Soviet Use of the Holocaust in 1941

Although in this study the responsibility for warping the history of the Holocaust, is primarily placed on the Nazi German wordsmiths, it would be wrong to minimize, as the Ducmanis’ pamphlet shows, the accomplishments of the Soviets. The following example shows how brazenly agitprop conjured up a major atrocity out of an indirect references and ambiguous text. A diary was found on a dead German soldier.1 The Soviet rewrite took place in September, 1941 and was an early example of Soviet use of the Holocaust for political and/or diplomatic purposes. It was intended for Western consumption, but owing to an inadvertency the text was reprinted in Pravda and thus came to the attention of the Central Committee in Moscow.

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Original:

24. June (1941). Going through a small hamlet, I took part in sacking a small Jewish shop …

5. June (1941). At 10:00 AM we were in Kusko. From the very beginning, I did not have any desire to go out and see the sights. But after I read a trashy book, I got up and started to look for abandoned Jewish homes. Doors were broken open with axes, crowbars and other tools. All around us were hens and pigs. Our rations were skimpy and therefore after the dinner we returned to the Jewish section …

Soviet Rewrite:

24. June (1941). Going through Slonim together with Walter I took part in sacking of shops and apartments. …

5. June (1941). At 10:00 AM, we were in a place called Kletck. Immediately we took off for a search for stuff. With axes and crowbars we opened doors. The people we found in the homes, we finished off. One of us worked it with a pistol, another one with a rifle and somebody else with a bayonet. I preferred a pistol …