Today I will examine the claims of the mass graves of the Zhitomir district and use my simple line of questioning to determine whether or not it can be considered evidence of a genocide. Again these questions are: 1. Was an archeological investigation done? 2. If so, how many bodies were found? 3. Were they even Jewish? 4. If so, were they civilians or enemies of war?
1. Was an archeological investigation done? Yes. According to Holocaust Denial on Trial, or HDoT, the Extraordinary State Commission, a department of the Soviet Union, found multiple mass graves. They are also saying Yad Vashem also found these graves, but there is nothing about that in the notes so I have nothing to address there.
The Extraordinary State Commission (ESC) was brought up in my article about Babi Yar. Reports by the ESC from the following book were referenced by HDoT:
These reports are little more than propagandic charges made by the Soviets against their wartime enemies. No evidence of these accusations are provided. The following is from page 201 of this report. It is claimed that Soviets were forced to climb trees which were cut down sending them to their deaths. Imagine how how high one would have to climb in order for the fall to be fatal. Were there even trees that tall in the area? Image how much time that would have wasted. Do you really think a military in the midst of enemy forces would do this just for the sake of sadism? In the very next paragraph the report is repeating the claim that the earth at the site of the alleged Babi Yar massacre ‘heaved from the movement of people still alive’. Keep this in mind when you are told of a report from the Soviet ESC.
2. How many bodies were found? According to HDoT an estimated 20,000 bodies. How many bodies were actually found and how this estimate was made is not discussed by HDoT. HDoT says, “The Commission dug up the actual graves and physically counted and forensically examined the bodies.“. How many bodies did they physically count? What did the forensic examination reveal?
The website cited for this claim is Holocaust Controversies (HC). HC operates in no official capacity. Just out of curiosity I went to the Holocaust Encyclopedia, run by the United States Holocaust Memorial and Museum. I searched for Zhitomir and found nothing about a mass grave with an estimated 20,000 bodies. A web search for ‘Zhitomir mass graves‘ yielded results about Soviet perpetuated mass shootings, memorials dedicated to mass graves of Soviet soldiers (of no more than a few dozen each) and the very same page on HDoT that I am discussing right now. You would think a mass grave of this size would be a slam dunk against Nazis and therefore endlessly referenced by Holocaust affirmers.
The following is from HC’s website that HDoT is referencing. It is claimed that over 14,000 bodies were dug up. That must have left quite the hole. Can I see a picture of it? No? I guess I’ll just have to listen and believe.
Further down in HC’s article the author admits that the Soviet reports may be affected by exaggerations. You know, like Nazis forcing people to climb trees and then causing them to fall to their deaths by cutting them down.
Even further down in the article HC lists corroborating independent evidence to back up the initial claim, the Operational Situation reports which are said to be German documents.
HDoT also mentions these reports. I have previously addressed the validity of these reports in the second half of this article. Mattogno has studied these reports and discovered many anomalies and discrepancies. You can read about his findings in his book, The Einsatzgruppen in the Occupied Eastern Territories—Genesis, Missions and Actions, pages 50-67. I will discuss these reports further in part three of this series.
To conclude part two I would like to contrast the Soviet investigation of mass graves with how the Germans handled the discovery of mass graves in Katyn. Unlike the Soviets the Germans asked for an outside party to investigate. Why did the Soviets not do the same if they had nothing to hide? The massacre of Katyn is also an example of Soviet dishonesty. The Soviets had successfully pinned the Katyn massacre on the Germans until they acknowledged their guilt and subsequent cover-up. And I’m supposed to believe Soviet reports why?
In part three I answer the questions: 3. Were they even Jewish? & 4. If so, were they civilians or enemies of war?
Mathematically IMPOSSIBLE