The HC blog has an article on the number of Jews before the war. Several Nazi sources (and other sources) were used. According to them, the Korherr Report puts it at around 10 million and the Wannsee Protocol at 11 million (the same number Goebbels gives in his diary). However, they say that these sources overestimated and that the real number is 9 million (or 9.3 million to be precise) using other sources.
https://holocaustcontroversies.blogspot ... ve-of.html
So it looks like these 2 Nazi sources aren't completely reliable, if we are to take what they say. I do wonder how we can be sure of the reliability of the other sources though.
The Number of Jews in Europe Before the War
Re: The Number of Jews in Europe Before the War
The Wannsee numbers are not realistic at all. It says 11,292,300 in Europe (including Russia) in January 1942. That is too high to begin with, but also recall that according to orthodoxy about 1,000,000 Jews were murdered in 1941. If that's true, the number should have already been under 9M by early 1942.
I believe Hilberg estimated a prewar population of around 9.6M, based largely on census data from the 1930s. An even lower number is possible depending on what emigration numbers you use.
I believe Hilberg estimated a prewar population of around 9.6M, based largely on census data from the 1930s. An even lower number is possible depending on what emigration numbers you use.