[H. Mazal] I have the dates of the visits down pretty well now. The one Mattogno refers to is the one of September, 1942. This fully coincides with Kremer's diary: _The Good Old Days_ Ernst Klee et al. c. 1988, The Free Press ISBN 0 02 917425-2 pp. 260-261 "23 September 1942 Tonight sixth and seventh Sonderaktion. In the morning Obergruppenfuhrer Pohl and party arrived at the Waffen-SS quarters. A guard was standing outside the door and was the first to stand to attention before me. In the evening, at 20:00 hours, dinner with Obergruppenfuhrer Pohl in the officer's mess, a real feast. There was baked pike, as much as you wanted, real ground coffee, excellent beer and open sandwiches." This is close to what Mattogno's translation from the German says. As an aside, it is odd that Mattogno should jump all over Pressac and totally ignore the first sentence in the above entry. Leave it to deniers to focus on the inconsequential and ignore the substance of a statement. Pohl's visits of 1943 and 1944 might be more telling. I will try and give some details as I have so far have documented some (all?) of Pohl's visits to Auschwitz on: September 23, 1942 June (?) 1943 and June 16, 1944. The 1942 and 1944 visits are registered in _Auschwitz Chronicle_, but not so the 1943 one which is described in detail in the testimony of Jerzy Bielski in: NMT 04 pp. 650-655 Case 4, The Pohl Case "Mr. Robbins: Was there a time in 1943 when some prominent visitors came to Auschwitz? Witness Bielski: Yes, that was in June 1943. [...] We already had heard from the day before that inspection of the camp [Birkenau - HWM] was to take place by Obergruppen- fuhrer Pohl [...] They were located approximately from 60 to 80 meters away from the gas chambers. Behind the gas chambers was crematorium number three. [...] Pohl ... left his car and then they walked over to the crematorium ... and then they again went outside and they went to the gas ... chamber and entered the gas chamber. They stayed there for approximately 45 minutes to an hour. [...]" (A long description of the unloading of prisoners destined for the gas chambers follows.) "The SS men stood by the windows but they did not, as yet, throw the tins of gas inside and then Pohl would come, escorted by five SS officers, and all the guests who had come from Berlin over to the window [...] and observed the prisoners in the gas chambers before the tins were thrown in..." Pohl, however has this to say in his interrogation in: NMT 04 pp.664-669 Case 4, The Pohl Case "[...] I have visited Auschwitz only once in 1944 and perhaps twice in 1943. At that time I did not see that Jews were being exterminated. I therefore do not know how long this project was underway." and, "I knew that Jews were being exterminated and that the gas chambers were being used for that purpose." and, "These gas chambers were only at Auschwitz. I did not see any other extermination facilities." and, "The extermination of the Jews and the gas chamber was not part of my field of tasks, therefore I had no reason whatsoever to examine these installations. I saw them while walking but I did not look at them closer..." All of which are irrelevant, perhaps, to the subject at hand but are offered as background information. The dates of Pohl's visits are important to the discussion, however, and they are not fully resolved to my satisfaction. I do find it curious that someone at such a high level should have had to act on the shipments of Zyklon. One set of documents that we ought to consult which reside in the United Nations is _Law Reports of War Criminals_. It is in these that the famous "Zyklon-B Trial" is covered. The documents are very hard to see. The original rules required that the State Department or Foreign Ministry of the historian who wished to consult these papers issue an official request. I wonder if this has changed? I am certain that documents crucial to this (and other) arguments are included in these archives: NMT06 pp. 309-310 United States vs. Carl Krauch et. al. Case 6, "I.G. Farben Case" "A British Military Court conducted a trial which involved the distribution of Zyklon-B gas to concentration camps for the purpose of exterminating human beings. This trial, 'The Zyklon-B case,' is reported in _Law Reports of Trial of War Criminals, Selected and Prepared by the United Nations War Crimes Commission_." NMT 04 "Pohl Case" pp 1152-1156 "The control of WVHA over concentration camps is evidenced to the last detail. A document dated 7/30/1943, authorized permit for a truck from Auschwitz to Dessau and back for the purpose of obtaining "zyklon". This authorization is signed by Gluecks, chief of department D, WVHA." NCA04 pp. 155-158 Document 1643-PS [synopsis & translation] "Synopsis of a letter written 11/7/1942 by SS General Pohl to the Reich Minister of Finance for the enlargement of the concentration camp at Auschwitz."
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