SOBIBÓR - Holocaust Handbooks

124 J. GRAF, T. KUES, C. MATTOGNO, SOBIBÓR
hundreds of thousands of corpses to dispose of, there would also exist
no pressing need to save burial space. We know of several documented
mass graves that have a density of 1-2 corpses per cubic meter. 352
Second, as already discussed, the original grave volume might have
been significantly smaller than that estimated by Kola in 2001. It is
therefore entirely possible that the mass graves at Sobibór contained only
some thousands of corpses.
In their 2009 article, Gilead et al. reproduce a color photograph of
the open field with the mass graves, taken from a weather balloon, accompanied
by the following comment: 353
“It appears to have delineated areas of mass graves in the open
field, as defined by deeper green hues in the vegetation. This supports
the conclusion of the 2001 coring activities carried out by Kola’s
expedition.”
Those deep green areas are indeed clearly visible against the yellowbrownish
color of the remaining field. This phenomenon, where the outlines
of old graves are detectable due to changes in surface vegetation
caused by increased nutritional support from decomposing human remains
and ashes as well as the looser, more aerated character of the infill
soil, is well known from forensic literature. 354 But to what degree
does the photograph actually support Kola’s data on the mass graves?
To determine this we have placed it side by side with the plan of the
2000-2001 excavations also included with the article. 355 Of the six burial
pits identified by Kola, only two, graves No. 2 and 6, are matched by
green areas of more or less the same shape and size. Grave No. 1 is visible
only as a small, faint green smudge near the monument. The large
graves No. 3 and 4 are only partially green, indicating that they are not
joined together and may have originated as several smaller pits. The
small grave No. 5 is partially obscured by the shadow of the rope connecting
the camera-equipped balloon to the ground. “Grave” No. 7, the
cremation pit, is not visible at all, implying that it was not used as an
ash deposit and that the amount of cremated remains found in it was
small. This comparison indicates that the present area – and in turn, vo-
352 Cf. J.C Ball, “Air Photo Evidence” in: G. Rudolf (ed.), op. cit. (note 34), p. 270; C. Mattogno,
J. Graf, op. cit. (note 10, Engl. ed.), p. 77.
353 I. Gilead, Y. Haimi, W. Mazurek, op. cit. (note 293), p. 31.
354 John Hunter, Margaret Cox (ed.), Forensic archaeology: advances in theory and practice,
Routledge, New York 2005, pp. 30f.
355 Document 3, p. 402.