Sunday, February 22, 2015

Rebuttal of Mattogno on Auschwitz, Part 5: Construction Documents, A: Introduction


Rebuttal of Mattogno on Auschwitz:
The so-called "criminal traces" in the files of the Auschwitz construction office are strong inferential evidence on homicidal gassing in Auschwitz and corroborate contemporary Polish and Jewish sources as well as numerous post-liberation testimonies. In this sub-series of blog postings, I will show that Mattogno was not successful in pointing out documents (or rather arguments on construction documents) that seriously challenge mass extermination in Auschwitz. Furthermore, he was not even able to offer a plausible alternative interpretation that explains all the relevant documentary evidence (let aside other types of sources). 

Sunday, February 15, 2015

A Biography of Walter Sanning

Prior to today, I had believed that Walter Sanning was long dead. His profile at Holocaust Handbooks refers to Sanning in the past tense as "the pen name of the late Wilhelm Niederreiter, a German national with a background in demographics." However, there is now enough public information about Wilhelm Niederreiter available on-line for me to conclude with reasonable certainty that he was still alive in July 2014, when his wife passed away in Friedberg, Germany. Below I present the trail of evidence. I am happy to be corrected by any readers (Revisionist or otherwise) who have alternative information. I have no desire for anyone to contact or monitor Sanning, who is at least 78 years old and has not been an active denier for decades. This article is for purposes of historical clarification only.

Monday, February 09, 2015

"I am Charlie, you are Horst"

The German journalist Malte Herwig suggests to reconsider Anti-Holocaust denial laws in the light of the recent discussions on free speech after the fatal attack on the satirical French newspaper Charlie Hebdo on 7 January 2015. Quoting Voltaire's famous (actually put into his mouth by a biographer) "I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it", he makes the point that this should also hold for one of the "most contemptible opinions" like Holocaust denial and the likes of Horst Mahler.

Sunday, February 08, 2015

John Ball's Air Photo Evidence on Auschwitz

A new edition of John Ball's Air Photo Evidence (hereafter APE3) is out and has been published as Holocaust Handbooks volume 27 by Germar Rudolf. The book is a "corrected and expanded edition with contributions by Germar Rudolf and Carlo Mattogno". Jett Rucker was "carefully proofing this edition", and Carlo Mattogno provided a "critical and constructive peer review" (APE3, p. 7).

Actually, most of Ball's flaws were not or not adequately corrected. Instead, Rudolf added some of his own. Previous critiques of Ball's work are ignored, and fresh photographic evidence from British archives rebutting Ball's major claim of retouching of the photographs from the U.S. National Archives are not considered either in this context. The expansions, e.g. on the "holes" and the Bunker 2 extermination site mainly consist of illustrations and photos recycled from previous Holocaust Handbooks. In other words, Air Photo Evidence clearly meets the Holocaust Handbooks publication standard.

But if one does not mind the text in between, the pdf is a nice collection of aerial photographs of Auschwitz free of charge. Plus, there are several hitherto unknown documents on the erection of the "camouflage" fences at the crematoria from Mattogno actually supporting the mass extermination activities at these sites.