SOBIBÓR - Holocaust Handbooks

J. GRAF, T. KUES, C. MATTOGNO, SOBIBÓR 97
that the corpses were burnt “with the help of firebombs, wood, and
coal.” 233 In another account, published in Novitch’s anthology, Thomas
mentions only coal as fuel. 234
Many of the witnesses describe a stench supposedly emanating from
decomposing corpses. It is a well known fact among police and people
working in the field of forensics that the odor of putrefying corpses,
which appears during the bloat stage of decomposition and is caused by
the release of gases such as hydrogen sulfide and mercaptans (which, in
turn, are the final products of bacterial metabolism) is “terrible” and
overwhelming. 235 In the case of open or shallow mass graves, the smell
can spread over large areas, depending on weather and wind conditions.
American journalist Elizabeth Neuffer has described a visit to a mass
grave in Bosnia thus: 236
“You could smell the mass grave at Cerska long before you could
see it. The sickly, sweet smell of the bodies came wafting through the
trees lining the dirt track up to the grave.”
In this case the mass grave contained only a few dozen corpses. 237 It
seems highly doubtful that the inmates at Sobibór would have been able
to determine by their olfactory senses alone if the decomposing bodies
causing the stench numbered a few dozen, hundreds, thousands, or tens
of thousands. In this context it is worth noting that the odor of decomposition
is extremely persistent and may linger for months or even years
after the disappearance of soft tissues or the removal of the decomposing
corpse(s). 238
Finally we come to the “evidence” that “no-one ever came out
alive.” The problem of this argument becomes evident by even a cursory
glance at the various maps of Sobibór. The most “correct” map, 239
drawn by Bill Rutherford in 2002 and partially based on air photos,
shows that the northern, eastern, and western borders of the vaguely
trapezoidal camp III area hardly could have been observed from other
233 “mit Hilfe von Brandbom[b]en, Holz u. Kohle”; Statement by Kurt Ticho (Thomas),
ROD, c[23.62]09, p. 4.
234 M. Novitch, op. cit. (note 39), p. 78.
235 Cf. Alan Gunn, Essential Forensic Biology, 2nd ed., Wiley-Blackwell, New York 2009,
p. 23.
236 Elizabeth Neuffer, The key to my neighbor’s house. Seeking justice in Bosnia and Rwanda,
Picador, New York 2002, p. 215.
237 “U.N. Starts Digging Up Mass Grave in Bosnia,” The New York Times, 10 July 1996, p.
6.
238 Linda L. Klepinger, Fundamentals of forensic anthropology, John Wiley & Sons, Hobo-
ken (NJ) 2006, p. 119.
239 Online: www.deathcamps.org/sobibor/pic/bmap21.jpg