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Aug 15, 2006

What Did the Soviets Know About Auschwitz and When?


by Liberty and Power


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Jason T. Kuznicki - 8/16/2006

The article is discussing discrepancies in early Soviet press reports following the liberation of Auschwitz. As with all historical sources, we have to remember the influences that went into creating these documents -- and the sources of error here are pretty glaring: Soviet propaganda and censorship; the systematic ignorance and trauma of camp inmates; rumor, which is going to run wild at the discovery of anything remotely resembling an Auschwitz; and on top of this the simple human error that creeps into all eyewitness accounts.

The reason any of this becomes important, aside from the sheer importance of getting historical details right, is that Holocaust deniers have used these discrepancies to argue that the whole thing was a hoax. I am tempted to say that if I used similar evidentiary standards, I could easily prove that all the rest of the Second World War was a hoax as well...

Common Sense - 8/15/2006

I'm no expert, but on a visit ten years ago I seem to recall that the gas chambers were in the Auschwitz part of the complex.