SOBIBÓR - Holocaust Handbooks

114 J. GRAF, T. KUES, C. MATTOGNO, SOBIBÓR
the verdict of the 1966 Hagen trial. The map used during this trial, 313
compiled by the alleged supervisor of the gassings Erich Bauer, shows
only two mass graves.
In 1947 the Central Commission for the Investigation of German
Crimes in Poland wrote as follows on the disposal of corpses at Sobibór:
314
“In all the Hitlerian extermination camps the burning of the
corpses was used systematically to hide traces. This was also the
case at Sobibór. In the minutes of the interrogations of witnesses
there are many descriptions of this. It was difficult, however, to hide
the incineration of the corpses, because the wind would spread a
specific odor of incineration over a wide area; the smoke, as well as
the fire of the burning sites could also be seen from far away. We
must underline the fact that the incineration system had already
been developed and perfected while the camp was still in operation.
Initially the corpses were interred in layers in large pits and covered
with chloride of lime. Large scale incinerations began in the winter
of 1942/1943 and continued up to the liquidation of the camp. At
first simple pyres were used, but eventually this system was replaced
by the use of grates made from railway rails.
Such an installation was very simple. Rails were mounted on two
parallel rows of concrete blocks, layers of corpses were placed on
them, and a fire was lit below. It is probable that easily flammable
material was used. Over the period during which this installation
was used large pits filled with corpses existed in the camp. Mechanical
shovels were used to dig up the corpses and take them to the
grates. The corpses from transports arriving at that time were
burned immediately after being gassed. The ashes from the incinerations
were dumped into the pits within the camp or, as witnesses
have stated, partly taken away by rail in an unknown direction.”
Again we note the peculiar vagueness of the report. How many mass
graves were there? What kind of “easily flammable material” was used
as fuel? The claim that initially simple pyres were used to burn the bodies
and that cremation grates were constructed only later is in clear
contradiction with Bolender’s testimony. It should further be pointed
extermination phase of the camp and which had a length of about 50-60 meters, a width
of 10-15 meters and a depth of about 5-7 meters; on account of the sandy soil they had
inclined sidewalls”; A. Rückerl (ed.), op. cit. (note 36), p. 165.
313 Viewable online at: www.deathcamps.org/sobibor/pic/bmap2.jpg
314 Z. �ukaszkiewicz, op. cit. (note 25), p. 55.