SOBIBÓR - Holocaust Handbooks

J. GRAF, T. KUES, C. MATTOGNO, SOBIBÓR 125
lume – of the mass graves is considerably smaller than estimated by
Kola.
As seen above, the 1947 Central Commission report mentions a pit
with an area of (20 × 5 =) 300 m 2 , characterized as being filled with
chloride of lime and located “close to the eastern limit of the camp.” Of
the seven pits identified by Kola, graves No. 4 and 7 are the ones furthest
to the east. However, grave 7, measuring 10 × 3 m, is clearly too
small to be the same pit. On the other hand, the area of grave No. 4 is
(1575 ÷ 300 =) 5.25 times as large as the pit described in the report.
Could it be that Grave No. 4 was drastically enlarged by various diggings,
including those of the commission surveyors? According to Kola,
limestone is among the contents of Grave No. 4.
Finally it should be noted that Kola’s findings regarding the Sobibór
mass graves contradict certain conclusions arising from his own previous
survey at Be��ec, where mass graves having a total volume of
21,310 m 3 were identified.
The Sobibór mass graves have an average depth of (14,718.75 ÷
3,210 =) 4,58 m and a total area of 3,210 m 2 . With a 30 cm layer of
sand covering the interred corpses, the available burial space would
have amounted to ([4.58 – 0.30] × 3,210 =) approximately 13,739 m 3 ,
resulting in a density of (80,000 ÷ 13,739 =) approximately 5.8 bodies
per cubic meter. On the other hand, at Be��ec the mass graves were estimated
to have a total area of 5,490 m 2 and an average depth of 3.88 m,
which means that ([3.88 – 0.30] × 5,490 =) 19,654 m 2 of burial space
would have been available. Since it is claimed that 434,508 uncremated
corpses were buried at Be��ec, the density would have been (434,508 ÷
19,654 =) 22.1 bodies per m 3 .
If the alleged Be��ec victims had been buried with the same density
as the alleged Sobibór victims, they would have occupied an effective
volume of (434,508 ÷ 5.8 =) 74,915 cubic meters, i.e. 3.5 times the total
size of the mass graves discovered at Be��ec! This clearly contradicts
the notion that the Sobibór camp staff did their best to utilize the available
burial space as effectively as possible.
5.2.6. A Note on the Ground Water Level at Sobibór
After the successful prisoner revolt, the Sobibór camp was soon dissolved.
To oversee this operation a number of SS men were transferred
from Treblinka to Sobibór. One of them was Franz Suchomel, who in