The Sonderkommando or ("Special Command Units') were Jewish prisoners who were forced to work in the death camps at the grisly task of burning of the corpses of those already murdered by the Nazi's.
For periods lasting from two to four month's these units worked under hellish conditions until they themselves were liquidated by the Germans, and the first task of their replacements was to dispose of the bodies of the previous group. Since a Sonderkommando usually comprised men from incoming transports, their second task often consisted of disposing of the bodies of their own families.
At Birkenau their duties included guiding the new arrivals into the gas chambers, removing the bodies afterwards, shaving hair, removing teeth, sorting through possessions, cremating the bodies, in the crematoria or open air pits and disposing of the ashes.
At the end of June 1944 the Sonderkommando was moved from Barracks No 13 in Section BII d, to live in the attacks of Crematoria Nos II, III and IV. Among the prisoners were nineteen Soviet Prisoners of War from Majdanek who incited members of the Sonderkommando to revolt.
A group of leaders was formed consisting of Jozef Deresinski, Zalman Gradowski, Jankiel Handelsman, Ajzyk Kalniak, Lajb Langfus, Zalman Lewental, Lajb Panusz and Jozef Warszawski, whose real name was Jozef Dorebus.
The Sonderkommando resistance leaders made contact with some Jewish girls who worked in the munitions factory Weichsel – Union Metallwerke, which was located near the Auschwitz main camp. Salmen Lewental one of the Sonderkommando leaders kept a written record in a small notebook which was buried in a jar under the earth, which was found after the war.
Two other leaders of the Sonderkommando Israel Gutman and Jehuda Lerner began to receive small quantities of explosives from the girls employed in the munitions factory, hidden in a false bottom of a food tray.
Israel Gutman recalled one smuggling attempt:
“When I was standing near my friend he told me there was a search going on. He told me that he had not time to put the explosives in the saucers and that the explosives were on his body in a cigarette package.
I knew quite well that not only we would be killed as retaliation, but all the underground of Auschwitz was jeopardised. When they carried out the search they felt that I was trembling and they then searched me very thoroughly.
When they didn’t find anything then they didn’t really look at my friend. Somehow or other they skipped him. Since I was a little excited they thought that I was the one who had explosives and not him.”
On the 7 October 1944 the camp underground military leaders sent an urgent warning to the resistance cadre at the crematoria that they had learned the SS were going to liquidate the Sonderkommando shortly.
On that fateful morning the Senior Sonderkommando man at Crematorium IV was ordered to draw up lists for evacuation of three hundred men on the same day, out of the total complement of eight hundred and seventy –four men.
Filip Muller a member of the Sonderkommando described what happened next:
“Towards mid-day Scharfuhrer Busch, Unterscharfuhrer Gorges and several other SS men and guards arrived in the yard in front of crematorium IV. All prisoners were ordered to line up, with the exception of fourteen who were away on their various jobs and who, in any case, were not affected by the selection.
Then Busch began calling out the first few numbers on the list, starting with the highest and working his way down to the lowest. Those selected for transfer were made to stand on the opposite side of the yard, those not concerned, once they had been called, were allowed to return to Crematorium V.”
Then Chaim Neuhof, a Jew from Sosnowice, who had been a member of the Sonderkommando since 1942, approached SS Staff Sergeant Busch and after a brief exchange, yelled the password “Hurrah” and struck the SS man with a hammer.
Salmen Lewental recalled their courage:
Read more here: http://www.holocaustresearchproject.org/revolt/sonderevolt.html
The Holocaust Education & Archive Research Team
www.HolocaustResearchProject.org
Copyright Carmelo Lisciotto H.E.A.R.T 2010
2009 End of Year comments
Alice Winkler wrote:
My endearing thanks to www.holocaustresearchproject.org for maintaining such a website despite the incessant Internet slander attacks and false postings from the holocaustcontroversies hate blogs!
The H.E.A.R.T group exhibits courage and character by not engaging in debate or arguments with such disparaging loonies and still producing great articles and information such as this one.
My heartfelt thanks.
Alice Winkler
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Hello to the HEART team and thank you for this fantastic website.
I found this link on the BBC
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/8381413.stmhttp://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/8381413.stm
I followed it to your wonderful work on the Holocaust. What a truly blessed source of information you present.
I can only say thank you!
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Very interesting history around the structure of the concentration camp leadership.
Thanks for posting this.
Herbert Mallis
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Thank you Dr. Freidhaus for such a thoughtful editorial.
To add some further information to the comments about the hater blogs I post this interesting thread from A-R-C blog:
http://deathcamps.blogspot.com/2009/11/arc-publishes-list-of-revision-sites.html
I believe the threads there are important for people to read and understand the mindset of the authors of those Holocaust Controversy and hate promoting blogs.
Julius Goldstein
Brooklyn, NY
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Hello HEART I've just read one of the Holocaust Controversy blogs and I must say I fully agree with your editorial these are pyschotic and deranged indivdiuals who write these blogs.
Thank you for raising awareness at these false 'debunkers' they are definitley worse than the revisionists.
Elliot Kransbauer
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The worst offenders are these clowns who argue and debate with revisionists and racial kooks.
I think the holocaust debunkers are even worse than the deniers!
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Hello Eli,
I agree completely! I've yet to see one of these lame controversy forums ever do something helpful for Holocaust remembrance. The blogs are the worst of all.
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My special thanks to Mr. Carmelo Lisciotto for his aid in my Holocaust and historical research. This website is one of the greatest educational resources that can be found on the Internet.
The H-E-A-R-T staff are to be thanked and praised for this wonderful work.
Tina
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The very best education and history site on the web!
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Your website is a great testament and memorial to the Holocaust victims.
Please never give up this great mission!
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I've visited the site of the old prison camp but have never come across a narrative of its history as your article on the Holocaustresearchproject website.
Your webpages are truly an asset to the entire world.
Todd Mendel
Toronto, Canada
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I would like to thank each and every member of the www.holocaustresearchproject.org team for producing this wonderful website and for commemorating the victims of the Holocaust.
Your pages are filled with facts and photos that were clearly designed as a labor of love.
My entire warm regards for your great work.
Gerta
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A very impressive and detailed article. Thank you for publishing it.
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I've written to the Wiener Library for assistance on research around the Kindertranspors and they were very helpful.
I think your article is well placed and fitting.
Timothy Ressler
Toronto, Canada
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as part of my holocaust memorial blog Never Again!, i've started a new blog for the Lodz Ghetto...the first post contains information about deportations and the death camp, Chelmno
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i'm reading a book now called "the architect of genocide: himmler and the final solution" by richard breitman, which documents heydrich's relationship with the reichfurher-ss, it's a bit laborious but very interesting
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Week-after-week your website posts some amazing research and studies on the Holocaust. Your team is truly impressive!
My hats off you!
Martin Starnberg
Worthing
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I come back here every week just to learn something new. I haven't been dissapointed in over 3 years.
FM
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I really like your website!
Especially with all the lame blogs and controversy crap that’s out there these days!
Your site towers head and shoulders above the rest!
James Presi
Los Angeles, California
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With this site we will not forget....
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I was truly humbled when I came across your website. I have never come across such a vast repository of information on the Holocaust that was presented in user friendly way as the Holocaustresearchproject.org website is.
I am often on the USHMM website and while they have an abundant volume of material it isn't as comprehensive or detailed.
I thank the HEART team for their fantastic work.
Ester Sarin
New York City
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A pity this bastard didn't meet the hangman as he should have!
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Captivating story! Thankyou for posting it!
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By far the best account of Heydrichs assasination I have ever come across on the Internet!
I admire your website very much!
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My father was on the Kastner train from Hungary to Switzerland. Thanks to Kastner, my father remained alive during the war. I would love to know about others who were in that train too. Find me in LinkedIn!
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Good morning,
I'm working in historical foundation, and publish a historical quaterly. We need a two photo's of Richard Glazar.
Is it possible to buy it? How much is it cost if we would like to publicating those photo's. We need a 600 DPI resolution. Thank You for help.
Dear Anna,
We are sorry but the Holocaust Education & Archive Research Team is unable to answer request for photos reproduction.
You are welcome to download any photo from our website in the format that it is presented on our pages, however we don't offer any additional services.
We thankyou for your inquiry and interest.
- H.E.A.R.T
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This is really a great website! Please keep up your superb writings and research.
Don M.
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This story breaks my heart.
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Nice Blog!
Far superior to those cheesy Holocaust blogs where all they do is bicker back and forth with deniers and wackos!
TT-Jones
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Your website is routinely updated with very well documented text and photos.
I find myself browsing your site several times a week as I always learn something new about the Holocaust each time I visit.
In many ways you have opened my eyes to a part history that I know can never be forgotten or denied.
Thank you
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I believe the HEART team has become the premier Holocaust Research group of our age.
Your materials are the best available on the Intenet.
Helmut Borger
Freilassing
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I have always been perplexed by the reaction of the civilian onlookers who while able to deny knowledge of the camps, could hardly deny the fate of these poor souls dying on the streets as they passed through towns and villages.
Watching one of these death marches must have been a horrific experience!
I can't even fathom what it must have been to be a prisoner of one.
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We live with Holocaust deniers who poison vulnerable young minds with their venomous drivel. If we allow them to revise history, then the Holocaust can occur again in a future generation.
It is critical that we teach our children the truth about the Holocaust. Whether someone made a poor casting decision is virtually irrelevant.
I wrote about the Holocaust because I felt it critical to discount Holocaust deniers. These mendacious historical revisers desire only one thing - to finish that which Hitler began with the Jewish people. There are many vulnerable individuals whose weak minds can be turned into hatred of minorities. It happened in 20th Century Europe. It can happen again. If we had learned from the Holocaust, we would not have witnessed Cambodia, Bosnia, Rwanda or Darfur. Prejudice continues. Someone has to stop the blind hatred.
"Jacob's Courage" is a tender coming of age love story of two young adults living in Salzburg at the time when the Nazi war machine enters Austria. This historical novel presents accurate scenes and situations of Jews in ghettos and concentration camps, with particular attention to Theresienstadt and Auschwitz. It explores the dazzling beauty of passionate love and enduring bravery in a lurid world where the innocent are murdered. From despair, to unforgettable moments of chaste beauty, "Jacob’s Courage" examines a constellation of emotions during a time of incomprehensible brutality.
I described the Auschwitz death march in great detail in "Jacob's Courage." AN Auschwitz survivor who read my book called me to ask how I knew exactly what it was like to live through the experience. That told me my description was accurate.
The worst characterization of the human experience is revealed through religious, ethnic, gender or racial prejudice. Only when we learn to value the differences among us will humankind move forward into a bright future. If we fail to learn this lesson, only darkness remains for our progeny.
You can learn more about the Holocuat here http://jacobscourage.wordpress.com/. The book is available through all major retailers, as a Kindle book and a Smashwords download. Let's hope that our children will be more tolerant than our parents were.
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Your article on Breendonck is most impressive. You have all the details quite correct.
Alard
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Your compendium of the Anschluss and the fate of European Jewry is well researched and well written.
I am a native born Austrian from Graz and I can attest to the quality dissertation you have produced.
PvB
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Quite an interesting subject and a plethora of information.
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Your website articles are better than the Discovery channel!
I enjoy coming to this site and learning about the Holocaust.
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Your website is well researched and very well organized.
I am quite impressed with the broad coverage and detail
Very well done.
Roger Klimt
Uxbridge
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A horrific cold blooded proposal!
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Holocaust denying and arguing with Holocaust deniers is just STUPID!
Mario
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GREAT ARTICLE!
THE DOCUMENTS AND PHOTOS WERE VERY INTERESTING
Ian
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Debating with Holocaust Denier is a foolish endeavor.
Those who feel they are doing us all a good service by attempting to debunk hate propaganda only lend it credence.
Please stop doing us the favor and let the deniers shout from their soap boxes.
When they realize that no one is listening they will give up proselytizing and move on to chasing UFOs and searching for Bigfoot.
Joella Simon
Raleigh, North Carolina
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Whilst many “Self-Proclaimed Debunkers of Revisionism” believe they are doing something noble by “giving the Deniers a hard time” you are in essence accomplishing nothing but validating that a ludicrous revisionist viewpoint has any merit what so ever.
Forcing Holocaust Deniers to lose composure doesn't discredit the Denier. It simply proves the Denier is just as human as the rest of us and can react adversely when challenged.
(We would remind all that the Holocaust isn't a game where points are awarded to whichever side makes a better argument. Millions died in unimaginable suffering. If you need to play a game that proves your intellect we would recommed a friendly game of Chess perhaps?)
It is the view of the Holocaust Education & Archive Research Team that the period of history known as the Holocaust [Shoah], the program of systematic state-sponsored extermination by Nazi Germany, under Adolf Hitler, and its collaborators towards the Jewish peoples in Europe but also including ethnic Poles, the Romani, Soviet civilians, Soviet prisoners of war, people with disabilities, gay men, and political and religious opponents can NEVER BE DENIED.
Any claim that the Shoah never happened, that the resources of the Third Reich never murdered almost a million Jews and political opponents in mass shootings. That entire communities of Jews and Romani were not crammed into ghettos before being transported by freight train to extermination camps where, if they survived the journey, the majority of them were killed in gas chambers is a claim designed purely to stir controversy.
Validating the arguments of Holocaust Deniers via anonymous online debates offers no value to the cause of Holocaust remembrance and no value to history or posterity.
We believe that energy is better spent promoting Holocaust awareness for the future benefit of society and cultures worldwide.
So mankind won't forever be doomed to repeat the evils of the past.
The Holocaust can never be denied.
-H.E.A.R.T
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Dear H.E.A.R.T
I couldn't agree more with your statements.
60 years after the Holocaust happened arguing with those who choose to deny out of their own racial hatred is just silly.
I don't care about making a Holocaust denier look badly.
They already do that themselves the moment they promulgate their venomous propaganda.
Maya Jansen
New York, NY
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I NEVER UNDERSTOOD THE LOGIC IN ARGUING WITH HOLOCAUST DENIERS IT ALWAYS SEEMED TO ME TO BE AN EXERCISE IN FUTILITY.
YOU GUYS ALSO MAKE A GOOD POINT ABOUT THOSE SELF PROCLAIMED DEBUNKERS OF REVISIONISM.
WHEN YOU READ HOW THEY BEHAVE ITS CLEAR THEY ARE ONLY DEBATING FOR THE FUN OF THE DEBATE AND REALLY COULD CARE LESS ABOUT THE VICTIMS OF THE HOLOCAUST.
I THINK IN MANY CASES THEY DO MORE FOR THE REVISIONIST CAUSE THAN THE DENIERS DO THEMSELVES!
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Thank you to the Holocaust Education and Archive Research Team
NEVER FORGET!
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Please accept my praise for this great work by the Holocaust Research Project Team. You have surpassed your earlier work on the deathcamps.org website and have produced an Internet resource that is valuable to everyone throughout the world.
Kurt Stellin
Frankfurt, Germany
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I am very impressed with your well researched website.
This article on the Jews of the Sudetenland is of special interest to me.
Thank you for posting it.
BL
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Many of my students use the website for reports and as a general reference.
It's a fantastic educational resource.
Geraldine Lark
Modesto, California
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One of the better accounts of the man they call Ivan the terrible.
This website seems to do a much better job than most on presenting a balanced and informative approach to history and Holocaust education.
CS
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I agree with you. Most other website present a very short summary with few photos and not much depth. Whereas the HolocaustResearchProject.org group, delves much deeper into the factual events and they also integrate witness accounts with scholarly research and archived documentation.
Which makes for a very interesting learning experience.
Ben
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I agree as well.
Best Holocaust related website on the Internet!
John Schiffer
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I must concur with what has been said by so many others. Your website: www.holocaustresearchproject.og is the best Holocaust education site on the Internet.
Misha
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Thank you all for your tremendous effort.
In a world of hatred and strife your website is an oasis of education and knowledge that can only further the cause of peace.
David Kleinfeld
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The best collection of Holocaust photos in one centralized location.
Very nice.
Elan
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The best historical website on the Internet!
2 thumbs up!
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Incredible images yet truly sad.
One can only hope that through websites like www.holocaustresearchproject.org that people will always be reminded of mans brutality to his fellow man.
Jane Devallo
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Intriguing article. I will have to rewatch the Lanzmann documentary SHOAH as I now have some deeper understanding thanks to your website.
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My grand parents perished in the Holocaust and were both from Brody.
You article on Brody and your website are very inspiring.
Thank you for publishing it.
Elliot Hoffman
Los Angeles, California
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Great story! In this wimpy age of Obama its good to know that there actually were some heroes!
JS
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I can't begin to imagine what it must have been like for a Jewish family during this sad time.
Please continue your great work to remind us all about the horrors that man can perpetuate on his brethren.
My warmest thanks for the holocaustresearchproject.org website.
Lina Brancato
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Thank you for this article. I have been researching my families history. Mainly because my Danish Grandfather was taken by the Nazi's in 1940. I lived in Norway as a child and now live in the US. I am in the process of Converting to Judaism. My love and respect for the Jewish People started after I found out what my family went through. I am so grateful when I read an honest article about what happened.
Sincerely,
Gunn-Ingerid
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I thinkg its utterly brilliant that the Holocaustresearchproject website has partnered with the students of such an esteemed institution as the Univerisity of Northampton!
A great website being used for a noble purpose!
My congratulations to the Holocaust Education and Archive Research Team for all their wonderful efforts.
Charlotte McFlannery
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I agree!
All Higher Education institutions should partner with the Holocaustresearchproject to truly educate students about the atrocities of the Holocaust.
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I MUST SAY THAT THE HOLOCAUSTRESEARCHPROJECT.ORG WEBSITE IS BECOMING BY FAR THE MOST RELEVANT ONLINE RESOURCE FOR EVERYTHING RELATED TO THE HISTORY OF THE HOLOCAUST!
I AM VERY IMPRESSED WITH YOUR WORK!
PLEASE CONTINUE IT!
CALVIN ESTRADILLA -MADRID
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An incredible read! My thanks to Mr. Lisciotto for posting this report.
Paul Silberklein
New York, NY USA
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Your image galleries have been very helpful in my classroom presentations.
Your organization name: the Holocaust Education and Archive Research Team is proving to be "spot on".
All my thanks to you.
Erica Knauer
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Great photo gallery!
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I really appreciate the depth of information each article on the Holocaustresearchproject.org website contains. Most other sites publish a paragraph or two and that’s it.
Your website articles are robust and informative and truly honor the victims of the Holocaust.
Linda Goldschein
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I agree with Linda 100 percent!
I teach High School in the United States and this website has become one of my most important online resources.
I can't thank the Holocaust Research Team enough for this great endeavor.
Megan Wallace Columbus, Ohio
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Truly Amazing!
No other historical website, blog or media source is even in the same league as the Holocaustresearchproject.org website. Your team has done a fantastic job of bringing the atrocities of the Holocaust to the hearts and minds of people everywhere.
Thomas Buchon
Great Britain
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I was intrigued by this peice on Bingel. Your website provides so much depth of coverage on the subject matter I find myself spending hours reading the pages.
Mike Bell
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What a bastard this character Mulka was!
I never would have heard of this guy if it wasn't for the holocaustreseachproject website.
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Your website is really quite excellent.
Your photographic pages are truly rare examples of what Holocaust research is meant to be.
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A very good article on Der Sturmer! One of the best I've read online!
Dennis Picinich
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I would love to see some of these stories on the Discovery channel or the History channel!
It seems the only real place to learn about the Holocaust is your website!
Kelli M
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I want to thank the Holocaust Education and Archive Research Team for their wonderful work in creating such an awesome digital memorial to the victims of the Holocaust.
Thank you.
John Powell
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Thank you for producing these great works!
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To my freinds at HEART - A very well done website you have!
JT
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