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In the case of the Auschwitz-Birkenau complex, the destruction of the gas chambers and railways would have stalled the process big time (for example, during my visit to Auschwitz, I learnt that the crematoriums were not even able to keep the pace with the gas chambers).

Indeed. It is often forgotten that the SS was facing a lot of logistical problems whilst implementing the Final Solution. The extermination of European Jewry was not taking place as rapidly nor efficiently as planned.

The BBC magnificent documentary Auschwitz: the Nazis and the 'Final Solution' shows how much improvisation was introduced to cope with the killing demand. The Birkenau personnel was facing enormous difficulties with body-disposal. The first improvised and rustic gas chambers, the 'Little Red House' and the 'Little White House' were killing much rapidly than the Sonderkommandos could get rid of the corpses. There were no crematoria yet, and massive graves and bonfires were being used. Then, after a long period of advanced building, the massive gas chambers with their huge crematoria (as well as lifts) could reduce the stress on the personnel.

What's the point? The little houses, the first big gas chambers at Birkenau, were quickly built and they could have been easily re-built. However, the large chambers and their respective crematoria could not. Nor the whole Birkenau compound, which took almost two years to be completed. When it was, Belzec, Sóbibor, Chełmnoand Treblinka were shut down. Only Majdanek kept running. And why? Because with Birekenau Himmler finally had centralised the process at this massive annihilation factory: he had, at last, the means to carry out the 'Final Solution' in the scale he wanted. It was only then when he gave Eichmann green light to commence the deportation of 900.000 Hungarian Jews.

Certainly, a severe disruptive of all this killing factory's infrastructure would have forced Himmler to either stop the massive deportations or to distribute them along other camps, thus increasing the strain on German resources even more, as stated by Chocapic.

Indeed, though clearly visible:

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But of course, this would mean the Allies took the decision to destroy it along with most of the inmates, which is weird and would today be discussed as we discuss now about the fact they did not bombed Auschwitz

I disagree. Why didn’t the Allies take the same position when bombing Caën or other non-German, though occupied, cities? Many French civilians died there and elsewhere during the fight, and the French knew that was part of the price of liberation. Or why didn’t the Allies care about how many slave workers did the bombings of factories killed? Also, the gas chambers and the krematoria were at one side of the camp, different than the barracks. Also, at daylight hours, the inmates of the concentration camp were working, right?

Well, but my whole point here is that what these people at Auschwitz, specially the Jews, needed was perhaps not to be rescued… maybe just a little bit of hope, a sign that someone actually cared!

After the St. Louis, the difficulties of emigration, collaboration in the deportations, neglect by their neighbours… can we say any one, besides some individuals (the US, the UK, the Latin American countries, the Red Cross, the Vatican…) showed active, open and official solidarity with the Holocaust victims? Was there any kind of generalised support for the persecuted people, like the miracle of Denmark? Maybe it’s hind-sight, XXI century ethical vision, but, isn’t symbolic gestures as important?

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Killing people is easy, if it's not by gassing you always resort the tried beforehand methods of lining a few hundred at a time and machine gunning them, or go one by one with a pistol, that's the Babi-Yar approach.

Yes, but such method was dropped precisely because it was not practical. It was destroying the ‘soldiers’ minds, as Von Bach-Zelewsky told Himmler. And, above all, it was not being efficient enough, wasn’t carrying out the 'Final Solution' in the scale, time or way planned. Birkenau was born from that necessity.

Nor do I.


I diagree. Not only the first statement (see the solidarity thing above), but also the second: Birkenau’s massive crematoria took well-over two years of meticulous planning, testing and building. Again, I suggest you all watching I mentioned above: Amazon.co.uk: Auschwitz - The Nazis And The Final Solution: DVD: Dominic Sutherland,Martina Balazova,Detlef Siebert

That, I think, would have been a practical positive consequence of the bombing. Since the resources, manpower and efforts used by Germany to carry out the Holocaust actually helped the Allies win the war, I think that such dispersal could have both reduced the number of people killed and distract even more resources on doing it: more stress on the railroads, SS personnel, security, not to mention the building of new extermination camps or the re-adaptation of concentration into extermination camps (as happened in Auschwitz, in a process of two years).

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...they had no reason to change since centralized large industrial extermination camps were not being bombed.

Well, yes, this is true.

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Some, such as Belzec, were already closed by the time it has been proven that the Allied governments knew of the large-scale killings.

But why was that? Because there were some other places in which the killing could be done more rapidly, efficiently and in larger quantities.

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It might also be a mild antisemitism or indifference but I've got no elements to back up such a serious accusation, so I won't step further in this direction, even if it's a very interesting question.

True. Neither would I dare come to any such conclusion. My sole intention when opening this thread was a civilised debate (which has been the case, and for which I really thank you, guys), so we can all learn and reflect some things.

I also agree that we can move on now.

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"War is less costly than servitude, the choice is always between Verdun and Dachau." - Jean Dutourd, French veteran of both world wars

"A mon fils: depuis que tes yeux sont fermes les miens n’ont cessé de pleurir." - Mère française, Verdun