Were elements of the Holocaust exaggerated?

Question

No one can deny the horrible elements of the holocaust. I can't help but wonder though if many of the statistics were greatly exaggerated? For instance, one would have to be somewhat suspicious of the great numbers of supposed holocaust survivors. I mean if the Nazi's were so efficient, why would whole groups of people be able to survive the entire duration of their stay in the camps. If the camps were truly "extermination camps", wouldn't you expect there to be virtually no survivors. Also, the number of 6 million Jews seems extremely high. I do however understand that it is to the Jewish people's advantage to have the highest number possible, thus keeping the crimes fresh in the world's conciousness. Any comments? I know that this is really a "forbidden" topic so please no flames, and some intelligent points please - thank you.

Answer 1

I think 6 million is a low ball figure please look at http://www.hawaii.edu/powerkills/NAZIS.CHAP1.HTM “By genocide, the murder of hostages, reprisal raids, forced labor, "euthanasia," starvation, exposure, medical experiments, and terror bombing, and in the concentration and death camps, the Nazis murdered from 15,003,000 to 31,595,000 people, most likely 20,946,000 men, women, handicapped, aged, sick, prisoners of war, forced laborers, camp inmates, critics, homosexuals, Jews, Slavs, Serbs, Germans, Czechs, Italians, Poles, French, Ukrainians, and many others. Among them 1,000,000 were children under eighteen years of age.1 And none of these monstrous figures even include civilian and military combat or war-deaths. I'll go you one better. I know you will not believe this but there has all ready been a holocaust in this country (I mean other then what we did to the native Americans) take a look at Johnson s Island (northern Ohio); Camp Douglas (Chicago); and Elmira (New York). The official U.S. position on the treatment of Confederate prisoners of war during The War for Southern Independence would shock many modern Americans. The data, facts and statistics have been thoroughly eliminated from American history books. One must research the original documents to discover the horrible truth. During the Civil War (1861-1865), the U.S. House of Representatives passed the following resolution: "Rebel prisoners in our hands are to be subjected to a treatment finding its parallels only in the conduct of savage tribes and resulting in the death of multitudes by the slow but designed process of starvation and by mortal diseases occasioned by insufficient and unhealthy food and wanton exposure of their persons." One Yankee prison commander boasted that he had killed more Confederate soldiers than any Union officer on the front battle lines. The story of Confederate prison camps, especially Andersonville, has been misrepresented. There was no deliberate attempt to mistreat northern POWs. The South asked the North to send doctors and medicine, and they tried to exchange the prisoners. The North refused and finally the Confederacy offered the North cotton and gold as payment to take them without exchange. Again, the North refused to do so. They knew the Confederate States of America would be honor bound to try to feed and house the Union POWs and to do so would hamper the Confederate war effort. God Bless You and Our Southern People.

Answer 2

Although this holocaust was henious and evil and it DID happen the fine details of it are not absolutely confirmed. I have been told of a 1960s edition of The Guiness Book of Records that quoted the figure at two million jews killed. Although I have not personally seen this, if this is true, then there is verified doublt about the actual numbers. It might be a good idea, if there was done a kind of census of Jews and others in say 1939 and then another in 1945. If this has not already been done. We would then have an idea of numbers. Then we could do the same by coordinating records of transport, camps and other documents including eye witnesses to assertain more accurate numbers. Then we might get on the way to complete accuracy of the fine details.
Also, about the survivors, there are reasons why there would be at least some numbers of survivors. The first is that human beings are pretty resilliant and rescourseful. Some would find ways to get out of it or stay enough out of it till liberation. Secondly, that many of the camp personell might have colluded to have people survive for the reason of humanity. Thirdly, many of the inmates cooperated with the nazis to survive till the Red Army came. These account for survivors of the camps. Also, not all the Jews, Gypsies, Homosexuals, Social Democrats and others were rounded up. Some would have skipped out before hand and others- the nazis had not quite got to. So there were many in actual numbers, thought not of the proportion, that would have either survived the camps or escaped being sent to the camps in the first place. The conference which decided upon the beginning of the holocaust was only decided at Wannsee in January 1942. Half way through the war.
There might be some doubt about the fine details of such a bastardisation. However there is not doubt about it's evil. Weather it is six or two million, one thing is certain. A whole lot of people were murdered. Not slain in combat but butchered. They caught the sons of bitches red handed. There were survivors in the camps when the allies came. They just didn't have enough time to die. But it is important for two reasons to get accuracy as much as we can. With accuracy we can target the stick to wack the bastards over the head more accuritally. And for our own historical skill and standards, it benifits us to get it as right as we can. However although we are not absolutely sure of the fine details, JUSTICE sees that the point is clear. They, the nazis, were as guilty as sin. Hope this helps.

Answer 3

It is an incredible amount isnt it? But it is true. All that you hear is only a portion of what really went on. There are some graphic studies on the subject, they are so horrorifying that I could not eat after reading and looking at the pics. And I saw Nightmare on Elm Street eating a big box of popcorn. If you can imagine those murderers used to eat and drink and laugh while filming these things and smiled for the cameras because they were so proud of themselves? Screaming people torturing them and they were eating? Those folks werent human they were the unwanted race and people for real. But on a more positive note we won! Yeah!
The other people that were non-jews were Polish, Czechs, Germans, Austrians, French, British, Americans, Greeks, Italians, Priests, Monks,Jehovah's Witness, Old, Handicapped, Gays, Gypsies, etc., and they were many as well. However they were not targeted, so when it is told it is not biased about the Jews, it is the fact that the others were against the government and in any war with any government they would be killed, just like our soldiers, the Gays, old, handicapped, Jehovah's Witness, and the gypsies were targeted as well, and that is well pronounced in history. The craziest thing is how people don't see how easy it would be to exterminate when they are militarily out numbered and are defenseless. With an organized plan and the technology in place we could eliminate more than a hundred million in no time at all. Nuke missiles, Gas, etc., This is why we are so concerned today about all these countries taking up with nukes, they can destroy their own and others too. And guess where they learned that from? The Nazi's.

Answer 4

6 million jews does seem high, however, it seems plausible because people were constantly trucked in (and via train). Also, the videos show truckloads of dead bodies being unloaded on top of huge piles of dead bodies.

I don't know any real statistics, but if there were 20 concentration camps and jews were sent to them every day for a year, that would be about 833 people entering each camp per day. That seems believable because in order to eliminate an entire group of people like that you'd have to have that many people killed per day.

The number of survivors does not seem suspicious either, because with so many people everywhere, it would be difficult not to have a few excapes. I know that some people excaped by jumping into a pile of corpses and pretending to be dead. If only 1/2 of 1% of people escaped, that is still 30,000 people!

Answer 5

I understand what you are saying....but...the truth is that the Holocaust was worse than what history reports. Please remember, there were many more than the Jews in the camps. And, it is a verifiable fact that Hitler refused to "exterminate" anyone at first...the idea was actually repugnant to him...but, he finally gave in, I think it was Hess that finally convinced him, and Hitler actually had a hand in designing the gas chambers, as he considered this to be the most human way to exterminate the prisoners.
Also, from my own personal knowledge...my dad was part of the occupation forces that actually went into the camps to search for survivors...there was a period of time during which, Hitler being stuck in Berlin, surrounded by the allied forces, and all his "henchmen" in Austria, that the camps actually shut down to only the barest number of guards needed to keep the prisoners in.
Also, the "exterminations" were begun slowly and increased over time, and the number of people coming in did not come near to the number being killed on a daily basis. The commanders of the camps were into cruelty, and starving people was a lot more cruel than killing them.
Look at the pictures of the survivors....they held on by will alone......

Answer 6

I'm not even sure how to begin to answer this question except to say - it is no exaggeration. If anything the fact that so many people focus on the 6 million Jewish victims almost minimizes the almost 6 million NON JEWS killed as well.

The camps did not immediately kill every man woman and child who entered. Many who entered healthy were used as part of the war machine - and died in the process of being worked and starved to death. Many of the survivors entered very healthy and never had a day of health again after that experience.

The Nazi's themselves took PRIDE in their actions and documented the attrocities themselves. It was only later, when the world condemned the actions that denying the holocaust, or at least the scope of it, came into 'vogue'.

It is not to anyone's advantage to have "high numbers" when the alternative would be to have huge numbers of living family members instead.

Answer 7

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Answer 8

no not at all in fact some points are downplayed i feel
yes i will tell you how that many people died.
because hitler stretched this genocide to the areas he annexed...and jew were scattered across europe at the time..it ties back to them being thrown out of israel back in 70 AD by the muslims.
they had no homeland so at this time therre was also mass migration to israel the roots of the present day arab israeli conflict (see everything in history is connected.) so the antisemitism that goes back into history ( a recurring theme) made it easy to relocate them first to ghettos and from there concentration camps.
also hitler was the great orator offering germany solace in its troubling time so everyone believed him and followed him
also no one could help people in the concentration camps because few people knew about them at the time...they didnt look like concentration camps on the outside and the jew didnt know where they were being taken...after the nuremburg laws they basically had hardly any rights to protest.
aushwitz alone clained at least 10,000 lives a day!
hitler believed in creating lebensraum "living space" by clearing the jews and if you're gonna clear them might as well make them work for you to reconstruct germany for the war going on at the time...remember the condition of germany after the treaty of versailled...the inflation and what not.

you should listen to the survivors they have the numbers on their wrists to prove and some people did make it because they may have been taken right before the prisoners were liberated...and they are our historical treasures who wont be among us for long who stand to remind us of a devastating tragedy in history that killed 11 million in total ( he killed five million gypsies, political opponents, homosexuals, and handicapped) ...one which should never be repeated

i think not enough people know to much about this because it isnt stressed enough...i guess the world feels embarrassed for having allowed this to happen and it did happen again in rwanda...and thats another long story...we need to educate people today the lessons taught by history...so that the holocaust "burning" (thats what the word means) may never repeat in any form.

Answer 9

The Holocaust was even worse then documented and the numbers of victims probably higher then we will ever know. The reason for the Holocaust survivors is, the Nazis were interrupted in their deadly deeds by the approaching Allies and they had to flee, they wanted to save their own skin and left their victims behind.

Answer 10

No
not exaggerated
but biased

History classes and media don't talk much about the mass extermination and genocide being done by the Russians.
Also, history romanticizes the allies soldiers for fighting the war to free the concentration camps and bring freedom; In reality, soldiers purpose and motivations to go to Europe was to kill Germans and change the political power map in Europe, not to save concentration camp victims. The allies refused to save them before the war, and sent boat loads of them back to their doom. Truth is not always pleasant and often not "politically correct". I used to be shocked, but grew tired of allies families saying hateful things to or about Germans even many years after the war, but also hateful things about Jewish people too. Most modern German people are apologetic for politics and human rights gone pure hell decades ago. Russians get by like they never did anything wrong. Research the mass exterminations done by Stalinist Russia during and just after the war too.