Rachel Nurman's memoir

Discussions on the Holocaust and 20th Century War Crimes. Note that Holocaust denial is not allowed. Hosted by David Thompson.
Post Reply
User avatar
Sergey Romanov
Member
Posts: 1987
Joined: 28 Dec 2003, 02:52
Location: World
Contact:

Rachel Nurman's memoir

#1

Post by Sergey Romanov » 30 Apr 2010, 18:16

In January quite by accident I discovered that a memoir by Auschwitz survivor Rachel Nurman was partially plagiarized from Kitty Hart's memoir. I had a brief and absolutely not constructive exchange with F. Nurman who runs the site http://www.rachelnurman.com

R. Nurman's memoir can be found at http://home.comcast.net/~nitrous/ned and at http://rachelnurman.com/tribute

I have no idea of what to do with this information so I'm sorta dumping it here. This should not be construed as an attack on a survivor, it is what it is.

Here is the message I sent to F. Nurman (some links may be broken, but everything can be verified through Google Books - or by getting a copy of Hart's memoir on paper):
Dear Mr. Nurman,

during one of my Google searches I came upon what is probably your page at http://home.comcast.net/~nitrous/ned/

My search was for the phrase "if you didn’t have your bowl, you didn’t get your soup", which was originally written by Auschwitz survivor Kitty Hart. In "Return to Auschwitz: the remarkable story of a girl who survived the Holocaust‎" (1983) on p. 166 she writes (and you can verify this on Google Books):

"And along with these went one necessary implement. Your bowl. I remember my bowl in Auschwitz was a red one. If you didn’t have your bowl, you didn’t get your soup. If you didn’t have your bowl you didn’t have your toilet. And how did you wash the bowl out before you ate again? You didn’t. Or you washed it with your own urine."

(Google Books excerpt: http://bit.ly/86py1p )

From Rachel Nurman's memoir:

"They gave us the red bowl and we havtu (have to) allways carry it with you; if you didn’t have your bowl, you didn’t get your soup. If you didn’t have your bowl you didn’t have your toilet and how did you wash the bowl out before you eat again. You didn’t, or you washed it with your own urine."

The preceding and following texts do not match. But then I searched for more coincidences.

Hart, p.113:

"In the middle of the day I was looking out of the window when a limousine rolled up outside the nearest crematorium. Out stepped a man in civilian clothes whom I had glimpsed once before in S.S. uniform. "Obersturmbannfuehrer Eichmann," whispered one of the girls beside me. He spent some hours in the camp, pacing from one building to another and inspecting the gas chambers.
[...]
When he left the camp, the feeling of evil he left behind him was almost as real as the smoke and the stench of burning flesh."

Cf. excerpts from Google Books:

http://bit.ly/8hQesV
http://bit.ly/7zfTvm

Mrs.Nurman:

"I was working night shift. In the middle of the day I was lucking (looking) out the window when a Limusine (limousine)rolled up outside the nearest crematorium. Out stepped a man in civilian clothes, Auchman told me a girl beside me. He spent some hauers (hours) in the camp going from one building tu another and inspecting the gas chambers. When he left the camp the feeling of evill (evil) he left behind him was almost as reall (real) as the smoke and the stench of burning flesh."

Then the next sentence from Mrs.Nurman's memoir:

"I was on the night shift, so sleept (slept) and had time off during the day, so I listened to the loudspickers (loudspeakers) on the station ramp isuing (issuing) instructions in European language after another to new arvals (arrivals): Leve (leave) your belongs where they are. They all bee taken good care of. You will now proced (proceed) to shavers and disenfection."

Now please compare it with this excerpt (linked to Google Books) from the same page 13:

http://bit.ly/86vU4R

Mrs. Nurman:

"The democratic countries didn’t want tu listen. They must listen now. Those of us who survived have a duty tu those who daieth (died). Their (they) are not here to speak."

Kitty Hart, through Google Books, p.170:

http://bit.ly/8AXwyF

Mrs. Nurman:

"After Auschwitz, I retained no belief in a loving God. Some survivors claim that their faith helped them to get through. To me, such faith semed (seemed) to make litlle difrence (difference) one way of the other. I sov (saw) people praying while being beaten up and there was no sighn (sign) that the prayers helped very much. I so (saw) people kneeling in prayer before being shot or gassed. Why, if there were so proud of their atempt (attempt) to cleanse socieaty (society) of the Jews, did they go to such length to keep details of the final solusion (solution) secret and the mention of gas chambers and crematoria was forbiden (forbidden) under punishment of death? It was very patetic (pathetic)."

Hart, p.156:

http://bit.ly/5gs8Ec

Mrs. Nurman: "At the last moment, did the authorities decaided (decided) to evacuate Auschwitz and atempt (attempt) to destroy their evidence of what they had been up to. Still, they not liberate the prisoners but drove them aut (out) on transports and death marches as if to make sure that ever one would perish in the end and sufer (suffer) while waithing (waiting) for the end."

Hart, p. 95:

http://bit.ly/4Lylff

Mrs. Nurman:

"One thing I wanted tu make clear: that no Jewish girls were employed in S.S. Brothels. I never once heard of any such thing then or latter (later). At all times it was punishable by death for a reich German to associate with a Jews. Such women were fit only to bee enslaved, beaten up, and masacred (massacred); certainly not tu have intimate physical contact with the master race. The S.S. Brothel was suplied (supplied) from other sources including German political prisoners and civill criminals."

Hart, p.122:

http://bit.ly/8hcqDx
http://bit.ly/6E4kSl

Mrs. Nurman:

"With each incoming transport and each internall selection from the camp blocks, there would be a build up of that flow in the sky and the sickly burning smell would drift across the whole area. Still you were not suposed to refer to it. The S.S. wanted no panic and no stampeding mobs; they wanted evrything tidy, steady and methodical."

Hart, p.83:

http://bit.ly/4YB6J2

Mrs. Nurman: "Another insane thing in the camp was that you were not suposed (supposed) to know about the gassing or burning. Evrybody knew really yet nobody dared mention it." (the rest of passage omitted, also mostly plagiarized)

Hart, p.82:

http://bit.ly/845SwI

Mrs. Nurman: "On the outside of the low building, a lader (ladder) had been placed. A S.S. man climbed up at the top" (etc. etc.)

Hart, p.112:

http://bit.ly/5YWv2c

I could go on and on and on, but I got tired. I haven't read Hart's whole memoir, so I can't say what the extent of the plagiarism is, but it seems very significant. Do you know if Mrs. Nurman owned Kitty Hart's book?

WBR,
Sergey

User avatar
Sergey Romanov
Member
Posts: 1987
Joined: 28 Dec 2003, 02:52
Location: World
Contact:

Re: Rachel Nurman's memoir

#2

Post by Sergey Romanov » 30 Apr 2010, 18:23



michael mills
Member
Posts: 8999
Joined: 11 Mar 2002, 13:42
Location: Sydney, Australia

Re: Rachel Nurman's memoir

#3

Post by michael mills » 01 May 2010, 03:23

The irony is that Kitty Hart herself may have "borrowed" material from an account written by another survivor.

I recall in Hart's original book a scene describing how she was working in "Kanada", the block where the confiscated belongings of persons arriving at the camp were sorted, and saw an SS-man standing on a ladder and pouring a "white powder" through a window into a neighbouring building (presumably Krema IV).

It struck me that exactly the same scene, in almost the same words, occurred in another book that I had read, by a Polish woman survivor. What caught my eye was the term "white powder", used in both accounts. Of course, Zyklon-B was not a "white powder" poured from a paper bag; it seemed to me unlikely that two separate persons who claimed to have witnessed this scene would have made the same misidentification independently of each other. Presumably one copied from the other, or both copied from a third source.

I can no longer remember off hand the name of the Polish survivor, except that it began with a "Z". I will try to do a search and see if can find the book again.

What is clear though is that it is not uncommon for survivors to have "copied" material from each other, perhaps because they wanted to make their own genuine accounts more dramatic by including scenes that they had not actually witnessed personally. Whether or not such "copying" is technically plagiarism is not really an issue for historians; what is an issue is how to distinguish between survivor accounts that are true eyewitness testimony of particular events and which are not.

michael mills
Member
Posts: 8999
Joined: 11 Mar 2002, 13:42
Location: Sydney, Australia

Re: Rachel Nurman's memoir

#4

Post by michael mills » 01 May 2010, 03:45

The book by Kitty Hart was "I Am Alive", published in 1961; references to it describe it as a "novel".

The passage at issue occurs on pages 85-86:
I stood hypnotised. I could not move. I was actually witnessing with my very own eyes a murder, not of one person, but of hundreds of people who had been led, mostly unsuspecting into a large hall . . . On the outside of the low building a ladder had been placed which reached up to a small opening. A figure in SS uniform climbed up briskly. At the top he pulled on a gas mask and gloves. Holding the opening with one hand, he pulled a bag out of his pocket, and quickly threw the contents, a white powder inside, shutting the opening immediately. In a flash he was down and, throwing the ladder on the lawn, ran away as if chased by a ghost. At the same time the most terrifying screams echoed through the air, the desperate cries of suffocating people. I stood holding my breath”.
I remember that the book by the Polish survivor contained a chapter with the title "White Powder", and described exactly the same scene. That book was published quite early, in the late 1940s, so Hart must have copied from it.

michael mills
Member
Posts: 8999
Joined: 11 Mar 2002, 13:42
Location: Sydney, Australia

Re: Rachel Nurman's memoir

#5

Post by michael mills » 01 May 2010, 04:54

After searching through my records, I have found the title of the book from which Kitty Hart apparently copied the passage about the "white powder".

It is by Krystyna Zywulska, and has the title "I Came Back", published in New York in 1951. It is a translation from the original Polish, which presumably was published in the 1940s.

Note the similarity between the title of the 1951 book "I Came Back", and the title of Kitty Hart's 1961 novel "I Am Alive".

jola
Member
Posts: 260
Joined: 15 Nov 2008, 14:02
Location: Warsaw

Re: Rachel Nurman's memoir

#6

Post by jola » 01 May 2010, 08:13

It is a translation from the original Polish, which presumably was published in the 1940s.
In 1946. Her memoir "Przeżyłam Oświęcim" has had many editions since and is sold at the Auschwitz Museum.

User avatar
Sergey Romanov
Member
Posts: 1987
Joined: 28 Dec 2003, 02:52
Location: World
Contact:

Re: Rachel Nurman's memoir

#7

Post by Sergey Romanov » 01 May 2010, 10:01

The beginning of the "white powder" passage is actually the last quote in my letter above.

Here's the more complete passage from Nurman:
Only for a short time when Sabina came over and said look, si (she) pulled me tu the window, you must see this. I didn’t want tu lock (look). I was afraid of what I might see but I had tu go stand beside her. Not far away was an incedible (incredible) sight; a column of people had been coming from the direction of the railway line in to a long hall when the place was full. I went on watching, hipnotized (hypnotized). What I was witnessing was murder, not of one person, but of hundreds of innocent people at a time. Of course, we had known, had whispered about it and had been terrified of it from a distance, but now I was seeing it right there in front of me.
On the outside of the low building, a lader (ladder) had been placed. A S.S. man climbed up at the top. He put on gloves, tipped what looked from here like a white powder into a(n) opening in the roof and then huried (hurried) back down the ladder and run off. Screams began tu come out of the building. We could hear them echoing acros (across) tu auer (our) hut. The desperate cries of suffocating people. I held my breath and presed (pressed) my hands over my ears but the screams were so loud you(‘d) have thought the whole world must bee able to hear them. Its over Sabina said. They are all dead now. It could not have taken more than then (ten) minutes.
It would indeed be ironic if it's a plagiarism of a plagiarism.

The passage from Hart from which it has been plagiarized was used by Holocaust denier Staeglich in his book "Auschwitz. A Judge looks at the evidence".

I recall that Zyklon B was indeed described as "powder" in some other accounts. In Petko-Pegov's 1944 report it is described thus:
Into the openings, which are on the top of the columns, some sort of powder-like substance is poured

http://holocaustcontroversies.blogspot. ... z-and.html
But "white powder" is much more specific, of course. Though we do find it in some other accounts, e.g. http://bit.ly/9bpbzC

Here is the passage from K.Z.'s memoir:

http://en.auschwitz.org.pl/m/index.php? ... 1&Itemid=2
Zosha beckoned to me through the window. I ran out to her. 'Krysha you must look. It's horrible, but you must see it. You must remember it forever.'
Zosha accentuated each word. She pulled me by the hand. Some of our girls were already standing on the road. They were pale and rigid, their eyes were turned in the direction of the nearest crematory.
A ladder had been placed at the small window of the crematory. An SS man stood on the highest rung. His green uniform was crearly visible in the fading light. He put on his gas mask with a quick, nimble gesture, pulled on his gloves and opened the window. He raised himself to look inside and then swiftly pulled a bag out of his pocket. Holding the window frame with one hand, he thrust his head into the opening and with the other hand spilled the contents of the bag into the building. White powder. Then he shut the window. At the moment we heard a great inhuman cry - a cry like a wail of a siren. It lasted about three minutes and then slowly faded away. The SS man jumped off the ladder and disappeared behind the wall.
(BTW I don't understand the "he thrust his head into the opening" part. In any case there were grilles on these openings so it would be hard for anyone to thrust their head inside.)

I would say it's a clear case of, ahem, borrowing. I wonder if the two women (whose accounts are sometimes mentioned together) have been acquaintances. There is still a chance it's not a straight case of plagiarism as much as of an acknowledged borrowing.

little grey rabbit
Member
Posts: 745
Joined: 12 Mar 2010, 05:26

Re: Rachel Nurman's memoir

#8

Post by little grey rabbit » 02 May 2010, 07:57

Personally I found the memoir not uninteresting, the slighty yiddish tinged English made for a colorful read.

As far as the Zyklon B and gas chamber stuff, this is just required literary artifice or convention of the genre. In much the same way as 18th century writers would beg for inspiration from the Muses.

I found the parts on the Warsaw Ghetto interesting, although again you are always a little concerned of how much is personal experience and how much she believes the Ghetto revolt ought to be recorded.

michael mills
Member
Posts: 8999
Joined: 11 Mar 2002, 13:42
Location: Sydney, Australia

Re: Rachel Nurman's memoir

#9

Post by michael mills » 02 May 2010, 08:00

It is obvious that all three descriptions, Zywukska's, Hart's, Nurman's, are derived from the same source.

They all have an SS-man climbing a ladder, pulling a bag from his pocket, and pouring the contents of the bag, a white powder, through a window, then jumping down and disappearing.

My guess is that this scene is totally invented, none of the three ladies who describe it actually saw it.

I would further guess that Zywulska was the first to out this scene into a published account, with Hart copying it from her and Nurman copying it from Hart.

There is in fact a compound of cyanide that has the form of a white powder. I forget the exact name of the compound (perhaps Cyanide sulphate?), but it releases the cyanide on contact with water, and it was used by Kramer for the one-off gassing at the Natzweiler camp.

It is most likely that Zywulska heard about the use of the above compound for homicidal gassing, or perhaps even saw a specimen of the material (it was normally used for fumigating ships holds, places where there was water), and assumed that this was the killing agent used in the gassings at Auschwitz, about which she had presumably only heard and not actually witnessed.

User avatar
Sergey Romanov
Member
Posts: 1987
Joined: 28 Dec 2003, 02:52
Location: World
Contact:

Re: Rachel Nurman's memoir

#10

Post by Sergey Romanov » 07 May 2010, 17:55

Apparently she testified at the Majdanek trial:

http://www.dradio.de/dkultur/sendungen/ ... en/515002/_
Aussage der Zeugin Rachel Nurman: "An einem Tage hat uns die 'Blutige Brigida' zu der Stelle begleitet, wo wir Baumaterialien transportieren mussten. Dort arbeiteten auch Männer aus dem Lager. Wegen des großen Durstes ging ein junger jüdischer Mann mit seiner Essensschüssel zu einem großen Bottich mit Regenwasser. Die 'Brigida' rannte hinter ihm her und tauchte ihn in den Wasserbottich hinein. Dann hielt sie seine Beine so lange hoch, bis er nach anfänglichem Zappeln ruhig war. Dabei lachte sie hysterisch. Als wir zu weinen begannen, rief sie: "Wenn Ihr weiter weint, wird Euch dasselbe passieren."
Aussage der Zeugin Rachel Nurman: "Unter den SS-Männern und -Frauen waren auch diese beiden hier sitzenden weiblichen Angeklagten. Ich erkenne sie beide wieder. Die dahinten hat mich ja geschlagen. Sie hat auch einmal so lange auf ein Mädchen eingeschlagen, bis es tot dalag. Sie wurde im Lager die 'Blutige Brigida' genannt. Wir hatten alle Angst, sie auch nur anzusehen. Ich erkenne sie wieder an ihrem Gesicht und den starken Backenknochen. Sie war früher sehr hübsch und gesund. Sie trug ihre dunkelblonden Haare meist hoch und hatte ein leuchtendes Gesicht. Sie konnte mit einem Fußtritt ein Mädchen töten. Sie hatte auch immer einen großen Hund bei sich, den sie mit sadistischem Vergnügen auf uns Häftlingsfrauen hetzte, wenn wir beim Spinatpflücken waren. Ich selbst habe noch jetzt eine Narbe von einem solchen Hundebiss auf dem Rücken."

michael mills
Member
Posts: 8999
Joined: 11 Mar 2002, 13:42
Location: Sydney, Australia

Re: Rachel Nurman's memoir

#11

Post by michael mills » 08 May 2010, 00:06

One wonders if her testimony was a credible as her memoirs.

User avatar
Sergey Romanov
Member
Posts: 1987
Joined: 28 Dec 2003, 02:52
Location: World
Contact:

Re: Rachel Nurman's memoir

#12

Post by Sergey Romanov » 08 May 2010, 12:47

http://nedthetoothpick.com/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=10060
She said she learned NOT to drink the coffee but rather save it to bathe in! She said that the people that didn't at least try to keep themselves somewhat clean died at a much faster rate than those that did.

Nitrous asked her how many people she'd seen die...She replied, thousands! She said she saw them go into the "showers" and come out...dust.

David Green
Member
Posts: 34
Joined: 06 Jan 2018, 20:35
Location: London

Re: Rachel Nurman's memoir

#13

Post by David Green » 06 Jan 2018, 23:05

I have created a new topic covering Kitty Hart-Moxon's probable borrowing of ideas and text from Krystyna Zywulska's I Came Back.

https://forum.axishistory.com/viewtopic ... 6&t=232875

Post Reply

Return to “Holocaust & 20th Century War Crimes”