Snappy newsletters. Simple Facebook sharing. Spirited comments. Sweet features are waiting… GET THEM NOW!

French Priest Uncovers Holocaust's Beginning

Before gas chambers, Nazis used bullets, fire to kill Jews

By Katherine Thompson,  Newser Staff

Posted Feb 1, 2009 2:19 PM CST
Email

(Newser) – Before the Nazis started shipping Jews to gas chambers, they marched across Eastern Europe, shooting more than 2 million above the mass graves they'd been forced to dig, or burning whole communities in bonfires. In an oft-forgotten and horrifying look at the Holocaust's beginnings, French priest Patrick Desbois traveled Eastern Europe, reports the AP, gathering evidence and witnesses' guilt-wracked accounts into a book, The Holocaust By Bullets.

The priest first saw a mass grave site while on a visit to Ukraine, and quickly expanded his travels to visit execution sites in Belarus and Russia. Many of his interviewees had never spoken about the events of the war, and some told Desbois of being forced to help German soldiers loot bodies or trample schoolmates to make more room in graves.

French priest Patrick Desbois, front, and members of his team walk to what used to be a well where many Jews were thrown dead or still alive, in Bogdanivka, Ukraine, July 16, 2007.
French priest Patrick Desbois, front, and members of his team walk to what used to be a well where many Jews were thrown dead or still alive, in Bogdanivka, Ukraine, July 16, 2007.   (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky, File)
In this July 15, 2007 file photo Anatoly Veliminchuk, left, speaks with french priest Patrick Desbois about the massacre of tens of thousands Jews he witnessed in Bogdanivka, Ukraine.
In this July 15, 2007 file photo Anatoly Veliminchuk, left, speaks with french priest Patrick Desbois about the massacre of tens of thousands Jews he witnessed in Bogdanivka, Ukraine.   (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky, File)
Two women in Bus'k, Ukraine point to the position of a mass grave. The Holocaust began with bullets, well before the gas chambers and chimneys of the concentration camps.
Two women in Bus'k, Ukraine point to the position of a mass grave. The Holocaust began with bullets, well before the gas chambers and chimneys of the concentration camps.   (AP Photo/Guillaume Ribot)
This file photo provided by Paris' Holocaust Memorial shows a German soldier shooting an Ukrainian Jew during a mass execution in Vinnitsa, Ukraine, between 1941 and 1943.
This file photo provided by Paris' Holocaust Memorial shows a German soldier shooting an Ukrainian Jew during a mass execution in Vinnitsa, Ukraine, between 1941 and 1943.   (AP Photo/USHMM/Courtesy of the Library of Congress)
This undated file photo provided by Paris' Holocaust Memorial shows a German police officer, center, shooting a Jewish woman after a mass execution in Mizocz, Ukraine.
This undated file photo provided by Paris' Holocaust Memorial shows a German police officer, center, shooting a Jewish woman after a mass execution in Mizocz, Ukraine.   (AP Photo/USHMM, File)
This July 30, 1941 photo released by the Yad Vashem Photo Archive shows a woman being chased down the street by Ukrainians rioting during a pogrom in Lvov, Ukraine.
This July 30, 1941 photo released by the Yad Vashem Photo Archive shows a woman being chased down the street by Ukrainians rioting during a pogrom in Lvov, Ukraine.   (AP Photo/Yad Vashem Photo Archive)
« Prev« Prev | Next »Next » Slideshow
To report an error on this story, notify our editors.
A snapshot of the day's best news stories.
 
COMMENTS
Showing 3 of 3 comments
Newser001
Feb 2, 2009 7:04 PM CST
Its unfortunate CK couldn't find other ways to express himself. I personally tried enlightening him for months before calling for such measures. Unfortunately, he seemed bound by his fixated and unflinching anger. I hope he ultimately gained something through this unfortunate, but much needed conclusion...
Caps
Feb 2, 2009 2:24 AM CST
newser001 thanks again for taking care of CK. He was an insulting person. Always calling everybody that did not agree with him "commies". Now I can log on to Newser with a sigh of relief, knowing he is not going to be spouting off his vile.
Newser001
Feb 1, 2009 8:22 PM CST
The Pope reinstates a Bishop who claims the Holocaust was basically victimless. Couple with pedophilia, any wonder people are leaving the Catholic church in droves? Launched the Crusades, alienated every Muslim. The Church relies on denial;... I'm a former Irish Catholic, never again!

Holocaust memorials spark current action
New York Times

Some now using Holocaust against Jews
Washington Post

 
Russia • Holocaust • Jews • Ukraine • Belarus • Nazis • Catholic priest

More Newser Stories

Priest: Holocaust's Toll Likely Higher Than Thought

ADL Rips Beck for 'Horrific' Assault on George Soros

German Court Fines Bishop for Holocaust Denial

Pope Defends Nazi-Era Vatican

Fight Over Holocaust Victims' Assets Rocks Israel
NEWS FROM OUR PARTNERS
Other Sites We Like:   24/7 Wall St.   |   Betty Confidential   |   BuzzFeed   |   Cracked   |   Fark   |   Timelines   |   The Frisky   |   Geek Sugar   |   NewsOne