From: mvanalst@rbi.com (Mark Van Alstine) Newsgroups: alt.revisionism Subject: Re: They can't see the Forest for the Trees Date: Fri, 25 Apr 1997 13:54:09 -0700 Organization: rbi software systems Lines: 276 Message-ID:References: <5jp52v$797$1@juliana.sprynet.com> NNTP-Posting-Host: rbi141.rbi.com X-Newsreader: Yet Another NewsWatcher 2.0.5b5 In article <5jp52v$797$1@juliana.sprynet.com>, jbellinger@sprynet.com wrote: > In the debate concerning the planting of trees > near Krema II, the Nizkorians are seeing a > conspiracy to commit mass murder, and hiding > the fact from the rest of the camp. I would like > 'to note the following, however: > > 1. The date the trees were planted would be significant. Not really. Just one more (minor) indication of Nazi guilt of mass murder. > The fact is, the date they were planted was November, 1943. Actually, what we have is letter referencing a conversation between Ho"ss and Bischoff, that "by the order of Camp Commanadant SS Lieutenant Colonel Hoess," calls for "a ring of greenery" to be planted around the Kremas "to constitute a natural seperation from the rest of the camp." This "greenery" was to be comprised of 200 decidious trees 2-5 m high; 100 deciduous trees 1.5-4 m high; 300 spruce and pine trees 1.5-4 m high; and 1,000 assorted shrubs 1-2.5 m high. This "greenery" was requested to be made available by the the SS Lt. Ceassr, the head of the Auschwitz agricultral service, on November 6, 1943. (cf. Pressac, _Technique_, p.250.) There is no indication from this letter that the "rings of greenery" were planted in November 1943. Ho"ss offers some comments about this in his memoirs: The crematories were to be built at the end of the two main roads in the Birkenau camp. First of all, this was done so as to not increase the area of the camp and with it all the safety precaution required, and secondly so that they would not be too far from the camp since there were plans to use the gas chambers and undressing rooms as bathhouses when the extermination program was completed. The buildings were to be screened from view by a wall or hedges, but a lack of material prevented this from being done. As a temporary measure, all extermination buildings were hidden under camoflage nets. The three railway tracks between Sectors [B] I and B [II] in Birkenau were supposed to be rebuilt as a railroad station with a roof. The railroad was to be extended to Crematories [IV] [V], so that the unloading process would also be hidden from the eyes of unauthroized people, Again the shortage of materials prevented this plan from being completed. Source: Ho"ss, _Death Dealer_, p.37-38. Clearly, the intention when taking into account that the "ramp" was _also_ intended to be covered to hide the detraining of the victims from "the eyes of unauthroized people" (i.e. the prisoners), was that the "rings of greenery" around the Kremas were to serve a like purpose. In light of Ho"ss's above comments about the "rings of greenery" (i.e. the "greenbelts") being prevented from being constructed due to a "lack of material," and reconciled with the November 6 order, it should be noted that the "greenbelts" _were_ constructed. They did not, however, appear to include any _trees_. This puts Ho"ss comments in a new light in that the "greenbelts" were never constructed as _origionally_ intended, but built with the materials at hand. That this was so is supported by the testimony of Henryk Tauber, a Sonderkommando who worked in Kremas I-V, who commented in his deposition at the Ho" Trial, about the "greenbelts" surrounding the Kremas: The building [Krema V] was entirely brick-built, with a wooden roof, covered with abestos sheets and roofing felt. The yards of all the crematoriums were seperated from the outside world by a thick enclosure of wicker and a hedge to which straw hurdles were attached. Furthermore, the whole area [of the Krematorien] was surrounded by electrified barbed fire and the yards were lit by powerful lamps. In May 19444, the SS ordered us to dig five pits in the yard of Krematorium V, between the building itself [north wall] and the drainage ditch [< >], five pits which were later used for incinerating the corpses of gassed people from the Hungarian transports.[...] Source: Pressac, _Technique_, p.500. Additionaly, further support for the "makeshift" construction of the greenbelts can be found in a photo of a portion of Krema V's "greenbelt," and who's caption reads: Document 46: [PMO neg. no. 860] Remains of a hedge hiding the south yard of Krematorium V and bordering the < > of the camp, as found at the liberation. The hedge has since been removed. It was said to be 3 meters high, but this figure seems to be exaggerated in view of the position of the camera, quite close to the ground. In the background are some of the trees hiding the south side of Krematorium V. Source: Pressac, _Technique_, p.501. As to the further confirmation of the reality of the "greenbelts," USAAF reconaissance air photos show these "greebelts" around the Kremas. The first of the USSAF air photos capturing Birkenau, taken on May 31, 1944, clearly shows the "greenbelt" around Krema II. This "greenbelt" is incomplete, extending around approxumately 75 percent of Krema II. (Noteworthy is the fact that the "greenbelt" extends around both L.Kellers, thus hiding the from view as they entered L.Keller 2.) The "greenbelt around Krema III is less evident, but is visible of the south section of the compound. The "greenbelt" of Krema IV is barely to be seen on the north and northwest portion of the compound. The "greenbelt" of Krema V is not discernable. The second air photo, taken on June 26, 1944, appears to show the "greenbelt" of the Krema II and IV is unchanged. The "greenbelts" on of Krema II and Krema V (south side) are visible. (the blowups on pp.65 and 70 in Ball's book, however, are extremely blurred). The third air photo, taken on August 25, 1944, shows the "greenbelt" to now encompass 100% of Krema II's perimeter. The entire "greenbelt" of Krema III is clearly visible. (No photos of Kremas IV and V on August 25 were available in either Ball's or Brugioni's material.) The fourth air photo, taken on September 13, 1944, clearly shows the "grenbelts" surrounding all Kremas II-IV and on the south side of Krema V. Cf. Ball, _Air Photo Evidence_, pp.39,49,48,56,57,64,65,69,70; Brugioni and Poirier, _The Holocaust Revisited_, p.8,9,11,12. > Now, since Hoess was allegedly the man assigned the task > of exterminating the Jews by Himmler in summer of 1941?, 1942? > take your pick....one would think that the plans to conceal the > "mass murders by gassing" would include concealment from the > very inception of the murder program. But this was not the case.... Given that the Kremas were not operational until the summer of 1943, the November 6, 1943 order to plant "rings of greenery" appears rather timely. Furthermore, it should be noted that prior to Kremas becoming operational the mass homicidal gassings at Birkenau were carried out in bunkers 1 and 2, which were a distance from the camp and secluded by trees. Again, according to Ho"ss: [...] We drove around the Auschwitz area to a suitable place. We thought the farmhouse at the northwest corner of Birkenau near planned section III would be suitable. The house had been abandoned, and it was hidden from view by the surrounding trees and bushes and not too far from the railroad. The bodies could be buried in long, deep pits in the nearby meadows. We didn't think of burning them at this time. We calculated that in the space available in the farmhouse [later called Bunker I], approximately eight hundred people could be killed using a suitable gas after the building was made airtight. We later found this to be the actual capacity. Eichmann was unable to tell me the precide starting time of the operation because everything was still being planned, and Himmler had not yet given the order to begin. Source: Ho"ss, _Death Dealer_, p.29. Dr. Nyiszli, a prisoner doctor and assistant to Mengele, confirms that bunker 1 was secluded: Early one morning I recieved a phone call ordering me to report immediately to the "pyre" for the purpose of bringing back to number one cremtorium [Krema II] all the medicines and eyeglasses that had been collected there. After being sorted and classified they would be shipped to various parts of Germany. The pyre was located about five or six hundred yards from number four crematoium [Krrema V], directly behind the little birch forest of Birkenau, in a clearing surrounded by pines. It lay outside the KZ's electric barbed wire fence, between the first and seconf line of guards.[...] Source: Nyiszli, _Auschwitz: a doctor's eyewitness account_, p.84. SS Corporal Pery Broad, of the Auschwitz Political Department (Gestapo), comments on the bunkers: At some distance from the Birkenau camp, which was growing at an incredible rte, there stood admidst a pleasant scenery, two pretty and tidy looking farmhouses, seperated from one another by a grove. They were dazzingly whitewashed, were costly thatched and surrounded with fruit-treess of the kind that usually grew there. Such was my first hasty impression! Nobody would have thought it credible that in those insignificant little houses as many people had perished as would have filled a city.[...] Source: Bezwinska and Czech, _KL _Auschwitz_, p.177. > The case IS that Hoess was relieved of his duties as Commandant of Auschwitz > in November 1943.... the same month and year the trees were planted.... Lebehenschel replaced Ho"ss, who was promoted to Chief of Concentration Camp Inspectors, on November 11, 1943. That is _after_ Ho"ss discussed the "rings of greenery" with Bischoff and _after_ the November 6 order in regard to said "rings of greenery." (cf. Czech, _Auschwitz Chronicle_, p.523.) [snip] > 2. The Crematoria in other areas of the camp had broken > down. Thus the bodies were all being sent to the area of > Krema II. Only Krema IV was disabled. This was due to cracks in the furnace lining due to improper design, poor materials, and overuse. Krema V was idled (until Aktion Ho"ss) becuase the gassing and incineration capacity of Kremas II and III were more than sufficient to dispose of the numbers of victims being murdered at the time. (cf. Gutman, _Anatomy_, p.234,236.) > ...The numbers of the dead were so appallingly > large that it was necessary to begin burning the corpses > in open pits. The huge incineration pits used in 1944 near Krema V and (the reactivated) gassing bunker 2 were dug specifically for Aktion Ho"ss. Between May 15 and July 9, 1944, some 438,000 Hungarian Jews were deported to Auschwitz. Approximately 392,000 thousand of them were murdered in the homicidal gas chambers at Birkenau. Incinerating such a staggering number in so little a time would have overwhelmed the incineration (but not the gassing) capacity Kremas II, III, and V. Hence the need for the incineration pits. (cf. Gutman, _Anatomy_, pp.165,-166,173-174,466.) As Ho"ss noted: "Even Auschwitz had limits to its destructive capabilities." (Ho"ss, Death Dealer_, p.39.) [snip] For those interested in proof of Mr. Bellinger's increasingly irrelevant Nazi apologia, Holocaust denial, intellectual dishonesty, anti-Semitism, and outright lies, please peruse DejaNews and visit the Nizkor Project at: http://www.dejanews.com/ http://www.nizkor.org/ftp.cgi/people/b/bellinger.joseph http://www.nizkor.org/ftp.cgi/people/b/bellinger.joseph/lies http://www.nizkor.org/ftp.cgi/people/b/bellinger.joseph/1996/blackmore.0996 http://www.nizkor.org/ftp.cgi/people/b/bellinger.joseph/1996/blackmore.1096 http://www.nizkor.org/ftp.cgi/people/b/bellinger.joseph/1996/blackmore.1196 http://www.nizkor.org/ftp.cgi/people/b/bellinger.joseph/1996/blackmore.1296 http://www.nizkor.org/ftp.cgi/people/b/bellinger.joseph/1997/blackmore.0197 http://www.nizkor.org/ftp.cgi/people/b/bellinger.joseph/1996/tutu101.1296 http://www.nizkor.org/ftp.cgi/people/b/bellinger.joseph/1997/fafner13.0197 http://www.nizkor.org/ftp.cgi/people/b/bellinger.joseph/1996/anyone-out-there-12-14 Mark -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Gradually it was disclosed to me that the line separating good and evil passes not through states, nor between classes, nor between political parties--but right through every human heart--and all human hearts." -- Alexander Solzhenitsyn, "The Gulag Archipelago" --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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