SOBIBÓR - Holocaust Handbooks

154 J. GRAF, T. KUES, C. MATTOGNO, SOBIBÓR
chaeological structures from the inside of the basement. These are
humus mixed with sand containing disintegrated elements of the
building (bricks and rubble, mortar, iron elements from walls, doors
and ceilings – hooks, screws, nails, pins, staples, hinges, parts of a
door frame, a window knob, and bars e.g. parts of the grill from an
oven etc.). Some of the bars have characteristics of half-finished
products. 4 chamotte bricks were also found. These structures are
very distinctive in the sand base. From the collection of relics from
the building numerous other items were found: spectacle frames and
lenses, an iron drill, a file, an iron chisel, an iron element of a shovel,
jars, an inkwell, perfume bottles, combs, parts of hair clips etc.
From 80-90 cm below the ground to ground level there was a concentration
of caked coal in the centre of the basement. The layer was
10-15 cm thick and covered an area of 1.5 × 1.5 m. Next to this coal,
in the northwestern part of the building, there was a greater amount
of coal, approx. 300-400 kg, reaching a depth up to approx. 2.20 m.
The property found in object A allows for a hypothetical interpretation
of its function. A high concentration of coal with enough
supply of wood (from forests in the vicinity) shows that the coal
wasn’t used as fuel, but for other purposes. Large amounts of bricks
and rubble, including chamotte bricks and mortar, indicate that an
oven was located here. The large amounts of pre-fabricated iron
bars [460] as well as some iron tools (drill, file, and chisel) that were
discovered could indicate that this was a blacksmith’s workshop. If
this hypothesis is correct, then the coal could have been used at the
workshop. While the workshop was in use, the coal was stored on
the ground level, and after the building had been demolished, the
coal was moved to the basement where its concentration can be
found in a layer lying between the northwestern wall of the building
and its centre.”
Kola’s explanation of this object may be logical, but it stands quite
in contrast to his overlying thesis. For what reason would a smithy be
placed in the “extermination area”? All maps of the camp further agree
that a smithy was located in camp I among various other workshops, 461
and there is no mention of a camp III smithy in eye witness testimony.
460 polfabrikaty zelaynych sztabek
461 The Bauer map, reproduced in M. Novitch, op. cit. (note 39), pp. 36-37, marks this as
building No. 3 in camp I. The Blatt-Bauer map, reproduced in Y. Arad, op. cit. (note 49),
pp. 34-35, shows this as building No. 21. B. Rutherford’s map of Sobibór in June 1943
designates it as building No. 24.