Mass murder in Auschwitz (for Scott and other 'sceptics')

[Hans]

NOTE that I post some possible OFFENSIVE pictures!


Scott, let us summarize the evidence again for the two photographs taken secretely in Auschwitz in summer 1944:

Number 1:

http://holocaust-info.dk/auschwitz/Auschwitz/aktion.jpg

Number 2:

http://www.nizkor.org/ftp.cgi/camps/ftp ... ng-pit.jpg

Evidence:

A note from the Auschwitz resistance dated 4th Sempember 1944 stating that the photographs show a place were the people had to undress before they were sent into gas and a place were the dead corpses were cremated in the outside because the crematoria could not cremate all corpses.

The testimony of David Szmulewski, a prisoner who claim that he was present during the operation, stating that the photographs were taken taken near crematorium V and show extermination of people.

The examination of the photographs by the Auschwitz expert Jean-Claude Pressac. He has identified that the photgraph number 2 was taken from the gas-chamber and photograph number 1 from the yard of crematorium V.

A letter written by Jewish woman from Hungary about her experiences in Auschwitz-Birkenau found in a dossier of Raul Wallenberg. The letter is quoted in Gerlach, Aly: Das letzte Kapitel, page 287. The authors consider that the letter is authentic since it mentions details that are confirmed by recently found documents. The letter describes presicely the scene established by Pressac based on his examination of the photos and Szmulewksi's testimony. An extract:

"Wir gingen weiter. Nach einer viertel Stunde kamen wir zu einem kleinen schütteren Wald. Auf einem freien Platz mußten wir uns setzen. Es wurde uns wiederholt gesagt, daß wir gebadet werden, dann bekommen wir alles was wir brauchen. Ein Teil unserer Gruppe wurde gleich etwas weiter geführt. Sie mußten sich auskleiden und wurden nackt baden geführt. Kurz hierauf sahen wir in einer Entfernung eine sich in der Länge ausbreitende hohe Flamme."

Numerous testimonies that confirm that the Jews unfit for labour had to undress in the wood, were sent into the gas-chambers of the crematoria or the Bunker and were cremated in burning pits.


Question: Where does the evidence leads us?


Consider the following: We have a photo from Dresden showing mass cremation and the following evidence:
We have the testimony of the guy who took this photo saying that it shows cremation of people at the Altmarkt who died during the bombing. We have a wartime letter from the Ordnungspolizei saying that bombing victims are cremated at the Altmarkt. We have an export opinion stating that the photograph does show the Altmarkt in Dresden. We have numerous testimonies stating that many people died during a bombing and were cremated in the open air.

Where would the evidence leads us?

-

By the way, we know that about 300.000 Hungarian Jews who were not fit for labour were deported to Auschwitz and yet - assuming that Holocaust deniers are right - there is no evidence what happened to them in Auschwitz and WHY there were sent to Birkenau, an alleged labour camp!
Here is the question for you: What do you think has Höss likely done with 300.000 Hungarian Jews in his camp who were unable for work? Here is what Höß told Martin Gilbert what he has usually done with Jews that were not able to work:

On the average about twenty-five per cent were found to be fit for work. These were marched off immediately into the camp, in order to change their clothes and be received there. All the luggage remained on the ramp and, after those unfit for work had also been sent off, it was brought to the store of personal effects, to be sorted out. Those unfit for work were classified according to sex - men, women and children - and marched off to the nearest available extermination installation. Those unable to walk and women with small children were transported there on trucks.

When they arrived, all of them had to strip naked in rooms which gave the impression of being delousing installations. The permanent labour unit of prisoners who worked in these installations - and who were also housed there and did not come into contact with other inmates of the camp - helped with the undressing and coaxed the hesitant to hurry up, so that the others would not have to wait so long.
[..]
The moment the entire transport had entered the chamber, the door was closed, and simultaneously the gas was forced in from above through a special aperture. It was Zyklon `B' gas.......

-

If you add the two photographs and the drawings of the Sonderkommando Olere to the photographs from the Auschwitz Album (that was made during the Hungarian Operation), the complete picture of what happened in Auschwitz Birkenau with the transports from Hungary and the ghetto Lodz emerges.

Remember that the Auschwitz Album shows the arrival of one or more Jewish transports from Hungary and the selction at the ramp into fit and unfit people,



At least two different groups of unfit Jews can be identified at the photographs.
One group of unfit Jews was not sent to the big crematoria. They had to march through the camp,



most likely to the wooden area at the edge of Birkenau:



Yad Vashem has identified the area, it is near crematorium IV.
They had to undress and to walk towards the gas-chambers.



They were killed with Zyklon-B.



The doors were opened, the corpses were dragged out some meters behind the crematorium, to a burning pit:



-

Note that the author of the Auschwitz Album has made also a chapter called "Nach der Entlausung", after the delousing. He took 10 pictures. None show Jews unfit for work. Were they not deloused? Further, he has another chapter about the fit Jews, "Einweisung ins Arbeitslager", registration in the labour camp. He has no chapter saying anything about the fate of the unfit Jews.

Doesn't this, and the fact that the groups of unfit Jews were all directed to the crematoria (which have been identified as killing facilities in numerous eyewitness accounts) alone strongly speaks for the thesis that the Jews who were not fit for work were killed in Auschwitz?

[Charles Bunch]

NOTE that I post some possible OFFENSIVE pictures!


Scott, let us summarize the evidence again for the two photographs taken secretely in Auschwitz in summer 1944:

Number 1:

http://holocaust-info.dk/auschwitz/Auschwitz/aktion.jpg

Number 2:

http://www.nizkor.org/ftp.cgi/camps/ftp ... ng-pit.jpg

Evidence:

A note from the Auschwitz resistance dated 4th Sempember 1944 stating that the photographs show a place were the people had to undress before they were sent into gas and a place were the dead corpses were cremated in the outside because the crematoria could not cremate all corpses.

The testimony of David Szmulewski, a prisoner who claim that he was present during the operation, stating that the photographs were taken taken near crematorium V and show extermination of people.

The examination of the photographs by the Auschwitz expert Jean-Claude Pressac. He has identified that the photgraph number 2 was taken from the gas-chamber and photograph number 1 from the yard of crematorium V.

A letter written by Jewish woman from Hungary about her experiences in Auschwitz-Birkenau found in a dossier of Raul Wallenberg. The letter is quoted in Gerlach, Aly: Das letzte Kapitel, page 287. The authors consider that the letter is authentic since it mentions details that are confirmed by recently found documents. The letter describes presicely the scene established by Pressac based on his examination of the photos and Szmulewksi's testimony. An extract:

"Wir gingen weiter. Nach einer viertel Stunde kamen wir zu einem kleinen schütteren Wald. Auf einem freien Platz mußten wir uns setzen. Es wurde uns wiederholt gesagt, daß wir gebadet werden, dann bekommen wir alles was wir brauchen. Ein Teil unserer Gruppe wurde gleich etwas weiter geführt. Sie mußten sich auskleiden und wurden nackt baden geführt. Kurz hierauf sahen wir in einer Entfernung eine sich in der Länge ausbreitende hohe Flamme."

Numerous testimonies that confirm that the Jews unfit for labour had to undress in the wood, were sent into the gas-chambers of the crematoria or the Bunker and were cremated in burning pits.

This evidence is supported and augmented by the aerial photography.

Carroll Lucas, an expert in photo interpretation, says about the May 31, 1944 aerial photograph taken by a US bomber during an overflight on the way to the IG Farben plant:

Mass Grave Sites

Situated within the northwest perimeter of the Birkenau complex, across the
road from a line of barracks and adjacent to, but south of, the two
buildings designated as Crematoria IV & V, are a series of narrow trenches
excavated in echelon within a large area of bare soil. Twelve of the
trenches (having a total length of approximately 800 feet) are open, whereas
another 9 trenches (totallying approximately 650 feet) appear to have been
filled in. The open trenches appear to be shallow but precisely oriented,
with little scattered soil. They appear to have been dug by hand, with the
excavated soil stored between the trenches. These have all the appearances
of hand dug, mass grave sites used to dispense the residue from the adjacent
crematoria.

Outside the Birkenau complex, situated in a vegetated ara near the northwest
corner of perimeter fence, are four, possibly five large, recently
bulldozed, linear excavations. They are connected to the complex by a
bulldozed trail leading to, and through, the perimeter fence to the area of
the above mentioned hand dug trenches. The total length of these
excavations is between 1,200 and 1,500 feet. All appear to have been
recently covered over, since no shadows are evident. These excavation have
the classic appearance of a mass grave site, and their connection with the
trenches within the perimeter fence lends credence to their affiliation with
the crematoria.

An Analysis of the Auschwitz-I,II/Birkenau Complex
Carroll L. Lucas
Appendix
Holocaust Denial
Demographics, Testimonies, and Ideologies
John C. Zimmerman
University of America Press
2000

[Hans]

Here is what most likely happened to the second group. They were sent to the left side of the ramp in a queue, several meters infront of them were the large gates of crematorium II:



The photographer has taken several pictures of this group, the last picture, however, where the group can be identified shows them infront of the gate of crematorium II, and no step further.



Coincidence? Or isn't it more likely that the photographer knew that this was the last opportunity for him to take pictures of these people because they were entering the yard of the crematorium?
Anyway, what happened most likely to them is documented in Olere's drawing:



They were pushed into the undressing room and from there in the gas-chamber, where they were killed with poison gas that was introduced through a wire mesh device coming from the roof

see http://www.archiv.0catch.com/holocaust/ ... hacht.html

The dead people were dragged out from the gas-chamber



up to the ovens with an elevator for cremation

.

[Hans]

Scott, let us summarize the evidence again for the two photographs taken secretely in Auschwitz in summer 1944:

Number 1:

http://holocaust-info.dk/auschwitz/Auschwitz/aktion.jpg

Number 2:

http://www.nizkor.org/ftp.cgi/camps/ftp ... ng-pit.jpg

Evidence:

A note from the Auschwitz resistance dated 4th Sempember 1944 stating that the photographs show a place were the people had to undress before they were sent into gas and a place were the dead corpses were cremated in the outside because the crematoria could not cremate all corpses.

The testimony of David Szmulewski, a prisoner who claim that he was present during the operation, stating that the photographs were taken taken near crematorium V and show extermination of people.

The examination of the photographs by the Auschwitz expert Jean-Claude Pressac. He has identified that the photgraph number 2 was taken from the gas-chamber and photograph number 1 from the yard of crematorium V.

A letter written by Jewish woman from Hungary about her experiences in Auschwitz-Birkenau found in a dossier of Raul Wallenberg. The letter is quoted in Gerlach, Aly: Das letzte Kapitel, page 287. The authors consider that the letter is authentic since it mentions details that are confirmed by recently found documents. The letter describes presicely the scene established by Pressac based on his examination of the photos and Szmulewksi's testimony. An extract:

"Wir gingen weiter. Nach einer viertel Stunde kamen wir zu einem kleinen schütteren Wald. Auf einem freien Platz mußten wir uns setzen. Es wurde uns wiederholt gesagt, daß wir gebadet werden, dann bekommen wir alles was wir brauchen. Ein Teil unserer Gruppe wurde gleich etwas weiter geführt. Sie mußten sich auskleiden und wurden nackt baden geführt. Kurz hierauf sahen wir in einer Entfernung eine sich in der Länge ausbreitende hohe Flamme."

Numerous testimonies that confirm that the Jews unfit for labour had to undress in the wood, were sent into the gas-chambers of the crematoria or the Bunker and were cremated in burning pits.


Question: Where does the evidence leads us?

And?

Don't be so shy, Scott!

[Scott Smith]

Don't be so shy, Scott!

Patience, Hans. I've been busy in other arenas. Responding to Roberto's crap is very time-consuming. Anyway, I find this a wonderful piece. Good work! I still think the evidence for gassing is slim and circumstantial but you have made a very good case. Congratulations! I have gone from thinking the Birkenau Burning-Pit photo is a misrepresentation or a fraud to a possible piece of the puzzle. I don't think it is a smoking-gun as you do, but that is really not to be expected, especially for a skeptic.

Best Regards,
Scott

[Hans]

Anyway, I find this a wonderful piece. Good work! !

Thank you, Scott!

I still think the evidence for gassing is slim and circumstantial but you have made a very good case.

Yes, some of the mentioned evidence is circumstantial. But this circumstantial evidence SUPPORTS and CONFIRMS the numerous eyewitness accounts about mass extermination in Auschwitz-Birkenau. You tend to forget that!

[Roberto]

Responding to Roberto's crap is very time-consuming.

Especially due to the fact that Smith cannot demonstrate that I write "crap", try as he might.

While for me it's rather easy to expose the nonsense that Smith constantly produces.

I have gone from thinking the Birkenau Burning-Pit photo is a misrepresentation or a fraud to a possible piece of the puzzle.

Wow, but now it seems that Smith is having a lucid moment.

Congratulations, Mr. Smith.

Don't let that flicker of common sense be overwhelmed by Faith.

I don't think it is a smoking-gun as you do,

What would qualify as a "smoking-gun" for Mr. Smith?

It's rather silly, hypocritical and contrary to all experience or criminal justice and historiography to call for a single piece of evidence that all by itself proves a given historical event. Proof is always the product of the convergence of various pieces of evidence towards one conclusion, like the pieces of a puzzle.

Example:

the burning pit photograph

+ the time when and place where it was identified to have been taken

+ documentary and eyewitness evidence on the enormous cremations installations available at said place and time and which nevertheless were not able to handle all accruing dead bodies, thus making necessary the supplementary use of burning pits

+ documentary and eyewitness evidence to the deportations from Hungary to Auschwitz in the summer of 1944

+ air photographs showing smoke rising from the area where the burning pits are shown by other evidence to have been located

+ eyewitness evidence to the killing of the deportees from Hungary and subsequent body disposal in the burning pits.

but that is really not to be expected, especially for a skeptic.

A "skeptic" is the last thing that Smith deserves being called.

A True Believer desperately defending his articles of faith against the onslaught of evidence is how Smith could be described far more accurately.

Given the conclusive evidence to the events he denies, the result of his valiant efforts is bound to be nothing other than laughable nonsense, however.

[Scott Smith]

Roberto, your post is not even worth responding to.

[Roberto]

Roberto, your post is not even worth responding to.

Boy, does that sound feeble and unconvincing!

If such was my attitude, I would have stopped responding to Smith's posts very long ago, by the way.

[michael mills]

An Analysis of the Auschwitz-I,II/Birkenau Complex
Carroll L. Lucas
Appendix
Holocaust Denial
Demographics, Testimonies, and Ideologies
John C. Zimmerman
University of America Press
2000

It is instructive what Charles Bunch omits from the analysis by Lucas.

Lucas described the two crematoria, IV and V in some detail, and came to the conclusion that there was work going on in them in the earlier photos, as evidenced by the construction material accumulated outside them, and that they were not in operation. He also concluded that later photos showed that the construction work had been completed and the crematoria were now in operation.

If Crematoria IV and V were out of action for a period in early summer of 1944, due to work going on inside them, that would explain why cremations were performed on pyres outside the crematoria at that time, as shown in the air photos and in the famous photo taken at ground level. The photo evidence does NOT indicate that bodies were burnt on open-air pyres because the number of bodies was so great that they could not all be burnt in the crematory ovens; it indicates that the crematory ovens were (temporarily?) out of action, and therefore open-air cremation had to be resorted to.

The open-air cremations do not, therefore, necessarily indicate a sudden increase in the number of bodies that needed to be disposed of.

The analysis by Lucas of the trenches in the immediate vicinity of the crematoria is significant and reasonable. He concludes that their purpose was to receive the ash removed from the crematory ovens. Quite a sensible conclusion.

His analysis shows that the trenches were gradually being filled up, and then covered over. However, we do not know how long the trenches had been there. They may have been there ever since Crematoria IV and V started operation one year previously. Accordingly, the trenches had probably filled up with the ash of the bodies cremated during the period of one year; a total of nine SHALLOW trenches had been filled and covered over. That indicates a gradual accumulation of residue from probably a normal use of the crematoria.

The shallow trenches situated adjacent to Crematoria IV and V are therefore not necessarily indicative of mass-extermination. They do show that bodies had been burnt in the crematoria over a period of time, and the residue from the ovens buried in the nearby trenches. The bodies may have been of persons killed, or of prisoners who had died.

The recently bulldozed mass-graves outside the perimeter of the camp, also identified by Lucas, are far more indicative of a mass-slaughter. They probably show a site where a large number of persons was killed (shot?) and their bodies buried, at a time not long before the air-photo was taken.

It is not enough simply to quote analyses by independent experts such as Lucas. One needs to look at precisely what it is those experts are actually saying.

[Roberto]

If Crematoria IV and V were out of action for a period in early summer of 1944, due to work going on inside them, that would explain why cremations were performed on pyres outside the crematoria at that time, as shown in the air photos and in the famous photo taken at ground level. The photo evidence does NOT indicate that bodies were burnt on open-air pyres because the number of bodies was so great that they could not all be burnt in the crematory ovens; it indicates that the crematory ovens were (temporarily?) out of action, and therefore open-air cremation had to be resorted to.

The open-air cremations do not, therefore, necessarily indicate a sudden increase in the number of bodies that needed to be disposed of.

A rather far-fetched assumption, if you consider that

i) crematoria IV and V were the smaller ones, with 8 muffles each, while crematoria II and III had 30 muffles each;

ii) crematorium IV, IIRC, broke down soon after it was commissioned and never worked;

iii) crematoria II and III alone could handle body disposal far in excess of the mortality among the camp's regular inmates; and

iv) there is evidence to the concommitant use of crematorium V and the burning pits/pyres.

The analysis by Lucas of the trenches in the immediate vicinity of the crematoria is significant and reasonable. He concludes that their purpose was to receive the ash removed from the crematory ovens. Quite a sensible conclusion.

Lucas writes:

Situated within the northwestern perimeter of the Birkenau complex, across the road from a line of barracks and adjacent to, but south of, the two buildings designated as Crematoria IV & V, are series of narrow trenches excavated in echelon within a large area of bare soil. Twelve of the trenches (having a total length of approximately 800 feet) are open, whereas another 9 trenches (totaling approximately 650 feet) appear to have been filled in. The open trenches appear to be shallow but precisely oriented, with little scattered soil. They appear to have been dug by hand, with the excavated soil stored between the trenches. These have all the appearances of hand dug, mass grave sites used to dispense the residue from the adjacent crematoria.

Source of quote: John C. Zimmerman, Holocaust Denial, page 291.

The recently bulldozed mass-graves outside the perimeter of the camp, also identified by Lucas, are far more indicative of a mass-slaughter. They probably show a site where a large number of persons was killed (shot?) and their bodies buried, at a time not long before the air-photo was taken.

Lucas writes:

Outside the Birkenau complex, situated in a vegetated area near the northwest corner of perimeter fence, are four, possibly five large, recently bulldozed, linear excavations. They are connected to the complex by a bulldozed trail leading to, and through, the perimeter fence to the area of the above mentioned hand dug trenches. The total length of these excavations is between 1,200 and 1,500 feet. All appear to have been recently covered over, since no shadows are evident. These excavations have the classic appearance of a mass grave site, and their connection with the trenches within the perimeter fence lends credence to their affiliation with the crematoria.

Source of quote: as above. Emphasis is mine.

Lucas sees a connection between these huge recent mass graves and what was going on at the crematoria, which housed the gas chambers - a detail that Mr. Mills conveniently forgot to mention.

I doubt that Mr. Mills can present evidence to mass shootings going on at the crematoria in the summer of 1944.

There is plenty of evidence beside the air photos, on the other hand, that mass gassing of Hungarian Jews was going on at the time in the crematoria complex.

It is not enough simply to quote analyses by independent experts such as Lucas. One needs to look at precisely what it is those experts are actually saying.

Exactly, Mr. Mills!

[michael mills]

Roberto wrote:

Lucas sees a connection between these huge recent mass graves and what was going on at the crematoria, which housed the gas chambers - a detail that Mr. Mills conveniently forgot to mention.

So what? Lucas concluded that the four or five large excavations outside the camp perimeter, recently covered over, had all the features of a mass grave site, and he is probably correct. These were probably pits where a considerable number of bodies was buried. The fact that the excavations had been recently covered suggests that the bodies were buried there shortly before this particular air-photo was taken.

The bulldozed track leading to the excavations was probably the track down which the victims walked to the site. These factors all suggest that a massacre was carried out at this particular site, with the victims being taken to the site and killed there, and their bodies buried.

It is hard to see what particular point Roberto is trying to make, or what his beef is. Is he trying to say that these excavations were also places where ash residue from the crematoria was disposed of? That seems very unlikely; Lucas identified another 12 unfilled trenches immediately adjacent to Crematoria IV and V, and they would have been used first, before carting a large amount of ash to excavations further away. The only logical explanation for the larger excavations is that they were mass-graves, ie where bodies were buried.

In any case, he has completely avoided the issue of the conclusion by Lucas that both Crematoria IV and V were out of action at the time the photo was taken. If they were out of action, that would explain why bodies were being burned outside the crematoria, on open-air pyres.

[Roberto]

Michael Mills:
"It is hard to see what particular point Roberto is trying to make, or what his beef is."

Reply:
All it takes is reading my post and refraining from obfuscatory beating about the bush. My point is that Lucas was relating the mass graves to killings going on in the crematoria, in the sense that not residues of cremations but corpses coming from the crematoria (where the gas chambers were located) were disposed of in those mass graves. This observation contradicts Mr. Mills' contentions (that the mass graves may have been related to some massacres other than mass gassing at the crematoria) and was thus conveniently omitted by him. Caught in the act, he is now trying to misrepresent my contentions. Very instructive.


Michael Mills:
"In any case, he has completely avoided the issue of the conclusion by Lucas that both Crematoria IV and V were out of action at the time the photo was taken. If they were out of action, that would explain why bodies were being burned outside the crematoria, on open-air pyres."

Reply:
Michael Mills seems to be expecting the audience to read only his own posts. In the first part of my last post, I explained in detail why I considered that the malfunction of Crematorium V (Crematorium IV had not functioned from the very start according to Hoess, if I'm not mistaken) can hardly have been a factor leading to the need of supplementary burning pits or pyres.

[michael mills]

All it takes is reading my post and refraining from obfuscatory beating about the bush. My point is that Lucas was relating the mass graves to killings going on in the crematoria, in the sense that not residues of cremations but corpses coming from the crematoria (where the gas chambers were located) were disposed of in those mass graves. This observation contradicts Mr. Mills' contentions (that the mass graves may have been related to some massacres other than mass gassing at the crematoria) and was thus conveniently omitted by him. Caught in the act, he is now trying to misrepresent my contentions. Very instructive.

Why would large numbers of corpses be taken from Crematoria IV and V (a number large enough to fill four or five large graves) to a point some distance away, outside the camp perimeter, when they could simply be taken out of the crematoria buildings and burnt on immediately adjacent pyres, as they were? Carting them all that way would seem to be a waste of effort.

Lucas is probably right in identifying the recently covered bulldozed excavations as mass-graves, but that is all we can say about them.

[/quote]

[Charles Bunch]

An Analysis of the Auschwitz-I,II/Birkenau Complex
Carroll L. Lucas
Appendix
Holocaust Denial
Demographics, Testimonies, and Ideologies
John C. Zimmerman
University of America Press
2000

It is instructive what Charles Bunch omits from the analysis by Lucas.

And it is instructive that Mr. Mills, as usual, jumps in with an irrelevancy when he doesn't have much to say at all. Let's remember Lucas' analysis was adduced in support of the existing photo of pit cremation near KV.

Lucas described the two crematoria, IV and V in some detail, and came to the conclusion that there was work going on in them in the earlier photos, as evidenced by the construction material accumulated outside them, and that they were not in operation. He also concluded that later photos showed that the construction work had been completed and the crematoria were now in operation.

Mr. Mills is in error about Krema V. Apparently eager to jump in with his little nugget he neglected to read Mr. Lucas' report carefully, including the addendum in which Lucas dealt with specific questions from John Zimmerman.

(quote)

Your third question concerning the construction activity at Crematorium V is based primarily on the 31 May coverage which shows the building to be complete, but a lot of debris adjacent to the building. The presence of this outside storage and debris leads me to believe that though the building may be functional, internal construction may still be going on (internal walls, plumbing, etc.). Of course it may be that the builders had just left the debris after they were completed- though I doubt it, since it could be the source of all kinds of mischief by prisoners. I see no evidence of another building being built in this area.

(end quote)

An Analysis of the Auschwitz-I,II/Birkenau Complex
Carroll L. Lucas
Appendix
Addendum
p. 299-300
Holocaust Denial
Demographics, Testimonies, and Ideologies
John C. Zimmerman
University of America Press
2000

If Crematoria IV and V were out of action for a period in early summer of 1944, due to work going on inside them, that would explain why cremations were performed on pyres outside the crematoria at that time, as shown in the air photos and in the famous photo taken at ground level

.

But Lucas doesn't say KV was out of action.

The photo evidence does NOT indicate that bodies were burnt on open-air pyres because the number of bodies was so great that they could not all be burnt in the crematory ovens; it indicates that the crematory ovens were (temporarily?) out of action, and therefore open-air cremation had to be resorted to.

Again, KV was not out of operation.

Open air cremation was used during the Hungarian action because the size of the deportations overwhelmned the cremation ovens.

The analysis by Lucas of the trenches in the immediate vicinity of the crematoria is significant and reasonable. He concludes that their purpose was to receive the ash removed from the crematory ovens. Quite a sensible conclusion.


His analysis shows that the trenches were gradually being filled up, and then covered over. However, we do not know how long the trenches had been there. They may have been there ever since Crematoria IV and V started operation one year previously. Accordingly, the trenches had probably filled up with the ash of the bodies cremated during the period of one year; a total of nine SHALLOW trenches had been filled and covered over. That indicates a gradual accumulation of residue from probably a normal use of the crematoria.

Mr. Mills hasn't a clue what the 9 filled trenches, and 12 open but presumably partially filled trenches represents. But that never stops Mr. Mills from theorizing.

The shallow trenches situated adjacent to Crematoria IV and V are therefore not necessarily indicative of mass-extermination. They do show that bodies had been burnt in the crematoria over a period of time, and the residue from the ovens buried in the nearby trenches. The bodies may have been of persons killed, or of prisoners who had died.

Most of the people who died at Auschwitz, as Mr. Mills knows, were gassed.

The recently bulldozed mass-graves outside the perimeter of the camp, also identified by Lucas, are far more indicative of a mass-slaughter. They probably show a site where a large number of persons was killed (shot?) and their bodies buried, at a time not long before the air-photo was taken.

As Mr. Lucas indicates:

"These excavation have the classic appearance of a mass grave site, and their connection with the trenches within the perimeter fence lends credence to their affiliation with the crematoria."

Of course Mr. Mills only relies on Lucas when it suits him.

Lucas also describes evidence of open air cremations on the May 31st photo.

(quote)

Smoke Plume

A long thin smoke plume can be observed emanating from disturbed earth alongside a long rectangular building adjacent to the northwestern perimeter of the Birkenau complex. The plume is drifting to the northwest and is most noticeable where it crosses over the perimeter fence. This building has been identified as Crematorium IV in several reports. However, there is also dissension concerning whether it is indeed a crematorium, because of its lack of fencing and isolation. Disturbed earth around this building and piles of open storage nearby indicate that construction is continuing, and though the buildings appear to be outwardly complete, lesser priority internal construction may yet be occurring. This building is more isolated than the other three probable crematoriums. Although crematoriums do not have a standard outside photographic signature, this building can be identified as having the same function as the two buildings identified as Crematorium II and III to the south of these buildings, and a fifth building still under construction adjacent to the building in question. (this building has been designated as Crematorium V). All have signatures that are consistent with the functions of a crematorium.

(end quote)

Ibid
p. 290-291

So Lucas identifies in the photo of May 31, 1944 two areas of mass graves and one area of burning in disturbed earth, all associated with the Crematoria.

It is not enough simply to quote analyses by independent experts such as Lucas. One needs to look at precisely what it is those experts are actually saying.

Yes, and perhaps Mr. Mills will learn to do that one day.