Does the reduction in the estimate of Jews murdered at Auschwitz from 4 million to 1 million mean that the overall Holocaust total of around 6 million should be reduced by 3 million?
No. The overall total of 6 million is not based, and never was, on 4 million killed at Auschwitz. The 4 million figure comes from a plaque erected at Auschwitz shortly after the War that talked about 4 million people (not Jews) having lost their lives there. It was erected by the Communists and based on an incorrect estimate of the numbers who would have been killed if the gas chambers had operated at maximum capacity all the time. They did not of course. The 4 million figure has never been used by serious historians of the Holocaust, with only one or two exceptions. The correct number, estimated by the Auschwitz commandant Rudolf Hoess as early as 1946, is about 1.1 million, mostly Jews, and that is the number on the plaque today. The overall total of around 6 million is based on demographic studies and analysis of Nazi train records that record the numbers of Jews shipped to Auschwitz during its existence.
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