Bombardment of civilians in undefended cities far away from the front lines is an atrocity, yet it was common practice during World War II. Read here about the history, conduct, and consequences of this war crime, as well as the various attempts to protect the civilian population from death falling from the skies.
By Samuel Crowell ∙ January 1, 1999
In this order, dated March 31, 1943, there is also a reference to the filling of another order, placed on March 6, 1943, for a “gas door 100 x 192 cm for corpse cellar I of crematorium III … of exactly the same type and size as the cellar door of the crematorium opposite it,…
By David Thomas ∙ March 21, 1998
The imperfect translations which follow convey clearly enough the meaning of three documents recently forwarded by an anonymous source from Russian archives of captured German WWII documents to Samuel Crowell. They give details of logistical problems encountered in the building of hundreds of air-raid shelters at Auschwitz-Birkenau in April through November of 1944. This effort…
By Samuel Crowell ∙ July 1, 1997
Recently the argument has been advanced that each of the crematoria at Birkenau was equipped with a gas-tight bomb shelter. The argument was first made in the Summer of 1996 by Arthur R. Butz, with respect to Crematoria II and III in his Vergasungskeller article.[1] In the Spring of 1997 the concept was extended to…
By David Thomas ∙ July 12, 1997
At left: The door at the concentration camp Majdanek from which the USHMM made the replica which is now on display in Washington D.C.At right: The real function of the door and thousands more like it is shown in a widely distributed German ad for bomb-shelter doors and window covers, intended for military and civilian…
By CODOH ∙ January 1, 1997
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Displays Standard German Air-Raid Shelter Door, Describing it as the Door to a “Gas Chamber” At left: The door at the concentration camp Majdanek from which the USHMM made the replica which is now on display in Washington D.C. At right: The real function of the door and thousands more…
By CODOH ∙ January 29, 1943
By Samuel Crowell ∙ April 30, 1997
The personal residence of Auschwitz camp commander Rudolf Höß. Note small gas-proof shutter (Blende) to the right of the door. Introduction It is well known that, although poison gas was used extensively in World War One, it was not used in World War Two. As a result, we tend to forget that most people in…
By Winston Churchill ∙ July 6, 1944
[stamp] PRIME MINISTER'S PERSONAL MINUTE [stamp, pen] Serial No. D. 217/4 [Seal of Prime Minister] 10 Downing Street, Whitehall [gothic script] GENERAL ISMAY FOR C.O.S. COMMITTEE [underlined] 1. I want you to think very seriously over this question of poison gas. I would not use it unless it could be shown either that (a)…
By Hoito Edoin ∙ January 1, 1987
Following is a Japanese report on the fire-bombings of Japan. “America has revealed her barbaric character before in the terror bombings of civilian populations in Hamburg, Berlin, and other German cities, in her destruction of priceless cultural monuments in various parts of Europe, in her sinking of innumerable hospital ships, and in countless other acts…
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