Verifying the gas chambers in Auschwitz

Dear Mr. Irving,

I am writing to you about the outrageous and misleading claims you published regarding

the Holocaust. You claim there is no physical documentation or direct references to the gas

chamber that proves the Holocaust. The statements appear to be assertive that the gas

chambers have not existed at Auschwitz, one of the infamous concentration camps. You claim

that the execution of the Jews during World War II between 1941 and 1945 operated at

Auschwitz had not occurred. On the contrary, the Holocaust, the mass murder of the Jews, had

been orchestrated by the Nazis in the concentration camps including Auschwitz. Developed

from pseudo-science, their intention was always to eliminate them to preserve the Aryan race,

the superior race. Hence, the Holocaust deriving from the “Final Solution”, the plan to annihilate

the Jews, addressed at the Wansee Conference on January 1942, was executed by

generalizing gas chambers in camps. You claim the Holocaust to be a minor event, casualties of

the war that is insignificant and exaggerated because the testimonies of the survivors were

forged. The interpretation is inaccurate and unreliable as its revision of the sources lacks critical

aspects and is highly dependent on ambiguous evidence, distorted for the benefit of your claim

which does not corroborate. The methodology is flawed because conclusions are drawn even

before it has been reevaluated or verified with other evidence. In addition, the rationale behind

the claim over-investigates on a source that diverts from the actual critical element of it. For

example, highlighting euphemistic words such as “final solution” or “elimination” can be

misinterpreted, dismantling the significance and the value of the other sources, covering up that

it was premeditated by the Nazis. As a revisionist historian, evidence should be interpreted

objectively and thoroughly analyzed from different types of sources and perspectives. Although,

as aforementioned in your argument, there are no remains of the gas chambers, there are other

sources that contradict this, indicating the killing in the chambers. Thus, I would build my case

to refute the claim by reevaluating evidence of the Holocaust through the use of primary sources
including testimonies, documents, and oral interviews regarding the gassing in Auschwitz, one

of the biggest concentration camps in the early 1940s.

To begin with, eyewitness accounts who were involved in the Holocaust assert the

existence of gas chambers in Auschwitz and the liquidation, proving that the killing process is

not fabricated. Rudolf Hoss, a SS commander at Auschwitz concentration camp, who ordered

the gassing of Jews in the chambers testified after the war on April 2, 1946, in the International

Military Tribunal at Nuremberg (“Perpetrators”). During the trials in volume 11, he admitted to the

atrocious act, the operation process in the chambers. In addition, one of the transcripts of his

confession exemplifies the account. Although it is a translated version of the handwritten copy

that can be misinterpreted, further explanation of Hoss’s suggestions in order to efficiently

demise the Jews is credible. He said “I did not think that monoxide was very efficient so when I

set up the extermination building at Auschwitz, I used Zyklon B and dropped in through a small

opening” (“Nuremberg Trial Proceedings Volume 11”). The source was collected by Yale Law

School Lillian Goldman Law Library for the use of The Avalon Project. Although trials constitute

judges organized by the allies, the elaborative translated handwritten copy of the transcript

verified the logistics. The handwritten copy of Rudolf Hoss contains the elaborative context that

was used in the trials (“Evidence from the first Nuremberg trial”). The handwritten copy,

originating from the collection of Joseph Maier's record containing testimonies of war criminals

in the Nuremberg trials has been donated to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in

1992. Joseph Maier was also the interrogator during the trial's confession of Rudolf Hoess

concerning the number of Jews killed at Auschwitz concentration camp. This indicates the

authenticity and legitimacy of the source. In addition, the source comes from a perpetrator and

therefore, it is critical because it is unlikely to be exaggerated. Admitting to a list of things, the

source confirms the existence of Zyklon B for the purpose of murder in Auschwitz. Therefore,
his confession corroborates the most significant process of the systematic and premeditated

mass murder, the gassing in the chambers. This source can connect and corroborate with other

primary sources such as the testimony of the survivors, such as the oral interviews.

Moreover, along with the testimony of Rudolf Hoss, recounts of the survivors intersect

with the testimony of Hoss regarding the gassing in the chambers that rebuts the claim of the

accounts being forged. An excerpt from the oral interview of Sam Itzkowitz, a survivor and a

prisoner at the death camp Auschwitz, explicitly describes the chaotic situation inside the

chambers. Explicitly describing in detail how they were dehumanized and their life was

objectified. He recalls what occurred in compact spaces, “he (one of the SS men) threw gas

down the chute, through the chimney into the gas chamber and slammed the lid shut, so the

gas wouldn't escape” (“Sam Itzkowitz”). Additionally, an oral interview with ​Chaim Engel

complements the testimony of Sam Itzkowitz because they both mention the “wagons” outside

the chambers repeatedly (“Chaim Engel”). Despite the possibility of the misinterpretation of

using different words such as “chimney” and “chute”, providing the specific situation recounting

meticulously the moments, demonstrating vivid imagery inside the chamber which is crucial to

show the consistency of the story (“Chaim Engel”). Both are coherent because the context

contains recounts of the compact spaces like they were objects diminished and unvalued. This

corroborates the gassing in the chamber. The primary source, the interview with Sam Itzkowitz

and Chaim Engel comes from United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. This primary source

was obtained from the Jewish Community Federation of Richmond and both interviews were

conducted in 1991 along with a collection of survivors and rescuers to record the Holocaust.

The sources are valuable because they experienced it firsthand and were directly involved. it

describes the concrete facts about the occurrence. Their response to the questions focused on

the event more than their emotions which makes the sources reliable and unbiased.
Deconstructing and comparing the sources provided with crucial information allowed a better

interpretation, disagreeing with the denier's claim of the forgery of the survivor’s testimonies.

Their description of the experience in the chambers can also be recognized in other survivors

and physical documents.

Subsequently, along with the testimonies of the survivors, physical documentation of the

gas chambers exists that supports the testimonies. The documentation matches the description

survivors delineated. For instance, “the design for crematorium IV illustrates an opening on the

top side that allows access to the opening of two gas chambers” (quoted in Dwork, Deborah,

and Robert Jan Van Pelt. Auschwitz: 1270 to the Present. W.W. Norton & Co., 1996. (320). The

blueprint, “Plate 18: Final design for crematorium IV”, by Walther Dejaco, a prisoner, on January

1943, was obtained in Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum quoted in Auschwitz: 1270 to the

Present, written by Dwork, Deborah and Robert Jan Van Pelt, referred in Jewish Virtual Library

A project of Aice. It is credible because it carries the origin of the blueprint physically

documented by one of the latest models of Auschwitz-Birkenau. It is authentic and legitimate

because this blueprint along with the other collection of prints is related, to Heinrich Himmler

and the testimonies of the survivors. Correspondingly, the diagram illustrates four

distinguishable blocks that penetrate the roof. This connects to the oral interviews because as

narrated Sam Itzkowitz mentions “chute” and “chimney”. (“Sam Itzkowitz”). Therefore, it is highly

unlikely for the testimony of the survivors to be forged. Similarly, the “signature of the

authoritative figure SS officer, Heinrich Himmler is visible in a collection of blueprints” that is

difficult to fabricate (quoted in Dwork, Deborah, and Robert Jan Van Pelt. Auschwitz: 1270 to the

Present. W.W. Norton & Co., 1996. (320). This suggests that the gas chambers were built with

the instruction of the higher commandants. Also, the source also connects to Michal Kula’s

explanation of the interior of the gas chambers. In his testimony he affirmed, “that he and the
other prisoners finished at around 11.00 a.m. and installed one ventilator on the roof. There was

also makeshift piping,” (“Michal Kula”). This source originated from the Nuremberg trials that are

referred to in the “Chronicles of Terror”. All of the sources prove the existence of the chambers

and the columns that go through the roof as demonstrated in the blueprints of chambers, to pour

in gas. This collective Documentation of the gas chambers in Auschwitz contradicts the denier’s

claim that the testimonies of the survivors are forged.

Overall, a collection of eyewitness accounts from both perpetrators and victims and

physical documentation to enhance the testimony, addressing the gas chambers, concludes the

testimonies of the survivors have not been forged or overexaggerated. Your evaluation is

inadequate because it focuses on evidence that is drawn arbitrarily from redundant sources

making it unreliable. Although you argue that there are no traces of the gas chambers, there are

other sources that contradict this, indicating the killing in the chambers. To corroborate my claim,

I revisited the sources, investigating in depth, that is adequate to be considered as reliable

evidence that indicates the Holocaust through the use of primary sources including testimonies,

documents, and oral interviews regarding the gassing in Auschwitz.

 Works Cited

“Auschwitz-Birkenau.” The Construction of Crematoria at Auschwitz,

https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/the-construction-of-crematoria-at-auschwitz. Accessed 14

March. 2023

Dwork Debórah, and Pelt Robert Jan Van. Auschwitz: 1270 to the Present. W. W. Norton

& Company, 1997. Accessed 14 March. 2023

“The Trial of German Major War Criminals : Proceedings of the International Military

Tribunal Sitting at Nuremberg Germany.” Avalon Project - Documents in Law, History and

Diplomacy, https://avalon.law.yale.edu/imt/04-15-46.asp. Accessed 14 March. 2023

Tribunal, Supreme National. “Kula Michał.” „Chronicles of Terror". Base of Testimonies of

the Witold Pilecki Institute of Solidarity and Valor,

https://www.zapisyterroru.pl/dlibra/publication/3933/edition/3915/content?navq=aHR0cHM6Ly93

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United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, United States Holocaust Memorial Museum,

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United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, United States Holocaust Memorial Museum,

https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/evidence-from-the-holocaust. Accessed 14

March. 2023

United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, United States Holocaust Memorial Museum,

https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/perpetrators. Accessed 14 March. 2023

 United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, United States Holocaust Memorial Museum,

https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/oral-history/sam-itzkowitz-describes-the-gas-chamb

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United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, United States Holocaust Memorial Museum,

https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/oral-history/sam-itzkowitz-describes-the-gas-chamb

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