sample analyses have, in fact, been independently verified by
the later work of both a Polish government commission,
Austrian engineer Walter Leuftl, and the inarguably qualified
German chemist, Germar Rudolf.
Shallit does not indicate if Pressac indicates what relevance
the "documents in the Auschwitz Museum" might have on the
matter. Given that much of what is on display at Auschwitz are
reproductions with obvious liberties taken to closer match
wartime accounts, a fact only admitted in the last few years,
one would have to be wary of whatever they purport to claim is
documentation. And the plain fact is that no "German
blueprints of the gas chambers" exist. What does exist are
blueprints of the various Krema (crematoria) which supporters
of gas chambers claim were "code worded" to hide the actual
use to which they would be put. These blueprints do exist, and
nothing on them supports the gas chamber theory--none of the
special provisions one would expect, such as sealing, gas
introduction equipment, forced air circulation of the closed
room(s) or adequate ventilation are indicated.
After a particularly traumatic cross-examination by the attorney
for Prof. Robert Faurisson, during which Pressac became
incoherent to the point of tears on the stand, he has retreated
from any active defense of his extremely flawed work, and it is
no longer cited by top-level historians. His alleged refutation of
challenges to the existence of gas chambers is a huge
embarrassment of a book now trotted out only by lay people
such as Mr. Shallit, and professional promoters of the gas
chamber myths.
With his false credentials, he convinced authorities in
several states in the U.S. to let him construct
execution machinery for their prisons.
Leuchter presented no false credentials. It is common for
self-trained individuals, particularly in fields for which no
academic accreditation exists, to advertise or present
themselves as Leuchter did--an "execution engineer." His
expertise in that field is amply demonstrated by work
experience. Shallit's comments are based on the events
following Leuchter's appearance in the Zuendel trial. A New
York based group called Holocaust Survivors and Friends in
Pursuit of Justice brought action in Massachussets based on
an obscure and never tested state law saying that people
working in areas involving public safety could not present
themselves as engineers unless they were licensed as such
by the state. Of amusing and revealing relevance is the fact
that the charge was brought and supported by a judge that
designing execution devices qualifies as working in an area
involving "public safety"!! Surely this is close to the height of
doublespeak. (See "The Execution Protocol" by Trombley,
Crown Publishing 1992)