We present an English-language translation of Adam Pulawski's article, titled “8 Liters of Gasoline Were Used.” Prosaization of the Holocaust as Seen in the Documentation of the Chełm Branch of the State Archive in Lublin

In the state archive in Chełm there is almost no documentation directly describing the Holocaust. But there are dozens of documents which illustrate the clerical approach to that phenomenon, with that approach being clearly articulated at that. The reader can connect a given document with the Holocaust only by using his external knowledge. The most striking aspect, however, is the reasons why those documents were produced. Those were usually some prosaic matters: a cost breakdown, an explanation why some tools went missing, fire reports, etc. From them arises the prosaic nature of the Holocaust. In some of the documents the Holocaust is only alluded to. It is only owing to our general knowledge that we know that a certain document regarded, for instance, the tracking down of Jews in hiding.

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