The term seems first to have been used in connection to Jews in Germany with regards to the burning of Synagogues in 1938, it's common usage of today
is as the term was promoted from the 1960's onward.
An early Jewish employment of "holocaust" to refer to events in Nazi Germany was in a telegram of 16 November 1938 from the Chief Rabbis of
Palestine to the Chief Rabbi of the British Empire: "PROPOSE YOU ... PROCLAIM JEWISH DAY OF MOURNING ... FOR HOLOCAUST SYNAGOGUES GERMANY ..."
(Hartley Library: University of Southampton Special Research Collections - information brochure, n.d. [1998], p. 12 -- MS 175/142/1 in the collection,
MS copywright J. Schonfield) As has been pointed out in postings on this list, the London Times Literary Supplement in an editorial of 26 August 1939
warned of an impending "holocaust" of Jews in Nazi Germany. (p. 503, col. 2)
www.fpp.co.uk...
The problem i see with this definatively defined package is that if forces absolute acceptance or rejection of a proposed scenario within narrowly
defined parameters, becoming faith based, with those who question it's teachings dismissed as heretical deniers.
What is generally outside of the parameters for discussion are the reasons behind the first mass killing of Jews in 1941 in the territories the
Wehmracht liberated/occupied from the Soviet Union, the Baltic States, Beloruss, the Ukraine, here began popular uprising/pogroms against the Jews who
were seen to have been deeply implicated in Bolshevik oppression, mass killings and policies of starvation, repression of religion and Nationalism.
This appears to have surprised the Germans, whose initial policy was of non-interferance, this leading on to the organisation of those involved into
police militia units and a more systematic approach organised by the SS.
These militia of the Baltic States and the Ukraine had no reservations about shooting Jews from dawn till dusk, their justification was that the Jews
had orchestrated Bolshevism toward similar genocidal policies against their own Nation and peoples, thus they saw these measures as reciprocal, they
would reject any notion that the Jews were innocent or had a monopoly on righteousness.
Any balanced analysis of the anti-Jewish pogroms thus needs to take into account the events that occured before the German invasion of the Soviet
Union, yet that is outside the parameters of 'The Holocaust' package, and it is heretical for me to consider such motivations.
After 1942 when no furthur territories were occupied in the East a reduced number of the Einsatzgruppen militia were involved in the Operation
Reinhard actions in Eastern Poland in 1943, when in numbers that have not been properly determined, some Jews from the ghettoes were transported to
three transit camps and most probably shot in the same manner that had been effective furthur East.
The militia have also been considered as active at Auschwitz Monowitz in 1944, again their role appears to have possibly been that of shooting Jews
who were not to enter into the camp system.
Within the camp system itself the Red Cross figures in conjunction with the Germans own records give best information as to the number of
fatalities,
Charles Biedermann (Red Cross Delegate and Director of the International Tracing Service) testified (under oath) in a Canadian court case,
that, as of December 31, 1976, the Red Cross had the names of only 357,190 individuals who died (of all causes) in the entire German concentration
camp system.
Biedermann also confirmed that, as of December 31, 1983, that number had increased to 373,468 deaths (again, from all causes) in all of the Nazi
camps.
guardian.150m.com...
The 'gas chambers' and stories of mass killings within the camp system are a myth that originated at Nurnburg, perpetuated within 'The Holocaust'
package. were it was first suggested that all camps such as Dachau had such chambers, then this revised to only those in Poland, were the Soviets
constructed crude after the fact resemblances of such in air-raid shelter and crematoria.
There is no doubt that Hitler intended the Jews presence within the camp system to be terminal, as they were entirely dispossesed, but his attitude
would appear to have been that over the longer term the seperation by gender and thus lack of reproduction, in conjunction with attrition through the
harsh conditions would solve the problem, and that in the meantime the Jews could be gainfully employed within the purpose built industrial
complex.
This resume i believe will stand up to long term historical scrutiny.
