Reality Check and Cutting Through 'Uncensored and Unconstrained' Nonsense in CODOH's "Holocaust Encyclopedia": Burmeister, Walter

There is literally nothing that the denier's "Holocaust Encyclopedia" does not get wrong in the entry "Burmeister, Walter". 

Starting with the identity: 

 "Walter Burmeister (14 Nov. 1894 – 23 Feb. 1980), SS Oberscharführer"

Walter Burmeister born 14 November 1894 was a school teacher / inspector and not member of the Nazi paramilitary forces. He had no involvement with Kulmhof / Chełmno extermination camp.

Denazification file of Walter Burmeister (born 14 November 1894),

LA-NRW Abteilung Rheinland, NW 1039-B/3939

The Walter Burmeister associated with Kulmhof was born on 2 May 1906. This mistaken identity has been plagiarized from a Wikipedia entry that erroneously combined the biographies of two Burmeisters.  The notion that a school inspector would be drafted to drive a gas van should raise immediate red flags.

Furthermore, it is misleading to state that Burmeister "is said to have served as a driver of one of the gas vans at the Chełmno Camp", as Burmeister was not a dedicated driver of a gas van, but the "girl for everything" (jack of all trades), only stepping in to operate gas vans if the regular drivers were unavailable.

The claim that Burmeister was "interrogated by Investigating Judge Władysław Bednarz after the war in Poland" and that he "made up when put under pressure by his Polish investigators to come up with something" is absurd. Burmeister was never captured and interrogated by the Poles. It is also incorrect to assert "there is no trace of any Renault truck ever used as a gas van". Evidence (little, but there is) including Burmeister's testimony might indicate that Renault chassis were part of the gas van pool. See Rebuttal of Alvarez of Gas Vans: Misreading the Fine Print for further reading.

The argument that there is no trace of the "fanciful piping system" is also wrong. The pipe system in the gas vans, used to feed in the gasoline engine exhaust, is well-established and supported by numerous eyewitness accounts. For instance:

"We looked inside the gas van and noticed that under the wooden floor grid, there were thin pipes running through, which were perforated."

 (interrogation of Walter Bock on May 16, 1961, LAS, Abt. 353.3, Nr. 16510)

It is anchronistic to say that "15 years later in Germany...Burmeister had learned enough about the orthodox narrative to adjust it to what was expected of him". In reality, the testimony where he supposedly "adjusted" to "what was expected of him" was provided before the testimony discussed previously. It is misleading to say he was "no longer claiming a Renault", as in the testimony he mentioned that the gas vans were "French vehicles".

Finally, Burmeister was not trialed for "for aiding in the murder of at least 130,000 people" but actually 145,000 (first period of Kulmhof extermination camp) + 7,100 (2nd period of Kulmhof extermination camp) people - thus 152,100 in total (Justiz und NS-Verbrechen, Lfd.Nr.594a LG Bonn 23.07.1965 JuNSV Bd.XXI S.227)

Lessons learnt:

1. Be cautios with Wikipedia

2. Hands off denier's "Holocaust Encyclopedia"