Youngest survivor of Auschwitz now lives in Munich

The following quote is from a news story which you can read in full at http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4854115,00.html

 Eva Umlauf was only two years old when she was liberated from [Auschwitz-Birkenau] the Nazi death camp. Despite her young age, she received the Auschwitz ‘trademark’: The number A-26959, which was tattooed on her left arm. Today, at 73, she is a successful pediatrician in Munich who has devoted her life to the treatment of small children.

Upon first listening to Eva Umlauf’s story, it’s hard to believe it. Only a writer with a totally wild imagination could have produced such a story. Well, it did happen. Umlauf is the youngest survivor of the Auschwitz death camp. She was only two years old when the Soviet Army arrived at the camp on January 27, 1945, yet she emerged alive.

[…]

I heard her story a long time ago, but I only recently got to meet her for the first time and discover that this woman, flesh and blood, who is still young and works as a pediatrician in Munich, is the infant from that amazing story I first heard years ago.

Eva Umlauf. Today, she looks back at her life with satisfaction (Photo: Dana Bloch)

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It turns out that there was complete chaos and disorder in the SS prior to the war’s end, with one hand not knowing what the other hand is doing. On the first days of November 1945, after the Germans, who were preparing to withdraw from Upper Silesia, had already destroyed the gas chambers and the crematoria, a transport of young people suddenly arrived in Auschwitz, most of them from Slovakia.

Who had decided on this odd move, why and for what purpose? After all, the Auschwitz camps were in fact no longer operational, and if the Germans wanted to kill these Jews too, why send them to Auschwitz instead of murdering them in Slovakia?

In any event, that shipment arrived and the Germans did not touch it. They put the young people in barracks where they stayed until the survivors left the camp on the night between January 17 and 18. There were no longer gas chambers, but the young Eva, who arrived there with her mother, received the Auschwitz “trademark” anyway: The number tattooed on her left arm—A-26959.

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Strange as it may seem, there were many child survivors of Auschwitz-Birkenau, even babes in arms. These were the children that were too young to march out of the camp when it was abandoned.

Babies being carried as child survivors march out of Auschwitz-Birkenau

One would think that the Nazis would have been better organized in their plan to exterminate the Jews.  They should not have left babies and young children behind for the Soviet soldiers to find.

You can read all about the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau on my website at http://www.scrapbookpages.com/AuschwitzScrapbook/History/Articles/Liberation.html

Should Holocaust denial be a crime? Debra Lipstadt says “No”

According to Wikipedia, Holocaust denial is against the law in 14 European countries:  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laws_against_Holocaust_denial

In this recent news story, Deborah Lipstadt explains why Holocaust denial should not be against the law:  http://forward.com/the-assimilator/333780/deborah-lipstadt-explains-why-holocaust-denial-shouldnt-be-a-crime/?attribution=blog-article-related-1-headline

Holocaust historian Deborah Lipstadt slammed leaders of the Claims Conference, but predicted no one will be held accountable for dropping the ball on a $57 million fraud case

The following quote is from the news article, cited above:

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Famous Holocaust historian Deborah Lipstadt opposed criminalization of Holocaust denial in a debate at the Oxford Union Society last month, which is shown in the video below. Even after years of fighting a libel suit filed against her in 1996 by Holocaust denier David Irving, Lipstadt says she is not in favor of laws against Holocaust denial.

“I support this motion Mr. President, because I am convinced that freedom of speech means nothing unless it includes the freedom for offensive people to be offensive,” she says. “We who are offended by them, must accept that, as a cost of living in a free society.”

In the video, she details her strong opinions on freedom of speech and why Holocaust criminalization will not benefit the cause against Holocaust deniers.

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Now that I have permission from Deborah Lipstadt, I will continue to deny the Holocaust.

The name Lipstadt is the name of the town in Germany, from which Deborah’s ancestors came. My German ancestors came from a town in Germany that was only a few miles from the town of Lipstadt, but Deborah and I are world’s apart in our thinking.

I have met David Irving twice and have heard him speak on each occasion. Sadly, Irving is now only a shadow of his former self, and can no longer defend himself against people like Deborah Lipstadt.