Holo-Cause

Some time ago, you were good enough to post a comment I made about WWII and who died in the German Camps. Since then, I have made some enquiries into what happened to my grandfather, a Polish Evangelist of German Descent, who died in Sachsenhausen Camp, part of the Oranienburg Complex in Germany. Because my mother married an English soldier in 1948 she lost her German citizenship and because of this I can never adopt German citizenship through ancestral lines. But I did ask the German authorities for more information regarding my grandfather's death in the camp, and received a letter in English and three documents in German. The letter stated that many of the records had been destroyed "by the SS" at the end of the war and the remaining records taken by the Russians when they "liberated" the camp. My first question upon reading this was, "how do the present day German authorities know it was the SS who destroyed the records?" And my second question is: "if the Russians took the remaining records with them why have they only returned them in recent years?" It became clear to me upon reading the letter further that the information given back to the Germans in recent times was scant and limited. I don't know who destroyed the records, but whilst it could have been the Nazi SS it could also have been the Russians! The German authorities are STILL trying to piece together the information given to them by the Russians it seems. My next question is, "if that is the case, and the German authorities DON'T have all the information as to who died in those camps, how can they be so sure as to legislate that the story given by the Jewish authorities regarding how many Jews were killed in the holocaust, and how they were killed, is true?" It would seem the German authorities are taking the word of the Jewish authorities as true without the evidence to back up the assertion! I must say here that she had never seen any official documents relating to her father's death, although she had heard his name had been publicly displayed on a list under that camp in 1940 which was why her mother knew her husband was dead despite having lost contact with him several years before when he had first been imprisoned and held in a different camp. When I looked at the German documents with my mother she interpreted what the documents said. One was the document which stated he had entered the camp at the beginning of May 1940. Another gave a few details of his background, including the fact he was a "criminal", but even these personal facts were not completely correct, and lacked a lot of information, including the fact he had a daughter (who had been born in Germany in 1927). His wife's name was mentioned (my grandmother) but only her first name was mentioned, not the fact she had two first names. The third document gave the date of death. This was at the end of May 1940, and even gave the time of death (just after 2pm) but the one thing it did not say was HOW he died!!! If this is typical of the way the deaths of camp inmates were recorded then I would consider the idea of "gassing" people to be suspect! If they couldn't tell how my grandfather died how can anyone be sure how anyone died in the camp? I accept that the conditions were appalling, and that many died of starvation, disease, and other causes, but to be sure of numbers being "gassed" it is necessary for records to indicate HOW a person died, and it is clear in this instance at least that information was not given. I also wonder why he should only have survived around 3 weeks! Was this typical of the length of time people spent in these camps before they died? Had he been tortured or physically abused in the earlier prisons? If this is how they treated their "criminals" then I do wonder how they treated those who were not convicted of any crime! For the record, my grandfather was arrested and tried in 1934. He was considered to be a paedophile. He did not like Hitler even as that man rose to power. My grandfather was a Christian lay preacher, without a church of his own denomination, so he used his front room as a place for worship. Congregating groups in private dwellings were considered a threat so anyone who did what my grandfather did would have been immediately considered an enemy, especially with his hatred of Hitler. As my grandparents were refugees living in Germany after WWI they were especially vulnerable. Whilst my grandfather was conscripted by the Russians to fight on their side in WWI, and invalided out after he permanently damaged is arm making it useless, my grandmother was being hounded out of her village in Poland because fellow Poles considered anyone who spoke German, or of German descent, to be the "enemy". She it was that ended up in Germany, and my grandfather searched her out when he left the battlezone. Being refugees, they were dependent upon the goodwill of the authorities in allowing them to stay in Germany. Not only was my grandfather found guilty and imprisoned for a term of 5 years (should have been completed in 1939 but no-one knows if he ever was free) but he and my grandmother were considered "stateless persons" and had to keep in close contact with the local Burghermeister if they wished to stay in one place. Sometimes my grandmother and mother were forced to move on, from place to place, not belonging anywhere. With so many obstacles against them you would have thought my grandmother and mother would have been anti-German, but they weren't. However, after the war ended my mother learned English, became a translater for the REME, and eventually married an English soldier and settled in England. Meanwhile, during the postwar decades, Germans of her age, and younger, have been "taught" how to view the horrors of the last war, and their defeat: neither my mother or myself have ever been given that sort of help. Instead we have both had to endure "hatred" of Germans, the continuous celebrations as to the Allies winning the war, and the horror that the Nazis (Germans) inflicted on the rest of the people, including the Jews. Until recently, I accepted, like so many others, the official story being told. I now wonder what the truth is, as I should have been able to know from the records HOW he died. I don't. Neither do the Germans. How many relateives of other people who died in those camps are left without this vital information? I think it is time that the Jews stopped pushing this aspect of their history, and concentrated on recent actions that THEY have committed in the area around them where the Palestinians live. The informatioin being given about those events shows the Jews have learned nothing about the suffering of people, no matter which race or country they originate from. The Holocaust story should have been a beacon of hope against future genocide, but instead appears to be catalyst for themselves following the same path as the Nazis. I feel sorry for ALL of the people who died in the camps regardless of their background. My heart goes out to their relatives, But I would ask people to consider very carefully whether or not the story of the holocaust as the official version states is a truly accurate one. By Carol Noble Bedlington, Northumberland, UK http://www.rense.com/general81/cause.htm