Review of Holocaust Handbooks Volume 23 - Carlo Mattogno, Chełmno (Part IV - Testimony of Chełmno Escapee Szlama Winer)

Part I - Method

Part II - Scholarly Avoidance

Part III - Systematic Analysis of One Example

Part IV - Testimony of Chełmno Escapee Szlama Winer

Szlama Winer escaped Chełmno extermination camp on January 19, 1942 and upon arriving in the Warsaw Ghetto, provided a detailed account of the atrocities committed there. His report is extensive, comprising approximately 15,450 words and 692 sentences in its English translation. Carlo Mattogno even mocks the "extraordinary wealth of detail" and a "truly prodigious memory". It's remarkable that detailed recollection is now considered as a flaw in eyewitness testimony.  

Slzama Winer

One might think that such a detailed testimony would provide ample material for a thorough analysis. Yet, Mattogno, in his critique, chooses to come up with a mere handful of points - six, to be precise - in an attempt to discredit the entire account as "completely unreliable".

Timekeeping

Mattogno ponders, "We should first note that, as soon as they arrived at Chełmno, the “diggers,” including “Szlamek,” had to hand over “all money and valuables”, and therefore watches. How could he then always be so sure about the time?" (p.52) 

Ah, yes, genius, because without a wristwatch, one must be utterly lost in time. Even as Jewish prisoner in Chelmno extermination camp, one could estimate time through various means. 

It is plausible that a prisoner managed to conceal a watch during the initial confiscations. Prisoners tasked with sorting through the belongings of victims may have come across watches or clocks and discreetly kept them. Guards may have even provided a clock to help prisoners adhere to the camp's strict schedules. In other instances, prisoners could have been directly informed of the time by guards issuing orders.

The routines imposed by the guards would also allow prisoners to estimate the time based on these recurring activities. Guards themselves might have openly discussed the time, checked their own watches, or followed visible routines that signaled time changes. Winer might also have relied on natural indicators, such as the position of the sun, to approximate the time.

Gassing Procedures

Mattogno asserts "What is certain is that the description of the witness is in stark contrast to the orthodox version on two essential points. First, according to this orthodox version, the victims were loaded into the “gas vans” at Chełmno Castle and murdered on the way to the camp, whereas the testimony reviewed here claims that the assassination was carried out directly at the camp in a hermetically closed “gas van” and even in the absence of the driver." (p. 54)

The "stark contrast" Mattogno perceives is easily resolved when one considers that the gassing procedures at Chełmno could have evolved over time. According to Winer's account, during the earliest weeks of the camp’s activity, the process involved transporting victims from the so called "palace" directly to the nearby forest camp, where the gassing procedure was conducted. 

However, after the events of December 1941 and January 1942 - possibly influenced by the escapes of Jewish prisoners - the Sonderkommando Kulmhof likely revised their methods. They may have recognized that transporting live victims increased the risk of resistance or escape or attention and so prioritized killing the victims at the palace grounds before transporting the corpses to the forest for burial.

Witnesses who testified after the war recalled the later and more frequent gassings conducted at the palace grounds, either because they arrived at the scene after January 1942 or because this phase of the operation lasted longer and left a stronger impression. Both accounts - gassing at the palace and gassing at the forest camp - are compatible when viewed in the context of an extermination process that adapted to practical challenges over time.

Exhaust Pipe Connection

Mattogno notes, "Second, according to the orthodox version it was necessary to connect the exhaust pipe of the engine with a special flexible pipe to the interior of the cargo box, an operation that was performed outside the vehicle." (p. 55)

First, it is essential to recognize that this detail comes from hearsay knowledge passed on to Winer by other prisoners. Judging Winer's reliability based on secondhand information seems a bit of a stretch Historical sources often include elements relayed by others, which does not detract from their core accuracy but rather reflects the fragmented way in which information was shared.

As for the specific claim about the exhaust pipe connection, it is entirely plausible that the Jewish prisoner who passed on this description to Winer overlooked the detail of the driver quickly bending over to attach the flexible exhaust tube to the cargo box. Such technical details might not have been consistently observed or described under the circumstances on-site.

This emphasizes why corroborating multiple sources from different perspectives and provenances is crucial in reconstructing historical events. Each source, report, testimony, artifact etc. provides a piece of information, and together they form a more complete picture of what occurred.

Overpressure

Mattogno claims, "in the history of the “gas vans,” if one thing is certain it is that the system of piping engine-exhaust gases into a hermetically sealed cargo box cannot work, because the pressure inside the sealed cargo box would either shut down the engine or burst the cargo box (see Alvarez 2011, Subsection 1.3.2.)." (p. 55)

While Winer stated that the doors were "hermetically sealed," let's not pretend he was providing an engineering blueprint. Based solely on his account, one cannot rule out the possibility of design features such as overpressure flaps or vents located elsewhere on the vehicle that could have allowed excess pressure to escape. 

 

Now, there is no significant evidence that the two gas vans employed in Chelmno in January 1942 were equipped with any specific pressure relief mechanisms. Interestingly, one of the designs included a "drain opening with closure in the right front box bottom," a feature that could, in principle, also have functioned for  pressure relief. Overpressure flaps were explicitly requested for planned modifications of Saurer gas vans scheduled for fabrication after September 1942.

However, most importantly Holocaust deniers like Mattogno and his comrade Alvarez have yet to grace us with any mechanical stress calculations or empirical evidence to back up their bursting van theory. How much exhaust gas was emitted into the cargo box per minute by the engine in question? What's the failure threshold of a steel-reinforced hardboard box of the dimensions used in the gas vans? What were the leakage currents, especially as the box became pressurized? Leaks around joints, seals, or imperfect closures would naturally allow some pressure to escape.

The argument that the system "could not have worked" hinges on assertions not supported by rigorous technical analysis.

Corpse Color 

Mattogno argues, "So the alleged victims of “gas vans” murdering with carbon monoxide should normally have a “cherry-pink” color, but, as we have seen, according to the witness, they had a “natural skin tone.” Therefore, if the witness described a reality in this case, the corpses he witnessed had not died of poisoning by exhaust gas." (p. 57)

Not all victims of carbon monoxide poisoning exhibit the "cherry red" skin coloration. The appearance of carbon monoxide poisoning can vary based on numerous factors, including concentration levels, duration of exposure, oxygen deprivation, state of shock of being crammed into a gas van, environmental conditions, individual physiological differences, health, nutritional state. In cold temperatures, as noted by Winer, vasoconstriction can reduce peripheral blood flow and diminish skin discoloration. In cases of mass gassing, especially under the brutal conditions described, the physical symptoms visible to a layman may not align perfectly with textbook cases.

See also:

• Rebutting the "Twitter denial": the most popular Holocaust denial memes debunked
  
  
• Belzec, Sobibor, Treblinka. Holocaust Denial and Operation Reinhard. Chapter 5: Gas Chambers at the Aktion Reinhard Camps (6). Corpse Color.

Frozen Ground

Mattogno quotes Winer's report that the temperatures reached -20°C and that "rotting corpses gave off a strong smell"  and states on page 58: "The ground was therefore frozen; so how could they dig by hand three pits (or sections of pits) per day?  [...] But if the temperature was 20 degrees below zero, how could the bodies decompose?"

Historical weather data for the Warsaw area in January 1942 shows that while it was cold, temperatures fluctuated and rarely reached such extremes as 20 degrees below zero. According to climate data, temperatures were closer to -7°C to -12°C around January 8.

While frozen ground does make digging more difficult, it does not make it impossible. Prisoners in forced labor situations can be subjected to extreme conditions, including being forced to dig in frozen soil using tools such as pickaxes and shovels.Winer explicitly mentions pickaxes - essential for softening up hard ground.

Moreover, the ground temperature often differs from the ambient air temperature. Frozen layers form from the surface downward and are influenced by factors such as vegetation, ground composition, and moisture content. The ground below a thin frozen crust may remain soft enough to dig. Sergey pointed out this Russian study that demonstrates significant differences between cold ambient temperatures and the actual temperatures observed within excavation pits. 

Regarding Winer's statement that "as of Friday, chlorinated lime was poured on the graves due to the strong, foul odor from the decomposing bodies," it's important to note that freshly buried corpses, especially in large numbers, do not freeze instantly even in cold temperatures. Human bodies retain significant warmth post-mortem due to residual body heat and ongoing cellular chemical reactions. When buried in mass graves, the collective warmth of the bodies, combined with insulation from the soil, slows the freezing process. As a result, some noticable decomposition might have occurred, as mentioned by Winer. Alternatively, the chlorinated lime may have been poured preventively on the bodies, and Winer may have misinterpreted the smell from the application of the chlorinated lime as the odor of decomposing bodies.

Conclusion

Mattogno’s critique relies on nitpicking isolated details that have reasonable explanations instead of engaging with the full context and corroborating sources.