Based on Soviet officials. From your article: > The figure widely used in Poland of 4 million victims at Auschwitz-Birkenau was arrived at by a Soviet commissi

Based on Soviet officials. From your article: > The figure widely used in Poland of 4 million victims at Auschwitz-Birkenau was arrived at by a Soviet commission that came to the camp in February 1945, one week after its liberation. > Poland has pressed the Soviets since the 1970s to grant historians access to World War II camp records, which were packed up and taken to the Soviet Union soon after the liberation, Piper said. Which is probably why the plaque came down within months of the communist ruling party being dissolved. Not only should we not use Soviet officials to critique Western historians, but the article even says that Western historians critiqued the number: > Some Western scholars have long questioned the 4 million figure. In fact, that article is a good example of how serious scholars _have_ questioned figures, have been free to do so, and have openly revised figures. The result of those decades of efforts and study is the current historical consensus, which has been pretty well vetted at this point.