Bard-Nomberg, Helena

Helena Bard-Nomberg (born in 1908) was a former inmate of the Ausch­witz Camp who was interrogated by Polish authorities after the war.

In her deposition, she claimed that, while her fellow inmates were driven into the gas chamber, she simply decided to stay outside and hide under some pieces of clothes – which is highly unlikely. She then claimed that she (unwisely) came out of hiding before the gas chamber was closed and saw an SS man come out of the “bathroom” wearing a gas mask; this is absurd, because he would only have worn a mask after a gassing was over, not before, in order to not frighten the inmates. At that point, the SS man discovered her. But, illogically, he did not send her into the gas chamber but rather “kicked her in the behind” and led her back to her barracks – where she proceeded to tell everyone there what happened. All this is highly implausible.

Bard-Nomberg then claimed that the First Leader of the Protective Custody Camp, a high-ranking SS camp official, entered her block (unlikely), recognized her immediately among the hundreds of newly arriving inmates (impossible), praised her for her cunning ability to survive the gassing (which never would have happened), and then left her alone. Had she indeed been a witness of the claimed scene, however, she certainly would not have lived long. The only true part of her story is that she was, indeed, left alone – since she did survive. This proves that there never was a threat of her being ‘gassed.’

This is a typical account of an inmate who, utilizing all of her vivid but deceitful imagination, wanted to be part of the post-World-War-II testimonial gas-chamber lore. (For details, see Mattogno 2021, p. 372)