alpha wrote:Hebden,
the SK ("Heizer") strength is 870 on July 29th, August 1/2 and August August 29th. What changed were merely the number of Kapos and 30 guys they called "Holzablader".
Perhaps there was a petrol shortage that week.
That is, of course, what we expect according to the "exterminationists"!
True, the pattern fits but the alternative 'hidden unemployment' interpretation isn't out of the question either. The camp population was rising during the summer and so the numbers assigned to crematoria duty could have been arbitrarily increased.
Unfortunately, we have no information on the number of SK during the Hungarian Action, which could demonstrate the how and when of the huge increase from 300 up to 900.
The date of the increase can be determinted by looking at the accounts of those who were selected for the Sonderkommando. According to to accounts of several Greek Sonderkommandos, they were selected between early May and mid May 1944. According to Filip Müller the final increase up to 900 took place soon after the Hungarian transports arrived in Auschwitz with 450 Hungarian Jews. A Hungarian Jew in the Sonderkommando was Dov Paisikovic. According to him, he was deported to Auschwitz in May 1944 with his family and selected for the Sonderkommando by "Moll and other SS man".
We saw Mr. Paisikovic on TV last week in a programme called 'Genocide', part of the acclaimed 1970s BBC series 'World at War'. Mr. Vrba also featured. There is something very untrustworthy about the man.
It is therefore reasonable to assume that the Sonderkommando increase took place shortly before and during the Hungarian Operation.
We would prefer to see the relevant labour reports. Is it merely coincidence that the ASM have reports showing an increase from 200 to 300 just before the Hungarian Action and ones showing a large fall immediately after the apparent Sonderkommando uprising, but none for the vital period of the Hungarian deportations?