Israel vs. Middle Eastern Arab states

KOYAANISQATSI · September 5, 2008

1. Bush aint a Jew

2. Moloch is the big owl they like to hokey pokey around down the grove

3. Moloch has much written about him having an appetite for burning babys.

Sheesh! buy a wikipedia

Current religious thinking views the Akedah as central to the replacement of human sacrifice; while some Talmudic scholars assert the replacement was the sacrifice of animals at the Temple - using Exodus 13,2.12f; 22,28f; 34,19f; Numeri 3,1ff; 18,15; Deuteronomy 15,19 - others view that as superseded by the symbolic pars-pro-toto sacrifice of circumcision. Leviticus 20,2 and Deuteronomy 18,10 specifically outlaw the giving of children to Moloch, making it punishable by stoning

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_sacrifice

In case you haven't read any good books lately; theres this one where this guy Abraham, legs it up a hill quickstep with son Isaac to stab him cause his god thought it would be the thing to do, or something.

Never did get the moral of the tale really; people earn their bread and butter in some funny ways, I suppose.

So what?

paulb · September 5, 2008

ive just read this post and i must say im shocked to say the least. im amazed that this thread was allowed to develope like it has. in fact it should have been closed down a long time ago.

lets just draw you attention to a few points.

lets see you post these comments in germany or austria it would be intrested to see what happened.

the murders did not happen. intresting were are the people, were are the jewish people of france, belgium, holland, italy germany,austria, hungery, poland, Czechoslovakia,rumania, greece, ussr, and all the other states. did they all go on holiday. were are they. were are the other the roma, the communists, the gays. did they all run off to.

these views are so so stupid if there is one thing we learn from history is that if we ignore it we will live to do it again,

this post must be closed and removed it sickens me to think that any of the views posted here are believed. if they are then our education system needs rethinking. that the millions that died by the hands of there fellow man had to suffer what they did and then you and others of a simular mind(if that is the right word) deny there suffering. im sorry there is only one thing i can say shame.

im very disappointed in the mods that you allowed this to continue.

Fjool · September 5, 2008

Yes, heaven forbid anyone hold views which you disagree with. If we locked every thread that someone took exception to, there'd be almost nothing left.

As far as I am aware no laws and none of the T&Cs have been broken. (If I am mistaken and we've missed something, then please do highlight the specifics). As usual I would point out that all views expressed are those of the poster and do not necessarily reflect Shetlink's views, nor those of its moderators and other users.

Shetlink's aim is to allow people to express themselves and provide a forum for discussion. All points raised are up for debate and, if you feel strongly, you should raise your arguments and evidence against; not simply call for closure on topics. Censorship and stifling of debate is one sure way to ensure that lessons are not learned. This is your chance to provide balance to an opinion which will continue to exist regardless of whether Shetlink permits a thread on the topic.

It is not Shetlink's aim to dictate which opinions its users may and may not hold.

Gibber · September 5, 2008

ive just read this post and i must say im shocked to say the least. im amazed that this thread was allowed to develope like it has. in fact it should have been closed down a long time ago.

.....these views are so so stupid if there is one thing we learn from history is that if we ignore it we will live to do it again,

this post must be closed and removed.....im very disappointed in the mods that you allowed this to continue.

It must sail close to the wind in terms of the T&Cs and it is pretty sickening having to read the stuff that lead me post to this

The EU has a working definition of anti-Semitism.

In this thread you seem to have ticked these boxes

Making mendacious, dehumanizing, demonizing, or stereotypical allegations about Jews as such or the power of Jews as collective - such as, especially but not exclusively, the myth about a world Jewish conspiracy or of Jews controlling the media, economy, government or other societal institutions.

Denying the fact, scope, mechanisms (e.g. gas chambers) or intentionality of the genocide of the Jewish people at the hands of National Socialist Germany and its supporters and accomplices during World War II (the Holocaust).

Drawing comparisons of contemporary Israeli policy to that of the Nazis.

Using the symbols and images associated with classic antisemitism (e.g., claims of Jews killing Jesus or blood libel) to characterize Israel or Israelis.

But as KOYAANISQATSI seems to have done nothing but damage to the case for Holocaust denial/making ignorant prejudicial claims about Israel and Jews it shouldn't be deleted.

Besides, I've spent a lot of time on this thread.

NB Some of the original antisemitic stuff has already been deleted by K in a rare moment of clarity.

paulb · September 5, 2008

Yes, heaven forbid anyone hold views which you disagree with. If we locked every thread that someone took exception to, there'd be almost nothing left.

As far as I am aware no laws and none of the T&Cs have been broken. (If I am mistaken and we've missed something, then please do highlight the specifics). As usual I would point out that all views expressed are those of the poster and do not necessarily reflect Shetlink's views, nor those of its moderators and other users.

Shetlink's aim is to allow people to express themselves and provide a forum for discussion. All points raised are up for debate and, if you feel strongly, you should raise your arguments and evidence against; not simply call for closure on topics. Censorship and stifling of debate is one sure way to ensure that lessons are not learned. This is your chance to provide balance to an opinion which will continue to exist regardless of whether Shetlink permits a thread on the topic.

It is not Shetlink's aim to dictate which opinions its users may and may not hold.

the people who died did not have the right to speak about there treatment in most of europe these view would result in jail time.

i would recommend you study the law on incitement to racial and religious hatred. if these posting dont break this law what would.

House of Commons Session 2005 - 06
Publications on the internet
Other Bills before Parliament
Arrangement of Clauses (Contents)

Racial And Religious Hatred Bill

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

These notes refer to the Racial and Religious Hatred Bill as introduced in the House of Commons on 9th June 2005 [bill 11]

RACIAL AND RELIGIOUS HATRED BILL

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

EXPLANATORY NOTES
INTRODUCTION

1. These explanatory notes relate to the Racial and Religious Hatred Bill as introduced in the House of Commons on 9th June 2005. They have been prepared by the Home Office in order to assist the reader of the Bill and to help inform debate on it. They do not form part of the Bill and have not been endorsed by Parliament.

2. The notes need to be read in conjunction with the Bill. They are not, and are not meant to be, a comprehensive description of the Bill. So where a clause or part of a clause does not seem to require any explanation or comment, none is given.

SUMMARY

3. The Bill extends the racial hatred offences in Part III of the Public Order Act 1986 ("the 1986 Act") to cover stirring up hatred against persons on religious grounds and amends provisions relating to offences involving stirring up hatred against persons on racial grounds.

4. The offences apply to the use of words or behaviour or display of written material (section 18 publishing or distributing written material (section 19), the public performance of a play (section 20), distributing, showing or playing a recording (section 21), broadcasting or including a programme in a programme service (section 22) and the possession of written materials or recordings with a view to display, publication, distribution or inclusion in a programme service (section 23). For each offence the words, behaviour, written material, recordings or programmes must be both threatening, abusive or insulting and intended or likely to stir up racial hatred. These offences are amended so that each will apply to the stirring up of either racial or religious hatred, religious hatred being defined as hatred against a group of persons defined by reference to religious belief or lack of religious belief. The clause also clarifies that for material to be likely to stir up racial or religious hatred it need only be shown that it was likely to be seen or heard by a person in whom it is likely to stir up racial or religious hatred.
[bill 11â€”EN] 54/1

BACKGROUND

5. There are existing offences in Part III of the 1986 Act against stirring up racial hatred. As a result of developments in case law these offences have been applied to the incitement of hatred against mono-ethnic religious groups, such as Jews and Sikhs. But this protection does not apply to all faith communities. The Bill creates new offences of stirring up hatred against persons on religious grounds, by extending the existing offences relating to racial hatred contained in the 1986 Act. Similar provisions were included in the Anti-Terrorism, Crime and Security Bill in 2001 and again in the Serious Organised Crime and Police Bill in the 2004-05 session but were not proceeded with to enactment in either case.

6. The matter was considered by the House of Lords Select Committee on Religious Offences in England and Wales under the chairmanship of Viscount Colville of Culross, which reported in April 2003 (HL 95). The Committee made no formal recommendations.

7. The Committee's Report and the Government's response (Cm 6091, December 2003) were debated in the House of Lords on 22 April 2004 (Hansard col. 443- 480).

TERRITORIAL EXTENT

8. The Bill extends only to England and Wales.

THE BILL: COMMENTARY ON CLAUSES

Clause 1: Hatred against persons on racial or religious grounds

9. This clause gives effect to the Schedule, which amends Part 3 of the 1986 Act to create offences of involving stirring up hatred against a group of persons on religious grounds and amends provisions relating to offences involving stirring up hatred against a group of persons on racial grounds. Some religious groups, such as Sikhs and Jews, as distinct ethnic groups, already benefit from the protection of the existing Part 3 offences while other groups who may be, and have been, targeted for their religious beliefs or lack of religious beliefs are ethnically diverse and so are excluded from the scope of these offences. The amendments are designed to ensure that the criminal law protects all groups from having religious hatred stirred up against them, regardless of whether members of that group share a common ethnic background.

Schedule: Hatred against persons on racial or religious grounds

10. Paragraph 2 of the Schedule amends the heading of Part III of the Public Order Act to "Hatred against persons on racial or religious grounds".

11. Paragraph 3 of Schedule 10 inserts a new section 17A into the 1986 Act which defines "religious hatred". The definition is designed to cover hatred against a group of persons defined by their religious belief or lack of religious beliefs but does not seek to define what amounts to a religion or a religious belief. It will be for the courts to determine whether a religion or belief falls within this definition.

12. The reference to "religious belief or lack of religious belief" is a broad one, and is in line with the freedom of religion guaranteed by Article 9 of the ECHR. It includes, though this list is not definitive, those religions widely recognised in this country such as Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Judaism, Buddhism, Sikhism, Rastafarianism, Baha'ism, Zoroastrianism and Jainism. Equally, branches or sects within a religion can be considered as religions or religious beliefs in their own right. The offences also cover hatred directed against a group of persons defined by reference to a lack of religious belief, such as Atheism and Humanism. The offences are designed to include hatred against a group where the hatred is not based on the religious beliefs of the group or even on a lack of any religious belief, but based on the fact that the group do not share the particular religious beliefs of the perpetrator.

13. Paragraphs 5 to 9 of the Schedule amend the offences in the 1986 Act relating to acts intended or likely to stir up racial hatred. These offences are the use of words or behaviour or display of written material (section 18 , publishing or distributing written material (section 19), the public performance of a play (section 20), distributing, showing or playing a recording (section 21) and broadcasting or including a programme in a programme service (section 22).

14. A person can commit each of these offences if he intends to stir up racial hatred or having regard to all the circumstances racial hatred is likely to be stirred up. Paragraphs 5 to 9 amend these offences so that they apply in addition to the stirring up of religious hatred. Sub-paragraph (3) of each of paragraphs 5 to 9 also amends the second part of each of the existing offences so that the offence is now committed if the words, behaviour, material, play, recording, broadcast or programme service is likely to be seen or heard by a person in whom it is likely that racial or religious hatred would be stirred up.

15. The words, behaviour, written material or recordings or programme must be both threatening, abusive or insulting and intended or likely to stir up racial or religious hatred. Hatred is a strong term. The offences will not encompass material that just stirs up ridicule or prejudice or causes offence. Further what must be stirred up is hatred of a group of persons defined by their religious beliefs and not hatred of the religion itself. Of themselves, criticism or expressions of antipathy or dislike of particular religions or their adherents will not be caught by the offence.

16. Paragraph 11 of the Schedule makes similar changes to the offence in section 23 of the 1986 Act (possession of racially inflammatory material). It amends this offence so that it also applies to the stirring up of religious hatred.

17. Paragraph 12 of the Schedule amends section 29 of the 1986 Act (interpretation) to give religious hatred the meaning set out in the new section 17A.

this being an english and welsh bill you can argue does not apply but if the shetlink forum is readable in the rest of the uk it falls within this law. an english or welsh pc can travel to scotland and arrest a person if they believe this law has been broken.

allowing this c--p on the forum is i believe equal to you condoning the views expressed and this could leave shetlink open to prosicution.

plus what about the standing of these islands if a protential visitor/ stayer reads them what do you think they are going to learn.

KOYAANISQATSI · September 5, 2008

if there is one thing we learn from history is that if we ignore it we will live to do it again, this post must be closed and removed

A lesson you did not learn.

ArabiaTerra · September 5, 2008

To be honest, the only thing this thread has been guilty off in my opinion is straying from the original topic. I have found it quite interesting and enlightening in the way it has revealed the hypocrisy and dishonesty of the so-called revisionists.

For instance, the revisionists have decided that the mountain of eye-witness testimony from survivors of the holocaust, both Jewish and non-Jewish is to be ignored as it is biased and un-reliable. Yet the same revisionists are quick to point out that the confession of Rudolph Hoess, the commandant of Auschwitz, was obtained by torture. Their evidence of this is the eye-witness testimony of a sergeant in the British army who was one of his interrogators.

Now, you can either use eye-witness testimony or not. What you can't do is pick and choose that which supports your case and then disregard the rest. Each piece of evidence, eye-witness or otherwise, must be taken on it's own merits. If you only have one statement with no corroborating evidence of any kind (like the testimony of that British sergeant) then it is right to regard it as potentially unreliable. On the other hand, when you have dozens or hundreds of pieces of testimony describing an event or events, all of which broadly agree, then you can be confident that the basic facts are accurate. (Such as the deportation and execution of the Jews of Hungary in the gas chambers of Auschwitz in 1944.)

Another aspect is the treatment of physical evidence. Revisionists make much of the claims that one of their number makes that he visited the "alleged" gas chambers of Auschwitz and took samples and tested them for traces of cyanide (the main active ingredient of Zyklon-, he found nothing. However, if you look a little more closely into this claim you find that this man collected his samples surreptitiously from the parts of the gas-chamber he could get access to while out of sight of the tour guide. What the revisionists won't tell you is that a proper series of tests carried out by the Krakow forensic institute on the same gas-chambers did indeed find traces of cyanide and in the expected amounts.

To conclude, all through the revisionists case you will find examples of distortion of evidence, falsification of evidence and above all the ignoring of evidence which contradicts their case. This applies to almost every "fact" which they hold up as making their case.

I like this thread, because I have learned more about the Holocaust and more importantly, because I have learned a lot about the process of History and the thought patterns and tactics of those who wish to distort it.

KOYAANISQATSI · September 5, 2008

above all the ignoring of evidence which contradicts their case.

When I try to find out, by say; googling "bad arolsen documents"

http://news.google.com/news?client=safari&rls=en&q=bad%20arolsen%20documents&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&um=1&sa=N&tab=wn

I am still waiting for the gas chamber link.

From the first link there's this:

impressed by the content and size of the archives that document the history of the persecution, exploitation and extermination of civilians by the Nazi regime.

http://www.openpr.com/news/52726/President-of-the-International-Commission-Visits-ITS.html

I've read on "Slave labour camps"

Counting individual head lice on prisoners.

Mass execution-200-one every two minutes in a day; by firing squad.

Not one note one German passed to another involving gas chambers.

No document or damning memo whatsoever.

Why blow up gas chambers but abandon leaving eye witneses to said horrors alive in hospital beds.

Why are the records held so tightly?

Krakow forensic institute on the same gas-chambers did indeed find traces of cyanide and in the expected amounts.

There is plenty of documentation on german delousing techniques using Zyclone B on prisoners and there clothes but that is all.

One of France's most influential and reputable magazines, L'Express, now acknowledges
that "everything is false" about the Auschwitz "gas chamber" that for decades has been
shown to tens of thousands of tourists yearly.

"Auschwitz: The Memory of Evil," a lengthy article by journalist and historian Eric
Conan, a dedicated anti-revisionist, appears in the January 19-25, 1995, issue, pages
54-73 (and in the Jan. 26 international edition). L'Express is a liberal
large-circulation weekly news magazine, similar in format to Time or Newsweek.

L'Express also reports that, after a five-year battle among the "experts," Polish
president Lech Walesa has decided that the new, revised number of dead to be inscribed
on the Birkenau monument will be 1,500,000. (For years the monument proclaimed 4,000,000
Auschwitz deaths., it is actually dropping even lower now)

Generally speaking, writes Conan, there have been many obvious falsifications in the
Auschwitz and Birkenau camp sites. Stefan Wilkanowicz, vice-president of the
International Committee of the Polish government's Auschwitz State Museum (and director
of an influential Polish Catholic periodical), says:

The biggest blunders have been rectified but the principal discussions are never-ending
and far from being settled. I can even say that essential debates, distressing,
sometimes unexpected, are only beginning.

About the famous "gas chamber" in the Auschwitz I camp, Conan writes:

In 1948, when the Museum was created, Crematory I was reconstructed in a supposed
original state. Everything in it is false [Tout y est faux]: the dimensions of the gas
chamber, the locations of the doors, the openings for pouring in Zyklon B, the ovens
(rebuilt according to the recollections of some survivors), the height of the chimney.
At the end of the 70s, Robert Faurisson exploited those falsifications all the better
because at that time the Museum officials balked at admitting them. An American
revisionist [David Cole] has just shot a video in the gas chamber (still presented as
authentic): one may see him questioning the visitors with his "revelations" [Emphasis
added.]

In spite of this, Conan goes on to report, there are no plans to alter anything there.
With regard to the famous "gas chamber," a staff member of the Museum directors' office,
Krystyna Oleksy, says: "For the time being we are going to leave it in the present
state, and not give any specifics to the visitors. It is too complicated. We'll see
later on."

Not to mention gas chambers built right next to a busy road with only a barbed wire fence between the full horror and 'say' a young German mun out pushing a pram, is curious to say the least.

disapearing soap and lampshade storys and camps which had films made post war, about there use as gassing sites, officially dismissed as such, yet with a gas chamber sign still hung above the shower.

We are told to never forget but if the holocaust museum and bad Arolsen records are anything to go by; we are not to be shown the whole truth either.

KOYAANISQATSI · September 5, 2008

I have learned a lot about the process of History and the thought patterns and tactics of those who wish to distort it.

Why would David Cole (a Jew) set out on such a fiendish campaign?

I have no axe to grind but after looking into the matter it is the way I have come to view events.

Much to my own surprise I might add.

ArabiaTerra · September 6, 2008

No documentary evidence of the Holocaust? Try this:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H%C3%B6fle_Telegram

and this:

http://www.ns-archiv.de/verfolgung/korherr/korherr-lang.php

which is translated here:

http://forum.axishistory.com/viewtopic.php?p=2097&sid=e1c472e6de9afcd87ee33c811089e651

paulb · September 6, 2008

these people denined the holoccaust

http://history1900s.about.com/library/holocaust/bldead11.htm

how did these people die.

http://www.thefuturejew.com/image/belsen01.jpg

http://andrejkoymasky.com/mem/holocaust/04/corpses.jpg

witness

I am sure when they were in the gas chambers, they didn't

believe it. When the first gas did come in, probably they

didn't...underst...stood what's happened to them. After I finished

cutting the hair, they told us to go out, and, uh, while still

on the way back to my...to the camp where our barracks were I heard

already the motor, the gas motor working with a high...You know

from the gas motor, the scream. They started...they started very

loud like "Ahhh....," very loud, even louder than the motor. They

had a big motor there. Later about 15 minutes down...down and until

quiet was. This was Sobibor.

People went in through the gate. Now we know what the gate was,

it was the way to the gas chamber and we have never see them

again. That was the first hour we came in. After that, we, the

people, 18 or 16 people...more people came in from the...working

people, they worked already before, in the gas chamber, we had a

order to clean up the place. Clean up the place--is not something

you can take and clean. It was horrible. But in five, ten minutes

this place had to look spotless. And it looked spotless. Like

there was never nobody on the place, so the next transport when

it comes in, they shouldn't see what's going on. We were cleaning

up in the outside. Tell you what mean cleaning up: taking away

all the clothes, to those places where the clothes were. Now, not

only the clothes, all the papers, all the money, all the,

the...whatever somebody had with him. And they had a lot of

things with them. Pots and pans they had with them. Other things

they had with them. We cleaned that up.

The transports, when--usually, most of them used to come in during the night, but there was some in the daytime, too--and when you heard that whistle from the commandant of the camp, that meant that the transport is coming in, and the men in the camp should get ready to unload the people, and so, that whistle was like somebody would tear out your insides. You knew here are other people, children, old, older people, people who never did anything wrong in their life, and they're gonna go, and you cannot say, you cannot resist, you cannot, just inside it builded up, that revenge, and that resentment, and that anger, and that pain, you know that we have builded up inside, and sometimes they came in during the day, and sometimes so many came in that they couldn't handle, so they would put them behind our barbed wire where we were fenced in, and tell us just to walk back and forth and forth and back, so what they told them that they going to work should seem to them to be the truth, and it was hard, it was hard. You walk by, and you look at the face, and you know in a half hour won't be here, can't even tell him. You just put on, not a smile, your best face you can. It hurted, it was very, very hard.

The gas chamber was also a hall just like this one, with two

chutes, two, uh, like chimneys going all the way to the top,

with perforated metal. Had holes about a quarter of an inch all

around, all four corners, and it was two or three sheets of

metal, one into the other with holes. That chute went all the way

up to the roof, which was almost flat to the ground outside.

That's where the SS men were standing as soon as the bunker was

filled in, yeah wait a minute.... When they filled in the bunker

with all the women they put the men in. And sometimes they had

20 or 30 extra people that they couldn't get in, so they

always held back children. And when the bunker was already so

filled they couldn't put no more people, no more...they made the

kids crawl on the top of the heads, all the way in there, just

kept on pushing them in, to fill them all in. When the door was

slammed behind them, was a thick door, was about six inches

thick. I built it myself and I know what it's like: three bolts,

three iron bars were across. The bars were laid over and then

screwed tight. The men, the SS men were standing outside with a

Red Cross wagon and they had the gas can...cans in the truck, in

the...in the ambulance. He put a mask on, had to put a mask on,

tore the lid off of the gas...of the...of the, um, the gas

canister, threw it down the chute, through the chimney into the

gas chamber. The crematorium two and...and three had two gas

chutes. And as soon as he threw the gas in he slammed the lid

shut, so the gas wouldn't escape. And all you could hear is one

loud sound, "Shema..." [the Jewish declaration of faith] and that

was all. And that took about five to ten minutes. In the door

they had a little peephole with four or five layers of glass in

between, and it was with bars so nobody could break the glass

through. And when they turned on the light into the...in the...in

the bunker, you could see whether the people were already dead or

not.

now for the ss

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From the statement of Hans Stark, registrar of new arrivals, Auschwitz.

Quoted in "'The Good Old Days'" - E. Klee, W. Dressen, V. Riess, The Free Press, NY, 1988, p. 255:

At another, later gassing--also in autumn 1941--Grabner* ordered me to pour Zyklon B into the opening because only one medical orderly had shown up. During a gassing Zyklon B had to be poured through both openings of the gas-chamber room at the same time. This gassing was also a transport of 200-250 Jews, once again men, women and children. As the Zyklon B--as already mentioned--was in granular form, it trickled down over the people as it was being poured in. They then started to cry out terribly for they now knew what was happening to them. I did not look through the opening because it had to be closed as soon as the Zyklon B had been poured in. After a few minutes there was silence. After some time had passed, it may have been ten to fifteen minutes, the gas chamber was opened. The dead lay higgledy-piggedly all over the place. It was a dreadful sight.

* Maximillian Grabner, Head of Political Department, Auschwitz

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Testimony of SS private Hoeblinger.

Extracted from "Der Auschwitz Prozess", by Hermann Langbein, Vol. I, quoted in "Auschwitz: Technique and operation of the gas chambers - J.C Pressac, the Beate Klarsfeld Foundation, NY, 1989, p. 174:

I was detailed to the transport service and I drove the Sanka [abbreviation for Sanitatskraftwagon/medical truck] which was to carry the prisoners....

Then we drove to the gas chambers. The medical orderlies climbed a ladder, they had gas masks up there, and emptied the cans. I was able to observe the prisoners while they were undressing. It always proceeded quitely and without them suspecting anything. It happened very quickly.

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Testimony of SS private Boeck.

Extracted from "Der Auschwitz Prozess", by Hermann Langbein, Vol. I, quoted in "Auschwitz: Technique and operation of the gas chambers - J.C Pressac, the Beate Klarsfeld Foundation, NY, 1989, p. 181:

Q: were you present at a gassing operation one day?

A: Yes, it was one evening. I accompanied the driver Hoeblinger. A transport had arrived from Holland and the prisoners had to jump from the wagons. They were well-off Jews. There were women with Persian furs. They arrived by express train. The trucks were already there, with wooden steps before them, and the people climbed aboard. Then they all started off. In the place Birkenau once stood, there was only a long farmhouse (Bunker 2) and beside it four or five big huts. Inside, the people were standing on clothes which were building up on the floor. The block leader and the sergeant, carrying a cane, were there. Hoeblinger said to me 'lets go over there now'. There was a sign 'to disinfection'. He said 'you see, they are bringing children now'. They opened the door, threw the children in and closed the door. There was a terrible cry. A member of the SS climbed on the roof. The people went on crying for about ten minutes. Then the prisoners opened the doors. Everything was in disorder and contorted. Heat was given off. The bodies were loaded on a rough wagon and taken to a ditch. The next batch were already undressing in the huts. After that I didn't look at my wife for four weeks.

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Testimony of SS-Unterscharfuehrer Pery Broad, describing gassing in Krema I in Auschwitz.

Quoted in "KL Auschwitz as Seen by the SS", p. 176:

... The "disinfectors" were at work. One of them was SS-UnterscharfÅ¸hrer Teuer, decorated with the Cross of War Merit. With a chisel and a hammer they opened a few innocuously looking tins which bore the inscription "Cyclon, to be used against vermin. Attention, poison! to be opened by trained personnel only!". The tins were filled to the brim with blue granules the size of peas. Immediately after opening the tins, their contents was thrown into the holes which were then quickly covered. Meanwhile Grabner gave a sign to the driver of a lorry, which had stopped close to the crematorium. The driver started the motor and its deafening noise was louder than the death cries of the hundreds of people inside, being gassed to death.

Testimony of SS-UnterscharfÅ¸hrer Schluch, In the Belzec-Oberhauser trial.

Quoted in "BELZEC, SOBIBOR, TREBLINKA - the Operation Reinhard Death Camps", Indiana University Press - Yitzhak Arad, 1987, p. 70-71:

After leaving the undressing barracks, I had to show the Jews the way to the gas chambers. I believe that when I showed the Jews the way they were convinced that they were really going to the baths. After the Jews entered the gas chambers, the doors were closed by Hackenholt himself or by the Ukrainians subordinated to him. Then Hackenholt switched on the engine which supplied the gas...

I could see that the lips and tips of the noses were a bluish color. Some of them had their closed, other's eyes rolled. The bodies were dragged out of the gas chambers and inspected by a dentist, who removed finger rings and gold teeth...

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Testimony of SS-OberscharfÅ¸hrer Kurt Bolender, In the Belzec-Oberhauser trial>

[Quoted in "BELZEC, SOBIBOR, TREBLINKA - the Operation Reinhard Death Camps", Indiana University Press - Yitzhak Arad, 1987, p. 76:

Before the Jews undressed, OberscharfÅ¸hrer Michel made a speech to them. On these occasions, he used to wear a white coat to give the impression that he was a physician. Michel announced to the Jews that they would be sent to work, but before this they would have to take baths and undergo disinfection so as to prevent the spread of diseases... After undressing, the Jews were taken through the so-called Schlauch. They were led to the gas chambers not by the Germans but by the Ukrainians...After the Jews entered the gas chambers, the Ukrainians closed the doors. The motor which supplied the gas was switched on by a Ukrainian named Emil and by a German driver called Erich Bauer from Berlin. After the gassing, the door were opened and the corpses removed....

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SS-UntersturmfÅ¸hrer Oberhauser on the death camp at Belzec.

Quoted in 'The Good Old Days' - E. Klee, W. Dressen, V. Riess, The Free Press, NY, 1988., p. 228-230:

The camp of Belzec was situated north-east of the Tomaszo'w to Lemberg [Lvov] road beyond the village of Belzec. As the camp needed a siding for the arriving transports the camp was built about 400 meters from Belzec station. The camp itself was divided into two sections: section 1 and section 2. The siding led directly from Belzec station into section 2 of the camp, in which the undressing barracks as well as the gas installations and the burial field were situated...

The gassing of Jews which took place in Belzec camp up till 1 August 1942 can be divided into two phases. During the first series of experiments there were two to three transports consisting of four to six freight cars each holding twenty to forty persons. On the average 150 Jews were delivered and killed per transport. At that stage the gassings were not yet part of a systematic eradication action but were carried out to test and study closely the camp's capacity and the technical problems involved in carrying out a gassing...

At the beginning of May 1942 SS-OberfÅ¸hrer Brack from the FÅ¸hrer's chancellery suddenly came to Lublin. With Globocnik he discussed resuming the extermination of the Jews. Globocnik said he had too few people to carry out this programme. Brack stated that the euthanasia programme had stopped and that the people from T4 would from now on be detailed to him on a regular basis so that the decisions taken at the Wannsee conference could be implemented. As it appeared that it would not be possible for the Einsatzgruppen to clear individual areas of Jews and the people in the large ghettos of Warsaw and Lemberg by shooting them, the decision had been taken to set up two further extermination camps which would be ready by 1 August 1942, namely Treblinka and Sobibor. The large-scale extermination programme [Vernichtungsaktion] was due to start on 1 August 1942.

About a week after Brack had come to Globocnik, Wirth and his staff returned to Belzec. The second series of experiments went on until 1 August 1942. During this period a total of five to six transports (as far as I am aware) consisting of five to seven freight cars containing thirty to forty people came to Belzec. The Jews from two of these transports were gassed in the small chamber, but then Wirth had the gas huts pulled down and built a massive new building with a much larger capacity. It was here that the Jews from the rest of the transport were gassed.

During the first experiments and the first set of transports in the second series of experiments bottled gas was still used for gassing; however, for the last transports of the second series of experiments the Jews were killed with the exhaust gases from a tank or lorry engine which was operated by Hackenholt.

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Professor Wilhelm Pfannenstiel, Waffen-SS hygienist, on a gassing at Belzec.

Quoted in 'The Good Old Days' - E. Klee, W. Dressen, V. Riess, The Free Press, NY, 1988., p. 238-244:

When I am asked about executions of Jews I must confirm that on 19 August 1942 I witnessed an execution of Jews at Belzec extermination camp. I would like to describe how I came to be there. During my conversations with SS-Brigadefuehrer Globocnik, he told me about the large spinning-mills that he had set up in Belzec. He also mentioned that work at this camp would considerably outstrip German production. When I asked him where the spinning materials came from, he told me proudly that they had come from the Jews. At this point he also mentioned the extermination actions against the Jews, who for the most part were killed at the the camp at Belzec...

During this first visit I was taken around by a certain Polizieihauptmann named Wirth, who also showed and explained to me the extermination installations at the camp. He told me that the following morning a new transport of about 500 Jews would be arriving at the camp who would be channeled through these extermination chambers. He asked me whether I would like to watch one of these extermination actions, to which, after a great deal of reflection, I consented. I planned to submit a report to the Reichsarzt-SS about the extermination actions. In order to write a report I had, however, first to observe an action with my own eyes. I remained in the camp, spent the night there and was witness to the following events the next morning.

A goods train traveled directly into the camp of Belzec, the freight cars were opened and Jews whom I believe were from the area of Romania or Hungary were unloaded. The cars were crammed fairly full. There were men, women and children of every age. They were ordered to get into line and then had to proceed to an assembly area and take off their shoes...

After the Jews had removed their shoes they were separated by sex. The women went together with the children into a hut. There their hair was shorn and they had to get undressed... The men went into another hut, where they received the same treatment. I saw what happened in the women's hut with my own eyes. After they had undressed, the whole procedure went fairly quickly. They ran naked from the hut through a hedge into the actual extermination centre. The whole extermination centre looked just like a normal delousing institution. In front of the building there were pots of geraniums and a sign saying "Hackenholt Foundation", above which there was a star of David. The building was brightly and pleasantly painted so as not to suggest people would be killed here...

Inside the buildings, the Jews had to enter chambers into which was channeled the exhaust of a [100(?)]-HP engine, located in the same building. In it there were six such extermination chambers. They were windowless, had electric lights and two doors. One door led outside so that the bodies could be removed. People were led from a corridor into the chambers through an ordinary air-tight door with bolts. There was a glass peep-hole, as I recall, next to the door in the wall. Through this window one could watch what was happening inside the room but only when it was not too full of people. After a short time the glass became steamed up. When the people had been locked in the room the motor was switched on and then I suppose the stop-valves or vents to the chambers opened. Whether they were stop-valves or vents I would not like to say. It is possible that the pipe led directly to the chambers. Once the engine was running, the light in the chambers was switched off. This was followed by palpable disquiet in the chamber. In my view it was only then that the people sensed something else was in store for them. It seemed to me that behind the thick walls and door they were praying and shouting for help.

Testimony of Treblinka's second commandant, Stangl.

Quoted in "BELZEC, SOBIBOR, TREBLINKA - the Operation Reinhard Death Camps", Indiana University Press - Yitzhak Arad, 1987, p. 184:

Michel [the sergeant-major of the camp] told me later that Wirth suddenly appeared, looked around on the gas chambers on which they were still working, and said: 'right, we'll try it out right now with those twenty-five working Jews. Get them up here'. They marched our twenty-five Jews up there and just pushed them in and gassed them. Michel said Wirth behaved like a lunatic, hitting at his own staff with his whip to drive them on...

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Willi Mentz testifies about his days in Treblinka.

Quoted in 'The Good Old Days' - E. Klee, W. Dressen, V. Riess, The Free Press, NY, 1988., p. 245-247:

When I came to Treblinka the camp commandant was a doctor named Dr. Eberl. He was very ambitious. It was said that he ordered more transports than could be "processed" in the camp. That meant that trains had to wait outside the camp because the occupants of the previous transport had not yet all been killed. At the time it was very hot and as a result of the long wait inside the transport trains in the intense heat many people died. At the time whole mountains of bodies lay on the platform. The Hauptsturmfuehrer Christian Wirth came to Treblinka and kicked up a terrific row. And then one day Dr. Eberl was no longer there...

For about two months I worked in the upper section of the camp and then after Eberl had gone everything in the camp was reorganized. The two parts of the camp were separated by barbed wire fences. Pine branches were used so that you could not see through the fences. The same thing was done along the route from the "transfer" area to the gas chambers...

Finally, new and larger gas chambers were built. I think that there were now five or six larger gas chambers. I cannot say exactly how many people these large gas chambers held. If the small gas chambers could hold 80-100 people, the large ones could probably hold twice that number...

Following the arrival of a transport, six to eight cars would be shunted into the camp, coming to a halt at the platform there. The commandant, his deputy Franz, Kuettner and Stadie or Maetzig would be here waiting as the transport came in. Further SS members were also present to supervise the unloading: for example, Genz and Belitz had to make absolutely sure that there was no one left in the car after the occupants had been ordered to get out.

When the Jews had got off, Stadie or Maetzig would have a short word with them. They were told something to the effect that they were a resettlement transport, that they would be given a bath and that they would receive new clothes. They were also instructed to maintain quiet and disciplined. They would continue their journey the following day.

Then the transports were taken off to the so-called "transfer" area. The women had to undress in huts and the men out in the open. The women were than led through a passageway, known as the "tube", to the gas chambers. On the way they had to pass a hut where they had to hand in their jewelery and valuables.

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Kurt Franz testifies on his days in Treblinka.

Quoted in 'The Good Old Days' - E. Klee, W. Dressen, V. Riess, The Free Press, NY, 1988., p. 247-249:

I cannot say how many Jews in total were gassed in Treblinka. On average each day a large train arrived. Sometimes there were even two. This however was not so common.

In Treblinka I was commander of the Ukrainian guard unit as I had been in Belzec. In Treblinka as in Belzec the unit consisted of sixty to eighty men. The Ukrainians' main task was to man the guard posts around the camp perimeter. After the uprising in August 1943 I ran the camp more or less single-handedly for a month; however, during that period no gassings were undertaken.

It was during that period that the original camp was demolished. Everything was leveled off off and lupins were planted...

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Testimony of SS Oberscharfuehrer Heinrich Matthes about Treblinka.

Quoted in "BELZEC, SOBIBOR, TREBLINKA - the Operation Reinhard Death Camps", Indiana University Press - Yitzhak Arad, 1987, p. 121:

During the entire time I was in Treblinka, I served in the upper camp. The upper camp was that part of Treblinka with the gas chambers, where the Jews were killed and their corpses laid in large pits and later burned.

About fourteen Germans carried out services in the upper camp. There were two Ukrainians permanently in the upper camp. One of them was called Nikolai, the other was a short man, I don't remember his name... These two Ukrainians who lived in the upper camp served in the gas chambers. They also took care of the engine room when Fritz Schmidt was absent. Usually this Schmidt was in charge of the engine room. In my opinion, as a civilian he was either a mechanic or a driver...

All together, six gas chambers were active. According to my estimate, about 300 people could enter each gas chamber. The people went into the gas chamber without resistance. Those who were at the end, the Ukrainian guards had to push inside. I personally saw how the Ukrainians pushed the people with their rifle butts...

The gas chambers were closed for about thirty minutes. Then Schmidt stopped the gassing, and the two Ukrainians who were in the engine room opened the gas chambers from the other side.

All of the documents on this Web page were retrieved from the archives of Shamash: The Jewish Internet Consortium. The comments inside the square [ . . . ] brackets were written by Daniel Keren for the Shamash archives.

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Testimony of SS ScharfÅ¸hrer Erich Fuchs, in the Sobibor-Bolender trial, Dusseldorf.

Quoted in "BELZEC, SOBIBOR, TREBLINKA - the Operation Reinhard Death Camps", Indiana University Press - Yitzhak Arad, 1987, p. 31-32:

....We unloaded the motor. It was a heavy Russian benzine engine, at least 200 horsepower. we installed the engine on a concrete foundation and set up the connection between the exhaust and the tube.

I then tested the motor. It did not work. I was able to repair the ignition and the valves, and the motor finally started running. The chemist, who I knew from Belzec, entered the gas chamber with measuring instruments to test the concentration of the gas.

Following this, a gassing experiment was carried out. If my memory serves me right, about thirty to forty women were gassed in one gas chamber. The Jewish women were forced to undress in an open place close to the gas chamber, and were driven into the gas chamber by the above mentioned SS members and the Ukrainian auxiliaries. when the women were shut up in the gas chamber I and Bolender set the motor in motion. The motor functioned first in neutral. Both of us stood by the motor and switched from "Neutral" (Freiauspuff) to "Cell" (Zelle), so that the gas was conveyed to the chamber. At the suggestion of the chemist, I fixed the motor on a definite speed so that it was unnecessary henceforth to press on the gas. About ten minutes later the thirty to forty women were dead.

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From the testimony of SS-Unterscharfuehrer Wilhelm Bahr in his trial at Hamburg.

Quoted in "Truth Prevails", ISBN 1-879437-00-7, p. 99:

Q: Is it correct that you have gassed 200 Russian POW's with Zyklon-B?

A: Yes, on orders.

Q: Where did you do that?

A: In Neuengamme [concentration camp].

Q: On whose order?

A: The local doctor, Dr. Von Bergmann.

Q: With what gas?

A: With Prussic acid [another name for Zyklon-B].

Q: How long did the Russians take to die?

A: I do not know. I only obeyed orders.

Q: How long did it take to gas the Russians?

A: I returned after two hours and they were all dead.

Q: For what purpose did you go away?

A: That was during lunch hour.

Q: You left for your lunch and came back afterwards?

A: Yes.

Q: Were they dead when you came back?

A: Yes.

Q: Did you look at their bodies?

A: Yes, because I had to load them.

Q: Why did you apply the gas to the Russians?

A: I only had orders to pour in the gas and I do not know anything about it.

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SS-Doctor Kremer at a hearing on 18 July 1947.

Quoted in 'The Good Old Days' - E. Klee, W. Dressen, V. Riess, The Free Press, NY, 1988, p. 258:

I remember I once took part in the gassing of one of these groups of women [from the women's camp in Auschwitz]. I cannot say how big the group was. when I got close to the bunker I saw them sitting on the ground. They were still clothed. As they were wearing worn-out camp clothing they were not left in the undressing hut but made to undress in the open air. I concluded from the behavior of these women that they had no doubt what fate awaited them, as they begged and sobbed to the SS men to spare them their lives. However, they were herded into the gas chambers and gassed. As an anatomist I have seen a lot of terrible things: I had had a lot of experience with dead bodies, and yet what I saw that day was like nothing I had ever seen before. Still completely shocked by what I had seen I wrote on my diary on 5 September 1942: "The most dreadful of horrors. HauptscharfÂ¬hrer Thilo was right when he said to me today that this is the 'anus mundi', the anal orifice of the world". I used this image because I could not imagine anything more disgusting and horrific.

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Testimony of Magnus Wochner, SS guard at the Natzweiler Concentration Camp.

Quoted in "The Natzweiler Trial", Edited by Anthony M. Webb, p. 89:

... I recall particularly one mass execution when about 90 prisoners (60 men and 30 women), all Jews, were killed by gassing. This took place, as far as I can remember, in spring 1944. In this case the corpses were sent to Professor Hirt of the department of Anatomy in Strasbourg.

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Testimony of SS OberscharfÅ¸hrer Erich Bauer Quoted in "BELZEC, SOBIBOR, TREBLINKA - the Operation Reinhard Death Camps", Indiana University Press - Yitzhak Arad, 1987, p. 77;

Usually the undressing went smoothly. Subsequently, the Jews were taken through the "tube" to Camp III - the real extermination camp. The transfer through the "tube" proceeded as follows: one SS man was in the lead and five or six Ukrainian auxiliaries were at the back hastening the Jews along. The women were taken through a barracks where their hair was cut off. In Camp III the Jews were received by an SS man... As I already mentioned, the motor was then switched on by Gotringer and one of the auxiliaries whose name I don't remember. Then the gassed Jews were taken out.

how odd that these people who were there unlike you. all agree that the gas chambers happened.

KOYAANISQATSI · September 6, 2008

"Renowned jurists throughout the world were ashamed of the Nuremberg proceedings. Certainly, Judge Robert H. Jackson, the American president of the accusers, was ashamed of these proceedings ; this was obvious from his "personal diary", which I have read."

"I have had the privilege of having access to the "Memoirs" (of Judge Jackson) at the Library of Congress...Shortly after Robert H. Jackson was entrusted by President Truman with the task of leading the American judges at the Nuremberg Trial, he found out about American plans to use atomic bombs; he was uneasy about the task entrusted to him : to pursue in the name of a nation, acts which it had itself committed, for he was aware that the United States was going to commit an even greater crime."

Referring to the book by Alpheus Thomas Mason on Harlan Fiske Stone: "Pillar of the Law" (Harlan Fiske Stone was Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States) the lawyer Christie quoted page 715 of this book, in which Stone wrote to the editor of "Fortune" magazine that not only did he disown such a procedure, but that he regarded the whole thing as "a high-grade lynching party in Nuremberg."

No doubt, the other "witnesses" were simply tailoring their testimony to suit the wishes of prosecutors. The prosecutors were not merely trying to gain a few more convictions but had a broad, educational purpose which was to build a solid basis for their gassing theory so as to criminalize the Nazis and Germans forever and ever. Since they had no forensic evidence or documents for such gassings, the courtroom "testimony" of "eyewitnesses" was everything.

paulb · September 6, 2008

clearly your talking a load of c--p. explain the following then if they did not die.

Archaeological Investigations

A Review By Historians: Robin Oâ€™Neil, Salisbury and Michael Tregenza, Lublin.

Acknowledgment to The Torun Team of archaeologists and the cartographer, Billy Rutherford.

Published with the exclusive permission of the author

Introduction

The investigation carried out at BeÅ‚Å¼ec by leading archaeologists was historically unique, as no similar investigations had been carried out at the other two designated pure death camps of SobibÃ³r and Treblinka. The magnitude of what occurred in BeÅ‚Å¼ec has never been fully described in the historical literature until now. According to previous studies, which have always been inhibited by lack of eye-witness evidence, several hundred thousand Jews perished in BeÅ‚Å¼ec. The archaeological investigations confirm by overwhelming evidence that mass murder was committed here on an unprecedented scale and that there was a determined attempt to conceal the enormity of the crime. In this the Nazis failed. The material unearthed at BeÅ‚Å¼ec not only confirmed the crime but enabled, by scientific analysis, the historians to re-construct for the first time the probable layout of the camp in the first and second phases.

Previous Investigations

The 1997 archaeological investigations at BeÅ‚Å¼ec were initiated by an agreement between the Council for the Protection of Memory of Combat and Martyrdom (Rada Ochrony Pamieci Walk I Meczenstwa â€“ ROPWiM) in Warsaw in association with the United States Holocaust Memorial Council and the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, DC. How BeÅ‚Å¼ec was to be commemorated was the subject of a wide-ranging competition among artists who placed their suggestions before a selecting committee. The successful contributors were a team of architects and artists led by Marcin Roszczyk who intended: â€˜To honour the earth that harboured the ashes of the victimsâ€™. It is within this definition that the archaeological investigations were commenced to examine the topography of the former camp and locate mass grave areas before the erection of a suitable memorial commemorating the victims murdered in BeÅ‚Å¼ec.

As a result of the work carried-out by the archaeological team from ToruÅ„ University, and an historical assessment of the findings by the author, a clearer picture emerged of how the camp was constructed, organised and functioned in both phases of its existence. Before looking at the most recent survey, some background to previous investigations may be helpful.

The first investigation 1945.

Very shortly after the end of the war, several War Crimes Investigation Commissions were established in Poland by the Soviet-backed civil authorities. At all locations in Eastern Europe where Nazi atrocities had taken place, teams of specialist investigators descended to set up officially constituted boards of enquiry with powers to summon local people to attend and give evidence. On 10 October 1945, an Investigation Commission team lead by Judge CzesÅ‚aw Godzieszewski from the District Court in Zamosc entered BeÅ‚Å¼ec and commenced investigations. In addition to hearing oral testimony from many inhabitants of BeÅ‚Å¼c village and its environs, the team of investigators carried out an on-site investigation at the camp. Nine pits were opened to confirm the existence of mass graves. The evidence found indicated that thousands of corpses had been cremated and any remaining bones crushed into small pieces. The human remains unearthed were re-interred in a specially built concrete crypt near the northeast corner of the camp. Within hours of this simple ceremony to commemorate the victims, local villagers ransacked the grave area looking for treasure. This desecration of mass graves by local inhabitants continues to this day: Immediately after completion of the 1998 excavations, overnight, the excavation sites were penetrated and damaged by searches for Jewish gold. Similar acts of malicious damage have been recorded at SobibÃ³r and Treblinka.

The second investigation 1946.

This was a continuation of the earlier investigation during which certain witnesses were re-interrogated. In view of the findings at BeÅ‚Å¼ec, the Investigation Commission published a report on 11 April 1946, which concluded that BeÅ‚Å¼ec was the second death camp to have been built or adapted by the Nazis for the specific purpose of murdering Jews. The report cites the first camp in which the mass murder took place was at CheÅ‚mno, which operated between December 1941 and early 1943. The Investigation Commission relied on the testimonies of eyewitness who had been employed in the construction of these camps, or who lived locally and had observed what was taking place.One of the BeÅ‚Å¼c witnesses, Chaim Herszman (mentioned earlier), had escaped from the transport taking the last few members of Jewish â€˜death brigadeâ€™ from BeÅ‚Å¼ec to SobibÃ³r where they were shot. He testified before a Lublin Court on 19 March 1946 and was due to continue his testimony in court the following day, but was murdered either by Polish antisemites or because of his connections with the NKVD before he could do so.

The Investigation Commission drew attention to the systematic destruction of the ghettos and the â€˜resettlementâ€™ transports to the transit ghettos in Izbica and Piaski from towns within the Nazi-occupied territory of Poland then known as the General Government. The Commission further noted â€˜resettlementâ€™ transports from Western Europe to BeÅ‚Å¼ec, and the inclusion in these transports of Polish Christians who had been engaged either in anti-Nazi activities or accused of assisting or hiding Jews. The Commission concluded that 1,000-1,500 Polish Christians were murdered in BeÅ‚Å¼ec. The final part of the Report by the BeÅ‚Å¼ec Investigation Commission dealt with winding-down activities: cremations, destruction of evidence, dismantling of the gas chambers, removal of fences, ground being ploughed-up and planted with fir trees and lupines. The Commission verified from the evidence that a final inspection had been carried out at BeÅ‚Å¼ec by a special SS Commission to ensure that everything had been done to cover up the enormity of the crimes perpetrated in the name of Reinhardt.

The third investigation 1961

The Council declared that the former death camp at BeÅ‚Å¼ec should be commemorated as a place of remembrance. In order to preserve the site as a memorial, extensive excavations were carried out. Approximately six hectares were levelled and fenced off (a reduction in the actual size of the original camp area) and marked out as the memorial site. A monument was erected above the crypt where the human remains found in the first investigation in 1945 had been interred. Immediately behind the monument, four symbolic tombs cast in concrete were placed where the mass graves were believed (incorrectly) to be located. On the north side of the camp, six large urns intended for eternal flames were positioned on a series of elevated terraces. Over the years, further landscaping has been carried out on parts of the former camp area adjoining the timber yard.

The fourth investigation 1997-2000.

The phases of this most recent investigation were directed by Professor Andrzej Kola, director of the Archaeological at the Nicholas Copernicus University in ToruÅ„, Poland. The principal Investigating officers on site were: Dr MieczysÅ‚aw Gora, Senior Curator of the Museum of Ethnology in ÅÃ³dÅ¼, Poland, assisted by Dr Wojciech Szulta and Dr. Ryszard KaÅ¼mierczak. Unemployed males from BeÅ‚Å¼ec village were engaged in all three investigations to assist with the labour-intensive drilling.

The most recent investigations

Local labor at work during the Investigation

The methodology of all four investigations was similar: marking out the area to be examined to a fixed grid system at 5 m. intervals (knots). Exploratory boreholes to depth of 6 m were made, obtaining core samples of the geological strata.A total of 2,001 archaeological exploratory drillings were carried out and were instrumental in locating 33 mass graves of varying sizes.

From these exploratory drillings, many graves were found to contain naked bodies in wax-fat transformation (complete) and carbonized human remains and ashes were identified The investigating personnel were divided into three teams, each working at a table to record data as soil samples were withdrawn and examined. Using a map of the area to a scale of 1: 1,000, prepared by the District Cartographic Office in Zamosc, a Central Bench Mark (BM 2007) was utilized as the reference point from which the archaeologists worked. Positive data and negative findings were recorded before replacing the soil samples in the boreholes.

The Torun team: author May 1998

{click description for larger view}

Map showing structures and mass graves: present day memorial plan superimposed over archaeological findings in the investigation area.

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Area of Mass Graves.

During its first phase, BeÅ‚Å¼ec was a temporary and experimental camp in which the procedures and logistics of mass extermination by gas and the burial of corpses were tried and tested. The camp structures and mass graves of the first phase in BeÅ‚Å¼ec were concentrated along the northern fence, leaving the majority of the camp area unused but ready for utilisation and expansion at a later date.

The two phases of the gassing operations may be identified by the arrangement of the mass graves and camp structures between the graves. Thus, the apparent proliferation of small wooden structures between the graves of the first phase may have been temporary barracks for the Jews of the â€˜death brigadeâ€™ employed in digging the mass graves, and shelters for the guards. Three of the smallest wooden structures arranged at intervals around the west and south part of the grave field from the first period suggest watchtowers overlooking the grave-digging area. The structures in the southern half of the camp area date from the second period.

The mass graves are numbered as they appear on the plan above are located looking into the camp from the main gate, with the foresterâ€™s property on the right. On the right, the graves marked 1-6 are grouped together. These were the graves located by investigators in the first phase (1997), and believed to be the last series of graves dug in late 1942.

Graves 12 and 14 â€“ 20, situated along the north fence, are in accordance with statements by witnessâ€™s statements for the period Februaryâ€‘May 1942. These graves probably contain the remains of the Jews from the Lublin and LwÃ³w Districts deported to BeÅ‚Å¼ec camp between mid-March and mid-April 1942, and the remains of early transports from the LwÃ³w ghetto and transit ghettos at Izbica and Piaski. It is also very probable that the remains of German Jews deported from the Reich in April - May 1942 are located here.

Graves 10, 25, 27, 28, 32, and 33, all contain a layer of lime covering decomposed human remains. It is probable that these graves also date from these early transports when the local authorities complained about the health hazard caused by smell of decomposing corpses in open graves. Chloride of lime was spread over the six still open mass graves identified above in an effort to avoid epidemics breaking out. Evidence of the subsequent failed attempt at cremating corpses in graves may be found in the small graves near the north fence: 27, 28 and 32, in each of which a layer of burnt human remains and pieces of carbonised wood were found. The bottom of each of these graves is lined with a layer of burnt human fat.

The preparation and digging of these graves would appear to have been made on an ad hoc basis with the early graves located in the north eastern part of the camp. Many graves were close together and when the exhumation and cremation work commenced, the sides of the graves would have collapsed, thereby rendering any accurate record of grave sizes difficult. This suggests a hurried sealing of the ground, destruction of any identifiable border which in turn made the archaeologistâ€™s work more difficult and their findings less precise. In addition, a mechanical excavator was used to remove the top layer of soil and remove the corpses, and then refill the pits with the cremated human remains and ash.

Photo of the Mechanical excavator in Treblinka, which had previously been used in BeÅ‚Å¼ec.

It has been suggested that some of the smallest graves (e.g. Nos.: 13, 27, 28, 32 and 33) could have been the execution pits in which the old, sick and infirm Jews were shot during the first phase, while graves 2, 21 and 23 could be the execution pits from the second phase. The smaller graves correspond with sketches and written descriptions of the camp layout during the second phase (Julyâ€‘December 1942) by members of the former SSâ€‘garrison.

From the evidence uncovered by the 1997-98 investigations, the camp SS could not possibly have destroyed all traces of the extermination camp. Their purpose was to disguise the enormity of the numbers buried in BeÅ‚Å¼ec. In the clear-up operation after burning the corpses, the cremated human remains, as well as the remnants of the burnt-down wooden barracks and demolished solid structures, were simply dumped into the pits and covered over. Solidly constructed cellars beneath certain buildings were also used as refuse pits into which were thrown items of glass and metal objects, which could not be completely destroyed by fire. The cellars, just like the graves, were simply filled-in with soil.

Mass graves are numbered 1-33 are in the order of discovery.

Location and first period 1997: Graves 1- 6.

Grave pit No. 1: Located in north-western part of the camp. Dimensions of the grave was determined as 40 m x 12 m and over 4.80 m deep, filled with bodies in wax-fat transformation, and a mixture of burnt human bones and charcoal. Beneath this deep strata lay a several-centimetres-thick layer of foul-smelling water beneath which were found unburnt corpses compressed by the weight of soil to a layer 20 cm thick. The drill core brought to the surface putrid pieces of human remains, including pieces of skull with skin and tufts of hair attached, and unidentifiable lumps of greyish, fatty, human tissue. The bottom of the grave was lined with a layer of evil smelling black (burnt) human fat, resembling black soap. As no evidence of fabric was brought to the surface, it may be assumed that the corpses are naked. The conclusion was drawn that the preservation of the corpses was due to the fact that they lay virtually hermetically sealed between the layer of the water above and the layer of solidified fat below, underneath which the natural, dry and compressed sand through which no air could penetrate, resulted in their partial mummification. Area: 1,500 sq m.

Grave pit No. 2: Located in north-eastern part of the camp. Dimensions of the grave were determined as 14 m x 6 m x 2 m deep, containing a layer of unburnt corpses and a mixture of cremated substances. Area: 170 sq m.

Grave pit No. 3: Located in southern part of the camp. This was the first mass grave, the location of which was positively identified from a Luftwaffe aerial photograph taken in 1944. It appears as a T-shaped white patch and has the appearances of being the biggest grave in the camp. Dimensions of the grave were determined as 16 m x 15 m x 5 m deep. Contained a mixture of carbonised wood, fragments of burnt human bones, pieces of skulls with skin and tufts of hair still attached, lumps of greyish human fat, and fragments of unburned human bones. The bottom layer consisted of putrid, waxy human fat. Area: 960 sq m.

Grave pit No. 4: Located immediately to the south of the camp. Dimensions of the grave determined as 16 m x 6 m. At a depth of 2.30 m drilling was suspended due to contact with bodies in wax-fat transformation. Contained cremated remains. From below the water layer, the drill core brought to the surface pieces of unburned human bones, including pieces of skulls with skin and hair still adhering and lumps of foul smelling greasy fat, indicating the presence of unburned corpses. Area: 250 sq m.

Grave pit No. 5: Located in the south-western part of the camp and formed from the left-hand bar of the T-shaped arrangement of graves 3, 5 and 6. Dimensions of he grave determined as 32 m x 10 m x 4.50 m deep. Contained pieces of burnt human bones so densely packed together that the drill could not penetrate further. Area: 1,350 sq m.

Grave pit No. 6: Located in south-central part of the camp. Dimensions determined as 30 m x 10 m x 4 m deep. Containing carbonised wood and fragments of burnt human bones. At the east end of the grave, the ground is covered with grey sand containing a mixture of crushed pieces of burnt and unburned pieces of human bones. Area: 1,200 sq m.

Investigations at the Ramp.

The focus of the investigation moved away from the grave area to where the â€˜resettlement transports had terminated inside the camp - the â€˜Rampâ€™. Here, the Jews disembarked from the wagons to be addressed by the camp command before moving on to the undressing barracks and the gas chambers. The archaeological team carried out four excavations and located what is believed to be the end of the railway spur line. The investigating team selected a 75 m. long section at the south-western end where the former railway siding(s) emerged between two earth banks 8 â€“ 10 m. apart. The terrain at this location is forested and uneven, rising steeply to the east.

Four excavations were carried out:

1. At right angles to the line of the ramp, which concluded that the rail-link did not extend this far.

2. Located 15 m north-west of excavation No. 1, measured 14 m. x 1 m. and 1 m. deep. There were positive findings: traces of a standard gauge railway track-bed; and a layer of crushed brick and cinders (ballast) covered with black grease. A second track-bed was found running parallel and to the east of the first. Six samples of oil were taken for analysis.

3. Excavations were carried out parallel to excavations 1 and 2, and 30 m north-west of excavation 2. Further indications of track-beds in parallel were found. (These findings are crucial to out understanding to the modus operandi during the second phase of the camp (from August 1942).

4. The fourth excavation was located 15 m north-west of excavation 3 and measured 8.5 m. x 1 m. x 2 m. deep. Further evidence of the twin track system was found.

Investigations with Metal Detector:

With the use of a metal detector, a sweep was made of the Ramp area which produced important results. The most significant find was the lid of a silver cigarette case bearing on the inside the inscription: Max Munk, Wien 27. In all probability, the cigarette case belonged to a Max Munk, born in Vienna in 1892, and deported to Theresienstadt via Prague on 17 December 1941 on transport â€˜Nâ€™. From Theresienstadt, a Max Munk was deported on transport â€˜Agâ€™ to the transit ghetto in Piaski, near Lublin, on 1 April 1942. Max Munk would have been one of the early victims of BeÅ‚Å¼ec. This cigarette case is the first evidence that Jews from Vienna had ended up in BeÅ‚Å¼ec.

Ruins outside of BeÅ‚Å¼ec Camp

Second period 1998 and location of Mass Graves 7 - 33

The second archaeological investigation at BeÅ‚Å¼ec to locate mass graves commenced on 28 April 1998, and continued without interruption until 4 June 1998. The author was present throughout and carried out daily a video and photographic record of proceedings and findings. The procedures during the survey were the same as in the October investigation. During the period April-June 1998, further exploratory boreholes were made which located twenty-seven mass graves; whose dimensions and contents were determined. A number of camp structures were also located, recorded and excavated.

The location and number of graves found corroborate both the testimonies and plans made by Rudolf Reder in 1945, Chaim Hirszman in 1946 and the Report of the Polish War Crimes Investigation Commission of 1945-46

The author interviewed in Tel-Aviv a survivor from the PlaszÃ³w KZ, Joseph Bau. At the time, BeÅ‚Å¼ec was of secondary interest, but during the interview, Bau related how he had met Rudolf Reder in KrakÃ³w in 1945, and, with the information given by Reder, drafted plans of BeÅ‚Å¼ec showing the location of mass graves, gas chambers and other buildings. Bau produced for the author the original sketches of BeÅ‚Å¼ec made by Reder

Even before work commenced, a cursory examination beyond the outer perimeter of the north-eastern part of the camp, showed the presence of human bone fragments on an exposed sand escarpment.

At the conclusion of the investigations, it was established that the camp was one large patchwork of mass graves and camp structures. By determining the size, position and soil content of these graves, the investigators were able to establish the probable configuration of the camp buildings in both phases of the campsâ€™ operations. Graves numbered (12 and 14), which appear to be the largest, and probably those identified by the Polish War Crimes Investigation Commission in 1945 enabled the historians to pinpoint details of the early transports into the camp during phase one.

There is no way of determining with certainty exactly where the first victims had come from, only that they were probably from the transit ghettos in Piaski, Izbica, LwÃ³w and Lublin . It was also difficult to determine where exactly the first graves were dug in the first phase of the campâ€™s existence, only that they were in the north- western part of the camp. Max Munk from Vienna probably lays here.

The finding of lime in the sample soil cores extracted from graves 9, 12, 14, 15, 17, 22, 24, 25, 29, 31, 32 and 33, located towards the top left corner (i.e. NW corner) may corroborate the description by Franz Stangl when the pits were overflowing with corpses. The unusually warm spring of 1942, necessitated lorry loads of lime being brought into the camp to avoid a possible epidemic.

The sizes of graves, particularly in the north-western corner, indicate hurriedly excavated pits to deal with dug-up corpses during the second phase where extensive attempts were made to destroy the evidence. In graves 13, 27, 28, 32 and 33 this was particularly evident It was also seen that some graves had not been opened and the contents burnt. Here, the team found evidence of unburnt, mummified bodies. It was established that six graves, probably from the first phase, and three graves probably from the second phase, had not been emptied. It was concluded that the nature of this task was so gruesome, and had become so unacceptable, that collusion to cover-up and not to complete the task as ordered was probably (without authorisation) agreed between the SS and members of the Jewish â€˜death brigadeâ€™ engaged in this task.

Mass Grave locations 7 â€“ 33

Grave pit No. 7: initially located in October 1997 is located in the vicinity of symbolic tomb No. 4 at the eastern-central part of the camp. Dimension of the grave (in a shape closely resembling a trapezoid) was determined as 13 m x 14 m., and a height of 27m.at a depth of 4. 50m. the symbolic tomb lay just to the right (south) of the grave. It contained carbonised pieces of wood and fragments of burnt human bones mixed with dark grey ash. Area: 1,600 sq m.

Grave pit No. 8: located at the south-western part of the camp. Dimensions were determined as 28 m x 10 m x 4 m. and contained burnt pieces of human bones and fragments of carbonised wood. Area: 850 sq m.

Grave pit No. 9: located immediately behind symbolic tomb No. 1, next to the northeast fence. Dimensions determined as 10 m x 8 m x 3, 80 m. and contained burnt human remains and pieces of carbonised wood mixed with grey sand. Area: 280 sq m.

(Surface soil/sand in the vicinity of graves 7, 8 and 9 was grey in colour suggesting large quantities of crushed pieces of human bone).

Grave pit No. 10: one of the biggest graves; located in the northern-central part of the camp. Dimension determined as 24 m x 18 m x 5 m. Contained a thick layer of human fat, unburned human remains, and pieces of unburned large human bones. The drill core brought to the surface several lumps of foul smelling fatty tissue still in a state of decomposition, mixed with greasy lime. Area: 2,100 sq m.

Grave pit No. 11: located at north-eastern corner of the camp. Dimension determined as 9 m x 5 m x 1 90 m. and contained a few fragments of burnt human bones mixed with innumerable small pieces of carbonised wood. Area: 80 sq m.

Grave pit No. 12: located immediately to the north of grave No. 10; an L-shaped grave with the foot measuring 20 m, lying to the west. The stem was 28 m in length, pointing north. A small number of pieces of unburned human bones were found at a depth of 3 m, mixed with grey sand and innumerable small fragments of carbonised wood. This layer extended to a depth of 4.40 m. Area: 400 sq m

Grave pit No. 13: located next to the western fence. Dimensions of the grave (trapezoid in shape), was determined as 12.50 m x 11.00 m x at a height of 17 m., (?) 4.80 m. deep. Contained a mixture of burnt human remains and pieces of carbonised wood mixed with grey sand. Area: 920 sq m.

Grave pit No. 14: the largest grave basin in the camp that extended beyond the north fence into the area of the adjacent timber yard. The section within the fence is an irregular zigzag on the south side, measuring 37 m x 10 m at its widest point east to west, and 8 m at its narrowest, and 5 m deep. It contained burnt pieces of human bones and fragments of carbonised wood mixed with grey, sandy soil to a depth of 5 m. originally; grave No. 14 could have measured ca. 70 m. x 30 m. Area: 1,850 sq m.

(According to witnesses: the first and largest mass grave [No. 14] was dug by members of the Soviet guard unit while the camp was under construction. It took six weeks to complete the task.)

Grave pit No. 15: another small grave measuring 13.50 m x 6.50 m, with a depth of 4.50 m, was situated adjacent to the south side of grave No. 14, and containing a mixture of pieces of burnt human bones fragments of carbonised wood and grey sand. Area: 400 sq m.

Grave pit No. 16: located adjacent to grave No. 14 and immediately east of grave No. 15. Measuring 18.50 m x 9.50 m, it contained a mixture of burnt fragments of human bones and carbonised wood to a depth of 4.00 m. Area: 700 sq m.

Grave pit No. 17: situated next to and south of graves 12 and 16, measures 17 m x 7 m 50 m x 4 m. Contained a mixture of pieces of burnt human bones, carbonised wood and grey sand. Area: 500 sq m.

Grave pit No. 18: situated next to the southern edge of grave No. 15 and measuring 16 m x 9 m x 4 m. Contained the same mixture of burnt pieces of human bones, carbonised wood and grey sand. Area: 570 sq m.

Grave pit No. 19: located within the area formed by graves 14, 15, 18 and 20, and close to the south-western corner of grave 14, measuring 12 m x 12 m and containing a mixture of grey sand, burnt pieces of human bones and carbonised wood to a depth of 4 m. Area: 500 sq m.

Grave pit No. 20: in the form of a long trench at the western end of grave No. 14, and is the last one at the northern end of the group of 18 graves along the north fence. In the same manner as its neighbour, grave No. 14, it also extends beyond the north fence into the area of the adjacent timber yard. The section within the fence measures 26 m. x 11 m x 5 m. At a depth of 4 m. there was found a dental bridge with four false teeth. Area: 1,150 sq m.

Grave pit No. 21: located centrally. Dimensions determined as 5 m sq and situated in the forested southern part of the memorial area, midway between graves 5 and 7. It is also unexpectedly shallow, being only 1.70 m deep and containing pieces of burnt human bones and fragments of carbonised wood mixed with grey sand. Area: 35 sq m.

Grave pit No. 22: located in the eastern part of the camp in the shape of an inverted 'L', close to grave No. 6. Measuring 27 m on the long (east) side and 10 m on the south side, containing pieces of burnt human bones and fragments of carbonised wood mixed with grey sand to a depth of 3.50 m. Area: 200 sq m.

Grave pit No. 23: one of the smaller graves, measuring 16 m x 8 50 m x 4 20 m and located between graves 6 and 21. Contained burnt human remains. Area: 550 sq m.

Grave pit No. 24: a narrow trench measuring 20 m x 5 50 m x 5 m., located at the north fence and next to the eastern corner of grave No. 14. Contained burnt human remains. Area: 520 sq m.

Grave pit No. 25: located immediately to the east of graves 12 and 14. Dimension determined as 12 m x 5 m. Contained a mixture of burnt human remains, including corpses and skeletons, to a depth of 4 m. Below this level, there was a 1 m deep layer of waxy fat and greasy lime. A foul odour was released when the drill penetrated the layer of corpses and the drill core withdrew lumps of decaying fatty tissue and large pieces of bone. Area: 250 sq m.

Grave pit No. 26: another small grave, measuring 13 m x 7 m x 4.20 m, and located immediately next to the eastern edge of grave No. 25. Contained a mixture of burnt human remains. Area: 320 sq m.

(Note: The soil above and around graves 25 and 26 is covered with a layer of

innumerable small fragments of burnt human bones and small pieces of carbonised wood)

Grave pit No. 27: measuring 18.50 m x 6 m x 6 m, and situated close to the north end of grave No. 25. Contained burnt and unburned human remain: the top layer consists of burnt human bones and carbonised wood beneath which there is a layer of grey, waxy lime. The bottom of the grave contains completely decomposed human remains mixed with putrid smelling greasy human fat. Area: 450 sq m.

Grave pit No. 28: one of the smallest graves measuring 6 m x 6 m x 5 m, located between grave 27 and the north fence. Containing burnt human remains beneath which there is a layer of grey greasy lime. The bottom of the grave is lined with putrid smelling, greasy human fat. Area: 70 sq m.

Grave pit No. 29: measuring 25 m x 9 m x 4.50 in the form of a long trench and located just to the north- east of grave 26; its eastern corner is immediately in front of symbolic tomb No. 1. Contained pieces of burnt human bones mixed with fragments of carbonised wood and grey sand. Area: 900 sq m.

Grave pit No. 30: located in the north angle between graves 26 and 29 and measured 5 m x 6 m. Contained pieces of burnt human bones and fragments of carbonised wood mixed with grey sand to a depth of 2 70 m. Area: 75 sq m.

Grave pit No. 31: similar in size to grave No. 30, measuring 9 m x 4 m x 2 60 m. Situated next to the north fence between graves 28 and 29, this grave also contained a mixture of burnt pieces of human bones, fragments of carbonised wood and grey sand. Area: 90 sq m.

Grave pit No. 32: situated close to the north corner of the memorial site between graves 9, 13, and measures 15 m x 5 m. Contained a mixture of burnt human bones and carbonised wood mixed with grey sand, beneath which there is a layer of grey, greasy lime and a foul smelling layer of human fat containing decomposing human remains. The drill core brought to the surface pieces of skull with skin and tufts of hair still attached. At the bottom of the grave, at a depth of 4.10 m. lay a large number of unburned human bones. The path to the small gate near the north corner of the memorial area passes over the southern end of the grave. Area: 400 sq m.

Grave pit No. 33: a small, shallow grave measuring only 9 m x 5 m x 3 m, located in the extreme north-eastern corner of the memorial site. Contained tiny fragments of burnt human bones mixed with small pieces of carbonised wood and grey sand: 120 sq m.

The total surface of the mass graves is estimated at 21,000 cubic metres. At least a dozen graves still contain today unburnt, partially mummified or decomposing corpses. Exactly why the SS did not empty all the graves and destroy their contents is not known; they were in no hurry to leave the area as the entire SS - garrison was redistributed to other camps in the Lublin District for at least five months after the liquidation of BeÅ‚Å¼ec.

Further investigations with Metal Detector.

Carried out by the author, produced a miscellaneous collection of enamel kitchenware and assorted scrap metal. Further sweeps of the area located a metal door kitchen to a stove, and assorted pre-war Polish coins. The only item of interest was a (another) silver cigarette case with no inscription.

Ramp Area

Continued investigations at the Ramp were carried-over from the 1997 investigation. Analysing the 1940 and 1944 aerial maps the two rail tracks are clearly shown entering the death camp. These tracks were not built specifically for operations within the camp but were there because the area, on which the camp was built, had previously been a logging area pre-war. This was undoubtedly one of the main reasons why the death camp was built at this location. This evidence also confirms that the â€˜Otto lineâ€™ was built subsequent to May 1940, as there is no photographic evidence to show its existence before that date.

In the first phase of BeÅ‚Å¼ec, only a limited number of wagons (20) at a time could be accommodated because the uneven ground rises steeply at the southern end, which made any further extension of the tracks impossible. The second Ramp, constructed initially to handle the bigger transports from KrakÃ³w which commenced on 3 June, was the same length and could also only accommodate 20 wagons at a time.

Close examination of the 1944 aerial photograph, and the ground scarring, clearly indicates this. . The Luftwaffe aerial photo taken in May 1944 shows that the spur line had been partly removed, probably when the camp was decommissioned and destroyed. The archaeologists corroborate the extent and termination of the rail tracks into the camp but came to their conclusions from a different direction.

Examination of the 1944 aerial photographs indicates the presence of freight wagons on a siding just outside the former camp entrance. Further examination and measurement show that it was possible to accommodate 20 wagons, plus the locomotive on Ramp â€˜Aâ€™ (first phase) and at least 20 wagons on the second Ramp (constructed for phase 2 in August 1942). This confirms that it was possible to accommodate at least 40 wagons inside the camp: 20 on Ramp Aâ€™, with another 20 on Ramp â€˜Bâ€™, waiting while the victims on Ramp â€˜Aâ€™ were being dealt with. (See sketch by former SS guard Schluch below).

By August 1942, the handling of â€˜goodsâ€™ (Jews) was a well-organised killing machine. This, I would suggest, is the reason why BeÅ‚Å¼ec in its short life span -compared with Treblinka and SobibÃ³r managed to murder so many people: because a maximum number of wagons could be accommodated on the ramps at same time with less shunting back and forth between station and camp, as was the case in the other two death camps. Conclusions were drawn in collaboration with my colleague Michael Tregenza and mainly supported by the findings of the Kola Report:

Conclusions and Analysis by the author.

The most significant and unexpected facts to emerge as a result of the 1997-99 investigations are the large number of mass graves discovered, and the large number of indications of camp structures of various sizes (65) scattered throughout the area of the former extermination camp, and the deep cellars beneath some of the buildings. Several of the camp structures correspond approximately in position with buildings shown on the undressing and barbers' barracks, workshops, warehouse, and bunker for the electricity generator; in Camp II, barracks and kitchen for the Jewish 'death brigade').

The two main phases of the camps s gassing operations may be identified by the arrangement of the mass graves and camp structures between the graves. Thus, the apparent proliferation of small wooden structures between the graves of the first phase may have been temporary barracks for the Jews of the 'death brigade' employed in digging the mass graves, and shelters for the guards. Three of the smallest wooden structures arranged at intervals around the western and southern part of the grave field from the first period suggest watchtowers overlooking the grave digging world. The structures in the southern half of the camp area doubtless date from the second period.

Graves 12 and 14, arranged along the northern fence, correspond to witnesses statements as being the first to be utilised during the period February-May 1942. They undoubtedly contain the remains of the Jews from the Lublin ghetto, deported to Belzec camp between mid-March - mid-April 1942, and the remains of early transports from the Lvov ghetto and the transit ghettos at Izbica and Piaski. In these graves also lie the remains of German Jews deported from the Reich in April-May to Izbica and Piaski, and thence to Belzec.

Graves 10, 25, 27, 28, 32, and 33, which contain traces of lime covering still decomposing human remains, date from the spring of 1942 when the local German civil authorities complained about the health hazard caused by decomposing corpses in open graves. Chloride of lime was spread over the six still open mass graves identified above in an effort to avoid epidemics breaking out.

Evidence of the subsequent failed attempt at cremating corpses in graves may be found in the small graves near the northern fence, Nos.:27, 28 and 32, in which a layer of burnt human remains and pieces of carbonised wood. The bottom of each of these graves is lined with a layer of human fat.

With the exception of grave 14, the comparatively small size of the other graves clustered around it near the northern corner of the camp is indicative of the smaller transports of this period which carried on average 1,500 victims each.

Some of the smallest graves (e.g. Nos.: 31, 27, 28, 32 and 33) could be the execution pits in which the old, sick and infirm Jews were shot during the first phase, while graves 2, 21 and 23 could be the execution pits from the second phase. Such small graves correspond with sketches and written descriptions of the camp layout during the second phase (Julyâ€‘December 1942) by members of the former SSâ€‘garrison.

According to witnesses, the first and largest mass grave (No. 14) was dug by members of the Soviet guard unit while the camp was under construction. It took six weeks to complete the task. The early transports consisted of 8â€‘15 wagons with an average of 100 Jews with luggage per wagon.

Mass grave identified circa 2004

At least a dozen graves still contain today un-burnt, partially mummified or decomposing corpses. Exactly why the SS did not empty all the graves and destroy their contents is not known; they were in no hurry to leave the area as the entire SSâ€‘garrison was redistributed to other camps in the Lublin District for at least five months after the liquidation of Belzec. However, that all the corpses were not disinterred and destroyed may be due to the following:

a) six of the graves not emptied date from the first phase and contain decomposing corpses under a layer of lime; the corpses would have been in such an appalling state of disintegration that even the SS were reluctant to attempt disinterment;

three of the graves not completely emptied date from the second phase and are among the largest in the camp (with the exception of grave 14); removal of their entire decomposing contents presented a daunting task.

Perhaps after five months of supervising day and night the gruesome work of exhuming and cremating the hundreds of thousands of rotting remains the SS had simply had enough, and against orders, abandoned the task The opened and partly emptied graves were refilled with the fragments of burnt human bones and pieces of carbonised wood from the bone mill, mixed with sand.

From the wealth of evidence uncovered by the 1997-98 investigations it is obvious that the camp SS did not by any means erase all traces of the extermination camp, as hitherto believed. The majority of the wooden barracks were burnt down and the carbonised wood broken up into fragments; solid structures were demolished and the bricks, stones and concrete or cement broken into pieces and buried Solidly constructed cellars beneath certain buildings were used as refuse pits into which were thrown items of glass and metal which could not be completely destroyed by fire. The cellars were then simply filled in with soil. Other articles of glass and metal were buried among the remains of burnt down wooden barracks. At the Ramp, the wooden support posts and planks retaining the sandy soil of the two platforms - the negative images of which were uncovered during the 1997 investigation - were also removed and most likely burnt.

It has long been thought that only one railway siding existed at the Ramp and that it was later extended further into the camp to accommodate the longer transports of the second phase. However, the construction of such an extension would not have been possible due to the forested and uneven terrain at the south western end of the camp. Luftwaffe aerial photographs of Belzec taken in 1940 and 1944 clearly show that two parallel tracks existed on the camp area. Witnesses also mention the existence of two tracks during the second phase.

SSâ€‘Oberscharfuhrer Heinrich Gley, who supervised the daytime shift at the cremation pyres, has testified about the cremations: 'The whole procedure during the burning of the exhumed corpses was so inhuman, so un-anaesthetic, and the stench so horrifying that people today who are used to living everyday lives cannot possibly imagine what it was likeâ€™.

It was apparent from the large amounts of engine oil and grease found on the track-beds in 1997, that locomotives entered the camp and did not always remain outside the camp gate having shunted the wagons from behind as stated by many witnesses.

The number of watchtowers around the camp perimeter was probably larger than claimed by witnesses. The original number of three towers at the corners (with the exception of the north western corner by the main gate) and one in the camp itself, must have been increased during the reorganisation/rebuilding of the camp in Juneâ€‘July 1942, prior to the increased extermination activity which began on 1 August, and the employment of 1,000 'work Jews' in the camp. Evidence of three small wooden structures at 55 m. intervals along the eastern fence indicate the probable position of such additional watchtowers.

In the autumn of 1942 there was increased partisan activity in the Belzec area which necessitated extra security precautions by the camp SS and Soviet guard unit. One such measure was the construction of a concrete bunker at the south eastern corner of the camp, on the highest point of the terrain. It would also have been logical and effective to have had a watchtower above the bunker, affording a clear allâ€‘round view and field of fire over the entire camp area and its environs.

Belzec was a temporary, experiments operation where the procedures and logistics of mass extermination by gas and the burial of corpses were tried and tested, initially on the Jews of the Lublin ghetto, before being applied at the Sobibor and Treblinka extermination camps. It can also be seen that the original camp structures and mass graves of the first phase were concentrated along the northern fence, leaving the majority of the camp area empty and unused but ready for utilisation and expansion at a later date. The primitive, experimental gassing barrack and undressing barracks were also temporary structures replaced later by bigger and more solidly constructed buildings to accommodate the increased number of victims.

That the original camp area was much bigger than the present day memorial area is not in doubt, but the exact extent of the camp remains unknown to this day. Determining the exact dimensions, however, presents certain problems:

1. locating the line and direction of the northern boundary has been rendered especially difficult by the complete obliteration of the original terrain;

2. the southern boundary lies in a densely forested area and extends at least 50 m. beyond the present day fence;

3. the south western part of the area of the former camp has been buried beneath a railway embankment, constructed in the late 1960s to a accommodate a set of sidings.

Only the topography of the eastern boundary, along the top of the ridge above the road to the hamlet of Szalenik, has remained virtually unchanged.

a) The main gate was located immediately to the south of the 1940 anti-tank ditch and rampart destroyed in 1970 and within a few metres of the main Lublin-Lvov railway line. With the aid of the Luftwaffe aerial photographs, surveying equipment, and local knowledge, it should be possible to locate its position with accuracy.

The concrete foundations, or part thereof, of the original gassing barrack, could still lie beneath the rough grass verge between the forester's field to the left of the entrance gate to the memorial area and the paved road that runs alongside the road, and at a point about half-way between the path to the entrance gate and the north end of the field. As the forester has mentioned to the authors that on occasions he has damaged farm machinery on a concrete structure near the east end of his field, this suggests that such a construction could be the walls of the pit in which the gassing engine was placed - 30 m. from the gassing barrack.

c) The lack of any clear evidence to date locating the second gassing building is intriguing. It may well be the case that the SS deliberately destroyed and removed all evidence of the most incriminating structure in the camp. On examination of the arrangement of all the mass graves and camp structures located during the 1997â€‘98 investigations, one area stands out as the most likely site of this building: an area devoid of any graves or structures near the north eastern corner of the camp, and today a few metres in front of symbolic tomb No. 2.

d) From the probable position of the second gassing building described above, and the position and angle of the undressing barracks during the second phase, it should be possible to plot the most likely route of 'die Schleuse'.

e) There is much discrepancy about the number of cremation pyres. Witnesses mention 1-4, while the SS at their trial in Munich 1963â€‘64 admitted to only two being used, each one measuring 5 m x 5 m. The first was constructed in mid-November 1942, and the second during the first week of December, but the SS were not asked where the pyres were located in the camp and they did not offer the information.

According to SS testimonies, at least 500,000 corpses were cremated on these two pyres between November 1942 - March 1943.

It may be possible during future investigations at Belzec to estimate at least an approximate number of corpses once contained in the 33 mass graves, based on the known number of corpses exhumed from mass graves at other sites: Katyn, Kharkhov, Miednoje, etc. and the contents and cubic capacity of these graves.

Robin Oâ€™Neil

Salisbury 2006

paulb · September 6, 2008

the mod said this thread did not break the terms and conditions. but i suggest that it does

1. You agree, through your use of the Shetlink website, that you will not submit (or hyperlink to) any material or use language which is defamatory, abusive, vulgar, hateful, harassing, inciting of violence, obscene, profane, sexually oriented, threatening, invasive of a person's privacy, or in violation of ANY UK law. Personal attacks, inflammatory language, harassment, impersonation and trolling will not be tolerated.

i think we can say he meets most of these points.

KOYAANISQATSI · September 6, 2008

1 At least 33 mass graves have been located at the site.

2 According to R2, the largest of these graves measure 70m x 20m and 36m x 18m. According to R1, these largest graves contained unburned remains.

3 According to R1, the boring methodology involved core samples to a depth of 6 meters at sampling distances of 15 meters.

4 According to R2, the implied cover to these graves is between 2 to 3 to 4 meters, which means that the actual depth of the graves averages about 2 meters.

5 Bearing in mind the surface area claimed in #2, and the methodology of #3, as well as the relative thinness of the corpse layer it seems likely that the two largest graves are in fact a series of strip graves.

6 Estimates from either R1 or R2 for the total number of dead discovered in these 33 mass graves are in the "thousands" -- this suggests periodic burials of comparatively small numbers, which would be consistent with either epidemics, shootings, or small "gassings", but not consistent with the numbers, or the procedures, usually claimed.

7 It is worth keeping in mind that the traditional estimate of 600,000 for Belzec has no documentary foundation. According to Yitzhak Arad's book on the Aktion Reinhardt camps, about 250,000 Jews are documented to have been deported to the Belzec camp location. Nevertheless he persisted in that text on insisting on the traditional number of deportees, all of whom were assumed to have been killed at the site.

8 R2 indicates that there are problems with the water table at Belzec, a layer of unburned bodies was found below a layer of water. From R1 we know this to have been one of the largest graves.

9 Corpses can contaminate the water table, a traditional method for dealing with this problem was to carbonize the bodies through pit burning, for example, this was a method apparently used by both sides in the Gallipoli campaign.

10 This may explain the fact that, while there are a large number of unburned human remains, there was obviously an attempt to engage in _some_ burning, this evidenced by the human ash, carbonized wood, and black fat deposits found in some mass graves. But at the same time the last two elements described here indicate incomplete combustion, and the water table discussed in #8 would obviously frustrate complete combustion in any case.

11 R2 records some crushed bone. Again, the reason for this is unclear, but it does not appear to have been the general condition of the bones located.

12 Therefore, in amplification of R1, we now know that of the 33 graves and thousands of bodies estimated, some were at least partially burned, and some bones were crushed. The relative proportions for the graves will of course be important to find out.

13 At the same time it seems clear that many of the bodies are relatively intact, having probably converted to a form of graveswax (essentially conversion to fat) at this point. This process could have contributed to the fat deposits as well.

14 Metal detectors were used: in one mass grave German and Russian ammunition was found. I frankly do not understand why Russian ammunition would be found. It is unclear whether metal detectors indicated anything for the majority of the mass graves: if not, then we must conclude that the victims in these graves died either from disease or from being "gassed", but not by shooting.

15 However, while four building structures were found, "we found no traces of the gassing barracks", according to R2. Nor is there any trace of the "huge aircraft engine" used to generate the gas, according to R1.

16 It is interesting to note that, according to R2, Robin O'Neil believes that, in addition to the "gas chambers" there was a fake hospital "Lazerat" exclusively used for the execution of the elderly and infirm through shooting, presumably while the young and healthy were gassed. The logic of this arrangement completely escapes me.

17 If no ammunition was retrieved from the majority of graves, and since there was no trace of the "gassing barracks" the greatest likelihood is that the victims buried here are those who died of disease, starvation, or in transit to the camp.

18 Three of the structures uncovered had concrete cellars -- which is suggestive in an air raid shelter context. One of the structures is suggested to have been the camp generator building; power was normally generated through the use of diesel engines in such remote facilities.

19 The letter from the German student suggests that an article recovered from the site may have belonged to a Viennese Jewish deportee, this would suggest that some Viennese Jews passed through the camp, which would reinforce the interpretation of the camp as a transit camp.

20 Revisionists argue that Belzec functioned as a labor camp (forestry) and as a transit camp. It is generally conceded that thousands died here either from disease or malnutrition, that thousands probably died in transit, and that others were shot or otherwise liquidated. However they have always rejected the argument that the camp was designed as an extermination camp, that mass gassings were conducted there, or that the total number who perished was anywhere near the alleged total of 600,000.

Â Â There is nothing in the recent revelations to contradict this interpretation. Although the number of graves seems sizable, the current estimates given by the survey participants range in the thousands, and, estimating from the size and depth of the graves, one concludes that at most tens of thousands, but not hundreds of thousands, of people are buried here. This is consistent with John Ball's aerial analyses of some years ago.

Â Â No evidence of systematic mass shootings has so far been presented, although there is evidence of some shootings. No evidence of gassing has been presented, indeed, the "gassing barracks" could not be located. There is evidence of some attempts at burning at least partially some of the bodies. Since this practice appears to have been local, rather than general, and involved incomplete combustion, it suggests an attempt to control hygiene rather than an attempt to "hide the traces" of Nazi crimes. This in turn suggests that contagious diseases were the cause of many deaths.

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