Challenging Holocaust Deniers
I’ve had an interesting few weeks challenging the absurd comments Holocaust deniers make on YouTube. Many of these commenters are rabid racists others are more controlled. What they all seem to have in common is a rampant underlying anti-Semitism.
They produce “proof” like the Leuchter report or quote passages from the books of discredited history writer David Irving. They will attempt to show that the Jews are responsible for all the ills of humanity and that this somehow justifies their treatment at the hands of the Nazis.
They will rant on about the inconsistencies in the testimony of eye-witness accounts or continually repeat the fact that the stories about lampshades made of human skin or soap made from Jewish body fat have been discredited. They completely disregard the massive amount of documentary evidence which irrefutably confirms the occurrence of the Holocaust as a historic event. They seem to think that arguing whether a door to a gas chamber opened inwards or outwards will somehow negate everything else legitimate scholars and scientists know about Hitler’s “Final Solution”. They don’t understand why historians will not take anything they say seriously and then put this down to Jew inspired censorship.
The Jaeger Report
They suddenly fall silent when confronted with a document like the one that has become known as the “Jaeger Report”. The report was written by SS-Standartenfuehrer Karl Jaeger who was the commander of one of the Einsatzkommandos (EK 3), it provides a detailed account of his unit’s killing activities in Nazi-occupied Lithuania. He breaks down the figures for Jews murdered by EK 3 into “Jewish men”, “Jewish women”, and “Jewish children”.
Jaeger wrote the report at the request of Walter Stahlecker, the commander of Einsatzgruppe A. The report covers a five month period, during which EK 3 murdered over 130,000 people. Approximately one third of them were listed by Jaeger as “Jewish children”. On 1 February 1942, Jaeger updated the totals to 136,421 Jews (46,403 men, 55,556 women and 34,464 children), 1,064 Communists, 653 mentally disabled, and 134 others in a handwritten note for Stahlecker.
Click here if you would like to download a scan of the original document in PDF format. (1 mb)
The original document is held at the Central Lithuanian Archives in Vilnius.
Page 1
The Commander of the
Security Police and the SD
Einsatzkommando 3 Kauen, December 1, 1941
Secret Reich Matter! 5 copies
4thcopy
Complete tabulation of executions carried out in the Einsatzkommando 3 zone up to December 1, 1941
Take-over of the security police tasks in Lithuania by Einsatzkommando 3 on July 2, 1941
(Einsatzkommando 3 took over the Vilnius area on August 9, 1941 and the Schaulen area on October 2, 1941. Up to this time, Einsatzkommando 9 handled Vilnius and Einsatzkommando 2 handled Schaulen.)
(Executions carried out by Lithuanian partisans on my instructions and under my command:
July 4, 41 | Kauen – Fort VII – 416 Jews, 47 Jewesses |
463 |
||
July 6, 41 | Kauen – Fort VII – Jews |
2,514 |
Following deployment of a raiding commando under the leadership of SS First Lieutenant Hamann and 8 to 10 reliable men from Einsatzkommando 3, the following operations were carried out in collaboration with Lithuanian partisans:
July 7, 41 | Mariampole | Jews |
32 |
|||
July 8, 41 | “ | 14 “ and 5 Comm. functionaries |
19 |
|||
July 8, 41 | Girkalinei | Comm. functionaries |
6 |
|||
July 9, 41 | Wendziogala | 32 Jews, 2 Jewesses, 1 fem. Lithuanian 2 Lith. Comm., 1 Russ. Communist |
38 |
|||
July 9, 41 | Kauen – Fort VII | 21 Jews, 3 Jewesses |
24 |
|||
July 14, 41 | Mariampole | 21 “ , 1 Russ., 9 Lith. Comm. |
31 |
|||
July 17, 41 | Babtei | 8 Comm. functionaries (of which 6 Jews) |
8 |
|||
July 18, 41 | Mariampole | 39 Jews, 14 Jewesses |
53 |
|||
July 19, 41 | Kauen – Fort VII | 17 “ , 2 “ , 4 Lith. Comm., 2 fem. Comm. Lithuanian, 1 Germ. Comm. |
26 |
|||
July 21, 41 | Panevezys | 59 Jews, 11 Jewesses, 1 fem. Lithuanian, 1 Pole, 22 Lith. Comm., 9 Russ. Comm. |
103 |
|||
July 22, 41 | “ | 1 Jew |
1 |
|||
July 23, 41 | Kedainiai | 83 Jews, 12 Jewesses, 14 Russ. Comm., 15 Lith. Comm., 1 Russ. O-Politruk |
125 |
|||
July 25, 41 | Mariampole | 90 Jews, 13 Jewesses |
103 |
|||
July 28, 41 | Panevezys | 234 “ , 15 “ , 19 Russ. Comm., 20 Lith. Comm. |
288 |
|||
Carry-forward |
3,834 |
Page 2
Carry-forward |
3,834 |
|||||
July 29, 41 | Rasainai | 254 Jews, 3 Lith. Communists |
257 |
|||
July 30, 41 | Agriogala | 27 “ , 11 “ |
38 |
|||
July 31, 41 | Utena | 235 “ , 16 Jewesses, 4 Lith. Comm. 1 repeat robber murderer |
256 |
|||
11/July 31, 41 | Wendziogala | 13 Jews, 2 murderers |
15 |
Month of August:
August 1, 41 | Ukmerge | 254 Jews, 42 Jewesses, 1 Pol. Comm. 2 Lith. NKVD agents, 1 mayor from Jonova who gave the order to set fire to the city of Jonova | 300 | |||
August 2, 41 | Kauen – Fort IV | 170 Jews, 1 US Jew, 1 US Jewess, 33 Jewesses, 4 Lith. Comm. |
209 |
|||
August 4, 41 | Panevezys | 362 Jews, 41 Jewesses, 5 Russ. Comm. 14 Lith. Communists |
422 |
|||
August 5, 41 | Rasainai | 213 Jews, 66 Jewesses |
279 |
|||
August 7, 41 | Uteba | 483 Jews, 87 Jewesses, 1 Lithuanian, a corpse robber of German soldiers |
571 |
|||
August 8, 41 | Ukmerge | 620 Jews, 82 Jewesses |
702 |
|||
August 9, 41 | Kauen – Fort IV | 484 “ , 50 “ |
534 |
|||
August 11, 41 | Panevezys | 450 “ , 48 “ , 1 Lith, 1 Russ. Comm. |
500 |
|||
August 13, 41 | Alytus | 617 “ , 100 “ , 1 criminal |
7195 |
|||
August 14, 41 | Jonava | 497 “ , 55 “ |
552 |
|||
August 15 and 16, 41 |
Rokiskis | 3200 Jews, Jewesses and Jewish children 5 Lith. Comm., 1 Pole, 1 partisan | 3,207 | |||
August 9 to 16, 41 | Rasainiai | 294 Jewesses, 4 Jewish children |
298 |
|||
June 27 to August 14, 41 |
Rokiskis | 493 Jews, 432 Russians, 56 Lithuanians (all active Communists) |
981 |
|||
August 18, 41 | Kauen – Fort IV | 689 Jews, 402 Jewesses, 1 fem. Pole, 711 intell. Jews from the ghetto as a reprisal for an act of sabotage |
1,812 | |||
August 19, 41 | Ukmerge | 298 Jews, 255 Jewesses, 1 Politr., 88 Jewish children, 1 Russ. Communist |
645 |
|||
August 22, 41 | Dünaburg | 3 Russ. Comm., 5 Latvians, among them 1 murderer, 1 Russ. Guardsman, 3 Poles 3 Gypsies, 1 fem. Gypsy, 1 Gypsy child, 1 Jew, 1 Jewess, 1 Armenian, 2 Politruks (prison inspection in Dünaburg) |
21 | |||
Carry-forward |
16,152 |
Page 3
Carry-forward | 16,152 | |||||
August 22, 41 | Aglona | Mentally ill: 269 men, 227 women, 48 children |
544 | |||
August 23, 41 | Panevezys | 1312 Jews, 4602 Jewesses 1609 Jewish children |
7,523 | |||
August 18 to 22, 41 |
Dist. Rasainiai | 466 Jews, 440 Jewesses, 1020 Jewish children |
1,926 | |||
August 25, 41 | Obeliai | 112 Jews, 627 Jewesses, 421 Jewish children |
1,160 | |||
August 25 and 26, 41 |
Seduva | 230 Jews, 275 Jewesses, 159 Jewish children |
664 | |||
August 26, 41 | Zarasai | 767 Jews, 1,113 Jewesses, 1 Lith. Comm. 687 Jewish children, 1 fem. Russ. Comm. |
2,569 | |||
August 26, 41 | Pasvalys | 402 Jews, 738 Jewesses, 209 Jewish children |
1,349 | |||
August 26, 41 | Kaisiadorys | all Jews, Jewesses, Jewish children |
1,911 | |||
August 27, 41 | Prienai | ” “ “ “ “ | 1,078 | |||
August 27, 41 | Dagda and Kraslawa |
212 Jews, 4 Russ. POWs | 216 | |||
August 27, 41 | Joniskis | 47 Jews, 165 Jewesses, 143 Jewish children |
355 | |||
August 28, 41 | Wilkia | 76 Jews, 192 Jewesses, 134 Jewish children |
402 | |||
August 28, 41 | Kedainiai | 710 Jews, 767 Jewesses, 599 Jewish children |
2,076 | |||
August 29, 41 | Rumsiskis a. Ziezmariai |
20 Jews, 567 Jewesses, 197 Jewish children |
784 | |||
August 29, 41 | Utena and Moletai | 582 Jews, 1,731 Jewesses, 1,469 Jewish children |
3,782 | |||
August 13 to 31, 41 |
Alytus and Environs | 233 Jews | 233 |
Month of September:
Sept. 1, 41 | Mariampole | 1,763 Jews, 1,812 Jewesses 1,404 Jewish children, 109 mentally ill, 1 fem. German national who was married to a Jew, 1 fem. Russian |
5,090 | |||
Carry-forward | 47,814 |
Page 4
Carry-forward | 47,184 | |||||
August 28 to Sept. 2, 41 |
Darsuniskis | 10 Jews, 69 Jewesses, 20 J children |
99 | |||
Carliava | 73 “ 113 “ 61 “ | 247 | ||||
Jonava | 112 “ 1200 “ 244 “ | 1,556 | ||||
Petrasiunai | 30 “ 72 “ 23 “ | 125 | ||||
Jesuas | 26 “ 72 “ 46 “ | 144 | ||||
Ariogala | 207 “ 260 “ 195 “ | 662 | ||||
Jasvainai | 86 “ 110 “ 86 “ | 282 | ||||
Babtei | 20 “ 41 “ 22 “ | 83 | ||||
Wenziogala | 42 “ 113 “ 97 “ | 252 | ||||
Krakes | 448 “ 476 “ 201 “ | 1,125 | ||||
Sept. 4, 41 | Pravenischkis | 247 “ 6 “ Hetz. I.A. -Lg7 | 253 | |||
Sept. 4, 41 | Cekiske | 22 “ 64 “ 60 J. children |
146 | |||
Seredsius | 6 “ 61 “ 126 “ | 193 | ||||
Velinona | 2 “ 71 “ 86 “ | 159 | ||||
Zapiskis | 47 “ 118 “ 13 “ | 178 | ||||
Sept. 5, 41 | Ukmerge | 1123 “ 1849 “ 1737 “ | 4,709 | |||
Aug 25 to Sept. 6, 41 | Mopping up In Rasainiai | 16 “ 412 “ 415 “ | 843 | |||
In Georgenburg | all “ all “ all “ | 412 | ||||
Sept. 9, 41 | Alytus | 287 “ 640 “ 352 “ | 1,279 | |||
Sept. 9, 41 | Butrimonys | 67 “ 370 “ 303 “ | 740 | |||
Sept. 10, 41 | Merkine | 223 “ 355 “ 276 “ | 854 | |||
Sept. 10, 41 | Varena | 541 “ 141 “ 149 “ | 831 | |||
Sept. 11, 41 | Leipalingis | 60 “ 70 “ 25 “ | 155 | |||
Sept. 11, 41 | Seirijai | 229 “ 384 “ 340 “ | 953 | |||
Sept. 12, 41 | Simnas | 68 “ 197 “ 149 “ | 414 | |||
Sept. 11 and 12, 41 |
Uzusalis | Penal operation against inhabitants who fed Russ. partisans and some of whom were in possession of weapons |
43 | |||
Sept. 26, 41 | Kauen | 412 Jews, 615 Jewesses, 581 J children | 1,608 | |||
Carry-forward | 66,159 |
Page 5
Carry-forward | 66,159 |
Month of October:
Oct. 2, 41 | Zagare | 633 Jews, 1107 Jewesses, 496 J children (as these Jews were led away, a mutiny took place, which nonetheless was immediately put down. 7 partisans were wounded.) | 2,236 | |||
Oct. 4, 41 | Kauen – F. IX | 315 Jews, 712 Jewesses, 818 J Children (punishment operation be-(because?) a German policeman was shot at in the ghetto) | 1,845 | |||
Oct. 29, 41 | Kauen – F. IX | 2007 Jews, 2920 Jewesses 4273 Jewish children (cleansing of superfluous Jews from the ghetto) | 9,200 |
Month of November:
Nov. 3, 41 | Lazdijai | 485 Jews, 511 Jewesses, 539 J children | 1,535 | |||
Nov. 15, 41 | Wilkowiski | 36 “ 48 “ 31 “ | 115 | |||
Nov. 25, 41 | Kauen – F. IX | 1159 “ 1600 “ 175 “ (evacuees from Berlin, Munich and Frankfurt am Main) | 2,934 | |||
Nov. 29, 41 | “ “ | 693 “ 1155 “ 152 (evacuees from Vienna and Breslau) | 2,000 | |||
Nov. 29, 41 | “ “ | 17 Jews, 1 Jewess who had contravened the ghetto laws, 1 Reich German who had converted to Judaism and had attended a rabinnical school, and then 15 terrorists of the Kalinin Group | 34 | |||
Component of Ein. 3 in Dünaburg in the period from Jul 13-Aug 21, 41 | 9012 Jews, Jewesses and Jewish children, 573 active Communists | 9,585 | ||||
Component of Ein. 3 in Wilna: Aug 8 to Sep. 1, 41 | City of Wilna | 425 Jews, 19 Jewesses, 8 Communists 9 fem. Communists |
461 | |||
Sep. 2, 41 | City of Wilna | 864 Jews, 2019 Jewesses, 817 Jewish children (Special operation because Jews had shot at German soldiers) | 3,704 | |||
Carry-forward | 99,804 |
Page 6
Carry-forward | 99,804 | |||||
Sep. 12, 41 | City of Wilna | 993 Jews, 1670 Jewesses, 771 J child. |
3,334 | |||
Sep. 17, 41 | “ “ | 337 „ 687 „ 247 „ And 4 Lith. Communists | 1,271 | |||
Sep. 20, 41 | Nemencing | 128 Jews, 176 Jewesses, 99 „ | 403 | |||
Sep. 22, 41 | Novo-Wilejka | 468 „ 495 „ 196 „ | 1,159 | |||
Sep. 24, 41 | Riesa | 512 „ 744 „ 511 „ | 1,767 | |||
Sep. 25, 41 | Jahiunai | 215 „ 229 „ 131 „ | 575 | |||
Sep. 27, 41 | Eysisky | 989 „ 1636 „ 821 „ | 3,446 | |||
Sep. 30, 41 | Trakai | 366 „ 483 „ 597 „ | 1,446 | |||
Oct. 4, 41 | City of Wilna | 432 „ 1115 „ 436 „ | 1,983 | |||
Oct. 6, 41 | Semiliski | 213 „ 359 „ 390 „ | 962 | |||
Oct. 9, 41 | Svenciany | 1169 „ 1840 „ 717 „ | 3,726 | |||
Oct. 16, 41 | City of Wilna | 382 „ 507 „ 257 „ | 1,146 | |||
Oct. 21, 41 | „ | 718 “ 1063 „ 586 „ | 2,367 | |||
Oct. 25, 41 | „ | – „ 1766 „ 812 „ | 2,578 | |||
Oct. 27, 41 | „ | 946 „ 184 „ 73 „ | 1,203 | |||
Oct. 30, 41 | „ | 382 „ 789 „ 362 „ | 1,533 | |||
Nov. 6, 41 | „ | 340 „ 749 „ 252 „ | 1,341 | |||
Nov. 19, 41 | „ | 76 „ 77 „ 18 „ | 171 | |||
Nov. 19, 41 | „ | 6 prisoners of war, 8 Poles | 14 | |||
Nov. 20, 41 | „ | 3 „ | 3 | |||
Nov. 25, 41 | „ | 9 Jews, 46 Jewesses, 8 Jewish child- ren, 1 Pole for possession of weapons and possession of other war equipment |
64 | |||
Component of Ein. 3 In Minsk From Sep 28- Oct. 17, 41: |
Pleschnitza, Bicholin, Scak, Bober, Uzda |
620 Jews, 1285 Jewesses, 1126 J. children, and 19 Communists |
3,050 | |||
_____ | ||||||
133,346 | ||||||
Jews liquidated by pogroms and executions, exclusively by partisans, before the assumption of security police tasks by Einsatzkommando 3 |
4,000 | |||||
Total | 137,346 |
Page 7
I can state today that the goal of solving the Jewish problem for Lithuania has been achieved by Einsatzkommando 3. In Lithuania, there are no more Jews, other than the Work Jews, including their families. They are:
In Schaulen around 4,500
In Kauen “ 15,000
In Wilna “ 15,000
I also wanted to kill these Work Jews, including their families, which however brought upon me acrimonious challenges from the civil administration (the Reichskommisar) and the army and caused the prohibition: the Work Jews and their families are not to be shot! The goal of making Lithuania free of Jews could only be attained through the deployment of a raiding commando with selected men under the leadership of SS First Lieutenant Hamann, who completely and entirely adopted my goals and understood the importance of ensuring the co-operation of the Lithuanian partisans and the competent civilian positions. The implementation of such activities is primarily a question of organization. The decision to systematically make every district free of Jews necessitated an exhaustive preparation of each individual operation and reconnaissance of the prevailing circumstances in the applicable district. The Jews had to be assembled at one or several locations. Depending on the number, a place for the required pits had to be found and the pits dug. The marching route from the assembly place to the pits amounted on average to 4 to 5 kilometers. The Jews were transported to the place of execution in detachments of 500, at intervals of at least 2 kilometers. The attendant difficulties and nerve-wracking activity occasioned in doing this are shown in a randomly selected example: In Rokiskis, 3,208 people had to be transported 4.5 kilometers before they could be liquidated. To accomplish this task in 24 hours, more than 60 of the 80 available Lithuanian partisans had to be allocated for transportation and cordoning off duty.
Page 8
The remainder of them, who had to be constantly replaced, carried out the work together with my men. Motor vehicles are only occasionally available. Attempts to escape, which took place every now and then, were prevented exclusively by my men at the risk of their lives. Thus, for example, near Mariampole, three men of the commando shot down 38 escaping Jews and Communist functionaries on a woodland path without anyone escaping. The marching route to and from the individual operations amounted to 160-200 kilometers. Only by clever usage of the time was it possible to carry out up to five operations in a week and at the same time, to manage nonetheless the work in Kauen in such a way that no slow-down in the service work took place. The operations in Kauen itself, where reasonably sufficient trained partisans were available, can be considered as parade shootings compared to the often enormous difficulties that had to be dealt with outside. All the leaders and men of my commando in Kauen have taken part actively in the large-scale operations. Only one official from the police records department was excused from participation due to illness. I consider the Jewish operations for Einsatzkommando 3 as essentially completed. The still available Work Jews and female Work Jews are urgently required and I can foresee that post-Winter, this manpower will still be most urgently required. I am of the view that sterilization of the male Work Jews should begin immediately to prevent reproduction. Should a Jewess nonetheless become pregnant, she is to be liquidated. One of the most important tasks of Einsatzkommando 3, besides the Jewish operations, was the inspection of the mostly overcrowded prisons in the individual locations and cities. On average, in every city in the district, there were 600 people of Lithuanian affiliation in prison, although there was no actual reason for their incarceration. They were taken into custody because of simple denunciations, etc. by partisans. Several personal accounts were settled in this way. Nobody looked after them. One ought to have been in the
Page 9
prisons and spent a minute in the overcrowded cells, which, in respect to hygiene, defied description. In Jonava – and this is one example of many – 16 men, all of whom could have been set free since there was nothing to bring against them, sat for 5 weeks in a dreary cellar room 3 meters long, 3 meters wide and 1.65 meters high. Girls aged 13 to 16 were locked up because they, in order to get work, had applied for admission to the Communist youth. Here it was necessary, through drastic measures, to hammer the proper sense of direction into the heads of the responsible Lithuanian circles. The inhabitants of the prison were assembled in the prison courtyard and checked on the basis of lists and documentation. Those who as a result of harmless offences had been locked up for no reason were assembled in a special group. Those whom we sentenced to 1-3 and 6 months because of their offences were also specially set off, as were those who were to be liquidated, such as criminals, Communist functionaries, politruks and other such riffraff. In addition to the announced punishment, some, according to the offence, especially Communist functionaries, received 10 to 40 lashes with the whip, which were meted out immediately. After completion of the examination, the prisoners were led back to their cells. Those who were to be let free were led in a platoon to the marketplace and there, after a short speech in the presence of many inhabitants, let go. The speech had the following content (it was immediately translated sentence by sentence by an interpreter into Lithuanian and Russian): “If we were Bolshevists, we would have shot you, but because we are Germans, we give you your freedom.” Then followed a severe admonition to abstain from all political activity, to report to the German authorities any hostile activities that came to their attention and to intensively and immediately busy themselves in reconstruction, especially in agriculture. Should one of them again be found guilty of an offence, he would be shot. Then they were released. One cannot imagine the joy, gratitude and enthusiasm that our measures triggered in those who were freed and in the population. We often had to deflate the enthusiasm with sharp words, when women, children and men with tear-filled eyes sought to kiss our hands and feet.