Franciszek Piper (born 1941) is a Polish scholar, historian and author. Most of his work concerns

the Holocaust The Holocaust, also known as the Shoah, was the genocide of European Jews during World War II. Between 1941 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered some six million Jews across German-occupied Europ ...

, especially the history of the

Auschwitz concentration camp Auschwitz concentration camp ( (); also or ) was a complex of over 40 concentration and extermination camps operated by Nazi Germany in occupied Poland (in a portion annexed into Germany in 1939) during World War II and the Holocaust. I ...

. Dr. Piper is credited as one of the historians who helped establish a more accurate number of victims of Auschwitz-Birkenau death camps. According to his research, at least 1.1 million people perished at Auschwitz-Birkenau, of whom about 960,000 were Jewish. He is the author of several books and chair of the Historical Department at the

Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum The Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum ( pl, Państwowe Muzeum Auschwitz-Birkenau) is a museum on the site of the Auschwitz concentration camp in Oświęcim (German: ''Auschwitz''), Poland. The site includes the main concentration camp at Auschwit ...

''Auschwitz: How Many Perished''

Franciszek Piper, former Head of Historical department of the

Auschwitz Museum The Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum ( pl, Państwowe Muzeum Auschwitz-Birkenau) is a museum on the site of the Auschwitz concentration camp in Oświęcim (German: ''Auschwitz''), Poland. The site includes the main concentration camp at Auschwitz ...

, is the author of scholarly analysis translated numerous times and widely quoted by foremost Holocaust historians and the media, in which he presented the results of his scientific analysis of the original sources and findings on the deportations to

Auschwitz Auschwitz concentration camp ( (); also or ) was a complex of over 40 Nazi concentration camps, concentration and extermination camps operated by Nazi Germany in Polish areas annexed by Nazi Germany, occupied Poland (in a portion annexed int ...

. Piper concluded that a total of at least 1,300,000 people were deported there, and that 1,100,000 of them perished at the camp. Approximately 200,000 prisoners were deported from Auschwitz to other camps as part of the redistribution of labour as well as final liquidation of the camp. About 81 percent of Jews transported to Auschwitz by the

Holocaust train Holocaust trains were railway transports run by the ''Deutsche Reichsbahn'' national railway system under the control of Nazi Germany and its allies, for the purpose of forcible deportation of the Jews, as well as other victims of the Holoc ...

s, or 890,000 men, women, and children, met their deaths immediately upon arrival and were not registered. The postwar testimony of camp's commandant,

Rudolf Höss Rudolf Franz Ferdinand Höss (also Höß, Hoeß, or Hoess; 25 November 1901 – 16 April 1947) was a German SS officer during the Nazi era who, after the defeat of Nazi Germany, was convicted for war crimes. Höss was the longest-serving comm ...

, presented at the

Nuremberg trials The Nuremberg trials were held by the Allies of World War II, Allies against representatives of the defeated Nazi Germany, for plotting and carrying out invasions of other countries, and other crimes, in World War II. Between 1939 and 1945 ...

of 1946, was therefore also proven to be unreliable and grossly exaggerated for reasons unknown. The book by Franciszek Piper was published in English as ''Auschwitz: How Many Perished Jews, Poles, Gypsies'', consecutively in 1991, 1992 and 1994.

Written works

* ''Auschwitz Prisoner Labor'', Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum, 2002, * ''Poles in Auschwitz'', Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum, 2013, Voices of Memory Series: 8, * ''I Am Healthy and I Feel Fine: The Auschwitz Letters of Marian Henryk Serejski'', 2010 * ''Auschwitz: How Many Perished Jews, Poles, Gypsies'', Krakow: Poligrafia ITS, 1992, (

Yad Vashem Yad Vashem ( he, יָד וַשֵׁם; literally, "a memorial and a name") is Israel's official memorial to the victims of the Holocaust. It is dedicated to preserving the memory of the Jews who were murdered; honoring Jews who fought against th ...

Studies Vol. XXI Jerusalem, 1991 excerpts) * ''Auschwitz: Nazi Death Camp'', Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum; 1st edition 1996, 2nd edition 2002, * ''Żydzi w KL Auschwitz'', Państwowe Muzeum Auschwitz-Birkenau, 2015, Głosy Pamięci Series: 9, * ''Ilu ludzi zginęło w KL Auschwitz'', Wydawn. Państwowego Muzeum w Oświęcimiu, 1992, * Zeszyty Oświęcimskie nr 21, * Zeszyty Oświęcimskie nr 25,

References

External links

Piper on David Cole

Auschwitz-Birkenau Museum Official Website

Piper on death toll

Piper on eyewitnesses
{{DEFAULTSORT:Piper, Franciszek 1941 births Living people Historians of the Holocaust in Poland 20th-century Polish historians Polish male non-fiction writers Date of birth missing (living people) Writers from Warsaw 21st-century Polish historians