SOBIBÓR - Holocaust Handbooks

370 J. GRAF, T. KUES, C. MATTOGNO, SOBIBÓR
remain undetected abroad to the extent that these Jews were present in
the border regions of Western Russia.
The mortality among the deportees was undoubtedly very high during
the war due to the overly harsh conditions, but the number of those
who returned to their countries of origin is so low that it cannot be explained
exclusively by the high mortality caused by disease or malnutrition,
etc.
For the 105,000 Jews deported from Holland the official statistics
report only 4.86% of returnees. Individually, the allocation by camp is
as follows:
Camp Deportees Returnees
Auschwitz: 60,185 1,052
Theresienstadt: 4,771 1,980
Bergen-Belsen: 3,742 2,050
Sobibór: 34,313 18 1100
As far as the 75,721 Jews deported from France are concerned, only
2,560 returned according to the official count. There were only two returnees
1101 out of the 3,500 1102 persons deported to Sobibór.
Several explanations present themselves for the small number of returnees.
They are not mutually exclusive and may well all apply, each
to a greater or lesser degree:
1) Many of these Jews remained in the Soviet Union voluntarily.
2) Many of the Jews later emigrated to Palestine, the U.S., or other
countries, either directly or indirectly after a brief stay in their
countries of origin.
3) The countries of origin grossly falsified the statistics in order to
massively pile blame on the Germans.
4) The Germans liquidated the Jews concerned before retreating.
5) The Jews concerned were retained in the USSR against their will
after the war.
Let us briefly examine the individual arguments:
1) The number of Jews from Western Europe who would have voluntarily
chosen to remain in the USSR was probably very small. It is
unlikely that Jews from Germany, Holland, or France would have
wanted to remain in a totalitarian country devastated by the war – un-
1100 J. Schelvis, op. cit. (note 71), p. 199.
1101 J. Schelvis, op. cit. (note 71), p. 198.
1102 This is the figure given by J. Schelvis, op. cit. (note 71), p. 218. According to S. Klarsfeld,
2,001 Jews from France were deported to Sobibór (op. cit., note 75).