The Nizkor Project: Remembering the Holocaust (Shoah)

Shofar FTP Archive File: camps/auschwitz//spotlight.0193


This article appeared on the front page of The Spotlight
(newspaper of the Liberty Lobby) dated January 11, 1993. Any
spelling errors are probably mine. There is a consistent
punctuation error in the original article, however, which is
reproduced here.

Article begins:
----------------------------------------
MAJOR HISTORICAL FACT UNCOVERED.

Shocking Auschwitz Testimony.

What was the most important historical event of 1992? Don't
answer until you've read this story.

Exclusive to The Spotlight.
By Samuel P. Foner.
----------------------------------------

   The director of Auschwitz has been filmed on videotape*
[footnote to article follows: * David Cole's video is on VHS for
$49; available from Liberty Library, 300 Independence Ave. SE,
Washington, D.C. 20003. The Leuchter report, $20, from IHR, P.O.
Box 2739, Newport Beach, CA 92659.] admitting that the so-called
gas chamber there was constructed after the war.

   In a dramatic and unprecedented filmed interview, Dr.
Franciszek Piper, senior curator and director of archives at the
Auschwitz State Museum, admits on camera that "Krema I," the
alleged "homicidal gas chamber" shown off to hundreds of
thousands of tourists every year at the Auschwitz main camp, is,
in fact, a reconstruction, fabricated after the war by the
Soviet Union - apparently on the direct orders of dictator Josef
Stalin.

   What Piper said, in effect - and on camera - was that the
explosive Leuchter Report was correct: No homicidal gassings
took place in the buildings designated "homicidal gas chambers"
at Auschwitz.

   Ironically, for someone to even suggest such a thing could bring a jail
 sentence in more than one country - including
enlightened nations like France, Canada and Germany. (Just ask
Ernst Zundel. But more about him later.)

'FACTS' ARE LIES
   With this admission by none other than the responsible head of
the Auschwitz State Museum, one of the most scared "facts" of
history has been destroyed. It is the major historical "fact"
on which the foreign and domestic policies of all of the Western
nations since World War II are based.

   It is the basis for the $100 billion in foreign aid the United
States has poured into the state of Israel since its inception
in 1948 - amounting to $16,500 for every man, woman and child in
the Jewish state and billions more paid by (West) Germany in
"reparations" - not to mention the constructing of Israel's
national telephone, electrical and rail systems, gifts of the
German people. It is the basis for the $10 billion "loan") read
"gift") made to Israel for housing immigrants in occupied
territories, while Americans sleep on streets and businesses are
bankrupted by the thousands.

   Germany is paying "reparations" - and the United States is making major
contributions - to atone for the "gassings at
Auschwitz" and elsewhere. If the "homicidal gas chambers" were
postwar creations, in which no one was gassed regardless of
race, creed, color or country of national origin, then those
"reparations " were unnecessary, and were based on fraud.

   The videotape on which Piper makes his revelations was taken
in mid-1992 by a young Jewish investigator, David Cole. It has
just been released, on January 1, 1993, although Cole announced
his project at the 11th International Revisionist Conference at
Irvine, California last October.

   Cole's production follows 12 years of intensive investigation
by dozens of historians, journalists and scientists who have
tried to get to the bottom of what really happened at Auschwitz.

   In 1979, the Institute for Historical Review (IHR) was founded
which coordinated these investigations in an effort to "bring
history into accord with the facts." Since then the IHR has
published dozens of papers and books, none of which has ever
been refuted, concerning various aspects of the "holocaust."

   A major aspect that has been investigated concerns the gas
chamber theory, and the biggest and the biggest [sic] and
busiest gas chamber was supposedly at Auschwitz.

   The activities of the IHR have been so controversial that on
the night of July 4, 1984, after two years of harassment and
vandalism, it was burnt to the ground by Israeli agents.
Miraculously it was able to continue operations after some
months of inactivity.

INSTRUCTED FROM YOUTH
   Like most Americans, since his youth Cole had been instructed
in the "irrefutable fact" that homicidal gassings had taken
place at Auschwitz. The number of those so executed - also
declared irrefutable - was 4.1 million.

   Then came the Leuchter Report in 1988. This was followed by a
"re-evaluation" of the total deaths at Auschwitz (down to 1.1
million). As a budding historian - and a Jew - Cole was
intrigued.

   Previous to 1992, anyone who publicly doubted the 4.1 million
"gassing" deaths at Auschwitz was labeled an anti-Semite,
neo-nazi skinhead (at the very least). Quietly, because of
revisionist findings, the official figure was lowered to 1.1
million. No mention of that missing 3 million.

   In 1988, Ernst Zundel was put on trial in Canada for
"publishing false news." He sold a book which questioned the
legitimacy of the Auschwitz gas chamber.

   Helping with the defense were internationally known historians
including Robert Faurisson, David Irving and Mark Weber.
Zundel went looking for an expert on executions, particularly
gassings. He found Leuchter, who specializes in the design and
fabrication of execution hardware used in prisons throughout the
United States. Leuchter was commissioned to visit Poland and
conduct a scientific examination of the so-called homicidal gas
chambers.

   On February 25, 1988, Leuchter left for Poland together with
his wife Carolyn, his draftsman Howard Miller, cinematographer
Jurgen Neumann and Polish interpreter Theodor Rudolph. They
returned on March 3. Then he wrote his controversial report.

NO GAS CHAMBERS
   His conclusion were clear: The evidence was overwhelming that
there were no execution chambers at Auschwitz, Birkenau and
Majdanek and that the alleged gas chambers at these sites could
not have been, then or now, utilized or seriously considered to
function as execution gas chambers.

   In the words of Dr. Wilhelm Staglich, another internationally
known historian, "the extermination thesis stands or falls with
the allegation that Auschwitz was a 'death factory'."

   Leuchter says:
        The purpose [of the investigation and subsequent report]
     does not include a determination of any numbers of persons
     who died or were killed by means other than gassing or as
     to whether an actual Holocaust occurred. It, further, is
     not the intent of this author to redefine Holocaust in
     historical terms, but simply to supply scientific evidence
     and information obtained at the actual sites and to render
     an opinion based on all available scientific evidence,
     engineering and quantitative data as to the purpose and
     usages of the alleged execution gas chambers and crematory
     facilities at the investigated locations.

   With this in mind, Cole took his video equipment to Auschwitz
and interviewed official personnel there. Piper was the most
important of these interviewees. Following his comment that the
"homicidal gas chambers" were fabrications, Piper reveals, on
camera, how walls were knocked down, holes made in the ceiling
and "Zyklon B induction chimneys" installed on the roof so that
the building could be exhibited to tourists from all over the
world as a proof of the "final solution."

   And Piper doesn't stop there. He describes other "proofs" of
the "final solution," which are also "reconstructions." He
discusses the routine use of Zyklon B to delouse buildings and
the personal effects of internees, and he admits, on camera,
that the Leuchter Report's findings concerning Zyklon B residues
at Auschwitz are right.

PARADOXICAL BELIEFS
   He then, paradoxically, affirms his belief, not only in
homicidal "gassing chambers," but also in the "human soap" tales
and the stories about "human skin" lampshades, both of which
allegations have been totally debunked.

   And the revelations go on. In the video, you tour Auschwitz
with Cole and hear him being told that the main camp "gas
chamber" (Krema I) is in its "original state." You will see the
undaunted Cole ask so many questions about the obviously
ridiculous nature of this "gas chamber" that the guide feels it
necessary to call her supervisor over to answer the young
historian.

   Cole says:
        When I went to Europe in the autumn of 1992 to conduct my
     own investigations of the sites of the alleged "gassings"
     of Jews during World War II, two ideas were paramount in my
     mind.
        The first was that the trip be recorded on videotape so
     that, rather than bringing back a bunch of colorful
     anecdotes to bore my friends, I would bring back an
     objective record of what I found. What I expected to be a
     great learning experience for me could be one for others
     too. My discoveries could become your discoveries.
     Hopefully, I would ask the questions that you would ask if
     you were to make the journey yourself.
        The second idea was that I would go as a Jew. No two
     peoples have been affected more by the Holocaust story than
     the Germans and the Jews. We know how difficult is [sic]
     has been for Germans themselves to expose the deceptions of
     the Holocaust Lobby. Germans are forbidden by law, in their
     own country, to state publicly that they do not believe in
     the orthodox gas chamber stories; forbidden from discussing
     their own history.
        Jewish organizations have decided that they must have a
     monopoly on the Holocaust issue. I reasoned that if I went
     to Auschwitz as a Jew rather than as a "revisionist," that
     I would have a better chance to cut through the
     misinformation and lies that so distort what really
     happened in the German camps during the war.
        Perhaps, I thought, if I were to approach the Auschwitz
     officials as a Jew, my pointed questions, tactfully put,
     would be interpreted not as the debunking questions of a
     revisionist, but rather the sincere questions of a
     righteous Jew wanting to get the real facts to answer those
     back home who say there were no gas chambers.
        (I remember at one point standing in Krema I telling the
     supervisor of tour guides at Auschwitz that "you must tell
     me the whole truth so that when I get back home I can speak
     with authority against those who say 'all this' never
     happened.") So donning my yarmulke, and not letting anybody
     in Poland know where my sympathies were, I began my
     journey.

   The Cole videotape proves that the people who run the
Auschwitz State Museum had made a practice of fabricating
"proofs" of homicidal gassings. Keep in mind that over the
years, millions of tourists have been told that Krema I is in
its original state, while the officials knew that this "original
state" is a lie.

   The political, religious, financial and historical
ramifications of this proof of no gas chambers at Auschwitz
cannot be measured. Coupled with the Leuchter Report, the Cole
videotape proves that what every Western government has taught
since World War II is a lie. It proves that televangelists such
as Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson have been telling their
flocks is simply not true.

   No one, regardless of race, creed, color or country of
national origin, was gassed to death in any building so
designated at Auschwitz. And without "homicidal gas chambers" at
Auschwitz, where is the reasoning for the special treatment
afforded the secular state of Israel.
=30=

A rebuttal:

Sender: dzk@cs.brown.edu (Danny Keren)
Subject: Re:  Spotlight article re Auschwitz

Since two people requested, and others might be interested, I will
post some responses to the claims made in the "Spotlight" article.

First, I wish to remind that the "Spotlight" is the periodical of
the "Liberty Lobby", which is the major antisemitic and neo-Nazi
organization in the US; it was founded by Nazi apologist and
admirer Willis Carto, and specilizes in Jew-baiting, as well
as in spreading loony conspiracy theories. In 1984, the "Liberty
Lobby" sued the "Wall Street Journal" for describing it as antisemitic;
the suit was kicked out of court, and judge Bork wrote in his verdict
that "if antisemitism has a core, factual meaning, it was demonstrated
here". The "Liberty Lobby" was a co-defendant in the Mermelstein
trial, in which various neo-Nazis and Holocaust deniers were sued
when they refused to pay a Holocaust survivor the prize they promised
to "anyone who can prove gassing took place in Auschwitz".

BTW, the distribution of the "Spotlight" is down from about
300,000 in the early 1980's to about 100,000 today.

And now - some comments on the article itself. Material from it
is preceded by "#".

#   In a dramatic and unprecedented filmed interview, Dr.
# Franciszek Piper, senior curator and director of archives at the
# Auschwitz State Museum, admits on camera that "Krema I," the
# alleged "homicidal gas chamber" shown off to hundreds of
# thousands of tourists every year at the Auschwitz main camp, is,
# in fact, a reconstruction

Not accurate. The small gas chamber of Krema I was used for gassing
for a short time, and then converted into an air-raid shelter; after
the war, it was reconstructed to look as it did when it was used
for gassing. This is one of the testimonies about gassing in Krema I:

Testimony of SS-Unterscharfuehrer Pery Broad, describing gassing in
Krema I in Auschwitz
["KL Auschwitz as Seen by the SS", p. 176]
-------------------------------------------------------------
.... The "disinfectors" were at work. One of them was SS-Unterscharfuehrer
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.


#    What Piper said, in effect - and on camera - was that the
# explosive Leuchter Report was correct: No homicidal gassings
# took place in the buildings designated "homicidal gas chambers"
# at Auschwitz.

Rubbish. He explicitly said that gassing did take place in it. As
for the "Leuchter report", see later. Also, somehow the author
of this article forgot the larger gas chambers of Kremas II-V,
in which over a million people were murdered, and numerous gas
chambers in other camps. According to the most authorative
German sources, gassing took place in 13 camps, and in addition
"gassing vans" were used in various places (article available
upon request).

#    The activities of the IHR have been so controversial that on
# the night of July 4, 1984, after two years of harassment and
# vandalism, it was burnt to the ground by Israeli agents.

Nobody was caught or accused of burning the place. There is no
prove whatsoever that Israel was involved.

#    Previous to 1992, anyone who publicly doubted the 4.1 million
# "gassing" deaths at Auschwitz was labeled an anti-Semite,
# neo-nazi skinhead (at the very least). Quietly, because of
# revisionist findings, the official figure was lowered to 1.1
# million. No mention of that missing 3 million.

Total rubbish. It is true that the Polish government used to
claim that 4 million people were killed in Auschwitz. Serious
historians - Reitlinger, Hilberg and the rest - never supported
that figure. The influence of "revisionists" on the historical
community is zero. Historians regard them as Nazi crackpots and
nothing more.

#    Helping with the defense were internationally known historians
# including Robert Faurisson, David Irving and Mark Weber.

Faurisson used to teach French literature before he became a
Holocaust denier. Weber has an MA in history from the University
of Indiana. Both have zero reputation as historians, except
in the neo-Nazi community. Weber has been associated for many
years with the neo-Nazi organization "The National Front".

Irving authored some best-selling
"history for the masses" books about the third Reich. He has been
a long time Hitler apologist, and recently shifted to the more
hard-core "revisionist" side.

#    In the words of Dr. Wilhelm Staglich, another internationally
# known historian, "the extermination thesis stands or falls with
# the allegation that Auschwitz was a 'death factory'."

Same here. Staglich, who is German, has zero reputation as a
historian. He used to be a judge.

[About Piper]

#    He then, paradoxically, affirms his belief, not only in
# homicidal "gassing chambers,"

Well what do you know! Another Zionist stooge!

#    The political, religious, financial and historical
# ramifications of this proof of no gas chambers at Auschwitz
# cannot be measured. Coupled with the Leuchter Report..

Here are some short comments about the "Leuchter report". I have
a longer file if anyone is interested.


*******************************************************************
The "Leuchter report" has become the most widely quoted piece of
Holocaust denial, and is supposed to prove that no gassing took
place in Auschwitz, or that only a small number of people were
gassed there. It might be confusing to people who don't know too
much about cyanide gas, Auschwitz etc; but the report has no scientific
value and is a poorly written collection of inaccuracies and blatant
lies, of which the most outstanding are the following:

1) Leuchter claims that since there are more cyanide traces in the
delousing chambers (in which clothes were deloused) than in the
remains of the homicidal gas chambers (in which people were gassed),
it means that they were used for gassing for a short time, or never
at all. However, he doesn't even know that to kill people a much
smaller concentration of the gas is needed (300 ppm = "parts per
million") vs. up to 16,600 ppm for killing lice, bugs etc, and
that the exposure time is much smaller (people die in minutes,
but it takes up to a day for lice etc to die - see, for instance,
"The Merck Index" or any textbook on toxicology). Hence, it is
obvious that the delousing chambers were exposed to a larger
concentration of the gas, and for a much greater duration of time.
The delousing chambers were used extensively, as the belongings
of the victims were deloused before being sent to Germany, as were
the clothes of inmates who were selected for force labor and kept
alive.

In his cross-examination at the Zundel trial in Canada, Leuchter
admitted to his complete lack of knowledge on this issue, answering
the general attorney Pearson: "I've never killed beetles. I, you
know, I don't know. I haven't made computations for killing beetles".
This does not stop him, or other deniers, from continuing to spread
false statements about Auschwitz, and from defaming and insulting
the memory of Jews, Poles, Gypsies, Soviet POW's and others that
were exterminated in the Auschwitz gas chambers.

2) Leuchter claims the gas would explode in contact with the cremation
furnaces. That is absurd, as the lower combustion limit is 60,000 ppm,
about 200 times greater than the lethal one. See any textbook on
this (i.e. "The CRC Handbook", etc). He had no answer when confronted
with this fact during the Zundel trial.

3) Leuchter claims that the men dropping the Zyklon-B down the shafts
into the gas chambers would die from poisoning. Obviously, these
men (just like the men who worked in the delousing chambers)
had gas masks on. It is a testimony to Leuchter's intelligence
that he could not think of such an obvious fact.

4) Leuchter claims that only about 1,700 people could be gassed in
Auschwitz in one week. He arrives at this ridiculous figure by
making two absurd assumptions: one, that gassings took place only
once a week (!?). Second, that the people were crowded into the
gas chambers at the density of one person per 9 square feet (!?!?).
Of course, gassings took place more often, and the people were
crowded in much greater a density in the chambers.

5) Leuchter makes various conjectures about the structure of the
gas chambers. All are false, since four of them were completely
destroyed and lay in ruins, as he himself admits in his report.
The fifth (the gas chamber in the main camp) was used for a short
time and then converted into an air-raid shelter. After the war, it
was reconstructed to look approximately as it did when it was used
for gassing. There are still cyanide traces on its walls.

6) Holocaust deniers describe Leuchter and his helpers on the "Auschwitz
mission" as a "team of scientists and engineers". In reality, the
team consisted of Leuchter (education: a BA in the humanities,
1964), a draftsman, a cinematographer, and an interpreter.
*******************************************************************


-Danny Keren.


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