auschwitz-Birkenau)

  • Chaim Herman, found in February 1945 [Inmitten des grauenvollen Verbrechens, p. 259 ff.]
  • Salmen Gradowski, found on 5 March 1945 at crematorium 2 [Inmitten des grauenvollen Verbrechens, p. 136 ff.], second manuscript found in summer 1945 [Gradowski, Au coeur de l'enfer] 
  • Lejb Langfus, found in April 1945 at crematorium 3 [Inmitten des grauenvollen Verbrechens, p. 68 ff.] 
  • Unkown author or Lejb Langfus, found in 1952 [Inmitten des grauenvollen Verbrechens, p. 177 ff.] 
  • Salmen Lewenthal, found on 28 July 1961 [Inmitten des grauenvollen Verbrechens, p. 193 ff.] 
  • Marcel Nadsari, found on 24 October 1980 at crematorium 3 [Contemporary Handwritten Letter of Auschwitz Sonderkommando Prisoner Marcel Nadjari Deciphered]

Contemporary prisoner's letters and reports

  • Secret letter of Polish prisoner Konrad Szweda of January 1942 on "the moaning of the gassed could be heared the whole night..." [Klodzinski, Die erste Vergasung von Häftlingen…, in Die Auschwitz-Hefte, p. 270] 
  • Secret letter of Polish prisoner Janusz Pogonowksi of 14 July 1942 on "318 Poles and 834 Jews were gassed at the neighbouring camp of Rajsko [means Birkenau] yesterday" [Piper, Illegale Briefe aus Auschwitz von Janusz Pogonowski, p. 17] 
  • Secret letter of Stanislaw Klodzinski to Teresa Lasocka (Cracow) of 28 June 1943 on "in Rajsko [means Birkenau] 3000 people were sent into the gas the previous friday or thursday" [Czech, Kalendarium, p. 529] 
  • Secret letter of Stanislaw Klodzinski to Teresa Lasocka (Cracow) of 30 August 1944 on "the gassing of Jews goes on. Transport from Lodz, Holland and Italy. The pits, in which the gassed were burnt, when the crematoria could not cope with them, are filled to remove the traces" [Czech, Kalendarium, p. 866] 
  • Secret letter of Jozef Cyrankiewicz to Teresa Lasocka (Cracow) of 6 October 1944 on "the gassing does not end: 3000 inmates from Theresienstadt; 2500 from Auschwitz I, II and III; 6000 Hungarian Jews; 500 Jews from the ghetto Lodz; 400 prisoners from Buchenwald" [Czech, Kalendarium p. 897] 
  • Diary entry of Renata Laqueur (prisoner of Bergen-Belsen) of 13 November 1944 on "I saw the burned in Auschwitz number on the arm of a woman, heard from gassings..." [Renata Laqueur, Bergen-Belsen Tagebuch 1944/45, cited from Keller, Konzentrationslager Bergen-Belsen, 1995, p. 116]  
  • Testimony of Eleonore Hodys of 1944 for German SS prosecutors on "I shall have to be sent to Birkenau for gas"

Contemporary reports of escaped Auschwitz prisoners

  • Report by Rudolf Vrba and Alfred Wetzlar, escaped in April 1944 [Swiebocka, London has been informed]
  • Report by Arnost Rosin and Czeslaw Mordowicz, escaped in May 1944 [Swiebocka, London has been informed]  
  • Report by Ananij Silovich Pet'ko and Vladimir Jakovlevich Pegov, escaped in May 1944 
  • Report by Jerzy Tabeau, escaped in November 1943 [Swiebocka, London has been informed] 
  • Report of escaped Hungarian Jewess of summer 1944 [Gerlach, Das letzte Kapitel, p. 287 – 288] 

Contemporary Polish publications and reports

  • Polish exile government
    • 24 October 1941 on “850 Soviet officers and noncoms (POWs)…were killed by gas as a test of a new type of combat gas” [Obóz koncentracyjny Oświęcim w świetle akt delegatury rządu RP na kraj, quoted from Mattogno, ATFG, p. 31] 
    • 15 November 1941 on “September 5-6 some 600 Soviet inmates, ‘Politruks’ of the army, and about 200 Poles were herded into the Bunker and, when the Bunker had been hermetically sealed, were poisoned with a gas and their corpses taken to the crematorium and burned” [Obóz…, quoted from Mattogno, ATFG, p. 31] 
    • 17 November 1941 on “September 5-6, 1941, some 600 Soviet civilian prisoners of war that had been taken there were herded into the Bunker at Oscwiecim with their arms and legs broken. Added to them were some 250 Poles. The openings of the Bunker were hermetically closed, and the inmates shut in were poisoned with gases” [Obóz…, quoted from Mattogno, ATFG, p. 31] 
    • 15 December 1941 on “in the concrete shelter 500 POWs have been poisoned by means of a combat gas” [Obóz…, quoted from Mattogno, ATFG, p. 32] 
    • 1 July 1942 ( the Polish Fortnightly Review) about the gassing of 700 Russian POWs and 300 Poles in the night of 5 to 6 September 1941 [The Van Pelt Report, electronic edition, III Intimations
    • August 1943 (Obóz smierci by Natalia Zarembina) about the gassing of Russian POWs and sick inmates in Block 11 in Auschwitz main camp [Mattogno, ATFG, p. 33 f.] 
  • Kraj (Polish underground state clandestine publication)
    • 15 July 1943 on “gas chambers in the concentration camps” and “smoke clouds from the crematoria of Majdanek, Auschwitz and Sobibor” [Klaus-Peter Friedrich, Der nationalsozialistische Judenmord in polnischen Augen Einstellungen in den polnischen Presse, p. 114]
    • 14 June 1944 about the murder of 100,000 Hungarian Jews in Auschwitz with gas chambers, body disposal in four crematoria and pyres, assisted by 2000 Jewish prisoners [Friedrich, Judenmord, p. 116] 
    • 26 June 1944 about 40 kg of gold obtained from “the murder of Jews in Auschwitz” [Friedrich, Judenmord, p. 116] 
    • 9 September 1943 on “entire transports are sent into the gas, without any registration. The number of murdered exceeded 500,000…The new crematorium burns about 5000 persons every day, mostly Jews“ [Friedrich, Judenmord, p. 151]
  • Biuletyn Informacyjny (Polish underground state)
    • 17 September 1942 on “gas chambers, in which 1000 Jews are murdered per day. The corpses are burnt in three crematoria” [Friedrich, Judenmord, p. 115]
    • 8 October 1942 on „death camp“ Auschwitz [Friedrich, Judenmord, p. 115]
    • 14 January 1943 about gassing of Jews and POWs in Auschwitz [Friedrich, Judenmord, p.115]
    • 29 July 1943 on “thousands of bolshevist POWs and Jews from all over Europe died” [Friedrich, Judenmord, p. 115] 
    • 7 October 1943 about the gassing of prisoners on 1 - 3 August 1943 in Auschwitz, the killing of 470,000 Jews up to September 1943 and killing of Jews from Bedzin and Sosnowitz [Friedrich, Judenmord, p. 115] 
    • 29 Juni 1944 on the “monstrous murder of the Jews” in Auschwitz [Friedrich, Judenmord, p. 116]
  • Dziennik Polski (political left)
    • 20 April 1943 on “murder factories” and the gassing of “more than 900,000 Jews” and daily average of murdered Jews of 9000 [Friedrich, Judenmord, p. 176] 
    • 27 May 1943 about the murder of 8000 Greek Jews within one week and 76,721 deaths between mid June 1940 and 1 March 1943 excluding Jews [Friedrich, Judenmord, p. 176] 
    • 7 August 1943 on the gassing of 7500 Jews deported from Majdanek [Friedrich, Judenmord, p. 176] 
    • 11 September 1943 on “gas chambers in Auschwitz and Belzec” [Friedrich, Judenmord, p. 176]
  • WRN (political left)
    • 4 December 1942 on “transports of Jews that are immediately liquidated - probably by gas” in Auschwitz [Friedrich, Judenmord, p. 175] 
    • 18 December 1942 about deportations of Jews from Cracow to Auschwitz and their gassing within one day [Friedrich, Judenmord, p. 175] 
    • 5 February 1943 on “mass murder” in Auschwitz and the “construction of two gas chambers for 1200 people each” [Friedrich, Judenmord, p. 176] 
    • 4 June 1943 on “unregistered transports that go into the gas immediately after arrival” [Friedrich, Judenmord, p. 176] 
    • 13 August 1943 about the gassing of a 3000 people Jewish transports (except for 19) in mid August 1943 and on 20 June 1943 a small transport of Poles was gassed [Friedrich, Judenmord, p. 177] 
    • 30 December 1943 on the “continuous murder of Jews” in Auschwitz [Friedrich, Judenmord, p. 177]
  • Robotnik w walce (political left)
    • 7 May 1944 about the gassing of Jews from Theresienstadt on 25 March 1944, the murdered had to write predated letters to their relatives [Friedrich, Judenmord, p. 177] 
    • 23 April 1944 on “1 Million persons from gassed Jewish transports” in the “death camp” Auschwitz [Friedrich, Judenmord, p. 218]
  • Robotnik (political left)
    • 15 November 1942 about gassings in Auschwitz since June 1941, gas chambers in Birkenau for gassing of Soviet POWs and Jews. 94,140 Jews were murdered [Friedrich, Judenmord, p. 175]
  • Informator (political right)
    • 7 June 1944 on “gas chambers” in the “death factory” Auschwitz [Friedrich, Judenmord, p. 240]
  • Sanacja (authoritarian, nationalistic)
    • 25 June 1943 on “Auschwitz - a mass grave of several hundred of thousands tortured, mistreated, murdered and burned martyr” [Friedrich, Judenmord, p. 289] (note that Sanacja did not mention gas chambers in Auschwitz)
  • Prawda (catholic)
    • 3 March 1943 about gassing of 20,000 Jews from Poland, 502,000 Jews from France, Belgium and the Netherlands [Friedrich, Judenmord, p. 308]
    • July 1943 about murder of ten thousands of unregistered Jews and Russian POWs in Auschwitz [Friedrich, Judenmord, p. 309]
  • Narod (catholic)
    • August - September 1943 about gas chambers in Treblinka, Belzec, Majdanek and Auschwitz [Friedrich, Judenmord, p. 328]
  • Przez walke do zwyciestwa (peasant movement)
    • 10 August 1942 about gassing of sick and emaciated prisoners in cellars [Friedrich, Judenmord, p. 338]
    • 10 October 1942 on a “special way of executing” Jews in Auschwitz and a new building for killing with gas [Friedrich, Judenmord, p. 334]
    • 20 October 1942 about operation of several gas chambers in Auschwitz to kill 3000 - 4000 people at the same time [Friedrich, Judenmord, p. 334]
    • 20 October 1943 about the killing of 643,000 people in Auschwitz therof 95,000 Poles until 15 December 1942 [Friedrich, Judenmord, p. 334]
  • Wies (peasant movement)
    • 8 May 1943 about a daily cremation capacity of 3000 corpses of the crematorium in Auschwitz [Friedrich, Judenmord, p. 352]
    • 1 March 1944 about gassing of 1.5 Million Jews in Birkenau [Friedrich, Judenmord, p. 335]

Post-liberation testimonies of SS and German military personnel [eyewitness] (35)

  • Hans Aumeier (camp leader) [most likely eyewitness] 

  • Stefan Baretzki (block leader) [eyewitness], interrogation of 12 April 1960, Plaidt (West-German investigators), examinations of 20 January, 27 July and 1 October 1964, examination of 18 February and 3 May 1965, Frankfurt (West-German trial proceeding) [Auschwitz trial DVD]

  • Pery Broad (Political Department) [eyewitness]
    • Report of 13 July 1945 [KL Auschwitz seen by the SS, see also How Reliable and Authentic is the Broad Report?]
    • Affidavit of 14 December 1945 [NI-11397]
    • Interrogation of 2 March 1946 [NI-11954]
    • Affidavit of 20 October 1947 [NI-11984]
    • Interrogation of 30 April and 1 May 1959, Braunschweig (West-German police) [Auschwitz trial DVD]
    • Interrogation of 21 December 1960, Frankfurt (West-German police)
    • Interrogation of 22 December 1960, Frankfurt (West-German investigators)
    • Interrogation of 7 und 8 Februar 1961, Düsseldorf (West-German investigators)
    • Examination of 13 Januar 1964, Frankfurt (West-German trial proceeding) [Auschwitz trial DVD]
    • Examination of 20 April 1964, Frankfurt (West-German trial proceeding) [Langbein, Der Auschwitz-Prozess, p. 539 ff.]

  • Richard Böck (SS motor pool) [eyewitness], interrogation of 2 November 1960, Günburg (West-German investigators), examination of 3 August 1964, Frankfurt (West-German trial proceeding) [Auschwitz trial DVD]
  • Adolf Eichmann (RSHA) [eyewitness], interview by Willem Sassen of 1957 (?) [Adler, Zeugnisse und Berichte, p. 203], manuscript of 6 September 1959 (preparation for defense at Israeli trial), interrogation of (?) by Avner Less (Israeli investigators)
  • Friedrich Entress (SS doctor) [eyewitness], affidavit of 29 January 1946 (on gassing of unfit prisoners in Auschwitz), affidavit of 14 April 1947, Landsberg [Mattogno, TBOA, p. 141] (on gassing at the Bunker extermination sites)
  • Josef Erber (Political Department) [eyewitness], interview of 12 July 1977 (by John Steiner and Günter Bierbrauer) [transcript was available online, accessed 8 June 2003; back up at HC forum], interview by Ebbo Demant in 1979 [Demant, Direkt von der Rampe weg..., p. 31 ff.], letter to Gerald Fleming of 14 September 1981 [Fleming, Endlösung, p. 204, quoted here] (on gassing of Jews in crematoria in Birkenau)
  • Horst Fischer (SS doctor) [eyewitness], manuscript of 4, 7,18 and 25 September 1965, interrogation of 2 and 29 September 1965 [East-German investigators] [Dirks, Die Verbrechen der anderen] (on gassing of Jews selected as unfit for work in crematoria in Birkenau)
  • Maximilian Grabner (head of political department) [eyewitness], interrogation of 1 and 26 September 1945 (Austrian police) [Mattogno, ACI; Mattogno, ATFG, p. 65; Mattogno, TBOA, p. 132 ff.], report of 17 September 1947 (Polish capture) [Mattogno, ATFG, p. 65] (on gassings in Block 11 and crematorium in the main camp and in crematoria in Birkenau)
  • Oskar Groening (SS guard) [eyewitness], interview by the BBC [Rees, Auschwitz] (on gassing at Bunker extermination site in Birkenau)
  • Emil Hantl (medical orderly) [eyewitness], interrogation of 26 May 1961, Marktredwitz (West-German investigators), interrogation of 29 May 1961, Frankfurt (West-German investigators), interrogation of 20 September 1961, Frankfurt (West-German investigators), examination of 29 March 1965, Frankfurt (West-German trial proceeding) [Auschwitz trial DVD] (on gassing in crematorium in Birkenau) 
  • Gerhard Hess [eyewitness], interrogation of 15 May 1962, Kehl am Rhein (West-German investigators), examination of 11 September 1964, Frankfurt (West-German trial proceeding) [Auschwitz trial DVD] (on gassings in crematorium in main camp and in "large barracks" in Birkenau) 
  • Franz Hofmann (camp leader) [eyewitness] (on gassing of sick inmates and Jews selected as unfit for work in the crematoria in Auschwitz-Birkenau) 
    • Interrogations of 22 April 1959, Hechingen and of 3 March 1960, Rottenburg (West-German police) 
    • Interrogations of 27 and 28 April and of 25 October 1961, Munich (West-German investigators) 
    • Examinations of 17 January 1964, 23 March, 3 September and 3 May 1965, Frankfurt (West-German trial proceeding) [Auschwitz trial DVD]
  • Karl Hölblinger (SS motor pool) [eyewitness], interrogation of 24 May 1961, Vienna (Austrian authorities), examination of 3 July 1964, Frankfurt (West-German trial proceeding) [Auschwitz trial DVD] (on gassing of unfit Jews at the Bunker site in Birkenau)
  • Rudolf Höß (Auschwitz commandant) [eyewitness] 
    • Deposition of 14 March 1946 (British) [NO-1210]  
    • Interrogation of 1 and 2 April 1946, Nuremberg (US investigators) 
    • Interrogation of 3 and 4 April 1946, Nuremberg (US investigators) 
    • Affidavit of 5 April 1946, Nuremberg (US investigators) [PS-3868
    • Interrogation of 8 April 1946, Nuremberg (US investigators) 
    • Joint interrogation with Otto Moll of 16 April 1946, Nuremberg (US investigators)  
    • Declaration of 24 April 1946, Nuremberg (prison psychologist Gustave Gilbert) 
    • Manuscripts of November 1946 “The final solution of the Jewish question in the concentration camp Auschwitz" and "The Reichsführer SS Heinrich Himmer" (Polish capture) [FitzGibbon, Commandant of Auschwitz] 
    • Autobiographical notes of February 1947 (Polish capture)
      (on gassing in Block 11 and crematorium in the main camp as well as at the Bunker extermination sites and in crematoria in Birkenau)
  • Adam Hradil (SS motor pool) [eyewitness], interrogation of 13 August 1963 (West-German investigators) [Friedler, Zeugen aus der Todeszone, p. 70] (on gassing in Birkenau)
  • Kurt Jurasek (medical department) [eyewitness], 6 July 1964, Frankfurt (West-German trial proceeding) [Auschwitz trial DVD] (on gassing in Auschwitz) 
  • Oswald Kaduk (report leader) [eyewitness]
    • Interrogation of 21 July 1959, Berlin (West-German police?) 
    • Interrogation of 1 and 4 September 1961, Frankfurt (West-German investigators) 
    • Examination of 22 June, 9 July, 28 August, 5 November 1964 and 4 March 1965, Frankfurt (West-German trial proceeding) [Auschwitz trial DVD] 
    • television interview of 1979 by Ebbo Demant (Demant, Direkt von der Rampe weg..., p. 65)
      (on gassing in crematorium in the main camp and in Birkenau)
  • Josef Klehr (SS medical orderly) [eyewitness]
    • Interrogation of 17 September 1960, Braunschweig (West-German investigators) 
    • Interrogation of 22 and 25 September 1961, Frankfurt (West-German investigators) 
    • Examinations of 30 January, 12 June, 18 June, 18 September 1964 and 3 May 1965, Frankfurt (West-German trial proceeding) [Frankfurt Auschwitz trial DVD]
      (on gassing of sick inmates and unfit Jews in crematorium in main camp and crematoria in Birkenau)
  • Fritz Klein (SS doctor) [eyewitness], affidavit of 1945 (British investigators) (on gassing in crematoria in Auschwitz)
  • Johann Paul Kremer (SS doctor) [eyewitness], interrogation of 18 August 1947, Cracow (Polish investigators) [KL Auschwitz seen by the SS], examination of 4 June 1964, Frankfurt (West-German trial proceeding) [Auschwitz trial DVD] (gassings of Jews in the Bunker in Birkenau) 
  • Otto Moll (head of open air body disposal sites) [eyewitness], interrogation of 14 April 1946, Nuremberg (US investigators), joint-interrogation with Rudolf Höss of 16 April 1946, Nuremberg (US investigators) (gassing of Jews in Birkenau) 
  • Konrad Morgen (SS investigator) [eyewitness], affidavit of 13 and 16 July 1946 (Allied investigators) [SS-65 and SS-67, Trial of the Major War Criminals Before the International Military Tribunal, Nuremberg, 14 November 1945-1 October 1946: Documents and other material in evidence, p. 551 ff. and p. 563 f.], examination of 8 August 1946, Nuremberg (Allied trial proceeding), examination of 8 March 1964, Frankfurt (West-German trial proceeding) [Auschwitz trial DVD] (gassing of unfit Jews in crematorium in Birkenau) 
  • Hans Münch (SS doctor) [eyewitness], examination of 3 and 5 March 1964, Frankfurt (West-German trial proceeding) [Auschwitz trial DVD], declaration of 27 January 1995, Auschwitz, letter of 28 February 1995, interview on 15 June 1995 by Germar Rudolf [Rudolf, Auschwitz-Kronzeuge] (on gassing of Jews in crematoria in Birkenau) 
  • Erich Mußfeldt (head of crematoria) [eyewitness], 8 September 1947 (Polish investigators) [Mattogno, TBOA, p. 142 - 143] (gassing at Bunker extermination site) 
  • Anton Siebald (SS motor pool) [eyewitness], interrogations of 19 March 1962 and 15 July 1963 (West-German investigators), examination of 17 September 1964, Frankfurt (West-German trial proceeding) [Auschwitz trial DVD] (gassing of Jews in Birkenau, apparently Bunker extermination site) 
  • Hans Stark (Political Department) [eyewitness], interrogations of 23 and 24 April 1959, Cologne (West-German investigators), interrogation of 3 September 1962, Frankfurt (West-German investigators), examination of 16 January 1964 and 25 January 1965, Frankfurt (West-German trial proceeding) [Auschwitz trial DVD] (gassing in Block 11 (Russian POWs) and crematorium (Jews) in main camp and gassings at Bunker extermination sites in Birkenau] 
  • Henry Storch (SS pharmacy) [eyewitness], interrogation of 29 March 1961 (German authorities) [Mattogno, ATFG, p. 66] examination of 13 July 1964, Frankfurt (West-German trial proceeding) [Auschwitz trial DVD] (gassing in Block 11 and crematorium in main camp) 
  • Josef Thul (Luftwaffe sergeant) [eyewitness], interrogation of 29 March 1945 (US military) [Stephen Tyas, Allied Intelligence Agencies and the Holocaust: Information Acquired from German Prisoners of War] (on gassing in Auschwitz) 
  • Franz Tomaszewski (SS motor pool) [eyewitness], examination of 28 September 1964, Frankfurt (West-German trial proceeding) [Auschwitz trial DVD] [gassing at Bunker extermination site] 
  • Gerhard Wiebeck (SS investigator) [eyewitness], examination of 1 October 1964, Frankfurt (West-German trial proceeding) [Auschwitz trial DVD] (gassing in crematorium in Birkenau) 
  • Willy Wildermuth (SS motor pool) [eyewitness], examination of 17 September 1964, Frankfurt (West-German trial proceeding) [Auschwitz trial DVD] (gassing of Jews at Bunker extermination sites in Birkenau) 
  • Anton Wilhelmy (medical department) [eyewitness], examination of 21 January 1965 Frankfurt (West-German trial proceeding) [Auschwitz trial DVD] (gassing in crematorium in main camp) 
  • Martin Wilks (medical department) [eyewitness], examination of 17 September 1965 Frankfurt (West-German trial proceeding) [Auschwitz trial DVD] (gassing of Russian POWs in crematorium in main camp and of Jews in Birkenau] 
  • Eduard Wirths (SS doctor) [most likely eyewitness], manuscript of July (?) 1945 [Völklein, Wirths, p. 38], interrogation of 20 July 1945 in Hamburg (West-German police) [Völklein, Wirths, p. 59], interrogation of 15 September 1945 (British investigators) [Beischl, SS-Standortarzt, p. 227]

Post-liberation testimonies of civilians [eyewitness] (2)


Post-liberation testimonies of Sonderkommando prisoners [eyewitness] (29)


  • Daniel Bennahmias (Sonderkommando) [eyewitness], account published as book in 1993 [Fromer, The Holocaust Odyssey of Daniel Bennahmias, quoted in Van Pelt, The Case for Auschwitz, p. 193]
  • Maurice Benroubi (Sonderkommando, 1942) [eyewitness of gassing site and gassed corpses], testimony and interview by Jean-Claude Pressac (80s?) [Pressac, Technique, p. 162
  • Milton Buki (Sonderkommando) [eyewitness], deposition of 7 January 1946, Vienna (Austrian police) [Mattogno, TBOA, p. 118], account (exact date unknown, shortly after the war) [read out at the Auschwitz trial, 14 January 1965], examination of 14 January 1965, Frankfurt (West-German trial proceeding) [Auschwitz trial DVD], declaration of 15 December 1980, Jerusalem [Pressac, Technique, p. 163] (on Bunker extermination sites and crematoria in Birkenau) 
  • Charles Bendel (Sonderkommando) [eyewitness], examination of 1 October 1945, Lüneburg (British military court) [Belsen trial], examination of 2 March 1946, Hamburg (British miliary court) [Tesch trial, NI-11953], account of 1946, Paris [Témoignage sur Auschwitz, p. 159 ff.] (on gassing in the crematoria in Birkenau) 
  • Shaul Chazan (Sonderkommando) [eyewitness], interview (by Israeli historian Gideon Greif) [Greif, We wept without tears, p. 257 ff.] 
  • Leon Cohen (Sonderkommando) [eyewitness], interview (by Israeli historian Gideon Greif) [Greif, We wept without tears, p. 286 ff.] 
  • Shlomo Dragon (Sonderkommando) [eyewitness], interrogation of 26 February 1945 (Soviet military investigators) [Mattogno, TBOA, p. 71], interrogation of 10 and 11 May 1945 (Polish investigators) [Pressac, Technique, p. 171, also Mattogno, TBOA, p. 73], examination of 1 March 1972, Vienna (Austrian trial proceeding) [Pressac, Technique, p. 172], joint interview with Abraham Dragon of 1993 (by Israeli historian Gideo Greif) [Greif, We wept without tears, p. 122 ff.] (on gassings at the Bunker extermination sites and in the crematoria in Birkenau) 
  • Abraham Dragon (Sonderkommando) [eyewitness], joint interview with Shlomo Dragon of 1993 (by Israeli historian Gideo Greif) [Greif, We wept without tears, p. 122 ff.] 
  • Eliezer Eisenschmidt (Sonderkommando) [eyewitness], interview (by Israeli historian Gideon Greif) [Greif, We wept without tears, p. 215 ff.] 
  • Dario Gabai (Sonderkommando) [eyewitness], interview (by the BBC) [Rees, Auschwitz] (on gassing in Birkenau) 
  • Ya'akov Gabai (Sonderkommando) [eyewitness], interview (by Israeli historian Gideon Greif) [Greif, We wept without tears, p. 181 ff.] 
  • Samuel Hejblum (Sonderkommando, 1942) [eyewitness], interview of 17 December 2000 (by Barbara Siebert) [Friedler, Zeugen aus der Todeszone, p. 81] (on gassing at Bunker extermination site in Birkenau) 
  • Stanislaw Jankowski (Sonderkommando) [eyewitness], interrogation of 16 April 1945, Cracow (Polish investigators) [Inmitten des grauenvollen Verbrechens, p. 25 ff.], declaration of 29 September 1980, Paris (before French notary) [Pressac, Technique, p. 124] (on gassing at crematorium in main camp, Bunker extermination sites and crematoria in Birkenau)
  • Morris Kesselman 
  • Andre Lettich (Sonderkommando until March 1943) [eyewitness], account of 1946 [Lettich, Trente-quatre mois dans les Camps de Concentration, see also Mattogno, TBOA, p. 97 and Kogon, Massentötungen, p. 210] 
  • Gabriel Malinski 
  • Henryk Mandelbaum (Sonderkommando) [eyewitness], account published as book [Poludniak, Sonder: An Interview with Sonderkommando Member Henryk Mandelbaum] 
  • Filip Müller (Sonderkommando), examination of December 1947, Cracow (Polish trial proceeding) [Mattogno, ACI, p. 33 ff.], account of (date?) [Kraus & Kulka, Todesfabrik], interrogation of 2 December 1963, Prague (Czech authorities) [read out at the Frankfurt Auschwitz trial on 5 October 1964], examination of 5 and 8 October 1965, Frankfurt [Auschwitz trial DVD] [Auschwitz trial], account of 1979 [Müller, Sonderbehandlung], letter of 24 January 1980 [Lewis Brandon, Journal of Historical Review, vol. 1, issue 3], interview of [date?] (by Claude Lanzmann) (on gassings in crematorium in main camp, Bunker extermination site and crematoria in Birkenau) 
  • David Nencel (Sonderkommando) [eyewitness], interview of 15 July 1995 (by Andreas Kilian) [Friedler, Zeugen aus der Todeszone, p. 138, p. 155, see also Petropoulos, Gray Zones, p. 62] 
  • Miklos Nyiszli (Sonderkommando) [eyewitness], deposition of 28 July 1945 (Hungarian authorities) [Charles Provan, No holes? No holocaust?], account of 1946 published as book [Nyiszli, Mengele boncolóorvosa voltam az auschwitzi krematóriumban, english: Nyiszli, Auschwitz: a doctors eyewitness account, see also Pressac, Technique, p. 473], account of early 1947 (published in Hungarian newspaper Vilag) [Charles Provan, New Light on Dr. Miklos Nyiszli and His Auschwitz Book], affidavit of 8 October 1947, Nuremberg (Allied war crime investigators) [Charles Provan, No holes? No holocaust?] (on gassings in the crematoria in Birkenau) 
  • David Olere (Sonderkommando) [eyewitness]
    • 1945 drawing of Bunker (possibly number 1) extermination site  
    • drawing of crematorium 3 furnace hall 
    • drawing of inside gas-chamber and teeth removal
    • 1946 drawing of gas chamber entrance and corpse removal 
    • 1946 drawing of undressing basement of crematorium 3 
    • 1945 drawing of bone crushing [at crematorium ?]  
    • drawing of crematorium 3 overview  
    • drawing of crematorium 3 gas chamber (side view)  
    • drawing of crematorium 3 gas chamber (side view)  
    • drawing of unloading of victims at crematorium 3  
    • drawing of victims marching into crematorium 3  
    • drawing of shooting at open air burning pit at crematorium 5

  • Dov Paisikovic (Sonderkommando) [eyewitness], deposition of 17 October 1963, Vienna [Mattogno, TBOA, p. 106], deposition of 10 August 1964 (for Auschwitz State Museum) [Mattogno, TBOA, p. 107], examination of 8 October 1964 (West-German trial proceeding) [Auschwitz trial DVD] (on gassing at the Bunker 2 extermination site and in the crematoria in Birkenau)
  • Lemko Pliszko (Sonderkommando) [eyewitness], interview 16 December 2003 (by Israeli historian Gideon Greif) [Petropoulos, Gray Zones, p. 50] 
  • Jehosua Rosenblum 
  • Josef Sackar (Sonderkommando) [eyewitness], interview (by Israeli historian Gideon Greif) [Greif, We wept without tears, p. 87 ff.] 
  • Ya'acov Silberberg (Sonderkommando) [eyewitness], interrogation of 2 June 1971 (West-German investigators) [Friedler, Zeugen aus der Todeszone] interview of 1985 (by Karl Fruchtmann) [Karl Fruchtmann, Ein einfacher Mensch], interview of (1998?) (by Gideon Greif) [Greif, We wept without tears, p. 310 ff.] 
  • Henryk Tauber (Sonderkommando) [eyewitness], interrogation of 27 and 28 February 1945 (Soviet investigators) [Mattogno, ATCFS, p. 375 ff.], deposition of 1945 (Jewish historical commission) [Borwicz, Dokumenty zbrodni imęczeństwa, cited in Mattogno, ATCFS, p. 374 ff.], interrogation of 24 May 1945 (Polish investigators) [Pressac, Technique, p. 482
  • Morris Venezia (Sonderkommando) [eyewitness], interview (by the BBC) [Rees, Auschwitz] (on gassing in Birkenau) 
  • Shlomo Venezia (Sonderkommando) [eyewitness], account published as book in 2007 [Shlomo Venezia, Inside the Gas chambers]

Post-liberation testimonies of prisoners (except Sonderkommando) [eyewitness] (47)


  • Yehuda Bacon (Jewish prisoner) [eyewitness], examination of 1961 (Israeli trial proceeding), examination of 30 October 1964, Frankfurt (West-German trial proceeding) [Auschwitz trial DVD], interview by West German Broadcasting of (60s?) [Adler, Zeugnisse und Berichte, p. 123], drawings of crematorium 4/5, crematorium 2/3 and gas-chamber (on gassing in crematoria in Birkenau)
  • Ludwik Banach (Political prisoner) [eyewitness of gas chamber and gassed corpses], deposition of 18 July 1947 (Polish investigators) [Mattogno, ATFG, p. 45] (on gassing of Russian POWs in Block 11 in the main camp) 
  • Ada Bimko (Jewish prisoner) [eyewitness of gassing site], affidavit of (?), examination of 21 September 1945, Lüneburg (British trial proceeding) (on gassing in crematoria in Birkenau) 
  • Karl Bracht (Political prisoner) [eyewitness], interrogation of 15 October 1959, Meschede (West-German investigators) [Auschwitz trial DVD] (on gassing in crematoria in Birkenau) 
  • Franciszek Brol (Political prisoner) [eyewitness], interrogation of 28 September 1964, Gliwice (Polish authorities) [Auschwitz trial DVD] (on gassing of Russian POWs in Block 11 in the main camp) 
  • Ota Fabian (Jewish prisoner) [eyewitness of gas chamber and gassed corpses], examination of 6 November 1964, Frankfurt [Auschwitz trial DVD] (on gassing in crematorium in the main camp) 
  • Moshe Garbarz (Jewish prisoner) [eyewitness], account published as book in 1983 [Garbarz, Un survivant; quoted in Pressac, Technique, p. 163] (on gassing at Bunker extermination site) 
  • Aleksander Germanski (Polish political prisoner) [eyewitness of gassed corpses], letter to Stanislaw Klodzinski [Klodzinski, Die erste Vergasung von Häftlingen…, in Die Auschwitz-Hefte, p. 264] (on gassing in Block 11 in the main camp) 
  • Rudolf Gibian (Jewish prisoner) [eyewitness of gas chamber and gassed corpses], examination of 13 November 1964, Frankfurt [Auschwitz trial DVD] (on gassing at Bunker 2 extermination site and in crematoria in Birkenau) 
  • Bogdan Glinski (Political prisoner) [eyewitness of gas chamber and gassed corpses], deposition of 17 September 1947 (Polish investigators) [Mattogno, ATFG, p. 46] (on gassing of Russian POWs and sick inmates in Block 11 in the main camp) 
  • Stanislaw Glowa (Political prisoner) [eyewitness of gassing site and gassed corpses], examination of 11 June 1964, Frankfurt [Auschwitz trial DVD] (on gassing in Block 11 in the main camp) 
  • Czeslaw Glowacki (Political prisoner) [eyewitness of gassing site and gassed corpses], examination of 13 April 1964, Frankfurt [Auschwitz trial DVD] (on gassing in Block 11 and crematorium in the main camp) 
  • Ignacy Golik (Political prisoner) [eyewitness], examination of 8 June 1964, Frankfurt [Auschwitz trial DVD] (on gassing in crematoria in the main camp and Birkenau) 
  • Franciszek Gulba (Polish political prisoner) [eyewitness of gassing site], account of 2 December 1970 [Mattogno, TBOA, p. 110], letter of 30 December 1974 to International Auschwitz Committee in Warsaw [Mattogno, TBOA, p. 112] (on gassing at Bunker extermination site) 
  • Kazimierz Halgas (Political prisoner) [eyewitness of gassing site and gassed corpses], letter to Stanislaw Klodzinski [Klodzinski, Die erste Vergasung von Häftlingen…, in Die Auschwitz-Hefte, p. 265, 270, 272] (on mass extermination of Russian POWs and sick inmates in Block 11 in the main camp) 
  • Wieslaw Kielar (Polish political prisoner) [eyewitness of gassing site and gassed corpses], letter to Stanislaw Klodzinski [Klodzinski, Die erste Vergasung von Häftlingen…, in Die Auschwitz-Hefte, p. 273] (on gassing of sick inmates and Russian POWs in Block 11 in the main camp) 
  • Michal Kula (Political prisoner) [eyewitness], deposition of 11 June 1945 (Polish investigators) [also Mattogno, ATFG, p. 42], declaration of 15 March 1947, Cracow (Polish investigators) [Mattogno, ATFG, p. 43], examination of 1947 [Polish trial proceeding] (on gassing of Russian POWs and sick inmates in Block 11 in the main camp) 
  • Tadeusz Kurant (Polish political prisoner) [eyewitness of gassed corpses], letter to Stanislaw Klodzinski [Klodzinski, Die erste Vergasung von Häftlingen…, in Die Auschwitz-Hefte, p. 274] (on gassing in Block 11 in the main camp) 
  • Hermann Langbein (Political prisoner) [eyewitness], account published as book in 1949 [Langbein, Die Stärkeren], examination of 6 March 1964, Frankfurt [Auschwitz trial DVD] (on gassing in crematorium in the main camp and gassing in Birkenau) 
  • Karl Lill (Political prisoner) [eyewitness], letter of 9 August 1962, examination of 18 September 1964, Frankfurt [Auschwitz trial DVD] (on gassing in crematorium in the main camp and in crematoria in Birkenau) 
  • Zdzislaw Mikolajski (Political prisoner) [eyewitness], examination of 25 September 1964, Frankfurt [Auschwitz trial DVD] (on gassing in crematorium in the main camp and in Birkenau) 
  • Bartosz Oziemkowski (Political prisoner) [eyewitness of gassing site and gassed corpses], examination of 18 June 1964, Frankfurt [Auschwitz trial DVD] (on gassing of Russian POWs and sick inmates in Block 11 in the main camp) 
  • Jozef Paczynski (Polish political prisoner) [eyewitness], interview by the BBC [Rees, Auschwitz] (on gassing in crematorium in the main camp) 
  • Roger Pelisson (Political prisoner) [eyewitness of gassing site], letter of 20 August 1947, Paris [Baum, Widerstand in Auschwitz, p. 60] (on gassing in crematorium 4 and 5 in Birkenau) 
  • Walter Petzold (Political prisoner) [eyewitness], report of 17 May 1945, examination of 26 March 1964, Frankfurt [Auschwitz trial DVD] (on gassing of Russian POWs and sick inmates in Block 11 in the main camp) 
  • Henryk Porebski (Political prisoner) [eyewitness], examination of 18 December 1964, Frankfurt [Auschwitz trial DVD] (on gassing at the Bunker extermination sites and in crematoria in Birkenau) 
  • Otto Pressburger (Jewish prisoner, grave digger detail) [eyewitness of gassed corpses], interview by the BBC [Ress, Auschwitz] (on gassing of Jews at the Bunker extermination site) 
  • Alexander Princz (Jewish prisoner) [eyewitness], examination of 12 and 19 November 1964, Frankfurt [Auschwitz trial DVD] (on gassing in crematoria in Birkenau) 
  • Fritz Adolf Putzker (Political prisoner) [eyewitness], examination of 4 June 1964, Frankfurt [Auschwitz trial DVD] (on gassing in crematoria in Birkenau) 
  • Edward Pys (Political prisoner) [eyewitness], interrogation of 23 October 1959, Frankfurt (West-German investigators), examination of 12 June 1964, Frankfurt [Auschwitz trial DVD] (on gassing of Russian POWs and sick inmates in Block and gassing in crematorium in the main camp as well as gassing in Birkenau) 
  • Adolf Rögner (German criminal prisoner) [eyewitness of gassing site], account of (? after March 1946) [Mattogno, TBOA, p. 101] (on gassing of Jews at Bunker extermination site and crematoria in Birkenau) 
  • Arnost Rosin (Jewish prisoner, grave digger detail) [eyewitness], account of (?) [Friedler, Zeugen aus der Todeszone, p. 78] (on gassing at Bunker extermination site) 
  • Stanislaw Rospenk (Polish political prisoner) [eyewitness of gas chamber loading], letter to Stanislaw Klodzinski [Auschwitz trial DVD] (on gassing of sick inmates in Block 11 in the main camp) 
  • Zenon Rozanski (Political prisoner) [eyewitness of gas chamber and gassed corpses], account published as book in 1948 [Rozanski, Mützen ab, p. 40 ff., quoted in Mattogno, ATFG, p. 47] (on gassing of Russian POWs and sick inmates in Block 11 in the main camp) 
  • Maurice Schellekes (Jewish prisoner, grave digger detail) [eyewitness], deposition of 1981, Haifa [Leo Baeck Institute, Memoir Collection, ME 1001. MM II 23], account of (?) [Friedler, Zeugen aus der Todeszone, p. 79] (on gassing at Bunker extermination sites in Birkenau) 
  • Karol Sienek (Polish political prisoner) [eyewitness of gassed corpses], letter to Stanislaw Klodzinski [Klodzinski, Die erste Vergasung von Häftlingen…, in Die Auschwitz-Hefte, p. 274] (on gassing in Block 11 in the main camp) 
  • Jan Sikorski (Political prisoner) [eyewitness], interrogation of 16 May 1960, Frankfurt (West-German investigators), examination of 19 June 1964, Frankfurt [Auschwitz trial DVD] (on gassing in crematorium in the main camp and gassing in Birkenau) 
  • Stanislaw Slizowski (Polish political prisoner) [eyewitness of gassed corpses], letter to Stanislaw Klodzinski [Auschwitz trial DVD] (on gassing in the main camp) 
  • Edgar Steinmetz (prisoner) [eyewitness of gassing site], affidavit of (?) [Baum, Widerstand in Auschwitz, p. 62] (on gassing in crematoria in Birkenau) 
  • Herbert Tischler (Political prisoner) [eyewitness], interrogation of 25 September 1962, Vienna (Austrian authorities/West-German investigators) [Auschwitz trial DVD] (on gassing in Birkenau) 
  • Wladyslaw Tondos (Polish political prisoner) [eyewitness of gassing site and gassed corpses], letter to Stanislaw Klodzinski [Klodzinski, Die erste Vergasung von Häftlingen…, in Die Auschwitz-Hefte, p. 274] (on gassing of sick inmates and Russian POWs in Block 11 in the main camp) 
  • Josef Vacek (Political prisoner) [eyewitness of gas chamber and gassed corpses], interrogation of 8 May 1945 (US investigators?) [Jäckel, Der Mord an den Juden im Zweiten Weltkrieg, p. 167, quoted in Mattogno, ATFG, p. 37] (on gassing of Russian POWs in Block 11 in the Auschwitz main camp) 
  • Rudolf Vrba (Jewish prisoner) [eyewitness], examination of 30 November 1964, Frankfurt [Auschwitz trial DVD] (on gassing in crematoria in Birkenau) 
  • Jozef Weber (Polish political prisoner) [eyewitness of gassing site and gassed corpses], letter to Stanislaw Klodzinski [Klodzinski, Die erste Vergasung von Häftlingen…, in Die Auschwitz-Hefte, p. 274] (on gassing in Block 11 in the main camp) 
  • Wilhelm Wohlfahrt (Polish political prisoner) [eyewitness], examination of March 1947 (Polish trial proceeding) [Mattogno, TBOA, p. 103] (on gassing at Bunker extermination sites) 
  • Jan Wolny (Polish political prisoner) [eyewitness of gassing site and gassed corpses], letter to Klodzinski of (?) [Klodzinski, Die erste Vergasung von Häftlingen…, in Die Auschwitz-Hefte, p. 265, 272] (on gassing of sick inmates and Russian POWs in Block 11 in the main camp) 
  • Adam Zacharski (Polish political prisoner) [eyewitness of gassing site and gassed corpses], letter to Stanislaw Klodzinski of (?) [Klodzinski, Die erste Vergasung von Häftlingen…, in Die Auschwitz-Hefte, p. 274] (on gassing of Russian POWs in Block 11 in the main camp)

Post-liberation testimonies of SS personnel [hearsay] (46)

  • Richard Baer (commandant of Auschwitz) [hearsay], interrogation of 22 December 1960, Frankfurt (West-German investigators) [Auschwitz trial DVD] (on gassing in Birkenau)
  • Heinrich Bischoff (block leader) [hearsay], interrogation of 24 November 1961, Frankfurt (West-German investigators) [Auschwitz trial DVD] (on gassing in Birkenau) 
  • Helmut Bartsch (SS investigator) [hearsay], examination of 13 March 1964, Frankfurt (West-German trial proceeding) [Auschwitz trial DVD] (on gassing in Auschwitz) 
  • Charlotte Bartsch (women's auxialiary unit) [hearsay], examination of 3 August 1964, Frankfurt (West-German trial proceeding) [Auschwitz trial DVD] (on gassing in Auschwitz) 
  • Wilhelm Boger (Political Department) [claimed hearsay, but eyewitness acc. to Pery Broad, interrogation of 1 May 1959], report of 10 July 1945, Ludwigsburg (US investigators), interrogation of 9 October 1958, Stuttgart (West-German police), interrogation of 13 April 1959, Ludwigsburg (West-German investigators), interrogation of 30 May 1961, Frankfurt [West-German police], examination of 27 November 1964, Frankfurt (West-German trial proceeding) [Auschwitz trial DVD] (on gassing in Birkenau) 
  • Arthur Breitwieser (desinfection detail, effects chamber) [claimed hearsay], interrogation of 9 June 1961, Bad Godesberg (West-German investigators), examination of 24 January 1964, Frankfurt [Auschwitz trial DVD] (on gassing in Birkenau) 
  • Karl Broch (Political Department) [eyewitness], interrogation of 19 December 1963, Düsseldorf (West-German investigators), examination of 2 November 1964, Frankfurt [Auschwitz trial DVD] (on gassing in crematorium in the main camp) 
  • Wilhelm Burger (head of Auschwitz administration) [hearsay, from Höß], interrogation of 17 April 1947 (on gassing of people in Auschwitz) 
  • Victor Capesius (SS doctor) [claimed hearsay, but likely eyewitness due to his position], interrogation of 4 December 1959, Göppingen (West-German investigators), interrogation of 7 December 1959, Frankfurt (West-German investigators), examination of 27 January 1964, Frankfurt [Auschwitz trial DVD] (on gassing in Auschwitz) 
  • Klaus Dylewski (Political Deparment) [claimed hearsay], interrogation of 25 April 1959, Krefeld (West-German investigators), interrogation of 9 February 1961, Kassel-Wehlheiden (West-German police) [Auschwitz trial DVD] (on gassing Birkenau) 
  • Fritz Ertl (central construction office) [apparently claimed hearsay], examination of 21 January 1972, Vienna (Austrian trial proceeding) [Van Pelt, The Case for Auschwitz, p. 302] (on gassing in Birkenau) 
  • Willy Frank (SS doctor) [claimed hearsay, but likely witness due to his position], interrogation of 18 September 1959, Ludwigsburg (West-German police), interrogations of 15 January 1960 and 13 October 1961, Stuttgart (West-German investigators), examination of 24 January and 2 October 1964, Frankfurt [Auschwitz trial DVD] (on gassing in crematorium in Birkenau) 
  • Fritz Gaar (SS motor pool) [hearsay, did not believe rumors], examination of 28 August 1964, Frankfurt [West-German trial proceeding] [Frankfurt Auschwitz trial] (on gassing in Auschwitz) 
  • Anton Glaser (SS motor pool) [claimed hearsay, probably eyewitness], examination of 11 September 1964, Frankfurt [Auschwitz trial DVD] (on gassing Bunker extermination site) 
  • Leopold Heger (SS motor pool) [hearsay], examination of 11 September 1964, Frankfurt [Auschwitz trial DVD] (on gassing in Auschwitz) 
  • Karl Höcker (adjutant) [claimed hearsay], interrogation of 30 January 1961, Lübbecke (West-German investigators), interrogation of 16 February 1962, Frankfurt (West-German investigators), examination of 10 January 1964, Frankfurt [Auschwitz trial DVD] (on gassing Birkenau) 
  • Franz Hössler (Protective Custody Leader) [claimed hearsay, but most likely eyewitness due to his position in the camp; also heavily incriminated by the war-time diary of SS doctor Johann Kremer], deposition of 17 May 1945 (British investigators) (on gassing in Auschwitz) 
  • Josef Hofer (Political Department) [hearsay], examination of 4 December 1964, Frankfurt [Auschwitz trial DVD] (on gassing in Auschwitz) 
  • Hans Hoffmann (Political Department) [hearsay], examination of 11 December 1964, Frankfurt [Auschwitz trial DVD] (on gassing in Auschwitz) 
  • Ludwig Holze (SS motor pool) [hearsay], examination of 4 September 1964, Frankfurt [Auschwitz trial DVD] (on gassing in Auschwitz) 
  • Horst Huley (guard) [hearsay], examination of 11 September 1964, Frankfurt [Auschwitz trial DVD] (on gassing in Auschwitz) 
  • Karl Hykes (camp administration) [hearsay], examination of 22 June 1964, Frankfurt [Auschwitz trial DVD] (on gassing in crematoria in Birkenau) 
  • Karl Kahr (SS officer) [hearsay], interrogation of 19 September 1945, Landshut [Mattogno, ATFG, p. 68] (on gassing in Auschwitz) 
  • Oskar Kieselbach (guard) [hearsay], examination of 13 August 1964, Frankfurt [Auschwitz trial DVD] (on gassing in Auschwitz) 
  • August Klehr (guard) [hearsay], examination of 28 January 1965, Frankfurt [Auschwitz trial DVD] (on gassing in Auschwitz) 
  • Günther Kramer (guard) [hearsay], examination of 17 August 1964, Frankfurt [Auschwitz trial DVD] (on gassing in Auschwitz) 
  • Josef Kramer (Birkenau commandant) [claimed hearsay], examination of 8 October 1945 (British trial proceeding) (on gassing in crematoria in Birkenau) 
  • Theodor Küper (SS motor pool) [hearsay], examination of 14 September 1964, Frankfurt [Auschwitz trial DVD] (on gassing in Auschwitz) 
  • Kurt Leischow (guard) [hearsay], interrogation of 14 March 1961, Hamburg (West-German investigators), examination of 17 July 1964, Frankfurt [Auschwitz trial DVD] (on gassing of Russian POWs in Block 11 and crematorium in the main camp) 
  • Eduard Lorenz (SS motor pool) [unclear from cited extracts, possibly eyewitness], interrogation of 17 September 1964 (West-German investigators) [Friedler, Zeugen aus der Todeszone, p.70] (on gassing at Bunker extermination sites in Birkenau] 
  • Franz Lucas (SS doctor) [claimed hearsay, but likely eyewitness due to his position], interrogation of 14 February 1962, Frankfurt (West-German investigators), examinations of 27 January 1964, 11 March and 3 May 1965, Frankfurt [Auschwitz trial DVD] (on gassing in Birkenau) 
  • Bodo von Maydell (German Soldier) [hearsay], account published as book in 1979 [Maydell, Im Banne des Tikkun] (gassing in Auschwitz) 
  • Robert Mulka (adjudant) [claimed hearsay], interrogations of 8 November 1960, Hamburg and 11 September 1961, Frankfurt (West-German investigators), examinations of 9 January, 24 July and 6 November 1964, Frankfurt [Auschwitz trial DVD] (on gassing at Bunker extermination site in Birkenau) 
  • Gerhard Neubert (SS medical orderly) [hearsay], interrogation of 5 June 1962, Diepholz (West-German investigators), examination of 3 February 1964, Frankfurt [Auschwitz trial DVD] (on gassing in Auschwitz) 
  • Hans Nierzwicki (SS medical orderly) [hearsay], interrogation of 19 September 1960, Frankfurt [Auschwitz trial DVD] (on gassing in Auschwitz) 
  • Friedrich Ontl (medical department) [hearsay], examination of 4 June 1964, Frankfurt [Auschwitz trial DVD] (on gassing in Auschwitz) 
  • Christian Pfauth (SS motor pool) [hearsay], examination of 14 September 1964, Frankfurt [Auschwitz trial DVD] (on gassing in Auschwitz) 
  • Helmut Pomreinke (SS motor pool) [hearsay], examination of 13 August 1964, Frankfurt [Auschwitz trial DVD] (on gassing in Auschwitz) 
  • Willi Schatz (SS doctor) [claimed hearsay, but likely eyewitness due to his position], interrogations 11 April 1961, Hannover and 2 November 1961, Frankfurt (West-German investigators), examination of 24 January 1964, Frankfurt [Auschwitz trial DVD] (on gassing in crematoria in Birkenau) 
  • Herbert Scherpe (SS medical orderly) [hearsay], interrogation of 15 August 1961, Mannheim (West-German investigators), examination of 31 January 1964, Frankfurt [Auschwitz trial DVD] (on gassing in crematorium in the main camp and in Birkenau) 
  • Bruno Schlage (block leader) [hearsay], interrogations of 5 February and 22 March 1962, Bad Oeynhausen (West-German investigators) [Auschwitz trial DVD] (on gassing in crematorium in the main camp) 
  • Friedrich Otto Schlupper (camp administration) [hearsay], examination of 13 July 1964, Frankfurt [Auschwitz trial DVD] (on gassing of Russian POWs in crematorium in the main camp) 
  • Ludwig Karl Schmidt [source of knowledge unclear, hearsay or witness], interrogation unknown date (West-German investigators) [Auschwitz trial DVD] (on gassing in Auschwitz) 
  • Johann Schoberth (Political department) [hearsay], interrogation of 10 June 1960, Aufseß (West-German investigators), examination of 16 January 1964 [Auschwitz trial DVD] [on gassing in Birkenau] 
  • Johannes Thümmler (Commander of Security Police and SD, Kattowitz) [hearsay], examination of 2 November 1964, Frankfurt [Auschwitz trial DVD] [on gassing and mass extermination in Auschwitz] 
  • Jakob Wendel (guard) [hearsay], newspaper interview, Stuttgart [on gassing in Auschwitz] 
  • Dieter Wisliceny (RSHA) [hearsay, from Adolf Eichmann], examination of 3 January 1946, Nuremberg (Allied trial proceeding) (on gassing in crematoria in Auschwitz)

Post-liberation testimonies of civilians [hearsay] (7)

  • Hildegard Bischoff (civilian; wife of Karl Bischoff, head of SS central construction office) [hearsay], examination of 24 July 1964, Frankfurt (West-German trial proceeding) [Auschwitz trial DVD] [on gassing in Auschwitz]
  • Günther Buch (civilian, acquaintance of Robert Mulka, Auschwitz adjutant) [hearsay], examination of 22 October 1964, Frankfurt (West-German trial proceeding) [Auschwitz trial DVD] [on gassing in Auschwitz] 
  • Elise Heinisch-Utner (civilian; dental doctor in Auschwitz town) [hearsay], examination of 22 October 1964, Frankfurt (West-German trial proceeding) [Auschwitz trial DVD] [on gassing in Auschwitz] 
  • Rosina Kramer (civilian; wife of Birkenau commandant Josef Kramer) [hearsay], examination of 1945, Lüneburg (British investigators) (on gassing in Auschwitz) 
  • Eugen Lazar (civilian; acquaintance of Stefan Baretzki, SS block leader in Birkenau), examination of 18 February 1965, Frankfurt (West-German trial proceeding) [Auschwitz trial DVD] [on gassing in Auschwitz] 
  • Viktoria Ley (civilian; acquaintance of SS doctors Victor Capesius and Fritz Klein) [hearsay], examination of 15 January 1965, Frankfurt (West-German trial proceeding) [Auschwitz trial DVD] [on gassing in Auschwitz] 
  • Fritz Sander (Topf engineer) [hearsay, from Topf engineer Kurt Prüfer], interrogation of 7 March 1946 (Soviet intelligence) [Jürgen Graf, Die sowjetische Befragung der Topf-Ingenieure] (on gassing in Auschwitz)

Post-liberation testimonies of prisoners (hearsay) (click to open!)


On-site chemical and physical investigations


  • Forensic report by Jan Robel (Cracow Forensic Institute) of 25 December 1945 on qualitative determination of cyanide on sheet zinc ventilation grills assigned to the crematoria 2 or 3 by Polish investigating judge Jan Sehn
  • Chemical investigation of the gas chamber's ruins by Jan Markiewicz, Wojciech Gubala and Jerzy Labedz (Cracow Forensic Institute) and their quantitative determination of (non-Prussian Blue) cyanide residues in the gas chamber's walls [Markiewicz et al., A Study of the Cyanide Compounds Content In The Walls Of The Gas Chambers in the Former Auschwitz and Birkenau Concentration Camps] (related Revisionist arguments are discussed by chemist Richard Green here
  • Investigation of the ground in Birkenau by hole drilling and chemical analysis carried out by Hydrokop (Cracow) and determination of "[t]races of human ashes, bones, and hair" at 42 of 303 sites according to Polish historian Franciszek Piper [Piper, Anatomy of the Auschwitz Death Camp, p. 179
  • Investigation of the ruin of crematorium 2 in Birkenau by Harry Mazal, Daniel Keren and Jamie McCarthy and their finding of three openings in the roof that can be assigned as gas introduction openings [Mazal et al., The Ruins of the Gas Chambers: A Forensic Investigation of Crematoriums at Auschwitz I and Auschwitz-Birkenau] (related Revisionist arguments are discussed here)

19 comments:

  1. Great research work,
    congratulations!

    There’s one dead link here:

    Charles Bendel (Sonderkommando) [eyewitness], examination of 1 October 1945,

    ReplyDelete
  2. You liar Hans! Tut tut.

    >>>>> "Konrad Morgen (SS investigator) [eyewitness], affidavit of 13 July 1946 (Allied investigators) [Trial of the Major War Criminals Before the International Military Tribunal, Nuremberg, 14 November 1945-1 October 1946: Documents and other material in evidence, p. 561], examination of 8 August 1946, Nuremberg (Allied trial proceeding), examination of 8 March 1964, Frankfurt (West-German trial proceeding) [Auschwitz trial DVD] (gassing of unfit Jews in crematorium in Birkenau)"

    Morgen stated under oath at the IMT, August 8, 1946:

    "By "Extermination Camp Auschwitz" I did not mean the concentration camp. It did not exist there. I meant a separate extermination camp near Auschwitz, called "Monowitz." [...] I do not know of any other extermination camps. [...] I thoroughly investigated the entire stretch of territory and studied the layout and installations [...] These trucks drove off, but they did not drive to the Concentration Camp Auschwitz, but in another direction to the Extermination Camp Monowitz, [...] The Extermination Camp Monowitz lay far away from the concentration camp. [...] Hoess was commander of the Concentration Camp Auschwitz, and also of the extermination camp, Monowitz."

    >>>>> "(gassing of unfit Jews in crematorium in Birkenau)"

    ♪ ♫ Tell me lies, tell me sweet little lies ♫ ♪

    You also cited his 13 July 1946 affidavit, but haven't provided the volume number of the Blue Series it's appears in. What volume is it in Hans?

    ReplyDelete
  3. Why have you excluded the May 6, 1945 report of the the Soviet State Extraordinary Commission for the Investigation of Fascist and Nazi Crimes a.k.a. USSR-008?

    It's signed by two more liars:

    - Nikolay Nilovich Burdenko
    - Mytropolitos Nikolai Ivanovitch Lomakin

    You remember them. The fellows who also signed USSR-54:

    "The Report by a Special Soviet Commission, 24 January 1944, concerning the shooting of Polish officer prisoners of war in the forest of Katyn. The executions had been carried out in the autumn 1941 by the German "Staff of the Construction Battalion 537." In the spring of 1943 the Germans, by blackmailing witnesses into giving false evidence and by other means, had tried to make it appear that the Soviet NKVD was responsible for the shooting of the 11,000 victims."

    ReplyDelete
  4. From the other thread:

    I know of 5—you may know of more—former AB survivors who "independently" confirmed, between 8 months to over a year before Hoess was captured, that 4,000,000 were killed at AB (Tauber, Dragon, Bimko, Bendel and Heinrich Neumann) in an affidavit, under oath as a trial witness, or both.

     But there is a "convergence of evidence" that the CJHC reduction, which coincided with Hoess' reduction, were not simply coincidental. Why did Hoess claim in his "memoirs" that he taught himself English in Brandenburg prison, when he had no knowledge of the English language at all? (Baxter, p.180) - 

    Pasted from

    So, you're claiming that, in the case of Hoess and now, Hoettl, the IMT wanted to "spin a yarn". You claim that Hoess was "pressured" into lowering his estimates to line up with the CJHC's. And that Hoettl was "pressured" or "influenced" by estimates made during the war and after the war. You also repeated that tired old claim about "beaten Germans". Yet at the same time, the IMT "forgot" to "pressure" Konrad Morgen into following the line that was established by those AB survivors. In your world, the IMT, or the "Fabricators" are both all powerful and incompetent at the same time.

    I would guess that Hans is talking about Konrad Morgen's Auscwhitz trial testimony, as opposed to the IMT testimony. By then, he had all the time in the world to correct himself. All this about a slip in the tongue.

    Again:

    If you can't understand the difference between what a witness saw and what a witness assumed or guessed, and that there are rules of evidence - e.g. the US rules of evidence - that do tell the difference between them, then you're not qualified to talk about it.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Yes, during the Frankfurt trial, Morgen completely contradicted his IMT testimony (his multiple slips of the tongue), describing Krema II in INTIMATE detail. This doesn't change the fact Han's has lied by claiming he described the Birkenau gas chambers at the IMT, when he specially and repeatedly denied there were gas chambers anywhere but at Monowitz.

    Get yourself a copy of Baxter's book, and read about the many beatings Hoess received in British and "Polish" custody.

    But even more significantly:

    "We informed Frau Hoess that the train outside was to take her three sons to Siberia, unless she told us where her husband was,"

    — Captain Victor Cross, 92 Field Security Section, Report 15 March 1946. As quoted in Baxter, Ian. The Commandant. Rudolf Hoess, the Creator of Auschwitz. Meath, RoI: Maverick. 2008. pp.174-175 & 217 & 222.

    But in the meantime:

    "I once saw DPs beat an SS man and then strap him to the steel gurney of a crematorium. They slid him in the oven, turned on the heat and took him back out. Beat him again, and put him back in until he was burnt alive. I did nothing to stop it. I suppose I could have brandished my weapon or shot in the air, but I was not inclined to do so. Does that make me an accomplice to murder?"

    - Benjamin B. Ferencz, Romanian born, Jewish American lawyer. Chief US prosecutor at the
    Einsatzgruppen Trial.

    http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/07/21/AR2005072101680_5.html

    ReplyDelete
  6. Damn Nathan, you're not just a bore you're boring.

    "Out of context", "non sequitur", "not qualified to talk about". You really do like to use the clichéd excuses when you don't have an argument.

    ReplyDelete
  7. - Yes, during the Frankfurt trial, Morgen completely contradicted his IMT testimony (his multiple slips of the tongue), describing Krema II in INTIMATE detail. This doesn't change the fact Han's has lied by claiming he described the Birkenau gas chambers at the IMT, when he specially and repeatedly denied there were gas chambers anywhere but at Monowitz. -

    And, while he was in Brazil, Ronald Reagan made a toast to "The People of Bolivia"
    http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/brazil/090422/how-much-do-you-know-about-brazil?page=0,1

    Does that mean that Reagan did not visit Brazil, but rather Bolivia?

    Or, does that simply mean got the name wrong?

    The principle is the same. Morgen was talking about Birkenau when he testified. He even identified Hoess as the commandant, and everyone knows that Hoess was the commandant of Birkenau. He simply got the name wrong

    Again, for emphasis, with examples:

    - - If you can't understand the difference between what a witness saw (in this case, Morgen seeing gassings at Birkenau) and what a witness assumed or guessed (Morgen's misnaming of Birkenau as Monowitz), and that there are rules of evidence - e.g. the US rules of evidence - that do tell the difference between them, then you're not qualified to talk about it.

    - Get yourself a copy of Baxter's book, and read about the many beatings Hoess received in British and "Polish" custody. -

    I'm still not seeing the footnote proving that Hoess never knew English.

    Oh, and are you now claiming that Hoess was never in "Polish" custody? There goes your claim about the Poles (and the CJHC) "pressuring" him.

    ReplyDelete
  8. - But in the meantime:

    "I once saw DPs beat an SS man and then strap him to the steel gurney of a crematorium. They slid him in the oven, turned on the heat and took him back out. Beat him again, and put him back in until he was burnt alive. I did nothing to stop it. I suppose I could have brandished my weapon or shot in the air, but I was not inclined to do so. Does that make me an accomplice to murder?"

    - Benjamin B. Ferencz, Romanian born, Jewish American lawyer. Chief US prosecutor at the
    Einsatzgruppen Trial. -

    http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/07/21/AR2005072101680_5.html

    Unsurprisingly, you're taking that quote out of context, too.

    You want me (and the average reader) to think that the Einsatzgruppen Trials were dominated by Jews, and that the primary method used by these Jews in the Einsatzgruppen Trials was torture.

    Do you really think that I wouldn't check that article myself?

    - He says he has never, however, had any moral qualms about his actions. "I never gave it much thought after the war," he says. "The point is: What do you do with these guys? The war crimes courts were already backlogged with more senior Nazis. The jails were full. They were going to slip through the cracks." -

    The overwhelming majority of the lower-level SS guards did in fact escape justice.

    - Ferencz prosecuted members of the Einsatzgruppen. "There were 3,000 members of these killing squads who did nothing but kill women and children for three straight years," he says. "These 3,000 men alone were responsible for almost 1 million murders. Do you know how many I brought indictments against? Twenty-two. The rest were never tried.
    "I remember talking to Soviet officers," he adds. "And they were baffled. 'You know they're guilty,' they'd say. 'Why don't you just shoot them?' There was a lot of that kind of feeling in postwar Germany." -

    The key was to make certain that there were no cases of mistaken identity. The SS men would have to own up to their participation in mass murders of their own volition, never as a result of torture, since people tend to admit to anything under such circumstances, says Weiss. As a backup, "I'd make them write out a detailed history of their war record, including who they served with, when and under who." This was double-checked against captured Nazi records to make sure that the person was indeed who they claimed to be. Only then was the decision taken, Weiss says.

    - Damn Nathan, you're not just a bore you're boring.

    "Out of context", "non sequitur", "not qualified to talk about". You really do like to use the clichéd excuses when you don't have an argument. -

    You're getting hysterical. And, you're still boring.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Oh, and:

    - "I remember talking to Soviet officers," he adds. "And they were baffled. 'You know they're guilty,' they'd say. 'Why don't you just shoot them?' There was a lot of that kind of feeling in postwar Germany." -

    There goes your "collusion".

    ReplyDelete
  10. The Black Rabbit of Inlé said...

    "You also cited his 13 July 1946 affidavit, but haven't provided the volume number of the Blue Series it's appears in. What volume is it in Hans?"

    I've added the volume.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Well done Hans for all the effort you have put in here to compile this list.
    I wonder if the nazi sympathisers could produce a similar list of evidence? Something that proves their theory that the gas chambers were actually morgues, delousing rooms, air raid shelters, shower rooms, toilets,canteens,indoor swimming pools, creches, stationary cupboards etc etc !

    ReplyDelete
  12. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  13. "- Nikolay Nilovich Burdenko
    - Mytropolitos Nikolai Ivanovitch Lomakin

    You remember them. The fellows who also signed USSR-54:"

    *eyeroll*

    Hans did not promise to include only the impeccable evidence. E.g. he also included Petzold who apparently lied about some things, and Müller, a very problematic witness. Listing evidence is the first step before critical examination.

    The Soviet report being signed by Burdenko and Nikolai is an idiotic argument though, parroted by a lot of silly deniers. Mitr. Nikolai was a figurehead in any case, you don't imagine he (or, say, Lysenko) actually investigated anything? So his sig means nothing in any case.

    Burdenko is a more interesting case: he was an actual investigator, but there is no credible evidence that he didn't believe in the Soviet Katyn revelations. Note that the actual falsification in Katyn was done by the NKGB, the commission basically took NKGB's report, updated the preliminary NKGB testimonies with the ones they heard themselves and attached a medical act to it. The very few people among the lower medical personnel who "found" documents on the bodies were likely NKGB agents as well. IOW, everything was done in such a way as to not make the average non-agent members of the Commission to doubt the official version. As the protocols show, there wasn't any "overt" falsification going on during the Commission's work and there is nothing to suggest that most members of the Commission were knowingly engaged in this falsification.

    I can comprehend the general "oh, Soviet evidence, suspect" argument, at least it's based on certain truths. But this specific argument makes no sense (when one is not ignorant about what actually happened).

    ReplyDelete
  14. I had an encounter With a denier lately that spoke about a forensic examination performed by Cambridge University. Just to quote the comment:

    "David Irving talk about Cambridge University laboratories testing 30 samples of the Auchwitz "death chambers" negative for Prussian blue poison residue which binds with the iron in brick and stays around for hundreds of years. The real, hard, objective science doesn't hold up, regardless of calling it "racist."

    I must admite i have never heard of such a examination. It is certainly not mentioned any litteratur of mine or does no make any hits on Google.

    Anyone ever heard about this?

    ReplyDelete
  15. I recently got a reply from a denier called Frater Oculus, he said:
    David Irving talk about Cambridge University laboratories testing 30 samples of the Auchwitz "death chambers" negative for Prussian blue poison residue which binds with the iron in brick and stays around for hundreds of years. The real, hard, objective science doesn't hold up, regardless of calling it "racist."

    Have someone ever heard about this testing that he refers to. I have certainly not and i can’t find any sign of it on the web or in this blog. Anyone like to comment?

    ReplyDelete
  16. Marius, this is certainly a sloppy reference to Fred Leuchter's 30 samples taken from the crematoria ruins in Auschwitz-Birkenau, which were analyzed by the Alpha Analytical Laboratories in Westborough, Massachusetts.

    On Leuchter, I'd recommend Richard Green's expert report submitted for the appeal of the trial Irving vs. Lipstadt.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I think you meant Rudolf, not Leuchter. In any case here is Jansson's attempt to debunk it:
      https://forum.codoh.com/viewtopic.php?t=7664
      I suggest that you read it through if you haven't done so already. Some interesting revelations there.

      Delete
  17. Another from Konrad Morgen testifying at the Buchenwald trial on 11 June 1947:

    "Camp Auschwitz had many industrial plants around it but Auschwitz should not be confused with the special extermination camp which was located in the vicinity of Auschwitz. This extermination camp was Birkenau."

    - Transcript United States v Josias Prince zu Waldeck et al, p.2796

    He also said:

    "The average occupation of Camp Auschwitz was eighty to one hundred thousand men. Camp Auschwitz was building one big synthetic rubber factory. Camp Auschwitz also had an exceptionally large agricultural establishment and furthermore a large number of prisoners kept leaving Auschwitz constantly in order to be put to work on labor projects in the East." [p.2796]

    ReplyDelete

Please read our Comments Policy