===== PDF PAGE 0001 | page-001.md ===== # AUSCHWITZ: *Technique and operation of the gas chambers* by Jean-Claude PRESSAC The Beate Klarsfeld Foundation ===== PDF PAGE 0002 | page-002.md ===== © Jean-Claude PRESSAC and the Beate KLARSFELD Foundation ===== PDF PAGE 0003 | page-003.md ===== # AUSCHWITZ: *Technique and operation of the gas chambers* ===== PDF PAGE 0004 | page-004.md ===== Library of Congress Catalogue Card Number: 89-81305 PRESSAC JEAN-CLAUDE Auschwitz: Technique and Operation of the Gas Chambers Translation of: Auschwitz: Technique et Fonctionnement des Chambres à Gaz (Manuscript) 1. Jews—Persecutions 2. Holocaust, Jewish (1939–1945) 3. World War 1939–1945 Copyright © 1989 PRESSAC-KLARSFELD Published in 1989 by THE BEATE KLARSFELD FOUNDATION, New York. All rights reserved. No parts of the contents of this book may be reproduced without the written permission of the publishers. Printed in 1989 by Zale S. Koff Graphics Inc., New York, N.Y. Lay-out and type-setting: Annette ZAIDMAN, Paris THE BEATE KLARSFELD FOUNDATION would like to acknowledge the invaluable assistance and contribution of Alan Handell and Zale S. Koff of ZALE S. KOFF GRAPHICS, Inc., New York, N.Y., for their support and production of this major work. ===== PDF PAGE 0005 | page-005.md ===== # AUSCHWITZ: ## Technique and operation of the gas chambers by Jean-Claude PRESSAC Published by the BEATE KLARSFELD FOUNDATION 515 Madison Avenue, New York, NY 10022 1989 ===== PDF PAGE 0006 | page-006.md ===== # Publications of Beate and Serge Klarsfeld and of the Beate Klarsfeld Foundation - KISSINGER ET LE FASCIMIE SURTR. par B.Klarsfeld et Joseph Billig, 1969 - KISSINGER DOCUMENTATION par B.Klarsfeld - Ed.Melzer, Darmstadt, 1969 - PASTEUR DE LIE REBOUT par B.Klarsfeld - Ed. Laitis, 1972 - WHENEVER THEY MAY BE par B.Klarsfeld - The Vanguard Press, New York, 1975 - DIE ENDOUANG DER JUBENFRAGE IN FRANKFURT-DULTICHE DOCUMENTE par S.Klarsfeld - Berlin 1977 - LA SOLUTION FINALE DE LA QUESTION JEUNE par J.Billig - 1977 - LE MEMORIAL DE LA DEPORTATION DES JEUNES DE FRANCE par S.Klarsfeld - 1978 - THE HOLOCAUST AND THE NEO NAZI MYTHOMANIA (HELLER AND THE FINAL SOLUTION by J.Billig, THE GAS CHAMBERS AND THE NUMBER OF VICTIMS by G.Wellers) - 1978 - LA SOLUTION FINALE ET LA MYTHOMANIE NEO-NAZIE par G.Wellers - 1979 - LE LIVRE DES OTAGES par S.Klarsfeld - Les Editeurs Français Réunis, 1979 - DIE ENDOUANG DER JUBENFRAGE par J.Billig - Frankfurt 1979 - LE PROCES DE COLOGNE ET ABBOTTE AU MEMORIAL par S.Klarsfeld - 1980 - L'ALBUM D'AUSCHWITZ par S.Klarsfeld - 1980 - THE AUSCHWITZ ALBUM - 1980 - DIE ENDOUANG DER JUBENFRAGE IN BELGIEN-DOKUMENTE par S.Klarsfeld - Berlin 1981 - LE MEMORIAL DE LA DEPORTATION DES JEUNES DE BELGIQUE par S.Klarsfeld - 1982 - LA FRANCE ET LA QUESTION JEUNE 1940-1944 par G.Wellers, A.Krapi et S.Klarsfeld - Ed.Messinger-CDIC, 1981 - VICHY-AUSCHWITZ (LE RÔLE DE VICHY DANS LA SOLUTION FINALE DE LA QUESTION JEUNE EN FRANCE), tome 1:1942 par S.Klarsfeld - Ed.Fayard,1983 - THE MEMORIAL TO THE JEWS DEPORTED FROM FRANCE par S.Klarsfeld - New York, 1983 - LES ENFANTS D'IDEE par S.Klarsfeld - 1984 - THE CHILDREN OF IDEE par S.Klarsfeld - Ed.Abrams, New York 1985 - THE STRUTHOF ALBUM par J-C Pressac - 1985 - Plus traduction française : - VICHY-AUSCHWITZ, Tome 2:1943-1944 par S.Klarsfeld - Ed. Fayard - 1985 - DOCUMENTS CONCERNING THE FATE OF THE ROMANIAN JEWISH DURING THE HOLOCAUST par Jean Ancel, 12 volumes - Jerusalem 1986 - DOCUMENTS CONCERNING THE DESTRUCTION OF THE JEWS OF GROWTH par S.Klarsfeld, 5 volumes - Jerusalem 1987 - LA RÂTÉ DE LA RUE SAINT-CATHERINE À LYON par S.Klarsfeld - 1987 - MÉMOIRE DE GÉNOCHE (RECHER DE 80 ARTICLES DU MONDE JUIN) conçu et présenté par S.Klarsfeld - publié conjointement par les FFDJF et le CDIC, 1987 - LA DEPORTATION DES JEUNES DE BORDEAUX ET L'AFRIQUE PANON par S.Klarsfeld - 1988 - LIEGE DES 953 FUSILLES DU MONDE VALERIEN, DONT 163 JEUNES - 1988 - LETTRE DE LOURDE JACOBSON, 17 ans, envoyées de la prison de Fresnes et du camp de Drancy - 1989 Currently being published : - DAVID OLÉRE, A PAINTER IN THE SONDERKOMMANDO AT AUSCHWITZ by S. Klarsfeld In preparation : - LE MEMORIAL DE LA DEPORTATION DES JUIFS DE BOHEME-MORAVIE par S.Klarsfeld - L'UGIF ET LA SOLUTION FINALE par S.Klarsfeld Numerous articles and detailed dossiers have been published on Liechka, Hagen,Heinrichsohn, Barbie, Brünner, von Korff, Merdsche, Muller, Ernst, Rauff, Leguay, etc., and several collections of documents. The Beate Klarsfeld Foundation - 515, Madison Avenue - New York, NY 10022 - 32, rue La Barbe, 75008 Paris ===== PDF PAGE 0007 | page-007.md ===== We wish to extend our deep gratitude to our friend, Peter S. KALIKOW, whose generosity has made possible the publication of this work. All the originals of the documentary material collected for this book will be donated in his honor to the New York Living Memorial to the Holocaust, an institution which he has helped to create. Beate and Serge KLARSFELD ===== PDF PAGE 0008 | page-008.md ===== # Translated from the French by Peter Moss The english translation of this book has been made possible due to special contributions from : THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES THE SOCIALIST GROUP OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT Mrs. VELL Simons, former President of EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT and individual gifts from officials of the Commission of the European Communities and other persons. | ABOU Serge | FRISCH Dieter | NACAMULI Alexandre | | --- | --- | --- | | ANDRIESSEN Frans | GAUDIN Jocelyne | NATALI Lorenzo | | AUJEAN Michel and Dominique | GILLES Marie | NOEL Emile | | AYET PUIGARNAU Jorge | GIRAUDY Jean-Louis | NUTTALL Simon | | BAER Jean-Michel | GIUNTI Leopoldo | O'SULLIVAN David | | BEINHARDT Gerd | GOLDSTEIN Mendel | PAEMEN Hugo | | BENAVIDES Pablo | GOMEZ REINO Santiago | PALLIS Ekaterini | | BERNARD Daniel | GORELICK E. Robert | PETITE Michel | | BISTOLFI Robert | GRYNBERG Arlette | PHAN VAN PHI Raymond | | BOAG Ion | GUTMANN Francis | PIPKORN Joern | | BOURGES-MAUNOURY Michel | HASSON Alberto | PYKE Belinda | | BRUMTER Christian | HERNANDEZ LOPEZ Damian | RAKOVSKY Claude | | CANDELA CASTI Jose Eugenio | HOULISTON Robert | RAMADIER Paul | | CARLE Hans | JACOB Daniel | RASKIN Claudine | | CERF Paul | JARCHOW Gerd | REITHINGER Anton | | CHEYSSON Claude | KAWAN Louis | REMACLE Jeanne | | CHEYSSON Thomas | KOENIG Dieter | RENNER Wolfgang | | CLINTON DAVIS Stanley | KRENZLER Horst | RIPA DI MEANA Carlo | | CAMPOGRANDE Anna Maria | LAMOUREUX François | SCHUBERT Ludwig | | CAPORALE Charles | LAMY Pascal | SCHWED Jean Joseph | | DE CLERCQ Willy | LAMBERT-VANHEMELRIJCK Reinhilde | SOUBESTRE Philippe | | DEFFAA Walter | LEIGH NIKOLSKA Michael | SUSSKIND Simone | | DEFRAIGNE Pierre | LE NAELOU Simon | THIELE Ursula | | DE GHAISNE DE BOURMONT Chantal | LEWIS Richard | TOLEDANO LAREDO Armando | | DE KLERCK-VANDEN DRIESSCHE Walter | LEYGUES Jean-Charles | VARESE Enrica | | DELORS Jacques | LIEBHABERG Bruno | VERGER Christine | | DUBOIS Jean-Pierre | LIPMAN David | VIGNAL-TUFFELLI Monique | | EHLERMANN Clauss | LIVI Giovanni | VIGNON ROSSET Jérôme | | FAULL Jonathan | MALBOIS Régis | VINAS Angel | | FINZI Umberto | MARTINEAU Gabriel | VINCENT Daniel | | FITZMAURICE John | MATUTES Abel | VON HELLDORFF Klaus | | FOSSATI Emiliano | MURPHY James | VON SCHOLZ Hans-Eike | ===== PDF PAGE 0009 | page-009.md ===== ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) mgr. Tadeusz IWASZKO Rzeczoznawca Archiwum Panstwowe Muzeum w Oświecimiu Conservateur des Archives du Musée d'Etat d'Auschwitz Chief Archivist at the Auschwitz State Museum Tadeusz IWASZKO zginął w wypadku samochodowym 2 grudnia 1988 roku w Legnicy, w Polsce. Bez niego opracowanie to nie mogłoby powstać. Ceniac jego wspolpracę i bezinteresowna pomoc poświęcam książkę Jego pamięci. Tadeusz IWASZKO est mort dans un accident de voiture le 2 décembre 1988 à Legnica en Pologne. Sans lui, cette étude n'aurait été ni entreprise, ni écrite. Son aide désinteressée fut constante. Je tiens à l'en remercier publiquement en lui dédiant mon ouvrage. Tadeusz IWASZKO died in a car accident on 2nd December 1988 at Legnica in Poland. Without him this study would neither have been undertaken nor completed. His help was selfless and unfailing. I would like to thank him publicly by dedicating my book to him. Jean-Claude PRESSAC ===== PDF PAGE 0010 | page-010.md ===== # ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS LES FILS ET FILLES DES DEPORTES JUIFS DE FRANCE Beate and Serge KLARSFELD PANSTWOWE MUZEUM OSWIECIM - BRZEZINKA (PMO) Virtually the whole of the author's work is based on the German documents held by the PMO. Without this extraordinarily important collection this study could neither have been undertaken nor completed. Mr Kazimierz SMOLEN, Director of the PMO Mr Tadeusz IWASZKO, Chief Archivist at the PMO (who must be specially mentioned for the exceptional help given to the author) Mrs Dorota RYSZKA, French interpreter and translator at the PMO The entire staff of the Archives, the photographic laboratory, the library, the reserve stocks. GLOWNA KOMISJA BADANIA ZBRODNI HITLEROWSKICH W POLSCE INSTYTUT PAMIECI NARODOWEJ, Warsaw: Professor Doctor Czeslaw PILICHOWSKI, Director (deceased) Mrs Maria JEZIERSKA, Chief Archivist Mrs Zofia CHRUSZEWSKA, Archivist DOKUMENTATIONSZENTRUM VOM INNENMINISTERIUM, Berlin, GDR: Doctor NESTLER, Director GLAVNOE ARCHIVNOE UPRAVLENIE PRI SOVETE MINISTROV SSSR, Moscow: Mr Yu G TURISHCHEV, Chief CENTRE DE DOCUMENTATION JUIVE CONTEMPORAIRE, Paris: Mr Vidar JACOBSEN, Archivist Mr Adam RUTKOWSKI, Assistant (deceased) MUSÉE DE LA RÉGISTANCE ET DE LA DÉPORTATION DE FRANCHE-COMTÉ La Citadelle de Besançon: Mrs Denise J LORACH, Curator Mrs Elizabeth PASTWA, Assistant Curator Private individuals: Mr Pierre Serge CHOUMOFF Maîtres Bernard JOUANNEAU and Charles KORMANN, Advocates Mr Otto KLEIN Messrs Alexandre and David (deceased) OLERE Mrs Anise POSTEL-VINET Mr David SZMULEWSKI Mr Pierre VIDAL-NAQUET Mr Jacques ZYLBERMINE ===== PDF PAGE 0011 | page-011.md ===== # OVERALL PLAN OF THE WORK A systematic study of the delousing and homicidal gas chambers of Bunkers 1 and 2 and of Krematorien I, II, III, IV and V of the former KL Auschwitz-Birkenau, and an investigation of the remaining traces of criminal activity. Preface by Serge KLARSFELD. 12 Declaration by the Auschwitz State Museum. 14 PART ONE Delousing gas chambers and other disinfestation installations CHAPTER 1: Foreword on Zyclon-B 15 CHAPTER 2: The Stammlager delousing installations. 23 I - The two delousing chambers in Block 26 II - The two gas chambers on the first floor of Block 3. III - The delousing gas chamber in Block 1 CHAPTER 3: The prussic acid delousing installation in the reception building of the main camp (Stammlager). 31 The 19 BOOS Zyclon-B gas chambers CHAPTER 4: Kanada I and its clothing delousing installation, with the presentation of various gas chamber doors photographed after the liberation of the Auschwitz camp in 1945. 41 CHAPTER 5: The delousing and disinfestation installations of BW 5a and 5b in KGL Birkenau. 53 CHAPTER 6: The disinfestation installation of the Gypsy Camp in sector B.B. of Birkenau. 63 CHAPTER 7: The Birkenau «Zentral Sauna» with its disinfection autoclaves and Topf disinfestation ovens. 65 # PART TWO # The extermination instruments FOREWORD ON THE SOURCES: The contents of PMO files BW 3/1 to 30/46 87 CHAPTER 1: History of the Topf firm and its role in equipping the Auschwitz-Birkenau Krematorien General description of the cremation furnaces produced by Messrs TOPF & SONS of Erfurt and that of the Trezhino Labour Camp. 93 CHAPTER 2: Krematorium I or the «old crematorium» of the main camp (Auschwitz Stammlager). 123 CHAPTER 3: Bunker 1 or the «red house» and its supposed mass graves. 161 CHAPTER 4: Bunker 2 (subsequently renamed Bunker V) or the «white house» and its undressing huts. 171 CHAPTER 5: Krematorien II and III Plans, construction and general study. 183 CHAPTER 6: The ventilation systems of Krematorien II and III. 355 CHAPTER 7: Krematorien IV and V Plans, construction and general study. 379 CHAPTER 8: «One proof... one single proof». Thirty-nine criminal traces. 429 # PART THREE # Testimonies CHAPTER 1: Critical examination of the «WAR REFUGEE BOARD» report on KL Auschwitz-Birkenau of November 1944. 459 CHAPTER 2: Critical examination of the testimonies of Doctors BENDEL and NYISZLI concerning the Birkenau Krematorien and homicide gassings. 469 CHAPTER 3: The deposition made on 24th May 1945 by Henryk TAUBER, former member of the Sonderkommando of Krematorien I, II, IV and V. 481 # PART FOUR # Auschwitz and the revisionists CHAPTER 1: Auschwitz explained by the revisionists: «Vergasungskeller», gassing cellar or gas generating cellar? 503 CHAPTER 2: Auschwitz according to the revisionists: Photographic exhibition of the famous holiday camp, KL Auschwitz, and «presentations» photographs by the Badeltang. 507 # PART FIVE # The unrealised future of KL. Auschwitz-Birkenau CHAPTER 1: The aborted future of the Stammlager without extermination. 517 CHAPTER 2: Birkenau 1945: the extermination station. 533 POSTFACE BY THE AUTHOR (The personal experiences that led him to undertake this study) 537 ===== PDF PAGE 0012 | page-012.md ===== ## Preface by Beate and Serge KLARSFELD ### A scientific rebuttal of those who deny the gas chambers Jean-Claude Pressac deserves our praise: he has become one of the rare researchers who specialize in the field of gas chambers, and the technique, this in spite of the fact that he is not a Jew and was very nearly a revisionist. After eight years at the la Flèche Military School, J-C Pressac chose, instead of becoming an officer, to break with the army and study pharmacy. As a newly-established pharmacist, he decided at the age of about thirty to write a work of historical fiction describing the universe that would have resulted from a German victory in the second world war. J-C Pressac went to Germany and Poland to get the necessary background for his novel, and discovered the world of the concentration camps and the mechanisms by which the Jews were exterminated. He was able to overcome his initial doubts thanks to his rational and scientific training, to resist the advances of Fawcett and his clique and listen only to the call of truth. This was a demanding and difficult path to follow, for in his case it was not only a matter of a comparative study of the testimonies of victims and executions to determine the points of convergence or contradiction concerning the gas chambers. J-C Pressac's original and eminently logical approach was to go to Auschwitz, working in the archives and inspecting the site, as often as was necessary - a total of over three months in about fifteen visits between 1979 and 1987 - in order to thoroughly master his subject. It is now almost ten years that we have been cooperating with Jean-Claude Pressac. In 1980, in fact, we found the original album of photographs that an SS man had taken of the arrival of Hungarian Jews at Auschwitz in 1944, an album that had been brought back by a deportee, Lili Jacob, when the camps were liberated. The complete «Auschwitz Album» was published for the first time by our Foundation in August 1980. The following year a version for a wider public was produced by Random House. But as soon as our version was published, J-C Pressac had contacted us to study the original photographs, whose quality was better than that of the published version. When Le Seuil decided to produce a French version of the Random House edition, we put them in touch with J-C Pressac and he was able to considerably enrich the French edition with his pertinent commentaries and an annex containing a number of photographs and explanations concerning Krematorien II, III, IV and V. This was published in 1983. The previous year, 1982, in issue 107 of «Le Monde Juif», the journal of the Centre de Documentation Juive Contemporaine de Paris, directed by Georges Wellers, whose works are references on the subject, Jean-Claude Pressac had published an important article entitled «Les «Krematorien» IV et V de Birkenau et leurs chambres à gaz». Then, in 1985, when Editions Gallimard and Le Seuil jointly published «L'Allemagne Nazie et le Génocide Juif», a fundamental work containing the proceedings of the Colloquium held in July 1982 at the École des Hautes Études et Sciences Sociales, J-C Pressac's detailed contribution «Etude et Réalisation des Krematorien IV et V d'Auschwitz-Birkenau» formed an integral part of it. That same year, 1985, our Foundation published in English a work by Jean-Claude Pressac entitled «The Struthof Album». «We decided in fact to publish a study, for the fortieth anniversary of Hitler's defeat, devoted to the terrifying episode of the assassination of 87 Jews, including 30 women, for the purpose of constituting a collection of skulls and skeletons to be kept at the Institute of Anatomy of a large German university. Because they were Jewish, these men and women were selected, asphyxiated, dismembered and carved up by men of science. Racist science. We asked Jean-Claude Pressac to study, in particular, how these Jewish victims were gassed at Struthof, near Strasbourg...» «The record is a terrible one, but the world must confront it, for it exemplifies the horror of the Jewish condition during the Nazi period. Those things that happened must be known. They cannot and must not be forgotten. Such is the main ambition of the publications we have undertaken.» Meanwhile, in 1983, we had asked J-C Pressac to write a reference work with all the available drawings and photographs, devoted to the technique and operation of the gas chambers at Auschwitz-Birkenau. This initiative on our part was by no means exceptional because already in 1978 we had published in English a very detailed work entitled «The Holocaust and the Neo-Nazi Mythomania», containing three parts: «The Launching of the Final Solution» by Dr. Joseph Billig, «The Existence of Gas Chambers» and «The Number of Victims and the Korherr Report» by Georges Wellers. In our introduction to this work, the first published by our Foundation, we explained our approach, which ten years later remains the same. «We have taken the initiative not only for the conception of this book, its edition and publication, but also for its distribution. Our objective is to provide people of good faith with the precise facts which incontestably refute the lies of the Neo-Nazi propaganda relevant to the Holocaust. «Those propagandists who seek to rehabilitate Nazism are perfectly aware that what marks it indelibly is the infamous genocide of the Jewish people. They take advantage of the credibility of the public and the more or less unconscious desire of the latter that this nightmarish mass murder had never taken place. That is why the Neo-Nazis have during recent years launched an offensive which has had a certain success. Their principal themes are the following: that Hitler was not responsible for the «final solution», that the gas chambers as a means of exterminating the Jews never existed, that the number of Jewish victims has been very considerably exaggerated. «This propaganda is internationally co-ordinated, and the most virulent of these Neo-Nazi publications appear in the major languages. In the following pages, we shall give striking examples of this propaganda which seeks to weaken the cause of the Jews in general as well as that of Israel. 12 ===== PDF PAGE 0013 | page-013.md ===== «At our own risk, we have been leading the combat throughout the world and on the spot to challenge the impunity of the Nazi criminals and the development of Neo-Nazism. We have also decided to make publicly known the unequivocal refutations of this propaganda and to bridge certain obvious gaps regarding the history of the Holocaust. In addition our publications are distributed free of charge to research centers on the Holocaust and to sources of information everywhere: major university and public libraries, the mass media. «We may cite as an example our «Memorial de la Déportation des Juifs de France», in which we reproduced the official Nazi data (last names, first names, places and dates of birth, nationalities) concerning 80,000 Jews who were victims of the «final solution» in France, as well as the description of each convoy. This work has put an end to the propaganda which claimed that the Jews of France had been spared. «The Holocaust and the Neo-Nazi Mythomania» is based on irrefutable German documents. Through an examination of often unpublished papers of the Service for Jewish Affairs of the SD, a careful study of the orders for the «final solution» and the Führer's announcements of this solution, Dr. Joseph Billig for the first time shows step by step how the decision to exterminate the Jews was reached. «Georges Wellers in a first study demolishes the Neo-Nazi arguments which are in contradiction with the accounts of those, SS or internees, who themselves saw the gas chambers in operation. «In the second study, devoted to the number of victims, Georges Wellers brilliantly demonstrates that more than 1,800,000 Jews were liquidated by the Nazis in the Soviet Union. His conclusions are supported by indisputable figures which have never before been presented. He explores in addition the extraordinary report drawn up for Himmler by the Inspector of Statistics of the SS, Richard Korherr, who established with great precision the Jewish losses as of December 31, 1942, and as of March 31, 1943. «Georges Wellers thus succeeds in demonstrating that, in taking as a basis only the indisputable figures, one reaches a total of more than 4,800,000 proven victims, all while leaving out of consideration other Jewish victims in numerous countries.» In a later study entitled «Essai de détermination du nombre des morts Auschwitz» («Le Monde Juif», issue 112, 1983), Georges Wellers reduced the figures for deaths at Auschwitz to a level far below that, for example, generally cited in the publications of the Auschwitz State Museum¹. Precision should be a rule. For our part, we have established the number of Jews deported from France 75,721. This figure is virtually definitive and cannot possibly be modified by more than 1%. It will be seen that it differs considerably from the official French figure of 100,000 to 120,000 racial deportees and the German figure of 50,000 to 65,000 Jewish deportees from France. Neither in the case of the figures cited by Georges Wellers, nor our own, is it a matter of «revisionism». It is quite simply the result of meticulous examination and critical analysis of documents and sources and extensive research to discover new documents. It was to this examination and this research that Jean-Claude Pressac devoted himself in the Auschwitz Museum, where he benefitted from the enlightened help of the deeply regretted Archivist, Tadeusz Iwaszko. Through our personal research in the Soviet Union and the German Democratic Republic, we were able to obtain some documentation to add to the impressive amount he had been able to collect in Poland and his exceptional field knowledge of the Auschwitz-Birkenau camp. When we see what an isolated and tenacious researcher like Jean-Claude Pressac has been able to reconstitute, starting his work 35 years after the liberation of Auschwitz, we cannot but regret that it was not possible for Jewish research missions to study the Auschwitz site and its archives in 1945. But at that time there was, alas, no Jewish State, and the Jews as such were not authorized to undertake such research. They were not even authorized to appear for the prosecution in the name of the Jewish people at the Nuremberg trials. As for the archives of the Soviet War Crimes Commission which worked for two months at Auschwitz, only fragments of them have come to light and the Soviets themselves, who lost interest in the subject after Nuremberg, do not seem to even know where they are. Thanks to the new possibilities opened up by Perestroika and the thawing of Soviet-Israeli and Polish-Israeli relations, we may hope that the historians and archivists of the Yad Vashem will succeed in recovering a valuable documentation that has so far remained unpublished. The present work will certainly open the way for other researchers to go more deeply into or modify some investigations or conclusions, and go further than Jean-Claude Pressac in the study of some particular problem or other. But we are certain that his book will remain a reference work pointing the way. In the last part of it, Jean-Claude Pressac relates with sincerity the personal path that led him, a Frenchman, not a Jew, of conservative political inclinations, to concentrate for so many years on a problem that is of such great concern to the Jewish people. For our part, we shall continue through our actions and through our publications to strive for justice, commemoration and historical truth. Beate and Serge KLARSFELD ¹ Table summarizing the findings of Georges Wellers' research: Number of deaths at Auschwitz | Category | Total number of deportees | Number of dead | | | | Total dead | | Total survivors | | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | | | in gas chambers | | other causes | | | | | | | Jews | 1,433,405 | 1,323,000 | 92.3% | 29,980 | 2.3% | 1,352,980 | 94.4% | 80,425 | 5.6% | | "Poles" + EH * | 142,940 | 3,665 | 2.5% | 83,010 | 56.6% | 83,010 | 58.1% | 59,930 | 40.9% | | Gypsies | 21,665 | 6,430 | 29.6% | 13,825 | 63.8% | 20,255 | 93.5% | 1,410 | 6.5% | | Russians | 11,780 | 1,605 | 13.6% | 10,080 | 85.6% | 11,685 | 99.2% | 96 | 0.8% | | TOTAL | 1,613,455 | 1,334,700 | 82.7% | 136,895 | 8.5% | 1,471,595 | 92.1% | 141,860 | 8.8% | * EH = «Erziehungshäftlinge» (prisoners interned for reeducation). It should be pointed out that the great historian Raul Hilberg estimates the number of Jews who entered Auschwitz-Birkenau at between 1,050,000 and 1,100,000 («Le Nouvel Observateur», 3rd July 1982). 13 ===== PDF PAGE 0014 | page-014.md ===== ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) # DECLARATION BY THE AUSCHWITZ STATE MUSEUM (French version certified by an official translator, Elizabeth-Bernard-Rapfoss) AUSCHWITZ BIRKENAU STATE MUSEUM Oswiecim-Brzezinka, 11.09.1985 NBP Oswiecien Account 718-92-7 Tel. (2220-21 — (2220-24, Museum open every day from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. Closed Mondays and holidays The arrival of visitors must be notified in advance (*) L. dz.IV-8520-219/2402/85 REGISTERED LETTER Monsieur Jean-Claude Pressac FRANCE. In acknowledging receipt of your letter of 5th August 1985 and in response to your request, the Museum declares that: 1. Jean-Claude Pressac visited the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum at Oswiecim ten times between 1979 and 1984, and always used the archives concerned with the Hitlerite Auschwitz concentration camp at Oswiecim, and in particular those concerned with the Krematorien and gas chambers. 2. The Museum granted access to the archives to the above-named, according to his areas of interest and the direction of his research. 3. The archives held by the Museum constitute part of the documents produced in the offices of KL Auschwitz and in SS institutions existing in KL Auschwitz. This also includes the documents of the «Zentral Bauleitung der Waffen SS in Auschwitz O/S». They are authentic documents, i.e. originals. Some of these documents, in conformity with the requests made, have been made available to Monsieur Jean-Claude Pressac, in the form of negatives, microfilms or photographic prints, constituting documents for his work on the construction of Krematorium furnaces and gas chambers operating on the territory of KL Auschwitz I and KL Auschwitz II (Birkenau). 4. During Monsieur J.C. Pressac's visits to the Museum, the staff concerned with the activity in question provided him with all necessary explanations. In the hope that you will rapidly be able to complete the research you have undertaken, I convey to you, Sir, the expression of my respectful consideration. DIRECTOR, Kazimierz Smolen, (signature) [*] The word «visitor» may lead to confusion. It is, of course, possible to «visit» the Museum in the normal way without arranging an appointment, but a researcher who wishes to consult the museum archives has to announce his arrival in advance, which is only normal. Access to the Archives Service and consultation of the documents, respecting normal practices, is free and requires no official recommendation other than simple prior request. 14 ===== PDF PAGE 0015 | page-015.md ===== PART ONE # Delousing gas chambers and other disinfestation installations CHAPTER I # FOREWORD ON ZYCLON-B In the years 1960-70, when certain bodies were requested to furnish proof of the existence of homicidal gas chambers, they responded by sending a photograph [Photo 1] or two [Photo 2] if their documentation was more complete. These «proofs» were supposed to suffice, but they are no longer valid. At the Liberation there was a relative lack of knowledge about the toxic products used in the homicidal gas chambers and total confusion about their respective methods of use. Ignorance and confusion were fueled by the publication after the war of books such as «Camps de concentration! Konzentrationslager» by Eugène Aroneanu [Office Français d'Edition, 1946, in French; Arbeitsgemeinschaft «Das Licht», undated, in German], which can now be considered a historical monstrosity. Instead of presenting for each camp the testimony relevant to it, and this in chronological order, accounts from different sources were split up and regrouped according to a given topic: «extermination», «selection in the camp», «selection on arrival», «gassing and cremation», etc., a method producing an incoherent and self-contradictory whole. Through ignorance the operation of the homicidal gas chambers rested on material impossibilities, understandable at the end of the war but which were but rarely corrected afterwards. In «Maïdanek, un camp d'extermination» (Editions Sociales, Paris, 1945), the writer, the Soviet journalist Constantin Simonov, reports that the Zyclon-B «crystals» were introduced into the homicidal gas chambers through metal tubes of 2 or 3 cm diameter [running parallel to the ground!], tubes which, in fact, were used to diffuse carbon monoxide (CO) coming from metal cylinders outside. I found this impossible association in the Investigation Section of the Warsaw Central Commission. I saw there a photocopy of a French newspaper article illustrated by a can of Zyclon-B surrounded by its «crystals» [Photo 1] PASTED DIRECTLY NEXT TO the funnel used for pouring a liquid found at Natzweiler [Photo 3]. The relative confusion about the method of using the toxic product in the gas chambers was aggravated by the fact that the SS Bauleitung often grouped in the same building two completely different sanitary functions: showers and incineration furnaces (for example in the Natzweiler camp in France). This proximity brought about a forced association. While in many homicidal gas chambers the showerheads were dummy, there were many testimonies that asserted that the toxic gas was diffused by them. Confusion reinforced by the fact that Zyclon-B was, above all, the regulation pest control agent used by the Wehrmacht, used to delouse effects and combat insects and rodents in premises. During the trials that were held after the war, the tons of Zyclon-B ordered by the camps were attributed to homicidal use without any verification. By far the greater part (over 95 per cent) was destined for delousing (effects and buildings) while only a very small quantity (less than 5 per cent) had been used for homicidal gassings. Photo 1: [PMO neg. no. 1193] The small blue pellets (Erco) or «crystals» of a can of Zyclon-B containing 500g of prussic acid. ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) Photo 2: [PMO neg. no. 624] A «J» type filter for use with Zyclon-B manufactured by the firms Auergesellschaft of Berlin N.65 and Drägerwerke of Lübeck. Photo 3: The funnel with a tap conserved at La Citadelle de Besançon which was used to supply water to a mixture of chem- icals in order to generate prussic acid in the gas chamber at Struthof, asphyxi- ating 86 Jewish victims in August 1943. (Photo by the Franche-Comté Museum of the Resistance and Deportation, La Citadelle de Besançon.) ![img-1.jpeg](img-1.jpeg) ![img-2.jpeg](img-2.jpeg) 15 ===== PDF PAGE 0016 | page-016.md ===== This lack of knowledge and confusion led to a complete gap in people's minds, summed up perfectly in Konk's drawing below [Photo 4, extract from page 60 of the album «Aux voleurs», published by Albin Michel in June 1986]. Photo 4: ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) Before studying in detail the design and operation of the gas chambers, delousing or homicidal, both based on the same principle, it is essential to study the toxic products used in them. In Auschwitz-Birkenau, only Zyclon-B was used. What is this product and what are its characteristics? The best document for the historian concerning Zyclon-B is NI-9912 (CDJC ref. CLIXa-21) [Document 5]. It perfectly summarizes the different characteristics of the product, its toxicity, utilisation, shelf life and how to protect people using it. It describes the complete gassing operation (to destroy worms) and the concentration to be used as a function of the duration of its application. It was Faurisson who was the first to publish it, while traditional historians had ignored it. According to Faurisson, paragraph XI point 12 and paragraph XIV point 1 are vital, since they indicate that the premises must be ventilated for at least 20 HOURS and, according to him, this document: «demolishes all the so-called “testimonies”, without exception, on the use of Zyclon-B to kill human beings» But Faurisson is not interested in the properties of HCN (prussic or hydrocyanic acid), because these demolish two of his «affirmations». In Krematorien I, he says that the gas chamber could not have been next to the furnace room because there would be the risk of the HCN exploding. The concentration used for homicidal gassing is approximately 12g/m³ and, as the risk of explosion appears at 75g/m³ (in fact as from 67.2g/m³), his argument collapses for Krematorium I. It does not apply in the case of Krematorien II and III, since the gas chambers were in the basement and the furnaces on the ground floor, nor in IV and V, where the gas chambers were separated from the furnaces by an airlock, the morgue/undressing room and a vestibule. Faurisson's second affirmation was advanced as a desperate attempt to explain the presence of cyanides, found as a result of toxicological analysis of the upper ventilation grills of Leichenkeller 1 (underground morgue, then gas chamber) of Krematorien II and III, indicating the use of HCN in these basement premises. He explains that: -a morgue is disinfected using Zyclon-B. Here again, he is out of luck, for HCN has no effect on bacteria. Disinfection is not carried out with a powerful insecticide such as Zyclon-B, but with a bactericide such as bleach. NI-9912 won an unexpected disciple over to Faurisson: the political cartoonist Konk. Two pages (60 and 61) of his album «Aux voleurs» deal with testimonies/war stories (60) and the ventilation of gas chambers (61 [Photo 6]). Page 60 is excellent, and I mean that. As for page 61, Konk has allowed himself to be trapped by the argument of maniacs who spend their lives trying to demonstrate that something never existed. Konk, an absolute neophyte, started to have doubts when watching a scene of gassing at Treblinka in the film «Au nom de tous les miens» (interview with Konk by the newspaper «Liberation» of 8th August 1986). He forgot that the Treblinka gas chambers used CO (carbon monoxide), contained in the exhaust gas of a tank engine (gasoline or diesel, both being equally deadly for humans). However, his drawing shows the functioning of a Zyclon-B gas chamber. There is no connection between the two. Konk should have informed himself directly at Auschwitz, so that he could have avoided writing and drawing nonsense. His SS man pouring the Zyclon-B is not wearing a mask. This is impossible, for he would die as soon as he opened the can. As for the ladder leaning against the roof, I do not know what Faurisson thinks, but when, in my article on Krematorien IV and V, I stated that an SS man climbed a small ladder to reach the introduction windows in the gas chambers, Faurisson called me an idiot for describing a practice which in his opinion could lead only to «sniffings». There remains the question of the 20 hours, which despite appearances is very difficult to integrate in the picture of a homicidal gas chamber. I shall argue on the basis of Leichenkeller 1 (500 to 550 cubic metres) of Krematorium II and III. The SS chose Zyclon-B for its high degree of toxicity on warm blooded animals, including man. The meticulous care stipulated in NI-9912 has no sense in homicidal gassing, because this changes the situation radically. The space where the gas was used was closed and gas-tight. No furniture, bedding or floor covering. The floor, walls and ceilings were of bare concrete (except for about twenty dummy wooden shower heads installed in the ceiling). Forced-draught ventilation would be relatively efficient in these circumstances. After 15 minutes of ventilation the air in the room would be completely removed. A homicidal gassing (using 5 to 7kg of Zyclon-B for 1 000 to 2 000 persons) would last about 20 minutes. 5 minutes for the action of the HCN bringing swift death (the quantity introduced being 40 times the lethal dose) and 15 minutes of ventilation BEFORE BEING ABLE TO OPEN THE GAS-TIGHT DOOR. Although a part of the toxic gas had been inhaled by the victims, this was negligible with respect to the quantity remaining, due to the initial overdose. Here, Faurisson is right when he states that the operating sequences as described by the witnesses give rise to an almost insurmountable difficulty. For example, Camp Commandant Hoess and Dr. Nyiszli report EXACTLY the same sequence: pouring of Zyclon-B through the openings in the ceiling, the pellets running down the four wire mesh columns and rapid diffusion of HCN by evaporation in the room «preheated» by human body heat. In 5 to 10 minutes everybody was dead. Then there was a FURTHER wait of 20 to 30 minutes BEFORE switching to the ventilation. The door was opened and the extraction of bodies commenced immediately («sofort»). This is the process as SEEN AND HEARD by witnesses. But why wait 20 to 30 minutes after the complete death of the victims before opening the door? This is a waste of time when we consider the rapid throughput rates imposed by the SS, always in a hurry. Hoess and Nyiszli are mistaken as regards the moment at which the ventilation began. It was in fact switched on not more than 10 minutes AFTER the introduction of the gas and it was left running FOR 20 to 30 minutes BEFORE the door was opened. The witnesses state the contrary, and for them it is the truth. The fact is that as long as the gas-tight door remained closed, no SOUND could be heard and people could see INTO the gas chamber only through the inspection peephole. The switching on of the ventilation could not be heard because the motor was located in the roof space of the Krematorium and the witnesses were in the basement. What is more, there were five or six electric motors in the roof space, three of them being used for other ventilation systems. How was it possible to distinguish the noise of the gas chamber ventilation motor if that of the furnace room, of the same power, was running at the same time? In truth, the witnesses HEARD the noise of the ventilator fans WHEN the door was opened and they had THE IMPRESSION that the ventilation had just been switched on. Contrary to Faurisson's allegations, Dr. Nyiszli stresses the difficulty of eliminating the Zyclon-B remaining, due to the initial overdose, noting that: -in the crannies between the dead and the cracks of the doors small pockets of it always remained. Even two hours later it caused a suffocating cough (due to the warning agent). For that reason the Sonderkommando group which first moved into the room was equipped with gas masks: [Auschwitz: A Doctor's eyewitness account, page 48]. This type of unimportant detail did not concern Hoess, who was too preoccupied with his position as camp commandant and the pangs of conscience of the SS with respect to the extermination of Jewish women and children. In Krematorien IV and V, whose gas chambers had only natural ventilation, I have found only one (admittedly slight) indication in «Le cahier d'Alfred Kantor» (Stock, 1972), where the illustration on page 57 shows the extraction of corpses from a ground floor gas chamber, hence Krematorium IV or V, by prisoners wearing gas masks. In this case, without a mask it is obvious that the immediate handling of bodies after gassing would end like Konk's last drawing, death for all. It must be noted that witnesses very often do not mention details that appear so evident to them that they forget them (for example, the guillotine-type opening system of the doors of the 8-muffle furnaces of Krematorien IV and V was not described by any former member of the Sonderkommando. Zyclon-B was produced by DEGESCH (Deutsche Gesellschaft für Schädlingsbekämpfung/German pest control company), located at 32-40 Weismüllerstrasse, Frankfurt am Main. Founded in 1917, by the technical committee for pest control of the War Ministry of the German Government of the time, this, admittedly pacific, creation, was not exempt from certain ulterior motives with regard to chemical warfare (the use of HCN as a chemical weapon is always topical because of its immediate and devastating action, making it suitable for use in the front line in order to «clear» the terrain before an attacking army). The trade name of «Zyclon» has been replaced by that of «Cyanosil» through changing the porous support receiving the HCN. Photos: 7, 8, 9 and 10 come from a brochure issued by Degesch in 1972. Photo 7 shows insecticide gassing in a modern flour mill and Photo 8 an older one, using Zyclon in disc form (in the book by Jochen von Lang, «Eichmann, l'interrogatoire», Belfond 1984, Eichmann says of Zyclon-B: «it came in the form of cardboard disks, like beer mats»). The operators are wearing gas masks fitted with «J» type filter cartridges (Photo 11). Photo 9 shows the three sizes of cans available: 500g, 1kg and 1.5kg (from left to right) and the alternative forms of pellets and disks. The case in which these cans are delivered is standard, 0.72 by 0.50 by 0.36m and contains either 12 cans of 1500g, 16 of 1000g or 30 of 500g. Photo 12 shows the label from one of these cases in 1944. Photo 10 shows the device now used to open the cans (in Auschwitz the SS used a metal tool with one end broadened and having teeth round the edge; the teeth fitted into the cover of the can which came off with a sharp blow with a hammer. A faithful demonstration of this technique can be seen in a gassing scene in Andrzej Munk's film «La Passagère», but there the SS wear thick rubber gloves to handle the Zyclon-B, while the Degesch operators do without them). The director of Degesch Photo 7 ![img-1.jpeg](img-1.jpeg) 16 ===== PDF PAGE 0017 | page-017.md ===== ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) Photo 8 condemned to death simply on the verbal testimony of one of his employees, the book-keeper Emil Solon, who declared that in the autumn of 1942, he had seen among the firm's records, a report of a visit, dictated by Bruno Tesch, in the course of which he is supposed to have suggested to Wehrmacht officers who told him of the difficulties caused by the mass executions of Jews by shooting, that they should kill them in disinformation gas chambers using HIS product, Zyclon-B (business first) containing a powerful poison, prussic acid. In 1946 simple malicious gossip could easily lead to someone being hung. I do not know whether the strip reports was produced before the tribunal, but if it was not then, this trial was a masquerade. ![img-1.jpeg](img-1.jpeg) Photo 9 ![img-2.jpeg](img-2.jpeg) Photo 10 ![img-3.jpeg](img-3.jpeg) Photo 11: Regulation gas mask for the Third Reich Armed forces, type GM 38, made of synthetic rubber with five points for attachment to the wearer's head. It is fitted with a 'J' type filter cartridge reserved for use with Zyclon-B. (Photo by Pierre Besson) ![img-4.jpeg](img-4.jpeg) Photo 13: [PMO neg. no. 1195] Degesch label with red printing on a yellow background, of a 500g can of HCN with an added white label: 'Vorsicht, ohne Warnstoff! / Take care, no warning agent!' Undated. 17 ===== PDF PAGE 0018 | page-018.md ===== In order to give a better understanding of the texts referring to Zyclon-B, the units used, the concentrations for disinfestation and its toxicity, here are some data concerning its principal active agent, HCN (hydrocyanic or prussic acid): - Molecular weight: 27. - Weight per litre: 1.20g. - 1% by volume represents 12g/m³ - 1g/m³ represents 0.083% by volume. - 1% by volume represents 10 000ppm (parts per million). - 1ppm represents 0.0012g/m³ or 1.2mg/m³ - With air, it constitutes mixtures whose lower and upper limits of combustion are respectively 5.6% (67.2g/m³) and 40% (480g/m³). - Olfactory threshold: 2 to 5ppm (2.4 to 6mg/m³). - Maximum threshold used in work places: 10ppm (12mg/m³). - Exposure without a mask to a content of 100 to 200ppm (120 to 240mg/m³) for 30 to 60 minutes may result in death. The lowest lethal dose known for man by inhalation: 120mg/m³ in one hour and 200mg/m³ in ten minutes. - Immediately mortal concentration: 300mg/m³ or 0.3g/m³. - A concentration of 24g/m³ (2%) may bring loss of consciousness in ten minutes for a man with a mask. - A concentration equal to or greater than 12g/m³ (1%) would not be tolerable even for a man wearing a mask except in case of necessity and not for more than a minute. - Concentration used in homicidal gassing in Birkenau: 12g/m³ (1%), or 40 times the lethal (or mortal) dose. - Concentrations in g/m³ and contact times recommended in disinfestation. Mosquitoes: 0.25 for 30 minutes. Bugs: 2.5 for 1 hour. Fleas: 1.25 for 2 hours. Lice: 5 for 2 hours. Cockroaches: 5 for 2 hours. Destruction of all insects: 5 for 6 hours. Rats and mice: 2.5 for 2 hours. (Or according to Degesch: 2-4g/m³ for 4 hours). Concentration used for disinfecting mills according to Degesch: 10g/m³. This level, close to 1%, does not prevent Degesch operators from distributing Zyclon-B disks with bare hands and apparently without ill-effects [Photos 7 and 8]. A concentration of 15 to 30g/m³ can be reached in restoration work (in the case of wooden works of art [statues] infested by death-watch beetles). Faurisson has succeeded in his writings in presenting prussic acid as a dragon breathing fire, scarcely to be approached and with clawed feet clinging strongly to the ground even when dead. This apocalyptic picture has but little to do with actual practice. If HCN was like that, the staff of Degesch would long have been unemployed. After the first world war, the Germans acquired greater experience than other nations in the handling of gases. Thus, they were the only people to have perfect mastery of the use of gas lighter than air (hydrogen) in their Zeppelin airships while the Americans who filled their airships with a non-inflammable gas (helium) suffered one setback after another. Just as the Hindenburg «accident» put an end to this supremacy and to the reign of lighter than air craft, the fraudulent use of Zyclon-B to exterminate Jews «stopped» the spread of gaseous disinfestation, although this technique is of incontestable value. ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) Photo 12: [PMO neg. no. 1196] Label of a Degesch packing case for Zyclon-B cans sent to Auschwitz on 24th April 1944. Guaranteed shelf life: three months from the date of despatch. Document 5: [which can be consulted in German at the Paris CDJC under reference CLIXa-21] ## TRANSLATION OF DOC. NO. NI-9912 ### Office of Chief of Counsel for War Crimes ### DIRECTIVES FOR THE USE OF PRUSSIC ACID (ZYKLON) FOR THE DESTRUCTION OF VERMIN (DISINFESTATION) ### I. Properties of prussic acid (hydrocyanic acid) Prussic acid is a gas which is generated by evaporation. Boiling point: 25 degrees Centigrade Freezing point: -15 degrees Centigrade Specific gravity: 0.69 Steam density: 0.97 (Air: 1.0) The liquid evaporates easily Liquid: Transparent, colourless Smell: Peculiar, repulsively sweet Extraordinarily great penetrative powers Prussic acid is soluble in water ### Danger of explosion At 75 g prussic acid per m³ air. (Normal application approx. 8-10 g per m³; therefore not explosive.) Prussic acid may not be brought into contact with an open flame, glowing wires etc., because then it burns up slowly and loses all its effectiveness (carbonic acid, water and nitrogen are formed). ### Toxic effects on warm-blooded animals Since prussic acid has practically no indicative irritant effect it is highly toxic and very dangerous. Prussic acid is one of the most powerful poisons. 1mg per kg of body weight is sufficient to kill a human being. Women and children are generally more susceptible than men. Very small amounts of prussic acid do not harm the human body, even if breathed continuously. Birds and fishes are particularly susceptible to prussic acid. ### Toxic effects on insects The effects of prussic acid on insects do not depend on the temperature to the same extent as that of other gases, that is, it is also effective at low temperatures (even at 5 degrees Cent.). The eggs of many insects, particularly of bugs and lice, are more susceptible than the full-grown insects. ### Toxic effects on plants The degree of toxicity depends on the type of vegetation on the plants. Plants with thick leaves are less susceptible than those with thin ones. Mildew and dry rot are not killed by prussic acid. Prussic acid does not destroy bacteria. ### II Method of using prussic acid ZYKLON is the absorption of a mixture of prussic acid and an irritant by a carrier. Wood fibre discs, a reddish-brown granular mass (Diagriess - Dia gravel) or small blue cubes (Erco) are used as carriers. Apart from serving its purpose as an indicator, this irritant also has the advantage of stimulating the respiration of insects. Prussic acid and the irritant are generated through simple evaporation. Zyklon will keep for 3 months. Use damaged cans first. The contents of a can must be used up at once. Liquid prussic acid damages polish, lacquer, paint etc. Gaseous prussic acid is harmless. The toxicity of the prussic acid remains unchanged by the addition of the irritant; the danger connected with it is however considerably decreased. Zyklon can be rendered [harmless] by combustion. ### III Possible poisoning ### 1. Slight poisoning Dizziness, headache, vomiting, general feeling of sickness, etc. All these symptoms pass if one immediately gets out into the fresh air. Alcohol reduces resistance to prussic acid gassing, therefore do not drink alcohol before fumigation. Prescribe: 1 tablet Cardiazol or Veriazol in order to prevent heart disorders. If necessary repeat after 2-3 hours. ### 2. Severe poisoning The affected person will collapse suddenly and faint. First aid: fresh air, remove gas mask, loosen clothing, apply artificial respiration. Lobelin, intramuscular 0.01 g. Do not give camphor injections. ### 3. Poisoning through the skin Symptoms as for 1. Treat in the same way. ### 4. Stomach poisoning Treat with Lobelin, intramuscular 0.01 g. Ferrous sulphate Burnt magnesia. ### IV Protection against gas When fumigating with Zyklon use only special filters, e.g. the filter insert «J» (blue brown) of the Auergesellschaft Berlin or of the Draegerwerke, Luebeck. Should gas seep through the mask, leave the building immediately and change filters after also checking the mask and its fit to see whether they are tight. 18 ===== PDF PAGE 0019 | page-019.md ===== The filter insert is exhausted if gas enters through the mask. Having filter v/v, first means closed in the open air for approx. 2 minutes so that a certain amount of moisture from the breath may gather in the filter insert. Under no circumstances should filters be changed inside gas-filled rooms. # V Personnel A disinfestation squad consisting of at least 2 members is employed for each disinfestation project. The fumigation chief is responsible for the fumigation. His particular duties are inspection, airing, release and safety measures. The fumigation chief is to appoint a deputy in case he has to leave. The orders of the fumigation chief are to be followed without delay. Untrained persons or persons who are trained but who do not yet hold a certificate may not be called in to work on passing operations, nor must they be taken into gas-filled rooms. The fumigation chief must also know where to contact his personnel. Every person must at all times be able to prove that he has official authorization for the use of prussic acid for [post] extermination purposes. # VI Equipment Each member must at all times carry with him: 1. His own gas mask. 2. At least 2 special filter inserts against Zyklon prussic acid. 3. The leaflet - First aid for prussic acid poisoning. 4. Work order. 5. Authorization certificate. Each disinfestation squad must at all times carry: 1. At least 3 special inserts as extra stock. 2. 1 gas detector. 3. 1 instrument for injecting Lobelin. 4. Lobelin 0.01 g ampoules. 5. Cardiazol, Veriazol tablets. 6. 1 lever or pickhammer for opening the cans of Zyklon. 7. Warning signs as per regulation. 8. Material for sealing. 9. Sheets of paper to serve as [distribution] pads. 10. Flashlight. All equipment is to be kept clean and in good order at all times. Damage to equipment is to be repaired at once. # VII Planning fumigations 1. Can the fumigation be carried out at all? a) Type of building and situation. b) Condition of roof. c) Condition of windows. d) Presence of heating shafts, air shafts, breaks in the walls, etc. 2. Determine the kind of vermin to be exterminated. 3. Calculate the space (do not rely on drawings, but take measurements yourself. Take only outside measurements, include walls). 4. Prepare personnel. 5. (Remove domestic animals, plants, food and drink, undeveloped photographic plates, and gas mask filters.) 6. Find which openings will be particularly difficult to seal. (Air shafts, drains, large openings which have been boarded up, roofs.) 7. Settle necessary safety measures. 8. (Guarding, work detachment for sealing.) 9. Fix the date for the fumigation and the time for cleaning the building. 10. If necessary, arrange safety measures for the neighbourhood in good order. 11. Notify authorities. # VIII Preparation for fumigation 1. Seal. 2. Open all doors, closets, drawers, etc. 3. Pull bedding apart. 4. Remove all liquids (remains of coffee, washing water etc.). 5. Remove all food. 6. Remove all plants and domestic animals (aquaria etc.). 7. Remove all undeveloped photographic plates and films. 8. Remove adhesive plaster, all medical supplies, whether open or in paper bags (particularly [charcoal]). 9. Remove all gas mask filters. 10. Prepare for check on results. 11. Clear out personnel. 12. Take over keys (every door key). # IX The strength of the gas and the time required for it to take effect depend on: The type of vermin. The temperature The amount of furniture in the rooms The circumstances of the building. For inside temperatures of more than 5 degrees Cent. it is customary to use 8 g prussic acid per m³. Time needed to take effect: 10 hours, unless there are special circumstances such as a closed-in type of building, which requires less time. If the weather is warm it is possible to reduce this to a minimum of 6 hours. The period is to be extended to at least 32 hours if the temperature is below 5 deg. Cent. The strength and time as above are to be applied in the case of: bugs, lice, fleas, etc., with eggs, larvae and chrysales. For clothes moths: temperatures above 10 deg. Cent.; 16 g per m³ and 24 hours to take effect. For flour-moths: same as for bugs. # X Fumigation of a building 1. Check that everybody has left the building. 2. Unpack the boxes of Zyklon. Move the appropriate amount ready for each floor. 3. Distribute the cans. One man to go into the building and receive the cans which have been brought up by the work detachment and to distribute them. (Have them put next to the pads.) 4. Dismiss the work detachment. 5. Post the guard. Fumigation chief to instruct guard. 6. Check that sealing and cleaning have been completed. 7. Put on gas masks. 8. Open the cans and pour out their contents. The contents are to be spread thinly so that the Zyklon can evaporate quickly and the necessary density of the gas can be achieved as soon as possible. The process is to start on the top floor but the cellar is to be dealt with before the ground floor, should the cellar have no exit. Rooms which have been dealt with should as far as possible not be re-entered. The processing is to be done slowly and calmly. The stairwells particularly should only be used slowly. The processing may only be interrupted in an emergency. 9. The exit door to be locked, sealed and its key handed over to the fumigation chief. 10. On the door fix a warning sign with the legend «Danger - Poison gas. Danger to life, no admittance». This warning sign is to be in several languages if necessary, and in any case it must be marked with at least one death's head, clearly visible. 11. Gas masks, apparatus for resuscitation and gas detectors are to be kept available at all times. Every member of the fumigation squad must know where these objects are located. 12. At least one member of the fumigation squad must always remain near the building which is being fumigated. The guard must be notified of his position. # XI Airing The airing is connected with the greatest danger for those participating and others. Therefore it must be carried out particularly carefully and a gas mask should always be worn. The airing should [take] place according to the following principles: pure air should always be within reach in the shortest possible time and the gas should flow out to that side where it cannot endanger people who are not participating. Should the airing be difficult one trained man should remain in front of the building in order to watch how the gas is blowing away. 1. Take care to see that no strangers remain in the vicinity of the building. 2. Post the guards in such a way that they are not annoyed by the gas as it blows out, but can still watch the entrances to the building. 3. Put on a gas mask. 4. Enter building. Close door, but do not lock it. 5. First open the windows on that side of the building where there is no wind. Air floor by floor. Start on the ground floor and after each floor take at least 10 minutes' rest. 6. The doors leading to the corridor, connecting doors between rooms and windows must be opened in each room. 7. Partitions and other methods used to seal the room which cannot be replaced quickly should only be removed after most of the gas has blown away. 8. Care should be taken to see that the heating system and water pipes do not freeze should there be frost or danger of it. 9. Rooms with valuable contents, such as clothing stores etc. may be locked again after the windows have been opened. 10. Windows and doors which have been opened should be fastened in such a way that they cannot slam. 11. Covers in chimneys may be removed after the provisional release of the building. 12. The airing should continue for at least 20 hours. 13. The guard should remain near the building during the whole of this time. # XII Provisional release A fumigated room may be released provisionally as soon as the paper strip of the gas detector is of a lighter blue than the centre colour pattern, when the doors and windows are open. Only work concerned with airing and cleaning up may be done in the rooms which have been provisionally released. Under no circumstances may any one rest or sleep in these rooms. The doors and windows must be left open all the time. 19 ===== PDF PAGE 0020 | page-020.md ===== # XIII Clearing up after provisional release 1. Remove remains of Zyklon from the fumigated rooms. They should generally be sent back to the factory in the same way as cans or boxes. Before boxes are sent back from the fumigated rooms the inscription «Poison» must be removed from them. Damp, wet or soiled remains as well as damaged cans may not be sent back under any circumstances. They may be thrown on a rubbish or slag heap, but may never be emptied into drains. 2. Mattresses, straw palisades, pillows, upholstered furniture and similar items must be shaken or beaten for at least one hour in the open air (if rainy at least 2 hours in the hall) under the supervision of the fumigation chief. 3. If possible the stuffing of straw palisades should be changed. The old stuffing may not however be burnt, but may be re-used after it has been aired for a further period. 4. Should the chimneys be covered from above, these coverings must be removed carefully since otherwise there is a danger that the fires in the stoves and hearths will not have sufficient draught, which may cause carbon monoxide poisoning. 5. After the final release has been made, two copies of a fumigation report are to be filled in in the prescribed manner. The following points in particular should be shown: a) Volume of fumigated rooms. b) Amount of Zyklon used. c) Name of fumigation chief. d) Names of other personnel. e) Time required for gas to take effect. f) Time at which disinfested rooms were released. # XIV Final release 1. Under no circumstances less than 21 hours after airing was started. 2. All fans removed for beating are also taken back into the room. 3. Door and windows to be closed for one hour. 4. In irons with heating facilities a temperature of at least 15 deg. Cent must be produced. 5. Gas directing. The paper strip may not show a darker blue than the lighted colour, even between blankets and mattresses which have been placed on top of each other, or in rooms that are not easily accessible and which it is difficult to air. Should this be the case, airing must be continued and the check for gas operated after a few hours. 6. The check for gas must be made in each room of buildings which are open to be used as sleeping accommodation as soon as possible. Under no circumstances may anyone sleep in a room which has been fumigated in the right following the fumigation. The windows must always remain open during the first night that the room is used again. 7. The fumigation chief or his deputy may not leave the building until the very last room has been finally released. Issued by the Health Institution of the Protectorate Bohemia and Moravia in Prague # CERTIFICATE OF TRANSLATION L. DORMITRUL L. GALENISKI, ETO, 4. 100% hereby certify that I am thoroughly interested with the English and German languages, and that the above is a true and correct translation of Document N° 1.04.1972. DOMITRULA L. GALENISKI ETO 1.04.1972 # Translation of inscriptions: (Photo 6) BUT I HAVE CHECKED A DETAIL OF HIS THESIS, THAT CONCERNING THE VENTILATION OF ZYCLON-B. HERE IS WHAT VIRTUALLY ALL THE WITNESSES SAID: THE VICTIMS WERE PUSHED INTO THE GAS CHAMBER THE DOOR WAS CLOSED AND ZYCLON-B INTRODUCED THERE WAS A WAIT OF A FEW MINUTES AND WHEN THE DOOR WAS OPENED: «He still twitching victims fell into our arms...» «For minister later, the corpses were removed.» THAT IS NOT POSSIBLE: EVERYONE WOULD HAVE BEEN DEAD! A ROOM FILLED WITH ZYCLON-B GAS HAS TO BE VENTILATED FOR HOURS (THE MANUFACTURER RECOMMENDS 20 HOURS) EVEN WITH GAS MASKS IT WOULD NOT HAVE BEEN POSSIBLE. DO THE SAME AS MIL BROWN YOUNGER! THAT'S THE PRESS. FORTY YEARS OF INFORMATION ON THE HOLOCAUST AND NOT ONE JOURNALIST HAS GONE TO INTERVIEW A SPECIALIST ON GASES. DON'T BE NEWSPAPERS READ NOVELS. Photo 6 Page 61 of Konk's album «Aux Voleurs», published by Albin Michel in June 1986. His drawings raise the question of ventilation in a homicidal gas chamber, referring to NI-9912, paragraph XI, point 12. POUSTANT, JAI VÉRINÉ UN DÉTAIL DE SA THÈSE, CELUI CONCERNANT LA VENTILATION DU ZYKLON B. VOI A CE QUE DISENT PRESIQUE TOUS LES TÉMONS. ON POUISSANT LES VICTIMES DANS LA CHAMBRE À GAZ. ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) ON FURNAT LA PORTE ET ON ENVOYANT LE ZYKLON B. ON ATTENDANT QUELQUES MINUTES. ![img-1.jpeg](img-1.jpeg) ![img-2.jpeg](img-2.jpeg) ET ON/OUVRAT: "Les victimes encore polytraites tombent dans ma bois." "Une minuter plus tard, on débarrassait les cadures." CA NE SE PEUT PAS! TOUT LE MONDE SÉRAT MORTI'IL FAUT ACHER PONDANT DES HEURES UNE PAIX, DOUZE AU ZYKLON B. IL L'AMPROXIT PRÉCONER, JAI HEURES B. MÊME AVEC DES MASQUES À GAZ, OUVRANT PAS ÊTE POSSIBLE HÂTES COMME, MOI RENDÉONÉZ-VOUS! ![img-3.jpeg](img-3.jpeg) ![img-4.jpeg](img-4.jpeg) VOU À LA PRESSE, 40 ANS D'INFORMATIONS SUR L'HOLOCAUSTE ET PAS UN JOURNALISTE POUR ALLER INTERVIEWER UN SPECIALISTE DES GAZ. N'ACHETEZ PLUS DE JOURNALIS. LISEZ DES ROMANS. 20 ===== PDF PAGE 0021 | page-021.md ===== # Photos 14 to 21 were taken by the author in the «reserve stocks» of the PMO ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) Photo 14: 200 gsm/m² of Zyclon-B supplied by Degesch, including produced for and used in de-formation gas chambers of 2m³ built by the Bess-Tom transportation achieved. 20g/m². No errors of these disinfected chambers were installed unless a system (heating of the 1m³) is made using. Providing this type of car as proof of homicide passing, as has been common practice, is incorrect. ![img-1.jpeg](img-1.jpeg) Photo 15: Reserve side of the same car indicating the MCN content (A CIGARETTE 200g) and its origin, Degesch. ![img-2.jpeg](img-2.jpeg) Photo 16: Can of Zyclon-B of 1500g (visible in the center of the entrance right of the label) distributed by Tsuchiya Subway, including visible in the centre of the entrance left of the labels. The cardboard cover served to protect the can during their transport from the factory to possible others. Two of these were diagnosed enough to kill 1000 to 2000 people in the Leishmanian I of Kermansov II and III. ![img-3.jpeg](img-3.jpeg) Photo 17: 1000g can of Zyclon-B from Testa of the type probably used both in the de-formation chamber of Block 2 and those of 80% 5a and 5b and also for homicidal gassing. The label indicating distribution by Testa is in three different parts, this photograph showing the first. ![img-4.jpeg](img-4.jpeg) Photo 18: Second part of the previous label indicating the manufacturer, Degesch, and the owners, 500 gsm/m². ![img-5.jpeg](img-5.jpeg) Photo 21: Two of the distinctive yellow labels with red printing: 1. Above: from a 1000g can distributed by Testa. 2. Below: from a 1000g can, reduced to 1500g, from Degesch. ![img-6.jpeg](img-6.jpeg) Photo 20: 500 grams can of Zyclon-B, without its label, containing small (blind) yellow of porous silica, known as Dros, which absorbed the hydroxylator and together with 5% of a helix-magnetic and stimulatory warning agent. These are the «crometer of Zyclon-B. Other living agents were also used, either available known greenhouses (Degesch) or Bals of Epperson Blue (Photo 8 which Richmond knew, probably because he had seen them used in the de-formation of the Aeschowic main camp blocks before or at the time of his deciding with Hawa on their homicidal use. ![img-7.jpeg](img-7.jpeg) Photo 19: Third part of the label, indicating distribution by Toms, Hamburg, and the traditional area of its distribution managed by the area of the Rock in the case of the Z the including the Sultana (Gao), the Government General (who remained of occupied Poland) the Reich Commissariat for Finland and for Denmark, Finland and Norway. 21 ===== PDF PAGE 0022 | page-022.md ===== Part One of the work comprises a systematic and in-depth study, insofar as the remaining documents allow, of all the delousing gas chambers and other disinfestation installations, in order to describe their characteristics and operation. The aim of this presentation is to demonstrate the rudimentary nature of the delousing gas chambers and the gradual increase in their area and volume. We pass from a fully planned complex of nineteen 10m³ chambers of the Degesch type built by Boos in the Stammlager to those of 490m³ rapidly improvised by the Bauleitung in Birkenau BW 5a and 5b. As the existence of these last is confirmed by Bauleitung drawings and the fact that they can still be seen in buildings BW 5a and 5b, their bluish walls bearing indisputable witness to their use with a hydrocyanic product, Zyclon-B, it is thus proven that the use of two underground morgues, each of 525m³, the Leichenkeller I of Krematorien II and III, as homicidal gas chambers presents no physical or technical impossibilities. The execution gas chambers in the United States are extremely sophisticated, but their design must be seen in the context of a highly technological country in peacetime, and they are presumably intended to be humane, which was not a prime concern of the SS. The presence of the delousing gas chambers also establishes that Zyclon-B, delivered by Tesch und Stabenow and by Degesch, was by no means destined solely for extermination purposes, but by far the greatest part of it was used for «Schädlingsbekämpfung» or pest control, both in these chambers and also in situ in the prisoners' accommodation blocks. The Bauleitung SS used three different words to distinguish clearly between the methods of «disinfestation» used in their sanitary buildings. Each word has a very precise meaning and applies to a single type of procedure: - «Entlausung/Delousing»: the delousing of prisoners' effects by hydrocyanic acid (Zyclon-B) gassing in a closed space, relatively air-tight, fitted with mechanical ventilation and called a «delousing gas chamber»; - «Entwesung/Disinfestation»: destruction of pests (essentially lice) by dry heat in hot air chambers. This technique makes it possible to destroy the majority of pathogenic germs (and harmful insects), without going as far as the stage of disinfection (total destruction of pathogenic germs) nor as far as sterilization (destruction of all micro-organisms, pathogenic or not); - «Desinfektion/disinfection»: the complete destruction of parasites and pathogenic micro-organisms in prisoners' effects using steam under pressure in autoclaves (very close to sterilization, but less complete). 22 ===== PDF PAGE 0023 | page-023.md ===== CHAPTER 2 # THE STAMMLAGER DELOUSING INSTALLATIONS # I - THE TWO DELOUSING ROOMS IN BLOCK 26 # II - THE TWO DELOUSING ROOMS ON THE FIRST FLOOR OF BLOCK 3 # III - THE DELOUSING ROOM IN BLOCK 1 Although dated 23rd November 1943, this drawing 3230 of the Stammlager (Drawing 1) is actually an earlier drawing which has been used just to show the location of the right new watch towers. The original was probably drawn at the beginning of 1942, which would explain why in 1943 this drawing still shows a projected Krematorium, BW 47a, for which the drawings were 870, 871 and 875. The new Krematorium with its external chimney against the wall is shown in yellow outlined in red and is below Krematorium 1, itself in yellow and surrounded by its earth embankment. - A: The delousing gas chamber in Block 1. - B: The two delousing rooms on the ground floor of Block 26. - C: The two clothing delousing gas chambers on the first floor of Block 3. This drawing proves that the numbering of the Blocks in the main camp varied according to the period and was different from that which we know now. An ex-poisoner may speak of Block 8 of the Stammlager, whereas now it is No. 23. Extreme care is required with the testimony of survivors, who must always be asked to precisely situate and date the action of their accounts, something which is, unfortunately, often forgotten, particularly in France. LAGEPLAN DES SCHUTZHAFTLAGERS AUSCHWITZ (OS) general drawing of the Auschwitz protective detention camp, Upper Silesia, Scale 1:1000, Drawing 3230 of 23/11/1943 (PMO neg. No. 6192). The document supplied is at the very limit of legibility, for the PMO does not have the original which is said to be in Moscow in the «October Revolution» Central State Archives. There is a good photograph of this drawing in the first bulletin of the Central Commission for the investigation of Hitlerite crimes in Poland, dated 1946, volume I, page 64, photo No. 5 of the Polish version. Drawing 1: General plan of the Stammlager drawing the location of the same main delousing installation with Krematorium 1 and a projected second Krematorium. # Translations of the more legible inscriptions (top to bottom): - Eingetragen im Planungsbereich unter Nr. 70/90/1.12.43/ - entend in the catalogue of drawings under No. 3099 on 1/12/43 - Absteckungsplan über Neubau von 8 Wachleitern/location plan for the construction of 8 new watchtowers - Steinbahngleich/quartz railway - Gleitumschluß zur Riech/tehn/private rail siding connected to the State railway - Block/führbar/beruf/Block chiefs - Provisorische Hüftlings/kehr/temporary prisoners' kitchen - SS Revier/SS hospital (BW 14) - Krematorium 1/Krematorium 1 (BW 11) - Eingangszentrums - Vernichtungs-Burke der Politische Abteilung/interrogations hat of the Political Section - Theranzen/beruf/heute building - SS Unterkauf/SS accommodation - Proj. Krematorium/planed Krematorium (BW 47a) - Droharsen/over fence - Konstantion/camp headquarters - Parkplatz/vehicle park - Wachbar/guard barracks - Lagermann/camp wall - each Hitlerite Berlin - each Auschwitz in Auschwitz ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) 23 ===== PDF PAGE 0024 | page-024.md ===== ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) Inventory drawing of building No. 11 (designating this building as No. 11 corresponds to the first set of numbers given by the Beauchamp. This Block subsequently had the number 18 and then was given in final designation «Block 26». These changes in the number were brought about by successive stages in the development of the main camp). Drawing 1046, scale 1:200. Drawn by prisoner No. 20033 on 19th February 1942, checked by Dejaco on 20th February and approved by Bischoff on 22/2/42. Drawing 2: Beauchamp drawing 1046 (Mortgage of the Identification Block and the ground floor plan of drawing 1046) # I - THE TWO DELOUSING CHAMBERS IN BLOCK 26 According to the «DECLARATIONS» conserved at the Phila. volume 100, page 48, a clothing delousing installation was installed in two rooms of the ground floor of Block 26 [Drawing 2]. The work commenced in summer or early autumn 1940, was done, with diligence, by the prisoners. It was probably finished at the end of 1941 or early in 1941. The disinfestation agent is not known. The plans on the inventory drawing suggest a complex installation using steam, the situation dating from February 1942 and, it would appear, definitive since the installation was designed almost a year and a half earlier. It could be that initially it functioned in a primitive manner as gas chambers using Zyclon-B, made gas-tight by using strips of paper, and ventilated by two air extraction fans. # Translation of the inscriptions: # ERDGESCHOSS/GROUND FLOOR | Room 1: | Erkennungsdienst/identification service (photographs of prisoners). | | --- | --- | | Rooms 2, 3: | Decke/Kunstwoßloch room (for developing the photographs). | | Rooms 4, 5: | W.C. | | Rooms 6, 7: | Entlausung/delousing. | | Room 8: | Magazin/torre. | | Room 9: | Auskleidersum/Undressing room. | | Room 10: | Waschraum/was/room (find with 24 showers). | | Room 11: | Nr. designation. | | Rooms 12,13: | Effekten/effects. | Gang/cor/der Warmwasser/ben water (pipes). 24 ===== PDF PAGE 0025 | page-025.md ===== ## II - THE TWO DELOUSING ROOMS ON THE FIRST FLOOR OF BLOCK 3 Two clothing delousing gas chambers operated in the main camp on the first floor of Block 3 in 1941-42. The photographs show what still remains of the internal [Figure 7 (a)] and external [Figure 5, 6, 10 and 11] equipment of this installation, comprising two gas chambers separated by the south-west access staircase of Block 3 [Document 3]. Two big rooms were converted into gas chambers by simply putting an extractor fan in each room. Neither the access doors (two for each room), nor the double windows were made gas-tight. Gas-tightness was achieved by sticking strips of paper over the gaps. The plan [Document 3] of the first floor of Block three was annexed to the deposition [Document 4] of an eyewitness, Andrzej Rablin, who worked in these gas chambers. [His deposition as presented here was translated from Polish to French by the author, with the help of the archivist. It is not a literal translation, but each detail has been carefully verified.] The drawing and account provide important information. They show that an ordinary room can easily be transformed into a gas chamber by simply installing an extractor fan, the «safety regulations» being reduced to their absolute minimum, the wearing of a gas mask by the operators. It may appear surprising that the witness did not wear any clothes, this being highly dangerous in an atmosphere containing 2% by volume of hydrocyanic acid, since a subject exposed to such a concentration of the gas can lose consciousness after ten minutes by absorption through the skin, even when wearing a gas mask. However, about 5 1.5kg cans of Zyclon-B would be necessary in ONE of the gas chambers in Block 3, to obtain this concentration (24g/m³). The witness does not specify the number of cans used, but states that «the chisel, the hammer and THE can of Zyclon-B» were put ready in advance. In normal disinfestation, a hydrocyanic acid concentration by volume of approx. 0.1 to 0.05% is generally used, which in this particular case would mean only a 200 or 500g can of Zyclon-B, without danger for the operator, even naked. The best proof that the witness was not subjected to very high concentrations of hydrocyanic acid - 2% actually being lethal in 30 seconds if no mask is worn - is that he was still alive in 1961 and was able to give this account. ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) ![img-1.jpeg](img-1.jpeg) Document 3: # Translation of inscriptions on the plan: - 1er étage/1st floor - ENTRÉE (nord-ouest)/(Northwest) entrance - VENTILATEUR/Extractor fan - GAZ/Gas - CAPO "MAU" - DETENUS/Prisoners - MAGASIN/Store - COULOIR/Corridor - «GASKAMMER»/Gas chamber - CHAMBRE A GAZ/Gas chamber - ENTRÉE (sud-ouest)/(Southwest) entrance Document 4: Deposition made on 2nd February 1961 by Andrzej Rablin, born 1st January 1914 in Cracow. Prisoner number 1410 «...In these rooms there were wooden frames with hooks on which we hung the clothes. The windows were sealed by strips of paper along the joints, as was the ventilator. We received the Zyclon-B from Capo Mau, a German, who was the only one to have the key of the store. Biscocke, another prisoner, and I did the gassing. We put on our gas masks and went in the room naked or wearing underpants. We did that because of the lice. There were very many lice in the clothes. Sometimes, filling the gas chamber with clothes took as much as two days. The lice fell on the floor and formed a layer about 50cm across under the clothes. When we went in to spread the gas, the lice jumped on us and the layers disappeared very fast. The cans were opened with a kind of chisel with a ring of teeth that we hit with a hammer. It produced a ring of holes in the can. Since we were afraid of being bitten by the lice, we put the chisel, the hammer and the can of Zyclon-B ready in advance, opened it quickly and threw the substance on the floor. Despite the speed of this operation the lice jumped on our legs and to protect ourselves we spread a little Zyclon-B around our feet. Immediately, I could feel the lice drop off, dead. Sometimes at the moment when the gas evaporated, I tried to feel it by handling the crystals. They felt like velvet and were cool and damp. After throwing the crystals we went out, closed the door and stuck strips of paper over the gaps. Twenty-four hours later, we put our gas masks on again, the extractor fans were switched on and we opened the windows. The ventilation continued for two hours. The gas was very dangerous for us. Before we closed the door and sealed it with strips of paper, a little of the gas would escape into the corridor. Apart from us two who were protected by gas masks, the rest did not have any and the entire floor was affected by gas. Once I was slightly gassed because the mask I was wearing was not fully gas-tight. I felt nothing at the time but two hours afterwards I had a bad headache, a pain in the meninges and a burning pain in the lungs. At first I did not go to the KB (Krankenbau/hospital block) but went out of the block into the birch alley [between Block 3 and the protective wall of the Stammlager] to breath deeply while doing some knee bends. The headache went away fairly quickly, but when I coughed a little blood came up. Doctor Wasilewski diagnosed inflammation and dehydration of the throat. After being hospitalised, I was cured in two months...» 25 ===== PDF PAGE 0026 | page-026.md ===== ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) Photo 5: (Photo by the author) The northwest entrance to Block 3. On the first floor on the right is one of the gas chambers, the ventilation opening of which can be seen. ![img-1.jpeg](img-1.jpeg) Photo 6: (Photo by the author) The outside of the ventilator with its cover. The hydrocyanic gas was expelled to the ambient air of the camp without any particular precautions being taken. ![img-2.jpeg](img-2.jpeg) Photo 7: (Photo by the author) Interior view of the ventilation hole. The extractor fan has been removed and there only remain the three bolts that hold the electric motor. ![img-3.jpeg](img-3.jpeg) ![img-4.jpeg](img-4.jpeg) Photos 8 and 9: North-east part of one of the disinfestation gas chambers on the first floor of Block 3. On the right the entrance door, in the centre, the hole where the extractor fan was, to the left, one of the double windows. 26 ===== PDF PAGE 0027 | page-027.md ===== ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) ![img-1.jpeg](img-1.jpeg) Photos 10 and 11: The southeast side of Block 3, seen from the birch alley, showing the ventilation hole of the second gas chamber. ### III - THE DELOUSING GAS CHAMBER IN BLOCK 1 On the ground of the western corner of Block 1 [Photos 14, 15 and 16] there was a delousing gas chamber. The Bauleitung gave the number 685 to its modification drawing (Gas and delousing chambers) for Block 1 [Document 12], a number that dates the project at about 15-20 August 1942, in the midst of a typhus epidemic [of the diary of Johann- and Kramer, reservist doctor, note of 20/8/42], probably as an additional drastic means to delouse effects using Zyclon-B. The transformation was carried out in very primitive fashion by becking in the existing windows, but the date on which this was done is not known. With a volume of 65 to 70m³ (approximately 5.5m long, 3.25m wide and 3.8m high), two 200g cans of Zyclon-B were more than enough to eliminate the lice in 2 to 6 hours (recommended concentration: 5g/m³). The only remaining opening, a small fanlight, was installed to permit natural ventilation once the door was open. It would appear that the present gas-tight door [Photos 16, 17 and 18] with which the gas chamber is fitted was not installed until June 1943. Before this there was another door, not gas-tight, and considerably higher [Photo 16]. On 28th May 1943 Order 459 [Document 13] issued by the SS Administration (Section «V4», also responsible for the Krematorion) was sent to the DAW metalworking shop requesting the fabrication of a gas-tight door for the disinfestation chamber in the Stammlager. Only the gas chamber of Block 1 has such a door, which would appear to prove that Order 459 was for this chamber. However, there is a contradiction between the terms of this Order, which requests a gas-tight door for a gas chamber (hence using Zyclon-B) but destined for a disinfestation chamber (using hot air). This contradiction is only apparent, for it seems that subsequently hydrocyanic acid delousing was abandoned in favour of hot air, supplied by a boiler installed in the yard between Blocks 1 and 2. This modification would explain the juxtaposition of the terms «Gaskammer» and «Entwesungskammer» for the same room. ### Translation: (Document 12) Column headings: - Zn. Nr/drawing number - Haus/house [1] - Mappe/file - A.1. Schutzhäftlingslager - Gebäude Nr. 15-16, Block 1, BW 20 L/A.1 preventive detention camp - building No. 15-16, Block 1, BW 20 L - Massstab/scale Entries - Aufstockung-Erdgeschoss-Obergeschoss/additional storey, ground floor, upper floor - Erdgeschoss/ground floor - Querschnitt, Ansicht/cross section, elevation - Aufstockung, Querschnitt, Ansicht/additional storey, cross section, elevation - Bestandplan des Gebäudes N.15 (Block 1)/inventory drawing of building No.15 (Block 1) - GAS U. ENTLAUSUNGSKAMMER/gas and delousing chamber - Bestandplan des Gebäudes BW 20L, Block 1/Inventory drawing of building BW 20L, Block 1. Document 12: [P360 für 1/4, page 11] ![img-2.jpeg](img-2.jpeg) 27 ===== PDF PAGE 0028 | page-028.md ===== ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) Document 13: In Volume 11 of the Höss trial, annex 15, Schlosserei metal working shop file, page 93, there is the following order: 28.5.43. Nr. 459 Entwesungskammer K.L. Auschwitz. Przedmiot: 1/Die Beschläge zu 1 Tür mit Rahmen, luftdicht mit Spion für Gaskammer, 2/1 Lattentür.- Capo Kühne weiss bescheid. Bestellschein Nr. 158/2 u. 2a der Verwaltung V.4 vom 25.1.43. Wykonawcy: Mirek. Ukonczono: 10.6.43. # Translation: 28.5.43 No. 459: Disinfestation chamber, Auschwitz concentration camp. Subject: 1. Door fittings for one door with frame, air-tight, with peephole for gas chamber. 2. One lath door - Capo Kühne knows about this. Order form No. 158/2 and 2a of administration V.4 of 25/1/43. Executed by: Mirek. Completed: 10/6/43. ![img-1.jpeg](img-1.jpeg) Photos 14 and 15: The delousing gas chamber on the ground floor in the western corner of Block 1. 28 ===== PDF PAGE 0029 | page-029.md ===== ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) ![img-1.jpeg](img-1.jpeg) ![img-2.jpeg](img-2.jpeg) Photo 16 Photo 17 Photo 18 ![img-3.jpeg](img-3.jpeg) Photos 16, 17 and 18: Gas-tight door of the gas chamber, of conventional design (made by the DAW) with its prophetic and two locking bars, each of which fitted into a metal catch through which a threaded rod, bent to form a handle, was screwed, completely blocking the latch and ensuring that the door was tightly closed. Photo 19: Close-up of the exterior of the gas chamber and the fanlight used to assist natural ventilation. 29 ===== PDF PAGE 0030 | page-030.md ===== CHAPTER 3 # THE PRUSSIC ACID DELOUSING INSTALLATION IN THE STAMMLAGER RECEPTION BUILDING Worksite 160 represents the second phase of the sanitary arrangements planned to meet the extension of the main camp whose capacity was to be increased to 30,000 prisoners [Drawing 1]. The «sanitary» installations being a matter of urgency, the first things to be planned at the end of 1941 were a new Krematorium, then a complex comprising a laundry building with another containing a reception area, a delousing block and a shower area [Drawing 2]. The reception building with its delousing installation and showers for the prisoners operated as follows: The north wing (on the right) houses a «rapid» circuit for prisoners already registered, enabling them to take a shower under the surveillance of the SS who watched them undressing, showering and leaving (this was the arrangement on drawing 916 [Drawing 2], but on drawing 1361 [Drawing 3], the surveillance room has become that where the towels are issued). The prisoners followed the path indicated by the arrows on drawing 916. The central aisle contains a more extensive circuit with a separate entrance. This is for newcomers selected for KL Auschwitz. Here they were registered, tattooed, stripped of their clothes and personal effects, underwent a medical examination, showered, dried themselves and either received civilian clothes (their own) which had meanwhile been deloused or the striped prison uniform when this was available. It was essential that the delousing of clothing, connected with the «extensive» circuit should be completed within a reasonable time, that is within a few hours and not 24 or 48 hours as was the case with the two gas chambers in Block 3. The destruction of fleas, lice, bugs and cockroaches requires a minimum contact time of only two hours with a hydrocyanic acid concentration of 5g/m³. To achieve this concentration in the 10m³ gas chambers of the reception building, 50g of HCN was enough. A 200g can of Zyclon-B was used for four gas chambers, 1kg of Zyclon-B for the entire installation permitted effective delousing in two hours, a period compatible with the length of the «extended» circuit. Furthermore, if the wait became too long or if there were too many new arrivals, there was in the basement of the right wing (under the «rapid» circuit) a waiting room called «Warteraum für Zugänge! Waiting room for arrivals», strictly separated from the other installations (and visible on drawing 1391 [Drawing 4]). A delousing period of two hours (or even less if the HCN concentration was increased) required thorough ventilation of the installation after use. The fact that it was housed in a well-ventilated part of the building in direct contact with the outside air, indicates that a certain natural ventilation was necessary for safety of operation, in addition to the obligatory forced ventilation. Unfortunately, no technical document on the operation of these gas chambers survives. The BOOS firm was the consultant and supplied the basic drawings, which have never been found. On the basement drawing 1391 [Drawing 4], a 50cm x 70cm channel runs under each row of gas chambers, just below the breaks in the walls shown in some of the chambers, certainly linking them together. The two channels could be part of a forced draught ventilation system. The block of 19 gas chambers, a little too close to the reception building, was separated from it in June 1942 on drawing 1361 [Drawing 3]. On ground floor plan of drawing 1361, there is perpendicular to the tenth gas chamber [Photo 8], a staircase leading to a loft in the roof space and logically formed of a floor resting on the mesh of steel rods (from 2 to 4cm diameter) above the gas chambers [Photo 7]. If there was any other equipment connected with the gas chambers (such as ventilation fan motors, and perhaps tubes for injecting Zyclon-B, etc.) it was probably located on this floor. The existence of a loft would explain the reason for the ten skylights which were there to illuminate this space and which would have been superfluous and simply of esthetic value if the loft were not used [Photos 8, 9 and 10]. The present state of the premises makes it impossible to reconstruct the techniques employed. All the openings between the supporting pillars and the arches have been bricked in, with windows being installed in the centre. Big double or sliding doors in the middle of the four sides give access. The two wings communicating with the reception building have been demolished and the roof accordingly rebuilt. In the interior, the two rows of gas chambers, 19 in all, the stairway and the floor of the loft no longer exist. The floor has been covered with concrete, destroying any traces of the original arrangement. The present building is used to house various stores used for the general maintenance of the Auschwitz Museum. While the aerial photographs prove that the installation was still operating at the end of 1944, we do not know by whom or why these changes were made, making it possible to recover 38 gas-tight doors. It should be noted that the delousing gas chambers planned for the Maidanek camp (KL Lublin), the «Gaskammern für Ventox u. Cyclon-Blausäure/Gas chambers for Ventox and Cyclon-prussic acid», but never built, were to be on the same principle of constructing a line of small cell-like rooms side by side (those for Ventox being bigger). This rule also applied at Birkenau in the arrangement of Bunker 2 as gas chambers, the already modest floor area (7m x 15m = 105m²) being divided into four cells alongside one another but all of different sizes. The complete building with its three wings, i.e. baths, reception and laundry, was started in the autumn of 1942 and not finished until April/May 1944. 31 ===== PDF PAGE 0031 | page-031.md ===== # Translation of inscriptions: (Drawing 1) Aufgestellt: Berlin, den 19/II/1942/Drawn in Berlin, 19th February 1942 Wirtschafts Verwaltungshauptamt/SS Economic Administration Head Office Amt C/I (SS-Sturmbannführer)/C/I Office (SS major) (the black buildings exist, those in grey are planned) Wien-Krakau/Vienna-Cracow Metallwalzwerk/rolling mill - Zivilarbeiter-Unterkunft/civilian workers' accommodation - Wohnhaus/house - Führerheim/hostel for chiefs (or SS officers) Deutsche Ausrüstungs-Werke/German equipment works (DAW) - Zimmerei/carpentry shop - Lagerplatz/storage area - Zimmerplatz/carpenters' yard - Langholz/unsawn timber - Sägegatter/saw mill - Schnittholz/sawn timber Fernholzwerk/district heating plant - Kohlen/coal - Abraum/ash - Pumpenhaus/pump house - Kesselhaus/boiler house - Pförtner/caretaker Wasserversorgungsanlage/water supply plant - Pumpenanlage/pumping installation - Maschinenanlage/machinery - Wassertürme/water towers - Brunnen 2/wells 2 Gleisanschluss zur Reichsbahn/private rail siding attached to the Reichsbahn - Heuschuppen/hay barn - Kartoffelbunker/potato store Kommandantur/camp headquarters - Führer-Unterkunft/senior staff quarters - Kommandantur-Unterkunft/staff quarters - Tankstelle/petrol station - Fahrzeughallen/garages Konzentrationslager/concentration camp - Appellplatz für 30 000 Häfling/assembly ground for 30 000 prisoners - Flache 30 000qm/area 30 000m² - Zellen-Gebäude/cell building - Häftlings-Revier/prisoners' hospital - Isoliergebäude/isolation building - Werkstätten/workshops - Effektenkammer/effects store - Effektens/effects - Lagereingang/camp entrance - Häftl. Bad/prisoners' baths - Zugangsgebäude/reception building - Entlausung/delousing - Grosswascherei/main laundry - Häftl. Küche/prisoners' kitchen - Altes Krematorium/old Krematorium [Kr I] - Krematorium - Wohnung Kommandant/commandant's dwelling Kasernenbereich/barrack area - Mannschaftsbaracken/troops' barracks - Wirtsch. Gebäude/domestic offices - Garagen/garages - Bauleitung/construction management - Provisorischer Kindergarten/temporary kindergarten Neue Solabrücke/new bridge over the Sola Sola-Fluss/river Sola 32 ===== PDF PAGE 0032 | page-032.md ===== Drawing 1: DEVELOPMENT PLAN OF THE STAMMLAGER OR MAIN CAMP OF KL AUSCHWITZ General plan of KL Auschwitz (Stammlager/main camp) of 19th February 1942, drawn by Maize. [PMO ser. no 20/11/4] This overall plan concretises the orders given on 1st March 1941 by RFSS Himmler to camp Commandant Hoess. It shows, at the beginning of 1942, the development planned for KL (concentration camp) Ausch- witz, raising the number of prisoners to 30 000 (the KGL prisoner of war camp at Birkenau being originally planned strictly for receiving 100 000, then 200 000 Russian POWs). The accent was on setting up industrial plants (whether belonging to the SS or not) able to take advantage of the cheap labour provided by the prisoners. A major part of these «useful» plans (workshops, dwellings and sanitary and other installations for the prisoners) were in fact realised. The «prestige» construction plans, such as the new camp headquarters, remained in the planning stage. The exploitation of the prisoners, making them work on very low rations, together with an increase in their numbers to 30 000, resulted in the planning of a new Krematorium extending the line of the old one in a south-easterly direction. A number of drawings were produced in connection with this plan for a new Krematorium: probably drawings 870, 871 and 873 (building with an external chimney attached to the central wing, as shown on the drawings of 19/2/42 and on 3230 of 23/11/43) and certainly drawings 932 to 938 and 980, a statement based on the orientation of the elevations on drawings 937 and 938 (this last Krematorium project, slightly different from the first, was in fact to become the definitive plan, with a chimney emerging directly from the annex wing). This normal Krematorium was never actually built in the main camp, but the work that went into the drawings of the 930 series was not wasted and made it possible to proceed directly to the construction of Krematorium II, under the designation of BW 30, at KGL Birkenau and to produce a mirror-image version, BW 30a or Krematorium III. ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) 33 ===== PDF PAGE 0033 | page-033.md ===== ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) Drawing 2. Bauleitung drawing 916 ENTWURF FÜR AUFNAHMEGEBÄUDE MIT ENTLAUSUNGSANLAGE U. HÄFTLINGSBAD/ Project for reception building with a delousing installation and prisoners' baths. «AUFNAHMEGEBÄUDE, ERDEGESCHOSS/reception building (BW 160), ground floor». Drawing 916, was 1:100 drawn by W. UHL (ZA/civilian employee, draughtsman) on 30/12/41, checked by Walter DEJACO on 6/1/42 and approved by BISCHOFF on 8/1/42. The civilian draftsman who made this drawing worked in the Drawing Office under Untersturmführer Dejaco. His particular style of producing drawings and keys is practically identical, to the point of confusion, with that of SS Unterscharführer Ulmer who also worked in the Bauleitung Drawing Office. Ulmer was probably sent from Berlin to Auschwitz to work as a draughtsman and architect and was then posted to a combat unit as from February 1943. It is he who drew the 930 series «Krematorium project» drawings. The reception building comprises two wings in which there are two distinct circuits for operations. ===== PDF PAGE 0034 | page-034.md ===== Drawing 3 Bauleitung drawing 1361 AUFNAHMEGEBÄUDE MIT ENTLAUSUNGSANLAGE UND HÄFTLINGSBAD Reception building with delousing installation and prisoners' baths (BW 160) Drawing 1361, scales, 1:10, 1:100 and 1:2 000, Drawn by prisoner 538, checked by WERKMANN (civilian architect from Berlin) # Translation of inscriptions (from top to bottom and left to right) - Querschnitt-Häftlingsbad/cross section of prisoners' baths - Querschnitt-Aufnahmegebäude/cross section reception building - Schnitt durch das Hauptgesims/section of the main cornice (1:10) - Situation/situation, 1:2 000 - Entlausung/delousing - Grundriss-Häftlingsbad/plan of the prisoners' baths - Querschnitt durch den Sockel/section through the base - Wäscherei-Gebäude/laundry building - Grundriss-Aufnahmegebäude/plan of the reception building ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) 35 ===== PDF PAGE 0035 | page-035.md ===== ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) Drawing 4: Bauleitung drawing 1391 AUFNAHMEGEBÄUDE MIT ENTLAUSUNGSANANLAGE UND HÄFTLINGSBAD MASSSTAB 1:100 Aufnahmegebäude-kellerbeception building basement Drawing 1391, scale 1:100 Drawn by prisoner 538 and checked by Werkmann on 19/6/42, approved by Bischoff 20/6/42. # Translation of the inscriptions: - Situation/situation, 1:2 000 - Wäschereigebäude/laundry building - Kellergeschoss-Grundriss und Fundamentplan/basement plan and foundations In the right wing: - Warteraum für die Zugänge/waiting room for new arrivals In the central wing: - Flickraum/mending room 36 ===== PDF PAGE 0036 | page-036.md ===== **Photo 5:** [PMO neg. no. 20995/10] In the middle ground is the south side of the building housing the 19 delousing gas chambers under construction in the winter of 1942/43. In the foreground the foundations of the main laundry. (Photo taken from Block 26 of the main camp). ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) ![img-1.jpeg](img-1.jpeg) **Photo 7:** [PMO neg. no. 20995/10] Interior view of the delousing installation with the rows of openings on the «dirty» side of the gas chambers, spring/summer 1943. The steel framework at a height of 2.5m is perfectly visible. The southern internal wall with four windows, separating the «clean» and «dirty» sides is under construction. **Photo 6:** [PMO neg. no. 20995/12] In the middle ground is the south side of the delousing installation, showing its position between the north wing housing the baths, the central section for reception and the south wing housing the laundry which is under construction. (Photo taken from Block 26 of the main camp). ![img-2.jpeg](img-2.jpeg) **Photo 8:** Detail of drawing 1361 showing the position of the photographer (P) for **Photo 7**. The term «Plancher» (Entlausungsanlage) praxe wird delousing installation- no longer appears on the final drawings 1361 and 1391. However, there is no doubt about the identity of the agent used. ![img-3.jpeg](img-3.jpeg) # **Translation of inscriptions:** - Entlausung/delousing - Reine Seite/clean side - Treppe siehe Detail/staircase, see detail - Unreine Seite/dirty side - Siehe Detail/see detail - Lichthof/central courtyard **Not visible:** - Flur/corridor - Brause/shower - Aufsicht/surveillance The presence of a staircase going up towards the roof space would explain the purpose of the steel frame, which would have supported a floor carrying the equipment necessary for the functioning of the gas chambers. As compared with drawing 916, where the delousing installation was a direct extension of the reception building, drawing 1361 shows it to be separated from it by a distance of 6 meters, access being by two corridors (one clean and one dirty). The SS bathroom and the place from which they monitored the operations (showers of arrivals) are only 10 to 15 meters from the gas chambers. 37 ===== PDF PAGE 0037 | page-037.md ===== Photo 9: [PMO neg. no. 20995/26] West and south sides of the building housing the 19 gas chambers at the time of its completion, spring/summer 1943. ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) ![img-1.jpeg](img-1.jpeg) Photo 10: [PMO neg. no. 20995/22] View of the south side, with on the right the columns corridor leading to the reception building. # Translation of inscriptions: - Reine Seite/clean side - Drahtgitter ca 2.50m hoch/steel grid approx 2.50 meters high - Gefälle 5cm/5cm slope - Blaxssäure - Entlaussungsanlage/prussie acid delousing installation - Unreine Seite/dirty side - Kammer/chambers (from 1 to 19) - Sockel/base - Siehe Detail der Fa BOOS/see detail drawing by Messrs Boos - Vorraum/anteroom - Auskleideraum/undressing room - Waschraum für SS M./bathroom for SS personnel This drawing shows that the SS were not afraid to undress and shower THREE meters from gas chambers using hydrocyanic acid (i.e. Zyclon-B). The delousing building is shown directly attached to the reception building, without communicating corridors, as on the KL Auschwitz general plan of 19/2/1942. ![img-2.jpeg](img-2.jpeg) ![img-3.jpeg](img-3.jpeg) Photo 12: Detail of drawing 916 showing the location of the 19 delousing gas chambers each with a volume of 10.80 cubic meters. Photo 11: [PMO neg. no. 20995/23] View of the south and east sides and roof of the delousing building and the corridors connecting it with the reception building (dirty to the north, clean to the south). The skylight on the roof would be only for architectural embellishment unless they were to illuminate a left in the roof space. 38 ===== PDF PAGE 0038 | page-038.md ===== ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) Photo 13: Detail of an aerial photograph of the main camp taken on 25th August 1944 12 LE MONDE JUIF ![img-1.jpeg](img-1.jpeg) Photo 5 : Enregistrement, Auschwitz I, le 25 août 1944 registration building prisoners for registration bâtiment d'enregistrement prisonniers qui vont être enregistrés Indices photographiques : A Auschwitz I, nous trouvons l'autre partie du drame, ceux envoyés « à droite », se déroulant à Birkenau (photo 5). Devant le bâtiment d'enregistrement du camp principal, une longue file de prisonniers est visible. C'était indiscutablement le groupe qui devait échapper à la mort dans les chambres à gaz, pour être condamnés à une mort-vivante dans un détachement de travail S.S. Ils sont là, pétrifiés pour l'éternité, attendant d'être fatigués et affectés au travail. Photo 14: Translation of the commentary on the photograph from «LE MONDE JUIF»: PHOTO 5: REGISTRATION, AUSCHWITZ I, 25 th August 1944 Photographic evidence: in Auschwitz I, we find the other part of tragedy, those sent «to the right», taking place at Birkenau (photo 5). Before the registration building of the main camp, a long line of prisoners can be seen. It was indisputably the group who were to escape death in the gas chambers to be condemned to a living death in an SS labour detachment. There they are, frozen for all eternity waiting to be tattooed and detailed off for work. On the aerial photograph, the different parts of the reception building («rapid» and «extended» circuits, gas chambers) are outlined with a solid line, the big laundry with a dotted line. Presented in the 97th issue of the CD/C («Le Monde Juif», January-March 1980, «Auschwitz à vol d'oiseau» [a bird's eye view of Auschwitz]), the photograph [Photo 14] has been interpreted incorrectly. The entrance to the reception building for new arrivals selected as fit for work is located at point «E» (complete photo). The line of prisoners in the yard is entering at «C», i.e. one of the entrances to the laundry. The prisoners - already registered - are most probably waiting to hand in their clothes for washing and receive clean ones. This error by the authors, Brugioni and Poirier, shows the extreme care that must be taken in interpreting the evidence and demonstrates that a global knowledge (written archives, photographs, original drawings, present state of the premises, eye-witness accounts) is almost essential before any explanation can be put forward. The studies presented - among others - by the «revisionists» are no exception to this rule, and a lack of respect for it has led them into serious error. Through establishing certain precise points - often unknown to the general public - they imagined that they had been able to disprove the existence of «homicidal» gas chambers by rejecting any other document negating their thesis and ignoring all the remaining documentation containing many traces confirming this reality. A further aggravating circumstance is that once they have accepted something as fact, this becomes established and irreversible. My own experience has taught me to be prepared to revise my initial interpretations which were often inexact and sometimes even quite wrong, because I lacked this «global view». There were and are still some Polish historians who possess this knowledge, but it has never been fully exploited due to material or intellectual constraints, deliberate or otherwise. 39 ===== PDF PAGE 0039 | page-039.md ===== CHAPTER 4 # KANADA I AND ITS CLOTHING DELOUSING INSTALLATION with a presentation of various gas-tight doors The study of «Kanada I» [Documents 1 and 2] and its delousing gas chamber(s) using Zyclon-B is essential for several reasons. From the standpoint of the prisoners, it was the only place in the camp where a «normal» life was maintained despite the imprisonment, ensuring regular food for those who worked there (taken from what the gassed victims had brought with them) and decent clothing (from the same source). It is here that woman and men had contact and «love stories» could develop, evoked in Andrzej Munk's film «La Passagère» (1964), or the Rudolf Vltra's book «Je me suis évadé d'Auschwitz» (1988 for the French version). With its «decent» male and female prisoners, Kanada I could be photographed without fear by the SS. Ten photos from the «Album d'Auschwitz» [Photos 3 to 10] show the activities of sorting the victims' effects in this complex. For the historian the essential part of Kanada I is its Zyclon-B delousing gas chamber(s) which operated permanently from 1942 to 1944 [Photos 7, 9 and 10]. A former prisoner, Josef Odi, explains how the operation was carried out. Deposition made on 25th August 1963 by Josef Odi, born 15th August 1923 at Brzezny Śląskie, registered number 61615, now living at Oswiecim, ul. Włocinowice 20. Arrested on 20th April 1942 and prisoner at Auschwitz-Birkenau on 22nd August 1942 Josef Odi worked in the Kanada I commando in the spring of 1944. His description concerns only 1944. He had already furnished other information on this subject recorded in the PMO archives as part of the «testimonies», volume 33, pages 112-116 and volume 51, pages 119-134. # Entwesungskommando/Kanada «...I was working in the Entwesungskommando/Kanada [Kanada] disinfestation kommando: should be called «Entwesungskommando/delousing kommando because» «delousing» was done in one or two Zyclon-B gas chambers near the Bauhof [building materials yard]. There I disinfected the effects of people who had been killed. Furs and valuable objects that could not be disinfested by steam were disinfected using Zyclon-B, the same method that was used in the gas chambers to kill man. In our Kommando there were about fifteen prisoners. We used this method in gas chambers specially set up for disinfestation. They had one or two entrance doors and a few extractor fans. This disinfestation was organised as follows: all the furs and valuable objects to be disinfected were hung up. As soon as this was done, we covered the floor. Two prisoners put on gas masks and then went into the middle of the chamber with cans of Zyclon-B. One prisoner stood near the entrance and watched to see that the two prisoners in the middle of the room didn't poison themselves. Using special chassis, the two men opened the cans of Zyclon-B, poured it on the floor and withdrew rapidly, closing the gas-tight doors behind them. One hour later, they opened the doors and the extractor fans were switched on. The used Zyclon-B was collected by us and put back in the original cans and cases. We took these cases to the Theatergebäude [theatre building] to be sent to back to the gas manufacturer. Our group also prepared the Zyclon-B for the gas chambers. We transported four or five wooden cases from the Theatergebäude to Kanada. When the cases were ready, a vehicle from the Health Service arrived and the cases were loaded in it. There were 40 or 50 cans in each case, so about 200 cans in all... [A literal translation from the Polish, this testimony is not really «good». It was too late, 1963, and though the witness remembered what he had experienced, certain details of the environment escape him (underlined with dashes). On the other hand, certain other details (full underlining) are excellent.] At the liberation of the camp none of the homicidal gas chamber remained in their original state, they had been dismantled, dynamited or transformed. The only intact gas chamber(s) were in Kanada I [Photos 11 to 13]. The Soviet film «Chronicles of the liberation of the camp, 1945» shows a gas-tight door belonging to this or these gas chamber(s) [Photos 14 and 15]. The cans of Zyclon-B discovered in Kanada I had been used there for delousing purposes [Photos 16 and 17]. Not one of them was full. Also found was a box containing a chemical reagent used to check for the presence of hydrocyanic gas, a box to which the Soviets wrongly attributed a criminal use [Photo 18]. Since the homicidal and delousing gas chambers using Zyclon-B had been installed and equipped according to the same principle, they had identical gas-tight doors fabricated in the same workshops, the Auschwitz DAW woodworking and metalworking shops [Photos 20 to 31]. Confusion was inevitable, since at this time it was not known how to distinguish between the two types of gas chamber. Photos taken after the war [Photos 19 to 27] and before the remains of the Kanada I delousing installation were demolished make it possible to see that the two types of gas chamber were equipped in exactly the same way. The only difference is in the gas-tight doors: there is a hemispherical grid protecting the peephole on the interior of the doors of homicidal gas chambers, a protection not fitted on the doors of delousing chambers. Document 1: (Translation of a note of 8th July 1982 sent to the author by the PMD Archivist, Mr. Todorov [WASZKO]) ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) Key to the plan of Kanada I: [The huts have been numbered (1 to 5) but the witness is not certain to which huts the numbers refer. (The photos of Kanada I contained in the Auschwitz Album confirm this numbering)]. 1, 2: Wooden huts [1 and 2] of the Pferdestall/stable type where the deloused linen and clothing was stored. Here the effects were cleaned, stocked and patched and subsequently transported to a brick building (7 on the drawing). 1a, 2a: Awnings extending the roof of the huts to protect the clean (deloused) linen. 3: Wooden hut [3] of the stable type containing linen and deloused clothes. 4: Hut [4] of the stable type. This contained suitcases and bags whose contents were to go to the delousing chamber. 4a: Wooden awning running the length of the sorting hut [4]. There was also a temporary shower installation for the prisoners who sorted the baggage. (Another aerial photograph seems to show that the awning was not on the east side of hut 4 but on the northern part of the west side). 5: Wooden hut [5] of the stable type used for sorting the contents of the baggage. Any valuable objects found during sorting were put in a special chest, the «West-kliste». 6: Temporary baggage store. 7: Brick building with a pitched roof, used as a store, with shelving inside to hold the deloused clothing. This is where parcels were prepared for subsequent dispatch by rail to the Reich (Germany). 8: Brick building occupied by the Kanada I SS Kommandoführer and other SS employed in Kanada I. 9: Brick house, which had been inhabited by a Polish family who were evicted, converted for delousing. Inside tubular frames had been erected for hanging clothes to be deloused using Zyclon-B gas. 9a: Room next to the delousing chamber where medicines and potheses were kept. Some of the medicines were subsequently sent to the hospital. Block 28 of KL Auschwitz I. 9b: Room used to store gas masks, cans of Zyclon-B and the tools for opening them (cold chisels with a toothed head). The cans of Zyclon-B stocked here came from the «Theatergebäude» main store, carried on a two-wheeled hand cart [Photo 3]. 9c: Place in front of the delousing chamber building where the deloused clothes were brought out. 9d: Roof under which objects were kept. 10: Brick latrines for the prisoners working in Kanada I. 11: Probable location of the wooden watch towers for the surveillance of Kanada I. 12: Railway by which the wagons to be loaded with recovered, deloused and prepared goods arrived. The trains subsequently went to the Reich. Drawing of Kanada I by J.C. Pressac, based on that by T. Iwaszko and aerial photographs. 41 ===== PDF PAGE 0040 | page-040.md ===== ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) Document 2: Aerial photograph taken by American aviators in late August or early September 1944 [P80/ reg. no. 20939] Translation of inscriptions: - Nord/North - Hauptbahnhof/Auschwitz main station - Auschwitz Stammlager/Main camp - La Sola/River Sola - Neue Brücke/New bridge 42 ===== PDF PAGE 0041 | page-041.md ===== Photo 3: [No. 175 in «L'Album d'Auschwitz» by S. Klarsfeld] The arrival of tracks loaded with effects. They will be unloaded around the only post fitted with a lamp for night work. This post is in front of the south side of hut 5. ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) ![img-1.jpeg](img-1.jpeg) Photo 5: [No. 187 in «L'Album d'Auschwitz» by S. Klarsfeld] On the left hut 4 on the right hut 5. In the yard behind building 164, that containing the gas chamber, non-textile objects are being sorted. ![img-2.jpeg](img-2.jpeg) ![img-3.jpeg](img-3.jpeg) Photo 4: [No. 182 in «L'Album d'Auschwitz» by S. Klarsfeld] Unloading of effects and initial rough sorting under the non-blad eye of the SS. On the left, hut 5, in the background the brick dispatch building (7). Photo 6: [No. 190 in «L'Album d'Auschwitz» by S. Klarsfeld] Sorting deloused lines at the end of the yard between huts 1 and 2 (to the right). Just below the roof of hut 2, wooden blocks that supported the awning that was once there. Behind the photographer and visible only on Photo 10 is the awning of hut 1, not removed like that of hut 2. 43 ===== PDF PAGE 0042 | page-042.md ===== ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) ![img-1.jpeg](img-1.jpeg) Photos 7 and 8 [Nos. 181 and 188 of «L'Album d'Auschwitz» by S. Klarsfeld] The provisional baggage depot (6). These two photos were taken one after the other. Photo 8 shows the entrance to hut 5, in the background on the left, hut 4 and the nose of the truck in Photo 4. In the middle ground of Photo 7, the brick building (9) with the number 164. On the extreme left the entrance to the delivering gas chamber, with the gas-tight door open. Above the ladder leaving against the wall is the (or one of the) extractor fan(s) for removing the hydrocyanic gas. To the side, most probably the fan motor switches. Photo 9: [No. 180 of «L'Album d'Auschwitz» by S. Klarsfeld] Unloading lines and clothing to be enclosed outside the gas chamber with the gas-tight door open. The ventilator clearly visible above the ladder. ![img-2.jpeg](img-2.jpeg) ![img-3.jpeg](img-3.jpeg) Photo 10: [No. 178 of «L'Album d'Auschwitz» by S. Klarsfeld] The same scene a few moments later, the photographer being against the wall of building 164. In the background hut 1 and 2 with a lamp for night work on the end of hut 1. 44 ===== PDF PAGE 0043 | page-043.md ===== ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) Photo 11: [PMO neg. no. 898] Inside delousing building 164, the store where empty Zyclon-B cans were found (area 9a or 9b on the drawing). The state of the premises as observed by the Soviet Commission in 1945. ![img-1.jpeg](img-1.jpeg) ![img-2.jpeg](img-2.jpeg) Photo 12: [PMO neg. no. 899] Inside building 164 in 1945. Probably the Zyclon-B store. In fact it is impossible to exactly situate these photos in building 164 (9, 9a or 9b?), because the building has since been demolished. Photo 13: [PMO avg. no. 879] Northwest side of building 164. From right to left, the main entrance door, two extractor fans and their control boxes, and the gas-tight door of the gas chamber. Since the building no longer exists, its interior arrangement will remain unknown, unless other photographs are found. We therefore do not know the dimensions of the gas chamber and are not even certain whether there were one or two gas chambers. 45 ===== PDF PAGE 0044 | page-044.md ===== ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) ![img-1.jpeg](img-1.jpeg) Photo 15: [PMO neg. No. 621] Close-up of the peephole of the same gas-tight door. Photo 14: [Soviet Commission, 1945, no reference] The gas-tight door of the Kanada 1 delousing gas chamber. Its construction, by the DAW, is very rudimentary. It has a peephole, a handle to open it and two hinged iron bars (latches with handles) to close it, closing being completed by screwing a right-angled bolt through each of the two metal catches into which the latches fitted. The type of gas-tight door, with the same method of closing, was to be used as it stood in the homicidal gas chambers. Photos 14, 15, 16 and 17 have been deliberately grouped together, for the four of them shown together sum up in striking fashion homicidal gassings using Zyclon-B, as the Soviet Commission, the first to undertake investigations on the site in 1945, understood, presented and published them. However, the scene is a completely put up job. It has been common practice to show together a gas-tight door from a delousing gas chamber (having genuinely functioned as such) and an enlargement of its peephole, together with the delousing agent used, Zyclon-B. During from 1945, this particular presentation is supported by one or two testimonies affirming that a group of Sonderkommando men were gassed in this Kanada gas chamber. It is always stated that they were caught «by surprise», but even so, the episode, in the last quarter of 1944, remains dubious. The members of the Sonderkommando that the SS wanted to silence forever because they had seen too much, knew very well how to recognise a gas chamber, and from very far off. In this situation, they would not allow themselves to be shut in like a lot of sheep... This «historic» montage is to be compared with that mentioned in the postface with reference to the Krematorium of K.L. Natzweiler in Alsace. 46 ===== PDF PAGE 0045 | page-045.md ===== ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) ![img-1.jpeg](img-1.jpeg) Photo 16: [Soviet Commission, 1945, no reference] Before the gas-tight door of the discoloration gas chamber, a low-ranking Russian officer and a civilian member of the first Investigation Commission in the company of two former prisoners are presenting empty Zyclon-B cans found in building 164. ![img-2.jpeg](img-2.jpeg) Photo 18: [PMO neg. no. 773] A Russian Second Lieutenant presenting for the camera (for the film «Chronicles of the Liberation of the camp, 1945») a gas detector box, probably specific to hydrocyanic acid. Behind him is the gas-tight door of the «Karsak-I» gas chamber. On the right of the picture part of the face of the Russian officer visible on Photo 16. Photo 17: [PMO neg. No. 622] Enlarged view of four empty Zyclon-B cans, that had held 1.5kg of hydrocyanic acid, standing on their packing case. 47 ===== PDF PAGE 0046 | page-046.md ===== ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) Photo 19 ![img-1.jpeg](img-1.jpeg) Photo 20 ![img-2.jpeg](img-2.jpeg) Photo 21 ![img-3.jpeg](img-3.jpeg) Photo 22 ![img-4.jpeg](img-4.jpeg) Photo 23 ![img-5.jpeg](img-5.jpeg) Photo 24 ![img-6.jpeg](img-6.jpeg) Photo 25 ![img-7.jpeg](img-7.jpeg) Photo 26 ![img-8.jpeg](img-8.jpeg) Photo 27 48 ===== PDF PAGE 0047 | page-047.md ===== Photo 19: [PMO neg. no. 10090] East and north sides (centre and right respectively) of the former building 164 of Kanada I, the south-east end having no roof. Photo taken during the 1950s, when the house was once more inhabited. Photo 20: [PMO neg. no. 10099] East side of the former building 164 where during the war there was a gas chamber using Zyclon-B for delousing clothing. On the extreme right, rather faint, but still legible, the number 164. Behind the tree there is a window, once more in its initial position, having been blocked up during the war, where one of the extractor fans was installed. To the left the gas-tight door with another ventilation hole. The electrical control box for the fan has been removed (cf. Photo 13). Photo 21: [PMO neg. no. 10091] Exterior of the gas-tight door, still as it looked in January 1945 (cf. Photo 14). Photo 22: [PMO neg. no. 10098] The gas-tight door, open, taken on a north-west/south-east line (as in Photo 9, but more close up). Photo 23: [PMO neg. no. 10100] Detail of the peephole, covered with a wire grid, of the gas-tight door (taken from a little further away than Photo 15). Photo 24: [PMO neg. no. 10095] View of the emplacement of the extractor fan closest to the gas-tight door. On the right the trace of the electric cable leading to the control box, the top of which is just visible. Photo 25: [PMO neg. no. 10092] View of the interior of the gas-tight door, still with the remains of the strips of felt that were nailed to the edges of the door and the frame to make it gas-tight. The inside of the peephole IS NOT protected by a hemispherical grid (as on photo 30[32] of the following sheet). Furthermore, the nuts of the bolts holding the metal bars ARE ON THE INSIDE. UNLIKE those of the shutters through which the Zyclon-B was introduced in the homicidal gas chambers of Krematorien IV and V at Birkenau [see Part II, Chapter 7]. Photo 26: [PMO neg. no. 10099] Interior of the gas-tight door, closed, photographed from inside the former gas chamber on a south-north line. It is likely that the dark patches on the wall to the right of the door are bluish, a characteristic sign of the prolonged use of the room for gaseous delousing using hydrocyanic acid, the main component in Zyclon-B. Photo 27: [PMO neg. no. 10093] View of the emplacement of a third extractor fan, position unknown, probably in the southeast wall behind the building, taken from inside the gas chamber. The dark marks around the ventilator are probably the bluish traces of hydrocyanic acid. ## SUNDRY GAS CHAMBER DOORS PHOTOGRAPHED ON THE LIBERATION OF THE AUSCHWITZ CAMP IN 1945 Photos 28 to 31 demonstrate the practical impossibility, without further information, of distinguishing between gas-tight doors coming from homicidal gas chambers and those from disinfestation gas chambers. Of the same model, they were all made in the metal working and carpentry shops of the Auschwitz DAW [»Deutsche Ausrüstungswerke/German equipment works»]. ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) Photo 28: [CDJC Paris, document DL XXII-2: Warsaw Central Commission Archives, sygn. 10] Gas chamber door produced as evidence of the existence of homicidal gas chambers by the LICRA lawyers during the «Faurisson» trial. Exhibit furnished by the archives of the Warsaw Central Commission for the investigation of Hitlerite crimes in Poland. Inscription: «Giftige Gase! Bei Betreten des Raumes LEBENSGEFAHR/Toxic gases! DANGER on entering this room». This is not convincing proof of homicidal use. Classified as KL Auschwitz-Birkenau «DISINFESTATION gas chamber door», Oswiecim, 1945, an incorrect designation as it should be DELOUSING. It has not been possible to find where this door was located and we do not know to which delousing installation it belonged. The strips of paper adhering to it are a sure sign that it was a delousing gas chamber door. One of the likely locations would be as an internal door of the Kanada I gas chamber or chambers, if we compare Photos 28 and Photo 14 of the Kanada I gas chamber. 49 ===== PDF PAGE 0048 | page-048.md ===== ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) Photos 29[31] and 30[32]: (PMO neg. no.205/45) These two photographs accompanying the report drawn up by Judge Jan Sehn in volume 11 of the Hoess trial, on the «nature of the devices and installations», showing the exterior (31) and the interior (32) of a gas-tight door found in the Bauhof (place where construction materials for the Auschwitz camp were kept). The heavy hemispherical grid protecting the inside of the peephole makes it reasonable to conclude a homicidal use. It can be seen that there is no difference in either design or construction between the door in Photos 28 and that in Photo 29[31]. They are identical apart from the height of the peephole with respect to the upper closing bar. ![img-1.jpeg](img-1.jpeg) Photo 31: (Warsaw Central Commission Archives, sygn. 14) Photo of a gas chamber door taken in Oswiecim in 1945. German and Polish inscriptions: «Achtung-Lebensgefahr! Stoj!/Attention! Danger! No entry!». Location unknown. The inscriptions were made AFTER the liberation, for the door is condemned, the latch bars having been removed. 50 ===== PDF PAGE 0049 | page-049.md ===== # LOCATION OF BIRKENAU DELOUSING, DISINFESTATION AND DISINFECTION INSTALLATIONS STUDIED IN CHAPTERS 5, 6 AND 7 Bauleitung drawing 3764 General plan of KGL Birkenau with its «sanitary» equipment: the delousing, disinfestation and disinfection installations (in red), the sewage treatment plants (in yellow) and the four Krematorien (in black and grey). LAGEPLAN DES KRIEGSGEFANGENENLAGERS. AUSCHWITZ O/S MASSSTAB 1:5000 General plan of the Auschwitz prisoner of war camp, Upper Silesia. Drawing 3764, scale 1:5000; Drawn by prisoner 63003 on 25/3/44, checked by ZA (Zivil Arbeiter/civilian employee) Teichmann on 24/3/44 and approved the same day by SS Linsmann Johann. This was the basic drawing for the projected development of Birkenau. With respect to the original, the following base been highlighted for this study: In black: Krematorien II, III, IV and V. In red: The positions of delousing, disinfestation and disinfection installations known and realized: BW Scand 50, the Zentral Scand, the «Entwrungsanlage/disinfestation installation» of B.a.III (Gypsy camp). In yellow: The sewage treatment plants: Kläranlage I, Kläranlage II, and the Provisorische Erdbecken of B.a.III (these last, provisional decantation basins, dug in the ground, are very often wrongly taken to be cremation pits for corpses. However, those associated with Bunker I were dug 300-500 meters to the west of the Bunker. This error of interpretation is found above all in German works on KL Auschwitz). Black arrows indicate the entrances to the different sectors of Birkenau. The areas roughly staged in pencil contain mites, buildings and installations that were preserved by the Polish authorities after the war. All the accommodation here were dismantled and reinstalled near big urban centres that had been destroyed during the fighting, in order to accommodate homeless Poles. The network of drains and sewers that criss crossed the camp is not shown. In the case of B.a.I these drained to Kläranlage I, B.a.II to Kläranlage II and B.a.III, under construction, to the provisional decantation basins, a stop-gap measure installed while awaiting the building of a sewage plant which would have been, according to the project drawings made, either the nitrous image of Kläranlage II or of a different type, more concentrated and directly connected to the four provisional sedimentation basins which would then become sludge purification basins. While Kläranlage I became operational after various transformations, Kläranlage II never did despite the advanced state of its construction. Virtually the only sewage treatment at Birkenau was primary decantation in the open air, in long basins where the waters circulated slowly at a fixed rate. The secondary stage, biological purification, was never completed. Despite the efforts of the SS, the waste waters designated «gentilrigent/puillard» after treatment in the three plants, I, II and provisional, and released into the «Kriegsgraben/King» division which flowed into the Vistula, had in fact been only very partially treated. It may sound surprising that an extermination camp like Birkenau had any sewage treatment plants at all, even incomplete. After the screening of the human mass sent to Auschwitz, the disposal of the «water» (children, women and old men) by means of gas chambers and incineration furnaces, the recuperation of the elements that could be exploited (men) by the Reich war machine, the three completed construction stages of the camp would have contained 140,000 prisoners, if not more - the population of a moderately sized town. Crowded together on an area of about 1,700m², this swarm of people needed for its survival some sanitation and health arrangements apart from Krematorien. Without a certain minimum, no collective life would have been possible on the nearby land of Birkenau, where it was already necessary to fight for survival in a pitiless selective environment against the weather conditions, famine and typhoon diseases. Former prisoners often speak of the pestilential odour that they breathed in Birkenau, implicitly accusing the smoke belching forth from the chimneys of the four Krematorien. This picture needs slight modification, however, for there were many periods when the furnaces were not working. The sewage plants treating waste water and recumment must have been responsible for a good deal of the unpleasant smell. ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) 51 ===== PDF PAGE 0050 | page-050.md ===== CHAPTER 5 # THE DELOUSING AND DISINFESTATION INSTALLATIONS ## IN KGL BIRKENAU BUILDINGS BW 5a and 5b (Summary study) ### THE DELOUSING AND DISINFESTATION GAS CHAMBERS OF BAUWERKEN 5a and 5b (Birkenau I) The study of «Work sites» 5a and 5b in the first construction stage (Birkenau I) presents delousing gas chambers using Zyclon-B and shows the evolution of the «disinfestation» techniques used in these buildings. When Birkenau I was completed it was a matter of urgency to have a delousing installation, like that of Stammlager Block 3. A project drawing of 8/11/41 [Drawing 2] was made, showing showers and delousing grouped together, an arrangement that had not been possible initially in the main camp. The prisoners' health situation being catastrophic [Document 1], the only product suitable for drastic measures was one already used, Zyclon-B, which being in the form of a gas had necessarily to be used in a closed space, a «Gaskammer/gas chamber». The two buildings, BW 5a and 5b had one gas chamber per building, each ventilated by two extractor fans. As from April 1943 it was envisaged to replace delousing gas chambers by a less dangerous technique, that of hot air disinfestation chambers [Bauleitung drawing 2262 of BW 4/4]. This conversion was concretized on drawing 2540 of 5th July 1943 [Drawing 1]. At present, however, only BW 5b still has a gas chamber in conformity with drawings 801, 1293 and 1715 [Drawings 2, 3 and 4]. Various improvements made to BW 5a and 5b meant that they were fitted with real saunas. Later, the 5a gas chamber was dismantled, the ventilation of the roof modified, the extractor fans removed and the holes filled in. According to drawing 2540 [Drawing 5], two hot air disinfestation chambers of greatly reduced size were installed there, these being the same model as one already operating in the north part of BW 5a, together with an autoclave. This association was to be repeated later in the design of the «Zentral Sauna», but on a much larger scale. In BW 5a and 5b, the delousing of the prisoners and their clothing always followed the same pattern. Simplifying the procedure somewhat, the prisoners entered, from left to right on the first two drawings [Drawings 2 and 3], through the windbreak entrance into the «dirty» room where they undressed [Photo 16] and their clothes were taken through the «dirty» anteroom and airlock to the gas chamber. After destruction of the lice using hydrocyanic acid, the effects were once more available to the prisoners, rid of parasites, but still just as dirty. For their part, the prisoners passed under the showers, whose temperature varied according to the whim of the hot/cold water «mixer» on duty, then emerged on the «clean» side and waited for their treated clothes so that they could get dressed again. The overall operation could proceed more or less correctly or be transformed into a nightmare if the Capos or the SS were so inclined. This modus operandi had a serious fault: the dirty clothes, that had been alive with lice, were given back with the lice dead but the clothes still dirty. Arrangements were made to try to alleviate this problem, the use of autoclaves [Photo 15] and hot air chambers [Photo 12 to 14] making it possible to disinfect and disinfest at the same time, as well as to roughly clean. It should be noted that the introduction of this new system and the sauna meant that the direction of the disinfestation circuit was changed on the last two drawings [Drawings 4 and 5] to right to left, the sequence for the prisoners being: undress / sauna / shower / wait / dress. As for the clothes, it is not possible to state whether they went in the autoclave, then in a gas chamber or were subjected to only one of these treatments. BW 5a [Photos 9, 10 and 11] and 5b [Photos 6, 7 and 8] each had a delousing gas chamber of 108m² floor area, an enclosed space, separated from the main body of the building by airlocks, with two ventilation outlets in the roof ridge and ventilated artificially by two extractor fans. A stove, fired from the airlock, i.e. from outside the gas chamber, completed the equipment initially. The part of the building enclosing the gas chamber being separated from the main part of the building and more sensitive to variations in the outside temperature, this single stove was not enough and two others were added (photographic evidence: Photos 6 and 8). The fact is that clothes do not give off natural heat like human beings and in winter it was necessary to heat the gas chamber to reach the point at which hydrocyanic acid evaporates, 26° C. The characteristics of a traditional and «home-made» delousing gas chamber in KL Auschwitz can be defined as follows: - Room separated from others by one, or two, airlocks; - An extractor fan for ventilation; - One or more stoves to obtain the hydrocyanic acid vapourisation temperature; - The openings: The doors and windows being of normal construction, they had to be sealed by sticking strips of paper over the cracks; Gas-tight doors could be installed, gas-tightness being achieved by fixing felt sealing strips on both the door and the frame and a tight fit being ensured by two angled bolts being screwed into the catches in which the latch bars were housed. After the transformation of BW 5a, the path taken and the introduction of hot air by forced draught into the disinfestation chambers are clearly indicated. The source of the hot air, on the other hand, is not known and the generators are not mentioned. It can be assumed that it either came from the main boiler house or that there was a separate heating system connected with the blower system, near to the disinfestation chambers. In the two delousing gas chambers of BW 5a and 5b there appeared in the course of time a bluish colouring of the walls, known as the «blue wall phenomenon», which permits the immediate distinction on sight between delousing and homicidal gas chambers. The delousing and homicidal installations where hydrocyanic gas was used were of strictly identical design: a closed space of any desired volume with one or two gas-tight or temporarily sealed doors and fitting with one or two fans for ventilation (sometimes natural ventilation only). Their method of use was radically different. Lice are less susceptible to the toxicity of hydrocyanic acid than is man. A hydrocyanic gas concentration of 0.3 g/m³ [lethal dose] is immediately fatal for man, while in order to destroy lice a concentration of 5 g/m³ applied for at least two hours is necessary. If this concentration is maintained for 6 hours, all insects are destroyed [source: Degesch]. In Birkenau, the quantity poured into the homicidal gas chambers was forty times the lethal dose (12 g/m³) which killed without fail one thousand people in less than five minutes. Afterwards the fans were switched on or the natural ventilation started. Then came the cremation of the corpses over a period of 24 hours (in Krematorien II and III). The contact time for the hydrocyanic acid with the walls of the homicidal gas chambers never exceeded about ten minutes per day at a temperature below 30 degrees Celsius. In the clothing delousing gas chambers a minimum concentration of 5 g/m³ was used during several cycles per day, the duration of the cycle varying according to the contact time chosen. This hydrocyanic saturation for 12 to 18 hours a day was reinforced by the heat given off by stoves (situated in the chamber) providing a temperature of 30 degrees Celsius. The walls were impregnated with warm hydrocyanic acid for at least 12 hours a day, which was to bring about in situ the formation of a dye, «Prussian blue» or potassium iron (III) hexacyanoferrate (II), whose composition varied according to the conditions of formation. The bluish colouring of the walls, internal and external, was not visible at the liberation of the camp, but appeared in subsequent years, under the influence of various physico-chemical factors which have not been studied. The «blue wall» phenomenon makes it possible now to distinguish visually, empirically, but with absolute certainty, between delousing gas chambers, where the phenomenon is present, and homicidal gas chambers where it is not. Without additional heat, the too brief contact of nevertheless high concentrations of hydrocyanic acid with the walls of the homicidal installations was not able to provoke a development of the reaction appreciable enough to be visible. 53 ===== PDF PAGE 0051 | page-051.md ===== # Document 1: «ONE LOUSE, YOUR DEATH», a warning poster in German and Polish kept in the PMO reserve stocks and coming from Block 25 of the Stammlager. The shame of the SS and the scourge of the KL Auschwitz, lice are a vector for exanthematous typhus. A symbolic picture in view of the criminal gassing of both the lice AND their carriers. ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) In this extract from «Témoignages sur Auschwitz» (Edition de l'Amicale des déportés d'Auschwitz, 10 rue Leroux, Paris 16ème, 1946, pages 123 to 127) a delousing operation at Birkenau in August 1943 is perfectly evoked by Macha Ravine, and the scene in the «sauna» takes place in BW 5a or 5b. # THE FIRST DELOUSING # Experienced at Birkenau (Womens Camp) The whole camp was infested with lice. They were in the blankets, the straw mattresses and in our clothes. If you put in a hand clothed in a black glove, when you pulled out it was covered with lice. We made such experiments when our disgust with the lice was so great that we wanted to amuse ourselves with our own misfortune. There was no lack of fleas or bugs either. Thanks to the lice, the camp was riddled with typhus! That this illness was a real plague and carried off thousands of victims was just one more factor in the extermination process and the Germans watched with satisfaction. But the danger was such that the SS who were in daily contact with the prisoners were themselves threatened. They therefore decided to combat typhus by «delousing». For weeks before it happened, there was talk of it in the camp, and all kinds of unbelievable stones were told. For example, that the lice were going to be exterminated with the gas that was used for humans, that we were going to be taken naked into the Zauna (disinfestation), maybe to be gassed ourselves, etc. A few days before the date fixed, a kommando of men (also prisoners) came into our camp and installed big basins of disinfesting liquid between the Blocks, then vehicles arrived carrying gas cylinders. We watched all that with great apprehension and waited for the delousing like an evacuation. It was to be done by Block. This was in the month of July 1942, a period when there were many transports coming from Greece and the Blocks were full to bursting point. There were a thousand or eleven hundred people in a space where four or five hundred could only just fit. On the appointed day, at 2 o'clock in the morning there was a general turn out. First we had to carry our straw mattresses and blankets to the disinfestation. A thousand women dragging their mattresses and blankets and having to go back and forth as many as three times. Then, to our great distress, we had to undress completely and make a bundle of our clothes and plunge it into the basin of disinfesting liquid. The distinguishing sign of our bundles was to be the number sewn on our sleeves. To complete our misery, we were forced to relinquish our personal bags, made of rags, but which contained all the worthy wealth of us prisoners. Some women had only a damaged spoon, a bread ration, a piece of a comb, a handkerchief. Others, better able to look after themselves, also had a knife, a towel, a raw swells, stolen from the back of the truck taking them to the kitchen. Some had a piece of soup, a spare blouse, bought with the camp money, bread, which we sacrificed each time we wanted to have some «luxury» object. We therefore joined all our worthy possessions to our bundle, with the firm conviction that none of these precious things would ever return to their owner. We would have to fast for a few days to be able to «reorganise» once more a little personal property, without which no civilised person can live. Thus deprived before being deloused we had to wait for the rollout so that the Block died, on SS men, could count us. We were a thousand women as naked as the day we were born. We had lost our modesty before the Nazis in numerous scenes in which they considered us to be guinea pigs. As for them, in our eyes they no longer counted as humans. But there were also in the camp male prisoners of the disinfestation Kommando and our pride was injured. Furthermore, it was extremely cold at 6 o'clock in the morning and we were shivering all over. Squeezing together in rows of five, these ranks of skeletal and oedematous women formed a miserable spectacle going far beyond Dante's imagination. When the rollcall was over we went to the «Sauna» and the thousand women paraded before a representative body of the SS with at their head the sinister assassin Tauber who examined us, very pleased with this new sadistic invention. Near the group of SS was a woman report writer (Rapportschreiberin), a prisoner, who worked directly for the Kommandant. She was wearing a splendid blue dress, which contrasted in striking fashion with our miserable nudity. Thus escorted we covered the five hundred metres separating us from the Sauna. There, every woman had all her body hair shaved and her head cropped close. We were introduced to a steam room in the form of an amphitheatre where we collapsed, happy to escape from their odious stares. We were glad to be in the welcome warmth of which our bodies were constantly deprived through lack of food and vitamins. We stayed there a few hours with empty stomachs. Those who had kept some of their bread ration the day before had left it in their bags which had been confiscated. In their distress at losing all their possessions, they had forgotten the bread. We began to be tormented by hunger, but no one thought of feeding us. Perhaps we would have our meal at midday? But that was still far off, and normally, during extraordinary events like this one, they forgot to feed us. After waiting some hours, we were made to enter a freezing shower room. The water too was icy cold. We tried to fight against this sudden change, but we were brutally and with extraordinary haste pushed under the water and had to submit to this trial which caused pneumonia and blousing among many of us. We waited in vain for towels, and they had also forgotten to give us any soap, despite all the ceremonial preparations for the delousing and the importance that was attached to it. So, washed and still naked, we went into another room of the Zauna building, whose door was wide open. Shivering with cold, fatigue and hunger we waited for something to eat. Noon was long gone when it finally arrived. We threw ourselves on the billies like starving animals. In the midst of terrible struggles we received our soup in red bowls, exaggeratedly large as compared with the meagre ration of liquid. Those women who knew how to push themselves forward got two or three bowls, while the others who waited for their turn got nothing. Deprived of our spoons, we ate the soup like dogs, greedily licking the bowls. After the soup (it was 8 o'clock in the afternoon) they took us back, still naked, to our Blocks. By now we were too tired to find our humiliation so keenly as we had in the morning. The Block, which had been disinfested, was not yet open and we had to wait outside. Our clothes, taken out of the basin, were spread on the ground in front of the block. In a scene of indescribable chaos, each woman tried to find her bundle, but it was impossible. The order was quiet to throw them on the roof so that they would do. Finally the door was opened and we waited inside and went to our bunks of bare boards. The mattresses and blankets were still in the disinfestation building. There were ten naked women to a burn. We were shivering with cold and squashed against one another to try to get warm to be able to sleep and forget the terrible day, but the sleep didn't come because despite our efforts we couldn't get warm enough. We all had one single thought: death was very sweet as compared with our suffering and humiliation. Late in the night some managed to fall asleep, but at 3 o'clock we were woken up as usual. We had to go outside, still naked, for rollout. It is impossible for me to describe the suffering, the cold the humiliation once more. After the rollout we squashed together again and waited for sunrise to be able to retrieve our clothes by climbing on the roof. Those who were youngest and youngest managed more easily, and took from the open and mixed up bundles the best belongings and made themselves a fine wardrobe: for the others there were only rags. Soon dried in the sun, the Block took on a tragicomic aspect. Some of its inhabitants were well dressed, while among the others some had only parties and a short petiocist, no blouse and no skirt; others had a skirt and no panties or petiocist. The rowing and shouting never ceased. People snatched clothes from each other, each one claiming, when it was anything of any value, that it belonged to her. Heaps of rags remained on the ground, wet and dirty. No one intervened. The women Block chiefs, remained quietly in their rooms and took no notice. A thousand women, many of them wives and mothers and who in civilian life occupied a respectable place in society, bought amongst themselves for form and lousy clothes to defend their miserable existence. That night we again went to bed without any blankets, but we were wearing a few rags on our bodies and that seemed a blessing compared with the previous night. The next day was another work day. The delousing was over, we were clean but half naked in clothing that would have been come; it it had not been so dispensingly tragic. We paraded in ranks, in perfect order through the gates of the camp where the band beat time to our marching. Our captors looked on with satisfaction: the countless army of slaves of the Reich was going to work to create a «new order». A few days later, the lice reappeared. The first delousing had thus resulted in nothing other than hundreds of cases of pneumonia and some of tuberculosis and we watched our ranks diminish day by day. Still another method of extermination. The camp well merited its name: «BIRKENAU, extermination camp». Macha RAVINE, 35, 304. It should be pointed out, purely on the basis of the evidence and without any ulterior motive, that the witness considers that whatever the SS do is always directed against the prisoners. The typhus that regularly ravaged the camp is perceived as just one more means of extermination, despite the unsuccessful attempts by the SS to eradicate it through large-scale delousing. Because they themselves were threatened, of course. 54 ===== PDF PAGE 0052 | page-052.md ===== Translations of the inscriptions the four BW 5a and 5b drawings: (The same terms found on different drawings are translated only once, in the order of their appearance) - Ansicht/elevation - Giebelansicht/gable end elevation - Windfang (WF)/windbreak - Aborte/toilets - Grundriss/plan view - Gaskammer/gas chamber - Schleuse/airlock - Rollierung/smoothing by roller - Vorraum/vestibule - Schnitt A-B/cross section A-B («clean» side) - Schnitt C-D/cross section C-D (of the gas chamber) - Wasch und Brauseraum/washing and shower room - Unreine Seite, Auskleideraum/dirty side, undressing room - Reine Seite, Ankleideraum/clean side, dressing room - Drainage/drainage - Klappe/trap. ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) Drawing 2: Bauleitung drawing 801 of 8/11/1941 [P400/ aug. No. 209/2/1] ENTLAUSUNGSANLAGE FÜR KGL,declosing installation for prisoner of war camp Scale 1:100 Drawn 8th November 1941 by prisoner No. 127, checked on 10th by SS Untersturmführer Walther Dejaco and approved on 11th by SS Hauptsturmführer Karl Bischoff, head of the Bauleitung. 55 ===== PDF PAGE 0053 | page-053.md ===== ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) Drawing 3: Bauleitung drawing 1293 of 9/5/1942 (PMO reg. No. 20912/1) BE- UND ENTWASSERUNG DER ENTLAUSUNGSBARACKE IM KGL/Water supply and drainage in the delousing building of the prisoner of war camp Scale 1:100, Drawn 9th May 1942 by prisoner No. 18356, checked by Untersturmführer Eggeling on 11th May and approved by Hauptsturmführer Bischoff the same day. - Massstab/Scale: - Pumpenraum/pump room - Schnitt a-b/tenes section a-b (toilets) - Schnitt c-d/tenes section c-d (shower room) 56 ===== PDF PAGE 0054 | page-054.md ===== ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) Drawing 4: Bauleitung drawing 1715 of 25/9/1942 [PMO neg. No. 2001/09] ENTLAUSUNGSGEBÄUDE IM KGL/EINBAU EINER SAUNAANLAGE/DECKBLATT ZUR Nr 801/POW camp delousing building/installation of a sauna/correction sheet for drawing 801 Schnitt a-b/cross section of sauna Schnitt c-d/longitudinal section of sauna Entlüftung/air extraction or natural ventilation O.E. Gelände/ground level Saunaofen/sauna stove Saunaraum/sauna Sitz u. Liegebrücken/benches for sitting and lying Entwesungsapparat/disinfestation equipment Entwesungskammer/disinfestation chamber Unreine S[e]ite/dirty side Reine S[e]ite/clean side Desinfektion/disinfection (sic) Ankleide R[a]um/dressing room Gereinigte Wäsche/clean linen 5 cm Heraklithplatten/panel of 5cm heraklith. 57 ===== PDF PAGE 0055 | page-055.md ===== ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) Brewing 5: Bauleitung drawing No. 2540 of 5/2/1943 (PSO reg. No. 20932-5) EINBAUEINER HEISSLUFTENTLAUSUNG IN DER ENTWESUNGSBARACKE IM F.L./Installation of hot air delousing in the disinfestation building of the womens' camp Scale 1:100. - Heizung/heating drawn by prisoner No. 127 on 5th July 1943, - Breitenoffibiel checked by SS Untersturmführer Dejaco and Jaensch - Heissluftapparat/hot air generator and approved by an unidentified officer the same day. - Brauseraum (50 Brausen)/shower room (50 showers). 58 ===== PDF PAGE 0056 | page-056.md ===== # THE BW 5b GAS CHAMBER ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) Photo 6: South side ![img-1.jpeg](img-1.jpeg) Photo 7: East end wall ![img-2.jpeg](img-2.jpeg) Photo 8: North side On the left, from ground level to just below the chimney, bluish stains can be seen on the bricks of the wall, showing that hydrocyanic acid was used there (in 1942-44), for delousing purposes. In a homicidal gas chamber, the action of highly concentrated HCN was rapid and intense (never more than 15 to 20 minutes), at a temperature below 27°C, then the room was aired or artificially ventilated to get rid of the gas in quickly as possible and finally it was necessary to burn all the corpses, so that it was at least a day before a new cycle commenced. The acid had time to attack metallic parts superficially, forming cyanides, but did not have enough time to impregnate end-scan the brick. Conversely, the operation of a delousing gas chamber used much lower concentration of HCN, but as a general rule and according to witnesses, the gas remained for a very much longer time, from 16 to 18 hours, and a higher temperature was maintained by heating the chamber by stoves (for example there were three stoves in the BW 5b gas chamber). From left to right on photo 6, the outside entrance to the «dirty» airlock of BW 5b, the chimneys for the stoves (probably three in all, for on Photos 6 and 8 two additional chimneys can be seen less on the roof, which do not appear on the drawings), the two natural ventilation openings on the roof and the two wall orifices of the extraction fans (Photo 7). 59 ===== PDF PAGE 0057 | page-057.md ===== # THE BW 5a DISINFESTATION CHAMBER ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) ![img-1.jpeg](img-1.jpeg) ![img-2.jpeg](img-2.jpeg) Photo 9: North side Photo 10: West end On photo 10, from left to right, the two windows (with the round filled-in hole where one of the extractor fans of the former gas chamber was installed) and the access door of the room containing the hot air generator. Photo 11: South side Photo 11 shows, beyond the door seen on Photo 10, the windows of the two disinfestation chambers and the exterior door of the «clean» airlock. 60 ===== PDF PAGE 0058 | page-058.md ===== ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) Photo 12: (West wing of BW 5a) Gas-tight door of a disinfestation gas chamber, with inspection window. ![img-1.jpeg](img-1.jpeg) Photo 13: (West wing of BW 5a) Interior of a disinfestation chamber on a north-south line. ![img-2.jpeg](img-2.jpeg) Photo 14: (West wing of the BW 5a) Detail of the frame (with sealing stop), of a disinfestation chamber door (north side). 61 ===== PDF PAGE 0059 | page-059.md ===== ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) Photo 15: BW 5b autoclave (south-west part). Photo 16: «One louse, your death», slogan on the wall of the BW 5b undressing room. Other warnings are also to be found there: «Sauber sein ist deine Pflicht/it's your duty to be clean» and «Verhalte dich ruhig/behave properly». ![img-1.jpeg](img-1.jpeg) Photo 16: ![img-2.jpeg](img-2.jpeg) ![img-3.jpeg](img-3.jpeg) Photo 17: Part of a hot air blower found in the northern undressing corridor of BW 5a. Photo 18: Interior of the northern part of the west wall of BW 5a. This wall is still the silent witness in the operation of a delousing chamber using hydrocyanic acid (Blaeskerch-Blue acid) in German before its transformation and the installation of hot air chambers. 62 ===== PDF PAGE 0060 | page-060.md ===== CHAPTER 6 ## THE DISINFESTATION INSTALLATION OF THE GYPSY CAMP IN SECTOR B.IIe OF BIRKENAU In the second stage of the construction of Birkenau camp, B.a.II, a stable-type WC block in the Gypsy Camp (B.IIe) was transformed at the end of 1943 or in early 1944 into a disinfestation installation for effects. Only the south-east part of this installation was photographed by the Auschwitz Bauleitung [Photo 1]. It was made up essentially of a battery of eight disinfestation chambers that occupied almost half the area of the hut, controlled and operated in pairs [Drawing 2]. In a morning there were three rotations, each lasting about 45 minutes. Electric motors indicate that these chambers had forced ventilation. Located exactly in the corner of B.IIe [Bauleitung drawing 3764 of 23/3/44], its internal arrangements are not precisely known. The disinfestation vector or product used against lice is indicated in «Der Auschwitz Prozeß» by Hermann Langbein (Europa Verlag Wien, Frankfurt, Zürich, a report of the Frankfurt trial in 1963-1965), volume 2, p. 568. Amann is a former Auschwitz prisoner: «I belonged to a disinfestation Kommando. Klehr was the chief. Our job was to delouse the accommodation Blocks and the people. At first, we used mobile disinfestation vehicles and later. AN ELECTRIC HOT AIR CHAMBER was built in the Birkenau Gypsy Camp.» «We deloused the clothes, the people and the buildings. When a Block was to be deloused, it was evacuated. The people were sent to the disinfestation service where they were shaved and had a fiximent applied. During this time, the clothes were placed in a steam boiler, where they remained for an hour and a half. Meanwhile, the prisoners bathed then had to wait on the «clean» side of the disinfestation service. The blankets remained in the Block to be disinfested.» This installation was dismantled after the war. ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) Photo 1: Bauleitung photograph [PMO reg. No. 20995/420] «Disinfestation installation in the gypsy camp» Entwöhlungsanlage Zigeunerlager Drawing 2: ![img-1.jpeg](img-1.jpeg) Essai de reconstitution P: position du photographe ### Translation of inscriptions: - Essai de reconstitution.../ Attempted reconstitution of the internal layout of the disinfestation hut of B.IIe - cheminée/ Chimney - chaufferie en s/sol.../ Boiler room in basement with access by external stairway - position du photographe/ Position of the photographer 63 ===== PDF PAGE 0061 | page-061.md ===== CHAPTER 7 # THE BIRKENAU «ZENTRAL SAUNA» WITH ITS DISINFECTION AUTOCLAVES AND ITS TOPF DISINFESTATION OVENS # THE BIRKENAU «ZENTRAL SAUNA» or «NEUE SAUNA» designated worksite BW 32 A study of the «Zentral Sauna» is necessary for several reasons: 1. The revisionists (e.g. Faurisson) have situated here what they consider to be the only gas chambers in Birkenau; 2. In order to distinguish between and separate as far as possible the extermination and disinfestation installations, since the confusion between the two has often been used as a system of defence by SS defendants (such as Dejaco); 3. In order to show that a realistic and in-depth study proves that there were no gas chambers in this complex; 4. In order to enable the reader to compare the documentation produced by the author (drawings, contemporary and recent photographs, correspondence and testimonies) with that of the revisionists. The Zentral Sauna was the most comprehensive disinfection and disinfestation installation in KGL Birkenau. Designed after the «sanitary crisis» of August 1942 (typhus epidemic), the first three drawings for it date from November 1942 [Drawings 1, 2 and 3]. Its equipment was to include three disinfection autoclaves and four Topf disinfestation hot air chambers [Drawing 4]. However the Bauleitung did not rapidly commence construction on worksite 32 for two reasons: first, the epidemic having been brought partially under control the need for a large sanitary and delousing installation was felt less urgently; second, as a consequence of a more «controlled» situation, obtaining funds from the WVHA-SS for a major installation was less of a priority. The November 1942 drawings were received by Berlin in January 1943. Designed for carrying out several sanitary operations at the same time both on the prisoners (haircut, medical examination, disinfection and shower) and on their clothing and effects (disinfestation), the main fault with these initial plans was the inadequate space allowed for reception and waiting areas for the prisoners. The Bauleitung corrected this fault by having four more virtually definitive drawings produced in March 1943 [Drawings 5, 6, 7 and 8]. The Berlin WVHA-SS was probably informed of this since in the letters from WVHA of 28th April 1943 the first three drawings are considered cancelled and the Auschwitz Bauleitung is recommended to size the construction as accurately as possible for its purpose [cf correspondence]. The drainage drawing [Drawing 9] for the building was produced in May, after acceptance of the new configuration of BW 32. The necessary credits were made available at the beginning of June and work started immediately, spurred by the perfectly justified fear of a resurgence of typhus as summer approached. After a number of last-minute alterations [Drawing 10], the installation was completed in the autumn of 1943 [Drawing 11; Photos 12, 13 and 14]. It entered service in December 1943 [Photos 15, 17, 25, 30, 31, 35 and 41] and functioned until the liberation of the camp in January 1945. It fell intact into Soviet hands [Photo 18]. It is not known whether photos were taken of the interior of the building at that time. In the 50s or 60s the roof of the central part of the Zentral Sauna fell in. A fairly complete restoration was then undertaken by the Auschwitz Museum. This must be borne in mind when studying the present state of the premises [Photos 18 to 24, 27 to 29, 32 to 34, 36 to 40, 42 and 43]. As the level of the water table has risen over the years due to a lack of maintenance of the drainage system installed by the SS, the basement of the Zentral Sauna is completely flooded with water which it is no longer possible to remove, despite the installation of a pump for this purpose. # [THE CORRESPONDENCE CONCERNING THE ZENTRAL SAUNA (BW 32)] In the Archives of the Warsaw Central Commission for the investigation of Hitlerite crimes in Poland there is a microfilm from the Soviet «October Revolution» central state archives dated 1969 and with the reference number M 598c in the Section «Arch. zamerkung no. 1372, Beschreibung no. 5, Evidence no. 156», with a series of 14 pages of letters tracing the history of the reasons for the building of a disinfection and disinfestation centre subsequently to be called the «Zentral Sauna», a building that was a sauna only in name. Not possessing a copy of these letters, I give below a short resumé containing the full list with, in brackets after the dates, the file number in the Section. 7th April 1943 (14): The Auschwitz Bauleitung sent the project drawings for a disinfestation installation to Berlin (no doubt the new drawings for BW 32, numbers 2151, 2157, 2159 and 2184). 28th April 1943 (13 and 12), the Berlin WVHA replied to the Bauleitung after assessing the drawings: «Die Warte, Aus-, Ankleideräume sind nicht grösser als nötig vorzusehen/the waiting, undressing and dressing rooms should not be any bigger than necessary». The first three drawings for BW 32 had not in fact contained such big waiting rooms for the prisoners. Offering such «comfort» to the «enemies of the Reich» could be considered «sabotage» of the war effort, which meant economies on the home from in favour of the external fronts. In addition, the WVHA noted that the initial drawings received on 13th January 1943 were «cancelled» (ungültig) [the bureaucrat in Berlin who replied to the Auschwitz Bauleitung was somewhat negligent in his work, because his numbers 1801, 1845 and 1850 should really be 1841, 1846 and 1850.] 4th June 1943 (9 and 8), after work had started on BW 32, the Bauleitung wrote to the Berlin WVHA reporting on progress. The installation was now urgently required because of the drastic health situation in the Gypsy Camp (Birkenau B.a.l.l.). The «Entwesungsofen/disinfestation ovens» (see drawing D 60283) were supplied by Topf & Sons of Erfurt, the autoclaves by another specialist firm in Munich. The future Zentral Sauna was also carefully described. 5th June 1943 (7) a letter thought to be a handwritten note from SS General Kammler of the WVHA. 9th June 1943 (6 and 5), 30th June 1943 (10), 8th July 1943 (11) and 17th July 1943 (4): letters reporting on the progress made on the «Entwesungs- und Desinfektionsgebäude im K.G.L. disinfestation and disinfection building at the POW camp». 20th July 1943 (2), the Bauleitung stressed the «Hygienische sofort Massnahmen im K1. Bereich/Immediate health measures in the concentration camp area». The letter mentioned the light against rats and spoke of the installation of a «Leichenhalle/corpse hall (morgue)» in view of the increased number of deaths. 4th August 1943 (3 and 1) two letters signed by the Head of the Bauleitung, Bischoff, again spoke of building a Leichenhalle. This exchange of correspondence highlights three important points: The dreadful state of hygiene and health in July 1943 in the gypsy camp, a source of proliferation of pests carrying diseases such typhus; The presence of rats in the prisoners' accommodation (on top of the SS, Capos and Vorarbeiter); The direct intervention of the Berlin WVHA in the design of a disinfestation and disinfection building, the Zentral Sauna, which was after all a fairly straightforward project. This dirigism on the part of Berlin was to serve as an alibi for one of the Krematorium «architects», Untersturmführer Walther Dejaco, for example, in his deposition of 3rd April 1962 before the Reutte Regional Tribunal (penal proceedings against Dr. Georg Meyer and others), and during his own trial in Vienna in January-March 1972.] # THE EFFECTS DISINFECTION AND DISINFESTATION OPERATIONS: These operations as carried out at the Zentral Sauna were described in a letter sent to the Auschwitz Museum by a Czech former prisoner: (Summary) The procedures used were: 1. Hot air: Large and heavy effects, such as coats, outer clothing, etc.; 2. Steam: «light» effects, such as underclothes, shirts and any type of clothing considered as light, for example the «Zebra-Kielder», prison uniforms. Blankets were also included in this group. 3. Other: Leather objects, such as shoes, belts, etc. were disinfected using Karbol, Licol or water containing hydrocyanic acid, a mixture obtained by pouring Zyclon-B crystals into the water. This letter mentions that the operations continued 24 hours a day, with three shifts of prisoners on this task, changing every eight hours. It will be noted that the methods described by this former prisoner were almost identical with those used in the US Army at that time [see following page]. 65 ===== PDF PAGE 0062 | page-062.md ===== # US ARMY DISINFESTATION METHODS Extracts from the «MEDICAL FIELD MANUAL: FIELD SANITATION» published by the United States War Department, Washington D.C. 1940, taken from chapter 9 «Control of lice». 168: CONTROL MEASURES: (2) Disinfestation of clothing and equipment. b. Lice and their eggs are killed in one minute when subjected to dry heat at a temperature of 155°F [68°C] or in five minutes at 131°F [55°C]. Immersion in boiling water for thirty seconds will kill both adults and eggs. Dry heat will not injure leather, felt, or webbing but will harm woollen fabrics. Boiling water will cause shrinking of wool but steam causes very little shrinkage. 171: MOBILE DISINFESTORS: These are of the four-wheel trailer type and are usually steam pressure disinfestors although a current steam disinfestor is manufactured (thresh type). The pressure type consists of a horizontal steam chamber around which there is an outer jacket which is assembled as a unit with a boiler. After the clothing is placed in the disinfestor a vacuum of 10 to 15 inches (254 to 361 mm of Mercury) is created after which the steam is turned on until a positive pressure of 15 pounds (6.8 kg) is attained (corresponding to a water temperature of 165°C), this being held for about twenty minutes. At the end of this time the steam is released and a vacuum of 10 to 15 inches is produced in order to dry the clothing. This vacuum is held for about five minutes. Clothing should be placed loosely in order that the steam may penetrate. 172: SERBIAN BARREL: a. (Summary) here clothes placed in a galvanised garbage can or similar with wire mesh in the bottom are disinfested by having steam from boiling water underneath passed through them for forty five minutes. 173: IMPROVISED HOT AIR DISINFESTORS: Clothing and equipment may be placed in ovens, boxes or cans and subjected to dry heat. Small buildings or dugouts may be converted into hot air disinfestors by installing heating apparatus which will heat the air to 160°F [71°C]. Clothing should be hung loosely and exposed for about thirty minutes. 175: HOT WATER: Cotton, linen or silk clothing may be disinfested by immersion in boiling water for one minute or in water having a temperature of 135°F [57°C] or more for five minutes. In order to disinfect as well as disinfect, the clothing should be subjected to a temperature of at least 160°F [71°C] for fifteen to thirty minutes. Woollen clothing can be disinfested by this process, but considerable shrinkage will occur. Leather, felt or webbed articles are damaged by exposure to hot water. 177: CHEMICALS: a. Chemicals such as acetic acid (vinegar), kerosene, gasoline, cresol or naphthalene may be applied to the person or clothing of the infested individual. Most of these substances will not kill the eggs however. b. (Summary) a 5% solution of cresol in water or a 2% solution that can be maintained at a temperature of about 100°F [38°C] for thirty minutes. c. (Addendum of December 1943): Methyl bromide bag fumigation using a special bag already containing an ampule of 20cc. The time of exposure varies according to the temperature of the clothing at 55°F [13°C] or above, three quarters of an hour. For each 10' [5-6°C] drop below 55°F, half an hour is added to the fumigation period, giving one and a quarter hours at 45°F [7°C], one and three quarter hours at 35°F [2°C] and two and a quarter hours at 25°F [-4°C]. These extracts from the US Army recommendations on field sanitation show the different delousing methods that can be used according to the effects to be disinfested. Paragraph 171 makes it possible to understand the working of the three autoclaves in the Birkenau Zentral Sauna and the function of the two gauges fitted on the southern doors; one for temperature, the other for pressure. The principle of methyl bromide bag fumigation is that of a small gas chamber. In Auschwitz, the bag became a brick or concrete gas-tight room and the delousing agent was hydrocyanic acid. 66 ===== PDF PAGE 0063 | page-063.md ===== Extract from a revisionist publication [Copy of pages 310 and 311 of «Vérité historique ou vérité politique, le dossier de l'affaire Faurisson, la question des chambres à gaz» [Historical truth or political truth, the file on the Faurisson affair, the question of gas chambers], by Serge Thion, La Vieille Taupe, April 1980] ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) Translation: ![img-1.jpeg](img-1.jpeg) Document IV Photographic documentation Two photographs (1 and 2) of a real gas chamber in Auschwitz-Birkenau. It is an autoclave for the disinfection of clothing (1): the autoclave seen from the outside, (2): the interior with the rails to hang clothing. Explanation: the gassing of clothes was not an easy business. It required relatively complicated installations. Zyclon-B was rarely used, considered too powerful, difficult to ventilate and was generally kept for gassing buildings, silos, ships. The products used were «N», Carton, Ventox, Areginal, etc. Imagine, therefore, the extraordinarily sophisticated equipment that would have had to be designed and built to gas every day several batches of 2 000 people with Zyclon-B (access, observation, introduction of Zyclon-B and, above all, ventilation). # Document IV # Documentation photographique Deux photos (1 et 2) d'une visite chambre à gaz d'Auschwitz-Birkenau. Il s'agit d'un autoclave pour la disinfection des habits (1, - ): L'autoclave va de l'extérieur. (2, - ): L'intérieur avec ses tringles pour les vêtements. Explication : le garage des vêtements n'était pas une mince affaire. Il exigeait des installations d'une complication relative. On utilisait rarement le Zyclon-B, jugé trop puissant, difficile à ventiler et réservé en principe au garage des bâtiments, des silos, des rations. On utilisait le «N», le «Carton», le «Ventox», l'«Areginal», etc. Imaginez, par conséquent, l'appareillage extraordinairement sophistiqué qu'il aurait fallu concevoir et construire pour gazer chaque jour plusieurs fourmées de 2000 hommes avec du Zyclon-B (accès, observation, envoi de Zyclon-B et, surtout, attention). 310 PHOTO 1 311 # AUTOCLAVES OR GAS CHAMBERS? «Document IV» above is presented by Faurisson in support of his thesis that gas chambers are very complex pieces of equipment. Photo 1 is the present state of the scene in Photo 35, and Photo 2 is the equivalent of 28. The documentation provided is limited to these two photographs. I would point out first of all the immediate contradiction in the first two lines explaining photos 1 and 2 stating that a gas chamber is an autoclave. The definition of autoclave according to the Encyclopédie internationale des sciences et des techniques (in 10 volumes), Presse de la Cité, volume 2, page 87, is as follows: The autoclave (from Greek autos and Latin clavis, «which closes itself»), is an apparatus derived from the principle of the pressure cooker of Denis Papin (1647-1714) whose hermetic closing is obtained by internal pressure of steam (underlined by the author) which produces a sharp rise in temperature, to which the enclosed objects of materials are subjected (generally to sterilise them). In a conventional delousing gas chamber, the operation of the gas depends on its concentration and the duration of contact. The gas fills the entire volume of the gas chamber, and the pressure exerted by it in normal practice, though there may be exceptions, is infinitesimal, and does not require anything in the nature of an «autoclave». Through the lack of any specific German written documents, which nevertheless must have existed, indicating in black and white that the Topf disinfecting ovens worked with hot air and the autoclaves with steam (a statement of the obvious), it is not possible to formally prove that the autoclaves were not gas chambers. But Photo 20 showing a pressure gauge for monitoring the steam pressure and a thermometer for the temperature suffices in itself to make up for this initial lack of proof. The «revisionists» are past masters in this type of squabbling over the strict interpretation of documents. The argument may therefore remain undecided for a long time and its duration may confuse many people with only limited knowledge of Auschwitz. This revisionist tactic «pays off» as long as there is no new evidence. The day when a newly discovered drawing or letter makes it possible to explain the reality in black and white the «revisionists» will be routed. # CONCLUSION The presentation of project drawings, definitive drawings, contemporary photographs and present-day photographs of the Zentral Sauna will have enabled the reader to familiarise himself with and understand the way in which the Bauleitung members worked and the evolution and transformations that may occur in a building. The design of Birkenau Krematorien II, III, IV and V are no exception to this rule and we shall find a similar evolution there. I have also taken the example of the Zentral Sauna autoclaves to show the difficulty of finding documents to refute certain affirmations - quite manifestly erroneous - made by the revisionists, i.e. that an autoclave is not a gas chamber. Lastly I would point out to visitors that the Zentral Sauna is not normally open to visitors but the Polish staff of the museum never refuse a request to see it. 67 ===== PDF PAGE 0064 | page-064.md ===== [The first three drawings presented are simply Bauleitung projects that were never actually realised.] ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) Drawing I: Bauleitung drawing 1841 of 24/11/42 [PMO neg. no. 20947] Desinfektions- u. Entwesungsanlage im K.G.L., Erdgeschoss/disinfection und disinfestation installation, POW camp [Bokensee], ground floor Drawn by prisoner 538, checked by Dejaco and approved by Bischoff on 28/11/42. # Translation of the inscriptions: - Massstab 1:100/scale 1:100 - Personal/staff - Material/stores - Alle Masse sind Rohbaumasse und sind nochmals zu prüfen. Maschinenaufstellung siehe bes. Zeichn./All the dimensions are rough and need to be checked. For the installation of machines see separate drawing - Reine Seitzclean side - Unreine Seitzdirty side - 7cm Heraklithplatten/7cm Heraklith panel - Kammer 1, 2, 3/chamber 1, 2, 3 - Eingang zum Keller/entrance to basement - Treppe/staircase - Erdgeschoss/undries/ground floor plan - W.C./W.C - Büro/office - SS-W.C./SS W.C - Vorr./vestibule - W.F./windbreak - Ausgang/exit - Auskleideraum/dressing room - Gang/corridor - Boilerraum/hot water tanks - Handtücher/towels - Trockenraum/drying room - 2 Bt/2 showers - Brauseraum, 54-Brausen/shower room, 54 showers - Auskleideraum/undressing room - Scherraum/«shearing room» (where prisoners' heads were cropped) - Untersuchungsraum/Medical examination room - Arzt/doctor - Wertsachen/valuables - Annahme/reception - Eingang/entrance. Given the Bauleitung designation B.W. 32, this building is a sauna only in name. Its function is reduced to the disinfestation of the prisoners and their clothing. The circuit followed by the prisoners is via the entrance where they are «received», the «depot» for their valuables, the undressing room where they undergo medical examination and have their heads shorn. Their clothes are sent to the autoclaves or hot air chambers. The prisoners then go to the shower in groups of fifty, receive a towel to dry themselves and wait for their disinfected and disinfected clothes that they put on in the dressing room. After a final inspection by the SS they emerge from the «sauna», in which it should be noted that the dressing and undressing rooms, though they appear large, are extremely cramped in view of the numbers. 68 ===== PDF PAGE 0065 | page-065.md ===== Drawing 2: Bauleitung drawing 1846 of 25/11/42 [PMO neg. no. 20930/1] Desinfektions- u. Entwesungsanlage, Keller/Disinfection and desinfestation installation, basement Drawn by prisoner 538 on 25/11/42, checked by Dejaco and approved by Bischoff on 28/11/42 Scale 1:100. # Translation of the inscriptions: - Kellergeschossgrundriss/basement plan - Nichtunterkellerter Teil/part with no basement - Heizraum/boiler room - Handpumpe/hand pump - Frischlufteintritt/fresh air intake - Brennstoffr./fuel store. ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) 69 ===== PDF PAGE 0066 | page-066.md ===== ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) Drawing 3: Bauleitung drawing 1850 of 24/11/42 [PMO neg. no. 20930/2] Desinfektions- u. Entwesungsanlage, Ansichten/disinfection und disinfestation installation, elevations Drawn by prisoner 538 on 24/11/42, checked by Dejano and approved by Bischoff on 28/11/42. Translation of inscriptions: - Seitenansicht/side elevation - Vorderansicht/front elevation - Hinteransicht/rear elevation - Schnitt A-B/cross section A-B - 10cm Beton mit 2cm Estrich, 18cm Vorlage/ 10cm concrete with 2cm screed, 18cm hard fill - Schnitt C-D/cross section C-D - Spar-Binder siehe bes. Zeichnung/roof truss - see separate drawing - Dachdeckung: Dachpappe/roof covering: roofing felt - O.K. Gelände/ground level - Massivdecke/solid ceiling - Isolierung/damp-proofing - Eisenbeton/reinforced concrete. 70 ===== PDF PAGE 0067 | page-067.md ===== Drawing 4: Topf & Sons drawing D 60283 of 18/2/43 TOPF-ENTWESUNGS-OFEN/Topf disinfestation oven Drawn by J.A. Topf & Sons, Erfurt, on 18/2/43 for the «Bauleitung der Waffen SS und Polizei, Auschwitz O.S./Waffen SS und Police Construction Management, Auschwitz, Upper Silesia. Scale 1:20 ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) Translation of inscriptions: - Tragkonstruktion für das Flugelrad/blower housing - ...für die Entlastung der Heizkanäle/...to relieve the hot air ducts - Auflageblech für die Trennwand/support plate for the separating wall. (The dimensions on the drawing are in millimetres). This drawing comes from the Moscow «October Revolution» central state archives. It was supplied in 1966 by the Soviet «Prokuratura» to the Warsaw Central Commission for the investigation of Hitlerite crimes in Poland and sent by this organisation in 1968 to the Vienna Criminal Court of first instance for the trial of the Auschwitz Krematorium «architects», former SS officers Dejaco and Ertl. This document, while it contains the word «Ofen/oven or furnace», and was drawn by Topf & Sons of Erfurt, the firm that built the Auschwitz-Birkenau cremation furnaces, HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH THE KREMATORIEN. It shows one of the pairs of «Entwesungsofen o. kammer/disinfestation ovens or chambers», using hot or very hot air, which were subsequently installed in the Zentral Sauna. The length of a pair of «ovens», 4.74m, is shown exactly on final Bauleitung drawing 2159 of the Zentral sauna. The constructed width of 4.52m cannot be verified as drawing D 60283 is incomplete and probably shows only about one quarter to one third of the original. The two recesses in the wall, one above the word «Waffen» and the other on the extreme left, indicate the positions of the motors - presumably for ventilation - seen in their niches on Photos 35 and 36. 71 ===== PDF PAGE 0068 | page-068.md ===== ## DEFINITIVE DRAWINGS OF THE ZENTRAL SAUNA ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) This drawing, has significantly larger dressing and waiting rooms than those of the original project drawings. The circuit taken by the prisoners is thus modified. They enter by the door marked 'Zugang', undress, take the «dirty side» corridor, go to the «shearing» then to the medical examination. Naked and short, they are disinfested and showered and dry themselves with towels, all under the surveillance of the SS. They then take the «clean side» corridor and wait for their disinfested clothes or receive others if need be, before dressing and leaving through the «Abgang». ### Drawing 6: Bauleitung drawing 2157 of 2/3/43 [PMO neg. no. 20930/8] Desinfektions- und Entwesungsanlage im K.G.L. Auschwitz/POW camp disinfection and disinfestation installation Ertege/schon/grad/ins/ground floor plan Scale 1:100 The drawing is in very bad condition with its number illegible (215/2) Drawn by prisoner 538 on 2/3/43, uppartly checked by Dejzen and a civilian employee (Z.A.) on 2/3/43 The countersignature cannot be deciphered. ### Translation of inscriptions: - - Kleider-Lager u. Ausgabe-Raum/clothing store and issue room - - Warte und Ankleide-Raum/waiting and dressing room - - Klosettanlage/toilets - - Kleider-Ausgabe-Raum/clothing issue room - - Wertsachen/valuables - - Aufnahme/reception - - Warte und Ankleide-Raum/waiting and undressing room - - Abgang/exit - - Zugang/entrance - - Mat./stores - - Heizergrube/stoking pit - - Entw. Kammer 1, 2, 3, 4/disinfestation chambers 1, 2, 3, 4 - - Reine Seite/clean side - - Unreine Seite/dirty side - - Entwesungskammer siehe bes. Details der Fa. Topf/for the disinfestation chambers see detailed drawing from Topf - - Alle Masse sind Rohhaussecke und sind vor Baugegen zu prüfen/all the dimensions are rough shell dimensions and are to be checked before working begins - - Trocken-Raum/drying room - - Handtücher/towels - - Aufsicht/surveillance - - Boiler-Raum/hot water tanks - - Braune-B./baths and showers - - Scher-Raum/«shearing» room - - Untersuchungs-Raum/medical examination room - - W.C./W.C. - - W.F./windbreak - - Arzt/doctor - - Eingang für den Arzt/doctor's entrance - - Eingang zum Keller/entrance to basement - - Strasse/road 72 ===== PDF PAGE 0069 | page-069.md ===== Drawing 5: Bauleitung Drawing 2151: Desinfektions- und Entwesungsanlage im K.G.L. (B.W. K.G.L. 32) Kollergeschossgrundriss und Fodarmerspann/POW camp disinfection und disinfestation installation, basement and foundation plans Drawn by prisoner 538 on 1/3/43, checked by Dejaco and approved by Bischoff on 2/3/43. [This drawing is not presented as it was copied on inventory drawing No.3084, reproduced below, with the addition of the «Druckkessel/ pressure vessel»] Drawing 7: Bauleitung Drawing 2159 [PMO neg. no. 20930/5] Desinfektions- und Entwesungsanlage im K.G.L. Auschwitz B.W. 32/Auschwitz POW camp disinfection and disinfestation installation, BW 32 Scale 1:100 Drawn by prisoner 538, checked by Dejaco and countersigned by Bischoff on 8/3/43. This drawing shows the final external appearance of the Zentral Sauna, as it can still be seen in Birkenau today. # Translation of inscriptions: Schnitt a-b/cross section a-b - 5cm Heraklithplatten/5cm Heraklith panel Spar-Binder/roof truss O.K. Gelände/ground level Isolierung/damp-proofing Aufschüttung/fill für die Stärke der Eisenbetonplatte ist stat. Berechnung massgebend/ the thickness of the reinforced concrete slab is to be determined by static calculation Vorlage 12cm Ziegelmauerwerk oder Magerbeton/bed of 12cm brick or lean concrete Vormauerung 12cm/12cm frost-resistant layer Schnitt c-d/cross section c-d Grundwasserspiegel/water table level Massivdecke/solid ceiling Nord-Ansicht/north elevation Ost-Ansicht/east elevation West-Ansicht/west elevation. The cross section a-b does not show the additional pressure vessel installed. The four chimneys for the hot air disinfestation chambers and the collective one connected to the basement boiler room producing hot water for the central heating and showers and steam for the three autoclaves are perfectly visible. In the right hand corner of the drawing, handwritten in red is «Geprüft/ checked, 14th July 1943, No. 3414243 with a date, 16th August 1943 and the signature of Teichmann, a Bauleitung civilian employee. ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) 73 ===== PDF PAGE 0070 | page-070.md ===== Drawing 8: Bauleitung drawing 2184 Disinfektion- und Entw. Fundamentgrube/foundation excavations for the disinfection and disinfestation installation Fundamentgrube der Entwesungsofenanlage für B.W. 32 als Wasserdichte Wanne/ foundation excavation for the disinfestation oven installation for B.W. 32 in a watertight basin. Scale 1:100, drawn by prisoner 538, checked by Dejaco and countersigned by Bischoff on 17/3/43. This drawing, with three cross sections of the disinfestation «ovens» is not presented. It indicates that Entwesungsofen = Entwesungskammer and that the agent used in this installation is dry heat i.e., very hot air. 74 Kanalisation Entwesungsanlage und Kanal 23 Lageplan 1:200 ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) Drawing 9: Bauleitung drawing 2451 [PMO neg. no. 20943/17] Kanalisation Entwesungsanlage und Kanal 23, Lageplan 1:200 (Kanalisation K.G.L., Effektenlager B.W. 18) (drainage of the disinfestation installation and sewer 23, situation plan 1:200 (drainage of the effects camp [Kanada II] B.W. 18). The designation BW 18 covers all drainage and sewage work whatever the Bauabschnitt/ construction stage at Birkenau. Scale 1:200 Drawn by prisoners 89711 and 89722 (though probably only the second number is valid, the first being struck through) on 24/5/43, checked by Janisch and approved by Bischoff on 29/5/43. Translation of inscriptions: - Prüfschacht/manhole - Steinzeugrohr/earthenware pipes - Schacht/shaft - Ringstrasse/Ring road - Kanal/sewer - Effektenlagerstrasse/Effects camp road. This drawing is an example showing that each building in Birkenau had to have effective drainage (evacuation of waste water and rainwater), a precaution made necessary by the proximity of the water table and the great number of prisoners. This drawing served to establish the names of the roads along which the Hungarian Jews were moving when they were photographed by the SS in May-June 1944 (photos published in «L'Album d'Auschwitz», Seuil, November 1983). ===== PDF PAGE 0071 | page-071.md ===== To look at the left hand drawing, the paper should be turned so that this is at the top, the pressure vessel having been installed vertically. It was placed in the »Heizergrube« situated between disinfestation chamber 4 and the first autoclave (position seen on the basement projection of drawing 3044). It is connected directly to the two hot water tanks of the »Boiler-Raum« which supplied 50 showers. This supplementary drawing shows that the Bauleitung did not hesitate, on orders or on its own authority, to modify a construction plan considered definitive. This modification has left traces on the drawings, but there were others that were implemented without any drawings being changed, mention of them being found only in Bauleitung correspondence. Their realisation can be materially verified in the remaining buildings or ruins of the camp. The design of an installation planned by the Bauleitung will often remain virtually unchanged on the drawings but there may be many internal modifications during its final implementation. It is only quite rarely that these last-minute changes appear on the inventory drawing [a composite drawing specially produced to accompany the handover documents of a new building]. ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) Drawing 10. Bauleitung Drawing 2876 [PMO neg. no. 20930/6] Aufstellung eines Druckkessel im Entwesungsgebäude/installation of a pressure vessel in the disinfestation building. Scale 1:50 Drawn by prisoner 129753 on 23/9/43, checked by Janisch and approved by Bischoff 75 ===== PDF PAGE 0072 | page-072.md ===== ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) Drawing 11: Bauleitung Drawing 3084 [PMO neg. no. 20930/7] Bestandplan der Desinfektions- und Entwesungsanlage (K.G.L. Auschwitz)/ Inventory drawing of the disinfection and disinfestation installation (Auschwitz POW camp) Scale 1:200 Drawn by prisoner 23241 and checked by Dejaco and Teichmann (civilian worker) on 28/10/43, approved by Jothann on 30/or 31/10/43. # Translation of the inscriptions: - Schnitt a-b/cross section a-b - Schnitt c-d/cross section c-d - Ost-Ansicht/east elevation - Nord-Ansicht/north elevation - Kellergeschoss und Fundamentplan/basement and foundation plans - Ofenfundament/oven foundation - Brunnen/well - Heizraum/boiler room - Brennstoffraum/fuel store - Lageplan 1:5000/situation drawing 1:5000 - Kläranlage/sewage treatment plant - Entwesungsanlage/disinfestation installation - Krematorium/Krematorium (IV) - Krankenbau/hospital (B.a.IIf) - Erdgeschoss/ground floor (see drawing [Drawing 5] with illegible number of 2/3/43 for translations) In the »Boilerraum/hot water tank room«: - 2 Rückschlagventil 2 1/2"/2 2 1/2" non return valves. - 2 Abspervenil 2 1/2"/2 2 1/2" cut-off valves. - W.R./washroom. The ground floor plan shows that the pressure vessel is connected to the two hot water tanks. There is no indication of the steam supply to the three autoclaves. The plans of the basement and ground floor show that next to each autoclave on the dirty side is a drain, covered with a grating, for the evacuation of waste water. 76 ===== PDF PAGE 0073 | page-073.md ===== ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) Photo 12: [PMO reg. no. 20995/467] East side of the Zentral Sauna in summer 1943, nearing completion; chimney being built and roof being covered with roofing felt. In the foreground a Mercedes 170 V cabriolet. ![img-1.jpeg](img-1.jpeg) Photo 13: [PMO reg. no. 20995/471] Summer 1943, the east side. The chimney of the boiler in the basement is completed as is the roof covering. Work is continuing in the room containing the 50 showers and lit by the five big windows. ![img-2.jpeg](img-2.jpeg) Photo 15: [PMO reg. no. 906] The north and west sides of the Zentral Sauna at the time of the liberation, spring-summer 1945. The building is still covered with the green and ochre camouflage that it received following the American air raids on the Buna factory of I.G. Farben Industrie in September 1944. In the foreground, behind the barbed wire «Graben L/drainage ditch L». ![img-3.jpeg](img-3.jpeg) Photo 14: [PMO reg. no. 20995/473 and 474] Overall view of the east and south sides of the Zentral Sauna in winter 1943. Finishing touches are being made to the exterior. The entire building is heated, as shown by the absence of snow on the roofs. Disinfection chambers 3 and 4 are working. 77 ===== PDF PAGE 0074 | page-074.md ===== RECEPTION AT THE ZENTRAL SAUNA Photo 16: (PMO neg. no. 20993/462) This is the introductory page for the photographs showing the construction and operation of the Zentral Sauna in what might be called «The Auschwitz Bauleitung Album» produced by SS Sergeant Kamann for the Construction Management. Title: «Entwenkungsanlage mit Effektenbarackern im A.G.L./dlutoframenta installation with effects buildings in the POW camp». The introductory photograph shows the row of three autoclaves on the clean or south side. Photo 20: «Untersuchungsraum (medical) examination room», inscription still visible from the barbering room which precedes it. There is also a third remaining inscription «Brausen/showers» visible from the examination room and preceding the showers. Entwesungsanlage mit Effektenbaracken im K.G.L. ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) ![img-1.jpeg](img-1.jpeg) Photo 17: (PMO neg. no. 20995/479) «Warte und Auskleideraum/waiting and undressing room», northside. A reception committee is sitting facing the entrance door. It would appear that while the SS photographer Kamann was at work the group of prisoners passing through the Zentral Sauna was already in the shearing room or showers. Photo 18: The waiting and undressing room in its present state. The tubular radiators have been removed. All the rooms of the Zentral Sauna had similar heating pipes, but none remain. It is in fact difficult to leave everything in a «history» to be shown to visitors, a building where the prisoners were generously warmed and the remains of Krematorien where they were exterminated (Krematorium IV is 100 metres from the Zentral Sauna). ![img-2.jpeg](img-2.jpeg) Photo 20 ![img-3.jpeg](img-3.jpeg) Photo 19 ![img-4.jpeg](img-4.jpeg) Photo 18 Inscription still visible today. «Haarschneideraum/barbering room», above the east end door of the «Unreine Seite/dirty side» corridor. 78 ===== PDF PAGE 0075 | page-075.md ===== # THE FIFTY SHOWERS OF THE ZENTRAL SAUNA ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) Photo 21: Present state of the five big windows of the shower room. Above, the roofing felt is still visible. Photos 22, 23 and 24: Three views of the shallow bath situated at the entrance to the showers, filled with water and hydrocyanic acid in which the prisoners' body hair was disinfected just before the shower. The following testimony is an adaptation of a letter from a former Czech prisoner to the head of the PMO archives, not yet classified: «Before the shower and during the disinfestation of their effects, the prisoners underwent a disinfecting treatment. Just inside the entrance door to the showers there was a small concrete bath full of a mixture of water and hydrocyanic acid, obtained by pouring Zyclon-B crystals in the water. The prisoner arriving for his shower, naked and with his head shaved, stepped into this basin and another stationed alongside the basin, his hand protected by a glove, passed the mixture over his head, under the arms and over the pubic hair.» It is interesting to consider this account in connection with an episode in Dr. Miklos Nyiszli's book «Auschwitz. A doctor's eyewitness account» (London, Granada Books 1949). In chapter 19, he cites the case of an adolescent Jewish girl who survived the action of Zyclon-B in the gas chamber of Krematorium II, and explains it as follows (page 92): By chance she had fallen with her face against the wet concrete floor. That bit of humidity had kept her from being asphyxiated, for cyclon gas does not react under humid conditions. In other words, Dr. Nyiszli considered that there must have been a little pocket of very moist air around the girl's face, and as hydrocyanic acid easily dissolves in water the gas was absorbed by the water vapour and she breathed a much less toxic atmosphere than the other victims. Of course, HCN dissolved in water remains its highly poisonous properties, as shown by the fact that it was used for delousing the prisoners and by the fact that in the preparation of Laurier Cerise water that used to be used in pharmacy in the fairly recent past, the HCN content had to be carefully measured for fear of poisoning the patient. In the author's opinion, however, the survival of this girl (who was nevertheless killed by an SS man shortly afterwards, by a bullet in the back of the neck) can be explained otherwise. Dr. Nyiszli states at the beginning of his account that she was found «Against the wall, near the entrance of the immense room» (page 89). By chance she must have pressed her face - lips and nose - against a low air-extraction grill in the gas chamber. Fresh air still remained in the extraction duct and she was able to breath almost normally while all those around her succumbed to the gas. When the extractor fan was switched on she absorbed enough to be slightly poisoned and suffer convulsions, the state in which she was found by the Sonderkommando men, who saved her only for a very short time. ![img-1.jpeg](img-1.jpeg) Photo 22 ![img-2.jpeg](img-2.jpeg) Photo 23 ![img-3.jpeg](img-3.jpeg) Photo 24 79 ===== PDF PAGE 0076 | page-076.md ===== ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) Photo 25: [PMO neg. no. 20995/477] A group of prisoners, carrying their shoes, has just showered and is going into the «Trockenraum, R. Seite/ drying room, clean side». Some of the 50 showers are visible and the installation corresponds to that shown on drawing 3084. ![img-1.jpeg](img-1.jpeg) Photo 26: The exit from the shower room looking onto the drying room. On the right the opening through which the SS «surveillance» of the prisoners was exercised. 80 ===== PDF PAGE 0077 | page-077.md ===== # THE AUTOCLAVES ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) Photo 27 ![img-1.jpeg](img-1.jpeg) Photo 28 ![img-2.jpeg](img-2.jpeg) Photo 29 ![img-3.jpeg](img-3.jpeg) Photo 30 # Photo 27: View of the dirty, north side of the three disinfection autoclaves supplied by a München manufacturer and numbered from right to left 1, 2, 3. They are built into the wall separating the clean and dirty sides and have a door on each side. # Photo 28: Autoclave 2 seen from the dirty side. In this photo we see through the autoclave to the other side. Dirty clothes were put on hangers on a trolley which was pulled towards the north and put on two short rails. Once the action of the steam was completed, the operator on the clean side opened the door pulled out the trolley and removed the «sterilised» clothes. # Photo 29: Present view of the north side doors of autoclaves 2 and 1. The dirty side doors were rarely if ever photographed during the war because they are on the north side where there was rarely much light. Photo 30: [PMO neg. no. 20995/478] The clean side corridor, to the south, linking the drying room with the waiting and dressing room. On the left, behind the pillars and separating railings, it is possible to see the door of one of the Topf disinfection chambers with its peephole, and autoclaves 1 and 3, south side. 81 ===== PDF PAGE 0078 | page-078.md ===== ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) Photo 31: [PMO neg. no. 20995/476] The battery of three autoclaves, south, clean side numbered above the manufacturer's nameplate 1, 2, 3 from left to right. The steam arrived through the light-coloured pipe above the autoclaves. It is more than likely that it came from the basement boiler. The dark pipe connected the pressure vessel to the hot water tanks. An electric motor enabled the steam to be rapidly evacuated at the end of the cycle (to the left of each autoclave). On the door of autoclave 1 (Photos 31 and 35) are two gauges, one showing the pressure and the other the temperature. On the table (Photo 35) a prisoner is filling in the operating report and there is a clock for timing the sterilisation cycle. For those who believe that autoclaves were gas chambers, I would point out that on Photos 31 and 35 there are no gas masks to hand and nobody is wearing a gas mask. The two short rails in front of each autoclave are to receive the trolley carrying the effects to be disinfected. Photos 32 ![img-1.jpeg](img-1.jpeg) Photos 33 ![img-2.jpeg](img-2.jpeg) Photos 32 and 33: Present state of the autoclaves, south side, doors closed (Photo 32) and open (Photo 33). They still contain the clothes trolley. All the auxiliary equipment is missing, probably because it was not replaced after being damaged when the roof fell in. In the foreground on the left of Photo 33, there is a pipe for pumping out the water that due to a rise in the water table since 1945 has flooded the stoking pits of the disinfestation oven and the basement area. ![img-3.jpeg](img-3.jpeg) Photo 34: Autoclave 2, door half open, present state, south side (see Photo 28 for the north side). 82 ===== PDF PAGE 0079 | page-079.md ===== ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) Photo 35: [PMO neg. no. 20995/475] View of autoclave 1 and Topf disinfestation chamber 4 from which effects are being removed. This photo has the advantage of fully corroborating the letter from the Czech former prisoner. He said that coats were disinfected by hot air and the trolley emerging from chamber 4 is carrying coats. Opposite autoclave 1, in the left corner of the photo is a heap of what might be ragged blankets, items classed as «light» and disinfected by steam. ![img-1.jpeg](img-1.jpeg) Photo 36: Present state of the recesses in the brickwork which contained the motors for the blowers mentioned on Topf drawing D. 60283. Dismantled after the war, they are visible, together with their control switches, on Photo 35. The Zentral Sauna had at least eleven electric motors, the total power attributed to them being 15.0kW. 83 ===== PDF PAGE 0080 | page-080.md ===== # THE TOPF DISINFESTATION OVENS OR CHAMBERS Photo 37 ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) Photos 37 and 38: Present state, perspective and close-up views, of the exit doors, clean side, of disinfestation chambers 3 and 4. Chamber 3 still contains the clothes trolley. On the left, below the wooden bar, is the stoking pit giving access to the hearth of ovens 2 and 3. ![img-1.jpeg](img-1.jpeg) Photo 38 ![img-2.jpeg](img-2.jpeg) ![img-3.jpeg](img-3.jpeg) Photo 40 Present state of disinfestation chamber 4, the doors removed, allowing the interior to be seen. Photo 39: Present state of disinfestation chamber 1, which could take two trolleys at a time. 84 ===== PDF PAGE 0081 | page-081.md ===== ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) Photo 41: [PMO neg. no. 20995/490] Exit doors on the clean side of the disinfestation chambers (probably 3 and 4), with a trolley load of clothing being removed. The peepholes in the doors could be closed by raising the flap and blocking it with a catch. These were probably opened at the end of a disinfestation cycle to allow fresh air to enter as soon as the extractor fans were switched on. The good quality blankets, reserved for «prominent» prisoners, appear to have been classified as «heavy» and were hence disinfested by hot air (one is visible on the trolley). Above left, an extractor fan switch. ![img-1.jpeg](img-1.jpeg) ![img-2.jpeg](img-2.jpeg) Photos 42 Photos 43 Photos 42 and 43: Present state of one half of the double doors of one of the Topf disinfestation chambers left lying in the Zentral Sauna, exterior (Photo 42) and interior (43). Photo 43 shows the crude construction of a wooden frame covered with strong cardboard and faced with metal (Photo 42). 85 ===== PDF PAGE 0082 | page-082.md ===== # PART TWO # FOREWORD # THE SOURCES List of contents of files BW 30/1 to 30/46 conserved in the PMO Archives # THE SOURCES Our knowledge of the history of the KL Auschwitz-Birkenau Krematorien comes mainly from the Archives of the Auschwitz State Museum (PMO). For the study of Krematorium I, situated in the Auschwitz Stammlager, the relevant files are BW 11/1 to BW 11/5 and BW 14 [their contents are listed at the end of Part II, Chapter 2 «Krematorium I or the Old Krematorium»]. For the four Birkenau Krematorien, the main sources are BW 30/1 to BW 30/46. To complement this essential base, documents from various other sources have also been used: Other files from the Auschwitz State Museum: BW 1/4: 98 pages. Contains the complete list of drawings (nos 1 to 2040) produced by the Auschwitz Bauleitung Drawing Office for the different buildings constructed or converted in the camp and for the SS during the period 1941 to January 1943; BW 2/- series: Contains the different Bauleitung drawings concerned with the development of the Birkenau camp. Drawn as the camp evolved (from BW 2/1 of 7th October 1941 to BW 2/41 of 21st June 1944), these drawings make it easier to understand the decision to locate the Krematorien in Birkenau; Microfilm 12,012: Contains the coke consumption for the five Krematorien from 16th February 1942 to 25th October 1943, making it possible to assess the rates at which Krematorium I at Auschwitz and the four Birkenau Krematorien were operated. Documents from the «October Revolution» State Archives in Moscow: - Unreferenced: Comprise the handover documents for three of the four Birkenau Krematorien and documents concerning the organization of the Bauleitung. Documents from the Weimar State Archives (GDR), the following files among others: - Bestand 211, 2/381, 2/555 and 2/555a: Contain documents concerning Messrs Topf & Sons of Erfurt, including annual reports and certain personnel files. 87 ===== PDF PAGE 0083 | page-083.md ===== # List of contents of files # BW 30/1 to 30/46 # preserved in the PMO Archives # Files of drawings | BW 30/01: | Bauleitung drawing 932 of 23/1/1942 Neg. nos 17079 and 20818/3 Entwurf für das Krematorium - Grundriß von Untergeschoß Project for the Krematorium - Basement plan | Kr II | | --- | --- | --- | | BW 30/02: | Bauleitung drawing 933 of 19/1/1942 [1 and 2] Neg. nos 17080, 20957 [1] and 20818/4 [2] Entwurf für das Krematorium - [Schnitte] Grundriß von Erdgeschoß Project for the Krematorium - [Sections] Ground floor plan [1] Ground floor and sections (933 and 934) [2] Ground floor only (933) | Kr II | | BW 30/03: | Bauleitung drawing 934 of 27/1/1942 Neg. nos 6228, 17809 and 20818/5 Entwurf für das Krematorium - Schnitte Project for the Krematorium - Sections | Kr II | | BW 30/04: | Bauleitung drawing 936 of 15/1/1942 Neg. nos 17810 and 20818/6 Krematorium: Nord, Süd, Ost u. West [Elevations]: North [937], South, East and West | Kr II | | BW 30/05: | Bauleitung drawing 937 of 15/1/1942 Neg. no. 20818/7 Krematorium: Ost (Stammlager) [North elevation of Kr II of KGL Birkenau, indicated as East because of its original planned location in the Auschwitz main camp] | Kr II | | BW 30/06: | Bauleitung drawing 938 of 15/1/1942 Neg. no. 20818/8 Entwurf für das Krematorium - Süd (Stammlager) Project for the Krematorium - South elevation (Stammlager) [East elevation in Birkenau] | Kr II | | BW 30/07: | Bauleitung drawing 980 of 3/2/1942 Neg. no. 20922/1 Entwurf für das Krematorium - Werksatz Project for the Krematorium - Roof frame | Kr II | | BW 30/08: | Bauleitung drawings 1173 and 1174 of 15/1/1942 Neg. nos 17812 and 20818/9 Entwurf für das Krematorium - Project for the Krematorium 1173: Längschnitt durch den unterkellerten Teil - Longitudinal section through the basement part 1174: [Süd] Schnitt durch Leichenkeller 1 mit Be- und Entlüftungskanälen - [South (elevation)] Section through Leichenkeller 1 with ventilation and air extraction ducts | Kr II | | BW 30/09: | Bauleitung drawing 1300 of 18/6/1942 Neg. no. 20922/2 Krematorium - Entwässerung Krematorium - Drainage | Kr II | | --- | --- | --- | | BW 30/10: | Bauleitung drawing 1301 of 8/5/1942 Neg. no. 20922/3 Entwurf für das Krematorium - Fundamentplan Project for the Krematorium - Foundation plan (First drawing to bear the reference BW 30) | Kr II | | BW 30/11: | Bauleitung drawing 1311 of 14/5/1942 Neg. no. 20922/5 Entwurf für das Krematorium Deckblatt zum Grundriß vom Untergeschoß Project for the Krematorium Correction sheet for basement plan | Kr II | | BW 30/12: | Bauleitung drawing 2003 of 19/12/1942 Neg. no. 20922/4 Krematorium im KGL Deckblatt zur Zeichnung Nr 932 u. 933 Verlegung des Kellerzuganges an die Straßenseite Kellergeschoß, Erdgeschoß [BW 30] POW camp Krematorium Correction sheet for drawings 932 and 933 Relocation of the basement access to the road side Basement, ground floor [Worksite 30] (The only known Krematorium drawing produced by Dejaco himself) | Kr II | | BW 30/13: | Bauleitung drawing 1541 of 14/8/1942 Neg. no. 20922/6 Krematorium, KGL BW 30 Treppe vom Erd- zum Dachgeschoß Krematorium, POW camp, Worksite 30 Stairway from ground floor to roof space | Kr II | | BW 30/14: | Bauleitung drawing 2197 of 19/3/1943 Neg. no. 20946/1 Bestandsaufnahme des Krematoriums II, KGL Auschwitz Situation 1:5000 West Ansicht, Süd Ansicht - Schnitt I-J Erdgeschoß, Werksatz Schnitt A-B, Schnitt G-H Kellergrundriß, Schnitt C-D, Schnitt E-F Nord Ansicht, Ost Ansicht Inventory drawing of Krematorium II, Auschwitz POW camp Situation, scale 1:5000 West elevation, South elevation - Section I-J | Kr II | 88 ===== PDF PAGE 0084 | page-084.md ===== | | Ground floor, roof frame Section A-B, Section G-H Basement plan, Section C-D, Section E-F North elevation, East elevation (Two other copies of drawing 2197 are known, one showing the drainage, the other both drainage and lighting) | Kr III | | --- | --- | --- | | BW 30a/15: | Bauleitung drawing 2136 of 22/2/1943 Neg. nos 6231 and 20922/7 Krematorium III, BW 30a, Ergänzungsblatt Vorderansicht, Seitenansicht, Erdgeschoß Grundriß Krematorium III, Worksite 30a, Amendment sheet Front elevation, side elevation, ground floor plan [Copy of the original] | Kr III | | BW30-30a/16: | HUTA drawing 109/16a of 9/10/1943 Also dated 25.XI.43 Neg. no. 20922/8 KB (or Projekt) Nr 7015, TB [Technisches Büro] Nr 109, Blatt Nr 16a Krematorium 2(3) Construction (or project) no. 7015, Technical Office no. 109, Sheet no. 16a Krematorium II (and III) (HUTA drawing based on Bauleitung drawings 933 and 934) | Kr II/III | | BW30-30a/17: | HUTA drawing 109/15 of 24/9/1943 Neg. no. 20922/9 Krematorium 2(3) Kellergeschoß u. Fundamente Krematorium II (and III) Basement and foundations (HUTA drawing based on Bauleitung drawing 932) | Kr II/III | | BW30/18: | HUTA drawing, no number or date Neg. no. 20946/2 Hand written title: «Krema 2» [Title omitted, should be:] Erdaushub Grundriß, Schnitt a-a, Schnitt b-b [Excavation] Plan view, Section a-a, Section b-b [Copy of the original Huta drawing 109/13a] | Kr II | | BW30a/19: | HUTA drawing 109/14a of 23/9/1943 Also dated 25.XI.43 Neg. no. 20922/11 Krematorium 3 - Erdaushub Grundriß, Schnitt a-a, Schnitt b-b Krematorium III - Excavation Plan view, Section a-a, Section b-b | Kr III | | BW30/19a: | HUTA drawing 109/13a of 21/9/1943 Also dated 25.XI.43 Neg. no. 20922/10 Krematorium 2 - [omitted title: «Erdaushub»] Krematorium II - [Excavation] | Kr II | | BW 30/20: | Konrad SIEGNITZ drawing 1305 of 7/8/1942 (Holzliste 637 to 39) - (Timber lists 637 to 39) | Kr II | | | [Baugeschäft Konrad Siegnitz, Eisenbeton u. Hochbau, Beuthen, upper Silesia, Lindenstraße 38] Neg. no. 20946/3 Vollmar Bohlen Binder Dachkonstruktion Für Bau: KGL BW 30 Zentralbauleitung der Waffen-SS und Polizei - Auschwitz Längsschnitt, Draufsicht, Schnitt Hauptdacht Schnitt Seitenflügel, Schornsteinschnitt, Punkt A Roof frame in «Vollmar» [Vollmechanisierung/Full mechanization?] beams For building: POW camp BW 30 Waffen SS and Police Central Construction Management Auschwitz Longitudinal section, Plan view, Main roof cross-section Wing cross-section, Chimney section, Point A In statischer Hinsicht geprüft, Beuthen, upper Silesia, Lindenstraße 46, on 31/8/42. Prüfingenieur bei der statischen Prüfstelle, Beuthen, Upper Silesia, Baurat A Bsdok Static calculations checked by the authorised inspection engineer Baurat A Bsdok of Beuthen on 31/8/42 Received at the Bauleitung on 3/9/42 by Ertl and Bischoff | | | --- | --- | --- | | BW30/21: | File containing two HUTA drawings: (1) - Huta drawing 109/10 of 13/11/1942 Neg. no. 20946/4 Auschwitz Kr - Decke über dem Müllverbrennungsraum Unterzug I u. II (Pos. 41 u. 42) Schnitt a-a, Türstürz (Pos. 16) Auschwitz Kr - Ceiling over the waste incinerator room Cross-beams I and II (items 41 and 42) Section a-a, Door lintel (item 16) (2) - Huta drawing 109/11 of 1/3/1943 Neg. no. 20946/5 Krema - Deckenbalken im Müllverbrennungsraum Schnitt a-b, Unterzug im Müllverbrennungsraum Krema - Main ceiling beam in the waste incinerator room Section a-b, cross-beam in the waste incinerator room | Kr II Kr II | | BW 30b-30c/22: | Bauleitung drawing 1678 of 14/8/1942 Neg. no. 20946/6 Einäscherungsanlage im KGL Giebelansicht, Schnitt a-b, Ansicht Erdgeschoßgrundriß, Fundamenteplan Cremation installation in the POW camp Gable end elevation, Section a-b, Elevation Ground floor plan, Foundation plan | Kr IV | | BW 30b-30c/23: | Bauleitung drawing 2036 of 11/1/1943 Neg. nos 6234 and 20818/10 Einäscherungsanlage im KGL Deckblatt für die Zeichnung Nr 1678 Querschnitt A-B, Querschnitt C-D, Ansicht Erdgeschoßgrundriß Cremation installation in the POW camp Correction sheet for drawing 1678 Cross-section A-B, Cross-section C-D, Elevation Ground floor plan | Kr IV/V | 89 ===== PDF PAGE 0085 | page-085.md ===== BW 30b-30c/24: Konrad SIEGNITZ drawing 1361 of 14/10/1942 (Holzliste 659 u. 660) - (Timber lists 659 and 660) Einäscherungsanlage im KGL Auschwitz Binderquerschnitt, Lamellendach über Schleuse bzw. Aufenthaltsraum, Draufsicht, Binderschnitt A-B, Schnitt C-D Cremation installation in the Auschwitz POW camp Main beam cross-section, Lamellate roof over air lock and prisoners' rest room, Plan view, Main beam section A-B, Section C-D [Drawing received by the Bauleitung 7/12/42] BW 30/34A: File containing 14 rather pale blueprints of known drawings. Those marked with an asterisk are clearer and more legible than the originals. The list is as follows: 1. Bauleitung 1678 Kr IV 2. Bauleitung 1678 Kr IV * 3. Bauleitung 936 Kr II 4. Bauleitung 932 Kr II 5. Bauleitung 2136 Kr III * 6. Bauleitung 2136 Kr III 7. Bauleitung 2036 Kr IV * 8. Bauleitung 2197 Kr II * 9. Bauleitung 934 Kr II * 10. Bauleitung 1678 Kr IV 11. Huta 109/15 Kr II (Bauleitung 932) * 12. Huta 109/16a Kr II (Bauleitung 933-934) 13. Huta 109/13a Kr II (7) 14. Huta 109/14a Kr III (7) Files containing documents other than drawings BW 30/25: [Microfilm 1322] 15 pages. Correspondence on the Birkenau Krematorien. Letters exchanged between the Bauleitung and Messrs Topf & Sons of Erfurt. Page 15 lists the drawings produced for the construction of Krematorium II (and III) by Huta of Kattowitz. BW 30/26: 63 pages. Correspondence on the four Birkenau Krematorien. Pages 1-20: Huta estimates for the shell of Krematorium II, with corrections by the Bauleitung. Page 21 is the Bauleitung's acceptance of 13th July 1942 of the Huta tender for the shell of the new Krematorium (II) for the sum of 133,756.65 RM (page 22). In fact two mirror image buildings were constructed (Kr II and III). Pages 23 and 24 are concerned with the damp-proofing of the building (subcontracted by Huta to Vedag of Kattowitz). Pages 25-51 are estimates for work done by Huta on Kr II and III. Pages 52-58 are construction contracts for the chimneys of Krematorien IV and V between the Bauleitung and Messrs Robert Koehler of Myslowitz. Pages 59-62: correspondence between the Bauleitung and Messrs Konrad Siegnitz of Beuthen on the roof of the future Kr IV. Page 63 is concerned with an order of 16th February 1944 for 2 bottles of acetylene gas from the Vereinigte Industriegaswerke, delivered on 18th [and which have nothing to do with the Krematorien?]. BW 30/27: [Microfilm 130] 41 pages. Correspondence on the Birkenau Krematorien and camp. Kr IV Photographs of documents seized by the Soviets in 1945: letters exchanged between the Bauleitung and Topf concerning the Krematorien. Several of the texts are in Russian, having been somewhat roughly translated. The Topf letter of 7th July 1943 concerning the furnaces for Krematorien IV and V mentions their genesis and price and the «Mogilew Contract». Some of these documents, preserved in the «October Revolution» State Archives in Moscow, are to be found on microfilm M 29 of the Warsaw Central Commission for the investigation of Hitlerite crimes in Poland. BW 30/28: [Microfilm 1256] 145 pages. Timesheets concerning the construction of Krematorien IV and V: shells by Messrs Riedel & Son of Bielitz; chimneys by Messrs Robert Koehler; drainage by Messrs Karl Falck of Gleiwitz; some work on the furnaces was done by Messrs Josef Kluge of Alt-Gleiwitz. The Riedel & Son timesheet for Krematorium IV for 28th February 1943 (page 73) has the entry «Fit gas-tight shutters» and that for 2nd March (page 68) «Floor to be covered with hard fill, tamped down and concreted in gas chamber». BW 30/29: [Microfilm 1257] 66 pages. Timesheets for work done by Messrs Josef Kluge. Page 1 concerns one week's work on Kr II in December 1943. Pages 2-53 concern work on Krematorien IV and V from 1st February to 22nd March 1943. Pages 54-66 concern worksite BW 45 [Hauptinsgemein] in the women's camp of BA.I and BA.III of the POW camp and have nothing to do with the Krematorien. BW 30/30: [Microfilm 1255] 97 pages. Correspondence exchanged between the Bauleitung, Huta and Vedag concerning the damp-proofing of Krematorien II and III carried out by Vedag. Pages 1-85: damp-proofing of Krematorien II and III. Pages 86-97: Huta static calculations for Krematorium II. BW 30/31: [Microfilm 1258] 416 pages. «Schlosserei» (metalworking shop) file. Bauleitung orders issued in 1943-44 for equipment from the Auschwitz DAW metalworking shop. Only a small percentage of these orders concern the Birkenau Krematorien. BW 30/32: 41 pages. Correspondence exchanged between the Bauleitung and Messrs Konrad Siegnitz concerning the roofs of the four Krematorien. In this file there is mention of an «Abfertigungshalle für Transporte/Clearance hall for transports» [BW 48] at the beginning of June 1944 («Hungarian Action») BW 30/32A 14 pages. Correspondence exchanged between the Bauleitung and Huta concerning the cost of the shells of Krematorien II and III. The last three pages are letters from the Bauleitung to the WVHA-SS in Berlin concerning the «new Krematorium» (the future Krematorium II). BW 30/33: 20 pages. Timesheets concerning drainage work carried out by Messrs Triton of Kattowitz for Krematorien III and IV: Pages 2-8: Summaries for 2nd to 9th June of work done on Kr IV, BW 30b; Pages 10-20: Timesheets for 2nd to 13th April concerning Kr III, BW 30a BW 30/34: [Microfilm 1060] 116 pages. «Krematorium II u. III/BW 30 u. 30a, Schriftwechsel» Correspondence on the genesis and construction of Krematorien II and III. 90 ===== PDF PAGE 0086 | page-086.md ===== Sundry letters, notes and telegrams exchanged between the Auschwitz Bauleitung, the Camp Commandant, the WVHA-SS in Berlin and Messrs Topf & Sons of Erfurt on the subject of Krematorien II and III. Pages 1-5: Josef Kluge timesheets for work on Krematorium III. Pages 6-11: Robert Koehler timesheets for the relining of the Krematorium II chimney. Before 1980 it was this file that contained most of the incriminating evidence against the SS regarding the installation of homicidal gas chambers in Krematorien II and III (=Vergasungskeller/Gassing cellar=«Gasdichte Tür/Gas-tight door», etc.). Additional proof is now available from other sources. BW 30/34A: [For memory. File containing 14 blueprints of Bauleitung and Huta drawings of the Birkenau Krematorien made after the war for the Soviet and Polish Commissions] BW 30/35: 103 pages. Book of Bauleitung orders to the materials administration concerning the four Krematorien. Covers the period from 12th October 1942 (Order No. 9613) to 13th January 1943 (Order No. 9699). BW 30/36: [Microfilm 1673] 105 pages. Timesheets for work done by Huta on Krematorien III, IV and V and by Industrie-Bau AG of Bielitz on Krematorium IV. The first two Huta reports (pages 1 and 2) are separate. They are dated 5th and 6th October 1942 and concern Krematorium II, making it possible to estimate when construction work started. The other Huta timesheets concern: 25th January to 27th February: Krematorium III; 22nd March to 30th April: Krematorium V; 3rd to 8th May: Krematorium IV. The Industrie-Bau timesheets, dated 4th January to 8th March 1943, concern BW 30b, Krematorium IV. BW 30/37: [Microfilm 1587] 115 pages. Huta timesheets for work on the shell of Krematorium II, dated from 17th November 1942 to 7th January 1943, concerning the construction of Leichenkeller I and 2 and showing the number of men employed and the hours worked per day. BW 30/38: 81 pages Huta timesheets for work on Krematorien II, IV and V; Riedel & Son and Robert Koehler timesheets for work on Krematorien IV and V. Pages 1-21: Huta work on Krematorien III and IV from 9th November 1942 to 7th January 1943. Also Koehler timesheets for the construction of chimneys, confirming the use of prison labour by this firm. Pages 22-42: Huta work on Krematorium II from 8th January to 21st February 1943. Pages 43-81 comprise the «green ink» manuscript recording the work done by Riedel & Son and Robert Koehler (chimneys) on Krematorien IV and V from 23rd January to 10th April 1943. This manuscript corresponds exactly with and uses the same terms as file BW 30/28, but is not a slavish copy. Reference is made on 28th February to «Gasdichtenfenster/Gastight shutter» and on 2nd March 1943 to «Gasskammer/Gas chamber» in Krematorium IV. BW 30/39: 75 pages Timesheets for drainage work done by Messrs Karl Falck of Gleiwitz for Krematorien II, III and IV. The order for the work to be done on Krematorium II was signed by the Bauleitung on 27th August 1942 (page 68). Work on the three Krematorien proceeded as follows: 9th to 19th November 1942 and 13th January to 31st March 1943: work on Krematorium II; 1st April to 13th May 1943: Krematorium III; 26th to 31st May 1943: Krematorium IV. BW 30/40: 64 pages Huta static calculations for Krematorien II, III and IV. These calculations were made between 29th August and 23rd December 1942 for Krematorium II (and III) and for Krematorium IV, with supplementary calculations for the roof and chimneys. BW 30/41: 52 pages Timesheets filled in on a weekly basis by the Topf & Sons foremen working on Krematorien II and III. Four Topf employees worked on the construction of the furnaces and the installation of the ventilation systems: Martin Holick, Willi (Wilhelm?) Koch, Messing and Seyffarth. From 7th September 1942, Martin Holick and Willi Koch worked on the foundations and underfloor flues of the five 3-muffle furnaces of Krematorium II. Holick finished on 13th October and Koch continued until 22nd November. From 4th January to 11th June 1943, Messing worked on fitting the furnace blowers and motors, the forced draught installation in the chimney of Krematorium II, the ventilation systems of the different rooms in the two buildings, and their corpus lifts. From 1st to 14th February 1943, Seyffarth worked on the furnace foundations and underfloor flues of Krematorium III. Messing's «diary» formally proves that Messrs Topf were wittingly involved in converting the Leichenkeller I of Krematorien II and III into homicidal gas chambers. Furthermore, as from mid-March 1943, Messing referred to the Leichenkeller 2 of these two Krematorien as «Auskleidekeller/undressing cellars». BW 30/42: 2 pages Letter of 28th June 1943 from the Auschwitz Bauleitung to the WVHA-SS in Berlin concerning the cremation capacity of the five Krematorien at Auschwitz-Birkenau. Photocopy transmitted on 15th May 1981 to the Curator of the Auschwitz Museum by the Committee of Anti-Fascist Resistants of the German Democratic Republic. Except for Krematorium I, the figures given are entirely theoretical, obtained by calculation, then increased by about one third. BW 30/43: 34 pages Documents communicated by the Moscow Prosecutor to the Warsaw Central Commission for the investigation of Hitlerian crimes in Poland for the trial of the «Krematorium architect», Walter Dejaco and Fritz Ertl, held in Vienna at the beginning of 1972. This file contains essentially the handover documents for Krematorien II, III and IV, with the inventory drawings of Krematorien II and IV in annex. Conserved in the «October Revolution» Central State Archives in Moscow, these documents confirm the conversion of the underground morgues into gas chambers and prove that there was a homicidal gas chamber in Leichenkeller I of Krematorium III. In fact, the Moscow Prosecutor communicated about sixty documents to Warsaw, those not being handed onto the Auschwitz Museum being concerned with the organization of the Auschwitz Bauleitung, giving the names and functions of those in responsible positions. [56 of these documents were supplied to the author by the Warsaw Central Commission under the reference II 839]. BW 30/44: [Microfilm 1612] 26 pages Patent for a «continuous corpse cremation furnace» applied for on 4th November 1942 by Fritz Sander, a Topf engineer, and a patent for «air-cooled grate plates for mechanical grate firing» applied for on 16th November 1942. These documents were received by the Auschwitz Museum on 17th January 1985 and came from the Justice Ministry in Bonn. The patent applications have nothing to do with the Birkenau Krematorien but are very relevant to a study of the firm of Topf & Sons of Erfurt. BW 30/45: 37 pages Documents concerning Messrs Topf & Sons of Erfurt, and the head of their Krematorium Division, the engineer Kurt Prüfer. Conserved in the Weimar State Archives (GDR). BW 30/46: [Microfilm 1674] 23 pages More documents concerning Messrs Topf & Sons of Erfurt. Only part of these come from the Weimar State Archives. There are some pages from the personal file of Kurt Prüfer, two Bauleitung letters concerning him (of 29th January and 12th February 1943, from file BW 30/34), the first patent application by Fritz Sander (of 26th October 1942) for a continuous corpse cremation furnace (of BW 30/44) and extracts from the Topf balance sheet as at 31st December 1941 drawn up by the accountant Dr Zerhan of Erfurt. 91 ===== PDF PAGE 0087 | page-087.md ===== PART TWO CHAPTER 1 # GENERAL STUDY # OF THE CREMATION FURNACES PRODUCED BY # MESSRS TOPF & SONS OF ERFURT Brief history of Topf & Sons 1878 - 1963 # MESSRS TOPF & SONS # THE FIRM OF TOPF & SONS, 1878-1963 [The following history is a fairly complete exposé of the documentation collected by the author concerning the now defunct firm of Topf & Sons, originally of Erfurt, later of Wiesbaden. Only the essential documents are presented. The author is at present of the opinion that his research into this firm should be pursued, and if the findings are interesting he will produce an in-depth study, fully documented and illustrated.] A historical study of the firm of Topf & Sons of Erfurt may appear irrelevant in the context of the homicidal gas chambers of KL Auschwitz-Birkenau, for the production of cremation furnaces was only one of the firm's areas of activity, and was in no way blameworthy given the tradition in Germany, a country where, unlike in France, the cremation of the dead is normal practice. In these circumstances it is only natural that there should be firms producing the necessary equipment. During the Second World War, the two main suppliers of furnaces for the concentration camps were TOPF & SONS of Erfurt and H KORI of Berlin. Despite this apparent innocence, Messrs Topf & Sons was the only civilian firm to have been directly and wittingly involved in the extermination of the Jews in Auschwitz, not simply as the supplier of cremation furnaces, but in the fitting out of the gas chambers in Birkenau Krematorien II and III. This complicity, scarcely suspected by anyone after the war, led the elder of the two directors at the time, Ludwig Topf Junior, to commit suicide on 31st May 1945. The arrest by the Russians on 4th March 1946 of four Topf engineers (Gustav BRAUN, production manager; Kurt PRÜFER, head of the «cremation construction» division; Fritz SANDER, inventor of a continuous cremation furnace; and Karl SCHULTZE [or SCHULZE], probably Prüfer's deputy) should have led to a detailed examination of the role of Topf in the extermination installations in Birkenau, which would have been entirely possible at the time. The first Camp Commandant of Auschwitz, Rudolf Hoess, having been arrested by the British on 11th February 1946, testified before the Nuremberg Military Tribunal on 15th April 1946 and was then handed over to the Polish authorities on 25th May 1946. Judged in Warsaw between 11th and 19th March 1947 and condemned to death on 2nd April, he was hanged behind the «Old Krematorium» in the Auschwitz camp on 16th April 1947. Given the speed with which Hoess was brought to justice, there is no reason why the four Topf engineers should not have had similar treatment and appeared before the Warsaw High Court in March 1947. However, this appears not to have been the case and they disappeared without trace. It is likely that their being charged and imprisoned was occasioned by their participation in the construction of cremation furnaces, not in the Auschwitz Krematorien, but in Buchenwald (near Erfurt), where there were two of the three-muffle furnaces designed by Prüfer. This is the most probable origin of their disappearance and presumed execution. The fact that an enterprise, generally considered to be honourable and respectable, for the Wiesbaden Chamber of Commerce and Industry in December 1947, not knowing of its darker side between 1941 and 1943, deemed it «worthwhile and deserving of a subsidy», should have got itself involved in the most criminal of all the programmes of the Third Reich, calls for a historical study in order to understand the reasons and identify who was, or were, responsible. Contrary to what has been believed up to now, there is a world of difference between Topf's participation and that of Degesch of Frankfurt am Main, the suppliers of Zyclon-B. Degesch certainly supplied the poison, but the same product was used for BOTH disinfecting the camp and its inmates AND for gassing the Jews, but the managing director, Dr Gerhard PETERS, did not learn of this «abnormal» use of his product until summer 1944, and then only by chance, whereas Prüfer and Schultze collaborated closely on the criminal conversion of the Birkenau Krematorien, for Prüfer had been designated «technical advisor» for the entire «installation» (the four Krematorien) by the Auschwitz Bauleitung. The firm was founded by Johann Andreas TOPF (1816-92), whose initials were later used in the name of the enterprise. It would seem that J A Topf had four sons: Gustav, the eldest, two others whose first names are not known, and Ludwig, born in 1863, who was subsequently to be known as Ludwig Topf Senior to distinguish him from his eldest son, Ludwig Topf Junior. Between 1865 and 1875, J A Topf produced heating installations. Being also a master brewer («Braumeister»), he ran his own brewery from 1875, and although this was regarded as an experimental operation, it was joined by a malting installation, also experimental, and then by a laboratory, which the eldest son, Gustav, managed and developed. In 1878, two more sons entered the firm and what was to be its final name was duly registered: J A TOPF & SÖHNE. In 1882, the last son, Ludwig (Senior), then aged 19, entered the family firm in his turn. However, during the 1890s, Johann Andreas and two of his sons died. Dr Gustav Topf had also probably died, leaving Ludwig in sole charge of the firm. Early in the new century his wife, Else, gave him a first son, Ludwig Topf Junior, then in 1902 a daughter Johanna and finally, on 30th November 1904, the second and last son, Ernst-Wolfgang. Ludwig Topf Senior developed the business enormously until his death in 1914 at the age of 51. Ownership then passed to his widow Else Topf. At that time, the firm employed about one thousand people and exported its products to over thirty countries throughout the world. 93 ===== PDF PAGE 0088 | page-088.md ===== Meanwhile, a certain Kurt Prüfer [Document 1], born in Erfurt on 21st April 1891, had been hired by the firm on 15th June 1911 at a monthly salary of 90 RM. He started work the next day as building foreman [»Bauführer»]. The new man was admittedly short on education, but he had ambition and was not afraid of work. After finishing basic secondary schooling [»Realschule»], he worked on building sites from the age of 14 to 17 and there he quickly realized that his rudimentary education offered no future. At 16 he started attending courses in building subjects, then for two years he studied structural engineering [»Hochbau»] at the Erfurt Royal Vocational School of Building. From the age of 19 to 20, he was employed as building technician and foreman by two other firms before being taken on by Topf. Although Topf by now had a »crematorium construction« division, Prüfer cannot have worked there, for when he was called up on 12th October 1912, he was employed in the malting installations division. By now he was much better qualified: he could produce design, construction and installation drawings, perform static calculations and install the equipment produced. He was out of luck however, for while he was doing his military service with the Erfurt 71st Infantry Regiment, the Great War broke out on 2nd August 1914. He went right through the war without injury, and by the time it was all over, on 9th November 1918, he had the rank of Sergeant of the Reserve [»Vizefeldwebel der Reserve»]. The temptation to remain in the army may have touched him at this precarious time, for he was not demobilized until March 1919, having had to work on winding up the affairs of his unit. Back in every street, Prüfer continued his education. From April 1919 to 12th March 1920, he spent two semesters studying civil engineering [»Tiefbau»], at the Erfurt National Vocational School of Building. He was taken back by Topf on the following 1st April. In 1925 he was promoted to engineer and was thus entitled to a commission of 1% on any sales he made. In 1928, he became head of the »Krematoriumbau« [»crematorium construction«] division. The runaway inflation of the years 1922-24 does not seem to have had any effect on Messrs Topf, thus confirming that this inflation was above all a defensive economic weapon aimed at preventing payment of the »reparations« demanded by the Allies. In 1929, Ernst-Wolfgang Topf entered the firm to assist his elder brother, Ludwig Junior, and his mother. It was an inauspicious time. The Wall Street »Black Friday« of 24th October 1929 was disastrous for the world economic situation. Protectionism, falling volumes of trade and mass unemployment resulted. In Germany, there were one and a half million unemployed at the end of 1929. The country was on the verge of bankruptcy several times in 1930, 1931 and 1932, and in July 1932 there were seven million unemployed and a further ten million who worked scarcely half time. Nothing was going right: the government was floundering and business was at a standstill. 1932 was a dark year for Topf. There were few if any orders, and the two directors, probably after having made many of the workers redundant, were considering pruning the supervisory staff. Hitler came to power on 30th January 1933, but the situation did not improve overnight and the first few months of the new year remained catastrophic. On 29th March, Prüfer was warned that he would probably lose his job on 30th September. However, the two directors were reluctant to get rid of him and gave him the means to defend himself commercially: on 13th April, his commission was increased from 1 to 2%, with retroactive effect from 1st April. Losing Prüfer would have been a real blow to Topf, as the entire crematorium division was now dependent on him. Outside Topf, competing firms had got to know of his impending departure and it seems that in June or July, Didier of Berlin expressed interest in hiring him. The two directors were warned about this by their Berlin representative. On 28th September, the threatened redundancy was postponed until 31st March 1934. The Nazi regime was becoming established, internal unrest was waning and business was picking up. On 15th March 1934, the threat of dismissal was finally removed. Engineer Prüfer had had a very close call, and he was never to forget it. ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) Document 1 [Weimar State Archives, Bestand 2/555a] Photograph from Kurt Prüfer's personal file taken between 1935 and 1940, showing him at the age of about 45, when he was senior engineer and in charge of Topf's Division DTV »Crematorium Construction«. Having escaped threatened redundancy following Hitler's accession to power, and being afraid of becoming unemployed at his age, he subsequently did not hesitate to do deals with the Devil. Legitimately involved in cremation activities, in order to help his firm and strengthen his position within it, he did everything to pull off the deal of a lifetime in selling furnaces to KL Auschwitz, at the same time involving Topf in the creation of homicidal gas chambers at Birkenau. It is not known when Prüfer joined the Nazi Party [Document 2], but it was probably in 1934 or 1935, after the threat of redundancy had been removed and his position in the firm had been consolidated. Finding himself unemployed at the age of 42 would have been terrible for Prüfer, as so many others are unfortunately finding for themselves today. Only two Berlin firms, Didier and Kori, would have been able to offer him a position similar to that he held with Topf, but as the situation in 1933 was scarcely any better for those two firms, it is doubtful that he could have been taken on. Having arrived at his position thanks to working his way up, he was vulnerable in the face of younger men with better paper qualifications and a lower starting salary. His only hope lay in the new regime that was being established, and he must certainly have known some of the new elite from his war years. What is more, Prüfer fitted the profile of those now in power or close to them: war veteran, self-taught, versed in construction techniques, an engineer. The New Germany was based on people like him, and his enrolment in the Nazi Party was at one and the same time both his thanks to those who had saved his situation and his licence to enter future markets. As from 1935, the German economy took a definite turn for the better, and as from 1st January, Ludwig Junior, Johanna and Ernst-Wolfgang officially took control of the firm. In fact, only the two brothers actively managed it, and had been doing go unofficially for five years [as shown by their initials, »LT« for Ludwig Topf and »ET« for Ernst-Wolfgang Topf, found on the firm [correspondence]. The prospects became so favourable that it was no longer a matter of redundancies but rather of recruitment. For example, one Gustav Braun was hired in Berlin as production engineer at the beginning of May. On 30th November, the new structure of the firm was registered with the Erfurt Chamber of Commerce under the number HRA 3234. Immediately afterwards, on 2nd December, Prüfer was made chief engineer [»Oberingenieur»]. In addition to his new status, because of his experience with the secretariat of his army unit in 1914-18 and his membership of the Nazi Party, Prüfer was made delegate for the Topf personnel, a voluntary post that he did not hold very long. In 1939, Topf had about one 1200 employees. The firm became a supplier to the Wehrmacht and stepped up the purchase of materials in order to be able to fulfil these army contracts. Given the status of an enterprise »essential to the war economy«, Topf duly contributed to the »Adolf Hitler Endowment Fund of German Industry«. By the end of 1940 the firm had completed 342,328.87 RM worth of contracts for diverse installations for the army. In addition, there were trade links with »Technompert« in Moscow. For the two directors, these brilliant results were clouded somewhat by the death of their mother, Else Topf, the widow of Ludwig Senior. By this time, Prüfer appeared to be a man who had arrived. He was sure of himself, confident of his own value and that of his products, often peremptory in his manner [report of 15th May 1939 by Herr Machemehl and telephone call of 8th July 1940 transcribed by Herr Kleinhaus]. Thanks to his Party card, Prüfer was able to introduce himself into concentration camp SS circles, where the demand for cremation furnaces was increasing for two reasons: high mortality and fear of disease. His first order was to come from Dachau, the camp that had been the first to »open«, on 22nd March 1933, but he was not the only one to have been consulted. The camp administration had first asked the design office of an industrial furnace manufacturer, [»Ingenieurbüro/Industrieofenbau«] W MÜLLER of Allach, to produce a cremation furnace. Allach being the location of the famous SS porcelain factory, part of which was transferred close to Dachau in 1937. Müller had already supplied the SS with furnaces for porcelain. This firm first proposed a gas-fired cremation furnace, then on learning that the camp had no town gas supply, Müller proposed a coke-fired furnace in June 1937. They seem to have been unsuccessful however, and it was Prüfer who landed the contract. In November 1939, he installed in Dachau a two-muffle cremation furnace, of a design not found anywhere else, at a cost of 8,750 RM. 94 ===== PDF PAGE 0089 | page-089.md ===== ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) Document 2 [Weimar State Archives, Bestand 2/555a] Application, dated 18th November 1943, for the attribution of an honorary distinction to Kurt Prüfer, to mark his 25 years of service with Messrs Topf. The anniversary was celebrated on 6th December 1943, and on this occasion, the two directors of the firm felt they had a «particular obligation» to express their thanks and gratitude to him. At this date, the exploitation of the «Auschwitz market» was at an end, but Prüfer's bosses, perfectly aware of the «special» nature of some of the installations, nevertheless expressed their warm thanks on this occasion. Alongside question 7 of the application form: «Is the person to receive the honour a member of the NSDAP [Nazi Party]?», the typed answer is «Yes». [In order to try to explain the «singular» design of this model as compared to what was to become the «conventional» double-muffle furnace as found at Auschwitz and Mauthausen, two theories are possible. First, this model might have been a prototype, designed by Prüfer, experience with which led to the development of the «conventional» Topf double-muffle furnace as it appears on drawings D56, 570 (or 576) of 21st December 1939 and D57, 253 of 10th June 1940 (see these drawings in annex). However, the delay of only one month between the installation of the Dachau furnace and the drawing for the Buchenwald furnace would seem to rule out the possibility that it could have been used as a test installation. This leaves the second hypothesis, i.e. that the Dachau furnace was reconstructed using original components AFTER the war. The revisionists would have it that US General Unrein stated in 1960 that the Dachau furnaces had been built after the Liberation by former SS members under the direction of Americans. KL Dachau had in fact been equipped with one Topf double-muffle furnace and four Kori single muffle furnaces (the two in the centre being built as a unit). Comparing the Dachau Kori furnaces with others of the same type found in other camps reveals that they are of the «Reform» model, costing 4,500 RM each, and are in their original state. As for the Topf furnace, it could be that it had been dismantled, then reconstructed after the war using the metal parts found in the camp (as was the case with two double-muffle furnaces in Auschwitz Krematorium I) and since no drawings were available it was rebuilt from memory, with some of the components being arranged differently from how they were originally. This would explain General Unrein's remarks. Be that as it may, the presence in this furnace of metal parts typical of Topf furnaces proves that, reconstructed or not, a Topf furnace had been present in the camp BEFORE it was liberated by the Americans.] Thanks to Prüfer, Topf gradually introduced their «cremation» products into four of the concentration camps. DACHAU was equipped in November 1939 with one double-muffle furnace. BUCHENWALD, being near Erfurt, was supplied exclusively by Topf, who installed a double-muffle furnace at a cost of 8,174 RM in December 1939 and inaugurated the two very first three-muffle furnaces, costing between 11,000 and 12,000 RM each, in that camp (they entered service at the end of August and the beginning of October 1942 respectively). At MAUTHAUSEN, a «conventional» double-muffle furnace was delivered in December 1940 for the GUSEN annex camp, at a cost of 9,003 RM, then a second, identical, furnace to the mother camp in 1942-43, but this was not completed until July 1944. Finally, at AUSCHWITZ-BIRKENAU, Topf installed three «conventional» double-muffle furnaces (the first cost 8,000 RM and was installed in November 1940, the second and third were installed at the beginning and end of 1941, respectively); ten three-muffle furnaces (five being completed in March and the second five in June 1943) and two twinned four-muffle furnaces (also known as eight-muffle furnaces) at a cost of 13,800 RM each, which entered service at the end of March and beginning of April 1943. Topf's main competitor in this rather specialized market was the Berlin firm of H Kori, who succeeded in supplying their single muffle furnaces at a unit cost of 4,000 to 4,500 RM to a greater number of camps than Topf. Among others they supplied Dachau with four single-muffle furnaces; Flossenbürg one, of simplified design; Ravensbrück two; Sachsenhausen four; Mauthausen one; Majdanek five; built as a single block; Stutthof two. Thus, during the war, Kori built twenty to thirty cremation muffles in the camps. But with Prüfer's «deal of a lifetime» Topf beat them hands down, having installed 66 cremation muffles during the same period, 46 of them at Birkenau. This competition between Topf and Kori concerned only «brick built» furnaces, i.e. built in situ, using refractory materials, brick and manufactured metal parts. However, in various camps (such as Natzweiler-Stutthof, Westerbork, Sachsenhausen, Majdanek, Gross-Rosen, Stutthof, Mauthausen, Ravensbrück, Trzebinia, Blechhammer) there were also one or two single-muffle «pocket furnaces» («Taschenofen») (called «mobile» because they could be transported as a single unit) with a metal casing (see annex). It is most probable that this low-capacity model, burning heavy fuel oil and costing about 3,000 RM, was manufactured by H Kori of Berlin, for in the majority of camps where they were used they were installed first, awaiting the construction of a Kori furnace in situ, which formed a second phase of cremation equipment. Some of the metal parts of these pocket furnaces, such as the muffle doors and the secondary draught dampers, were identical with the Kori brick-built furnace, which would seem to prove that both came from the same firm. There was also a third «dangerous» firm, Didier, run by Herr Peters (not to be confused with Dr Peters of Degesch), whose headquarters were probably in Berlin. Its field of activity does not seem to have included to the concentration camps, unless it was this firm who produced the pocket model, possibly as a subcontractor for Kori. This new concentration camp market opened up an undreamed of outlet as from October 1941: the Auschwitz camp. The two double-muffle furnaces installed in Krematorium I were no longer adequate and a third of the same type was ordered at the end of September. But this additional order, worth 9,000 RM to Topf, was chickenfeed compared with what was to follow. On 22nd October, Prüfer met the new head of the Bauleitung («Construction Management») at Auschwitz, SS Captain Karl Bischoff. The SS wanted to build another crematorium in the camp, considering that Krematorium I, even with 6 muffles, would soon reach saturation point. Bischoff was well-placed to know this, because he had been posted to Auschwitz to build a POW camp [KGL] (for Russian prisoners) to hold 125,000 men. The site chosen was Birkenau, flat land, but marshy and therefore requiring drainage. The working conditions and then living conditions were terrible and were to remain so. The result was an extremely high mortality rate, which required a modern and efficient crematorium. Bischoff was not yet sure where the new crematorium would be located, but in his conversation with Prüfer it was to be in the main camp. On 30th October, it was included in the estimates for the POW camp, at Birkenau. Wherever the location was to be, Prüfer could hardly believe his ears, for Bischoff was thinking big, very big. And Prüfer, encouraging him in this direction, was reflecting and calculating. The result of this conversation was agreement on a project for a crematorium with five three-muffle furnaces, fed by two big underground morgues. In addition there was to be a single-muffle waste incinerator. The cremation capacity envisaged was 60 corpses per hour, or a throughput of 1,440 in 24 hours. The expected cost of the entire building was 650,000 RM and the minimum Topf could expect would be 5 three-muffle furnaces at 12,000 RM each, making 60,000 RM, to say nothing of the waste incinerator worth about 3,800 RM and the sundry other supplies [in fact Topf received a total of 110,000 RM for the installations in Krematorium II as the «new Krematorium» came to be designated]. It is quite likely that at this date Prüfer had not even designed the three-muffle furnace yet. But he set to work the moment he got back to Erfurt. When the two men met, Prüfer must have appeared to Bischoff to be a real magician in cremation matters. The engineer designed his furnaces to be efficient and cheap. Instead of simply building single-muffle furnaces alongside one another until the capacity desired by the client was reached, with no possibility of reducing the price except by giving a quantity discount. Prüfer's idea was to group several muffles in the same furnace and thus reduce the cost of production, and hence the price, considerably. His double-muffle furnace had two fireboxes. His three-muffle furnace also had only two fireboxes. And as for the four-muffle furnace (which could be twinned to give an eight-muffle furnace), two fireboxes were still sufficient. This meant less metal parts, economies in construction and lower cost and price. Bischoff must have been captivated and it is clear from subsequent events that the two men got on well. Bischoff could not resist telling his chief in the SS Economic Administration Head Office in Berlin, Dr Ing Kammler, about Prüfer's remarkable knowledge of «cremation 95 ===== PDF PAGE 0090 | page-090.md ===== science». This information was soon to bear fruit, for on 4th December 1941, Topf received an order from Himmler's headquarters for four-twinned four-muffle (or four eight-muffle) furnaces, giving 32 cremation muffles, for the Mogilew prisoner of war camp in the Soviet Union. On 9th December 1941, Topf accepted what was to be known as the «Mogilew Contract». Following this order and before its acceptance by Topf, Prüfer requested a meeting with his two directors, in order to ask for a well-deserved bonus. The truth is that thanks to Prüfer's designs, the firm was very competitive in the field of cremation furnaces. They could now offer an eight-muffle furnace for 13,800 RM, whereas an equivalent battery of single-muffle furnaces from another firm would cost about 30,000 RM. In a month and a half, Prüfer had negotiated contracts for over 60,000 RM worth of three-muffle furnaces for Auschwitz and 55,200 RM worth of eight-muffle furnaces for Mogilew: a total of 115,200 RM for Topf. The designer of both these models was Prüfer himself, who had worked on them during his free time. On 6th December, Prüfer put his request for a bonus in writing and sent it to the two Topf brothers. On 24th December, an exceptional bonus of 150 RM was duly paid [Document 3]. In late 1941 and early 1942, the business deals negotiated by Prüfer for Topf, even though they may appear «special» or even monstrous, were in fact «normal» and in no way reprehensible. Document 3 (Weimar State Archives, Bestand 2/555a) ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) ![img-1.jpeg](img-1.jpeg) 96 ===== PDF PAGE 0091 | page-091.md ===== Document 3b [Cachet humide du secrétariat de la Direction de la Topf.] 6 - DEZ 1941 Erfurt, den 6 Dezember 1941. Herren Ludwig u. Ernst Wolfgang Topf ! im Hause. Sehr geehrte Herren Topf ! Wie Sie wissen, habe ich die 3 Muffel- als auch die 8 Muffel- Einäscherungsöfen durchgearbeitet und hierbei meistens meine Freizeit - zu Hause - benutzt. Diese Ofenkonstruktionen sind auch für spätere Zeiten bahnbrechend und darf ich wohl annehmen, daß Sie mir für die geleistete Arbeit, eine Prämie gewähren werden. Heil Hitler ! Kurt Prüfer. Braun), einverstanden ? muß bespr.(ochen) werden. T [mu]t LT/ET RM 150,- bez. 24/12.41 [griffe] Translation: [Top left: Rubber stamp of the Topf management secretariat, dated 6th December 1941, with the initials of the directors: «LT» for Ludwig Topf and «ET» for Ernst-Wolfgang Topf, and the inscriptions «For reply» and «Replied on»] Erfurt, 6th December 1941 To Messrs Ludwig and Ernst Wolfgang Topf inside the house Dear Messrs Topf, As you know, I designed both the 3 muffle and the 8 muffle cremation furnaces, and this using mainly my free time - at home. These furnace constructions pioneer the way for the future and I venture to hope that you will grant me a bonus for the work involved. Heil Hitler! Kurt Prüfer On the order of LT/ET, 150 RM paid 24/12/41 [initials] Braun), agreed ? must discuss T This hand-written letter from Prüfer, on its own, directly proves that he was the designer of the 3 and 8-muffle furnaces and is indirect evidence that he participated in the extermination of the Jews at Birkenau. The author has made a point of materializing Prüfer's bonus in actual notes below the letter so that the reader can assess the extraordinary deviations and no less extraordinary potentialities of the present era. For there is reason to worry about the demential causality involved in rewarding the cerebral effort that made it possible to reduce about 900,000 living people to ashes with two miserable pieces of paper bearing the portraits of two models of German success: on the 100 RM note, Justus Liebig, a remarkable chemist, discoverer of a method of measuring carbon and hydrogen in organic bodies, whose work was behind the development of German chemistry; on the 50 RM note, David Hansemann, Prussian politician and economist, who developed the railways, improved the lot of manual workers and concerned himself with capital management, having been Minister of Finance and Director of the Bank of Prussia. 97 ===== PDF PAGE 0092 | page-092.md ===== As plans for the POW camp took shape, Bischoff decided to build the five three-muffle furnace crematorium in the main camp and to build another with two three-muffle furnaces at Birkenau. He informed Prüfer, who had his drawing office start work on this Birkenau project, which was worth another 24,000 RM to Topf. But Bischoff had favoured Prüfer too much, and following a high-level meeting at the Auschwitz Bauleitung on 27th February 1942, with the presence of Dr Ing Kammler from Berlin, the project for the two-furnace crematorium, considered by Kammler to be superfluous to requirements, was dropped and the five-furnace crematorium was shifted from the main camp to Birkenau. Prüfer, annoyed by the cancellation of this order, claimed the sum of 1,769.36 RM to cover the cost of the design work already done for the two three-muffle furnace crematorium. In May 1942, the large-scale gassing of arriving transports of Jews began in Birkenau Bunkers 1 and 2. As far as Prüfer and Messrs Topf were concerned, the shift from «normal» to «abnormal» commercial operations occurred about this time, between April and June 1942. The Bauleitung started modifying the drawings of the new five-furnace crematorium, produced at the end of January 1942, to convert the premises into an instrument of extermination. Prüfer could not fail to have been informed, as it was he who supplied the technical data for this building to the young Bauleitung SS Second Lieutenants. We know absolutely nothing about the attitude of the Topf management when they learned about the physical elimination of the Jews in which they were necessarily participating with their cremation furnaces. But there were only two possible lines of conduct: to flatly refuse to proceed, or to accept the situation, more or less reluctantly. The SS had powerful arguments: first of a «moral» nature, it was an order of the Führer [»Führerbefehl«]; second, there were pickings rich enough to overcome any outmoded scruples, for it was no longer a matter of one or perhaps two crematoriums to build, but FOUR, all using Topf furnaces. All the circumstances combined to make these installations necessary: the mass graves of the victims gassed in Bunkers 1 and 2 were a catastrophic health hazard, the Jewish convoys were becoming ever more frequent, and a typhus epidemic was raging through the camp. The one solution to all these problems was incineration. The SS could have done this in open-air pits, but Prüfer was there, with an eye to profit, and was able to guide the SS towards a more modern solution, his own furnaces. He provided all the information they could require. In July-August 1942, the different contracts (for the shells of the buildings, dump-proofing, roofs, drainage, furnaces and chimneys) for the four Birkenau Krematorien were signed. The total amount involved was 1,606,500 RM and the 264,000 RM for Topf was enough to remove any lingering scruples. Prüfer was at the peak of his career. His first two three-muffle furnaces had started work in KL Buchenwald on 23 August and 3rd October 1942 respectively, and tests had proved that they functioned perfectly and their throughput was one third higher than planned. The equipment destined for Birkenau Krematorien II and III was therefore reliable and efficient. As soon as the construction of the last two Krematorien (IV and V) had begun, Prüfer seized the opportunity on 15th November 1942 to boost his bonus of December 1941. He received a further 450 RM on 12th December [Document 4]. Document 4 [Weimar State Archives, Bestand 2/555a] ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) This second hand-written letter from Prüfer formally proves that the two three-muffle furnaces in KL Buchenwald, which certain people have claimed were built AFTER the war, were in fact installed in mid 1942. While the first bonus of 150 RM was paid for the designing of the 3 and 8-muffle furnaces, the second bonus of 450 RM was connected with the number actually sold by this date. Of the 14 manufactured, 12 were definitely installed (2 at Buchenwald and 10 at Birkenau) and it would appear that 2 remained in stock, no buyer having been found. 98 ===== PDF PAGE 0093 | page-093.md ===== Document 4b [tampon humide:] LT vorlegen ET Erfurt, den 15. November 1942 Herren E.u.L. Topf ! im Hause . Sehr geehrte Herren Topf ! [Cachet humide du secrétariat de la Direction du] 17 NOV. 1942 [au crayon:] LT vorlegen. Nach der Absprache mit Ihnen die Ende vorigen Jahres stattfand, haben Sie mir für die Neukonstruktion der Dreimuffel - Einäscherungsöfen, eine Entschädigung zugesagt. Diese sollte gezahlt werden, sobald daß einwandfreie Ergebnis für die Arbeitsweise der Öfen vorlag. Vor 12 bezw. 6 Wochen sind die beiden ersterrichteten Topf-Dreimuffel-Einäscherungsöfen im Krematorium Buchenwald in Betrieb gekommen. Der erste Öfen hat bereits eine große Anzahl Einäscherungen hinter sich, die Arbeitsweise des Ofens und demzufolge die Neukonstruktion hat sich bewährt u. ist einwandfrei. Die Öfen leisten 1/3 mehr, als von mir überhaupt vorgesehen war. Es sind bis jetzt 8 Stck Dreimuffel-Einäscherungsöfen fertiggestellt bezw. im Bau. Weitere 6 Stck sind in Arbeit. Diesenhalb bitte ich Sie, die mir versprochene Entschädigung baldigst anweisen zu wollen. Stets gern zu Ihren Diensten Ihr ergebener RM 450,- Provision erhalten 12/12.42 Kurt Prüfer Bischleben Herrm[ann] Göringstr[aße] 2 Translation: [Top left: Rubber stamp »Submit to LT/ET«] [Upper right, below the date: Rubber stamp of the Topf management secretariat, as on document 3, here dated 17th November 1942] Erfurt, 15th November 1942 To Messrs E und L Topf inside the house Dear Messrs Topf, [in pencil: »Submit to LT«] After the conversation I had with you at the end of last year, you agreed to pay me a bonus for the new construction of three-muffle cremation furnaces. This was to be paid once it was established that the furnaces operated correctly. 12 and 6 weeks ago, respectively, the first two Topf three-muffle cremation furnaces entered service in the Buchenwald crematorium. The first furnace already has a great number of cremations behind it, and the functioning of the furnace and hence the new construction has proved itself and is faultless. The furnaces have a throughput 1/3 greater than I had foreseen. To date, 8 three-muffle cremation furnaces are completed or under construction. A further 6 are being manufactured. I would therefore ask you to pay me the promised bonus as soon as possible. Always gladly at your service. Respectfully yours, Kurt Prüfer Bischleben Herrn[ann], Göringstr[aße] 2 450 RM Provision received 12/12/42 99 ===== PDF PAGE 0094 | page-094.md ===== The end of 1942 was a prosperous period for the Topf crematorium construction division in all respects: new markets had opened up (in the concentration camps and the East) and new products had been designed and sold. Quite apart from Kurt Prüfer's furnaces, the engineer Fritz SANDER filed a patent application on 26th October 1942 for his design for a CONTINUOUS cremation furnace [Documents 4 and 6], which was contrary to the law then in force in the Third Reich, but had been conceived to «absorb» the high mortality rate caused by events of the time (in the Soviet Union). This patent application seems to have been lodged in haste, for it was corrected and resubmitted on 4th November 1942. On 16th November, another patent application was made, this time for a method of air cooling furnace combustion grates in order to prolong their life [Document 7]. Although this patent application was found attached to that of Fritz Sander, the author of this improvement is not named. In addition, in order to meet Auschwitz Camp Commandant Hoess' desire to build on the experience already acquired by the SS with open-air cremation pits, Prüfer drew up a project for an «open» furnace, mentioned in a letter of 12th February 1943. This new «invention» was never actually implemented because Birkenau already had more than enough cremation capacity. From January to June 1943, a Topf fitter, Messing, worked in Krematorien II and III, installing the furnace pulsed-air blowers, the forced draught system and the different ventilation systems (for the undressing rooms, gas chambers, furnace rooms, dissecting and annex rooms) and finally the corpse lifts. His timesheets, covering the work done each week, constitute damning evidence of the criminal conversion of these buildings. In the second week of March, the ventilation system of Leichenkeller I (the gas chamber) in Krematorium II, designed and built for the conditions of a morgue, was tested by Messing to see if it could satisfactorily evacuate an atmosphere poisoned by hydrocyanic acid gas. These tests were conclusive. As from 15th March 1943, the date of the first homicidal gassing in Krematorium II, Messing could not help but see the extermination of the Jews, directly or indirectly, until he finally left the camp on 8th June 1943. He was back in Erfurt on 11th June and it is inconceivable that he did not talk about what was happening in Birkenau, even to close friends. This would imply that by word of mouth all or part of the German staff of Topf must have known about the true utilization of the furnaces that were being manufactured. Krematorium IV was completed on 22nd March, Kr II on 31st, Kr V on 4th April and Kr III on 25th June 1943. However, things went by no means as smoothly as Prüfer had expected and the SS hoped. At the beginning of May 1943, Krematorien II and IV had to shut down, Kr II with a damaged chimney and Kr IV with damage to both furnaces and chimneys. It was possible to refine the Kr II chimney, but the damage to Kr IV was irreparable, since it was not so strongly built and inferior materials, the only ones available at the time, had been used. The problems with Kr IV showed that Kr V could not be much better as it was built identically, so it had to be used very carefully in order to try to extend its life. The Bauleitung were extremely annoyed about the shutdown of Krematorien IV (permanent) and V (partial), which meant they had wanted between 400,000 and 410,000 RM. Prüfer was implicitly held responsible, and as from summer 1943 relations between him and the Bauleitung became somewhat strained and began to turn sour. Document 5 [Betriebsarchiv VEB Erfurter Mälzerei und Speicherbau, Erfurt] Translation: J.A. Topf & Söhne, Erfurt Maschinenfabrik Feuerungstechnisches Baugeschäft Gegr. 1870 An das Leichspatentum, Berlin SW 61 Gitschiner Str. 97/103 Anz. 20.10.1942 For. Patenten, die: Hiermit melden wir, die Firma J.A. Topf & Söhne, Erfurt, die in den Anlagen beschriebene und abstellte Erfindung an und beantragen für diese die Erteilung eines Dutents. Die Bezeichnung lautet: Kontinuierlich arbeiderter Leichen-Verfahren und Die Krematorium. Als Erfinder nennen wir Herrn Oberingenieur Fritz Sander Erfurt, Beaumontstr. 21, II. Die gestellene Gebühr von SW 65.— für die Kosten des Ver- führens ist gleichzeitig auf dem Postscheckkonto Nr. Berlin des Reichspatentumstas überzuden worden. Es liebt bei 1.) die zweite Ausfertigung dieses Antrates, 2.) zwei gleichlautende Beschreibungen mit je 4 Patent- ansprüchen, 3.) 1 Druckzeichnung, 4.) 1 Aktenzeichnung, 5.) 1 vorbereitete Laufanschauung auf frondierter Postkarte. Von diesem Antrag und allen Anlagen sind überreinstimmende Stücke zurückgehalten worden. Heil Hitler! Der Erfinder: Die Firma: Erfurt, Beaumontstr. 21, II. Anlagen die unter 1-5 Anfertigen. J A Topf & Sons, Erfurt Engineering Works Technical heating installation constructors Established TOPF 1878 To the Reich Patent Office Berlin SW 61 Gitschinerstraße 97/103 26/10/1942 Author Sander # Patent application We, the firm J A Topf & Sons, Erfurt hereby notify the discovery described and presented in the enclosures and request the issue of a patent for it. The description concerns: # Continuous operation corpse incineration furnace for intensive use As inventor, we designate the chief engineer Fritz Sander, Erfurt, Beaumontstraße 21, II. The legally prescribed filing fee of 25 RM for the cost of the procedure is being sent at the same time to the Reich Patent Office Postal Cheque Account No. 2 [7] in Berlin. Enclosed please find: 1. The second copy of this Application; 2. Two identical descriptions, each with 4 patent claims; 3. 1 print of the drawing; 4. 1 drawing for file; 5. 1 one stamped and addressed acknowledgement of receipt card. True copies of this Application and all enclosures have been retained. Heil Hitler! The inventor The firm Erfurt, Beaumontstraße 21, II. Enclosures: As listed in 1 to 5. 100 ===== PDF PAGE 0095 | page-095.md ===== Document 6 [PMO microfilm 1612] ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) Document 6b ![img-1.jpeg](img-1.jpeg) Translation of inscriptions on the sketch in the French text: - fumées/smoke - corps/corpses - cendres/ashes - foyer/firebox Sander filed his patent application for a continuous cremation furnace in response to the particular situation obtaining in the East: the creation of big assembly camps connected with the destruction and dislocation caused by the war. High death rates were to be expected and the burial of the corpses of people dying from infectious diseases represented a health hazard, while individual cremation was impossible due to a lack of human and material resources. The solution was therefore a mass cremation furnace, contrary to the law, but made necessary by the circumstances. In order to make a continuous cremation furnace the first idea that comes to mind is based on the production line principle: the corpses are put on a conveyor, pass through a cremation furnace and emerge as ashes at the other end. But such a system would require moving parts operating under harsh conditions, thus subject to rapid deterioration. The advantage of Sander's design is that everything takes place INSIDE the furnace itself. The firebox is at the bottom. The corpses are introduced at the top, one at a time, and slowly slide down three inclined refractory grids under their own weight, arriving at the bottom as ashes. No moving parts, subject to wear, for it is the corpses themselves that move. On Figure 1, corpses are introduced at i, and slide down inclined grids a, a1 and a2, gradually being consumed by the fire of the firebox n. The ashes are collected in m and the smoke is evacuated through p. This patent application, which is very generalized, concerning only the principle of continuous cremation, may be summarized as follows: The dimensions of the furnace are lacking, but it may be estimated as being about 2 m wide, 2.5 m deep at the top and 3 m at the base and 6 m high. If this furnace had ever been built, there would have been serious problems with the refractory slides q, which could be used to stop corpses from descending, and the inadequate number of inspection and intervention apertures for dealing with blocages. The scheme was never put into practice, one possible reason being that such a furnace would have been in direct competition with the creations of Prüfer, Sander's superior. 101 ===== PDF PAGE 0096 | page-096.md ===== Document 7 [PMO microfilm 1612] Drawing accompanying a Topf patent application of 16th November 1942 for «Air cooled grate plates for mechanical grate firing». It is essentially a wartime (period of shortages) patent, making it possible to fire a furnace with fuel of differing quality, depending on what is available, while maintaining the correct heating capacity and without damaging the fire grate. ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) 102 Document 8 [Weimar State Archives, Bestand 2/555a] ![img-1.jpeg](img-1.jpeg) Translation: Memorandum from Personnel section 18/6/45 ri. [Ritter] [Upper right: Rubber stamp of the Topf management secretariat, dated 25th April 1945] Subject: Kurt Prüfer Herr Prüfer was held for questioning from 30/5 - 13/6 Should these days be paid ? [manuscript] Yes (P. worked 5 hours a day until his arrest) J A TOPF & SONS Personnel Section [signed] Ritter ===== PDF PAGE 0097 | page-097.md ===== However, the problems with the Auschwitz SS did not stop Prüfer celebrating his 25 years of good and faithful service with Messrs Topf on 6th December 1943 [Document 2]. At this time the firm had 838 employees, of whom 181 were foreign workers and 160 were prisoners of war of various nationalities. Under the Vichy France compulsory labour scheme, a number of French draughtsmen, (classified as design draughtsmen) had been sent to Topf and worked on tracings in Herr Schmidt's grain silo division. They seem to have been totally unaware that Topf had any dealings with KL Auschwitz. [In 1985, the present author, having found several personal files of these draughtsmen, chose three who had arrived at Topf at the beginning of 1943, and was able to find two of them still alive in France. The first did not even know that the firm produced cremation furnaces and had never heard anything at all about the gassings at Auschwitz. The second had seen a little brochure showing a modest crematorium to be installed near a cemetery, but he too had no idea of any connection between Topf and Auschwitz]. It is likely that the figure of 838 employees given in the Topf balance sheet as at 31st December 1943 did not include the engineers and managerial staff, but this still implies a significant drop since 1939, when there were 1200 employees. The decline is no doubt explained by the directives to German industry to concentrate on arms production, a sector in which Messrs Topf, with their boilers, furnaces and grain silos, were not active. As from the end of 1943, the sale of big furnaces, like the three- and eight-muffle models, came to a halt and not one was built in 1944. It is possible that the breakdowns of Birkenau Krematorien IV and V, duly reported to the SS-WVHA in Berlin, had persuaded those responsible for concentration camps not to order any more furnaces from Topf. But in addition, the structure of such camps was changing under the pressure of the disastrous course of events on the Southern and Eastern Fronts. The enormous waste of human life was slowed and prisoners fit to work were used as slave labour in the desperate war effort. Camps were split up in order to have the labour closer to where it was needed. At Auschwitz, the Monowitz camp, created at the request of IG Farbenindustrie, took over from the «error» of Birkenau and then gave rise to a swarm of subcamps [«Nebenlager»] all over Upper Silesia. The same phenomenon was to be seen in the other big camps. Despite a certain «good intention» on the part of the SS to improve, or rather allow others to improve, the lot of the prisoners, who were increasingly in contact with civilians in their places of work, «had habits» remained. This, together with the fact that the situation of the country was deteriorating day by day, meant that the life of the average deportee scarcely changed, or even became worse, since he was obliged to work hard on extremely low rations and was at the same time ill-treated outside the factory, often by their own cadres (such as Kapos, Vorarbeiter, Block leaders, etc., who were generally incompetent, thieving and depraved). The still very high death rate meant that the cremation furnaces had to follow the prisoners to their subcamps. Small, single-muffle units were installed, not so much as a function of the number of prisoners, but according to availability and opportunities. Virtually all these late installations were Kori «Pocket furnaces». Topf was forced out of this twilight market, and small was added to injury when the small crematorium buildings that had been erected in two Auschwitz III [Monowitz] subcamps, Blechhammer and Trzebinia, were fitted with the «mobile» furnaces of Topf's direct competitor, Kori. On 8th May 1945, the Third Reich capitulated. Erfurt had been occupied by American troops on 10th April (General Patton's 3rd US Army). The liberation of Buchenwald concentration camp and the discovery of its two three-muffle cremation furnaces for human bones could not inspire the victors to take an interest in the activities of the firm who had produced them; Topf, whose name proudly appeared on a plate on the furnaces. Prüfer was arrested on 30th May [Document 8]. ON THE VERY NEXT DAY, THE MANAGING DIRECTOR, LUDWIG TOPF, COMMITTED SUICIDE [the date of his death being recorded on page 3rd of the Topf balance sheet as at 31st December 1945, drawn up by Dr Zerbus-Jahmet between June and August 1946]. This suicide would be incomprehensible if Ludwig Topf had remained simply another furnace manufacturer. His act is a posthumous formal admission that his firm had participated in the extermination of the Jews at Auschwitz, all the more so because members of the firm subsequently blamed his death on a «general nervous depression». It is ironic that the suicide was somewhat premature because Prüfer was released by the Americans on 13th June. After his brother's death, either during or just after Prüfer's short imprisonment, the second director, Ernst-Wolfgang Topf, fled the area, justifying his departure by saying that he had to attend to the formalities connected with the succession. Gustav Braun was deputized as general manager. Prüfer owed his quick release to his gift of the gab. Being used to dealing with the military, and with the SS in particular, Patton's soldiers could not intimidate him, and he got the better of them as he had done with the head of the Auschwitz Bauleitung, Bischoff, at the end of 1941. What made it all the more entertaining for Prüfer was that this was new ground on him and his interrogators were green and credulous. All they had against him was that he built cremation furnaces in the camps. He had to show them that his furnaces were simply there for health reasons: essential instruments for the proper functioning of the camp in that they helped avoid the spread of epidemics and they were certainly useful in the present deplorable state of Germany. As they did not suspect Prüfer's role in the conversion of the Birkenau Krematorien for homicidal purposes, it appears that the Americans did not seize the Topf records, which were at that time full of damning evidence concerning the «deal of a lifetime». Since his involvement with Auschwitz was not known, Prüfer's argument carried the day and he soon found himself not only free, but with an order for a furnace for the town of Erfurt from the occupying power who had imprisoned him! On 14th June 1945, back in the Topf offices, Prüfer destroyed all traces of the contracts concluded and the correspondence with KL Auschwitz. He purged his own file, leaving only what could be of use to him in the future, such as the letters proving that he was the inventor of the 3 and 8-muffle furnaces. Having covered himself, he got back to work. The Americans left Erfurt in July 1945 and were replaced by the Soviets. Prüfer did business with the new occupying forces, who ordered two refuse incinerators [«Abfallvernichtungsöfen»] from him, one for the Blumenthal barracks in Erfurt (though it is possible that this was in fact ordered by the American) and the other for the town of Arnstadt. Despite Ludwig's regrettable act, fears began to subside at Topf. In the afternoon of 11th October, a Soviet soldier appeared at Topf and asked for the manager [Braun's Aktennotiz of 11/10/45]. Received by Braun, he then asked for Prüfer, who was absent, having gone to Arnstadt to supervise the construction of the refuse incinerator, ordered by the Soviets themselves. The soldier then asked Braun a lot of questions about the furnaces and about Prüfer and his position in the firm. Braun replied that Prüfer, being head of the «crematorium construction» division, was concerned solely with incineration furnaces. The soldier knew that Ludwig Topf was dead, and asked about the circumstances. Braun was hardly going to admit that his boss, perfectly aware of Prüfer's secondary activities in helping prepare for gassings had feared the worst and committed suicide as soon as Prüfer was arrested, so he spoke about Ludwig's being very down, mental troubles having followed a nervous condition that had appeared almost a year earlier and had subsequently deteriorated. The Russian then asked about the other Topf, Ernst-Wolfgang. He was not there either, having gone to Stuttgart and Frankfurt to settle the assurance business connected with the succession. The Soviet Military Government had given permission. He should have been back already, but the formalities were taking longer than expected. The Russian asked about the firm's other products, and whether lifts were built in some of the installations. Braun replied affirmatively on this point, and added that Topf activities were also connected with the food industry and brewing. Finally, the soldier said he would be back at 8 o'clock the next morning to talk to Prüfer. He did not say about what. It is not known whether the Russian soldier did return, and if so how Prüfer got rid of him, but he remained free. As for Ernst-Wolfgang Topf, probably warned by Braun about this disturbing visit, he never returned to the Soviet Zone, preferring to remain in the West and live with his sister Johanna in Wiesbaden. The fact that Prüfer did not leave with his family during the night of 11th October or during the next few days to join Ernst-Wolfgang Topf shows how sure he must have been of his impunity, having successfully «resisted» the Americans and then purged all incriminating Topf documents. However, the sword hanging over the heads of the senior Topf men finally fell, and on 4th March 1946 Gustav Braun, Kurt Prüfer [Document 9], Fritz Sander and Karl Schultze were arrested and imprisoned. For the historian, the trace ends there for the moment. Furthermore, under Soviet Military Government Order No. 124/126, the Topf firm was sequestered while awaiting a legal decision on its degree of culpability in the concentration camps. An interim administrator, Herr Wernecki, also a member of the firm, was nominated to replace Braun. The wives of the four engineers received payments from Topf for a period of two years, which would imply that their husbands were still in prison AND alive. But, in 1947, the firm became the «property of the Land» [«landseigener Betrieb»], then on 1st July 1948, it was declared «property of the people» [«volkseigener Betrieb»]. Times were changing quickly. Topf lost its independence and was attached to NAGEMA of Dresden, and its name «Topf & Sons» smacking too much of the patriarchy, was replaced by «Erfurter Maschinenfabrik Nagema». The announcement of this nationalisation allowed Ernst-Wolfgang Topf to rehabilitate himself. Admittedly, in financial terms he had lost almost everything, but morally he would have regained his lost respectability. After making contact with the members of the Wiesbaden Chamber of Commerce and Industry on 9th December 1947, and after putting out feelers, he was ready to start up in business again. The plan was to transfer his design office to 39 Kapellenstraße, Wiesbaden, and to subcontract the manufacture of the Topf machines. The technical documentation that he was able to produce convinced the Chamber of Commerce that his project was «worthwhile and deserving of a subsidy». When the old firm was nationalised [declared «Volks- eigentums»), the transfer could be made. The fact that Germany was divided into two Zones made it possible for Ernst Wolfgang Topf to transform the legal sequestration of his firm into «unjust expropriation» by a communist regime. If he had had to produce written proof, his deception of the authorities would have been revealed, but he forestalled this by claiming that he had had no advance notice of this «despotiment» [and for good reason], arguing that there were about fifty other Dresden firms in the same position. Thus he was able to hide the fact that his firm had been sequestered and change his own status from that of one suspected of having been involved in crimes against humanity into that of a victim of the «Reds». His efforts to whitewash the name of Topf had succeeded. Before the war, Topf had sales branches in Berlin, Dresden, Stuttgart, Ulm and Munich. As of June 1948, those of Berlin and Dresden were out of reach because of the partition of the country, and had most probably been destroyed anyway. The ones that remained, Stuttgart, Ulm and Munich, were all in the south of Germany. Topf intended to start up a production plant in one of these towns. The implantation of the «new» Topf firm was adapted to the geography of the future Federal Republic of Germany. In the centre was the registered office in Wiesbaden. In order to cover North Germany, the «heating and furnaces» division was established in Recklinghausen in the Ruhr, with a design office staffed by 3 to 5 people and the possibility of adding a fabrication shop. In the South there was to be a production unit for malting and grain processing installations. It is not known whether this ingenious programme was implemented in full, but it was certainly partly implemented in the centre and north. When it was registered with the Wiesbaden Court of First Instance on 16th August 1951 under the number A 4995, the situation of the firm was as follows: the registered office (management, general administration and sales) was now at 50 Wilhelmstraße, an avenue with greenery, much classier than Kapellenstraße; a temporary factory was planned for Wiesbaden before final implantation in South Germany; in Recklinghausen, the design office was functioning in liaison with an establishment specialized in the fabrication of heating equipment and furnaces (nothing is known about the size or number of employees in this unit). The Recklinghausen design office corresponded to Prüfer's old «Krematoriumabteilung», and on 31st October 1951 one of its engineers, Martin Klettner, filed a patent application for a single-muffle cremation furnace, entitled «Procedure and equipment for the cremation of corpses, carcasses and parts thereof». The patent was issued on 13th November 1952 [Documents 10, 11 and 12]. Prüfer's influence was still to be seen, even if only in the readoption of his «guillotine» system of closure for the muffle doors, as on the 1941 drawing D58,173 and as installed on his 8-muffle furnaces. The unhealthy reddish glow of this patent, recalling only too well the demential rows of furnaces in the Birkenau Krematorien, was the final burst of intellectual effort from the firm of Topf, which was never to attract further any attention thereafter. After its transfer to the West, the new Topf was never more than a very pale shadow of the old. It is not known to what extent the younger Topf was able to persuade his former engineers to come to Wiesbaden, and if so how they managed to cross the frontier, but it is unlikely that many joined him. It seems much more probable that Ernst-Wolfgang restarted the Topf business virtually on his own and with very limited resources. The initial registered capital for the new company in 1951 was 1,500 DM, which was three or four times the average monthly wage at that date. He was relying above all on a wealth of technical 103 ===== PDF PAGE 0098 | page-098.md ===== Document 9 [Weimar State Archives, Bestand 2/555a] documentation, his only real asset, that he had been able to take with him or have collected before nationalization (this is confirmed by the very small amount of Topf records found by the industrial authorities of the German Democratic Republic). The few engineers that he was able to employ must have worked on the basis of this data founded on years of experience. However, Topf of Wiesbaden was never to approach the level of activity of Topf of Erfurt. Over the following twelve years, the firm seems to have continued more or less successfully, though not with the kind of turnover known before the war, and its low level of activity never seems to have been affected by the threat of a trial for participation in the creation of the Birkenau gas chambers, even though the name of Topf was mentioned over and over again in the concentration camp literature. The Wiesbaden firm was finally wound up on 18th March 1963, when Ernst-Wolgang Topf, the managing director, was 59 and his sister Johanna, the sleeping partner, 61. «TOPF & SÖHNE» ceased to exist on this date. According to the law of the Federal Republic of Germany, the firm's correspondence had to be kept for a further ten years, until 1973, and the contracts for thirty years, until 1993. At the present time the Topf records concerning their business with KL Auschwitz-Birkenau have still not been found, and it is more than likely that Prüfer «eliminated» them many years ago. Stadtarchiv Weimar Bestand 2/555 Aktennotiz von Herrn Machenehl Betr.: Kurt Prüfer Herr Prüfer ist am 4.3.46 nachmittags inhaftiert worden und ist bis jetzt nicht zurückgekehrt. Für Büro ist die Gehaltszahlung in voller Höhe erfolgt. Für das Spritzbehalt würde sich ein Netto-Gehalt von DM 206,50 ergeben. Aufgrund der kürzlichen Besprechung, die wegen der Bezahlung eines Spritzbetrages erfolgte, wäre nunmehr dieser festzusetzen, der als Durchmessung geleistet werden soll. ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) Translation: Memorandum from Herr Machenehl [Upper right: Rubber stamp of the Topf management secretariat, dated 25th April 1946] Subject: Kurt Prüfer Herr Prüfer was imprisoned on the afternoon of 4/3/46 and has not yet returned. For March the salary was paid in full. For April the next salary would be 286.40 RM Following the recent conversation regarding the payment of an April salary, it is now necessary to fix the amount to be paid on account. [manuscript] 150.- [signed] Schiller [Production manager, Gustav Braun's former post] Document 10 Erteilt auf Grund des Ersten Überleitungsgesetzes vom 8. Juli 1949 (WiGBl. S. 175) BUNDESREPUBLIK DEUTSCHLAND ![img-1.jpeg](img-1.jpeg) AUSGEGEBEN AM 5. JANUAR 1953 DEUTSCHES PATENTAMT PATENTSCHRIFT № 861 731 KLASSE 24d GRUPPE 1 T 1962 V 1444 Martin Klettner, Recklinghausen ist als Erfinder genannt worden J. A. Topf & Söhne, Wiesbaden Verfahren und Vorrichtung zur Verbrennung von Leichen, Kadavern und Teilen davon Patentiert im Datum der Bundesrepublik Deutschland vom 24. Juni 1950 an Patentanmeldung bekanntgemacht am 26. Oktober 1950 Patentanmeldung bekanntgemacht am 12. November 1952 Die Erfindung betrifft ein Verfahren zur Verbrennung von Leichen, Kadavern und Teilen davon durch rekuperativ erhitzte Verbrennungsluft und eine Vorrichtung zur Durchführung des Verfahrens. 5 Fast alle bisher bekanntgewordenen Einbucherungsverfahren verwenden im Rekuperativverfahren erhitzte Luft als Verbrennungsluft für die Verbrennung der Leichen. In der gleichen Weise wie bei allen Verbrennungsvorgängen in der Wassertechnik soll der 10 Verbrennungsprozeß durch die Verbrennung des Luft thermisch auf eine höhere Stufe geboben und damit die Verbrennungstemperatur gesteigert werden. Der Heizwert einer Leiche bzw. die Brennwert wurde bisher grundsätzlich nach dem Fettgehalt der 15 Leiche beurteilt. Die im Fettkörper der menschlichen Leiche enthaltenen CH (Kohlenwasserstoff)-Verbin- dungen (Fette) weisen zum Teil eine sehr niedrige Zündtemperatur auf und verbrennen bei höchsten Temperaturen. Dage je 6-10 l in bisher nicht geborgen, die im Eiweißkörper in Verbindung mit N (Steinstoff) enthaltenen CH-Verbindungen bei Fetten von reinen Fettkörpern und damit reinen CH-Verbindungen eraußenen in verbrennen. Der Eiweißkörper setzt mit seinem relativ hohen N-Gehalt (etwa 25%) seiner Verbrennung korrigieren Widerstand entgegen. Seine Zündtemperatur (0,45) bei etwa 800°C. Bei bisher erreichten Lufttemperaturen von 400 bis 500°C konnte somit die im Eiweißkörper enthaltenen Stickstoffkomponente in ihrer die Verbrennung hemmenden Wirkung nicht aufgehoben werden. Erfahrungsgrad vermag erst die Einwirkung von Luft von 800 bis 900° die Trennung des N von der 104 Document 10 ===== PDF PAGE 0099 | page-099.md ===== Document 11 ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) Document 12 ![img-1.jpeg](img-1.jpeg) # Documents 10, 11 and 12 [Federal Republic of Germany, German Patent Office, Patent No. 861 731, issued on 5th January 1953] Document 10 is the first page of the last Topf patent, for a single-muffle cremation furnace designed by Martin KLETTNER. The main feature of the invention was the almost complete combustion of the corpse (so that the volume of ashes remaining was rarely enough to fill a normal urn) by a system of hot air recovery. The time taken to cremate a corpse was from 30 to 45 minutes. The guillotine-type closing system for the muffle door was that designed by Prüfer for his 8-muffle furnace. It is not known whether this model, a little marvel of technical design, was ever marketed. It incorporated much of the experience gained by Topf in the concentration camps. Document 11 is the cross-section of the furnace and 12 the longitudinal section. Both drawings are attached to the patent. 105 ===== PDF PAGE 0100 | page-100.md ===== ## Drawings of Topf furnaces Three drawings of Topf furnaces are known at present. They are presented in order to familiarize the reader with their working and the location of the different components. It was ten three-muffle Topf furnaces (those of Krematorien II and III, which were derived from the two-muffle models on the first two drawings) that accounted for most of the «cremation work» associated with the extermination of the Jews at Birkenau. A knowledge of their internal organization makes it possible to understand their construction, the way they worked and the repairs they underwent. These drawings were produced by the drawing office of Topf's D Division, and bear a five-digit number prefixed by «D». Chief engineer Kurt Prüfer was the head of the subdivision D IV, «Krematoriumbau/crematorium construction». There would have been at least three other D subdivisions (I, II and III) designing things other than crematoriums, connected with heating techniques or not, so that the D drawing office, serving all the subdivisions, did not draw furnaces only. This assertion is supported by the rate of production of drawings, as far as this can be calculated, which averaged a little under FOUR a day (1,400 per year) from the end of 1939 to the end of 1941, then fell to ONE drawing a day for the period from the beginning of 1942 to mid-1943. Though Prüfer was extremely active, his work did not require as many drawings as that. The first drawing, submitted to KL Buchenwald, comes from the archives of the Nuremberg Military Tribunal (reference NO-4444). There is a copy in the CDJC in Paris, under the reference CXXXVIII-129. The other two drawings, concerning KL Auschwitz and Mauthausen, are preserved in the Federal Archives at Koblenz under the reference NS 4 Mauthausen/54. Drawing D56,570 (or 576) of 21/12/39 is of a double-muffle, oil-fired furnace, also available in a coke-fired version [Photo 1]. Planned for KL Buchenwald, it is not known whether this furnace was actually installed. The Buchenwald camp, not far from Erfurt, was «Prüfer territory», for it was here that he sold his first two three-muffle furnaces, which entered service on 23rd August and 3rd October 1942 respectively and were found intact in 1945. While they had lateral pulsed-air blowers, like the Birkenau furnaces, it would appear that they were not coke-fired like them, but oil-fired. The method of charging the corpses at first used a trolley on rails, exactly as in Auschwitz Krematorium I, but this was later replaced by a metal «corpse stretcher». This latter method was developed at Auschwitz-Birkenau, in the light of experience, and it was no doubt Prüfer who passed it on to Buchenwald. These furnaces were used much less intensively than those at Birkenau, cremating only 6 or 7 corpses per muffle per day on average. Historically, it is no longer possible to present this Nuremberg drawing as being «criminal». Produced entirely without any supporting documentary context, as were many German documents at that time, this drawing was supposed to prove «ipso facto» the criminality of KL Buchenwald, whereas in fact it was only a pictorial representation of a perfectly ordinary piece of «public health» equipment. Whether used as incriminating evidence or not, the fact that this drawing was retained, certainly with a covering letter whose content is not known, shows the stupid way in which the documents of the defeated were «evaluated» by a tribunal of the victors. It is just as ridiculous as if in the Landru trial the prosecution had presented a catalogue of harmless kitchen ranges and declared that this brochure was obvious proof of the crimes of the accused, and had omitted to mention the purchase of the railway tickets: one return [for Landru] and one single [for his lady victim]. Technically, this was for forty years the only Topf drawing that made it possible to really understand the structure of the three double-muffle furnaces in Auschwitz Krematorium I, even though they had been reconstructed from memory in 1945. There are certain errors and anomalies on the drawing. The height of 2.10 m indicated on the cross-section is incorrect and should be 1.90 m. The vents through which the pulsed air was blown into the furnace (looking like two pins, one entering each hearth from the top corner) are not shown on the longitudinal section. The motors and ducting are not shown for either the pulsed air system or the oil burners are not shown. The longitudinal section of the coke-fired version invalidates the positions of the underfloor smoke flues and the damper. On the other hand, the smoke evacuation path in the furnace, being noted, gives an indication valid for the furnaces in Auschwitz Krematorium I. 106 ===== PDF PAGE 0101 | page-101.md ===== Photo 1 [CDJC, Paris, ref. CXXXVIII-129] # Translation of inscriptions: Betr. KL Buchenwald/Re: Buchenwald concentration camp Drawn on 21/12/39 Topf drawing, Scale 1:20, No. D 56 570 [or 576] Doppelmuffel-Einäscherungsofen mit Ölbrenner/ Double-muffle cremation furnace with oil burner - Querschnitt/Cross-section - Längscnitt/Longitudinal section - mit Ölbrenner/with oil burner - mit Koksgenerator/with coke-fired hearth - Öl/[Fuel] oil - Grundrill/Plan view ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) 107 ===== PDF PAGE 0102 | page-102.md ===== Drawing D57,253 of 10/6/40 [Photo 2] is much more valuable. It was found in the KL Mauthausen correspondence, attached to a Topf letter of 23rd November 1940 in which the firm extolled the virtues of its products and assured the Mauthausen Bauleitung that they had made the «right choice», telling them that KL Auschwitz already had a similar furnace in activity and had just ordered another. Topf had enclosed with their letter a drawing of the furnace produced for Auschwitz. The coke-fired, double-muffle furnace ordered by KL Mauthausen for the Gusen subcamp [Lager Unterkunft Gusen] was installed in 1941, and is miraculously still there today. A second furnace, whose metal components were first sent in August 1942 by an entirely deliberate error to Auschwitz and then forwarded, was built at the Mauthausen main camp [Photos 2a, 2b, 2c and 2d]. Historically, the letter of 23/11/40 and the attached drawing of 10/6/40 cross-check with the chronology put forward by Danuta Czech in her «Calendar of events in the Auschwitz-Birkenau camp», where the work of transforming the old power magazine (or dry goods store) of the Austro-Hungarian barracks into a crematorium [Krematorium I] is said to have started on 5th July 1940. The letter indicates that two double-muffle furnaces were installed at first, and this was indeed the case. Technically, drawing D57,253 makes it possible to situate the underfloor smoke flues in Auschwitz Krematorium I and to see that the reconstruction of two furnaces effected by the Poles after the war is far from being a faithful reproduction of the original state, in particular as regards the coke-fired hearths at the rear of the furnaces. The exaggerated simplification of the cross-section means that the smoke evacuation path in the furnace and the positions of the pulsed air vents remain unknown. The cremation capacity of the Gusen double-muffle furnace was estimated in a Topf letter of 14th July 1941 addressed to KL Mauthausen [although Gusen acquired a very large degree of autonomy from Mauthausen, it still depended on the latter as regards cremation matters] as being from 10 to 35 corpses in 10 hours of operation [see Reinund Schnable, «Macht ohne Moral» (Might without morals), Röderbergverlag, Frankfurt am Main 1957, page 346]. If we arbitrarily take the maximum figure of 35, this gives a total capacity of 84 corpses in 24 hours, so that three such furnaces could cremate 252 corpses in 24 hours. Auschwitz Krematorium I, which actually had three such furnaces, was officially stated to have a throughput of 340 corpses a day, or one third higher than the Topf maximum figure. It is impossible to know whether this was the usual SS exaggeration or a true figure. # Translation of inscriptions: Schnitt A-B/Section A-B - Einführungstür/Corpse loading door - Ascheentnahmetür/[Human] ash removal door Schnitt C-D/Section C-D [Plan view - Lower left] - Schienen für den Einführungswagen/Rails for the [corpse] loading trolley - Schornstein 10-14 m hoch/Chimney 10-14 m high - Saugzuganlage/Forced draught installation - Rauchkanal/Smoke flue - Koksgenerator/Coke-fired hearth - Schacht/Pit - Aufbahrungsraum und Leichenzellen/Laying-out room and corpse cells Schnitt a-b/Section a-b - OK Fussboden/Floor level Ofenfundament/Furnace foundations - Grundriß/Plan view - Holzklötze 80/140 100 tief einsetzen/80 x 140 wooden blocks set 100 deep Alle Masse sind in mm angegeben/All dimensions are given in mm 108 ===== PDF PAGE 0103 | page-103.md ===== Photo 2 [Bundesarchiv Koblenz, NS 4 Mauthausen/54] Rem. SS Neuhauslehrung KL Auschwitz/ M: SS Construction Management, KL Auschwitz Topf drowing, Seite 1-25, No. D 57 253 Dress in 10/6/10 Kokembekost: Einlischerungsofen u. Forderstreppen/ Color-final formation feature and plan of foundations ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) 109 ===== PDF PAGE 0104 | page-104.md ===== Photos 2a, 2b, 2c and 2d [Photos by Michel Folco] Front (2a), side (2b), side/rear (2c) and rear (2d) views of the Topf coke-fired double-muffle furnace installed under the New Hospital of Mauthausen KL. Its metal components were first sent to Auschwitz in August 1942, where there was talk of installing the furnace near Birkenau Bunkers 1 and 2, before they were finally sent on to their correct destination. It would appear that they were left in storage for over a year before the furnace was actually built in July 1944. It did not enter service until April 1945, and even then was used very little, or according to some sources not at all. Photos 2b and 2c show the external part of the pulsed air duct leading to the cremation muffle, but the blower and its motor have been removed. The place where they were installed can be seen on the floor below the duct, where the patch of cement contrasts with the tiled surround of the furnace. In the lower centre on Photo 2b there is one of the secondary air intakes. There were six of these, their purpose being to cool the furnace if it tended to overheat (muffle temperature over 1100° C). A furnace of the same model had already been ordered by KL Mauthausen from Topf in November 1940 for the Gusen subcamp. It cost 9,003 RM and entered service in January 1941. Its throughput is known from notes made by the prisoners in November 1941, when 600 corpses were cremated in a period of twelve days. This gives an average of exactly 50 corpses a day for the furnace, or 25 corpses per muffle, a rate of roughly one corpse per muffle per hour. This is a modest performance compared with Auschwitz Krematorium I, where the rate was a little over two corpses per muffle per hour. The ratios between the cremation rates of the double-muffle furnaces at Auschwitz and that at Gusen were between 2:1 and 3:1 and those between the three-muffle furnaces at Birkenau and the one at Buchenwald over 10:1. As the furnaces were virtually identical as regards design and construction, they must have had roughly the same performance, so that it is difficult to believe the extremely high rates claimed for Auschwitz-Birkenau. Knowing that the official cremation rates communicated by the Auschwitz SS to their superiors in Berlin (letter of 28th June 1943) were entirely theoretical, being obtained by calculation and intended above all to demonstrate the «efficiency» of the camp, it is necessary to correct them. Even reduced by one third, the «official» figure is barely credible. The bragging SS usually multiplied the true figures by a factor of 2 to 5, and where comparisons are possible, division by something in this range brings the totally unrealistic into the realm of the possible [The details concerning the KL Mauthausen cremation furnaces were very kindly supplied to the author by Mr Pierre Serge CHOUMOFF.] Photo 2d ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) Photo 2c ![img-1.jpeg](img-1.jpeg) 110 ===== PDF PAGE 0105 | page-105.md ===== Photo 2b ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) Photo 2a ![img-1.jpeg](img-1.jpeg) 111 ===== PDF PAGE 0106 | page-106.md ===== Photo 3 [Bundesarchiv Koblenz, NS 4 Mauthausen/54] Betr. SS Neubauleitung KL Mauthausen/ Re - SS Construction Management. KL Mauthausen Topf drawing, Scale 1:25, No. D 57 173 Drawn [January or February] 1941 Einmuffel-Einäscherungsofen/Single-muffle cremation furnace Drawing D58,173, probably dating from January or February 1941, represented the very latest thing (at the time!) in Topf coke-fired single-muffle furnaces, using a minimum of metal parts in its construction [Photo 3]. The muffle door was now of the «guillotine» type. This drawing was sent to KL Mauthausen, probably in connection with a project for one of the subcamps. It is not known whether the furnace was actually installed or not. The furnace characteristics were similar to those of a Kori single-muffle furnace already installed in Mauthausen in May 1940 [Photos 3a, 3b and 3c]. Historically, D58,173, which has nothing to do with Birkenau, makes it possible to understand the structure of the twinned four-muffle furnace [«Doppel-Viermuffelofen»] created by Prüfer to increase the capacity of his «conventional» furnaces in order to meet the demands of the SS (the final stage of evolution was to be the combination of Prüfer's science and the SS's experience: a circular open-air furnace based on the principle of the cremation pits). Composed of two four-muffle furnaces constructed as a unit, this furnace, known as the «eight-muffle furnace», was to inspire the building of Krematorien IV and V. The recesses for the guillotine doors are visible on Bauleitung drawings 1678 and 2036 of the future Krematorium IV (and V). While no survivor from the Sonderkommando had thought to describe these muffle doors, which differed from those of the three-muffle furnaces in Krematorien II and III, the longitudinal section shows the mechanism. Technically, this drawing makes it possible to reconstitute the arrangement of one half of a four-muffle furnace (in fact invariably twinned to give an eight muffle furnace), which was just like two single-muffle furnaces mounted side by side. However, the location of the firebox(es) [one or two for the four-muffle unit] remains to be determined (somewhere at the rear and to the side, on a lower level than the muffles and accessed by a stoking pit [«Heizgrube»]. It should be noted that neither this drawing nor the two others show the paths of the secondary draught channels. It could be that these were deliberately omitted by the Topf D division drawing office, who did not want to reveal all the details of their cremation techniques, designed essentially by Prüfer. # Translation of inscriptions: [Longitudinal section] - Absperrschieber/Sliding [«guillotine»] door - Ascheentnahme/[Human] ash removal - Rauchkanal/Smoke flue - Einäscherungsraum/Cremation chamber [muffle] - Druckluftleitung/Pulsed air duct - Generator/[Coke-fired] hearth [Cross-section] - Rauchkanalschieber/Flue damper - Rauchkanal/Smoke flue [Horizontal section] - Druckluft-Gebläse/Pulsed-air blower 112 ===== PDF PAGE 0107 | page-107.md ===== Photo 3 [Bundesarchiv Koblenz, NS 4 Mauthausen/54] ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) | 44-Neubauleitung K-L Mauthausen | | | | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | | Datum | Name | Maßstab | | Unterschrift | | | 9:23 | | Copyright | | | | | Verteiler | | | | | Einmuffel-Ein- abberungsofen | | | D. 58173 | Bundesarchiv Koblenz, NS 4 Mauthausen/54 113 ===== PDF PAGE 0108 | page-108.md ===== Photos 3a, 3b and 3c [Photos by Michel Folco] Front (3a), side/rear (3b) and rear (3c) views of the coke-fired single-muffle H Kori furnace installed under the Bunker at KL Mauthausen, which entered service in May 1940. This «brick-built» furnace has a double system for closing the muffle: a double door, and inside this a «guillotine» plate, the latter being operated by means of a counterweighted handle at the side of the furnace. It would appear that the Topf engineer Prüfer was inspired by this model in designing the guillotine closing system for the muffles of his four-muffle furnaces at the end of 1941. His doors were a much tighter fit, and in general the Topf furnaces were much more sophisticated that the Kori furnaces, while at the same time allowing more muffles in a given space. It should be pointed out that following the installation of this «brick-built» model, a second Kori furnace, but this time one of the oil-fired «mobile» type [like the one at the Trzebinia labour camp], was installed at Mauthausen. It entered service in February 1942 and was dismantled in 1945, before the camp was liberated. Photo 3c ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) Photo 3b ![img-1.jpeg](img-1.jpeg) Photos 3a ![img-2.jpeg](img-2.jpeg) 114 ===== PDF PAGE 0109 | page-109.md ===== # The cremation furnace at the TRZEBINIA labour camp ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) [Most of the information in this note is taken from the study by Doctor Franciszek PIPER, entitled «Das Nebenlager Trzebinia» [The Trzebinia subcamp] published in «Auschwitz Notebooks» No. 16, PMO Publications 1978, pages 93 to 135.] The Trzebinia labour camp [«Arbeitslager», abbreviated to «AL»] [Photo 4] was located 24 kilometres northeast of Auschwitz and was established in August 1944 to provide labour for an oil refinery, the «Trzebinia Erdöl Raffinerie GmbH». The huts had been built in 1942 to house Belgian workers employed on building the refinery and, having subsequently been occupied by British prisoners of war at the end of 1943, they were surrounded by a barbed wire fence. Then in August 1944, the Monowitz camp [also referred to as KL Auschwitz III] detached a number of SS and prisoners (virtually all Hungarian and Polish Jews) to Trzebinia, the latter to work on extending the refinery. There were a little over 800 prisoners in the camp in September 1944, with about twenty SS to guard them. This figure had fallen to 650 by the first half of January 1945. The bodies of any prisoners who died were normally taken by truck to Birkenau to be cremated there, but Himmler's order of 26th November 1944 to destroy Birkenau Krematorien II and III is thought to have led the SS to install a cremation furnace directly at AL Trzebinia itself. The subcamp was therefore equipped very late, at the end of November 1944, with an oil-fired «mobile» furnace manufactured by H Kori of Berlin. The two similar furnaces used in 1942 in the Majdanek camp, had to be abandoned because of a lack of fuel oil, but there was no such problem at Trzebinia, where the refinery could in theory provide all the fuel required. However the real reason for the installation of the furnace remains unknown, for the evidence of a resident of Trzebinia and a corpse transport authorization indicate that the furnace was installed and started work in the second fortnight of November 1944, while Himmler's order was dated the 26th. This would imply that the order could not after all be the reason for the decision to have a crematorium at Trzebinia, and the real reason remains a mystery. Photo 4 Photo 4 [PMO neg. no. 6677] Entrance gate to the Trzebinia labour camp in 1945, looking south/north. The camp comprised six huts, a workshop, a rabbit run, a latrine hut and a crematorium, surrounded by a barbed wire fence and overlooked by four watchtowers. On the photo, to the right of the gate is hut 1, occupied by the SS, with the prisoner accommodation huts 2, 3 and 4 (in the background) beyond it. Behind hut 4 it is possible to see the end of hut 5, used as a hospital. On the left of the entrance, not visible on the photo, was hut 6, more prisoner accommodation. 115 ===== PDF PAGE 0110 | page-110.md ===== This single-muffle Kori cremation furnace suddenly appeared in the Monowitz camp [Drawing 5] in the summer of 1944 (according to the recollection of Mr Jacques Zylbermine) and was stored, raised off the ground by wooden beams, in the eastern or southeastern part of the assembly ground for three or four months until November 1944, when it disappeared as suddenly as it had appeared. Transported to AL Trzebinia, it was permanently installed in a small brick building, 7.30 m long, 3.15 m wide and 2.50 m high, with a corrugated iron roof from which a chimney projected to a height of 4.80 m [Photos 6 and 7 and Drawing 12]. 50 cm in front of the muffle door, there was a frame carrying two rollers to support a corpse charging stretcher of the type used in the four Birkenau Krematorien. The cylindrical fuel oil tank was mounted just above the furnace casing to one side [Photos 8, 9 and 10] and the oil was pulverised in two burners (upper and lower) [Photo 11 and Drawing 12] driven by air from a blower situated at the top of the furnace on the other side [Photos 7, 8 and 9]. The main (upper) burner was used to incinerate the corpses, while the secondary (lower) one [Photo 11] was used at a later stage to complete the incineration of the albuminous parts (not so easy to burn) that fell through the transverse supports [not shown on Drawing 12]. The burners were manufactured by Messrs Kubitz of Berlin who supplied these specialized items to Kori. After the prisoners had been evacuated in the evening of 17th or 18th January 1945, the police or the local militia blew up the cremation furnace by introducing two hand grenades into the combustion chamber and closing the doors. The explosion destroyed only the front of the furnace [Photos 7, 8 and 9], blowing the front plate completely out. The main burner at the rear was also blown out by the blast [Photo 11]. No human bones were found in or around the furnace, which raises the question of whether it was in fact ever used at this late date. Whether it received enough fuel oil to effect the fifty or so cremations claimed, or whether because of lack of fuel the SS continued to send the dead to Birkenau Krematorium V are questions that cannot be answered at this stage. If the furnaces was used, there is no question of talking about its cremation performance, which could be estimated at one corpse a day, for it would never have operated continuously, its role being strictly sanitary, nothing whatever to do with mass extermination. Somewhere between 1970 and 1975, the Trzebinia furnace was transported to the Auschwitz museum and installed in the «laying-out room» of Krematorium I, where visitors can see it today and reflect on the fact that either it was never used, or it reduced to ashes a maximum of fifty unfortunate Jewish slave labourers. Photo 5 [PMO neg. no. 6240] Polish drawing of the Monowitz camp (Auschwitz III), scale 1:1000, a copy based on German originals. Its title «Obozu IV/Camp IV», refers to the civilian designation used by IG Farben (the firm who financed the camp), who numbered from I to IV the various camps (blowing civilian workers, such as those sent under the Vichy France compulsory labour scheme, British prisoners of war, and other prisoners) located on a strip of land bordering the industrial complex to the south. The assembly ground where the Kori mobile furnace was temporarily stored is the space to the right of the cookhouse (building 391, in the form of an «B»). Photo 5 ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) 116 ===== PDF PAGE 0111 | page-111.md ===== Photos 6 and 7 [PMO neg. nos 6682 and 6683] Views of the south end and east side [Photo 6] and the south end [Photo 7] of the Trzebinia crematorium in 1945. There is a door in the south end and two windows in the east side. Very little of the corrugated iron roof remains. The damage to the building is no doubt due to the fact that the Germans, after blowing up the furnace, threw into the building another grenade which exploded near the furnace. In the foreground of Photo 7 is the badly damaged front plate of the Kori furnace, which was blown out by the first explosion and subsequently dragged out of the building. Also on Photo 7, among the debris just inside the door it is possible to see the «handle end» of the corpse loading stretcher. Above the southwest corner of the building is the pole carrying the electricity supply for the blower motor. On the left of Photo 7, and between the erematorians and the lattice hut on Photo 6, is watchtower 3 in the northwest corner of the camp. ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) Photo 6 ![img-1.jpeg](img-1.jpeg) Photo 7 117 ===== PDF PAGE 0112 | page-112.md ===== Photos 8, 9, 10 and 11 [PMO neg. nos 6685, 6686, 6687 and 6688] Views of the inside of the Trzebinia crematorium with the remains of the Kori single-muffle cremation furnace, minus its front plate, in 1945. Photo 8 is looking north, 9 northwest, 10 west and 11 south. It would appear that before this series of photos was taken, a start had been made on clearing the debris to search for human bones and ashes, a search which proved negative and which would explain the lack of bars to support the corpse inside the furnace. In the centre of Photo 8 is the base of the chimney, with on the right the fuel oil tank and on the left the blower housing from which the fan and motor have been removed. Bottom right is the corpse loading stretcher, which was supported by two rollers mounted on a frame in front of the furnace [see Drawing 12]. On photo 10, the deformation of the oil tank was probably caused by the second explosion, outside the furnace, while the slight gap between the upper and lower metal case of the furnace was caused by the internal explosion. Photo 11 shows the rear of the Kori furnace, where there were two burners, only the lower of which remains, the main burner having been blown out by the first explosion. On the right are the air lines from the blower and on the left the oil line from the tank above. Centre right of the burner is the oil feed shut-off, while the wheel on the rear end of the burner is the oil flow regulator. ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) Photo 8 ![img-1.jpeg](img-1.jpeg) Photo 9 118 ===== PDF PAGE 0113 | page-113.md ===== ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) Photo 10 ![img-1.jpeg](img-1.jpeg) Photo 11 119 ===== PDF PAGE 0114 | page-114.md ===== Translation of inscriptions: [Manuscript] Zalacznik Nr 2/Annex no. 2 OBOZOWE KREMATORIUM W TRZEBIONCE/TRZEBINIA CAMP CREMATORIUM [Drawings of the building (sections and plan view)] - Sytuacja 1:50/Situation 1:50 - Wentylator/Blower fan - Motor/motor - zbiornik oleju ciężkiego/heavy fuel oil tank - dopust powietrzo wtornego/secondary air intake [Cremation furnace section] - Przekroj 1:25/Section 1:25 - Wentylator/Blower fan - Motor elektr./Electric motor - dopływ oleju ze zbiornika/oil line from tank - palnik gorny/upper burner - palnik dolny/lower burner - powietrze wtorne/secondary air [Burner section] PALNIK OLEJU CIĘZKIEGO/HEAVY OIL BURNER Firmy KUBITZ Berlin/of the KUBITZ firm, Berlin - [Scale] 1:5 - rozpylągły olej z powietrzem/oil pulverized by air - dopływ powietrza/air line - dopływ oleju ciężkiego/heavy oil line - regulacja wstępna/primary regulation (fuel shutoff) - regulacja sejolejsza/secondary regulation (flow regulator) [Rubber stamp] - ZAKŁAD TECHNOLOGII/TECHNOLOGY DEPARTMENT - Ciepła i Paliwa/Heat and Fuels - AKADEMJI GÓRNICZEJ W KRAKOWIE/CRACÓW ACADEMY OF MINES 20 ===== PDF PAGE 0115 | page-115.md ===== Drawing 12 [PMO neg. no. 6671] Drawing of an oil-fired, single-muffle «mobile» Kori cremation furnace, reconstituted after the war by the technology department of the Cracow Academy of Mines. ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) 121 ===== PDF PAGE 0116 | page-116.md ===== PART TWO CHAPTER 2 # KREMATORIUM I OR THE «OLD» KREMATORIUM OF THE MAIN CAMP (STAMMLAGER) The installation, utilisation and transformation of the first cremation facility at Auschwitz designated BW 11 and then BW 14 as from September 1944. # INTRODUCTION Krematorium I, the first cremation installation in Auschwitz, was part of the «normal» equipment of the camp, but came to be used as an experimental criminal instrument for killing people by hydrocyanic acid intoxication in the morgue, which was transformed into a gas chamber. This prototype murderous role was relatively limited in extent, but makes Krematorium I a powerful symbol, created by the shock of the revelation of extermination practised on a large scale, both for the SS who saw this concretization of official decisions and for the prisoners who were forced to work there as members of the Sonderkommando. Krematorium I has two vital functions: first, its present role of being the only Auschwitz Krematorium where a gas chamber can be visited (in summer sometimes by as many as 5 000 to 7 000 people of various nationalities per day) and, second, its historical role of having been the «test bed» for gassing and cremation in Birkenau Krematorien of type II/III [Krematorien IV and V being of a new and different type, based not on the principle of Krematorium I but that of Bunkers 1 and 2]. Unlike Krematorien II, III, IV and V, there are very few German documents concerned with Krematorium I. These do not make it possible to formally establish proof of homicidal gassing in its morgue and this lack of documentary evidence, together with the present state of the premises, has favoured revisionist attacks aimed at demonstrating that the gas chamber did not really exist. The fact is that while the building itself is still the original one, its internal arrangement, as found in January 1945, has been restructured and the installations connected with its cremation and gassing activities have been reconstructed and reconstituted, a fact which in the eyes of the revisionists negates their existence. As evidence to establish the reality of homicidal gassing there remain only the testimonies of participants, the best known of whom are: ALTER FAJNZYLBERG (alias Stanislas Jankowski, prisoner 27675), former member of the Sonderkommando who made a deposition at Cracow on 16th April 1945. This was subsequently published in the special number of the «Heften von Auschwitz» [Auschwitz Notebooks] by the PMO in 1971 [Document A is a translation of an extract from pages 42 and 43 of the 1972 edition, concerning Krematorium I]. Following the «Faurisson Affair», Alter Fajzylberk made a new declaration before a Paris notary on 29th September 1980 [Documents B1, B2 and B3, on which his statements concerning Krematorium I are indicated by a double line in the margin]. FILIP MÜLLER, former member of the Sonderkommando, who recounts his period in the camp in the book «Sonderbehandlung» [Special treatment], Verlag Steinhausen GmbH, Munich 1979, which appeared in French as «Trois ans dans une chambre à gaz d'Auschwitz» [Three years in an Auschwitz gas chamber], Pygmalion, Gerard Watelet, Paris 1980, and in English as «Eyewitness Auschwitz», New York, Stein and Day, 1979. The French version is the one discussed here. RUDOLF HOESS, founder Commandant of the camp, who wrote his memoirs in prison before being judged and executed. The greater part of this work has been published very faithfully in French by the PMO in a book entitled «Auschwitz vu par les SS» [Auschwitz seen by the SS]. [In the English text, references are to «Commandant of Auschwitz» by Rudolf Hoess, Translated by Constantine Fitzgibbon, Pan Books, 1961]. PERY BROAD, former SS Unterscharführer in the Political Section of the Camp, who in 1945 wrote a text that he gave to the British who had taken him prisoner at the end of the war. This document has been the subject of several PMO publications, the only one used here being the «Déclaration de Pery Broad» in «Auschwitz vu par les SS», 1974 edition. 123 ===== PDF PAGE 0117 | page-117.md ===== Document A "IN MITTEN DES GRAUENVOLLEN VERBRECHENS", Handschriften von Mitgliedern des Sonderkommando, Sonderheft (1) P.M.O. 1972 Traduction des pages 42 et 43. Le créatoire d'Auschwitz était une bâtisse sans diage, de plein pied (de 50 m de long sur 12,15 m de large) dans laquelle se trouvaient cinq petites pièces et une grande pièce sombre de 30 sur 5 mètres. Cette grande salle n'avait pas de fenêtres et comportait seulement deux clapets au plafond et la lumière électrique ainsi qu'une porte d'entrée venant du corridor et une seconde qui conduisait aux fours. Cette salle n'appelait Leichenhalle/le hall à cadavres. Elle servait au stockage des cadavres et en même temps on y pratiquait aussi le "dénolissage" - ou "l'attage" - marronné ainsi, c'est à dire l'exécution par les armes des détenus. Directement à cette salle, y était accolé une seconde dans laquelle se tenaient les fours pour la création des cadavres. Il y avait trois fours avec chacun deux ouvertures. Dans une de ces ouvertures, 12 corps pouvaient trouver place, cependant on n'y plaçait pas plus de 5 après que ce nombre brûlait plus rapidement. On apportait les corps aux fours sur un chorlot spécial qui servait à l'enfournement des cadavres dans le four. Les cadavres reposaient sur des grilles sous lesquelles brûlait le osse. En outre se trouvaient dans le créatoire une cokerie pour l'emmarnissage du osse ainsi qu'une salle particulière pour les cendres des cadavres et encore une salle qui était un dépôt de vêtements. Téncignage de "Stanislas Jankowski" fait en avril 1945 à Cracovie. Document A. IN MITTEN DES GRAUENVOLLEN VERBRECHENS: Handschriften von Mitgliedern des Sonderkommando, Sonderheft (1) PMO 1972, pages 42 und 43. [AMIDST A NIGHTMARE OF CRIME. Notes of prisoners of Sonderkommando found at Auschwitz. P.M.O., Special issue, 1973. Pages 40, 41 and 42] From the testimony of «Stanislas Jankowski», Cracow, April 1945. The crematorium at Auschwitz - a one-storied building (some 50 metres long, 12-15 metres wide), in which there were five smaller rooms and one big hall, dark, 30 by 5 metres. This big hall had no windows, only two vents in the ceiling, electric light and one door leading from the corridor, the other door leading to the ovens. This hall was called Leichenhalle (hall of corpses). It served as mortuary and at the same time for so-called «shambles» («demolition» or «slaughtering»), that is, for shooting prisoners. Directly adjoining was another hall where the cremation ovens for burning corpses were There were three ovens and each had two openings. 12 corpses could be put into one opening, but no more than 5 were usually put, as they burnt more quickly in that quantity. The corpses were put into the ovens in so-called special carts which, after dumping the corpses, were removed from the ovens. The corpses lay on grates under which coke was burning. The crematorium, moreover, possessed a coke store where coke was kept, then a special room for the ashes from the corpses and still another room which was a clothes store. Documents B1, B2 and B3 : [PMO microfilm 1254] Declaration by Mr. Alter Fajnzylberg made on 29th September 1980 before Maitre Pierre Attal, Paris Notary BEFORE Maitre Pierre Attal, Paris Notary, undersigned APPEARED Mr. Alter Fajnzylberg, retired, domiciled in Paris (nineteenth arrondissement), Avenue Jean Jaurès, No 27. Born in STOCKEK (Poland), 23rd October 1911. Of French nationality by naturalisation (Identity Card No 3 801 788, issued by the Prefecture de Police de Paris on 15th April 1975. WHO requested the undersigned notary to record the following declaration in order to ensure its conservation and to communicate it in whole or in part: Deported from the COMPIEGNE camp, I arrived at the Auschwitz concentration camp on 27th March 1942. After having worked in the carpenters shop there, I was transferred to the Sonderkommando (special kriminalist) of Krematorium I of the camp in November 1942. In July 1943, I was transferred to the Birkenau camp, three Kilometers from Auschwitz and detailed to the Krematorium V. Sonderkommando. On 18th January 1945, when the Germans evacuated the camp, taking with them a great number of deportees, I managed to escape from the convoy a few kilometres from the camp. During my detention in Auschwitz, I witnessed mass executions. The SS shot people in the hundreds using machine guns in the big room of the Krematorium, 30 metres long and 5 metres wide, called by the SS the «Leichenhalle» corpse half. Before bringing their victims into the yard of the Krematorium, the SS shot the nine Jews of the Sonderkommando in the adjoining coke store. There we could hear the shots and the cries of the victims. Then they brought us out and made us carry the bodies, covered in blood and still warm, to the furnaces. It is at Auschwitz that I saw for the first time a gassing in the Leichenhalle. This room had no windows, but there were ventilators in the ceiling. The two thick wooden doors of the room, one in the side wall, the other in the end wall, had been made gas-tight. The room was lit by electricity. The victims of this gassing were about 400 Jews brought from Birkenau. The men of the Sonderkommando, including myself, saw them enter the yard then we were shut in the coke store. When the Sonderkommando men came out, they saw and I saw only their clothes in the yard. Document B1 | 1972 | | --- | | 1973 | | 1974 | | 1975 | | 1976 | | 1977 | | 1978 | | 1979 | soussigné, PARDEVANT Maître Pierre ATTAL, notaire à PARIS, À COMPARD : Monsieur Alter Szmul FAJNZYLBERG, retraité, demeurant à PARIS (dix-neuvième arrondissement) Avenue Jean Jaurès n°37. Né à STOCKEK (Pologne) le vingt trois octobre mil neuf cent onze. De nationalité française par naturalisation (carte nationale d'identité n° 3 801 788 délivrée par la Préfecture de Police de PARIS le quinze avril mil neuf cent soixante quinze). LEQUEL a requis le notaire soussigné de consigner ses déclarations ci après, pour en assurer la conservation et pour en dé- livrer toutes expéditions ou extraits : Déporté du Camp de COMPIEGNE, je suis arrivé au Camp de Concentration d'AUSCHWITZ le vingt sept mars mil neuf cent quarante deux. Après y avoir travaillé dans un atelier de menuiserie, j'ai été affecté au Sonderkommando (Commando Spécial) du créatoire I du camp en novembre mil neuf cent quarante deux. En juillet mil neuf cent quarante trois, j'ai été co-fondéé au Camp de BIRKCHAU, distant de trois kilomètres d'AUSCHWITZ et y affecté au Sonderkommando du cré- matoire V. Le dix huit janvier mil neuf cent quarante cinq, lorsque les Allemands ont évacué le camp, emmenant avec eux un grand nombre de déportés j'ai réussi à m'évader du convoi, à quelques kilomètres du Camp. Pendant ma détention à AUSCHWITZ, j'ai été témoin d'exécutions en masse. Les SS fusillaient des gens par centaines à coup de mitraillettes, dans la grande salle du créatoire, longue de trente mètres et large de cinq mètres - appelée par les SS "Leichenhalle" (salle aux cadavres) - Avant de faire rentrer leurs victimes dans la cour du créatoire, les SS enfermaient les neuf Juifs du Sonderkommando dans l'entrepôt de coke avoisinant. Nous pouvions y entendre les coups de feu et les cris des victimes. Puis on nous faisait sortir et porter les cadavres, ensanglantés et encore chauds, au four. C'est à AUSCHWITZ que j'ai vu pour la première fois, un gazage qui a eu lieu dans la salle aux cadavres "Leichenhalle". Cette salle n'avait pas de fenêtres, mais avait des ventilateurs au plafond. Les deux portes en bois épais de la salle, l'une ouvrant sur la longueur de la salle, l'autre sur la largeur de la salle, avaient été rendues étanches, l'éclairage de la salle étan- 124 ===== PDF PAGE 0118 | page-118.md ===== Document B2 technique. Les victimes de ce gazage étaient environ quatre cents fils emmenés de BIRKENAU. Les hommes du SonderKommando, dont moi, la avons vous entrer dans la cour, alors qu'on nous avait enfermés ans l'entrepôt de coke. Lorsque les hommes du SonderKommando en ont sortis, ils n'ont vu et je n'ai vu que leurs vêtements dans la jour. Trente minutes plus tard, on a ordonné aux hommes du SonderKommando de transporter leurs dépouilles au four, situé envi- n cinq mètres plus loin à partir de la porte de la Leinchenhalle, ans une salle distincte. A BIRKENAU, où j'étais depuis juillet mil neuf cent brante trois, j'ai été témoin d'un grand nombre de gazages, effectués plusieurs fois par semaine. En 1944, lors de l'arrivée des convois de plusieurs taines de milliers de Juifs de Hongrie, les gazages ont eu lieu notidiennement et même plusieurs fois par jour. A BIRKENAU, on enfermait le SonderKommando lors l'arrivée des victimes et de leur entrée dans la chambre à gaz. Cette règle n'était pas cependant toujours appliquée : Aussi, j'ai pu, comme membre du SonderKommando, voir injection du gaz par un SS qui versait le contenu d'une boîte métal- que noire, ronde, d'un diamètre d'environ dix à douze centimètres et de l'environ vingt cinq centimètres dans une espèce de petite che- mé ou tube qui ressortait de quelques dizaines de centimètres du et de la chambre à gaz. Le SS portait un masque. Il a refermé aussitôt l'ouver- pe par lequel il versait le contenu de la boîte. Le SonderKommando a commencé à sortir les cadavres de la membre à gaz quinze à vingt minutes après le versement par le SS du tenu de la boîte. Les portes de la chambre à gaz étaient ouvertes. Il y était purifié par la ventilation. Lorsqu'on commençait à trir les cadavres se trouvant près de la porte, on n'éprouvait aucune te. En travaillant dans le centre de la chambre, on avait quelquefois petit larmoiement. Je tiens à ajouter les précisions suivantes : J'ai vu des hommes du SonderKommando arracher de la che des cadavres les dents et les promesses en or. Les cadavres ont été enlevés, une voiture enlevait les vêtements et tout ce qui it "or". Je crois devoir ajouter que les juives hongroises qui aient gazées en 1944 entraient dans la chambre à gaz, sans avoir cheveux tondus. Je précise que j'ai été déporté à AUSCHWITZ sous le de "Stanislas JANKOWSKI". J'ai fait sous ce nom en avril 1945, déclaration devant un magistrat de CRACOVIE membre de la Commission investigation sur les crimes perpétrés par les hitlériens en POLOGNE déclaration qui a été publiée aux Cahiers d'AUSCHWITZ. Document B3 FAJNZYLBERG. Je lui ai indiqué que ma véritable identité était Alter Mon numéro matricule du camp de AUSCHWITZ - BIRKENAU, tatoué sur mon bras gauche et sur ma poitrine est "27.675". Telles sont mes déclarations. DONT ACTE, sur trois pages. Fait et passé à PARIS, Avenue de Clichy n° 34 (XVIII°) En l'Etude du notaire soussigné L'AN MIL NEUF CENT QUATRE VINGT Le vingt neuf septembre Lecture faite par le notaire soussigné et après que le comparant eût déclaré persister dans les déclarations ci-dessus, celui- ci a signé avec le notaire. Suivent les signatures. En marge se trouve la mention : ENREGISTRE À la Recette Principale des Grandes Carrières, PARIS, le 05/10/1980 Bord. 227 Case 1 RECU : DEUX CENTS FRANCS. EXPEDITION contenue sur trois --- pages, contenant aucun --- renvois approuvés, aucune -- lignes entières et aucun --- mots ruyés nuls, obtenue par taune "XÉROGRAPHIQUE XÉROX 3500" agréée par arrêté de Ministre de la Justice du six septembre mil neuf cent soixante huit Thirty minutes later, the Sonderkommando was ordered to transport the corpses to the furnace, situated about five metres from the door of the Leichenhalle, in a separate room. In Birkenau, where I was as from July 1943, I witnessed a great many gassings, carried out several times a week. In 1944, when convoys brought hundreds of thousands of Jews from Hungary, there were gassings every day, and even several times a day. In Birkenau, the Sonderkommando was locked up when the victims arrived and entered the gas chamber. This rule was not always applied, however. Thus as a member of the Sonderkommando, I was able to see the injection of gas by an SS man who poured the contents of a black can, of diameter about 10 to 12 centimetres and about 25 centimetres high, into a kind of small chimney or tube which projected a few tens of centimetres from the roof of the gas chamber. The SS man wore a mask. He immediately closed the opening through which he poured the contents of the can. The Sonderkommando started to remove the bodies from the gas chamber 15 to 20 minutes after the SS man had poured in the contents of the can. The doors of the gas chamber were open. The air was purified by ventilation. When we started to remove the bodies near the door, we felt no ill-effects. Working in the centre of the chamber, our eyes sometimes watered. I would add the following details: I saw Sonderkommando men pull gold teeth and fillings from the mouths of the corpses. When the corpses had been removed, a vehicle took away the clothes and all that was "gold". I feel I should add that the Hungarian Jews who were gassed in 1944 entered the gas chamber without having their hair shaved. I certify that I was deported to Auschwitz under the name of "Stanislas Jankowski". In April 1945, I made a declaration under this name before a Cracow magistrate, a member of the Central Commission for the Investigation of Hitlerite Crimes in Poland, a declaration that was published in the Auschwitz Notebooks. I indicated to him that my true identity was Alter Fajnzylberg. My registration number in the Auschwitz-Birkenau camp, tattooed on my left arm and my chest, is 27,675. Such is my declaration. (Declaration signed before a notary on 29th September 1980 and officially deposited in Paris on 3rd October 1980) 125 ===== PDF PAGE 0119 | page-119.md ===== Document C1a Document C1b [PMO File BW 11/5 page 3] Verwaltung Konzentrationslager Auschwitz Telefon Auschwitz-Nr. 65 Rechn.-Jahr 1942 Kap. 21/7b Tkt. Bestellschein Nr. 451 Abt. 74 Firma Zentral-Bauleitung d. Waffen u. Polizei Auschwitz. Sie werden gebeten, nachstehend aufgeführte Waren zu liefern: | Menge | Bezeichnung | Preis | | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | | | einzeln | gesamt | | 1. | Dem Kamin und dem Motorenhaus des Krematoriums instandzusetzen. | | | | 2. | Anbringung einer Eisentürer. | | | [Handwritten signature and date] Auschwitz, den 13.5. 1942 Der Leiter der Verwaltung des Konzentrationslagers Auschwitz H.-Hauptsturmführer Die Bedingungen auf der Rückseite sind zu beachten. 15. MAI 1942 Document C1a (Desoer P.M.O. BW 11/5, p. 3) Administration Accounting Year 1942 of Auschwitz Concentration Camp Telephone Auschwitz no 65 Chap. 21/7b Tit... Order No 451 Div. V4 Auschwitz Waffen SS and Police Central Construction Management. You are requested to deliver the goods listed below. | Quantity | Designation | Price | | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | | | Unit | Total | | 1 | Repair crematorium chimney and motor room. | | | | 2 | Install a steel door. | | | | | [hand written] Lubitz, execute immediately and draw up an invoice. | | | | | Bischof 19/5 Kg Lubitz 20/5/42 | | | | | Auschwitz, 13.5.42 Head of the Administration of Auschwitz Concentration Camp | | | | | Signed Rick SS Lieutenant | | | The conditions set out on the back of this order are to be observed. Like all human testimony, these accounts frequently contain unlikely affirmations, and a critical comparison, for example on the equipment of the gas chamber, gives contradictory results. 1. ALTER FAJNZYLBERG affirms that an incineration muffle in one of the three furnaces (the mouth opening was 0.60 x 0.60m, and the internal dimensions 0.70 x 0.70 x 2.10m, or 1.029m² according to Topf drawing D57253) could swallow TWELVE bodies at a time (which is mathematically possible, but not practically), but that normally five were fitted in. The latter figure is closer to reality which was on average three (normal adult) bodies at a time. The witness clearly gave way here to the general tendency to exaggerate at that time (in the years 1945-50). His description of the equipment of Krematorium I is valid (though the building had been converted into an air raid shelter and the furnaces had been removed), except for its length (50m) and the dimensions given to its gas chamber: 30 x 5m (150m²) instead of 17 x 4.6m (78.2m²). This error in estimation is more than excusable, in particular as the PMO, in a note to his figures [30 x 5m], indicates the following dimensions: 17.00 x 4.50m giving a floor area of 65m² [1], an area regularly reproduced in the early histories of the camp, but not corresponding to the facts. What is remarkable in his new declaration in September 1980 is that the witness repeats exactly the same dimensions as he did in April 1945, a proof of the sincerity and authenticity of his statements. 2. FILIP MÜLLER wrote that in May 1942 (the date of his arrival at the camp, page 23), the chimney of Krematorium I was of circular section (p. 37) [an initial state confirmed verbally to the author in 1981 by a former prisoner, Mrs. Hertig, No. 68919, who lived in the town of Auschwitz before being interned in the camp]. The Topf 126 ===== PDF PAGE 0120 | page-120.md ===== Document C2a Document C2b [PMO File BW 1115] ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) ![img-1.jpeg](img-1.jpeg) drawings for the installation of the third furnace («neuer Ofen/new furnace») 59042 a and b of 25th September 1941 indicate that the chimney was a square section and thus had already been rebuilt. This casts a doubt on the presence of the witness during the fire that he describes (pages 45 and 46) and the resulting damage to the chimney that had to be rebuilt more solidly, hence of square section. However, there is a series of documents concerned with an order of 13th May 1942 by the camp administration [Documents C1a and C1b] requesting the repair of the Krematorium [I] chimney (first item), which is wrong, because the description of the work [Documents C2a and C2b, C2a and C2b] and the final report [Documents C4a and C4b] show that the repair was actually only on an underground flue («Kaminterkanal»). These documents fully confirm the witness's account of the accident (jets of cold water on fire bricks heated to a temperature of 800-1000°C), but negate the existence of a «round» chimney in May 1942, because even the sketch on the description of the work [C2a] shows it to be square. This error on the form of the Krematorium I chimney, first noted by the Auschwitz Museum, is minor, since the damage caused by the accident is confirmed by the repair documents. F. Müller, who can be seen in Claude Lanzmann's film «SHOAH» (script published by Fayard in 1985, where he states on page 73 that «the firebricks exploded suddenly, and the [underground] flues linking the Auschwitz Krematorium to the chimney were obstructed», an explanation perfectly in line with the repair documents) is a valuable witness with a «technical» eye, even if like anyone else, he is sometimes mistaken (on facts going back 40 years!). 3. RUDOLF HOESS describes one of the first gassings [of 900 Russian prisoners of war] at which he was present, in the morgue of Krematorium I (page 164). Two details are unlikely: the squeezing of 900 persons into 78.2m² and the «rapid» drilling of several holes in the ceiling to pour the Zyclon-B. Drilling through 10 to 15cm of concrete was not a job that could be done on the spur of the moment. 127 ===== PDF PAGE 0121 | page-121.md ===== Document C3a Document C3b [P300 für BW 11/5, p.6] ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) ![img-1.jpeg](img-1.jpeg) Hoess participated in the «special actions» strictly in accordance with his obligations and occupied his mind with the almost insurmountable tasks imposed by the exponential growth of his camp, thus not allowing his conscience to dwell on the moral questions. He was present, without seeing. In the author's opinion, this attitude explains the involuntary errors found throughout his autobiography. 4. PERY BROAD's testimony raises problems yet to be solved. His account of the various «activities» of the camp is one of the most striking. But the form and tone of his declaration sound false. His writings cannot be the faithful reflection of the thoughts of an SS man and indeed reading them gives the impression that they were written by a former prisoner. Pages 148 and 149 and 153 to 156 have to be read carefully for this to be seen. Lastly, who wrote (page 172): «for these SS monsters, the spectacle of the suffering of ill-treated Jews constituted an amusing pastime!» (true as that may have been)? The basis of P. Broad's testimony seems authentic, despite many errors, but its present literary form is visibly coloured by a rather too flagrant Polish patriotism. Furthermore, the original manuscript of his declaration is not known. However, this text should not be rejected and its «special tone» can be explained: either Broad had adopted the «language of the victor» (hypothesis put forward by Pierre Vidal-Naquet), or his declaration has been «slightly» reworked by the Poles (present author's opinion). Whatever criticisms one might level at the accounts of these four witnesses, all affirm one identical fact: homicidal gassings took place in the morgue of Krematorium I. Even if their accounts diverge on the number of holes through which Zyclon-B was poured or on the number of extractor fans, details in fact unlikely to be noted and remembered unless one actually designed or installed them, the utilisation of the morgue for criminal purposes is established. 28 ===== PDF PAGE 0122 | page-122.md ===== Document C4a Document C4b (PMO file BW 30/25) Bericht ARCHIVUM BW 30/25 Über ausgeführte Arbeiten im Krematorium. Reparatur des Unterkamels. Aufbauern der Hände im Motorenhaus und herstellen der Decke. Reparatur der Innenbauern und verputzen derselben. Arbeitsmissatz: 3 Maurer 2 Hilfserbeiter 5 Häftlinge Beginn der Arbeit: 14. 5. 1942 Besonder: 15. 5. 1942 Arbeitsabstammensatz: 2 x 11 x 3 = 66 Maurerstunden 2 x 22 x 2 = 44 Hilfserbeiterstunden. Materialverbrauch: 500 Stück Ziegelsteine 350 kg Zement 2 Stück Eisenträger NP 12 = 4,50 lfdm 50 " Schamottsteine 50 kg Schamottszahl Die Kosten der ausgeführten Arbeiten sind laut Bestellschein vom 13.5.1942 der Verwaltung des K.L. Auschwitz in Bedauung zu stellen. Auschwitz, den 1. Juni 1942. Document C4a (Dossiers P.M.O. BW 11/5, p. 1 et 2, et BW 30/25, p. 3) # Report on the work carried out in the Krematorium. Repair of the underground flue. Erection of brickwork in the motor room and construction of the roof. Repair of internal walls and plastering of same. Labour: 3 bricklayers 2 labourers 5 prisoners Work begun: 14/5/1942 Work completed: 15/5/1942 Hours worked: 2 x 11 x 3 = 66 bricklayer hours 2 x 22 x 2 = 44 labourer hours Materials used: 500 bricks 350 kg cement 2 steel beams NP 12 = 4.50 linear metres 50 firebricks 50 kg refractory cement The cost of the work done is to be invoiced to the Auschwitz Concentration Camp Administration in accordance with the Order of 13th May 1942. Auschwitz, 1st June 1942. Signature illegible. # THE CREATION OF KREMATORIUM I The former powder magazine, or according to other sources, victualling store, of the Austro-Hungarian and subsequently Polish barracks where Auschwitz concentration camp was set up in June 1940, was modified, starting about 5th July of that year, to be used as a crematorium installation for incinerating dead prisoners. The work was carried out by the first inmates (Polish political prisoners), who arrived on 14th June. This conversion, one of the first if not the very first, was planned and the drawings produced by the K.L. Auschwitz SS-NEUBAULEITUNG/Construction Management. Only the list of the twelve initial drawings has been found, not the drawings themselves [Documents D1a, D1b and D2]. The only ornament on the building, a wrought iron lamp hanging over the main entrance [Photo 1], was also planned. The installation of a crematorium had been decided even before the first prisoners arrived. In the correspondence exchanged between J.A. TOPF & SONS of Erfurt, a firm with a section specialising in the manufacture and installation of crematorium furnaces [section D IV, Krematoriumbau, directed by the chief engineer Kurt Prüfer] and the SS-Neubauleitung of K.L. Mauthausen [Bundesarchiv Koblenz NS 4 Mauthausen/54], there is a letter of 23rd November 1940 mentioning that Topf had received an order for a second two-muffle furnace of exactly the same type as that proposed for the Mauthausen camp (and destined for the Gusen subcamp). The Topf drawing of this furnace attached to the letter, No. D57253 of 6th June 1940 [Document E], actually refers to Auschwitz and shows the first furnace to be installed in Krematorium I. It gives details of the internal structure. 129 ===== PDF PAGE 0123 | page-123.md ===== Document D2a Document D2a | Lu. Nr. | Anlage | C.7. Wirtschaftsgebäude - B.47a Krematorium | B.W. 11 u. B.W. 30 | Ablauf | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 2a | " | 47a Keller | | 1.100 | | 10 | " | 47a Einbau einer Einäscherungsanlage | | 1.100 | | 11 | " | 47a Erdgeschoss | | 1.100 | | 19a | " | 47a Hausabschnitt - Verkalkalschnitt | | 1.10 | | 20a | " | 47a Erdgeschoss, Schnitte | | 1.100 | | 24a | " | 47a Herkatz, Aussehlen | | 1.100 | | 26 | " | 47a U-Usurahmen für Schornstein | | — | | 34 | " | 47a Schmiedewerne Fenstergitter | | — | | 36 | " | 47a Augedoppelte Eingangsstüre | | 1.90 | | 37 | " | 47a Winkelstein aus Rüttelbach | | — | | 38 | " | 47a Schmiedens. Beschläge f.d. Eingangsstüre | | — | | 51 | " | 47a Schmiedewerne Lampe | | 1.1 | | 372 | " | 47a Einbau einer Einäscherungsanlage | | 1.100 | | 370 | " | 47a Neubau Kremat. - Aussehl | | 1.100 | | 371 | " | 47a Neubau Kremat. - Erdgeschoss | | 1.100 | | 370 | " | 47a Neubau Kremat. - Aufstellung der Vertreunung | | 1.100 | | 332 | " | 47a Grundriss | | 1.100 | | 333 | " | 47a Erdgeschoss | | 1.100 | | 334 | " | 47a Schnitte | | 1.100 | | 335 | " | 47a Aussehl - Westen | | 1.100 | | 916 | " | 47a Aussehl - Worden | | 1.100 | | 937 | " | 47a Aussehl - Osten | | 1.100 | | 938 | " | 47a Aussehl - Süden | | 1.100 | | 950 | " | 47a Herkatz | | 1.100 | | 1173 | " | 47a Schnitt durch Leichen Heller mit be ü. entfüfung | | 1.100 | | 1174 | " | 47a Querschnitt durch den linkshellschnebel | | 1.100 | | 1241 | " | 47a Bestandplan des Gebäudes 47a / Krematorium | | 1.200 | | 1301 | " | 47a Standarmatplan | | 1.100 | | 735 | Kg | 47a Leichenhalle K.G.L. | | 1.100 | | 812 | Kg | 47a Leichen-Halle für das K.G.L. | | 1.100 | | 873 | Kg | 47a Vorabzug zur Errichtung eines prov. Krematorium K.G.L. | | 1.100 | | 1040 | Kg | 47a Leichenhalle für K.G.L. | | 1.100 | | 1062 | Kg | 47a Krematorium K.G.L. | | 1.100 | | Lu. Nr. | Anlage | C.7. Krematorium B.47a. B.W. 11 u. B.W. 30 | Ablauf | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1300 | Kg | 47a Erleichterung des Krematorium | 42 | | 1311 | " | 47a Ochblott ohne Grundriss von Untergeschoß | 1.100 | | 1341 | " | 47a Einzelheiten zu Türen, Dachladen | 1.10, 1.5 | | 1439 | " | 47a Errichtung eines Schornsteines aus Krematorium | 1.200 | | 1740 | " | 47a Skizze Fenster im Dachgeschoss | 1.10 | | 1745 | " | 47a Schornstein Krematorium 3. | | | 2036 | " | 47a Einäscherungsanlage K.G.L. Erdgeschoss | 1.100 | N° du plan: Krematorium B.47a. B.W. 11 u. B.W. 30. [Légendes et traductions] [Non Détenu ou Existant] 1300 - Entwässerung des Krematorium-Drainage du crématoire [E] 1311 - Değübblatt zum Grundriss von Untergeschoß/Feuille rectificative au plan du sous-sol [932] [E] 1341 - Einzelheiten zu Türen, Dachladen/Détails des portes, contrevents du toit [sur plan 938] [ND] 1434 - Errichtung eines Schornsteines am Krematorium: Edification d'une cheminée au crématoire [type II/III] [ND mais E dans dossier BW 30/40, p.47] 1740 - Skizze Fenster im Dachgeschoss/Dessin [de] fenêtre au grenier [ND] 1745 - Schornstein Krematorium 3/Cheminée crématoire 3[IV] [ND mais E dans dossier BW 30/40, p.54] 2036 - Einäscherungsanlage K.G.L. Erdgeschoß: Installation d'inchiération C.P.G. Roz-de-chaussée [Crématoire type IV/V] [E] Page 42 du "Livre des plans" de la Bauleitung conservé aux Archives du P.M.O. (Photo de l'auteur) 130 ===== PDF PAGE 0124 | page-124.md ===== Document D1b and D2b (Pages 41 and 42 of the Bauleitung «Catalogue of drawings»: PMO file BW 1/4) (Photos by the author) Drawing no B.47a Krematorium [Title and translation] [Not Held or Extant] | 2a | Keller/cellar [Leichenkeller/Corpse cellar] | NH | | --- | --- | --- | | 10 | Einbau einer Einäscherungsanlage/Installation of a cremation facility | NH | | 11 | Erdgeschoss/Ground floor | NH | | 19a | Horizontalschnitt-Vertikalschnitt/Horizontal section-vertical section | NH | | 20a | Erdgeschoss, Schnitte/Ground floor, Sections | NH | | 24a | Werksatz. Ansichten/Roof frame. Elevations | NH | | 26 | U-Eisenrahmen für Schornstein/U irons for chimney | NH | | 34 | Schmiedeeiserne Fenstergitter/Wrought iron window bars | NH | | 36 | Angedoppelte Eingangstüre/Double entrance doors | NH | | 47 | Winkeleisen aus Riffelblech/Checker plate angle irons | NH | | 38 | Schmiedeeiserne Beschläge f d Eingangstüre/Wrought iron hinges for entrance doors | NH | | 51 | Schmiedeeiserne Lampe/wrought iron lamp | NH | | 372 | Einbau einer Einäscherungsanlage/Installation of a cremation facility | NH | | 870 | Neubau Krematorium - Ansicht/New crematorium - elevations | NH | | 871 | Neubau Krematorium - Erdgeschoss/New crematorium - ground floor | NH | | 875 | Neubau Krematorium - Aufstellung der Verbrennungsöfen/New crematorium - location of the incineration furnaces | NH | | 932 | Grundriss/Ground plan (in Schublade/in drawer) | E | | 933 | Erdgeschoss/Ground floor | E | | 934 | Schnitte/Sections | E | | 935 | Ansicht-Westen/West elevation | E on 936 | | 936 | Ansicht-Norden/North elevation | E | | 937 | Ansicht-Osten/East elevation | E and on 936 | | 938 | Ansicht-Süden/South elevation | E and on 936 | | 960 | Werksatz/Roof frame | E | | 1173 | Schnitt durch Leichenkeller mit Be- u. Entlüftungsanlage/Section through corpse cellar with ventilation and air extraction | E | | 1174 | Querschnitt durch den unterkellertensteil/Longitudinal section through the basemented part | E | | 1241 | Bestandplan des Gebäudes 47a-Krematorium/Inventory drawing of building 47a-crematorium | NH | | 1301 | Fundamentplan/Foundation drawing (in Schublade/in drawer) | E | | 785 | Leichenhalle KGL/Corpse hall POW camp [Birkenau] | NH | | 812 | Leichenhalle für das KGL/Corpse hall for the POW camp | NH | | 879 | Vorschlag zur Errichtung eines prov. Krematorium KGL/Project for the construction of a provisional crematorium POW camp | NH | | 1040 | Leichenhalle für KGL/Corpse hall for POW camp | NH | | 1062 | Krematorium KGL/Crematorium POW camp | NH | | 1300 | Entwässerung des Krematorium/Drainage of the crematorium | E | | --- | --- | --- | | 1311 | De[c]kblatt zum Grundriss vom Untergeschoss/Correction sheet for basement plan drawing [932] | E | | 1341 | Einzelheiten zu Türen, Dachladen/Details of doors, roof braces [drwg 938] | NH | | 1434 | Errichtung eines Schornsteines am Krematorium/Construction of a chimney at the crematorium [type IV/III] [NH but E in BW 30/40, p.47] | | | 1740 | Skizze Fenster im Dachgeschoss/Sketch of window in loft | NH | | 1745 | Schornstein Krematorium 3/chimney crematorium 3[IV] | [NH but E in BW 30/40, p.54] | | 2036 | Einäscherungsanlage KGL Erdgeschoss/Cremation facility POW camp ground floor [type IV/V crematorium] | E | ## THE FURNACES This Topf drawing, showing a furnace with two cremation chambers (also known as muffles) heated with coke by two hearths situated at the rear, was the basic model for the first two furnaces installed in Krematorium I. Although shown on this drawing, the lateral pulsed air installation does not seem to have been fitted to the furnaces according to Topf drawings D59042 [a and b]. ### Description The upper opening [top left on section A-B in drawing D57253] enabled one or more bodies to be introduced using a charging trolley [Photos 22, 23, 24]. The ashes of the bodies were collected through the lower orifice [visible lower left on Photo 24]. In the case of registered prisoners, the ashes were placed in metal irons [Documents F1 and F2]. The family were informed of the death [Document F3], and could obtain the urn on request, after paying the «costs» of cremation. Since the cremations were often collective, it was virtually impossible that the urn received by the family would contain the right ashes. The hearth was fed with coke and the cinders were removed from behind the furnace, in a small pit reached by a stairway [right hand side of section A-B on drawing D57253]. The smoke reached the external chimney via underground flues. Topf drawing D59042 [a and b] of 25th September 1941 is concerned with the installation of a third two-muffle furnace, known as the «new furnace», also with a lateral pulsed air installation which was installed as indicated in the furnace operating instructions provided by Topf [Documents G1a and b, G2a and b]. The trolley for charging the bodies into the furnace was operated as perfectly described by Henryk TAUBER in his deposition of 24th May 1945 [Part III, Chapter 3]. The main problem with this trolley was that it tended to tip up when the charging trough or slide was loaded with several corpses. This «nose-down» tendency meant that this type of trolley was abandoned in Krematorien II and III in favour of a «Leichenbrett/corpse stretcher» that was easier to handle. Fitted with three two-muffle furnaces, Krematorium I could incinerate up to 340 corpses in 24 hours, according to a Bauleitung letter of 25th June 1943 (31550J/s/Nc). This was a PRACTICAL THROUGHPUT achieved as follows: - For the first two two-muffle furnaces: 1.5 to 2 bodies per muffle per hour; - For the new two-muffle furnace: 3 to 4 bodies per muffle per hour. The coke consumption of the three furnaces was estimated at about 1000kg per 12 hours of operation, calculated on the basis of a Bauleitung note (Aktenverneck) of 17th March 1943 (24757/43/3J/Lm) [file BW 30/34, page 54]. The third furnace was the prototype for the future three-muffle furnace designed by Kurt Prüfer, chief engineer at Topf, ten of which were built and installed in Birkenau Krematorien II and III. This furnace entered service in December 1941 [Documents H1 and H2]. The initial chimney was of circular section, but as the result of damage it was replaced by one of square section. The date of this transformation, before September 1941, is not known. Between the furnace room and the chimney there was a shed housing the motor for the collective forced-draught installation for the three furnaces [Documents G3a, b and c]. Layout [according to Topf drawing D59042 of 25th September 1942] The main entrance door (north-west) opened onto a vestibule leading to the furnace room. This included two rooms in annex: a coke store with its own entrance from outside containing a little office [which no longer exists] and an urn room. Entering the vestibule from outside, the first door on the right opened on a laying-out room [which now contains the oil-fired cremation furnace from the Traebius labour camp], the left hand door [bricked up since 1944] opened onto the third furnace and, finally, the second door on the right opened onto the washing room communicating directly with the «Leichenhalle» or morgue that communicated with the furnace room through another door. The bodies of dead prisoners should have taken the circuit: laying-out room, washing room and morgue, where they would be stored while awaiting cremation. In fact, they were directly stocked in the morgue. The delay between death and cremation was three or four days [Documents F1 and F2]. Their ashes, theoretically deposited in individual urns, were sent to the family at the latter's expense. ### The morgue From an «ordinary» morgue it gradually became a place for «knocking over», a term designating execution by shooting in the back of the neck with a small caliber firearm, a practice used by the Political Section of the camp on those it condemned. Rather than transporting to the Krematorium the bodies of prisoners executed in the yard between Blocks 10 and 11, at the other end of the camp, much effort was saved by taking the victims directly on foot from Block 11 to the morgue of the Krematorium and shooting them there. At the end of 1941 the morgue was transformed into a homicidal gas chamber operating on Zyclon-B, the regulation hydrocyanic acid disinfestation agent used the Wehrmacht, produced by Degesh and distributed in the east of the Reich by Tesch und Stabenow (Testa). The present area of the gas chamber is 98m², including the airlock at the south-east end. Initially, it covered 78m² and had a volume of 224m³ [or a little less than half the volume of the gas chambers in Krematorien II and III]. The two gas-tight doors, one opening on the furnace room and the other on the washing room, had three thicknesses of board and were sealed with felt [one of these gas-tight doors with no peephole is visible leaning against the wall where the third furnace used to be]. In the ceiling there were at least three openings for pouring Zyclon-B [Photo 14] which was thrown in directly and scattered 131 ===== PDF PAGE 0125 | page-125.md ===== Document E ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) over the victims. 3kg [1kg per opening] were required to kill the 500 to 700 people that the morgue could hold. It would appear that one or two extractor fans were installed in the ceiling [according to the testimonies of Fajnzylberg, Müller and Broad]. ## The homicidal gassings The first experimental gassing took place on 3rd September 1941, using Zyclon-B in the basement of Block 11, the openings of which had been crudely sealed with earth. The victims were 250 sick prisoners and 600 Russians. The next day, an SS man wearing a gas mask went to see the results and saw that some of the guinea pigs were still alive. More Zyclon-B was introduced. On the evening of the 5th nobody moved any more. The corpses were then transported by a group of prisoners to Krematorium I to be incinerated. Shortly afterwards 900 Russian prisoners according to former camp Kommandant Hoess [in fact between 500 and 700], were gassed directly in the morgue of Krematorium I, which avoided the need to transport the bodies. Then, in January 1942, operations began at Birkenau Bunker I, which had two small gas chambers for the extermination of Jews. During the gassings, a certain area around Krematorium I was sealed off. Furthermore, it was forbidden to look at the roof of the Krematorium which was visible from the windows of the SS hospital located on the first floor of the building nearest to the Krematorium, separated from it only by the «Kasernenstrasse». The Krematorium forecourt was closed off and served as an undressing place for the victims who were then pushed into the morgue. The two gas-tight doors were closed and Zyclon-B was injected through three openings in the roof. Outside, a truck kept its engine running during the whole operation to drown the cries. It is not known how many deaths were caused by this gas chamber, which was used only occasionally and not continuously. The number is probably not more than 10 000. Krematorium I functioned as a cremation installation from November 1940 to July 1943. Its gas chamber was used sporadically from the end of 1941 to 1942, but precise dates are not known. The installation was abandoned in 1943, its three furnaces dismantled and the chimney demolished. ## Conversion to an air raid shelter Because of the American bombing (the first raids on the IG Farben Buna factory at Monowitz and on Auschwitz I were on 13th September 1944), the «old» Krematorium, unused since the construction of the four «new» Krematorien at Birkenau, was converted into an air raid shelter for the patients of the SS hospital. Two similar Auschwitz Bauleitung drawings of 21st September 1944 [4287a and b] show the interior arrangement, designated Bauwerk 14. The modifications concerned only the entrance vestibule, the laying-out room, the washing room and the morgue. This last was divided into four rooms, 132 ===== PDF PAGE 0126 | page-126.md ===== Document F1 Document F2 Documents F1 and F2: ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) ![img-1.jpeg](img-1.jpeg) Side and oblique views of a metal urn from Auschwitz Krematorium I, kept in the museum «Reserve stocks», catalogued PMO-II-6-490. These photographs are by the author, but similar pictures in black and white are to be found under references PMO neg. 760/16 (side view) and 760/17 (top view). The precise text inscribed on the cover of the urn is: * K R E M A T O R I U M [the star having five-points] [circular inscription on the edge of the lid, upper left] 2017 Nr Urkunde/[cremation] certificate number WITALSKI Name/family name KARL Vorname/given name 19 9 13 geboren/born 28 3 41 gestorben/died 2 4 41 gebrannt/cremated After the death of this prisoner, FIVE days passed before his cremation, a period requiring his remains to be kept in a large morgue, due to the great number of deaths. Another identical urn, but coming from Mauthausen, is kept in the Reserve stocks under reference PMO-II-6-491. The photograph of its cover is catalogued PMO neg. no. 760/24 and the inscribed text is: * K R E M A T O R I U M No 721 WROBEL SZCZESNY 12 5 95 19 10 40 23 10 40 [the delay between death and cremation here is FOUR days] thus creating a suite of six rooms, whose communicating doors were staggered in order to reduce the blast effect of a bomb exploding in the vicinity. The suite included an operating table and a double wash basin with mirror (in the laying-out room), and two WCs (in the washing room) [Documents 21 and 22]. Entry was through two air locks (one arranged in the vestibule through building a wall between two of the supporting pillars, the other being built at the opposite end of the suite, in the southernmost room). The second, unused part of the old Krematorium (furnace room and its annexes) was used as a medical store [according to the former prisoner Hermann Langbein]. # Krematorium I after the Liberation The building was found as the SS had abandoned it [Photo 2]. It would appear that the photos of the interior showing the state of the premises were not taken at the beginning of 1945, which is a pity because the restructuring of the building back into a Krematorium began immediately after the liberation. During this work, a dance was organised on the roof [Photo 14] of the gas chamber, an event no doubt to be explained by the euphoria resulting from the end of the war. The chimney [Photos 8, 9 and others] was rebuilt in the form of the second model. Four openings supposedly for pouring Zyclon B were made in the roof [Photos 15 and 18] which was covered with roofing felt, thus hiding the traces of the original openings. Four of the five partition walls of the air raid shelter were demolished. The space obtained [Photos 26 and 27] became the present gas chamber with an area of 94m² (not including the air lock), while the original gas chamber was 78m² and did not have any access by the air lock remaining to the south. The communicating door between the morgue and the furnace room was reopened, unfortunately just beside the original location [Photo 26]. The first two furnaces [Photos 22, 23 and 24] were rebuilt from memory and as a function of the metal parts found in the «Bauhof» (open air depot for building materials). The third furnace was not rebuilt [Photo 25]. The entrance door to the medical store [Photos 6 and 10] was converted into a window. # CONCLUSION Because of the lack of original documents and the transformations that have been made [see the drawing of the present state of the premises at the end of this chapter], it was not possible before to materially demonstrate the existence of a homicidal gas chamber in the former morgue of Krematorium I, even though the testimonies of former prisoners and SS formally affirm its existence. This is why the revisionist attacks [see the remarks by R.Faureson on Krematorium I in «Vérité historique ou vérité politique» by S. Thion, La Vieille Taupe, April 1980, pages 314 to 317] have essentially been concerned with this building, which is by far the most visited in the camp. But at the end of February 1988, a certain Fred LEUCHTER, an American engineer specialised in the design and improvement of legal methods of execution in the United States (including gas chambers), having been commissioned by the «revisionists», went to Poland and, without the authorization of the P.M.O., took seven samples from bricks and cement in the «Leichenhalle» of Krematorium I. The «report» that Leuchter wrote on his return [AN ENGINEERING REPORT ON THE ALLEGED EXECUTION GAS CHAMBERS AT AUSCHWITZ, BRKENAU AND MAJDANEK - POLAND, April 5, 1988] indicates the cyanide levels found in the analysis of each sample, expressed in milligrammes of cyanides per kilogramme of sample (mg/kg). Six of them were positive (3.8/1.9, 1.3, 1.4, 1.3, 7.9, 1.1 mg/kg) and one negative (taken from the floor according to the sampling plan). These results, virtually all (6 out of 7) positive, prove the use hydrocyanic acid in the «Leichenhalle» of krematorium I, hence its use as a homicidal gas chamber. Today, despite its poor reconstitution, the krematorium I must be considered as an authentic symbol of homicidal gassings at Auschwitz, since several thousand people did indeed die there through gassing. When it turned out that Krematorium I no longer sufficed for cremating the numerous dead in the camp, the SS considered building a «new» Krematorium in the main camp about 20 metres from the first 133 ===== PDF PAGE 0127 | page-127.md ===== Document F3 Translation of document F3 ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) Annex 8 Copy TELEX Urgent to be delivered immediately 39244 To the Commandant of the Security Police and the Security Service, district of Cracow The Polish prisoner held in our protective custody service ...MICHALEWICZ Stanislaus... born ...18.11.1900... in Lemberg died on ...21.9.1942... at 14.25 hours of heart failure in the prisoners' hospital of Auschwitz K[concentration] L[camp]. In accordance with regulations you are requested to inform the next of kin and advise them that the corpse was cremated at the expense of the state and that the regulation um has been deposited in the clitorarium here. According to the declarations of the above-named, the next of kin is ...wife, Stanisława, M., Cracow, 6 Josefa Poniatowskiego... She has already been informed by telegram of the death of the above-named. sig. Hoess SS Lt. Col. and Commandant Certified in conformity with the original: Jan Sehn Examining Judge for the district and extending the building line to the southeast. This project, born at the end of October 1941 out of conversations between the new Bauleitung Director, SS Captain Karl Bischoff and the Topf chief engineer Kurt Prüfer was precisely described in a letter of 22nd October 1941 sent by the Bauleitung to Topf [PMO files BW 30/27 page 27 and BW 30/43 page 116]. The study was undertaken by the Bauleitung services and probably resulted in three drawings of a new Krematorium (Neubau Kremat), Nos. 870, 871 and 875, showing respectively its external aspect, the ground floor and the furnace installation [Document D1a]. Although these drawings have not been found, they must have closely resembled those of the «Entwurf für das Krematorium/ projected Krematorium» of the «930 series» on which the building is shown in its final form. Drawing 3250 (drawn in 1941-42 and used by the Bauleitung in 1943 to show the location of the watch towers around the camp), showing its situation in the main camp, and that of 19th February 1942 [Document K] established by the SS Economic Administration Main Office show the implantation of a new Krematorium similar to that of the 930 series, but with a collective external chimney built onto in annex wing and not emerging from it as shown on the 930 drawings. On 15th January 1942, the Bauleitung Drawing Office, headed by SS Second Lieutenant Walter Dejaco, newly promoted to this rank, had finished the drawings for the «Krematorium project»: 935 (west elevation), 936 (north elevation), 937 (east elevation) [Document L] and 938 (south elevation) [Document M]. The orientation of the building proves its destination: the main camp (as already shown on the drawing of 19th February 1942 [Document K]). This series of elevations was completed by drawings 932 (basement), 933 (sections) and 934 (ground floor). They were all checked by Dejaco and countersigned by Bischoff on 28th January 1942. The locations of the two underground «Leichenkeller/corpse cellars» mentioned in the letter of 22nd October 1941 do not appear on the drawings 935, 936, 937 and 938. But, on 27th February 1942 [file BW 30/25, page 1 (letter of 5th March 1942) and BW 30/34, page 37 (letter of 30th March 1942)], it was decided following a conference with Oberführer SS Dr. Ing Kammler of the SS Economic Administration Head Office in Berlin, to transfer this new Krematorium from the main camp to the POW (prisoner of war) camp in Birkenau, where this building, classified by the Bauleitung as «Bauwerk/Worksite» 30, was built and accepted under the designation «Krematorium II». This decision seems to have remained purely theoretical for a good month, for a letter of 2nd April 1942 [Document N] addressed by the Bauleitung to Topf, written by Dejaco and signed by Bischoff, still speaks of the «[new] Krematorium to built in the Auschwitz concentration camp» (i.e., in the Stammlager, the main camp). *** 134 ===== PDF PAGE 0128 | page-128.md ===== Document G1a # J. A. TOPF & SOHNE MASCHINENFABRIK UND FEUERUNGSTECHNISCHES BAUGESCHAFT CODES PUS: 00117, 0001 A.B.C. CODE STADT & HONORS ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) BRANCHIST TOFFWORKE ERFURT FIRMEST 20.10.2016 20.07.2016 20.09 GELENTENBANK REICHENBANK FURWICHATTO POSTSCHECKKONTO ERFURT 1100 An den Reichsführer SS und Chef der deutschen Polizei, Bauleitung Waffen-SS, Auschwitz /U.-S. MITGIFT: Topf-Einäscherungs-Ofen. IHR ZEICHEN ERFURT, 24.3.41. POSTFACH 400 FABRIK UND VERWALTUNG GESCHÄFTSFÄRTE 70 hes. UNSER ARTEILUNG: DIV Prf, Unter Bezugnahme auf die Unterredung zwischen Ihrem Herrn stellvertretenden Bauleiter, Oberscharführer Urbanczek und unserem Herrn Oberingenieur Prüfer überreichen wir Ihnen beiliegend je ei- ne Bedienungsvorschrift des Topf-Einäscherungs-Ofens und der Topf-Bauguag-Anlage in 3-facher Ausfertigung. Wir bitten Sie, je ein Exemplar der Bedienungsvorschrif- ten im Ofenraum unter Glas aufzubringen, damit die dort stehenden Ofen richtig bedient werden. Wir empfehlen uns Ihnen mit ![img-1.jpeg](img-1.jpeg) Heil Hitler! J. A. TOPF & SOHNE ppa. ![img-2.jpeg](img-2.jpeg) 3 Bedienungsvorschriften des Einäscherungs-Ofens, 3 Bedienungsvorschriften der Bauguag-Anlage. PARTICIPATING AGENTS ARCHIWUM AuI, BW 11/1 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. 23. 24. 25. 26. 27. 28. 29. 30. 31. 32. 33. 34. 35. 36. 37. 38. 39. 40. 41. 42. 43. 44. 45. 46. 47. 48. 49. 50. 51. 52. 53. 54. 55. 56. 57. 58. 59. 60. 61. 62. 63. 64. 65. 66. 67. 68. 69. 70. 71. 72. 73. 74. 75. 76. 77. 78. 79. 80. 81. 82. 83. 84. 85. 86. 87. 88. 89. 90. 91. 92. 93. 94. 95. 96. 97. 98. 99. Document G1a Translation of Document G1a [PMO, file BW 11/1, p.1] J. A. TOPF & SOHNE 24 Sept.41 To Reichsführer SS and Chief of German Police and Waffen SS Bauleitung Auschwitz, Upper Silesia Subject Your ref Our Ref D IV Topf cremation furnace Prf [Prüfer] Further to the conversation between the representative of your director of construction, Oberscharführer Urbanczek and our chief engineer, Mr Prüfer, we enclose herewith three copies of the operating instructions for the Topf cremation furnaces and the Topf forced-draught installation. We would ask you to post a copy of each set of instructions under glass cover in the furnace room, to ensure that the furnaces are operated correctly. We greet you with Heil Hitler! J A TOPF & SONS Two signatures illegible Auschwitz SS Construction Management Received 26th Sept 1941 Enclosures: 3 operating instructions for cremation furnaces 3 operating instructions for forced draught installation 135 ===== PDF PAGE 0129 | page-129.md ===== Document G2a Document G2b [PMO] [id BW 1111, page 3] # Betriebsvorschrift des # koksbeheizten Topf-Doppelmuffel-Einäscherungsofen Vor Beschickung der beiden Koksgeneratoren mit Koks müssen die beiden Rauchkanalschieber am Ofen geöffnet werden, desgl. auch der Hauptrauchkanalschieber bzw. die Drehklappe am Schornstein. Nunmehr kann in den beiden Generatoren Feuer angefacht und unterhalten werden, hierbei beachten, dass die Sekundärverschlüsse rechts und links der Ascheentnahmetüren (Koksgenerator) geöffnet sind. Nachdem die Einäscherungskammer gut rot warm (ca 800°C) ist können die Leichen hintereinander in die beiden Kammern eingefahren werden. Jetzt ist es zweckmässig das seitwärts am Ofen stehende Druckluftgebläse anzustellen und ca 20 Minuten laufen zu lassen. Hierbei ist zu beobachten, ob zuviel oder zu wenig Frischluft in die beiden Kammern eintritt. Die Regulierung der Frischluft erfolgt durch die Drehklappe die sich in der Luftrohrleitung befindet. Weiterhin müssen die rechts und links der Einführstüren angeordneten Lufteintritte, halb geöffnet werden. Sobald die Leichenteile vom Schamotterost nach der darunter liegende Ascheschräge gefallen sind, müssen diese mittels der Kratze nach vorn zur Ascheentnahmetür gezogen werden. Hier können diese Teile noch 20 Minuten zum Nachverbrennen lagern. Dann wird die Asche in den Aschebehälter gezogen und zur Abkühlung beiseite gestellt. Zwischendurch werden neue Leichen in die Kammern nach einander eingeführt. Die beiden Koksgeneratoren müssen von Zeit zu Zeit mit Brennstoff beschickt werden. Jeden Abend muss der Generatorrost von den Koksschlacken befreit und die Asche herausgenommen werden. Zu beachten ist ferner, das nach Betriebsschluss, sobald der Generator leer gebrannt ist und Gluttelle nicht mehr vorhanden sind, alle Luftschieber und Türen desgl. auch die Rauchkanalschieber am Ofen geschlossen sein müssen um den Ofen nicht auszukühlen. Nach jeder Einäscherung steigt die Temperatur im Ofen. Daher bitte beachten, dass die Innentemperatur nicht über 1100°C kommt (Weissglut). Diese Temperatursteigerung kann durch Lufteinblasen verhindert werden. Document G2a 136 # OPERATING INSTRUCTIONS FOR COKE-FIRED TOPF DOUBLE-MUFFLE INCINERATION FURNACE Before charging the two hearths with coke, the two furnace dampers and the main rotary damper in the chimney must be open. The fire can now be lit and maintained, being sure to open both secondary openings to the right and left of the cinder removal doors (of the coke furnace). Once the cremation chamber (muffle) has been brought to a good red heat (approximately 800°C), the corpses can be introduced one after the other in the cremation chambers. Now the pulsed air blower situated to the side of the furnace should be switched on and run for about 20 minutes, ensuring that the two cremation chambers do not receive too much or too little fresh air. Regulation of the fresh air is by means of a rotary valve in the air duct. In addition, the air intakes, to the right and left of the chamber doors, should be half open. As soon as the remains of the corpses have fallen from the chamotte grid to the ash collection channel below, they should be pulled forward towards the ash removal door, using the scraper. Here they can be left for a further 20 minutes to be fully consumed, then the ashes should be placed in the container and set aside to cool. In the meantime, further corpses can be introduced one after the other into the chambers. The two coke furnaces must be fed with fuel from time to time. Every evening, the furnace fire bars must be cleaned of clinker and the cinders removed. In addition, care must be taken that at the end of operations, as soon as the furnace, having burst everything, is empty and no coals remain, that all the air valves, doors and dampers are closed, so that the furnace does not cool. After each incineration, the temperature rises in the furnace. For this reason, care must be taken that the internal temperature does not rise above 1100°C (white heat). This increase in temperature can be avoided by introducing additional fresh air. ===== PDF PAGE 0130 | page-130.md ===== Document G3a # Betriebsvorschrift über die # "TOPF"- Saugzuganlage Falls der Zug im Ofen nicht ausreicht, muss die am Schornstein eingebaute Saugzuganlage in Betrieb genommen werden. Hierbei beachten, dass zuerst der Motor angestellt wird und dann erst darf die Drehklappe im Schornstein geschlossen werden. Die Wasserzufuhr zum wassergekühlten Lager muss auch sofort laufen. Nach Schluss des Einäscherungsbetriebes muss zuerst die Drehklappe im Schornstein geöffnet werden und dann den Motor und die Wasserzufuhr abstellen. Zu beachten ist fernerhin, dass immer genügend Wasser im Behälter vorhanden ist. Document G3a Document G3b [PMO file BW1101, page 2] # OPERATING INSTRUCTIONS FOR THE TOPF FORCED DRAUGHT INSTALLATION If the furnace does not draw properly, the forced draught installation incorporated in the chimney must be brought into service. Here, care must be taken to first switch on the motor and only afterwards close the rotary damper in the chimney. The cold water supply from the tank should also be opened immediately. At the end of the incineration, the rotary damper in the chimney must be opened first and then the motor and the water supply shut off. In addition, care must be taken to ensure that there is always enough water in the tank. Document G3c Schéma de l'installation d'aspiration "Topf": (Essai de reconstitution de fonctionnement) ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) KREMATORIUM I o. ALTES KREMATORIUM Document G3c Document G3c Topf forced draught installation: schematic diagram (reconstitution of operations) - Cheminée/Chimney - Reservoir d'eau/Water tank - Moteur/Motor - Saugzuganlage (forced draught installation) - Aérations/Ventilators - Ancienne cheminée de la poudrière/Old powder store chimney - Ofen/Furnace - Ofenraum/Furnace room - Leichenhalle/Morgue KREMATORIUM I OR OLD KREMATORIUM 137 ===== PDF PAGE 0131 | page-131.md ===== Document H1 (PMO BW 11/1 p.4) Document H2 Letter dated 9th December 1941 from Section D IV of the firm Topf & Sons of Erfurt, [K. Prüfer] to the Auschwitz Waffen SS and Police Construction Management, concerning the furnaces of the crematorium ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) ![img-1.jpeg](img-1.jpeg) Translation of the first four lines: «Our fitter Mähr has prepared the foundations for the new cremation furnace and carried out repairs on the two coke fired double muffle cremation furnaces, this work being charged on a daily labour basis.» 138 ===== PDF PAGE 0132 | page-132.md ===== Document J1 [PMO BW 11/4, p.1] Document J2 [PMO BW 11/4, verso p.1] ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) ![img-1.jpeg](img-1.jpeg) Auschwitz 6.11.44 Rationed materials required for the SS air raid shelter (old crematorium) BW 14 in 4 copies. Auschwitz, 14.11.44 Signature illegible # Rationed materials for the conversion of House 7 1 50 cm washbasin complete with evacuation 2 supporting brackets Iron 1.8 1 siphon Zinc 2.2 1 1/2" tap Zinc 0.38 12 metres 3/4" tube galvanized 163 Iron 19.58 5 metres 1 1/2" black tube 386 Iron 19.30 1 mirror 139 ===== PDF PAGE 0133 | page-133.md ===== # SOURCES a) File BW 11/1: (15 documents) 1. Letter of 24/9/41 from Topf to Bauleitung 2. Topf operating instructions for the forced draught installation 3. Topf operating instructions for the double-muffle furnace 4. Letter of 9/12/41 from Topf to Bauleitung (page 1) 5. Letter of 9/12/41 from Topf (page 2) 6. Letter of 10/12/41 from Topf to Bauleitung 7. Letter of 5/1/42 from Topf to Bauleitung 8. Copy of letter of 5/1/42 from Bauleitung (Teichmann/Erl) to Topf 9. Manuscript draft of the above [5/1/42] 10. Copy of letter of 8/1/42 from Bauleitung (Teichmann/Bischoff) to Topf 11. Letter of 9/1/42 from Topf to Bauleitung 12. Copy of letter of 2/4/42 from Bauleitung (Dejaco/Bischoff) to Topf 13. Inventory of the water supply and drainage installations in the air raid shelter (old Krematorium) BW 14 on 22/12/44 (Jentsch/Reichwein) 14. Blank Bauleitung invoice of 1941 15. Identical to the above [1941] b) File BW 11/2: (three drawings, numbered 16, 17, 18) 16. Copy of Topf drawing D59042 [a] made by the Central Commission for the Investigation of Hitlerite Crimes in Poland 17. Topf drawing D59042 [a] of 25/9/41 18. Topf drawing D59042 [b] of 25/9/41 c) File BW 11/3: (two drawings, numbered 19a and 19b) 19a. Bauleitung drawing 4287 of 21/9/44 19b. Bauleitung drawing 4287 of 21/9/44 [drainage] d) File BW 11/4: (three documents) 1. Handwritten note of a list in four copies of rationed materials required for the air raid shelter, BW 14, dated 6th and 14th November 1944 1a. Verso of the above, list of sanitary equipment required, iron and zinc, on 4th November [44] 2. Note of non-ferrous metal requirements, drawn up on 6th November 1944 by the Bauleitung and concerning the sanitary installations of BW 14 (Jentsch/Reichwein) 3. Note of iron requirements, drawn up on 6th November 1944 by the Bauleitung, concerning the sanitary installations of BW 14 (Jentsch/Reichwein) e) File BW 11/5: (six documents) 1. Topf recapitulatory report of the work carried out in Krematorium I, dated 1st June 1942 2. Duplicate of the above 3. Order from the camp administration to its Bauleitung for repairs to Krematorium I, dated 13th May 1942, with notes by Bischoff on the 19th and Lubitz on the 20th 3a. Verso of the above with the delivery conditions 4. Typed copy of the administration order of 13th May 1942 5. Handwritten recapitulatory letter from the chief bricklayer capo listing the work carried out at Krematorium I, countersigned by a Topf official, dated 20th May 1942 [page 1] 6. Handwritten recapitulatory letter of 20th May 1942 [page 2] f) File BW 14: (This file contains the correspondence concerning work on the SS hospital and the air raid shelter undertaken in September 1944. It also contains a drawing of the old Krematorium transformed into an air raid shelter, Bauleitung drawing 4287 of 21/9/44. This drawing in file BW 14 has no page or photograph reference number as it is already classified elsewhere. ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) Document K: [PMO neg. 20931/4] Author's 1:1 tracing of part of a drawing of the Auschwitz main camp (Stammlager) development plan, drawn in Berlin on 19th February 1942 by Office C I of the Economic Administration Head Office. Translation of inscriptions: - Altes Krematorium/old crematorium - Wohnung Kommandant/Commandant's house - Sola Fluss/Sola river - Kasernenbereich/barrack area - Mannschaftsbaracken/troop barracks - Wirtsch[afts] Gebäude/domestic offices - Garagen/garages - Bauleitung/construction management - Provisorische Kindergarten/provisional kindergarten - Lageplanskizze/location drawing - Maßstab/scale This drawing shows the location of a new crematorium to be built on a southeast, or roughly south, extension of the building line of the old crematorium, planned by the SS Economic Administration Head Office in Berlin and drawn on 19th February 1942. 140 ===== PDF PAGE 0134 | page-134.md ===== ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) Document L: [PMO file BW 30/05, neg. no. 20818/7] «Entwurf für das Krematorium/projected crematorium» - East elevation. Bauleitung drawing 937, scale 1:100 [and not 1:1 as indicated] Drawn on 15th January 1942 by SS Sergeant Ulmer, checked on 28th January by SS Second Lieutenant Dejaco and approved on the same day by SS Captain Bischoff. Following the transfer of this crematorium to Birkenau, the orientation of this facade was changed from east to NORTH. The end of the half-buried roof of Leichenkeller/corpse cellar 2 was drawn in the extension of the building to the right. 141 ===== PDF PAGE 0135 | page-135.md ===== ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) Document M. [PMO BW 30/06, neg. no. 20818/8] «Entwurf für das Krematorium/ projected crematorium» - South elevation. Bauleitung drawing 938, scale 1:100 Drawn on 15th January 1942 by SS Sergeant Ulmer, checked on 28th January by SS Second Lieutenant Dejaco and approved on the same day by SS Captain Bischoff. After it was decided to transfer this crematorium from K.L. Auschwitz to K.G.L. Birkenau, this drawing was copied and included in Bauleitung drawing 936 of 15.1.42 showing the four facades of the future Krematorium II, oriented according to its implantation in Birkenau. This façade thus became that facing east. In addition, the half-barred roof of the Leichenkeller/corpse cellar I, located perpendicular to the south façade, was added. 142 ===== PDF PAGE 0136 | page-136.md ===== Document N: [PMO BW 11/1, p. 12] 2. April 1942 Bftgb.-No. 5999 /42/De/Qu. Einschreiben Betr.: Be- und Entlüftungsanlage für das zu errichtende Krematorium in K.L. Auschwitz Bez.: Ihr Schreiben vom 12.3.42, Ihrer Abteilung D - Schm. Anlg.: 4 Pläne An die Firma Topf u. Söhne Erfurt In der Anlage erhalten Sie einen Satz geänderte Pläne, über das zu errichtende Krematorium in K.L. Auschwitz. In den Plänen ist die gewünschte Führung der Be- und Entlüftungskanäle eingezeichnet. Es wird gebeten, sich bei Ausarbeitung bzw. Abänderung Ihres Projekts lt. Zeichnung D 59 366 nach Möglichkeit der in unseren Plänen eingezeichneten Kanalführung anzupassen. Die Führung der Be- u. Entlüftung über Dach soll in Form genauerer Kanäle erfolgen. Um baldige Erledigung wird wegen der Dringlichkeit des Bauvorhabens gebeten. Der Leiter der Zentral-Bauleitung der Waffen-SS und Polizei Auschwitz [Signature] [Signature] AUS, BW 11/1 Translation 2nd April 1942 Correspondence register no 5999/42/De(jaco)/Qu REGISTER Subject: Ventilation and air extraction installation for the crematorium to be built in Auschwitz Concentration Camp Ref: Your letter of 12.3.42 from your department D - Schm Encl: Four drawings To Messrs Topf & Söhne Erfurt Please find attached a set of modified drawings for the crematorium to be built in Auschwitz Concentration Camp. These drawings show the desired positions for the ventilation intake and outlet ducts. We would ask you, in any development or change in your project as shown on drawing D 59 366, to adapt as far as possible to the duct positions shown on our drawings. The intake and outlet ducting above the roof is to be in the form of brick chimneys. We would ask you to finish this work as soon as possible, in view of the urgency of the construction project. Head of the of Auschwitz Waffen-SS and Police Central Construction Management [Initialed by Bischoff] SS Hauptsturmführer (Specialist) The four drawings enclosed with his letter by Dejaco and showing the ventilation ducting of the future Krematorium II can be no other than: - 932 (drawing of the basement); - 933 (cross-section of the building and of basement morgues [Leichenkeller] 1 and 2 and 934 (ground floor) [these two drawings are frequently presented together as a single drawing]; - 980 (drawing of roof frame); - 1173 (longitudinal section of the building at the junction between Leichenkeller 1 and 2) and 1174 (cross-section of Leichenkeller 1 where it connects with the main building above ground) [always presented together as a single drawing]. 143 ===== PDF PAGE 0137 | page-137.md ===== ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) Photo 1: [Source: PMO] The classic «picture postcard» of the northwest side of Krematorium I with the chimney appearing to emerge from the building, whereas it is in fact separate, and the steel-faced, gas-tight door with porphole, which never # EXTERNAL VIEWS OF KREMATORIUM I Photo 3: [PMO neg. no. 4003] Western corner of Krematorium I in 1946-47 with the chimney rebuilt. The window of the morgue and that providing light to the third furnace have been reinstalled. ![img-1.jpeg](img-1.jpeg) Photo 2: [PMO neg. no. 16948] Western corner of Krematorium I in 1945 in its condition as «air raid shelter», with no chimney and with the window of the morgue filled in. The central door gave access to the first air lock of the shelter, the second one alongside it to the medical store. ![img-2.jpeg](img-2.jpeg) ![img-3.jpeg](img-3.jpeg) Photo 4: [Photo by the author, 1983] Western corner of Krematorium I, present state. 144 ===== PDF PAGE 0138 | page-138.md ===== Photo 5: [Photo by the author, 1983] Northwest façade of Krematorium I, present state. ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) Photo n° 5: Façade nord-ouest du crématoire I, état actuel. (Photo de l'auteur, Photo 6: [Photo taken from the book by Saul Friedländer, «Kurt Gerstein on l'ambiguïté du bien», Casterman 1967, plate, page 16. Photo probably from the PMO] North corner of Krematorium I being rebuilt in 1945-46. The chimney has been completed. The morgue window is being installed. The door of the medical store is still in its original state. Photo n° 5: Angle nord du crématoire I en cours de reconstruction en 1941-1946. La cheminée est achevée. La fenêtre du dépositaire est en cours d'aménagement. La porte de la réserve de médicaments est toujours dans une état original. (Photo extraite du livre du fond Friedländer, 'Kurs Gerstin' on l'ambiguïté du bien', Catterman, 1967, hors-taste de la page 16. Cette photo proviendrait du F.M.B.) ![img-1.jpeg](img-1.jpeg) Photo n° 5: Angle nord du crématoire I, état actuel. Dans le bâtiment de droite était détaillé l'hôpital SS du camp. Les fenêtres de premier étage offraient une vue directe et plongeante sur le tail du crématoire I et, de ce fait, sur les SS versant le Zyclon-B par les orifices pendant les garages. Il était alors interdit de regarder par les fenêtres. La proximité des bâtiments fit, qu'en septembre 1944, fut aménagé dans la partie sud-ouest du crématoire un bunker de protection aérienne pour l'hôpital SS. (Photo de l'auteur, 1983) ![img-2.jpeg](img-2.jpeg) Photo 7: [Photo by the author, 1983] Northern corner of Krematorium I, present state. The building on the right was that housing the SS hospital of the camp. The first floor windows afforded a direct view down onto the roof of Krematorium I, and hence on the SS-men pouring Zyclon-B through the traps during gassing. At such times it was forbidden to look out of the windows. The proximity of these buildings led to the southwest part of the crematorium being converted into an air raid shelter for the SS hospital in September 1944. 145 ===== PDF PAGE 0139 | page-139.md ===== Photo 8: [Photo by the author] Northern corner of the chimney ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) Photo n° 8: Angle nord de la cheminée du crématoire. (Photo de l'auteur) ![img-1.jpeg](img-1.jpeg) Photo n° 9: Angle est de la cheminée, état actuel. Entre la cheminée et le mur de la salle des fours, était placée dans un abri l'installation de tirage induit, facilitant la marche des trois fours. (Photo de l'auteur) Photo 9: [Photo by the author] Eastern corner of the chimney present state. Between the chimney and the wall of the furnace room there was a shed housing a forced-draught installation to improve the efficiency of the three furnaces. 146 ===== PDF PAGE 0140 | page-140.md ===== Photo 10 ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) Photo 11 ![img-1.jpeg](img-1.jpeg) ![img-2.jpeg](img-2.jpeg) Photo n° 12: Entrée sud-est du deuxième sas, désignée actuellement comme celles des victimes. (Photo de l'auteur) Photo 10: [Source: Warsaw Central Commission, Stanisław Luczko series, sygn. 5150A] The right hand door is the main entrance, northwest, of Krematorium I in 1945 [May?]. It is not known whether this door is original or has just been fitted. Restoration work is in progress. The left-hand door leads to the former medical store and was subsequently to be converted back into a window. Photo 11: [Source: Warsaw Central Commission, Stanisław Luczko series, sygn. 5148] The southeast access to the second air lock of the air raid shelter for the SS hospital, the building visible in the background, behind the trees, in 1945. This entrance led directly to the former gas chamber of Krematorium I. Though it had nothing to do with the gas chamber it was preserved during the restoration, whereas it should have been filled in to respect the historical facts. Photo 12: [Photo by the author] Southeast entrance to the second air lock, now designated the victims' entrance 147 ===== PDF PAGE 0141 | page-141.md ===== ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) Photo 13: Aerial Photograph of the Auschwitz main camp taken by American aviators on 25th August 1944. In the centre of the circle is the «old crematorium» or Krematorium I without its chimney, which has been dismantled. All that can be seen above the furnace room are the two small natural ventilation chimneys. To the side is the building where the SS hospital occupied the first floor. # Translation of inscriptions: - Le nouveau pont sur la Sola/New bridge over the Sola - Bâtiment de l'hôpital SS/SS hospital building - Entrée avec l'inscription/Entrance with the slogan: «Arbeit macht frei» [Work brings freedom] 148 ===== PDF PAGE 0142 | page-142.md ===== ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) Photo 14 [Source: Warsaw Central Commission, Stanislaw Łuczka series, sygn. 5149] # «DANCE ON THE ROOF OF THE OLD CREMATORIUM». View of the roof of Krematorium I, looking south-north, in 1945 (May?). The chimney has not yet been rebuilt. The features of the roof are: - two ventilation chimneys for the furnace room (two-tone with a dark cap) - two other brick chimneys, probably for ventilating the air raid shelter in view of their newly-built appearance - in addition, on a line parallel to and left of that on which the two brick chimneys are built, it is possible to see THREE places where the former traps for introducing Zyclon-B have been filled in, thus indicating that the morgue had been used as a gas chamber. Above the stage, dominated by a red star with the hammer and sickle, fly the flags of Poland [left] and the Soviet Union [right], with lamps mounted above them. This photograph proves that a dance was organized in 1945 on the roof of Krematorium I, and that people actually danced above the homicidal gas chamber. This episode appears almost unbelievable and sadly regrettable today, and the motives for it are not known. This photo also proves that the present covering of roofing felt and the zinc surround of the roof are not original. 149 ===== PDF PAGE 0143 | page-143.md ===== # EXTERNAL VIEWS OF KREMATORIUM I [ROOF] ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) Photo 20: [Photo by the author] Furnace room ventilation chimney, above furnace 1, close to the smoke stack and installed in the northeast part of the roof. Photo 21: [Photo by the author] The two furnace room ventilation chimneys corresponding to furnaces 1 (left) and 2 (right), installed in the northeast part of the roof. These are original. ![img-1.jpeg](img-1.jpeg) Photo 16: [Photo by the author] Probable ventilation chimney for the air raid shelter installed in the southeast part of the roof. The duct leads directly to the former gas chamber. The upper course of bricks has disappeared. Photo 15: [Photo by the author] Overall view of the roof of Krematorium I, looking southeast. On the right hand side are the four openings for pouring Zyclon-B (1 to 4) reconstructed after the war. On the left, the two probable ventilation chimneys for the air raid shelter (A and B) and one of the two ventilation chimneys for the furnace room (2). ![img-2.jpeg](img-2.jpeg) ![img-3.jpeg](img-3.jpeg) Photo 19: [Photo by the author] Probable ventilation chimney for the air raid shelter installed in the northwest part of the roof. The duct has been blocked to allow the chimney to be used as pedestal for a flagpole. ![img-4.jpeg](img-4.jpeg) ![img-5.jpeg](img-5.jpeg) Photo 17: [Photo by the author] Rainwater drainage in the southern corner of the roof of Krematorium I. The zinc guttering and the downpipe were installed after the war. ![img-6.jpeg](img-6.jpeg) Photo 18: [Photo by the author] One of the four openings for pouring Zyclon B installed after the war. They are of wood covered with roofing felt. 150 ===== PDF PAGE 0144 | page-144.md ===== TOPF & SÖHNE DRAWING D 59042 [a] [PMO neg no 20818/1] of 25th September 1941, scale 1:100 Einbau einer Einäscherungsanlage für K L Auschwitz/ construction of a cremation facility for Auschwitz Concen- tration Camp. [It is the stamp of the Cracow regional Commission for investigation of German crimes] Translation of inscriptions: - Grundriss/plan drawing - Neuer Ofen/new furnace - Druckluftgebläse/pulsed air blower - Drehscheibe/turntable - Ofen/furnace - Ofenraum/furnace room - Koks/coke - Urnen/urns - Vorraum/vestibule - Aufb[ahrungs]raum/laying out room - Waschraum/washing room - Leichenhalle/morgue [corpse hall] it should be pointed out that the length of Krematorium I is not 36.57 metres but 27.57 metres. The forced draught installation housed in shed between the chimney and the furnace room is not shown. The pencil lines indicating the periphery round the Krematorium I building are not original.] ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) 151 ===== PDF PAGE 0145 | page-145.md ===== # TOPF & SÖHNE DRAWING D 59042 [b] [PMO neg 21033/1] of 25th September 1941, scale 1:100 Einbau einer Einäscherungsanlage für K L Auschwitz/construction of a cremation facility for Auschwitz Concentration Camp. The drawing and inscriptions are similar to the previous one, but this one bears in addition a violet stamp of Messrs Topf, with the signature in blue of a representative of the firm at Auschwitz. The underground smoke flues are outlined in deep pink. «Neuer Ofen» is written in blue-black ink and the furnace walls are shown red on the outside and yellow on the inside, as in the small sketch on the left. ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) ![img-1.jpeg](img-1.jpeg) 152 ===== PDF PAGE 0146 | page-146.md ===== ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) RECONSTRUCTION OF THE SYSTEM OF UNDERFLOOR SMOKE FLUES FOR THE THREE FURNACES OF KREMATORIUM I based on Topf drawings D 57253 and 59042. The flues all lead to the forced draught installation located between the furnace room and the chimney. [Drawing by Jean-Claude Pressac] 153 ===== PDF PAGE 0147 | page-147.md ===== # INTERNAL VIEWS OF KREMATORIUM I ## (Furnace room and gas chamber) Photo 22: [Source: PMO] View of furnace 1, looking east, with the doors of the two cremation muffles (above) and the human ash collection doors (below) open. The two corpse charging trolleys, set on rails, were not in their present position at the Liberation, but were reinstalled after being found abandoned in the main camp. Neither of them is complete: one, (left) lacks a wheel, the other (centre), its manoeuvring handle. They were used exactly as related by former Sonderkommando member Henryk Tauber [see Part III, Chapter 3] ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) ![img-1.jpeg](img-1.jpeg) Photo 23: [Source: PMO] View of furnace 1, its two muffles gaping, looking southeast. The metal plate covering the chest of the trolley on the right is missing. This chest was filled with stones and metal objects to provide a counterbalance to the weight of the two metre long corpse slide trough that entered the furnace. Photo 24: [PMO Aug. no. 20788/2] North/south view of furnaces 1 (left) and 2 (right). It is obvious on this photo that furnace 2 is a reconstruction as the upper part of the metal frame supporting the brickwork is missing, unlike that of furnace 1. The two furnaces, dismantled by the SS, were rebuilt after the liberation. The original drawings were missing, so the reconstruction depended on the memories of former prisoners and the availability of metal parts found in the camp. ![img-2.jpeg](img-2.jpeg) 154 ===== PDF PAGE 0148 | page-148.md ===== Photo 25: [PMO neg. no. 4005] South/north view of the emplacement of furnace 3, known as the «new furnace», the only one to have been fitted with a pulsed air blower. Dismantled by the SS, it was not reconstructed afterwards. It's the most basic been covered by a makeshift floor, as the external access door to the former furnace room used as a medical store opened just above it. The metal barrier was installed after the war for the safety of visitors. In the north corner in the stairway leading down to the pit from which the two hearths of the furnace were fired. The excavation at the end of the rails opens on to the floor leading the smoke to the external chimney [cf Topf drawing D 59042 a and b and the author's reconstruction of the flue system]. On the right is the end of the slide trough of the third charging trolley found at the liberation of the camp. ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) Photo 26: [Source: PMO] Power/boutheast view of the former chamber, taken from the location of washing room that adjoined the original purpose. The present floor area of [including the air lock at the far end] is not correspond to that of the former gas/gas chamber, which was 78.2m². The end is the southeast air lock of the steel shelter. In the ceiling are openings (ft) and 2 (right) (of photos of the roof [Constitution I] for the posting of on B, installed after the war. To the side the door communicating with the furnace room, reinstalled about 1 metre in its original position. ![img-1.jpeg](img-1.jpeg) ![img-2.jpeg](img-2.jpeg) Photo 27: [PMO neg. no. 2069b1] Southeast/northwest view of part of the former gas chamber. In the middle ground, on the left hand wall and the floor are the traces of one of the dividing walls of the air raid shelter, demolished in order to reconstruct the gas chamber. At the far end is the glazed door leading to the former laying out room, subsequently converted into an operating theatre and now housing the oil-fired cremation furnace of the TRZEBINIA labour camp. The end of the original 78.2m² gas chamber was below the third supporting beam counting from that forming part of the present end wall. 155 ===== PDF PAGE 0149 | page-149.md ===== Ausbau des alten Krematorium. Luftschutzbunker für ¼ Revier mit einem Operationsraum. ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) Grundriss M=1*100. ![img-1.jpeg](img-1.jpeg) Querschnitt. ![img-2.jpeg](img-2.jpeg) | Jenseil-Bauerkamp der Lohse-97 und Belge | | | | --- | --- | --- | | Krematorium | Luftschutzbunker für ¼ Revier | | | Stck. Nr. 46 | | | | Stck. Nr. 4-400 | Stck. Nr. 42.87 | Datum | | Gepr. Stck. | 6.1.1947 | 21.8.1947 | | Gepr. Stck. | | | ![img-3.jpeg](img-3.jpeg) # BAULEITUNG DRAWING 4287 [a] [PMO neg. no. 21032/1] of 21st September 1944, scale 1:100, drawn by prisoner 57347. Ausbau des alten Krematorium/conversion of the old crematorium Luftschutzbunker für SS Revier mit einem Operationsraum/air raid shelter for the SS hospital with an operating theatre. # Translation of inscriptions - Grundriss/plan drawing - Schleuse/air lock - Operationsraum/operating theatre - Tisch[operating] table - Trockenklosette/chemical toilet - Besteh[ender] Kanal/existing sewer - Luftschutzräume/air raid shelters - Querschnitt/cross-section - Terrain/ground level This drawing was entered in the catalogue of drawings on 16th October 1944. Only the area in the lower part of the drawing was converted into an air raid shelter, a suite of six rooms, with an air lock at each of the two entrances. It was used as a bomb shelter for patients from the SS hospital located alongside the old crematorium. Because of its new function, the construction [Bauwerk] number of the building changed from that of Krematorium I (BW 11) to that of the SS hospital (BW 14). Other modifications made to Krematorium I are not shown on this drawing. The remaining rooms of the crematorium were used as a medical store. 156 ===== PDF PAGE 0150 | page-150.md ===== ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) # BAULEITUNG DRAWING 4287 [b] [PMO neg. no. 20818/2] of 21st September 1944, scale 1:100, drawn by prisoner 57347. Ausbau des alten Krematorium/conversion of the old crematorium Luftschutzbunker für SS Revier mit einem Operationsraum/air raid shelter for the SS hospital with an operating theatre. Bestandsplan für Wasserversorgung und Kanalisation/inventory drawing for water supply and drainage. # Translation of inscriptions other than those already appearing on drawing 4287[a] - Klosett/WC - Entlüftung/ventilation - Wasserleitung/water supply pipes - Kanalleitung/drainage and sewers This drawing was entered in the catalogue of drawings on 28th December 1944. The WCs are now connected to the sewers. It is not known what type of ventilation fans, if any, were installed. The communicating door between the former furnace room and the morgue was bricked in. The medical store was reached via a door installed where the window illuminating the third furnace used to be. After the Liberation, this door was removed and the window reinstalled. The three cremation furnaces had been dismantled, but the metal parts were stored. The stoking pits must have been covered by temporary wooden floors. The windows and door leading to the third furnace of the medical store were also filled in. With part of the building converted to an air raid shelter, this is the state in which the SS abandoned Krematorium I in January 1945. 157 ===== PDF PAGE 0151 | page-151.md ===== # KREMATORIUM I or the «OLD CREMATORIUM» # of the Auschwitz main camp: # Present state of the premises - Rendement pratique du crématoire I donné par la Bauleitung dans une lettre du 28 juin 1943: 340 corps en 24 heures Practical throughput of Krematorium I according to a Bauleitung letter of 28th June 1943: 340 bodies in 24 hours. - CHEMINEE(troisième édification)/CHIMNEY (third version) - Portes: Porte pleine à trois panneaux de bois Porte vitrée dans sa partie supérieure Porte présentée comme «étanche au gaz» Doors: Solid door of three wooden panels Door with window in upper part Door described as «gas-tight» - Trou circulaire d'un emplacement de ventilateur Circular hole: emplacement of extractor fan - Emplacement des restes du FOUR 3, nouveau modèle Topf au rendement amélioré par l'adjonction d'une soufflerie d'air pulsé [four non reconstruit] Emplacement of FURNACE 3, a new Topf model made more efficient by the addition of a pulsed air blower [furnace not rebuilt] - Charlet d'introduction des corps retrouvé au camp à la Libération. Corpse charging trolley found in the camp after the Liberation - FOUR 1 [Modèle Topf à deux creusets incinérateurs, plan no 57253 du 10.6.40] FURNACE 1 [Topf model with two cremation muffles: drwg 57253 of 10/6/40] - Ancienne cokerie renfermant des parties métalliques restantes du four d'incinération du crématoire IV et trois fenêtres de versement du Zyclon-B ayant appartenu au crématoire IV ou V. Former coke store now containing the remaining metal parts of the cremation furnace of Krematorium IV and three Zyclon-B introduction shutters from Krematorium IV or V - Plaque tournante/Turntable - Rails de guidage de la plaque tournante Turntable guide rails - (les fours 1 et 2 furent reconstitués après la Libération selon les souvenirs des anciens détenus) (Furnaces 1 and 2 were reconstructed from prisoners' memory after the Liberation) - Entrée principale/Main entrance - VESTIBULE - Accès à l'ancien dépositaire puis salle d'opération du bunker de protection aérienne renfermant actuellement l'ancien four d'incinération de l'Arbeitslager TRZEBINIA Access to the former laying out room, subsequently the operating theatre of the air raid shelter and now housing the former cremation furnace of the TRZEBINIA labour camp - Accès à la salle des fours/Access to the furnace room - Rails de guidage des chariots/Trolley guide rails - FOUR 2/FURNACE 2 - Fosse d'alimentation des deux foyers du four Stoking pit for the two hearths of the furnace - Ancienne salle des urnes/Former urn room - Four à huile lourde/Oil-fired furnace - Ancienne salle de lavage des corps, incluse maintenant dans la chambre à gaz Former corpse washing room, now forming part of the gas chamber - Emplacement du mur séparant la salle de lavage de la morgue-chambre à gaz Emplacement of wall separating the washing room from the morgue/gas chamber - Emplacement de la porte de communication entre la salle des fours et l'ancienne morgue Original emplacement of the door between the furnace room and the former morgue - Porte percée après la Libération/Door installed after the Liberation - Cheminée d'aérantes supposée du bunker de protection aérienne Ventilation chimney presumed to be for the air raid shelter - Chambre à gaz (ancienne morgue)/Gas chamber (former morgue) 2ème sas d'accès au bunker/Second bomb shelter air lock - Entrée du second sas du bunker, actuellement dite des victimes Second entrance to the bomb shelter, now called the victims' entrance - Orifice de versement du Zyclon-B aménagé après la Libération Zyclon-B introduction orifice installed after the Liberation - Superficie de la chambre à gaz/Floor area of the gas chamber: - present: 98m² - 4m² (air lock) = 94m² - original: 17.00m x 4.60m = 78.2m² 158 ===== PDF PAGE 0152 | page-152.md ===== # LE CRÉMATOIRE I ou "VIEUX CRÉMATOIRE" du camp principal d'Auschwitz État actuel des lieux Rendement pratique du crématoire I donné par la Bauleitung dans une lettre du 28 juin 1943; 340 corps en 24 heures. ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) DRAWING of the present state (Drawing and inscriptions by Jean-Claude Pressac August 1985) (PLAN & LÉGENDES de J.-C. PRESSAC (Août 1985)) 159 ===== PDF PAGE 0153 | page-153.md ===== PART TWO CHAPTER 3 # BUNKER 1 or «The Red House» and its supposed mass graves Study of Bunker 1 according to the testimonies of Rudolf HOESS, Pery BROAD, Szlam[a] DRAGON, Maurice BENROUBI, Milton BUKI and Moshe GARBARZ and of its supposed mass graves, later cremation pits. # I Deposition by the eyewitness Szlam[a] DRAGON [Extract from Volume 11 of the Hoess trial, annex 17] Deposition recorded on 10th May 1945 by Judge Jan Sehn, concerning Bunker 1: «Five hundred [in actual fact 800] metres further on [from Bunker 2] there was another cottage designated Bunker 1. This was also a small brick house divided into just two parts and able to contain altogether 2000 naked persons. [Manifest exaggeration by the witness, practically the rule among all the early accounts. Hoess gives the figure of 800: a «technician» of death, he knew what he was talking about, even if he also tended to massage the figures through «professional pride»]. These rooms each had one entrance door and a small window. Near Bunker 1, there was a small barn and two huts. The pits were much further on. They were connected to this Bunker [1] by narrow gauge rails.» The drawing of Bunker 1 by S. Dragon [Document 1], joined to his deposition, shows that the floor of Bunker 1 was higher than the surrounding land. In his deposition the two sets of steps leading to the doors are not mentioned. Plan du "bunker" n°1. Sakie "bunkra" Nr. 1. ODRIC 115 /Załącznik do protokołu przesłuchania świadka Szlamy Dragom z 10 i 11 V. 1945 r./ / annexe au protocole d'interrogatoire du témoin Szlamy Dragon les 10 et 11 V. 1945./ ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) portes étanches au gaz - Dw drzwi gazoszczelne chambres à gaz/bunker/ - Kw komory gazowe /bunkry/ lucarnes ob l'on jetait - Ow okienka da wrzucania zyklonu → le zyklon] escaliers - Dw sohody ![img-1.jpeg](img-1.jpeg) /Sakie niniejszy nakreślony został przez Będziłego Śladowego Jana Sehn w obchodził Prekuratora Edwarda Pęchalskiego na podstawie bezpośrednich oglądów na miejscu, oraz wyjaśniał świadka Dragom Szlamy, ułożonych przez niego w toku dokonywania oglądów i podesz- nego przesłuchania/ # Translation of the inscriptions: - Annexe au protocole d'interrogatoire du témoin Szlamy Dragon les 10 et 11 V 1945/ Annex to the interrogation protocol of the witness Szlam[y] Dragon of 10th and 11th May 1945. - portes étanches au gaz/Gas-tight doors - chambres à gaz, bunker/Gas chambers, bunker - lucarnes où l'on jetait le zyklon/Windows where the Zyclon was thrown in - escaliers/Steps Document 1: Plan of «Bunker» No 1 161 ===== PDF PAGE 0154 | page-154.md ===== ## II/ Testimony of the SS man Pery BROAD I cite only for memory the «declaration by Pery Broad», published by the PMO in «Auschwitz seen by the SS». Historically, this account is not exploitable in its present version despite its «true» and all too «striking» atmosphere, since it has been rewritten by and for the Poles and diffused exclusively by them. Document NI-11397 of 14/12/45 gives only a fleeting impression of the exact tone that this «declaration» must have had. As for his famous account of 13/6/45 given to the British Intelligence Service and which really served as a basis for the Polish «declaration», the chief archivist assured me that the PMO did not possess the original, which was thought to be in England. Having never seen even a photocopy of the initial account of 13/6/45, I wonder what German «original» was used by the translator Helena Dziedzinska, as the Museum has not kept it. Furthermore, I fear that Pery Broad, even in his original account, was but a poor observer of the extermination installations. He describes Bunkers 1 and 2 thus: «Not far from Birkenau, which was rapidly expanding, there were two dead and ninety peasant cottages built on a pleasant site. Separated by a copse, they were whitewashed and covered with nice thatched roofs. All around there were fruit trees.» There is an error in this text: the copse is a veritable forest, 800 metres across. Broad's testimony is above all a chemical of a few striking events at the camp, incapable of providing precise details about the Bunkers and Krematorien. After assessing its reliability, no conscientious historian will be able to use it unless and until the «declaration» has been stripped of the Polish influence, or in other words until the original is published. ### III/ The testimony of Maurice BENROUBI concerning Bunker 1 Born on 27th December 1914 in Salonika, Greece, arrested in Le Mans on 16th July 1942, deported from Angers on 20th July 1942 by French convoy No. 8 (see «Le Mémorial de la déportation des Juifs de France» [Memorial of the deportation of Jews from France]) arrived at Auschwitz-Birkenau on Thursday, 23rd July 1942, registered under the number 51,059 and evacuated from the Jawischowitz camp on 17th January 1945. ### Historical note Mr. Maurice Benroubi, prisoner 51,059, was incorporated without knowing it in a group that might be called the «grave digger commando». In order to go to his work, he passed through the entrance gate of Birkenau I, took a northwesterly direction, crossed the future Birkenau II, practically at the place where Krematorien IV and V were to be built, entered the forest and finally reached the Bunker 1 graves located in the heart of the Birkenwald [Birch Wood]. The operations of gassing and burying were kept strictly separate, as decided by the SS in charge according to their own criteria. In 1942, cremation of the victims was not yet practised on a large scale, due to a lack of resources, although the SS had started to seriously study this question (cf. the project of 21/8/42 proposed by Topf and Sons for the rapid construction of cremation furnaces near the «special action bathing installations», the official designation of Bunkers 1 and 2). The corpses of those gassed were loaded onto wooden platforms 2 metres by 3, fixed on wagon chassis. About 20 of these corpse transport wagons ran on narrow gauge rails from Bunker 1 to the west into the Birch Wood. After 300 to 400 metres, the rails emerged into a huge clearing where the mass graves were dug. The dimensions were 20 x 3 x 2.5 metres and there were apparently between a few dozen and a hundred of them, in which the victims were laid head to foot, without any disinfecting product such as staked lime being used. The full graves were covered with a thin layer of earth and left like that. According to Mr. Benroubi, no particular odour was perceptible either at the graves or at the two gas chambers of Bunker 1. The fifth in which the prisoners lived - 40 days without a shower in the case of Mr. Benroubi - no doubt explains this lack of sensitivity to the smell. However, Himmler's inspection visit to Birkenau in July 1942, triggered a «study» visit by Camp Commandant Hoess, accompanied by Second Lieutenants Hessel and Dejaco to learn about the art of cremation at the Chelmino [Kalmborf] centre on the Net on 16/9/42. The result was that in November 1942, all the Birkenau graves were emptied and the human remains, some of them in an advanced stage of decomposition, were burnt. Between its creation and that date, the Birkenau camp had already cost 107,000 lives, taking all origins and causes of death together, as noted by commandant Hoess in his autobiography. Transport from the «Jewish ramp» of Auschwitz station to Bunkers 1 and 2 after the «selection», a practice that commenced in July 1942, was by truck. There are no ruins of Bunker 1, which was demolished at the end of 1942 or in early 1943. The information that has reached us on this provisional installation is scanty and based only on the testimonies of the few survivors. The rooms of an ordinary farmhouse were turned into gas chambers by roughly sealing the windows, fitting gas-tight doors and making small apertures fitted with shutters in the wall alongside these doors at about head height. Through these the Zyclon-B was introduced. According to several witnesses at the Dejaco and Ertl trial in Vienna in 1972, the Bauleitung produced no architectural drawings for this installation. Only Hoess seems to have made one, drawn by himself and in secret. In his autobiography [«Commandant of Auschwitz», pages 207-8], he recounts that together with Eichmann at beginning of September 1941: «We inspected the area in order to find a likely spot. We decided that a peasant farmstead, situated in the north-west corner of what later became the third building sector at Birkenau would be the most suitable [for extermination by gassing]. It was isolated and screened by woods and hedges, and it was also not far from the railway. The bodies could be placed in long, deep pits dug in the nearby meadows. We had not at that time thought of burning the corpses. We calculated that after gas-proofing the premises then available, it would be possible to kill about 800 people simultaneously with a suitable gas. These figures were borne out later in practice...» he then goes on to say: «A few days later I sent to the Reichsführer SS by courier a detailed location plan and description of the installation [Bunker 1]. I have never received an acknowledgement or a decision on my report. Eichmann told me later that the Reichsführer SS was in agreement with my proposals.» This correspondence has not been found to date. Himmler's late and indirect response was purely one of form. His real answer to Hoess, one month after the latter had sent his plan, was the arrival of SS-Hauptsturmführer [Captain] Bischoff to head the Auschwitz Bauleitung. Himmler, while he had been correct in his assessment of Hoess' capacity to successfully develop the «special activity» of Auschwitz, had no illusions on certain of his «prodigé's» qualities. Eichmann confirms this in his memoirs dictated to the journalist Sassen in Buenos Aires in 1957: «In general, Hoess was certainly too limited to be able to control all the complexity of Auschwitz, but for that he had a complete general staff.» ### MAURICE BENROUBI'S TESTIMONY : «We left the camp. We passed through small clearings, a little wood. About every 200 metres there was a watch tower. Suddenly, a deportee left the ranks and started running in the direction of the camp shouting «Nein, nein/no, no. I want to go back to the camp». We stopped, an SS man shouted to him to come back. He did not obey, the SS shot him. Four deportees went to fetch him. Three hundred metres further on, another deportee did exactly the same as the first. I could not understand a thing... [it should be pointed out that Mr. Benroubi at the time of his deportation did not speak or understand German, Yiddish or Polish. He was familiar with only French, Spanish and Greek. He describes himself as «a deaf and dumb man in the middle of a fire». Frequently it was not until after the event that he realised what had happened.] Ten minutes later, I saw in the distance big heaps of corpses, as if their was a death factory near by. As we approached, we could see them better. They were all mixed up together like wooden dummies. Some had their cheeks torn. Their gold teeth had been extracted. There were women, children, babies. We marched 200 metres and stopped in a clearing. Two SS officers were there and gave orders to the SS man. Further on about one hundred Sonderkommando men were pushing platforms of 2m by 2m mounted on wheels [along a narrow gauge railway, linking the two gas chambers of Bunker 1 with the first graves of the Birkenwald] and on these platforms there were corpses lying one on top of the other. They put them in front of graves about 20m long, 3m wide and 2.50m deep. There were about two graves ready to receive the martyrs. Parallel to these open graves there were some that had been covered with earth and these extended over about 200 metres. It could not have been long since they were covered over. On the earth in places there were hoists of light coloured decomposed flat mixed with blood. After receiving orders, the Capos split us into groups. Some of our comrades took picks and showers and jumped into the graves. As for me, I went with other comrades to join the Sonderkommando to transport the corpses like them. The men of the Sonderkommando received us with stone throwing and called us all sorts of names. They laughed and amused themselves like criminals, making themselves accomplices of the SS to please them. Basically, it was that, the next regime... all of a piece. In this Kommando, the Capos, the SS and the Sonderkommando all he us, and threw us on the heaps of bodies to laugh at our fear. The SS fired on us and every day we had to take to assassinated comrades back to the camp to be counted at the evening roll call. At midday the Sonderkommando ate separately and we ate far from them, almost a double ration and a few potatoes. There was also a distribution of bread from a convoy, stalk and even mouldy. Some comrades exchanged non-mouldy bread for mouldy in order to have a bigger quantity. Little pools of water formed in the graves and as we were very thirsty, we quickly jumped down and tapped up the water and climbed out again very fast. We were reduced to the state of animals... One morning, we had hardly arrived and were getting ready to pick up the picks and showers, when an SS who was waiting for us ordered the guards to keep marching and to follow him. We crossed the entire clearing and took the track along which the wagons arrived... We arrived in another clearing. There were two big concrete blocks [the buildings known as «Bunker 1»] at least 20m wide and perhaps as many long. Near these blocks there were three mountains of bodies. One of men, one of women and one of children under ten. The Sonderkommando men received us as on previous occasions with stone throwing and abuse. We stopped in front of the big heaps of corpses and the Capos made us understand that we had to lead the corpses on the wagon platforms and transport them to the empty graves. We rushed to the wagons and started working like mad... for what mattered most was to get away from the gas chambers... One morning, the doors of the Bunkers, as they called them, were open. I noticed that there were a shorter heads and along the walls clothes hooks. I remember that a comrade made signs to me to make me understand that we should never look in that direction, which meant also. «If you don't want to be shot at by a sentry, don't look». In fact I saw that all the comrades were working with their backs to the Bunkers to avoid giving even the slightest glance towards the two extermination Bunkers... One day, arriving at work, I saw electricians installing lamp posts by the empty graves and fitting big lamps. I immediately realized that there were also going to be night shifts... The same day, 4th September 1942, after the roll call, there was a «selection» and contrary to what normally happened every time there was a selection. We time the nazis chose the strongest, the most healthy. We waited a good hour before departing. A comrade said to me: «What are you doing amongst us? Didn't you hear the order that these who worked in the Sonderkommando were not to step out of the ranks?» I was dumbfounded... After two hours march we arrived at the Jawischowitz camp. 162 ===== PDF PAGE 0155 | page-155.md ===== ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) Document 2: Situation plan showing the probable location of Bunker 1 and the mass graves # Translation of inscriptions (from top to bottom and left to right): - Bauabschnitt 2 für 60,000 Gef/Construction stage II, for 60,000 prisoners - Kläranlage/Sewage treatment plant - Desinfektion u Entwesungsanlage/Disinfection and delousing installation - Effektanlage/Effects camp - Appellplatz/Parade ground [for roll calls] - Krematorium IV 1 Achtmuffelofen/1 eight-muffle furnace - Krematorium V 1 Achtmuffelofen/1 eight-muffle furnace - Blockführerstube/Block leaders' rooms - Zone probable d'implantation du Bunker 1/Probable area of location of Bunker 1 - Vers les fosses/To the mass graves - Bauabschnitt 3 für 60,000 Gef/Construction stage III, for 60,000 prisoners # Additional details I had a conversation, recorded on magnetic tape, with Mr. Benroubi. These additional details come either from his personal account, or in response to the questions he was asked. Arrival at the Bunker 1 gas chambers and reception of the victims: - The children - about 50 or 60 - were holding hands in ranks of live and arrived at the Bunker accompanied by about ten deportees in civilian clothes, glad to be with them. The members of the Sonderkommando greeted them kindly. Some people had babies in their arms and the Sonderkommando helped them, advancing towards them some hundreds of metres before the gas chamber with a friendly attitude, like when you receive members of the family.- - To give the deportees confidence and make them enter the showers, i.e. the gas chambers, quietly, the Sonderkommando bandits were dressed in white and acted as if they belonged to the hospital service.- On Bunker 1: - The Bunker was a brick-built house, with the windows filled in... We had to turn our backs to the Bunker when we picked up the corpses, never look at the gas chambers...-, And yet, if one dared a furtive glace: - Twenty metres from me, there was a door still open, of the rolling or sliding type, and beyond it on one side a ground floor door through which we could see shower heads. From the back no writing was visible. The Sonderkommando took the people out of the gas chambers and twenty metres away made them into separate piles of women, children and old men.- - There was no odour around the gas chambers, nor the graves, despite the trickles of fat that oozed out of them. # IV/ Declaration by Mr. Milton BUKI (former given names Majlech Michal) Declaration made before a notary on 15th December 1980 in Jerusalem under reference No. 623/80. Extracts concerning Bunker 1: - On 10th December 1942, I... was arrested by the Germans and transported to Auschwitz where I arrived on the 12th of that month... The next morning at 5 o'clock, an SS officer accompanied by several men ordered us to go outside and took us to a brick farmhouse on the edge of a wood. In front of this house there were about 40 corpses of shot [7] men. We loaded these bodies onto trolleys mounted on narrow gauge rails. The door of the house was then opened by an SS man. We saw that the interior was full of corpses, some lying some standing and others hanging onto one another. About twenty minutes or perhaps half an hour after the door was opened, we were given the order to remove the bodies and load them on the trolleys. The bodies were all naked and some had blue stains on them. We took the trolleys to a grave about 40 metres long and I think about 6 metres wide which was about 100 metres [actually 300 to 400] from the house. Before the grave there was another group of deportees who threw the bodies into the hole... We learned that we formed part of a group called a «Sonderkommando» whose job was to transport the bodies of the gassed to the grave... While, on the first occasion, we were taken to the house after the gassing had already taken place, later we were already there when the convoy arrived. Under these conditions I was able to see the whole process. The men, women and children were made to undress in a shed near the house. They were then obliged to walk very quickly or even run between two ranks of SS who had dogs. In this way they reached the open door of the house and went in. They were told that it was simply a shower for disinfection purposes, after which they would be admitted to the camp to work there under normal conditions. When the interior of the house was absolutely full, the door was closed. Doctor Mengele who was often [present] or another doctor replacing him, gave an SS man the order to inject the gas. To do this he climbed several steps by the side wall of the house and introduced through a little chimney [opening] the contents of the can that he opened with a knife. About twenty minutes after the injection of the gas, the door was opened and the work of removing the bodies commenced about half an hour afterwards. After being taken back to Block 11, we could see the flames that consumed the bodies in the grave.- This witness certainly never knew that he had worked at Bunker 1, but two details prove that he did: «a red brick cottage», this is the red house and «a few steps» to climb for access to the opening where the Zyclon-B was introduced is a detail not reported by S. Dragon but confirmed by his drawing. The witness speaks of one gas chamber and one access door. Looking at the drawing of Bunker 1, it can be seen that an observer situated below and to the left would be able to see only one door (D1) and only one side opening for introducing the toxic gas (01). The gassing took place in chamber K 1. The period, December 1942, indicated by the witness for his time at Bunker 1 is correct. Before November 1942, the bodies were not incinerated, afterwards they were. # V/ The testimony of Moshe Maurice GARBARZ Written with his son Elie and published by editions Plon in Paris in 1984 under the title «Un Survivant». Trapped like Mr Benroubi, Mr Garbarz escaped from the work at Bunker 1 in the same way as he did: through being detailed for the Jawischowitz coalmine. [Extracts from «Un Survivant». # (1) DEPARTURE FOR THE MINE [page 119] By the seventh day, I had lost my last hope of escaping, it was finished. I was trapped... In the evening, for some unknown reason, we came back to the camp a little earlier. Perhaps our SS had a lot of work and preferred to avoid leaving us hanging about over there. We had hardly gone through the gate when the camp loudspeakers made an announcement: 163 ===== PDF PAGE 0156 | page-156.md ===== «Volunteers are wanted for a coalmine, but the seven electricians must not present themselves.» For me, it was a case of leaving my present kommando or dying there. Seeing the gassed victims and wallowing in the reddish mud was absolutely unbearable and made me ill. I made my decision: «If they catch me, too bad! I'm going to die!» They lined us up before an SS doctor. We undressed so that he could check that we were not «musulmen», that is that there still remained some flesh on our buttocks. In addition, he made us jump over a ditch 50 or 60 centimetres wide, for me it was child's play, but not for all the deportees. Fortunately our SS man was not there, otherwise he would have recognised me. However, while Mr. Benroubi was unaware of his «luck» which he in fact thought was a misfortune, Mr. Gabarz knew exactly what he was doing. The two men worked almost side by side as from 4th September 1942, without ever getting to know one another. [Extracts from «Un Survivant»] (2) THE SONDERKOMMANDO [pages 109 to 115] One morning the work of our electrician kommando was interrupted: inspection. We had to line up in a single row and not in fives. An SS came along. He chose seven deportees, including myself and Grastain (the future chief electrician of Jawischowitz). We seven had no idea what job awaited us. All we knew was that it was electrical work. I was scared: «Now they're going to see that I know nothing about electricity, that I'm an amateur and that I'm a bad one at that». The SS did not ask if we were real tradesmen. I noticed other strange things: I had never seen such a small kommando, seven people! What is more, an SS took the place of Capo and then not an ordinary SS man, but an Unterscharführer, the equivalent I think, of a sergeant... But back to my new kommando. The SS was marching three metres from us. I don't know whether he was afraid of being attacked or whether he was simply trying to avoid breathing our smell. Contrary to habit, he said nothing. He did not accuse us of marching too slowly or incorrectly. If I had not learnt to know the SS, I would have thought that this one was a man like other men, and not a machine for killing and torturing. Once only, during the march, he addressed us in friendly terms, too friendly, with the voice of a father addressing his children, explaining our future privileges. Each of us would have three cigarettes and a bottle of beer or another drink of our choice (the water there was terrible). We would eat our fill and in a week's time, if we worked well, we would have new clothes and the official right to wash ourselves, we couldn't wish for a better fate. All seven of us, on arrival, without exchanging a word, understood why our SS had been so benevolent. Immediately my stomach turned over. We saw big rectangles traced on the ground twenty or thirty metres wide by fifty or sixty metres long. In one of them the ground was stained red. Three regularly spaced posts with reflectors on top stood in the middle. The second rectangle was a simple outline on the ground, the soil was the normal colour and instead of the posts, three holes had been dug. The SS explained: «You see the installation here (he pointed at the posts in the first rectangle.) Over there (he showed the second rectangle) the same thing. You're the electricians, get to it». Then he withdrew thirty or forty metres. Why so far? I do not know. Perhaps the previous kommando had revolted? We began our work. Our team of seven included only two real professionals. One had been given special hooks to hoist himself to the top of the posts. He disconnected the electricity and brought down the wires and the reflector. Then we got ourselves into position to pull out the posts. And then wallow in the red, and the red was blood. The first contact with it gave us the shivers and we lost the power to speak. And yet we already knew about it. But between knowing and experiencing there is just no comparison. Underneath us there were men like us and, for sure, the team of our seven predecessors was also beneath our feet... We carried the three posts, wedged them in the holes that had already been dug and installed the reflectors. This first day we scarcely worked three hours. Then we stayed shut in the hut where we ate. We were forbidden to look at what was happening outside. The second day we were on the site a little earlier than the first. We had to wait at a distance while the besonderkommando (that's what my comrades and I called it in Yiddish: the German word is Sonderkommando «special Kommando») finished its work - work that I shall describe for you in a moment. As the days went by our Unterscharführer became more and more negligent in his surveillance of us. What was the point? It was impossible for us to escape. So we saw everything without really trying to. We saw a sort of barn closed on three sides, identical to those where our farmers keep the hay, and not far from it three or four pretty little buildings like country houses, only the first of which was close enough to be clearly visible. The convoys arrived, adult men and little boys together, women, girls and babies together. They went, completely naked, in groups of twenty towards the little house. Despite the distance, we could see that they were not afraid. A strange kommando, dressed in white, led them. four men only, plus two SS. When the people had entered the house, they were shut in by a fairly strong door. When the door was well and truly bolted, an SS passed with a can (the can I saw looked exactly like a pot of paint) and disappeared from our eyes, hidden by the house. Then, we heard a bang, that of some opening, a trap door rather than a window. Twice, after this bang, we heard the prayer SHEMA ISRAEL (LISTEN ISRAEL, Eternal is our God, the Eternal is one... a basic Jewish prayer), then we heard cries, but very faintly. From time to time, at the last minute, just before disappearing behind the door, the people understood: I saw one group of men revolt. The case had been foreseen: a kommando of four or five people was waiting beside the entrance and pushed them inside while an SS used his revolver to shoot some in the head. The external aspect of the little house was so ordinary that such incidents were very rare. In seven days, I saw only one revolt with my own eyes. But others took place. for several times, from afar, we heard the same characteristic sound of a shot at point blank range. But let us return to the morning of the second day. The rectangle where we had the previous day installed the posts had been dug out and transformed into a kind of empty swimming pool with cleanly cut edges, about one metre fifty deep. The ground had been left around our posts to stop them falling. Some rails were installed, starting one metre from the little house. As soon as the Jews were gassed, a new team came along and added rails as far as the edge of the swimming pool. This group also belonged to the besonderkommando. The men of this kommando ate well, they were properly dressed. They lived entirely separately and no longer returned to our camp to sleep. The SS said that in a week we would be enrolled with them. So I now had less than a week in which I had to try something, however desperate. We saw the special kommando put platform trolleys on the rails. Then they brought out the men, women and children who had been gassed to load them on these flat wagons. In order not to lose any on the way, they stacked them like sacks of flour, five widthways, five lengthways. Their work was tough and their Capo, a German, would not allow a moment's rest. He was constantly crying: «Schneller! Schneller! (Faster! Faster!)» otherwise I'll wipe you out, I'll gas you on the spot - and he kicked them. All the men, women and children were very quickly thrown in the hole and covered with earth. Then we went into action, wallowing in human blood to recover the lamp posts. I could not understand why the corpses bled. The pressure when they heaped earth on them? Or the effect of the gas? My six companions had received almost new shoes, but not me because my mountain shoes were still in good condition. At night, another kommando certainly came to dig a new swimming pool around and in the light of our lamp posts because we found it the next morning on arriving. I never saw this kommando, but a comrade said that once he was in a group that had this task. He was taken from his hut, with many other deportees, perhaps 200. They did not belong to the besonderkommando but were from the camp and had not guessed the purpose of this hole. On the fourth day we were allowed to approach the special kommando at the door of a gas chamber. What we saw shocked us. Whole families holding together in bunches. Dead children still clinging to their mothers, and separating them was a horrible task. All of them had bulging eyes and twisted horrified faces. That day they had brought a transport of women with their children. It seemed to us that most of them had strangled their children and we could understand that watching the child's agony would be unbearable. They had preferred to shorten the suffering by killing them with their own hands. For the men of the besonderkommando, it must have been just as bad. We imagined one of them by chance seeing his mother or sister or father or wife or a member of his family. What could he do? Nothing. One day Grastain, the electrician, went into one of the little houses to repair a wire and told us: «The interior is empty and very dark, without any windows. I didn't have time to look in detail. I was too scared...» From our position, we could see the victims only at the moment when they arrived near the closest gas chamber. Some of us thought that they took off their clothes in the barn, but I disagreed. In there they would have discovered a store of masses of hair, classified by colour, stocks of dolls, spectacles, clothing, everything well sorted and neatly stocked. They would realise that it was a trap. Furthermore, the women would refuse to undress in public. No, in my opinion there were, a little further away and hidden from our eyes, huts from where the people undressed before passing behind the barn without ever seeing its contents... Recently I have been trying to collect all my memories of the gas chambers into a coherent whole. But in my head they appear as a series of photographs, clear and fixed. I can look at them one at a time, but have difficulty in arranging them logically. So, the hole was enormous, designed to bury several thousand Jews. In any case if it had contained only a few corpses, the ground would not have been impregnated with blood. Now, four houses and twenty persons per house was not enough to fill such a swimming pool. I believe that the besonder worked a good part of the night. We saw only the last group of victims, the previous ones being already buried in the grave. However, such an explanation does not agree with another of my memories: one morning on arriving I went to the edge of the grave. I was made to back away, but I had a chance to see the depth and it was still empty. I think that that particular night, the besonder for once had rested and that the grave was simply going to be filled with the bodies of comrades killed in the camp. It was necessary to get rid of the bodies and at the time the Krematorium was still not completed. These little gassing houses belonged to the first type of installation at Birkenau. They were later replaced by industrial gas chambers where a thousand people at a time were liquidated and then not buried but immediately passed on to the Krematorium. I fortunately was not a witness of that, but was informed indirectly. On the other hand, I learnt from the mouth of an eye witness, Erko Hajblum (a prisoner with the number 49269 who had not come from Pithiviers but from Beaune-la-Rolande) what happened to our swimming pools for corpses. I leave him to tell the story: «When the first Krematorium furnace was operational, the victims were removed to be burnt. I was in the kommando that disinterred the dead, thousands of dead. We waded through a mixture of putrifying bodies and mud. We should have had gas masks. The bodies seemed to come up to the surface, as if the ground didn't want them. What you went through, Maurice, is nothing beside that. After a week I thought I was going mad and decided to commit suicide by letting myself die, as many comrades had done around me. I was saved by a friend who worked at Kanada, the big Birkenau sorting centre. He couldn't stand seeing all these clothes and personal objects coming from gassed Jews. He succeeded in getting into the bricklayer kommando as an instructor, and he gave me his place. Two months later I met a deportee still employed on disinterring the dead. No more mud: the ground had frozen. The soil and the bodies had to be broken up with pickaxes.» 164 ===== PDF PAGE 0157 | page-157.md ===== # VI/ The floor area of Bunker 1 (Rudolf HOESS) According to Camp Commandant Hoess, Bunker 1 could contain 800 victims, while Bunker 2 with a total surface area of 105m² and a usable area of 90m² could take 1 200, i.e. 13 persons per square metre. This is an exaggerated figure, since it is possible to squash together only 8-10 persons per square metre. In reality, Bunker 2 «absorbed» no more than 700-900. However, if we assume that the figures given by Hoess are both exaggerated in the same proportion, it is possible to calculate the useful floor area of Bunker 1 by dividing its capacity by the number of persons per m², i.e. 60m² and including the walls a total ground area of a little under 70m² which could hold only a batch of 450-600 victims. # CONCLUSIONS In order to try to adopt a valid approach to Bunker 1, I have cited six witnesses: two SS and four former prisoners: 1. Rudolf Hoess speaks only of the genesis of Bunker 1. He was the direct initiator of the installation comprising, according to him, a converted farmhouse and two undressing huts. Extermination capacity 800 persons. 2. Pery Broad never described Bunkers 1 and 2, but in reality only Bunker 2, as can be proved, i.e. the white house(s). 3. Szlam(a) Dragon, while he worked at Bunker 2 and knew this place perfectly, devoted only a few lines to Bunker 1, which means that he visited it but little. Yet he is the only one to give a precise description of the unit known as Bunker 1: a small house converted into two gas chambers, a small barn and two huts. In the light of certain other testimonies, this description, which was considered sound, calls for a certain caution. 4. Maurice Benroubi mentions Bunker 1 as comprising only «two blocks» with one or more gas chambers. His account is not situated, but the indication of 300 to 400 metres separating the graves from the Bunker called a «brick house» (of reddish colour), indicates that he was certainly speaking of Bunker 1. 5. Milton Buki by 1980 remembered only a «farm cottage of brick» with a few steps and the mass graves some distance off. These elements indicate fairly certainly that he was speaking of Bunker 1. 6. Moshe Garbarz was only able to see Bunker very far off as he worked at the graves and I hesitated a long time before situating his account. Was it Bunker 1 or Bunker 2? I have decided in favour of 1 because of a single detail that agrees with S. Dragon's deposition: the presence of a barn. Historically, this is not sufficient, but with all due caution, two factors come to reinforce the thesis that Bunker 1 was involved: the strange Sonderkommando dressed in white and his participation in the erection of the lamps for night work, facts mentioned by Mr Benroubi. But in order to accept that Mr Garbarz' account is concerned with Bunker 1, it has to be admitted that a straight path wide enough for the circulation of the wagons (hence 6 or 7 metres wide) was cut through the forest and gave a direct view between two places, Bunker 1 and its graves. Nothing Mr. Benroubi says confirms this point, and would even seem to contradict it. Another clue would indicate that it was Bunker 1, the distance of the observation. In the area of Bunker 2 and its graves, observation is direct and of no more than 50 to 100 metres maximum. A distance of 300 to 400 metres would better explain the account of this witness. In addition to the barn, he also mentions two or three houses where there were small gas chambers able to handle about twenty persons at a time per house, or 80 in all. This is far from the figure put forward by R. Hoess, 800. Lastly, I would stress that Mr Garbarz' testimony is by no means early, his book dating from 1984. It is impossible to make a synthesis of all these accounts. A drawing of Bunker 1 and the associated installations would make it possible to judge the value of the testimonies, which include many personal impressions, but few precise details on the gas chambers. These participants could hardly have imagined in 1942 that they would become the «privileged few» who witnessed an incredible episode and lived to tell the tale. All they knew was hunger, cold and the wish to save their own skins. The rest did not exist. There was no drawing made except, it would appear, for a situation plan drawn by Hoess, and Bunker 1 was carefully dismantled without leaving any ruins. Without any material traces, the location [Document 2], internal organisation [Document 1], and the arrangement of the different annexes of Bunker 1 will never be clearly elucidated. In purpose, the extermination of human beings by gassing, cannot be called into question, if only because of the constant repetition of an identical process in the accounts of former prisoners, unless like certain revisionists of bad faith we claim that the witnesses were all lying, including the SS. # THE SUPPOSED MASS GRAVES, # SUBSEQUENTLY CREMATION PITS, # ATTRIBUTED TO BUNKER 1: # IN REALITY SEWAGE DECANTATION BASINS The plan of the Birkenau camp [Document 3] is that presented by G. Wellers in «Les chambres à gaz ont existe» [The gas chambers did exist], which was taken from Hermann Langbein's book «Der Auschwitz-Prozess», [the Auschwitz Trial], pp. 930-931. Comparison with other plans of Birkenau reveals that it is of very mediocre quality as regards many details. I present it here simply to demonstrate the difficulty historians had in situating Bunker 1 and its incineration ditches in 1965, and indeed still have today, and the errors that can result. Documents 4 and 5, together with drawings 2534(2) [Document 6] and 3386 [Document 7] prove without doubt that these are the provisional sewage decantation basins of B.A. III, dug alongside drainage ditch F while awaiting the building of the future sewage treatment plant for B.A. III, which was in fact never completed. Thanks to the testimonies of survivors of the burial Kommando, we now know that the Bunker 1 graves were 300 to 400 metres to the WEST of the Bunker, not to the SOUTH, and were dug actually IN the Birch Wood in order to be hidden from view. It can be seen that drawing 2534(2) shows neither orientation nor situation, but by reference to drawing 3386, showing the second planned version of sewage plant III, we can locate the four basins in the proximity of Graben [drainage ditch] F, on the western edge of the third construction stage of Birkenau. Photo 1 also confirms this location of the basins. On Photo 2, at the end of the basin is the Bestehender Weg [existing road] shown on drawing 3386. I have presented Langbein's «Auschwitz-Prozess» plan reproduced by G. Wellers, not to accuse them of «falsification», for their books are sound and honest and have become classics of K.L. Auschwitz history, but to illustrate the difficulty of rectifying a mistaken interpretation even on a minor point. In this case two photographs and two drawings are required. 165 ===== PDF PAGE 0158 | page-158.md ===== # Document 3: Plan of Birkenau Caption: Plan of the camp. On the left are the Krematorien and gas chambers (from Langbein, «Der Auschwitz-Prozess», pp. 930-931). ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) # Translation of inscriptions (from top to bottom and left to right): - Bunker 1 (Gaskammer)/Bunker 1 (gas chamber) - Verbrennungsstätte und Sammelgräber/ Cremation site and mass graves - Krematorium V - Krematorium IV - Sauna/The «Zentral Sauna» disinfestation installation - «Kanada»/Kanada effects sorting camp - Kläranlage/Sewage treatment plant - Krematorium III - Krematorium II - Kläranlage/Sewage treatment plant - Teilweise ausgebaut, sogenannte «Mexiko»/ Partly completed, known as «Mexiko» - Neue Rampe/New ramp (where deportees detrained) - Kartoffelbunker/Potato store - SS-Hundestaffel/SS dog handlers - SS-Unterkünfte/SS accommodation - Kommandanture/Camp Headquarters - SS-Unterkünfte/SS accommodation - Nach Auschwitz/To Auschwitz - Zum Bahnhof Auschwitz/ To Auschwitz station und zur alten Rampe/and to the old ramp - Haupttor/Main gate 166 ===== PDF PAGE 0159 | page-159.md ===== Abschrift/Go 10.2.0 Einschreiben Bftgb.-Nr.: 5816/42/Er./Lp. Betr.: Krematorium, Einäscherungsöfen für K.G.L. Auschwitz Bez.: Dienstbesprechung mit dem Amtschef C/III SS-Stubaf.Wirtz am 25.III.1942 in Auschwitz. Anlg.: 1 Fotokopie und 3 Pläne, 1 Abschrift An SS-Wirtschafts-Verwaltungshauptamt Amtsgruppe C Der Chef des Amtes C/III Berlin - Lichterfelde-West Unter den Eichen 126 - 135 Für das Kriegsgefangenenlager der Waffen-SS in Auschwitz waren ursprünglich 2 Stück Dreimuffel-Einäscherungsöfen in einfacher Form, wie aus beiliegenden Zeichnungen ersichtlich, geplant.- Bei der Dienstbesprechung am 27.II.1942 mit dem Amts- gruppenchef SS-Oberführer Dr.Ing.Kammler in Auschwitz wurde angeordnet, daß die für das K.L. bestimmten 5 Stück Dreimuffel- öfen im K.G.L. zur Aufstellung gelangen und waren somit die 2 Stück Dreimuffel-Einäscherungsöfen überflüssig.- Die Firma Topf und Söhne, Erfurt, will nun die bei der Bearbeitung des Projektes entstandenen Vertriebs- und Verwaltungskosten in Söhne von DM 1.769.36 in Rechnung stellen. Bei der Dienstbesprechung am 25.III.1942 mit dem Chef des Amtes C/III SS-Stubaf.Wirtz wurde verabredet, das Projekt für die Ausführung von 2 Stück Dreimuffel-Einäscherungsöfen auf ein anderes Bauvorhaben umzuschlagen.- Es wird gebeten die Firma Topf und Söhne, Erfurt, dahingehend zu unterrichten.- Zur Klarstellung der Angelegen- heit wird eine Abschrift des Vorganges beigegeben. f.d.R.d.A. Der Leiter der Zentral-Beuleitung der Waffen-SS und Polizei Auschwitz ges.Bischoff SS-Hauptsturmführer (S) Document 9 [PMO file BW 30/34, page 37] Translation: Krema II BW 30 Copy/Go 30th March 1942 To be registered Correspondence register no 5816/42/Er/Lp Subject: Crematorium, incineration furnace for Auschwitz POW camp [Birkenau] Reference: Conversation with the Head of Office C/III, SS Major Wirtz, on 25/3/42 at Auschwitz Enclosure: 1 photocopy, 3 drawings, 1 copy SS Economic and Administrative Head Office Amtsgruppe C Head of Office C/III Berlin Lichterfelde West Unter den Eichen 126-135 As shown on the enclosed drawings, two 3-muffle incineration furnaces were originally planned for the Waffen-SS POW camp at Auschwitz. During our conversation of 27/2/42 with the Head of the Amtsgruppe, SS Oberführer [senior Colonel] Dr Ing Kammler, at Auschwitz, it was decided that the 5 three-muffle furnaces planned for the KL [concentration camp] should be installed at the KGL [POW camp], and that consequently the two 3-muffle furnaces would be superfluous to requirements. Messrs Topf & Sons of Erfurt now want to invoice the operating and administrative costs incurred in studying the project at 1.769.36 RM During our conversation of 25/3/42 with the Head of Office C/III, SS Major Wirtz, it was agreed that the two 3-muffle incineration furnaces should be transferred to another construction project. We would therefore ask you to inform Messrs Topf & Sons of Erfurt. In order to clarify the situation we enclose a copy of this matter. Head of Waffen SS and Police Construction Management Auschwitz Signed Bischoff SS Captain (S) For Auschwitz Archives 193 ===== PDF PAGE 0160 | page-160.md ===== ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) Document 5a: Fragment of drawing 3764 of 23/5/44 showing the position of the photograph for Documents 4[P1] and 5[P2]. # Translation of inscriptions: - Bauabschnitt 3 für 60,000 Gef/Construction stage III for 60,000 prisoners - Graben F/Drainage ditch F - Provisorische Erdbecken/Provisional earth basins 167 ===== PDF PAGE 0161 | page-161.md ===== ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) Document 4 [Photo 1/P1]: [Photo PMO neg. no. 20995/456] North-south view of the westernmost provisional decantation basin. On the extreme left, the north ends and west sides of three of the »Unterkunft u. Effektenbaracke, Wäsche/accommodation and effects buildings, linen« constructed to the west of B.III, along drainage ditch F. ![img-1.jpeg](img-1.jpeg) Document 5 [Photo 2/P2]: [Photo PMO neg. no. 20995/457] South-north view of one of the four provisional earth decantation basins of Birkenau III. The wooden maintenance bridges crossing the basin have not yet been installed. In the background is the »existing road« mentioned on drawing 5306. These basins are still visible today, as they appear on the photo, but overgrown with trees and scrub. 168 ===== PDF PAGE 0162 | page-162.md ===== ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) # Document 6: Drawing 2534(2) [PMO neg. no. 20943/19] Kläranlage K.G.L. B.A. III BW 18 Sewage treatment plant PWO camp Birkenau III, BW 18 PROVISORISCHE ERDBECKEN Kläranlage III Provisional earth basins, se- wage plant III Scale 1:200 Drawing 2534(2) drawn by prisoner 23346 on 15/6/43, checked by an unknown and approved by Bischoff on 5/7/43. # Translation of inscriptions - Die Höhen sind auf Adria bezogen/heights are with respect to «Adriatic» - Holz. Geländer/wooden bridges - Maßstab 1:100/scale 1:100 - Verteilzunge mit Detail/distribution gate [sluice] with detail 169 ===== PDF PAGE 0163 | page-163.md ===== Document 7: Drawing 3386 (PMO reg. No. 20943/80) K.G.L. Auschwitz-Kläranlage B.A. III-BW 18 Auschwitz POW camp sewage treatment plant Birkenau III BW 18 MECH.-BIOLOG. KLÄRANLAGE B.A. III SYSTEM S.A.G./Mechanical and biological purification plant for Birkenau III, S.A.G. System Scale 1:100 Drawing 3386, drawn by prisoner 72231 on 16/12/43, checked by Janisch on 22/12/43 and approved by Jothann. # Translation of Inscriptions - Provisorische Erdbecken/provisional earth basins - Späterer Ausbau als Schlammfaulbehälter/ later conversion to sludge digester basin - Emscherbrunnen/digester reservoir - Schieberschacht/sluice well - Beschickungsbehälter/feed tank - Schlammschacht/sludge well - Pumpenhaus/pump house - Biologische Tropfkörper/biological bacteria bed - Nachklärung/final decantation - Graben F/drainage ditch F This drawing shows the second version, the first being identical to that of Birkenau B.A. II, of the Birkenau B.A. III sewage treatment plant proposed by the Bauleitung, this one integrating in the installation the four provisional earth basins, transforming them into sludge digester tanks. ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) 170 ===== PDF PAGE 0164 | page-164.md ===== PART TWO CHAPTER 4 # BUNKER 2 (Subsequently renamed BUNKER V) or the «WHITE HOUSE» and its undressing huts Study of Bunker 2 and its undressing huts according to the written testimonies of Szlam[a] DRAGON, Pery BROAD, Rudolf HOESS, Miklos NYISZLI, Filip MÜLLER, the pictorial testimony of DAVID OLÈRE # Historical note Located 350 metres due west of the Zentral Sauna, the installation known as Bunker 2 seems, according to Szlam[y] Dragon and the PMO, to have consisted of a whitewashed farmhouse (hence the name white house) whose converted interior held four gas chambers of different sizes, with an overall floor area of 105m², two sheds serving a undressing rooms and a certain number of cremation ditches, four on 6th December 1942 according to the witness S. Dragon. His deposition perfectly describes the «working» of Bunker 2, which operated from summer 1942 to spring 1943: when it was abandoned in favour of Krematorien IV and II, which had recently entered service. In summer 1944 Bunker 2 was reactivated to participate in the Hungarian action. It was now known as Bunker V, logical enough when one considers that in the Birkenau camp the new Krematorien II, III, IV and V were usually referred to as I, II, III and IV respectively, the old, abandoned Krematorium I at Auschwitz being forgotten. It is difficult to say at this stage whether the Bunker was used in the same way in 1944 as in 1942 or whether the internal walls had been knocked down so that it now comprised a single gas chamber roughly 7m wide and 15 long. Filip Müller relates that it operated in 1944 as in 1942, but his evidence in the form of a book dates from 1979, and by then he was certainly familiar with the deposition of S. Dragon. Doctor Miklos Nyiszli speaks of a «hatched-woof house whose plaster was peeling off» and suggests that «partitions must have divided the interior into rooms», implying that there were none when he went to Bunker 2 V. The doctor relates an episode in the summer of 1944 in which the functioning of Bunker V had changed. From a gas chamber it had turned into an undressing room. His account concerns a period when there was a lack of Zyclon-B because of a supply problem and during which the victims were pushed directly into the cremation ditches after being killed by a shot in the back of the neck, or even still alive. David Olère sketched such a scene of pure dementia, situating it behind Krematorium V, a place where Staff Sergeant Moll acted in a particularly brutal way (described in Part II, Chapter 7 on Krematorien IV and V). David Olère's 1945 sketch showing a thatched cottage must be a memory from before this insane period, when Bunker V was working «normally» with Zyclon-B. For the study of Bunker 2/V, I present as witnesses: Szlam[y] DRAGON, the main one, Pery BROAD, Filip MÜLLER, Miklos NYISZLI and David OLÈRE. There are still others of course. The first two testimonies are concerned with the period 1942-1943 and the last three with the summer of 1944. They do not contradict one another, for they are describing different periods. The present ruins of Bunker 2/V make it possible, should there be any need, to judge their testimony. # I/ The testimony of Szlamy DRAGON concerning Bunker 2, recorded on 10th May 1945 [Volume 11 of the Hoess trial, pages 102 to 121] The next day, on the morning of 10th December 1942, once all the kommandos had gone to work, MOLL (then Unterschaff/Amer/Sergeant), later to be Hauptscharführer/Staff Sergeant and head of the Birkenau Krematorien) arrived at Block 14 and gave the order: «Sonderkommando 'raus' (just outside). It was thus that we learnt that we were detailed, not to the rubber factory (Buna) but to a Sonderkommando and we did not realise what this was for nobody had ever given us the slightest explanation of it. On Moll's order, we went out of the block and were divided into two groups of 100 men each to be marched out of the camp by the SS. We were taken into a forest where there was a cottage covered with thatch, its windows bricked in. On the door leading to the interior of the cottage was a metal plate with the inscription «Hochspannung - Lebensgefahr/High tension» (document 3: Figure 3). Thirty or forty metres from this cottage there were two wooden hubs (1 and 2 in Drawing 1). On the other side of the cottage there were four pits 30 metres long, 7 metres wide and 3 metres deep (above in drawing 1), their edges black with smoke. We were lined up in front of the house. Moll arrived and told us we would work hard at burning old and busy people, that we would be given something to eat and in the evening we would be taken back to the camp. He added that those who did not accept the work would be beaten and have the dogs set on them. The SS who escorted us were accompanied by dogs. Then he split us into a number of groups. I myself and eleven others were detailed, as we learnt later, to remove the bodies from this cottage. We were all given masks and led to the door of the cottage. When Moll had opened the door, we saw that the cottage was full of naked corpses of both sexes and of all ages. Moll ordered us to move these corpses from the cottage to the yard, in front of the door. We started work with four men carrying one body. This annoyed Moll. He rolled up his sleeves and threw a body into the yard. When, despite this example, we said we were incapable of doing that, he allowed us to carry them, two men to a body. Once the corpses were laid in the yard, the dentist, assisted by an SS man, pulled out the teeth (Dragon forgets the removal of rings and jewels, unless these had been removed earlier) and the barber, also watched by an SS man, cut off the hair. Another group loaded the bodies onto wagons running on rails that led to the edge of the pits. These rails ran between two pits (Document 1: Drawing 1). Still another group prepared the pit for burning the corpses. First of all, big logs were put in the bottom (Document 9, sketch by David Olère). The logs are on the right, along the wall of the undressing huts, then smaller and smaller wood, in criss-cross fashion, and finally dry twigs. The following group threw the bodies into the pit. Once all the bodies had been brought from the cottage to the pit, Moll poured kerosene over them in the four corners of the pit and set fire to it by throwing in a burning rubber comb (roughly fringed piece of rubber). That is how the corpses were burnt. While Moll was starting the fire, we were in front of the cottage, (on the north-west side) and could see what he was doing. After having removed all the bodies from the cottage, we were obliged to clean it thoroughly, washing the floor with water and spreading sawdust and whitewashing the walls. The interior of the cottage we divided into four parts by partition walls running across it (Document 2: Drawing 2), one of which could contain 1,200 naked people, the second 700 the third 600 and fourth 200 to 250. [Making a total of 2,500 to 2,550 people which represents a density of 28 people per square metre over an area of 90m². This is physically impossible and S. Dragon's estimate of 2,500/2,550 is clearly wrong. I do not think that this witness was intentionally misleading, but he was following the tendency to exaggerate which seems to have been the general rule at the time of the liberation and which is what gave rise to the figure of 4 million victims for K.L. Auschwitz, a figure now considered to be pure propaganda. It should be divided by four to get close to reality.] 171 ===== PDF PAGE 0165 | page-165.md ===== In the biggest room there were two little windows and just one in each of the three others [Document 2: Drawing 2]. These windows were closed by little wooden doors. Each room had a separate access. On the entrance door there was a metal sign with the inscription «Hochspannung - Lebensgefahr» as already mentioned above. When the door was opened, this sign was invisible but one could see another «Zum Baden» to the baths» [Document 3: Fig. 1]. The people entering these rooms to be gassed saw on the exit door another sign with the inscription «Zur Desinfektion/to disinfection». It is obvious that behind this door, there was no disinfection. That was the door through which we removed the bodies. Each room had its own exit door [Document 3: Figures 3 and 4]. The room I have just described is faithfully reproduced in the drawing made by M. Nosal, an engineer living in Oswiecim. This cottage was designated Bunker 2... After the construction at Birkenau of Krematorium II, the huts situated next to Bunker 2 were also dismantled. The pits were filled with earth and the surface was smoothed. The Bunker level was kept until the end. It remained unused for a long time and then was started up again for gassing the Hungarian Jews. They then built new huts and dug new pits... Bunker 2 could contain over 2 000 people in all its rooms [see above comments on this point]... I would like to point out that the window fittings of Bunkers 1 and 2 and the doors of these Bunkers and of Krematorium IV and V were similar and made of the same wood... S. Dragon went to live in Israel. He was a witness at the 25th session of the Dejaco-Ertl trial in Vienna on 1st March 1972. When the hearing was resumed at 1. p.m., he stated that he had worked in a Krematorium which was a small building with a gas chamber and stated that «Dieses Gebaide war annen weiss/this building was white on the outside». He was in fact speaking of Bunker 2. S. Dragon's total confusion between Krematorium I and Bunker 2 caused the hearing to be suspended so that a Hebrew interpreter could be called. At the 26th session on 2nd March, he very honestly said «Ich kann mich heute nach 30 Jahren nicht mehr erinnern.../I can't remember today after 30 years...» He had also forgotten the drawings (1 and 2) made in 1945 according to his indications. The intervening time had done its work, a blessing for the witness, a disaster for justice and for History. I have added this anecdote to show the irreplaceable value of early testimony. Afterwards, witnesses constantly go over the same story, altering it as the years go by. ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) Figure 1: Extérieur ouvert. Figure 2: Extérieur fermé. Figure 3: Intérieur fermé. #### Translation of inscriptions: - Façade sud-est/South-east elevation - Figure 1: exterior open - «TO THE BATHS» - Figure 2: exterior closed - «High tension - Danger» - Figure 3: interior closed - «TO DISINFECTION» - Figure 4: Chambre à gaz 2/Gas chamber 2. 172 ===== PDF PAGE 0166 | page-166.md ===== ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) Document 2 ![img-1.jpeg](img-1.jpeg) Document 1 Drawing 1 Situation drawing of «Bunker» No. 2 Translation of inscriptions: - Fosse/Cremation] pit - Chemin de fer à voie étroite/Narrow gauge railway - Chambre/Gas] chamber - Chemin d'accès/Access road - Baraque/Hut Drawing 2 Plan of «Bunker» No. 2 Translation of inscriptions: - Nord/North - Porte d'entrée à la chambre à gaz/Entrance door to the gas chamber - Chambre à gaz/Gas chamber - Lucarnes où l'on jeut le zyclon/ Openings through which the Zyclon was thrown - Portes d'extraction de la chambre à gaz/[Corpse] extraction door of the gas chamber - Voie ferrée conduisant aux fosses pour la combustion des dépouilles/Rails leading to the pits where the corpses were burnt - Aiguillage rotatif/Wagon turntable Documents 1 and 2 Drawings annexed to Szlam[y] Dragon's testimony of 10th and 11th March 1945 [Volume 11 of the Hoess trial and PMO microfilm 205] 173 ===== PDF PAGE 0167 | page-167.md ===== Document 4 : Drawing 3 - Foundation plan [Drawing by the author] ## II/ Declaration by Pery BROAD concerning «the two farmhouses»: «Not far from Birkenau, which was rapidly expanding, there were two pretty and neat peasant cottages in a pleasant site. Separated by a copse, they were whitewashed and covered with nice thatched roofs. All around were fruit trees. This was one's impression at first sight. Nobody would have believed that the number of people assassinated in these two inoffensive-looking houses corresponded to the population of a big town. However, a careful observer would have noticed first of all on the walls of these houses signs with an inscription in several languages: «to disinfection». He would then have discovered that the houses had no windows, but on the other hand had an astonishing number of doors of an extraordinary thickness, sealed with rubber and filled with latches that could be screwed tight. Near to these doors there were small wooden shutters. He would also have noticed, beside these houses, several big stable-type huts, similar to those prisoners lived in at Birkenau»... ### Comments: There is perhaps a translation error with the word «copse». Replacing this by «small wood», the declaration validates itself. In this case Pery Broad can be speaking only of Bunker 2 (white cottage with an astonishing number of doors - see Document 5), though also he mentions the existence of Bunker 1 that he never seems to have seen. The doors sealed with rubber are entirely imaginary. They were sealed with felt. The inscription «to disinfection» in several languages would appear to show that Broad was in fact talking of the installation known as Bunker V in summer 1944. His declaration therefore concerns Bunker 2/V only. ## III/ The testimony of Rudolf HOESS [«Commandant of Auschwitz», page 211] «During the spring of 1942 the actions were comparatively small, but the transports increased in the summer, and we were compelled to construct a further entrainment building. The peasant farmstead west of the future site of crematoria III and IV [IV and V] was selected and made ready. Two huts near Bunker 1 and three near Bunker 2 were erected, in which the victims undressed. Bunker 2 was the larger and could hold about 1000 people.» [or about 13 people per square metre, a physically impossible density]. ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) Extracts from «Der Auschwitz Process» by Hermann Langbein, Volume 1 Page 72: Testimony of Dr. Johann Paul KREMER, reserve Second Lieutenant, who was at Auschwitz from 30/8/42 to 18/11/42: «Old farmhouses had been converted into bunkers and filled with a sliding door that closed perfectly. Above there was an opening. Naked men were sent in there. They entered without suspecting anything, very few resisted and these were taken aside and shot. The gas was introduced by a member of the SS. To do this, he had to climb a ladder»... [It is impossible to say whether Dr. Kremer is speaking of Bunker 1 or 2]. Page 73: Testimony of SS private HÖBLINGER, replying to questions: «I was detailed to the transport service and I drove the Senke, (abbreviation for Sanktsäkraftwagen medical truck) which was to carry the prisoners... Then we drove to the gas chambers. The medical orderlies climbed a ladder, they had gas masks up there, and emptied the cans. I was able to observe the prisoners while they were undressing. It always proceeded quietly and without them suspecting anything. It happened very quickly.» Presiding Judge: «How long did the gassing take?» Höblinger: «About one minute. When the gas penetrated, we could could hear cries of horror. One minute afterwards, everything was silent. The gas was brought in cans by the SDG (Sanitätsdienstgrade/SS NCO medical orderlies)...» [It is again impossible to situate this scene specifically at Bunker 1 or 2]. ### Translation of inscriptions: - Nord, Sud, Est, Ouest/North, South, East, West - BUNKER 2 (dit maison blanche de Birkenau/BUNKER 2 (known as the Birkenau «white house») - Plan proportionnel des fondations restantes du Bunker No 2/Scale plan of the remaining foundations of Bunker 2 - Les portes d'entrée sont figurées par des flèches bleues, celles de sortie par des vertes et les orifices d'introduction du Zyclon-B par des rouges (d'après le témoignage de Szlam[y] Dragon). - The entrance doors (E) are shown by blue arrows, the exit doors (S) by green and the Zyclon-B introduction orifices by red (based on the testimony of Szlam[y] Dragon). 174 ===== PDF PAGE 0168 | page-168.md ===== ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) Document 5: [Drawing by the author] A reconstitution of the south side of Bunker 2, based on the drawings by S. Dragon and the existing ruins. This would be how it looked from summer 1942 to mid-March 1943. The dashed lines indicate the foundations, as they appear on Drawing 3. 175 ===== PDF PAGE 0169 | page-169.md ===== ## The ruins of Bunker 2 ### Document 6 : The remains of the walls of Bunker 2/V: on the left the southwest and in the centre the southeast. The bricks standing on end mark the ends of the partition walls and the figures 1, 2, 3, 4 identify the gas chambers as on drawing 2. ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) Photo of 1: Les ruines des figures, 4 quotes southwest et 4 provides plus outward, du Bunker 2/V. Des infuses vives nebent (sublimed) le départ des clivages de «fort» (1). Les chiffres 1, 2, 3 et 4 situent les windows 1 par même sur le plan 2. ![img-1.jpeg](img-1.jpeg) ### Document 7 : The remains of Bunker 2/V seen from the eastern corner, with the southeast wall to the left and the northeast to the right. The cremation pits were in the background behind the house. A few meters from the southwest wall are two trees, of which the one on the left in particular should be compared with the tree in David Olère's sketch (Document 9). ![img-2.jpeg](img-2.jpeg) ### Document 8 : The remains of Bunker 2/V seen from the south corner, looking along the southeast wall. Only the bricks of the corner are visible, the tree being overgrown. 176 ===== PDF PAGE 0170 | page-170.md ===== #### IV/ The testimony of Dr Miklos NYISZLI Extract from Chapter Thirteen of «Auschwitz: A doctor's eyewitness account» by Dr Miklos Nyiszli, translated from the Hungarian by Tibère Kremer and Richard Seaver, Granada Books, London 1973, pages 69 to 72. # CHAPTER THIRTEEN Early one morning, I received a phone call ordering me to report immediately to the «pyre» for the purpose of bringing back to number one crematorium (Krematorium II) all the medicines and eye-glasses that had been collected there. After being sorted and classified they would be shipped to various parts of Germany. The pyre was located about five or six hundred yards from number four crematorium [IV: V], directly behind the little birch forest of Birkenau in a clearing surrounded by pines. It lay outside the KZ's (concentration camp's) electric barbed wire fence, between the first and second lines of guards. Since I was not authorized to venture so far from the actual confines of the camp, I requested some sort of written permission from the office. They issued me a safe conduct good for three persons, for I planned on taking two men with me to help carry the material back to the crematorium. We set off in the direction of the thick twisting spiral of smoke. All those unfortunate enough to be brought here saw this column of smoke, which was visible from any point in the KZ, from the moment they first descended from the box cars and lined up for selection. It was visible at every hour of the day and night. By day it covered the sky above Birkenau with a thick cloud, by night it lighted the area with a hellish glow. Our path took us past the crematoriums. After showing SS guards our safe conduct, we passed through an opening cut in the barbed wire and reached an open road. The surrounding countryside - a patchwork of bright green, grassy clearing - seemed peaceful. But soon my watchful eyes discerned, about a hundred yards away, the guards of the second line, either lounging on the grass or sitting beside their machine guns and police dogs. We crossed a clearing and came to a small pine forest. Once again we found our way blocked by a fence and gate strung with barbed wire. A large sign, similar to those on the crematorium gates was posted here: «ENTRANCE IS STRICTLY FORBIDDEN TO ALL THOSE WHO HAVE NO BUSINESS HERE. INCLUDING SS PERSONNEL NOT ASSIGNED TO THIS COMMAND» In spite of this sign, we entered without the guards even asking for our pass. The reason was simple: the SS on duty here were from the crematoriums, and the 60 Sonderkommando men who worked at the pyre were also crematorium personnel from number two [IV: III]. At present the day shift was on. They worked from seven in the morning till seven in the evening, when they were replaced by the night watch, which also consisted of 60 men, taken from number four [IV: V]. Passing through the gate, we reached an open place which resembled a courtyard, in the middle of which stood a thatched-roof house whose plaster was peeling off. Its style was that of a typical German country house, and its small windows were covered with planks. As a matter of fact, it no doubt had been a country house for at least 150 years, to judge by its thatched roof, which had long since turned black, and its often replastered, flaking walls. The German State had expropriated the entire village of Birkenau near Auschwitz in order to establish the KZ there. All the houses, with the exception of this one, had been demolished and the population evacuated. What, in fact, must this house have been used for? Had it been meant to be lived in? In that case partitions must have divided the interior into rooms. Or had it originally been one large room, without partitions, meant to be used as a hangar or storeroom? I asked myself these questions, but was unable to supply the answers. In any case, it was now used as an undressing room for those on their way to the pyre. It was here that they deposited their shabby clothes, their glasses, and their shoes. It was here that the «surplus» from the «Jewish ramp» was sent, that is, those for whom there was no room in the four crematoriums. The worst kind of death awaited them. Here there were no faucets to slake their thirst of several days' voyage, no fallacious signs to allay their misgivings, no gas chamber they could pretend was a disinfecting room. Merely a peasant house, once painted yellow and covered with thatch, whose windows had been replaced by planks. Behind the house enormous columns of smoke rose skyward, diffusing the odor of broiled flesh and burning hair. In the courtyard, a terrified crowd of about 5,000 souls, on all sides, thick cordons of SS, holding leashed police dogs. The prisoners were led, three or four hundred at a time, into the undressing room. There, hustled by a rain of truncheon blows, they spread out their clothes and left by the door at the opposite side of the house, yielding their places to those who were to follow. Once out of the door, they had no time even to glance around them or to realize the horror of their situation. A Sonderkommando immediately seized their arms and steered them between the double row of SS who lined the twisting path, which, flanked on either side by woods, ran for 50 yards [150 in the French] to the pyre, which till now had been hidden by the trees. The pyre was a ditch 50 yards long, six yards wide and three yards deep, a welter of burning bodies. SS soldiers, stationed at five yard intervals, along the pathway side of the ditch, awaited their victims. They were holding small caliber arms - six millimeters - used in the KZ for administering a bullet in the back of the neck. At the end of the pathway, two Sonderkommando men seized the victims by the arms and dragged them for 15 or 20 yards into position before the SS. Their cries of terror covered the sound of the shots. A shot, then, immediately afterwards, even before he was dead, the victim was hurled into the flames. Fifty yards farther on, a scene similar in all respects was being enacted. Oberscharführer Molle [Moll] was in charge of these butchers. As a doctor and as an eye-witness, I swear that he was the Third Reich's most abject, diabolic and hardened assassin. Even Doctor Mengele showed from time to time that he was human. During the selections at the unloading ramp, when he noticed a healthy young woman who wanted above all to join her mother in the left-hand column, he snarled at her coarsely, but ordered her to rejoin the right-hand group. Even the ace shot of the number one crematorium [IV: II]. Oberscharführer Mussfeld, fired a second shot into anyone who the first shot had not killed outright. Oberscharführer Molle wasted no time over such trifles. Here, the majority of the men were thrown alive into the flames. Woe to any Sonderkommando man by whose action the living chain, which extended from cloakroom to pyre, was broken, with the result that one of the members of the firing squad was forced to wait a few seconds before receiving his new victim. Molle was everywhere at once. He made his way tirelessly from one pyre to the next, to the cloakroom and back again. Most of the deportees allowed themselves to be led without resistance. So paralysed were they with fright and terror that they no longer realized what was about to happen to them. The majority of the elderly and children reacted in this way. There were, however, a goodly number of adolescents among those brought here, who instinctively tried to resist with a strength born of despair. If Molle happened to witness such a scene, he took his gun from his holster. A shot, a bullet often fired from a distance of 40 to 50 yards [20 or 30 in the French] and the struggling person fell dead in the arms of the Sonderkommando who was dragging him towards the pyre. Molle was an ace shot. His bullets often pierced the arms of the Sonderkommando men from one side to the other when he was dissatisfied with their work. In such cases he inevitably aimed for the arms, without otherwise manifesting his dissatisfaction, but also without giving any previous warning. When the two pyres were operating simultaneously, the output varied from five to six thousand dead a day. Slightly better than the crematoriums, but here death was a thousand times more terrible, for here one died twice, first by a bullet in the back of the neck, then by fire. # Comments on Dr Miklos Nyiszli's account Doctor Nyiszli has adopted the «usual» numbering for the Krematorien. It suffices to add one to obtain the «Bauleitung» number. According to his account, Bunker V appeared to him like a thatched house. In 1944, the original white colour must have deteriorated for him to see it as yellow. It is also unlikely that the Poles appreciated his saying «its style was that of a typical German country house». Upper Silesia being for them above all Polish. The figures given seem very implausible. Five thousand persons in the summer of 1944 represents one convoy. Subtracting those directed to Krematorium II, III and V, there would remain less than 200-300 people. The throughput of the cremation ditches cannot be verified and hence cannot be taken into account. Disregarding this matter of figures, the account describes a particularly gruesome episode in the history of the extermination: that without Zyclon-B. Even though it may sound shocking, death by gassing was used as a relatively «humane» method of mass execution. The SS were so aware of this that «special treatment» without gas was in their eyes wrong. The anecdote taken from H. Langbein's «Der Auschwitz Prozess», Volume 1, page 88, is by the author himself, speaking as a witness: «In 1944, children were thrown alive into the big fires that were burning near the Krematorium (and Bunker V). We heard that in the main camp and I told the garrison doctor. Doctor WIRTHS refused to believe me. He went to Birkenau to check. When I came to write at his dictation the next day, he simply said: «It was an order of Camp Commandant Hoess. It was given because there was no longer enough gas». In connection with this lack of gas there is a letter preserved by the CDJC in Paris, ref. CDXLV-8 (copy) of 8th February 1945 (reasonable date in view of the transmission delays), requesting the Italian alpine division «Monte Rosa» to take the disinfestation ampoules from American prisoners for use in the fight against lice in Auschwitz, because Zyclon-B could no longer be used for normal disinfestation purposes, the little available being earmarked for extermination purposes. *** 177 ===== PDF PAGE 0171 | page-171.md ===== ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) # Document 9: Sketch by David Olère dating from 1945 and representing Bunker V in summer 1944, reactivated and operating as a gas chamber. This mental snapshot drawn by D. Olère is a view of the southwest corner of Bunker V. [The Drawing 11 have shown in red dotted lines the angle of view for this picture.] # Inexact details: - The hilly nature of the terrain. Reacting against the monotonous flatness of Birkenau, David Olère, in some of his drawings, has introduced a hilly landscape, clearly for artistic reasons only. - The orientation of the hut on the right. We should see the entrance not the side. - The house in the background on the right is probably a reminder of Bunker 1, which no longer existed in 1944. # Exact details: - The relative positions of the ditch, Bunker V and an undressing hut are well respected though they are shown somewhat too close together. - The positions of the door and the opening for introducing the gas in the west corner of Bunker V are also correct. - The hut is of the stable type. - Part of the north-west wall was indeed set back as shown by the ruins, but in the reverse direction. - There was still a tree in front of Bunker V in 1982, of identical shape, a striking coincidence as forty years later it is not the same tree. This scene recorded a year after the events by D. Olère is of such remarkable precision as to be almost as good as a photograph. 178 ===== PDF PAGE 0172 | page-172.md ===== # State of the site at the liberation of the camp, as recorded by the Soviet Commission The two drawings [Document 10 and 11] presented come from the Moscow «October Revolution» Central State Archives. The references are not known. They were drawn at the beginning of March 1945 by a Pole for the Soviet investigation commission that started work immediately on the liberation of the Auschwitz camp. The first drawing [Document 10] is an overall plan of the western part of K.G.L. Birkenau, where there were six extermination points: Krematorion II, III, IV and V and Bunkers 1 and 2/V. While the location of five of them, of which ruins remain, is physically defined, this is not the case with Bunker 1. The drawing locates it approximately seven hundred metres northwest of B.A III. Present knowledge would now situate it rather in the proximity of the northwest corner of B.A III and the location of its cremation pits would be in the wood which borders it to the west as shown on the drawing. Entirely dismantled by the SS, Bunker 1 can no longer be precisely situated. The second drawing [Document 11] shows in detail the area around Bunker 2/V. Its four gas chambers are shown as running southwest/northeast, whereas in reality the remains of the foundations and the drawing attached to Szlam[ly] Dragon's deposition of 10th May 1945, indicate southeast/northwest. It seems that the draughtsman made an error of orientation. Today, of all this there only remain the original foundations of the house that was fitted with four primitive gas chambers and the cement outlines, built by the Auschwitz Museum to show the location of the two undressing huts. The drawing shows a cremation ditch of 30m² (7m long by 4.3m wide) as having been in activity. The survey, made a little more than a month after the liberation of the camp, faithfully records the state in which the premises were abandoned. Not having been destroyed, except for the house that had contained the gas chambers, the installation was almost certainly as it was in the summer of 1944, at the moment of the Hungarian extermination, when it was designated Bunker V. This document makes it possible to appreciate the validity of Chapter Thirteen of «Auschwitz: a Doctor's eyewitness account» by Dr. Miklos Nyiszli. Nyiszli slightly overestimates the distance separating Bunker V from Krematorium V (his «number four»), five or six hundred metres instead of three or four hundred metres. He correctly describes the path for getting there, the clearing surrounded by the forest with, in the centre, the old farmhouse then used as an undressing room. An auxiliary means of extermination, Bunker V was according to Nyiszli, used only to eliminate: «The surplus from the Jewish ramp... that is, those for whom there was no room in the four crematoriums», a surplus representing «a terrified crowd of about 5,000 souls», led in groups of three to four hundred at a time into the house to undress, the victims emerged naked and were propelled towards two pits «fifty yards long, six yards wide and three yards deep», killed by a shot in the back of the neck and thrown into one of the two pits. While these murders without gassing and the sequence of operations are confirmed by other witnesses, the fact remains that Nyiszli's figures are worrying. Nyiszli considers that the «surplus of a convoy» was 5,000 people, while this number represents in fact the greater part of a single convoy (the average being 5,400). Part of this number would be declared fit for work and enter the camp, while those declared unfit were destined to die. Krematorium II and III could «absorb» about 3,000 «unfit» per day; Krematorium V about 1,000; the rest of «surplus» were sent to Bunker 2/V. A «surplus» would more probably be 200 to 300 people. If the state of the site on 3rd March 1945 corresponded to that of summer 1944, which is more than likely, the TWO ditches of 300m² described by Nyiszli, would be reduced to A SINGLE ONE of 30m². A pit of this size is more compatible with the incineration of 200 to 300 people than 5,000. ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) Translation of inscriptions: (top to bottom and left to right) | PLAN D'ENSEMBLE/Plan of the area: Location of the Krematorien, gas chambers and corpse incineration ditches | | | --- | --- | | Scale 1:5000 Scale 1:10000 | | | EXPLICATIONS/Key: 1: Krematorium 2: Gas chamber 3: Corpse incineration site Hatched areas: incineration zones Dotted areas: marshland Trees: wooded areas | PLAN DE SITUATION/Location drawing Based on survey Drawn [by]: [signature] Auschwitz, 3rd March 1945 | Document 10: 179 ===== PDF PAGE 0173 | page-173.md ===== ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) Document II : # ZONE D'IMPLANTATION DES CHAMBRES A GAZ No 2 ET FOYER D'INCINERATION DES CADAVRES A BIRKENAU/ Overall plan showing the location of gas chamber [Bunker] No.2 and the associated corpse incineration sites at Birkenau - Chemin par lequel arrivaient de la rampe du camp les gens, [transportés] par chemin de fer, pour être intoxiqués/Path by which people arriving by train at the camp «ramp» arrived to be gassed - Baraques où se déshabillaient les gens les uns après les autres avant de pénétrer dans la chambre à gaz/Huts where people undressed one after the other before entering the gas chamber - Abri contre les bombes/Air raid shelter - Poste près de l'abri anti-bombe/Post near the air raid shelter - Bassin [Fosse]/Cremation pit (30m²) - Poste/Post - Arbres/Trees - Chambre à gaz divisée en 4 parties/Gas chamber divided into 4 parts - Souches [d'arbres]/[Tree] trunks - Barrière/Barrier - Bois de chauffage pour le foyer/Fuel wood for the cremation pit - Endroit ou les allemands brûlaient dans des foyers les cadavres intoxiqués des chambres à gaz/Area where the Germans burnt the corpses from the gas chambers: 5,900m² - Exécuté [par]/Drawn [by]: [signature] - Auschwitz, le 3 Mars 1945/Auschwitz, 3rd March 1945 180 ===== PDF PAGE 0174 | page-174.md ===== # THE UNDRESSING HUTS OF BUNKER 2/V # V/ Testimony of Filip MÜLLER Extracts from «Trois aux dans une chambre à gaz d'Auschwitz» [Three years in an Auschwitz gas chamber] by Filip Müller, editions Pygmalion/Gerard Watelet, Paris 1980. # Page 169: «In Bunker 2, now renamed Bunker V - an old whitewashed farm separated from the camp by a little wood - there was also great activity. Nobody could imagine that in this country house, peaceful and ordinary, thousands of people would be exterminated by gas. Kommandos of prisoners of all trades, electricians, metal workers, road builders, succeeded in less than a year [this must be an error: a month would be more accurate] in getting this installation of death operational.» # Page 180: «A few days later he had three more cremation pits dug behind Krematorium V. He thus had five pits at his disposal there now. Furthermore, the old farm situated to the west of Krematorien IV and V, which had already been used as an extermination site in 1942, was brought back into service under the designation Bunker V and four cremation pits were dug near the four rooms serving as gas chambers. The undressing rooms in which the victims left their clothes before being gassed were transferred to three wooden huts. There were no longer any numbered clothes hooks or other camouflage in the form of signs or any other attempt to mislead...» I offer this account by F. Müller for what it is worth. Much too late, thirty six years after the event, it is at the limit of credibility. Filip Müller is an important witness, but in choosing to describe material and precise facts in a book and in 1979 (1st German edition) he has accumulated errors, thus making his account historically dubious. The best approach is to read it as a novel based on true history. # SS man Böck's testimony Extract from «Der Auschwitz Process» [The Auschwitz Trial] by H. Langbein, Volume 1, page 74: A comrade of Höblinger, another member of the SS, accompanied him one day in the vehicle to the... [Bunker]. [His name was Böck]. Deputy Judge Hummerich: «Were you present at a gassing operation one day?» Böck: «Yes, it was one evening. I accompanied the driver Höblinger. A transport had arrived from Holland and the prisoners had to jump from the wagons. They were well-off Jews. There were women with Persian furs. They arrived by express train. [They disembarked at the «Jewish ramp» at Auschwitz station, not directly at Birkenau. This account concerns 1942]. The trucks were already there, with wooden steps before them, and the people climbed aboard. Then they all started off. In the place where Birkenau once stood, there was only a long farmhouse (Bunker 2), and beside it four or five big huts. Inside, the people were standing on clothes which were building up on the floor. The «Blockführerblock leader» and the «Unterscharführer/Sergeant» carrying a cane were there. Höblinger said to me: «Let's go over there now». There was a sign: «to disinfection». He said: «You see, they're bringing children now». They opened the door, threw the children in and closed the door. There was a terrible cry. A member of the SS climbed on the roof. The people went on crying for about ten minutes. Then the prisoners opened the doors. Everything was in disorder and contorted. Heat was given off. The bodies were loaded on a rough wagon and taken to a ditch. The next batch were already undressing in the huts. After that I didn't look at my wife for four weeks...» # Comments of Böck's testimony: There is only one clue to show that the scene took place at Bunker 2: «a long farmhouse». In this type of account, this is already a good deal. SS Böck seems to have been a decent enough man. The gassing of children upset him so much that he saw the SS medical orderlies «climb on the roof» (they did not climb so high) and did not look at his wife for four weeks. Not everyone is cut out to be an executioner. Hermann Langbein writes: «Böck is the only SS witness who demonstrated a sincere aversion before the court.» I would just ask one question: «How many gassings did Böck see?» If he saw only the one he described before the court, it is not so surprising that his «aversion» should remain intact. If he had been forced by his duties to see them regularly, his attitude might have been different. It is all too easy to become hardened. 181 ===== PDF PAGE 0175 | page-175.md ===== ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) Document 13: West-east view of the site of hut 1 on Drawing 1. Upper left, at a distance of 300 metres, the Zentral Sauna disinfestation installation [ZS]. Document 14: Looking south-east from the access path over the site of hut 2 of Drawing 1. On the left is hut 1 and in the background the Zentral Sauna [ZS]. ![img-1.jpeg](img-1.jpeg) Document 12: ![img-2.jpeg](img-2.jpeg) «Stable» type huts were erected in summer 1942 and remained till spring 1943, serving as undressing rooms for the people destined for the gas chambers of Bunker 2/V. After they were dismantled in 1943, the SS had new ones erected in summer 1944 for the same purpose. It would appear that the number of huts in 42-43 was different from 1944, but in any event there were either two or three. The photo shows two concrete outlines symbolising these huts built by the Auschwitz Museum and based on the declarations of S. Dragon. In the foreground, the access path [labelled «chemin d'accès»] to the installations of Bunker 2/V for those coming from the Birkenau ramp. 182 ===== PDF PAGE 0176 | page-176.md ===== PART TWO CHAPTER 5 # KREMATORIEN II AND III # Plans, construction and general study Complete history of Birkenau Krematorien II and III, covering their design, construction, utilization and destruction # HISTORY OF KREMATORIEN II & III # Design - Construction - Utilization - Destruction The sections «Design» and «Construction» will be dealt with chronologically, as in the «Kalendarium der Ereignisse im Konzentrationslager» [Calendar of events in the concentration camp] by Danuta Czech, certain items of which are incorporated in the present text. The documents on which the argument is based either accompany the text or appear in the annex of documents. Thus, everything set out here, frequently as the result of extensive study presented separately in annex, reflects our present state of knowledge concerning these buildings. The «Utilization» section takes the form of a guided tour in the ruins of Krematorien II and III and refers the reader to the excellent testimony of Henryk Tauber [Part III, Chapter 3] for further details. Krematorium II functioned as a homicidal gas chamber and incineration installation from 15th March 1943, before its officially coming into service on 31st March, to 27th November 1944, annihilating a total of approximately 400,000 people, most of them Jewish women, children and old men. Krematorium III was used in similar fashion from 25th June 1943 to 27th November 1944, killing about 350,000 victims. Thus approximately three-quarters of the Jewish victims of KL Auschwitz-Birkenau were gassed and reduced to ashes in these two buildings. # DESIGN AND IMPLANTATION IN THE POW CAMP The main orders issued by Himmler as a result of his visit to Auschwitz KL [Concentration Camp] on 1st March 1941 were that the Stammlager [main camp] should be extended to receive 30,000 prisoners and that a camp should be built at Birkenau to hold an expected 100,000 Soviet prisoners of war. The Camp Commandant, Rudolf Hoess, despite all his good will as an old Party Member, was technically incapable of undertaking and completing such a task, but nevertheless the extension of the Stammlager was begun in summer 1941, using bricks from the demolition of the Zasole district, situated immediately to the north of the KL. In order to build the Birkenau POW Camp (Kriegsgefangenenlager or KGL), Amtsgruppe C (Bauwesen/Construction) of the SS Wirtschaftsverwaltungshusputant or SS-WVHA [SS Economic and Administrative Main Office] in Berlin detached SS Captain Karl Bischoff as Sonderbauleiter [Special Head of Construction], later to become «Leiter der Zentral Bauleitung/Head of the Central Construction Management» of the Auschwitz region. The first plan of the KGL was produced on 7th October 1941, drawn by Fritz Ertl, then an SS Corporal, and approved by Bischoff on the following day [Document 1]. The camp comprised three parts: a Quarantine Camp (the future B.I.) containing a «Leichenhalle/Corpse hall» and two internment camps (Camps I and II, whose total area was a little greater than that of the future B.II). There was no plan for a rail link with the nearby Auschwitz station. A week later, on 14th October 1941, a second plan was produced [Document 2] on the same basis as the earlier one, but this time including barracks for the SS guards to the east and a double track railway running from the station and ending between Camp I and the Quarantine Camp, still equipped with a «Leichenhalle» to serve as a morgue to store corpses before their transfer to the Stammlager for incineration in the crematorium there. With an overall total of 130,000 persons expected for the Stammlager and KGL together, it was foreseeable that the two or three 2-muffle furnaces of the single existing crematorium (i.e. 1 muffle for 22,000 or 32,000 prisoners) would prove insufficient. At the end of October 1941, Bischoff had a conversation with Kurt Prüfer, Chief Engineer of the «Krematoriumbau» department of the firm Topf & Söhne of Erfurt, concerning the construction of a new crematorium in the Stammlager (behind the existing one), the new building to have a furnace room with five 3-muffle furnaces, two «Leichenkeller» [basement morgues] and a dissecting room, all these rooms being ventilated (having air extraction systems). The components for the furnaces were to be delivered within three months [Document 3]. This would bring the number of muffles for the two camps up to 21, or roughly 1 muffle for 6,000 prisoners. This plan for a new normal crematorium implied the temporary storage of the KGL dead in morgues in Birkenau before cremation in the Stammlager. The Drawing Office of the Bauleitung produced three plans for this project in November and December 1941, entitled «Neubau-Kremat[orium]» and numbered 870 (elevation), 871 (ground floor plan) and 875 (furnace installation). Bauleitung drawing 885 of 5th January 1942 [Document 4] showed a further extension to the KGL, now planned for a probable population of 110,000 to 120,000 prisoners. Camps I and II were extended, to reach their final dimensions, those of the second and third construction stages (B.II and B.III). The Quarantine Camp still contained its «Leichenhalle» in the northwest corner. In addition, Camp I now contained in the west a «Verbrennungshalle/Cremation hall» with FIVE «Leichenhallen». Camp II was given similar installations. Though the incineration capacity of these «Verbrennungshalle» is not known, it must have been very limited in view of the disturbing number of storage morgues planned (ten), probably half-underground structures as were later the Leichenkeller of Krematorien II and III. The Quarantine Camp Leichenhalle (appearing on the drawings of 7th and 14th October 1941), was drawn in detail by the Bauleitung at the end of 1941 under drawing number 785, entitled «Leichenhalle KGL». A second drawing, no 812, «Leichenhalle für das KGL» is probably connected with this, unless it shows one of the ten corpse halls (appearing on drawing 885) from which another drawing, 1040, «Leichenhalle für KGL» was probably derived. The drawing of the two «Verbrennungshallen» was also produced in January 1942 under the number 879, «Vorschlag zur Errichtung eines prov. Krematorium KGL» [Proposal for the construction of a provisional POW Camp crematorium]. Unfortunately, however, although we know the numbers and titles of these drawings, it is impossible to make use of them in compiling the history of the camp, for none of them has yet been found. The multiplication of «Leichenhalle» in this prisoner-of-war camp remains incomprehensible, for it contradicts the existence of the camp itself: either an infrastructure was to be created to house Soviet prisoners, or they were to be killed rapidly, in which case there was no need for a huge internment camp. The majority of the some 12,000 Soviet prisoners who were actually sent to Auschwitz died during the construction of the Birkenau Quarantine Camp (the future B.I.), before 183 ===== PDF PAGE 0177 | page-177.md ===== even starting on Camps I and II (the future B.II) where the ten «Leichenhallen» were to be. The fact remains that the drawing of these ten copper balls is inexplicable without additional documentary evidence, unless they are in some way connected with the creation of Bunker I, located in the immediate proximity, though this link is tenuous, as we shall see. During January 1942, Bunker I, situated in the vicinity of the northwest corner of the future B.III, was in fact created. It was an old Birkenau farmhouse roughly converted into two homicidal gas chambers. Bunker I was not planned as an extermination installation (which it later became), but as a crude experimental station for studying the possibilities for the rapid extermination of numbers of people through making them inhale a toxic gas. The product selected, hydrocyanic acid fixed on a porous substrate, was marketed under the trade name «Zyclon-B» as a disinfestation agent. It could therefore be ordered in the normal way from civilian firms manufacturing or distributing it, without attracting the type of attention that would have been inevitable, for example, with orders for suffocating gas of the «Green Cross» type. The method adopted stemmed directly from the destruction of insect and animal vermin using the gaseous phase of the Zyclon-B in an enclosed space (for example when delousing clothing) or in buildings infested by vermin such as bags, mosquitoes, lice, fleas, rats and mice. Because the lethal dose for humans was not known, the SS had made a botched trial gassing in the basement of Bunker I of the Stammlager on 3rd, 4th and 5th September 1941, the victims being 850/Soviet POWs and other prisoners. It was subsequently seen to be more convenient to gas people as required in the very place where all corpses inevitably had to go eventually: the morgue of Krematorium I. But trials to perfect the technique could not be carried out in this crematorium attached to the camp, hence the idea of establishing Bunker I in an isolated location on the edge of the Birkenau wood. It was very little used, if at all, for the extermination of prisoners found unfit for work after selection, up to 4th May 1942 [according to Danuta Czech's «Calendar of events»), and its use for the extermination of Jews without prior selection did not begin before 12th May 1942 [according to the «Calendar», but contrary to what is stated there, it seems to have been practised from January 1942]. The Bauleitung Drawing Office, headed by SS Second Lieutenant Walter Dejaco, continued work on a new crematorium for the Stammlager and between 15th January and 3rd February 1942, the following drawings were completed: 935 (west elevation), 936 (north elevation), 937 (east elevation), 938 (south elevation), 939 (ground floor plan), 934 (furnace and chimney sections), 932 (basement) and 980 (road frame) [see these drawings in annex]. Dejaco had met his deadline, as less than three months had passed since Bischoff's order of 22nd October 1941. According to a tracing of the KGL and its surroundings on a scale of 1:10,000 [Document 5], the rail link between the camp and Auschwitz station appeared as at 4th February 1942 to be planned with no extermination of the Jews in mind, for there was no crematorium planned in the vicinity. The future B.I was half completed. The cleared sector to the north corresponded to the dimensions of the drawing of 14th October 1941, but a new extension zone to the north was outlined, considerably larger than that appearing on drawing 885. To the east, the extension of the Stammlager continued space, with an expanding industrial zone. On 12th February 1942, two 3-muffle furnaces were ordered from Topf & Söhne for the KGL [Document 6]. It is likely that each furnace was to be installed in a Verbrennungshalle (which appeared on drawing 885), which for the planned 110,000 to 120,000 prisoners meant one muffle for 20,000 people. The Topf three-muffle furnace had been designed at the end of 1941 by Chief Engineer Kurt Prüfer [Document 7]. What Prüfer had proposed to install in Birkenau was the firm's very latest product and the fruit of his own efforts. The throughput of this prototype furnace, which had not yet been tested, was expected to be 225 cremations per day, which made the theoretical total daily capacity of the two Verbrennungshalle 450. However, on 27th February 1942, as the result of a visit by the Head of Amtsgruppe C of the SS-WVHA in Berlin, Dr Ing Kammler, it was decided that the new crematorium with five 3-muffle furnaces planned for the Stammlager would in fact be installed at Birkenau KGL (which would then give 1 muffle for 7,500 prisoners) and the order of 12th February for two 3-muffle furnaces was cancelled, a decision that was bound to upset Messrs Topf, and above all Prüfer, who received a commission on the sale of his furnaces. Topf naturally wanted to be compensated for the technical and commercial work already done for the order for the two 3-muffle furnaces, the cost of which they estimated at 1,769.36 Reichsmark. This sum was requested from the Auschwitz Bauleitung in a letter of 11th March 1942 [Document 8]. After having conferred on 25th March 1942 with SS Major Wirtz (Head of Office C III [Technical Tasks], one of the six sub-decisions of Amtsgruppe C), Bischoff diverted the two 3-muffle furnaces to «another» use. (This destination is not known, but there would appear to be only two possibilities either installation in the Stammlager to replace the new crematorium now transferred to Birkenau, or another installation at Birkenau, associated with the homicidal activity to come from Bunker I in May and then Bunker 2 at the end of June.) Bischoff subsequently requested Wirtz, in a letter of 30th March 1942 [Document 9] to inform Topf of this, in order to «clarify the situation». This was done on 8th April 1942, suppressing the expenses claimed by Topf, but the firm found the procedure seemed high-handed and the dispute did not end there. In June 1943 Topf again approached the Bauleitung to claim their money, and Bischoff, thinking the affair had been settled since 8th April 1942, immediately referred it to the Head of Office C III of the SS-WVHA in Berlin, since the original decision to cancel the two 3-muffle furnaces had come from him. The outcome of this dispute is not known (letters of 3rd June and 10th July 1943 [file BW 30/54, pages 34 and 20]). The decision of 27th February 1942 to transfer the new crematorium meant that the drawings of the «930 series» had to be modified slightly to reflect the reorientation of the building to suit the new site in Birkenau. The four elevation drawings, 935, 936, 937 and 938 were combined into a single one, bearing the number 936. The marshy nature of the land at Birkenau also meant that the planned cellars (Leichenkeller) had to be raised to a semi-basement configuration. This led to drawings 1173 (reuse of the earlier drawing 935, reoriented to south and completed by a sectional drawing of Leichenkeller 1), 1174 (unpublished) and the addition to drawing 934 of sectional drawings of Leichenkeller 1 and 2 [see these drawings in annex]. As a result, the dates of 15th January attributed to drawings 936, 1173-1174, 23rd January for 932 (second version) and 27th for 934 are all incorrect because they were not modified because of lack of time or some other reason. These drawings must have been modified for the most part in April 1942, and perhaps some were completed early in May. In fact the drawing of the foundations, 1301, which necessarily had to take account of the nature of the soil, was produced on 8th May. The correction sheet to foundation drawing 932 was produced on 14th May, last date in the first modification of the 930 series, for drawing 1311 «rectifies» one that was already almost entirely redrawn. Between April and June 1943 there is a historical «gap» in the Bauleitung correspondence concerned with the Birkenau crematorium which makes it impossible to give precise answers to the following questions: - When was the decision taken to modify the crematorium for criminal ends by installing a gas chamber in Leichenkeller 1 and an undressing room in Leichenkeller 2 (the only initial indication known being drawing 1300 of the drainage system of the building, dated 18th June 1942)? - Why was the call for tenders for the construction of the future Krematorium II issued to civilian firms in July 1942, a very late date in view of progress with the «resettlement of the Jews» which meant that convoys were already arriving in Auschwitz? On 5th June 1942, a civilian civil engineering firm, Huta of Kattowitz, working on the construction of B.I in Birkenau, produced a 1:2000 drawing of the POW camp [Document 10] showing the location of the (narrow gauge) railways used to transport building materials. This drawing contains an apparent contradiction: to the west of B.I, there was a branch running towards the area occupied by the future Krematorium II, whereas to make this drawing Huta had used Bauleitung drawing 885 (with to the west of Camp I a Verbrennungshalle and five Leichenhallen) which did not have a crematorium. This apparent premonition is explicable in view of the fact that Krematorium II appeared on a Bauleitung drawing of the POW camp dated 6th June and Huta, in direct contact with the SS, could not fail to be informed of this. A 1:2000 drawing of Birkenau POW camp showing the contours of the ground for construction stage II [Document 10a] shows Baulebrecht (construction stage) I in the final phase of evolution, having reached its final form, the double-track railways, B.II in its final form and B.III, identical to B.II, giving a total capacity of 140,000 prisoners. Construction stages II and III now had only TWO Leichenhallen each, without Verbrennungshalle but with, in the western extension of B.I, ONE crematorium with five 3-muffle furnaces (the future Krematorium II) apparently for «normal» use (1 muffle for 9300 prisoners). This drawing, without an identification block, came from the Bauleitung Drawing Office, where it was produced in early June 1942, a date that can be established by comparison with a similar drawing of the POW camp showing the three construction stages, the double-track railways, and a single crematorium (the future Krematorium II), signed by Bischoff and dated 6th June 1942 [PMO neg no 10263]. On 18th June 1942, prisoner 17133 drew a plan of the drainage system for the new POW camp crematorium, Bauleitung drawing 1300. This number puts the drawing at the beginning of May, whereas it was dated mid-June and checked on 9th July by Eggeling and Töfferl and approved by Bischoff the following day. This drawing, of a technical nature, required two months of work because it was necessary to carry out studies and measurements on the ground in Birkenau and the intervention of two Bauleitung specialists, constraints which perhaps explain the time taken, unless this was due to the modifications made to Leichenkeller 1. This is the first drawing to contain a criminal element, for the drainage of Leichenkeller 1 (the future gas chamber) is now separated from that of the rest of the crematorium, whereas there had been just a single drainage system on the earlier basement drawing 932. A second farmhouse, three hundred metres west of the future «Zentral Sauna», was capably transformed into four small homicidal gas chambers, parallel to one another, which came into service on 30th June 1942 under the designation «Bunker 2». The arrangement of the gas chambers was directly inspired by that of the Zyclon-B delousing chambers installed by civilian firms. 30th June 1942 marks a turning point in the history of Birkenau, for while there may have been some extermination of Jews before this, it was on an air box and totally improvised basis, whereas henceforth it was to be carried out on an industrial basis. This was perhaps not always true in practice, but it was certainly the intention of the SS, who between early July and mid August 1942 launched a programme of FOUR crematoriums with 46 incineration muffles, without counting the 6 already existing in Krematorium I, for a present and existing total of 20,000 prisoners, or 1 muffle for 400 people. Of course, this calculation is incorrect to the extent that it divides the existing number of prisoners, without adding those planned to come, by the number of existing and planned crematorium muffles, but it does perfectly illustrate the criminal nature of the multiplication of crematoriums. It suffices to imagine a village of 4,000 inhabitants with its church in the centre and beside it a crematorium equipped with three 3-muffle furnaces as they existed in Birkenau. The installation would have human feel for scarcely a week of operation. We need not dwell on this picture. It may appear surprising that the «industrial» extermination of Jews at Auschwitz-Birkenau was planned and put into practice so late: planned between June and August 1942 and actually implemented between March and June 1943 by the entry into service of the four Krematoriums. For from the standpoint of criminal technique, the massacre of the Jews perpetrated in the late summer of 1941 were rudimentary and unorganized trials (those carried out by Haunatzgruppen A, B, C and D in the Soviet Union; the mobile gassing trucks in the Eastern territories; lastly the trucks at Kulmhof [Cheltino on the Net] in December 1941), likely to be stopped at any moment under the pressure of internal or external events. It was not until the second quarter of 1942 that the «production line» stage was reached, irreversible and practically official in the leading circles of the Reich and the extermination regions. Belzec (17th March 1942), Sobibor (17th May 1942), Trebilnik (June or July 1942, depending on the source), Lublin-Majdanek (September 1942, a date that would probably be revised to considerably later if a serious study of its gas chambers were to be made). In this tight chronology, Auschwitz-Birkenau would be placed in late June/early July 1942. 184 ===== PDF PAGE 0178 | page-178.md ===== Document 1 [PMO file BW 2/1, neg no 21135/1] LAGEPLAN DES KRIEGSGEFANGENENLAGERS-AUSCHWITZ O.S./ Situation plan of Auschwitz POW Camp, Upper Silesia Sonderbauleitung für die Errichtung eines Kriegsgefangenenlagers der Waffen-SS in Auschwitz O.S./ Special Construction Management for the erection of a Waffen-SS prisoner of war camp in Auschwitz, Upper Silesia Maßstab/Scale 1:2000 Gezeichnet/Drawn 7/10/41 by SS Corporal Ertl Genehmigt/Approved 8/10/41 by SS Captain Bischoff Translation of inscriptions: Erläuterung/Key: Unterkunftsgebäude/Accommodation building Wirtschaftsgebäude/Administration building Abortbaracke/WC block Waschbaracke/Ablution block Reviergebäude/Sick quarters Entlausungsgebäude/Delousing building Leichenhalle/Corpse hall ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) 185 ===== PDF PAGE 0179 | page-179.md ===== # Lageplan des Kriegsgefangenenlagers - Auschwitz O.S. ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) Erläuterung: 1. Die überkaufigebebau 2. Abstraktung 3. Abstraktung 4. Überkaufige 5. Erfüllungsgebaue 6. Längsmittel | Bezeichnung für die Errichtung eines Kriegsgefangenenlagers der Waffen-SS in Auschwitz OS | | | | --- | --- | --- | | Konservieren | | | | Abstand | Land | Datum | | Abstand | Wolfen | 14.10.01 | | Betreff | Wolfen | 14.10.01 | | Betreff | Wolfen | 14.10.01 | Document 2 [PMO file BW 2/2, neg no 21135/2] LAGEPLAN DES KRIEGSGEFANGENENLAGERS-AUSCHWITZ O.S. Situation plan of Auschwitz POW Camp, Upper Silesia Sonderbauleitung für die Errichtung eines Kriegsgefangenenlagers der Waffen-SS in Auschwitz OS/ Special Construction Management for the erection of a Waffen-SS prisoner of war camp in Auschwitz, Upper Silesia Maßstab/Scale 1:2000 Gezeichnet/Drawn 14/10/41 by prisoner 471 Geprüft/Checked 15/10/41 by SS Corporal Ertl Genehmigt/Approved 15/10/41 by SS Captain Bischoff # Translation of inscriptions: - Erläuterung/Key: - Unterkunftsgebäude/Accommodation block - Wirtschaftsgebäude/Administration building - Abortbaracke/WC block - Waschbaracke/Ablution block - Reviergebäude/Sick quarters - Entlausungsgebäude/Delousing building - Leichenhalle/Corpse hall - [In the camp] - Quarantäne Lager/Quarantine Camp - Lager I/Camp I - Lager II/Camp II - Unterkunft für Wachtruppe/Accommodation for guards 186 ===== PDF PAGE 0180 | page-180.md ===== Document 3 [PMO file BW 30/27, page 27] At the beginning of July 1942, the Bauleitung invited two building firms already working on the construction of the POW camp, Huta [Document 10] and Lenz & Co [Document 11], both of Kattowitz, to tender for the construction of the shell of ONE crematorium (the future Krematorium II) at Birkenau [Document 12]. On 13th July 1942, Huta submitted its tender at a price of 133,756.65 Reichsmark, a price which was to undergo several modifications (described in detail below). On 15th July, Lenz & Co refused to tender on the grounds of labour shortage. On 17th and 18th July 1942, Reichsführer Himmler visited the Auschwitz-Birkenau complex for the second time. On the 17th he witnessed the complete process of a «Sonderaktion/special action» [Document 12/II] on a Jewish convoy: he saw the detaining, the gassing of the latter in Bunker 2 and the removal of their bodies which were then buried in mass graves. In recognition of his untiring activity in the development of the camp, SS Major Hoess was promoted to Lieutenant-Colonel. Hoess was in luck, for only five days after Himmler's departure he had to decree, by Komandanturbefehl 19/42 of 23rd July, a state of «Lagersperre/isolation of the camp» because of an outbreak of typhus. Disinfestation and delousing measures were stepped up. On 20th July 1942, the Bauleitung awarded Huta a contract worth 133,756.65 RM for building the shell of the new crematorium at Birkenau [Document 13]. Two mirror-image buildings were in fact constructed, but no known document mentions a second order or its date. Huta themselves were to prepare the site and erect the shell of the building: brickwork, facings, floors, concrete and reinforced concrete, for 116,366.65 RM while the damp-proofing work was subcontracted to Vedag at a price of 17,390 RM. The Huta price amounted to scarcely more than one fifth of the total price of a crematorium: Krematorium III cost 554,500 RM and Krematorium II probably 646,000 RM before inspection [BW 30/43, page 29]. Other contracts were subsequently awarded: construction of two chimneys (Messrs Robert Koehler); supply of ten incineration furnaces, the ventilation systems and two corpse lifts (Messrs Topf & Sons, who received 110,000 RM per crematorium); design of the roof frame (Messrs Konrad Segnitz) before supply and erection of roof frames and covering (Industrie-Bau AG, who invoiced those of Krematorium III at 9,418.04 RM); drainage work (Messrs Karl Falck) [see list of enterprises in annex]. Huta subsequently recalculated its estimate (including the work to be subcontracted to Vedag) and arrived at a total of 140,795.65 RM, which was reduced by the Bauleitung to 115,832.90 RM (half of the saving being achieved under «bricklaying», where the SS provided their own prison labour). After some negotiation, on 7th May 1943 Huta claimed 120,443.16 RM for Krematorium II and an identical sum for Krematorium III. After a new agreement had been reached between the parties, the accounts were closed on 1st November 1943 at a sum of 119,007.23 RM for Krematorium II (or a 12% reduction on the original tender). Of the 120,443.16 RM claimed for Krematorium III, the Bauleitung accepted only 116,532.69 RM (or a 15% reduction on the agreed price), which was claimed by Huta on 1st November 1943. ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) # Translation: Copy Correspondence register no. 715 7/41 Ho. 1941 22nd October Subject: Order for Topf 3-muffle furnaces, [suction type] forced draught installation and waste incinerator. Reference: Conversation between our Head of Construction, K Bischoff and your Herr Prüfer. Enclosure: -- Messrs J Topf & Söhne ERFURT The Waffen-SS and Auschwitz Police Construction Management refers to the conversation that took place between Herr Prüfer and our Head of Construction K Bischoff, and hereby orders from you: 5 Topf three-muffle furnaces with pulsed air installation; 2 Topf forced-draught installations each approx. 10,000 m³ flue gas per hour; 1 Topf waste incinerator. With the furnaces you are to supply all the refractory and insulating materials as well as all cast iron parts, ducting and pulsed-air blowers. For its part our Construction Management will supply the construction materials necessary for the furnaces, such as bricks, sand, lime and cement and the cast iron anchors. For this order we request a detailed estimate, the prices on which will serve as a basis for the contract. We should also like to have an estimate for the air extraction installations for the two corpse cellars, the dissecting room and the furnace room. As this project is urgent, we would ask you to immediately establish the plans for the furnace foundations and the various flues and to submit these to the Construction Management within 14 days. Delivery of the above-mentioned furnace components shall be within 3 months. Within about 8 weeks you are to make available to our Construction Management one of your fitters, who will supervise the construction of the foundations. Two drawings concerning this project have already been given to your Herr Prüfer. On the basis of these drawings you are to furnish the Construction Management with data regarding the required chimney section and height. Signed: For Second Lieutenant Janisch [copy of BW 30/27 page 27] For Second Lieutenant Kirschneck [copy of BW 30/34, page 116] 187 ===== PDF PAGE 0181 | page-181.md ===== then this sum was further reduced to 110,519.22 RM, with a difference of 6,013.47 RM that was not acceptable to Huta [the figures cited come from file BW 30/26]. Final settlement with Huta for the work done on the two Krematorien dragged on to such an extent that on 29th January 1944 [BW 30/32A, page 1] the firm had still received only 100,000 RM for Krematorium II (the outstanding balance being 19,007.23 RM) and 90,000 RM for Krematorium III (balance 26,532.69 RM). As at that date, the Bauleitung owed Huta a total of almost 200,000 RM (equivalent to the price of Krematorium IV)) for the balance on the Krematorien and sundry other invoices. It was not easy to do business with the SS, even when supplying them with the means to do excellent business with the Jews. In order to combat the typhus epidemic that was raging through the camp in August 1942, it was necessary to eliminate the vector of the disease, lice. The most effective delousing agent was Zyclon-B, and without this product it would be impossible to eradicate the disease. On the eve of the «Lagersperre» order, authorization was received by radio to send a 5-tonne truck [officially classified as 4.5 tonnes and capable of carrying a payload of 4950 kg on the road and 4100 kg off-road, and with a cubic capacity of approximately 20 m³] to Dessau, to the Zyclon-B production plant in order to collect «gas intended for gassing the camp against the epidemic that has broken out». On 29th July, authorization was received for another truck to go to Dessau to load «gas urgently required for disinfection». These two trucks would have brought back a maximum of 4,000 to 5,000 one kilogramme cans of Zyclon-B, if this was the size chosen. On 26th August, Zyclon-B was running out or lacking, and a Renault truck (probably a 3.5-tonne AHN) was sent to Dessau, this time for «material for special treatment». On 2nd October, while the epidemic was still present, having reached a peak in September, the camp required «material for the resettlement of Jews». Finally, on 7th January 1943, to keep control of the now endemic typhus, another truck was sent to Dessau for «disinfection material». These five movement authorizations are the only ones in existence that mention this type of transport. They reflect the two different utilizations of Zyclon-B. But in what proportion? As we know the quantity of Zyclon-B delivered, the dose necessary to kill one thousand people (according to Camp Commandant Hoess) and the number of people gassed during this period (obtained from the «Calendar») it is easy to determine the percentage used for each purpose over the period 22nd July to 26th August: 2 to 3% for homicidal gassing and 97 to 98% for disinfestation purposes. This extremely surprising distribution totally invalidates the interpretation and presentation of these «authorizations» by the traditional historians, who claim that the word «disinfection» was used to «camouflage» homicidal gassings and that a gigantic massacre was going on, an argument supported by the «shock» image of big trucks scurrying back and forth between Auschwitz and Dessau, bringing back 5 tonnes of Zyclon-B on each trip (a quantity of 5,000 kg is enough to kill 1,250,000 people, more than the total number of Jews sent to Auschwitz!). The truth is that the SS used the extermination of the Jews, about which their superiors had a general knowledge, without being informed of the practical details, to hide the terrible hygienic conditions in the camp, and to cover up their enormous consumption of gas for disinfestation purposes. If knowledge of the disastrous state of affairs had reached Berlin, this would have had unfortunate consequences for Hoess, who had recently been congratulated by Himmler and promoted in rank, and for his entourage. What did the Auschwitz SS care, in the month of August 1942, about the twenty or thirty thousand Jews killed in the seclusion of the Birkenwald forest at the cost of a hundred kilos of Zyclon-B, when their own lives were at risk and the very existence of the camp threatened? It was necessary at all costs to stop the epidemic, which led on the 29th August to the radical and extremely effective solution of gassing all the sick or convalescing prisoners so as to get rid of both the lice AND THEIR CARRIERS [«Hefte von Auschwitz 3», Kalendarium, p.85]. So the SS made the Jews take the blame (the usual practice) for the huge Zyclon-B requirements, in order not to be accused of incompetence in the running of the camp and lack of control over the conditions obtaining there. However, this strategy was to have very long term effects because of the duration of the epidemic and the discovery of the sad truth by the higher authorities in September. That the SS should have worded two transport authorizations in such a way that after the war they should become crushing proof linking the Jews, their resettlement and special treatment with hydrocyanic gas, together meaning death for those unable to work, becomes something of a statistical miracle when we consider the proportions in which the gas was used: 2 to 3% homicidal as against 97 or 98% disinfestation. The terms used in these authorizations, generally considered today to be incriminating slips, were deliberately used by the SS in what was a desperate period for them, when they were submerged by an epidemic and were trying to escape responsibility for this scourge for which they were in fact at least half responsible. In this context of drastic disinfestation measures, Hoess signed on 12th August 1942 a special order telling the SS to be careful after the gassings taking place [Document 14], because of indisposition caused by inhaling a very small amount of Zyclon-B. This text, which previously appeared to be damning proof of the existence of homicidal gas chambers can no longer be accepted as such. The distribution of FORTY TWO copies of this order, to all corners of the camp and to semi-civilian enterprises is proof that there was nothing whatever «secret» about it, and that on the contrary, the gassings concerned the whole camp at this date. If the accident had occurred at Bunker 1 or 2, hidden away in two small areas of the Birkenwald [Birch Wood], the order might possibly have been worded similarly, but it would have been sent only to the medical service and the SS medical orderlies who actually used the Zyclon-B. The recommendations made in the order justify some of the reservations expressed by R. Faurisson regarding the handling of Zyclon-B, though we cannot accept his presentation of hydrocyanic acid gas, devastating by definition, as being highly persistent. Document 4 [PMO file BW 2/6, seq no 211354] LAGEPLAN DES KRIEGSGEFANGENENLAGERS-AUSCHWITZ OBER SCHLESIEN/ Situation plan of Auschwitz POW Camp, Upper Silesia Sonderbauleitung für die Errichtung eines Kriegsgefangenenlagers der Waffen-SS in Auschwitz OS/ Special Construction Management for the creation of a Waffen-SS prisoner of war camp in Auschwitz, Upper Silesia Maßstab/Scale 1:2000 Gezeichnet/Dessen 5/1/42 by SS W. Ullmer Geprüft/Checked 5/1/42 by SS Steind Lernraum (S) Walter DeJaco Genehmigt/Approved 6/1/42 by SS Captain Bischoff # Translation of inscriptions: Erläuterung/Key: Unterkunftsgebäude/ Accommodation block Wirtschaftsgebäude/ Administration building Abortbaracke/WC block Waschbaracke/Ablution block Entlausungsgebäude/ Delousing building Leichenhalle/Corpse hall Verbrennungshalle/ Cremation hall Reviergebäude/Sick quarters Vorrätebaracke/Stores [In the camp] Quarantäne Lager/ Quarantine Camp Erdanschüttung/ Earth embankment Lager I/Camp I Lager II/Camp II Unterkunfts für Wachtruppe/ Accommodation for guards 188 ===== PDF PAGE 0182 | page-182.md ===== ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) Document 5 [PMO file BW 2/7, reg no 21135/5] Tracing, without the identification block, of KGL Birkenau, Auschwitz station and part of the Stammlager. Scale 1:10,000, dated 4/2/42, signature unknown. 190 ===== PDF PAGE 0183 | page-183.md ===== ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) Document 5 [PMO file BW 2/7, reg no 21135/5] Tracing, without the identification block, of KGL Birkenau, Auschwitz station and part of the Stammlager. Scale 1:10,000, dated 4/2/42, signature unknown. 190 ===== PDF PAGE 0184 | page-184.md ===== Document 6: [PMO file BW 30/25, page 1] ABTWEM: REISER W. GÖHLE AROH!WUM BW 30/25 5. März 1942 Bftgb.-Nr. 5296 /42/Br./Jh. Betr.: Krematorium, Einläscherungs-Öfen K.G.I. Auschwitz Auftrag Nr. 42/261/1 vom 12.2.1942 Bez.: -/- Anlg.: -/- Firma J.A. Topf & Söhne, Erfurt Dreyserstr. 7/9 Anlässlich der am 27.2.1942 stattgefundenen Bezichtigung der hiesigen Zentralbauleitung durch den Gruppenchef der Amtsgruppe C des H-Firtschafts-Verwaltungshauptamtes, H-Oberführer Dr. Ing. Kammler, wurde angeordnet, dass die für das Krematorium im Kriegsgefangenenlager bestellten Einläscherungsöfen nicht zur Ausführung gelangen, sondern die lt. Auftragsschreiben vom 22.Oktober/41, Bftgb.-Nr. 215/41/Ho, bestellten 5 Stck. Dreimuffelöfen im Kriegsgefangenenlager eingebaut werden. Der von der Zentralbauleitung mündlich erteilte Auftrag wird daher zurückgezogen und gebeten, die Sternierung des Auftrages schriftlich nach hier zu bestätigen. # Translation: Correspondence register no. 5296 /42/Er/Jh 5th March 1942 Subject: Crematorium, incineration furnace for POW Camp Auschwitz [Birkenau] Order no 42/261/1 of 12/2/42 Reference: - Enclosure: - Messrs J A Topf & Söhne Erfurt Dreyserstraße 7/9 On the occasion of the visit, on 27/2/42, made to our Central Construction Management by the Head of Amtsgruppe C of the SS Economic and Administrative Main Office, SS Oberführer [senior Colonel] Dr Ing Kammler, it was decided that the incineration furnaces ordered for the prisoner of war camp will not be proceeded with, but that the 5 three-muffle furnaces ordered by the letter of 22nd October 1941, correspondence register no 215/41/Ho will be installed in the prisoner of war camp. The verbal order issued by the Central Construction Management is therefore withdrawn and we would therefore ask you to confirm cancellation of the order. [Erdl's initials] [Bischoff's initials] ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) # Document 7: Identity photograph of Kurt Prüfer, born 21st April 1891, Oberingenieur/Chief Engineer of Section D-IV, a Krematorian/Decomatorium construction of Messrs Topf & Sons of Erfurt. He started work in this firm on 16th June 1911 at a monthly salary of 90 RM. [K Prüfer personal file held in the Weimar Staatsarchiv (GDR), Bestand 2/555] 191 ===== PDF PAGE 0185 | page-185.md ===== Bau 30 Krem. 8. April 1942 35 ABSCHRIFT/36 Ant C III/3a-4-Wi/Hol. Betr.: Auschwitz - Kindscherungsöfen für KGL. Bezug: Ihr Schreiben vom 11.5.42 Firma: 1) I.A. Topf & Söhne Erfurt Die für das KGL, Auschwitz ursprünglich geplanten 2 Stück Dreimuffel-Gross-Kindscherungsöfen werden auf ein anderes Bauvorhaben umgeschlagen. Allte technischen und kaufmännischen Vorarbeiten sowie alle Zeichnungen werden auf ein neues Bauvorhaben übertragen, so daß die entstandenen Vertriebs- und Verwaltungskosten in Kühe von BE 1.769.36 wegfallen. Ältere Angaben über das neue Bauvorhaben werden noch mitgeteilt. Der Chef des Antos Technische Fachgebiete gez. Unterschrift SS-Sturmbannführer 2) Zentralbauleitung d.V.-SU u.Pol. Auschwitz 3) Bauinspektion d.V.-SS u.Pol. Rosen 4) Wv. an ... 5) a.d.A. C III/3a-4- f.d.R.d.A. [Signature] SS-Sturmbannführer (F) Document 8: [PMO file BW 30/34, page 35] Translation: BW 30 Krem II 8th April 1942 Copy/Go Office C III/3a-4-Wi/Hol Subject: Auschwitz - Incineration furnace for POW Camp Reference: Your letter of 11/3/42 Enclosure: - Messrs J A Topf & Söhne Erfurt The 2 big three-muffle incineration furnaces originally planned for Auschwitz POW Camp [Birkenau] have been allocated to another construction project. All the preliminary technical and commercial work and all the drawings are transferred to a new construction project, so that the operating costs and overheads to a total of 1.769.36 RM no longer apply. Further details of the new construction project will be furnished in due course. Head of Technical Tasks Office Signature SS Major 2) Waffen SS and Police Central Construction Management Auschwitz 3) Waffen SS and Police Construction Inspectorate Posen 4) Wv on ... 5) For file C III/3a-4- For Archives [signed] Kirschneck SS Second Lieutenant (S) [Specialist] 192 ===== PDF PAGE 0186 | page-186.md ===== ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) Document 10 [PMO file BW 2/9, aug no 21115/6] Drawing by Huta [Bock und Tarihne Aktiengesellschaft] of Kaltowitz of the Quarantine Camp and Camp I of the Bieleman POW camp, scale 1:2000, dated 5/6/42. [The identification block has been enlarged and placed in the top right hand corner where there is nothing on the drawing] 194 ===== PDF PAGE 0187 | page-187.md ===== Document 10a [PMO file BW 2/4, seq no 21133/3] Bauleitung drawing with no identification block. Lageplan des Kriegsgefangenenlagers/Situation plan of POW camp Mailstab/Stale 1:200 [should be 2000] Hohenlisten des Gelandes im Abschnitt II GKL/Ground level contours in construction stage II of POW camp Probably drawn on 6/6/42 ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) 195 ===== PDF PAGE 0188 | page-188.md ===== ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) Document 11 [PMO file BW 2/16, neg no 21135/11] Drawing for estimation purposes by Lenz & Co (Schlesische Industriabe Lenz & Co AG) of Kattowitz showing an accommodation block of the brick-built type erected in construction stage 1 of Birkenau. The drawing is not dated, but was received by the Auschwitz Bauleitung on 7th January 1943. # Translation of inscriptions: - Abrechnungszeichnung betr. Wohnbarackenbau im KGL Auschwitz/ Estimation drawing of accommodation block in Auschwitz POW camp [in fact Birkenau] - (Details siehe Massenberechnung)/ (For details see quantity estimate) - Schnitt/Section - Grundriß/Plan view - Fundamentp[1]an/Plan of foundations - Querschnitt/Cross-section 196 ===== PDF PAGE 0189 | page-189.md ===== 13. Oktober 1942 45 Bftgb.Nr. 16093 /42/Ja/Mh Betr.: Vergebung der Bannarbeiten für den Reuben des Kriegsgefangenenlagers der Waffen-II in Auschwitz O/S. Bez.: ohne Anla.: 14 An das Wirtschafts-Versultungs-Hamptamt, der Chef des Amtes O T. Berlin-Lichterfelde- ent Unter den Eichen 126 - 135 In der Anlage werden nachfolgende Kosten-Voranschläge mit der Bitte um Genehmigung des Vertragsabschlussses in Vorlage gebracht: 1.) Kostenvoranschlag vom 27.1.42 zum Anbot der Firma Huta, Hoch- u. Tiefbau-Aktiengesellschaft, Kattowitz, Friedrichstr.19 mit 9 Anlagen, abschliessend mit 2.) Kostenvoranschläge zum Anbot der Firma Schles. Industriebau Lenz & Co., A.-G., Kattowitz, Grundmannstr.23 u.s.v. Kostenvoranschlag Nr.1 vom 31.12.41 samt Nachtrag vom 7.7.42 mit Kostenvoranschlag Nr.2 vom 7.7.42 3.) Kostenvoranschlag vom 13.7.42 für den Reuben des Kremstoriums zum Anbot der Firma Huta, Hoch- und Tiefbau-A.-G., Kattowitz, Friedrichstr.19, abschliessend mit RM 227 321.99 " 145 543.70 " 406.40 " 53 854.98 " 133 756.65 b.m. Document 123 [=October Resolution= Central State Archives in Moscow, microfilm no. 295, collection no. 7021, description no. 108 and deposit no. 52, pages 45, 46 and 47] Translation of page 45: | 13th October 1942 | | | --- | --- | | Correspondence register no. 16093 /42/Ja/Mh | | | Subject: | Award of contracts for construction work in the Waffen SS prisoner of war camp at Auschwitz, Upper Silesia | | Reference: | None | | Enclosures | 14 | | SS Economic and Administrative Head Office | | | Head of Office C/III | | | Berlin Lichterfelde West | | | Unter den Eichen 126-135 | | | Enclosed please find the following estimates, with request for authorization to conclude contract: | | | 1) Estimate of 27/1/42, tender of Huta, Civil Engineers, Kattowitz, Friedrichstraße 19, with 9 annexes, for a total of | RM 227 321.59 | | 2) Estimate of Messrs Lenz & Co, Industrial Builders, Kattowitz, Grundmannstraße 23, i.e: | | | Estimate no 1 of 31/12/41 amounting to | RM 145 543.70 | | with a supplement of 7/7/42 of | RM 406.40 | | Estimate no 2 of 7/7/42 amounting to | RM 53 854.98 | | 3) Estimate of 13/7/42 for the construction of the new crematorium according to the tender by Huta, Civil Engineers, Kattowitz, Friedrichstraße 19 amounting to | RM 133 756.65 | | | PTO | 197 ===== PDF PAGE 0190 | page-190.md ===== - 2 - 96 Die vorgenannten Arbeiten sind wegen der ausserordentlichen Dringlichkeit derselben den Firmen, vorbehaltlich der Gen- kmigung durch die vorgesehene Dienststelle, bereits vergeben werden. Die Verträge werden nach Genehmigung abgeschlossen. In 1.) und 2.) Mit den Bauarbeiten für das K.G.L. musste über Sonderauftrag in Oktober 1941 sofort begonnen werden. Der Bauherald hierauf mit Zl.II B-So-8/3/Se/Le von 1.11.41 erteilt. Wegen der Dringlichkeit der Arbeiten konnte vorerst eine Aus- schreibung nicht durchgeführt werden, vielmehr waren die Firmen Huta, Hoch- und Tiefbau-A.-G., und Schlos. Industriellen Lens & Co., A.-G., beide Kattowitz, die einzigen, welche für einen sofortigen Einsatz aufzutreiben waren und gleichzeitig über den nötigen aufgetriebenen Maschinenpark, wie Feldbahn, Bagger, Be- temischmaschinen, sowie über die notwendigen Geräte verfügten. Der Firma Huta wurden die Arbeiten am 4. und 6.10.41, der Fir- ma Lens am 8.10.41 mündlich mit der Auflage übertragen, sofort mit den Bauarbeiten sublegieren. Beide Firmen erklärten bei Arbeits- beginn, ein bindendes Anbot nicht erstellen zu können, da sie mit den Lagerverhältnissen, insbesondere mit der Leistungsfähig- keit der Häftlinge nicht vertraut waren. Die Nachträglich eingereichten Angebote wurden geprüft; die Preise entsprechen den ortsüblichen. In 3.) Mit dem Kamban des Krematoriums musste noch im Juli 1942 wegen der durch die Sonderaktiechen geschaffenen Lage sofort begonnen wer- den. Zur beschränkten Ausschreibung wurden die Firmen Huta, Hoch- und Tiefbau-A.-G., Kattowitz, Friedrichstr. 19 und Schlos. Document 12/II Translation of page 46: - 2 - Because of the extreme urgency, the above-mentioned work has already been allocated to the firms, subject to approval by the competent service. The contracts will be concluded on receipt of this authorization. Regarding 1) and 2) As regards the POW camp construction work, it was necessary to start at once in October 1941 on special contract. The construction order was given by Zl.II B-So-8/3/Se/Le of 1/11/41. In view of the urgency of the work, the normal call for tenders procedure was not followed, because in any case Huta, Civil Engineers, and Lenz & Co, Industrial Builders, both of Kattowitz, were the only firms we were able to find who would be able start immediately, and who at the same time had available the vast amount of equipment necessary, such as portable tracks, excavators, cement mixers and other machinery. The orders for the work were given verbally, to Huta on 4th and 6/10/41 and to Lenz on 8/10/41, with the instruction to commence construction work immediately. Both firms declared that they could not make a firm estimate at the beginning of the job because they did not know the conditions of work within the camp, and in particular the capacities of the prisoners to be employed. The estimates subsequently submitted have been checked and found to be in accordance with local usage. Regarding 3) As regards the construction of the new crematorium building, it was necessary to start immediately in July 1942 because of the situation caused by the special actions. The firms Huta, Civil Engineers, Kattowitz, Friedrichstraße 19, and Lenz & Co, Industrial Builders, Kattowitz, Grundmannstraße 23, were PTO 198 ===== PDF PAGE 0191 | page-191.md ===== - 3 - Industriebau Lens & Co., A.-G., Kattowitz, Grundmannstr.23, welche schon im K.G.L. arbeiteten, eingeladen. Die Schles. Industriebau Lens & Co. hat lt. Zuschrift vom 15.7.42 wegen Arbeitermangel kein Anbot abgegeben. Aus diesem Grunde wurde die Firma Huta beauftragt, sofort mit den Arbeiten gemäss ihrem Anbot vom 13.7.42 zu beginnen. Die Zentralbauleitung bittet nach Genehmigung um Rücksendung der beigeschlossenen Original-ostenvoranschläge zwecks Vertragsschluss. Der Leiter der Zentralbauleitung der Waffen-SS und Polizei Auschwitz [Signature] im angeturmführer Durchschlag an Raumspakation der Waffen-SS Reich/Ost, P.O.S.S. Document 12/III Translation of page 47: - 3 - invited to tender, as they were already working in the POW camp. According to their letter of 15/7/42, Messrs Lenz & Co declined to tender because of a shortage of labour. For this reason Huta was asked to commence work immediately on the basis of their tender of 13/7/42. The Central Construction Management requests your approval and the return of the enclosed original estimates with a view to concluding the contracts. Head of the Waffen SS and Police Construction Management Auschwitz [signed] Bischoff SS Captain Copy to: Waffen SS Construction Inspectorate for the Eastern Reich Posen [This document comes from a file probably containing about one hundred originals and copies in German and Russian and various letters taken from KL Auschwitz-Birkenau by the Soviets in January/February 1945. The letters were subsequently bound together. Microfilm M 26 kept in the Archives of the High Commission for the Examination of Hitlerite Crimes in Poland, in Warsaw, shows part of these. PMO file BW 30/27 of 41 pages (microfilm 130) contains photographs of these documents, including several letters identical to those on microfilm M 26. The entire Soviet file is not known to us at present, but in the author's opinion all the essential documents have been communicated, for it is always the same ones that are photographed and produced.] 199 ===== PDF PAGE 0192 | page-192.md ===== On 15th August 1942, a situation plan of the whole POW camp was completed [Document 15], projecting its extension to four construction stages, numbered (from south to north) IV, I, II, III, with a capacity of 60,000, 20,000, 60,000 and 60,000 respectively, or a total of 200,000 prisoners. A letter of 27th August 1942, signed by Bischoff and addressed to the SS Construction Inspectorate at Posen for the Head of Office C/V of the SS-WVHA in Berlin, confirmed that the «lodging» capacity of the POW camp was to be increased to 200,000 prisoners [Soviet «October Revolution» Archives, microfilm 295, ref. 7021-108-32, page 41]. A double-track railway was still shown between B.I and B.II, as well as the construction of TWO crematoriums (labelled 1 and 2, the future Krematorien II and III), which gives 1 muffle for 7,000 prisoners, a proportion considered «normal». However, the two crematoriums, though certainly still designed without homicidal gas chambers, are formally connected with the SPECIAL ACTIONS [Document 12/II] carried out in Bunkers 1 and 2, i.e. they were to be used essentially to incinerate the corpses from these two installations, which were hitherto buried in mass graves. The date of 15th August 1942 is to be considered as the end of the gestation period for the FOUR KREMATORIEN of the POW camp and the beginning of their construction. In fact the contracts for the building work on Krematorien II and III were awarded on 29th July. The first drawing for the future Krematorium IV (PMO) file BW 30b-30c-22, drawing 1678) was produced on 14th August. The contract for the construction of the four chimneys for the TWO OTHER KREMATORIEN (IV and V), of a different model from II and III, was awarded to Messrs Robert Koehler on 20th August 1942 [file BW 30/26, pages 52 and 53]. Thus the incineration capacity of the camp was to be increased to 52 muffles, while on 19th August 1942 at the evening roll call there were 22,925 prisoners in the camp. AS AT MID-AUGUST 1942, the criminality of the Krematorien, normally by definition installations planned for health reasons, is evident from the fact that THEIR CAPACITY WAS EXCESSIVE IN RELATION TO THE REAL NEEDS OF THE CAMP, without there being any need to demonstrate the presence of homicidal gas chambers inside them, which is in fact difficult to establish at that date. Although a criminal trace has been detected on drawing 1300 of Krematorium II, it is unique and thus open to dispute, as it can be differently interpreted in relation to other factors. By contrast, drawing 1678 of Krematorium IV (and V) makes it possible to prove that the building was directly planned for criminal purposes. These are the only early traces. The real traces of the installation of homicidal gas chambers in the four Krematorien first appear in mid-January 1943 and go on appearing until the end of June 1943. ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) 200 Document 13 (PMO) file BW 30/26, page 211 Acceptance of tender form, dated 29th July 1942, and sent by the Auschwitz Waffen SS and Police Central Construction Management to Huta, a structural and civil engineering firm, concerning the site preparation, bricklaying, facing, flooring, insulation and concreting work for the new crematorium building BW (worksite) 30 at Bohemian, in accordance with the estimate of 13th July 1942 amounting to 133,756.65 RM. The acceptance was signed by the Head of the Bauleitung, Karl Bischoff, and was received by Huta on 5th August 1942. Two buildings went in fact constructed, the second being the future Krematorium III, worksite 30a. No acceptance of tender has been found for it. ===== PDF PAGE 0193 | page-193.md ===== Konzentrationslager Auschwitz Kommandantur Auschwitz, den 12. August 1942 # Sonderbefehl. So! Ein heute mit leichten Vergiftungserscheinungen durch Blaueäure aufgetretener Krankheitsfall gibt Veranlassung, allen an Vergasungen Beteiligten und allen übrigen H- Angehörigen bekanntzugeben, daß insbesondere beim Gömmen der vergasten Räume von H-Angehörigen ohne Marke wenigstens 5 Stunden hindurch ein Abstand von 15 Metern von der Kammer gewahrt werden muß. Hierbei ist besonders auf die Windrichtung zu achten. Das jetzt verwendete Gas enthält weniger beigesetzte Geruchstoffe und ist daher besonders gefährlich. Der H-Standortarzt Auschwitz lehnt die Verantwortung für eintretende Unglücksfälle in den Fällen ab, bei denen von H-Angehörigen diese Richtlinien nicht eingehalten werden. gez.: H 8 0 H-Observationsberuführer und Kommandant. F.d.R. H-Neuptsturmführer und Adjutant. Verteiler: | 7 Stück an | H-T-Stuba. | je 1 Stück an: | | --- | --- | --- | | 7 " | " Verwaltung | H-Review, HWL, DAW, Pwkt. | | 3 " | " Ablage | Fernschreibstelle | | 2 " | " Bauleitung | Telefonvermittlung | | 2 " | " Pollt. Abt. | H-Entisengemeinschaft | | 1 " | " 9./H-T-Stuba. | Fahrbereitschaft | | 1 " | " Landwirtschaft | Arbeitseinsatz KL | | 1 " | " Reitstall | Arbeitseinsatz FKL | | 1 " | " Schutzhaftlager | Abteilung VI | | 1 " | " FKL. | Anzendienststelle des | | 1 " | " Gerichtsoffizier | Amtes T.I. | | 1 " | " Personalabteilung | Sonderkommando Zeppelin. | | 1 " | " Haus der Waffen-U | | Document 14 (PMO Archives, no reference) Translation: Auschwitz Concentration Camp Kommandantur Auschwitz, 12th August 1942 # Special Order A case of indisposition with slight symptoms of poisoning by hydrocyanic gas which occurred today makes it necessary to warn all those participating in the gassings and all other SS members that in particular on opening rooms used for gassing SS not wearing masks must wait at least five hours and keep at a distance of at least 15 metres from the chamber. In addition, particular attention should be paid to the wind direction. The gas being used at present contains less odorous warning agent and is therefore especially dangerous. The SS garrison doctor declines all responsibility for any accident that should occur in the case where these directives have not been complied with by SS members. Signed: Höß SS Lieutenant-Colonel and Commandant For files [unidentified signature] SS Captain and Adjutant Distribution: | 7 to SS-T-Stuba | 1 each to: | | --- | --- | | 7 Administration | SS Hosp., HWL, DAW, Radio station | | 3 Store | Telegraph station | | 2 Construction Management | Telephone exchange | | 2 Political Section | SS Canteen | | 1 9th SS-T-Stuba | Transport Section | | 1 Agriculture | KL Labour Office | | 1 Stables | Women's KL Labour Office | | 1 Protective Detention Camp | Detachment VI | | 1 Women's KL (concentration camp) | External Service Station of the WI | | 1 Legal Officer | Office | | 1 Personnel Division | Zeppelin Special Kommando | | 1 Waffen SS House | | 201 ===== PDF PAGE 0194 | page-194.md ===== # THE BUILDING OF KREMATORIEN II AND III On 8th August 1943, Huta, not being equipped to damp-proof the basements of Krematorien II and III, called in a specialist firm, VEDAG of Breslau (the correspondence subsequently exchanged between Huta, Vedag and the Auschwitz Bauleitung turned into a dialogue the deaf which would be funny but for the nature of the subject). At this date, work on BW (worksite) 30 (Krematorium II) had been under way for a week, according to Bischoff [letter of 13/10/42], though in fact, no SS or civilian document mentions the exact date on which work commenced. All the existing «Tagenberichte/Timesheets» for the firms who must have been the first to work on this site - Huta, Topf & Sons and Karl Falck - start considerably later (24-25 August for Huta, according to estimation based on two isolated timesheets and a letter of 3/9/42 from the Bauleitung to Huta; 7th September for Topf, according to recapitulatory reports by their fitters Martin Holick and Willi Koch; 9th October for Falck). Yet BW 30 was visited on 20th August by senior SS and civilian officials. Thus preparation must have begun by mid-August, while work got under full swing towards the end of the month. Vedag replied favourable on 12th August to Huta's request to them to carry out the damp-proofing work for the basements. On 14th August 1942, on the basis of technical documentation supplied by the Topf Chief Engineer, Prüfer, the Bauleitung produced drawing 1678 showing the implantation of Prüfer's latest brainchild, the 8-muffle furnace, also known as the double 4-muffle furnace (this drawing becoming in fact the first one for the future Krematorium IV). At 2 o'clock in the afternoon of 19th August 1942, Prüfer went to a meeting with members of the Auschwitz Bauleitung in order to discuss the uncertain future of the two simplified 3-muffle furnace installations originally ordered for the POW camp and the installation of the five 3-muffle furnaces in the new Krematorium (the future Kr II) [Document 16]. After discussion with SS Second Lieutenant Ertl, it was decided that two Topf «fitters» (or foremen), Martin Holick and Willi Koch, should be rapidly detached to worksite 30. Then Prüfer suggested that the two simplified 3-muffle furnaces to be located near the «Badeanstalten für Sonderaktionen/Bathing installations for special actions» (Bunkers 1 and 2), should be taken from the Mogilew consignment. But this Mogilew contract was exclusively made up of 8-muffle furnaces, with no 3-muffle furnaces. [It would appear that Prüfer was acting quite dishonestly (or, depending on the point of view, as a clever salesman), trying to exploit to the full the disastrous health situation in the camp. Motivated essentially by the prosperity of his firm and his own personal gain, he probably wanted to ensure the implantation of his furnaces (being also the creator of the 3-muffle furnace, standard and simplified model) in three stages. First, rapidly install a 2-muffle furnace intended for Mauthausen but sent in error [?] to Auschwitz; second, rapidly deliver two 3-muffle furnaces, taken from Topf stocks and put from the «Mogilew contract», installing one near Bunker 1 and the other near Bunker 2; third, being able to see with his own eyes the catastrophic state of the camp and having direct knowledge of what was going on there, he could foresee what was to happen (large-scale physical destruction of the Jews) and thus professionally assess the cremation requirements of the SS, suggesting the installation of one or two 8-muffle furnaces in addition to the others, having already supplied the Bauleitung with technical details of this new furnace at the beginning of August. Prüfer, having finally succeeded in doing a remarkable sales job in supplying cremation furnaces to KL Auschwitz-Birkenau (total sales: three 2-muffle furnaces, ten 3-muffle and two 8-muffle. But from all this he received a maximum commission of only 2,000 RM, something like $ 4,000 today) had slightly overestimated the real cremation requirements of the camp and his plan failed. First, the 2-muffle furnace was in fact sent on to Mauthausen; then the two 3-muffle furnaces remained on his hands (for only twelve 3-muffle furnaces were found in 1945 in Buchenwald and Birkenau, whereas fourteen had been manufactured [letter from Prüfer to Ludwig and Ernst Topf dated 15/11/42]; lastly, he was not able to install one or two furnaces in addition to the four of the original Mogilew contract, because two furnaces from this contract were sent to Birkenau to equip Krematorien IV and V. At the beginning of July 1943, there remained in the Topf stores in Erfurt; two unsold 3-muffle furnaces and three 4-muffle half furnaces of the Mogilew contract, paid for but not delivered (only one half furnace had been actually been sent to Mogilew, on 30/12/41)] As for the five other 3-muffle furnaces to equip the second Krematorium (the future Kr III), no decision could be taken, because the construction of this building depended on the decision of the Reich Security Head Office [RSHA] in Berlin [and not the SS-WVHA, which confirms that at this date the construction of Krematorium III was not envisaged for health reasons but was planned strictly in the context of «Sonderaktionen/Special actions» which were the exclusive purview of the RSHA]. Taking advantage of the appalling state of the camp, Prüfer tried to palm off on the SS a 2-muffle furnace intended for KL Mauthausen and arrived by providential error at Auschwitz. Late in the afternoon, Prüfer, Ertl, SS Sergeant Kirschneck and the chimney expert Robert Koehler went to Krematorium I in the main camp to inspect the chimney and assess damage caused by repeated overheating. The next day, 20th August 1942, Ertl, SS Corporal Janisch, Koehler and Prüfer went to Birkenau to visit worksite 30 [Documents 17 and 17a]. This Prüfer pressed for written confirmation of the order for the two 3-muffle furnaces intended for Bunkers 1 and 2, and for the double-muffle furnace delivered in error. On 24th August, Ertl gave Prüfer the go ahead for the delivery of two 8-muffle furnaces, there naturally to be taken from the «Mogilew contract». On the other hand, the Bauleitung rejected the suggestion of installing the double muffle furnace, which was subsequently sent to Mauthausen [Documents 18, 18a and 18b]. The period from 21st to 24th August must have been reworking for Prüfer. It was he no means certain that that a civilian like him would succeed in taking two 3-muffle furnaces, being manufactured or already in stock at Erfurt, from the «Mogilew contract» which had no furnaces of this type, and transform them into the very latest 8-muffle furnaces, which were in the contract. It was not for nothing that Prüfer had become a member of the Nazi Party and had access to Himmler. Precisely because of his contacts in high places, he was starting to have considerable influence over the Auschwitz Bauleitung in cremation matters. He emerged triumphant from this difficult situation, in that he was officially invited by the SS-WVHA in Berlin on 26th August to divert from the Mogilew contract to Birkenau two 8-muffle furnaces to equip the future Krematorien IV and V. On 2nd September, Vedag learned from Huta the the damp-proofing work was to be carried out in the basements of a crematorium (which that firm did not know) and in fact would have to be repeated (Krematorien II and III). Vedag gave a guarantee of two years. On 3rd September, the Bauleitung informed Huta that the excavations for the future Leichenkeller 1 and 2 of Krematorium II had been completed ten days earlier (25th August) and it was high time that the damp-proofing work began [Document 19]. On 6th September, a new garrison doctor, SS Major Wirths, arrived at the camp to take the health situation in hand. On 7th September, Vedag agreed to Huta's request to carry out the work required, while pointing out that they could not start without authorization to release the proofing materials necessary. On the same day, Huta informed Vedag that they had received and immediately passed on to the Bauleitung the requests for the release of felt and bitumen, that the construction of Kr II would have to proceed rapidly and that the firm was waiting for other release forms for the proofing materials required for Krematorium III. Furthermore, Huta warned the Bauleitung that damp proofing the basements with two layers of bituminous felt, as shown on the initial quotation, was not sufficient, and three layers would be necessary. At worksite 30, Topf foremen Holick and Koch were starting work on the foundations for the five 3-muffle furnaces. On 9th September, Bischoff visited worksite 30 and saw that work was held up because of the lack of damp-proofing materials. He immediately informed Huta and offered to make the necessary materials available. The same day, Vedag requested Huta to send them the material release forms signed by the Bauleitung. The deaths caused by the typhus epidemic were becoming a real problem for KL Auschwitz, a situation that was aggravated by the «output» of Bunkers 1 and 2. Camp Commandant Hoess, accompanied by SS Second Lieutenants Hoessler and Dejaco, therefore went on 16th September to the Linzmannstadt Ghetto and from there went to visit the «Sonderanlage/Special installations» (open air cremation ditches) run by SS Colonel Blobel, to assess the possibility of using the same method at Auschwitz. On 17th September, Huta informed Vedag that its requests for the release of materials had been sent to Himmler's headquarters and did not go through the regular channel of the «Reichsstelle für Mineralöle/Reich office for mineral oils». On 18th September, Huta explained to the Bauleitung that the delays occurring at worksite 30 due to the lack of damp-proofing were not caused by Huta but by Vedag, a civilian firm subject to regulations regarding the release of bituminous substances and which refused to employ its materials without authorization from the Reich office for mineral oils. Knowing that the Bauleitung SS were extremely irritated by this procedure, Huta advised them to take responsibility for damp-proofing the basements, using their own resources. The same day, authorization for the release of proofing materials for Vedag was drawn up by Himmler's headquarters. 202 Document 15 [PMO file BW 2/10, acg no 21115/7] LAGEPLAN DES KREGSGEFANGENENLAGERS-AUSCHWITZOS/ Situation plan of Auschwitz POW Camp, Upper Silesia Scale 1:2000 Drawn 15/8/42 by prisoner 15592 Checked by Ertl and approved Bischoff on the same day. Translation of new inscriptions: Bauabschnitt/Construction stage ===== PDF PAGE 0195 | page-195.md ===== ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) 203 ===== PDF PAGE 0196 | page-196.md ===== Dftgb.Nr. 41445/48/Er/Ha # A L S A V E R M E R Betr.: Anwesenheit von Obering. Prüfer der Pa. Topf u. Söhne Erfurt, bezüglich Ausbau der Einzacherungsanlagen in K.S.L. Auschwitz Termine: Herr Ing. Prüfer sprach am 19.8.1942 am 14.00 Uhr bei kiesiger Dienststelle vor, um über den Rieben von 5 Stück 3 Muffel-Einzacherungsäfen in Kremstorien des K.S.L. und Neuanlage von 2 Stück 3 Muffeläfen in einfacher Benseise lt. Plan Nr. D 59 - 570 und Nr. D 59 599 die erforderlichen Einzelheiten zu besprochen. Hierbei wurde folgendes festgelegt: 1.) Spätestens 26. - 27. August trifft der Nautour Kolik aus Dschamwald hier ein, der Nautour Koch in ca. 14 Tagen. Mit den Aufbau der 5 Stück 3 Muffeläfen in K.S.L. wird sofort begonnen. Die Pa. Köhler-Synowitz führt die Ausmauerung der Öfen und Püchse sowie die Errichtung des Sehernsteines lt. Flüssen und Angaben der Pa. Topf u. Söhne durch. 2.) Bezüglich Aufstellung von je 2 Dreimuffeläfen bei den "Bedeunstalten für Sonderaktionen" wurde von Ing. Prüfer vorgeschlagen, die Öfen aus einer bereits fertiggestellten Lieferung nach Regler abzuzeigen und wurde zugleich der Dienststellenleiter welcher beim 4-Wirtschafts-Verwaltungshauptamt in Berlin anwesend war, hiervon teil, in Kenntnis gesetzt und gebeten, das weitere veranlassen zu wollen. 3.) Bezüglich Errichtung eines 2. Kremstoriums mit 5 Dreimuffeläfen, sowie 20- und Belüftungsanlagen auf erst das Ergebnis der bereits laufenden Verhandlungen mit den Reichsverkehrszentrumsatz bezügl. Bezahlung von Kontingentwuchswertet wurden. - 2 - BAKSTW 1000 Blk 30/27 Document 16/1 [PMO file BW 30/27, pages 13 and 14] # Translation: Correspondence register no. 12115/42/Er/Ha # Summary record Subject: Visit of Chief Engineer Prüfer of Messrs Topf & Sons of Erfurt regarding the construction of incineration installations at Auschwitz POW camp [Birkenau]. Proceedings Herr Eng. Prüfer came to our office on 19/8/42 at 2 pm in order to discuss details of the installation of 5 3-muffle incineration furnaces in the POW camp Krematorium and a new type of simplified installation of 2 3-muffle furnaces, as shown on drawings D 59,570 and D 59,599. The following was agreed: 1) The fitter [Martin] Holl[c]k will arrive here from Buchenwald not later than 26th or 27th August and fitter [Willi] Koch in about 14 days. The construction of the 5 3-muffle furnaces will commence immediately. Messrs Köhler [or Köhler] of Myslowitz will line the furnaces and the flues and will erect the chimney in accordance with Topf & Sons drawings and instructions. 2) Regarding the installation of each of the 2 3-muffle furnaces near the «bathing installation for special actions», Engineer Prüfer suggested that these furnaces should be taken from a consignment already prepared for shipment to Mogilew. The Head of the appropriate service of the SS Economic and Administrative Head Office in Berlin [SS-WVHA] was immediately informed by telephone and requested to take the appropriate steps. 3) Regarding the construction of a 2nd crematorium with 5 3-muffle furnaces, together with the ventilation and air extraction systems, it will be necessary to await the result of negotiations already under way with the Reich Security Main Office [RSHA] on the subject of rationed materials. - 2 - 204 ===== PDF PAGE 0197 | page-197.md ===== - 2 - 39 Hier geht und Mauthausen zurück. Lkl 1/1. 4.) Nach Auschwitz wurden von der Pa. Topf u. Söhne irrtümlich die Teile eines Doppelmuffel-Bindecherungs- ofens gesandt, welche jedoch für Mauthausen bestimmt waren. Ing. Prüfer schlägt vor, den Ofen hier zur Aufstellung zu bringen. Die fehlenden 2 Einführtüren und 2 Asche- entnahmetüren können inzwischen der Lieferung der 5 Dreimuffel-Bindecherungsöfen entnommen werden. 5.) Die Schäden in den neu gemanzten Schornstein für das bestehende Krematorium wurden gemeinsam mit Herrn Köhler und H-Unterscharführer Kirschnek besichtigt und die zu ergreifenden Maßnahmen besprochen. - Da das Schornsteinfutter infolge der großen Hitze arbeitet, muß es oben frei durchgehen und darf nicht mit dem Außensautel fest verbunden sein. 6.) Am Donnerstag den 20. August 1942 wurde gemeinsam mit H-Strm. Janisch u. Herrn Köhler die Baustelle des 5 Dreimuffelofens in K.G.L. besichtigt, und die erfor- derlichen Einzelheiten durchbesprochen. 1.1. Die 1.2. Die 1.3. Die 1.4. Die 1.5. Die 1.6. Die 1.7. Die 1.8. Die 1.9. Die 2.0. Die 2.1. Die 2.2. Die 2.3. Die 2.4. Die 2.5. Die 2.6. Die 2.7. Die 2.8. Die 2.9. Die 3.0. Die 3.1. Die 3.2. Die 3.3. Die 3.4. Die 3.5. Die 3.6. Die 3.7. Die 3.8. Die 3.9. Die 4.0. Die 4.1. Die 4.2. Die 4.3. Die 4.4. Die 4.5. Die 4.6. Die 4.7. Die 4.8. Die 4.9. Die 5.0. Die 5.1. Die 5.2. Die 5.3. Die 5.4. Die 5.5. Die 5.6. Die 5.7. Die 5.8. Die 5.9. Die 6.0. Die 6.1. Die 6.2. Die 6.3. Die 6.4. Die 6.5. Die 6.6. Die 6.7. Die 6.8. Die 6.9. Die 7.0. Die 7.1. Die 7.2. Die 7.3. Die 7.4. Die 7.5. Die 7.6. Die 7.7. Die 7.8. Die 7.9. Die 8.0. Die 8.1. Die 8.2. Die 8.3. Die 8.4. Die 8.5. Die 8.6. Die 8.7. Die 8.8. Die 8.9. Die 9.0. Die 9.1. Die 9.2. Die 9.3. Die 9.4. Die 9.5. Die 9.6. Die 9.7. Die 9.8. Die 9.9. Die 10.0. 7.) Ing. Prüfer hat um schriftlichen Auftrag über die Lieferung der 2 Stück 3 Muffel- und den Doppelmuffel- Bindecherungsöfen, sowie um baldige Mitteilung, ob die Ofen der Lieferung Mogilew abgesweigt werden können. 8.) Zum Antransport des fehlenden Schanotte- und sonstigen Materiales sind der Pa. Topf u. Söhne zugleich 10 Fracht- briefe einzuwenden. H-Unterscharführer (S) Kunstverlag H-Unterscharführer (S) Auschwitz, den 21. August 1942. Document 16/II # Translation: - 2 - 4) The components of a double-muffle incineration furnace have been sent by error to Auschwitz by Topf & Sons, whereas they were in fact intended for Mauthausen. [Manuscript note in the margin]: Furnace going back to Mauthausen! Ertl 24/8 Engineer Prüfer suggests installing the furnace here. The 2 charging doors and the 2 ash removal doors that are missing could be borrowed in the meantime from the consignment of 5 3-muffle cremation furnaces. 5) The damage to the new brickwork of the chimney for the existing Krematorium [Kr I in the Stammlager] was examined by Herr Köhler and SS Sergeant Kirschne[e]k who discussed what measures to take. As the chimney lining works because of the great heat, it must be free in the upper part and not firmly bonded to the external brickwork. 6) On Thursday 20th August 1942, the worksite for the 5 3-muffle furnaces in the POW camp [BW 30] was visited by SS Corporal Janisch and Herr Köhler and the necessary details were discussed. 7) Eng. Prüfer requested a written order for the delivery of the 2 3-muffle furnaces and the double muffle incineration furnace and a rapid decision on whether the furnaces are to be taken from the consignment intended for Mogilew. [Manuscript note in the margin]: 24/8/42 Given to Prüfer: 1. Agreed 2. the two 8-muffle furnaces can be taken from the Mogilew consignment (in accordance with the instructions of Head of Service SS Major Lenade) Ertl 24/8 8) 10 transport authorizations are to be immediately sent to Topf & Sons for delivery of the refractory and other missing materials. [signed Ertl] SS Second Lieutenant (Specialist) Sighted by: [initialed Bischoff] SS Captain (Specialist) Auschwitz, 21st August 1942 [This new 4-muffle furnace could be twinned to give an 8-muffle furnace. It was probably designed by Prüfer in November 1941. Himmler ordered four pairs from Topf at the beginning of December 1941 for the Mogilew camp (located in the Soviet Union, 200 km East of Minsk). This deal was known as the «Mogilew Contract».] 205 ===== PDF PAGE 0198 | page-198.md ===== As a result of Hoess' visit to SS Colonel Blobel, the exhumation and incineration of the corpses buried earlier began at Birkenau on 20th September, first on pyres, then in open-air ditches. To accelerate the process, the bodies were doused with crude oil, which was later replaced by methanol. On 22nd December, the Bauleitung Drawing Office produced a situation plan of the POW camp, drawing 1697, this time with three construction stages (with a maximum capacity of 140,000 prisoners), still with only two Krematorien (II and III), giving 1 incineration muffle for 4,700 people. Even though the construction of Krematorien IV and V had been decided upon, their location did not yet figure on the drawing. The double truck railway did not stop -at the gates to the Krematorien- but continued beyond them [Document 20]. SS Lieutenant-General Pohl, head of the SS-WVHA, inspected the Auschwitz camp on 23rd September and was able to see that an epidemic was raging there. Between 18th and 26th September, Vedag finally sent the long-awaited damp-proofing materials to Bauleitung, but this did not prevent them from asking Huta on 26th for «standard» materials release authorizations in order to regularize the situation. At the same time they asked Huta to pass on a letter to Vedag foreman Krause whose exact address they did not know! Probably at Pohl's request, Dr Ernst Robert Grawitz, Head of the German Red Cross, made a thorough inspection of the camp on 25th September. He saw the sick quarters overflowing, corpse storage, the temporary water treatment installations, the extermination of the Jews and the incineration of corpses in open-air ditches. On 29th September, Huta sent Vedag the release issued by Himmler's headquarters, hoping that this would settle the question of the formalities. But this was not to be, for on 1st October Vedag replied to Huta that so far as they were concerned this release had no legal value and the papers had to be filled in, signed and sent solely to the Reich office for mineral oils. Despite these administrative difficulties, damp-proofing work at BW 30 proceeded without a hitch until 2nd October, when worked stopped due to a problem with drain pipes that had to pass through the proofing material. On 7th October, the Bauleitung signed the second request for the release of damp-proofing material, this time for worksite 30a (Krematorium III). On 13th October, the Auschwitz Bauleitung informed the Head of Office C/IV of the SS-WVHA in Berlin of the cost of the contracts for the construction of the KGL (POW camp) according to the estimates of the civilian firms Lenz & Co and Huta, and the cost of the shell of a new crematorium in this camp [Document 12]. This letter mentions the urgency of constructing the new crematorium, an argument often advanced as proof of its criminal intent, but this argument is invalid, because for the SS, ALL construction was urgent. On the other hand, this document is still vital, for it proves that the Krematorien were associated with «special actions». On 14th October, there was a meeting in the Auschwitz Bauleitung building between its senior staff and two Huta representatives, Herr Stephan and Herr Sadora. The floors of the basements in Krematorien II and III, originally planned to be 12 cm thick, were increased to 50 cm of non-reinforced concrete [Bauleitung drawing 933[-934]/p] and Huta drawings 109/13a, /14a and /16a]. On 17th October, Vedag foreman Krause, working with Bauleitung materials on the damp-proofing of the basements of Krematorium III, estimated that this would be finished by 31st October. On 19th October, Vedag asked for release requests for the damp-proofing materials for Krematorium III, not wanting to deliver them without «standard» authorization (which is why the SS had advanced materials to foreman Krause). Messrs Karl Falck completed the first stage of the drainage work at worksite 30, commenced ten days earlier on 9th October. On 24th October, Huta sent the Bauleitung a first batch of twenty pages of static calculations accompanied by its drawings 109/3, 4, 5 and 6 of Krematorien II and III, Huta project number 7015/IV. These static calculations also concerned the chimneys, identical for the two buildings, which were no doubt designed by the Bauleitung on the basis of drawings supplied by Topf. On 26th October, there was an incident at worksite 30a concerning the sizing of the concrete before damp-proofing, with disagreement between SS Second Lieutenant Janisch and foreman Krause, the latter considering the operation unnecessary in view of the damp and rainy weather. It is not known how the argument ended, but the suspicion must be that it cost Krause very dear, because a letter of 4th May 1943 indicates that he had been called up in the Wehrmacht [PMO file BW 30/30, page 3], whereas if he had played his cards right he should have been able to volunteer for the Waffen-SS and get himself detached to the Auschwitz Bauleitung, a real «cushy number» compared with the «external» fronts. During the period 27th October to 11th November, the only documents referring to BW 30 are the «Arbeitszeit Bescheinigungen/Timesheets» of the fitter Willi Koch concerning the foundations for the furnaces and the underfloor flues, and the «Bauberichsen/Construction reports» on the erection of the furnaces [PMO file BW 30/41]. On 12th November, Huta produced drawing 109/9 (Dissecting room ceiling), and on 13th, drawing 109/10 (Waste incinerator room ceiling supporting beams and the lintel). These were sent to the Bauleitung on 14th October, together with more static calculations concerning project number 7015/IV. Documents 17 ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) Documents 17a ![img-1.jpeg](img-1.jpeg) Documents 17 and 17a [PMO reg 2/09/3/247 (17) and /248 (17a)] An example of a worksite inspection visit, of which there were many at Birkenau. In this particular case, the site is the «Wasseraufbereitungsanlage/Water treatment installation» located to the east of the external road running along Birkenau BIIa parallel with «Graben/Drainage ditch» C-C1 running through the second construction stage (BA II). These photographs were taken in the summer of 1943 and the SS officer is probably SS Lieutenant Jothann, who was shortly to become Head of the Bauleitung. 206 ===== PDF PAGE 0199 | page-199.md ===== Document 18 # Abschrift 1 Zentral - Bauleitung der Waffen-SS und Polizei A u s e n t e r 1 3 4 0 / 8 4 Bftg.-No.: 14211/42/21/04. Betr.: Verladung von Ofenteilen. Leng.: Veranlassung der Firma J. A. Topf und Söhne, Erfurt. Anlg.: 1 Aufstellung. Bürg. in der Verwalter der K.K.A. An 3/10 1942 Bürg. d. d. (Weg. Grem) An 3/10 1942 Konzentrationslager Leuthausen-Guringen Die Zentralbauleitung der Waffen-SS und Polizei Auschwitz hat an 22. September 1942 im Waggen No. 320 224 an die dortige Auschrift und zur Verfügung der Firma J. A. Topf und Söhne, Maschinenfabrik in Erfurt die in der Anlage verzeichneten Teile zum koksbebeisten Topf-Doppelmuffel-Bindschorungs-Ofen verwandt. Die in der Anlage genannten Ofentalle stammen aus einer Sendung der Firma Topf und Söhne, Erfurt, die den Waggen No. 43 225 beigeladen waren. Der Leiter der Zentralbauleitung der Waffen-SS und Polizei, Auschwitz ( gez.) Unterschrift unleserlich SS-Kauptsturmführer. Benutzung: die 1. Aufstellung für den Börsen No. 59 (Indenstimmung des abgelegt werden. - Die Anlage ist einfandig abgefunden. Mogler 10/10 1942 Document 18a # Abschrift 1 ZENTRAL-BAULEITUNG der Waffen-SS u. Polizei Auschwitz G./S. A u f e s t e r a b u b e n t e r | 2 | Winkeleisen | 90/9 | 2000 | lg. | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 4 | " | 80/8 | 1235 | " | | 4 | " | 50/5 | 1235 | " | | 1 | Winkel | 50/5 | 2330 | " | | 2 | Winkeleisen | 60/6 | 1945 | " | | 13 | Bundeisen-Anker | 16 | | " | | 4 | I-Eisen HP. | | 2000 | " | | 6 | Pinkeleisen | 50/5 | 824 | " | | 2 | " | 90/9 | 2000 | " | | 2 | " | 50/5 | 1130 | " | | 1 | Flascheisen | 70/10 | 2520 | " | | 2 | Pinkeleisen | 80/8 | 1600 | " | | 2 | " | desgl. | | | | 4 | " | 50/5 | 1235 | " | | 1 | Flascheisen | 70/10 | 2520 | " | | 4 | " | 80/8 | 790 | gestr. lge. | | 2 | " | 70/10 | 770 | lg. | | 2 | Flascheisen-Bügel | mit je 2 | Seilrollen | | | 2 | Bauchkanaleschieber-Jahmen | | | | | 2 | " | -Gehäuse | | | | 2 | Gegengestichte | 240 | | " | | 2 | Aschbehälter | | | | | 2 | Schörperräte | | | | | 3 | Blechrohr-Leitungsstücke | 120 | 1 | " | | 10 | Laufschienen | für den Einführwagen | | | | 1 | Verechtebewagen | | | | | 1 | Einführwagen mit Abstreifer | | | | | 6 | Gegengestichte | 300/190/210 | | | Auschwitz, den 26. September 1942 Der Leiter der Zentralbauleitung der Waffen-SS und Polizei Auschwitz ( gez.) Unterschrift unleserlich. SS-Kauptsturmführer. Document 18b [Photo by Michel Fokos] ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) The famous «globe-trotting» double-muffle furnace, which, after its metal parts had visited Auschwitz, was finally installed at KL. Mauthausen, where it is still visible today. It is now the only Topf double-muffle incineration furnace still in its original state, though the lateral blower, which was to the left, and its electric motor have been removed. The three double-muffle furnaces in Auschwitz Krematorium I were identical in type, but when two of them were reconstructed in 1945, this was done from memory, and according to the metal parts available, and without referring to the Mauthausen furnace. This resulted in incorrect re- construction of the rear part where the firing hearths were, and an increase of one third in the length of the incineration muffles, thus artificially increasing the volume of the muffles and hence their cremation capacity. Documents 18 (left) and 18a (right) [Bundesarchiv Koblenz, NS 4 Mauthausen/54, page 25 (recto and verso)] Letter of 30th September 1942 from the Auschwitz Bauleitung in KL. Mauthausen confirming shipment on 22nd September of the metal parts of a Topf double-muffle furnace. Verso of the letter, with a list of the Topf incineration furnace parts which were sent from Erfurt, arrived in error at Auschwitz and were then sent on to Mauthausen. 207 ===== PDF PAGE 0200 | page-200.md ===== Document 19 [PMO file BW 30/30, page 21] # Zentral-Bauleitung ## der Waffen-SS und Polizei ## Auschwitz O.-C. Auschwitz, am 5. September 1942 Ortsruf Postfach Nr. 46 Jersruf Waplowitz Nr. 22250 Bftgb.-No. 1277/42/Str./Qu. bei Rückantwort Angabe des Aktenzeichens notwendig Betr.: Isolierungsarbeiten am Krematorium in Kriegsgefangenenlager Bez.: Besichtigung der Baustelle durch H-Stuf.(S) Bischoff am 3.9.42 Anlg.: - . - Firma Huta, Hoch- und Tiefbau-Aktiengesellschaft Kattowitz O/S ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) Die zwei Wannen des obigen Gebäudes sind bereits seit ca. 10 Tagen fertiggestellt, sodaß man unbedingt sofort die Isolierungsarbeiten in Angriff zu nehmen sind. Nach mehreren Rücksprechen dieserhalb mit Ihren Bauführer, Herrn Stephan, wurde der Beginn dieser Arbeiten für Montag, dem 7.9.42, zugesagt. Die Bauleitung erwartet, daß dieser Termin auf jeden Rückbeingshalten wird, da die weit vergerückte Jahreszeit keine weitere Verzögerung mehr zuläßt. Der Luft der Zentral-Bauleitung der Waffen-SS und der Auschwitz H-Baupfer- und H-R-Auschwitz Der Haftungs- und -Belegste oder - auf dem Original 21 208 # Translation: Waffen SS and Police Central Construction Management Auschwitz Auschwitz, 3rd September 1942 When replying quote reference number Correspondence register no. 12771/42/Str/Qu Subject: Damp-proofing work in the Krematorium of the POW camp Reference: Inspection of the worksite by SS Captain (S) Bischoff on 3/9/42 Enclosure/ Huta, Hoch- und Tiefbau- Aktiengesellschaft Kattowitz, Upper Silesia The two excavations for the above building were completed about 10 days ago [since 25th August], so that the damp-proofing work absolutely must begin immediately. After several conversations on this subject with your foreman Herr Stephan, the start of this work has been fixed for Monday, 7/9/42. The Bauleitung expects this date to be respected without fail, for the lateness of the season allows of no further delay. Head of the Waffen SS and Police Construction Management Auschwitz [signed] Bischoff SS Captain (S) [initials of a Huta man] Document 20 [PMO file BW 2/11, seq no 21/1559] LAGEPLAN DES KRIEGSGEFANGENENLAGERS-AUSCHWITZ O/S Situation plan of Auschwitz POW Camp, Upper Silesia VORFLUTPLAN/Plan of drainage ditches Scale 1:2000 Drawing 1:097 Drawn 22/9/42 by prisoner 15392 Checked by SS Second Lieutenant Erl and approved by SS Captain Bischoff on the same day The first construction stage was to contain 20,000 prisoners, the second 60,000 and the third 60,000, giving a total of 140,000. ===== PDF PAGE 0201 | page-201.md ===== Document 20 ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) 209 ===== PDF PAGE 0202 | page-202.md ===== Document 21 [PMO file BW 30/27, page 17] Michl. f.d. Akten. Anschwitz, den 10.12.1942 Persönlichen: Geheim! Dutz: Fertigstellung der Krematorien. An D-Firtschafts-Verwaltungshauptamt, Der Amtsgruppenhof G, D-Brigadeführer und Generalmajor der Waffen-SS Dr. Ing. Kammler, Berlin-Lichterfelde-West Unter den Eichen 126-135. Im Monat Dezember war es wegen Entlassung und Entweisung die Arbeit an mehrere n. Tagen rufen. Vergleichen findet seit 16. Dezember aus Eichenzeitgründen eine Sonderaktion der Bestepe bei sämtlichen Zivilarbeitern statt. Infolge Verhängung der Lagersperre konnten die Zivilarbeiter seit 6 Monaten das Lager nicht mehr verlassen. Eine Verlaubung von 23.12.42 - 4.1.43 ist daher unempfindlich. Durch vorstehende Umstände wird der Verein zur Fertigstellung voraussichtlich bei anhaltender guter Mitterung und gleichbleibender Arbeitszeitschrift die Folgt gemeldet: Krematorium II 31.1.1943, Krematorium III 31.3.1943, Krematorium IV 28.2.1943. Der Leiter der Zentralbestätigung der Waffen-SS und Polizei beschtildege gez. Bischoff D-Brigadeführer. Verteiler: 1. D-Brig. Ertl. 2. D-Brig. Janisch 3. Registrator. Okt. Kgl. Altg. C Translation: Copy for files Correspondence register no. 47 Geh/42/Ertl. Auschwitz, 18/12/1942 TELEX SECRET! Subject: Completion of Krematorien SS Economic and Administrative Head Office Head of Amtsgruppen C SS Brigadier-General and Waffen SS Major-General Dr Ing [Engineer] Kammler Berlin Lichterfelde West Unter den Eichen 126-135 During the month of December, work had to be interrupted several times for delousing and disinfestation. Also, starting on 16th December, for security reasons, there was a special action among all the civilian workers. Because the camp has been isolated, civilian workers have not been able to leave the camp for 6 months [incorrect: since mid-July, i.e. 5 months]. A period of leave from 23/12/42 to 4/1/43 is therefore essential. In view of the circumstances, the expected completion dates, assuming weather conditions remain favourable and that personnel remain unchanged, are as follows: Krematorium II 31/1/1943 Krematorium III 31/3/1943 Krematorium IV 28/2/1943 Head of the Auschwitz Waffen SS and Police Central Construction Management [signed] Bischoff SS Captain Distribution: 1. SS Second Lieutenant Erl 2. SS Second Lieutenant Janisch 3. Registration For Archives [manuscript] POW camp general file [unidentified initials] 210 ===== PDF PAGE 0203 | page-203.md ===== 49. U. Stuf 1943 Abschrift 29. Januar 1943 Bftgb.Nr.: 22250/43/Ei/L. Betr.: Krematorium II. Baustent. Insog: Fernschreiben des H-UTIA Nr. 2648 von 22.1.43. Ansg.: 1 Prüfbericht An Antsgruppenghof C, H-Erginsführer und Generalmajor der Waffen-SS Dr. Ing. Kammler, Berlin-Lichterfelde-West Unter den Eichen 126-135 Das Krematorium II wurde unter Einsatz aller verfügbaren Kräfte trotz unzugbarer Schwierigkeiten und Landwetter bei Tag- und Nachbetrieb bis auf bauliche Kleinigkeiten fertiggestellt. Die Öfen wurden in Dasein des Herrn Oberingenieur Prüfer der ausführenden Firma, Firma Topf u. Söhne, Erfurt, angeformt und funktionieren tadellos. Die Eisenbetendecke des Leichenkollers konnte infolge Krematoriumserkrankung noch nicht ausgezahlt werden. Die ist jedoch unbedeutend, da der Vorgangskeller hierfür benützt worden kann. Die Firma Topf u. Söhne konnte infolge Waggenpapiere die Is- und Entlüftungsanlage nicht wie von der Zentralbauleitung gefordert rechtzeitig anliefern. Nach Eintreffen der Is- und Entlüftungsanlage wird jedoch mit dem Einben sofort begonnen, sodass voraussichtlich am 20.2.43 die Anlauf vollständig betriebsfertig ist. Ein Bericht des Prüfingenieurs der Firma Topf u. Söhne, Erfurt, wird beigelegt. Der Leiter der Zentralbauleitung der Waffen-SS und Polizei Auschwitz Verteiler: 1 H-Usuf Janisch u. Kirschneck 1 Registratur (Akt Krematorium) H-Kemptsturmführer P.d.R.d.A.: [Signature] H-Usuf (P) 25 Document 22 [PMO file BW 70/34, page 100 and annex 5 to Volume 11 of the Hoess Trial (page 64)] # Translation: [Manuscript] SS Second Lieutenant (Specialist) Kirschnick! Copy Correspondence register no. 22250/43/Bi/L 29th January 1943 Subject: Krematorium II. State of construction Reference: SS-WVIIA telegram 2648 of 28/1/43 Enclosure: 1 Inspection Report Head of Amtsgruppen C SS Lieutenant-General and Waffen SS Major-General Dr Ing [Engineer] Kammler Berlin Lichterfelde West Unter den Eichen 126-135 Krematorium II has been completed but for minor details, thanks to employing all available forces, despite enormous difficulties and freezing weather, using day and night shifts. The furnaces have been lit in the presence of Herr Chief Engineer Prüfer of the firm responsible for their construction, Topf & Sons of Erfurt, and they function perfectly. Because of the frost, it has not yet been possible to remove the formwork from the ceiling of the corpse cellar. This is of no consequence, however, as the gassing cellar can be used to this end [i.e. as a morgue]. Because the wagons are blocked, Messrs Topf & Sons have not been able to deliver on time the ventilation and air extraction installations as requested by the Bauleitung. These will be fitted as soon as they arrive, so that it is probable that the installation will be entirely ready for service on 20th February 1943. Please find enclosed a report by the inspecting engineer of Topf & Sons, Erfurt. Head of the Auschwitz Waffen SS and Police Central Construction Management [signed] Bischoff SS Captain Distribution: 1 SS Second Lieutenants Janisch and Kirschneck 1 Registration For Archives [signed] Pollok SS Second Lieutenant (S) 211 ===== PDF PAGE 0204 | page-204.md ===== Abschrift 29. Januar 1943. Betrifft: Prüfbericht des Ing. Prüfer. An die Zentralbauleitung der Waffen- und Polizei Auschwitz 0/8 Auf Grund der heute vormittage stattgefundenen Besprechung mit der Bauleitung und der darauf folgenden Besichtigung der Krematorien II, III, IV und V habe ich folgendes festgestellt. Krematorium II Dieser Gebäudekomplex ist baulich bis auf kleinere Nebenarbeiten fertiggestellt (Decke des Leichenkellers 2 kann wegen Prost noch nicht ausgeschalt werden). Die 5 Stück Dreimuffel-Einäscherungsöfen sind fertig und werden z.Zt. trockengeheizt. Die Anlieferung der Be- und Entlüftungsanlage für die Leichenkeller verzögerte sich in Folge der Waggonsperre, sodass der Einbau voraussichtlich erst in 1o Tagen erfolgen kann. Somit ist die Inbetriebnahme des Krematoriums II bestimmt am 15.2.43 möglich. Krematorium III Die Ausenmauern des Ofengebäudes sowie der Schornstein sind fertig. Mit dem Einbau der Rauchkanäle für die Einäscherungsöfen wird in 8 Tagen begonnen. Der Einbau der 5 Stück Dreimuffel-Einäscherungsöfen kann in ca 5 Wochen erfolgen. Die Inbetriebnahme dieser Einäscherungsöfen ist frühestens zum 17.4.43 möglich. Krematorium IV Der Einbau sowie die Fundamente sind fertiggestellt. Mit dem Aufbau des Achtmuffel-Einäscherungsofens wird am Montag, den 1.2.43 begonnen. Die Arbeiten werden zum 20.2.43 beendet sein. Krematorium V Die Fundamente der Ausenmauern sowie eines Schornsteins sind in Bau. Die Fertigstellung dieses Krematoriums wird im wesentlichen von der Witterung abhängen. - 2 - Document 23 [PMO file BW 30.34, page 101] # Translation: [Manuscript] SS Second Lieutenant (Specialist) Kirschneck BW 30 Copy 29th January 1943 Subject: Inspection report by engineer Prüfer To Waffen SS and Police Central Construction Management Auschwitz, Upper Silesia As a result of this morning's conversation with the Bauleitung and the subsequent visit to Krematorien II, III, IV and V, I have established the following: Krematorium II This complex is completed, from the standpoint of construction, but for secondary details (the form-week cannot yet be removed from corpse cellar 2 because of the frost). The 5 three-muffle incineration furnaces are completed and are at present being warmed through to dry them. Delivery of the ventilation and air extraction systems for the corpse cellars has been delayed by the blockage of wagons, so that it will probably not be possible to install them for another 10 days. It will therefore certainly be possible to bring Krematorium II into service on 15/2/43 [in fact it was officially handed over on 31/3/43, a month and a half late]. Krematorium III The external walls of the furnace building [actually room] and the chimney are completed. In 8 days installation of the incineration furnace flues will begin. Installation of the 5 three-muffle incineration furnaces can be done in about 5 weeks. It will be possible to bring these incineration furnaces into service at the earliest on 17/4/43 [in fact Kr III was handed over on 25/6/43, two and a half months late]. Krematorium IV The shell and the foundations are completed. Construction of the eight- muffle incineration furnace will begin on Monday 1/2/43. Work will be completed for the 28/2/43 [in fact Kr IV was handed over on 22/3/43, less than a month late]. Krematorium V The foundations of the external walls and of one chimney are under construction. Completion of this Krematorium will depend mainly on weather conditions. - 2 - ===== PDF PAGE 0205 | page-205.md ===== ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) Document 23a [PMO file BW 30/34, page 102] # Translation: - 2 - The inspection of the above-mentioned Krematorien and their internal installations has shown that despite the great amount of construction work involved and the difficulties due to weather conditions and the supply of materials, work has progressed rapidly. Signed for J A Topf & Sons Chief Engineer Prüfer For Archives [signed] Pollok SS Second Lieutenant (S) The cremation of disinterred corpses in open air ditches was completed on 30th November. According to Hoess, this operation destroyed 107,000 corpses. The last date shown on the Topf «Bauberichte», 30th November, seems to mark the end of the main construction work on the five 3-muffle furnaces, but they were not yet entirely complete or operational. On 16th December, the 179 prisoners at worksite 30 and their capo (the number was at a maximum at that date, on average it was about one hundred) worked only in the morning, 4 hours instead of the usual 8 [PMO file BW 30/37, page 83]. This was probably connected with the security operation that was mounted over the next two days. On 17th December, the camp Gestapo, for reasons of security, undertook a «Sonderaktion/Special action» (which probably in fact began the previous day) AMONG THE CIVILIAN WORKERS (of whom there were about 40 or 50 at worksite 30). [INB: the term «special action» in this context means checks and interrogations among a specific category of person and has nothing to do with the selection of those fit for work and the gassing of the rest]. In fact, a telex of 18th December signed by Bischoff [Document 21] specifically mentions the operation as being from 16th December, and two Huta «Tagesberichte/Timesheets» confirm it indirectly, the report for 17th stating: «Today there were neither civilian workers nor prisoners at the worksite [30] and that for 18th: «Again, no civilians at the worksite». Bischoff's telex is the ONLY document concerning the Krematorien that is classified «SECRET», and yet it contains nothing out of the ordinary. The mention «Secret» is probably a result of the Gestapo action, which made the Bauleitung SS more security conscious - for four days. Once the alert was over, they fell back into their administrative routine to such an extent that they made several «slips» that are now considered to be definite criminal traces, beginning about the middle of January 1943. The telex, in announcing in the same breath the completion dates for three Krematorien and the sending of civilian workers on holiday, borders on the surrealist, in that it disregards a basic fact: buildings do not advance when nobody is working on them. The delays in the official handover of the Krematorien as compared with the dates announced were: one month for Krematorium IV, just under two months for Krematorium II and just under three months for Krematorium III. In order to make up for the twelve working days lost, the SS had to institute night shifts to work on the Krematorien. On 19th December, SS Second Lieutenant Dejaco PERSONALLY DREW drawing 2003 [see annex] concerning the partial rearrangement of the ground floor of the western part of Krematorium II and the junction between Leichenkeller 1 and 2 in the basement. The elimination of the «Rutschefcorpse] chute» makes the drawing incomprehensible, unless one accepts that the plan was for the corpses destined for incineration to enter the two morgues on their own two feet, hence STILL ALIVE. This drawing gives rise to the question: why did the SS want to bring live people into morgues, places generally reserved for the dead? The gradual adaptation of the Krematorien to become instruments of large-scale murder enables this question to be answered. On 22nd December, the Bauleitung informed Messrs Topf in their turn of the planned completion dates for Krematorien II, III, IV AND V (the planned date for this last being 31st March 1943 and the actual handover date being 4th April, only four days later), the dates for the first three having been announced in the telex of 18th December, and requesting that these dates be respected and that Topf and their principal representative for these buildings, Prüfer, take all necessary steps to this end. It should be noted that in this letter the Bauleitung, still under the influence of the recent Gestapo «Sonderaktion» in the camp, coyly refers to the Krematorien as «Anlagen/Installations», a foolish attempt at dissimulation in view of the clearly stated subject of the letter: «KGL Auschwitz, Krematorium» [PMO file BW 30/27, page 19]. From Wednesday 23rd December 1942 until Monday 4th January 1943, WORKSITES 30 AND 30a WERE DESERTED, THEIR CIVILIAN PERSONNEL BEING ON HOLIDAY WITH THE APPROVAL OF THE SS. Having left Erfurt on 4th January 1943, the Topf fitter, Messing, arrived at Auschwitz on the morning of the 5th for the recommencement of work on BW 30 and 30a. That same afternoon, he started the job of fitting the three (suction-type) forced draught installations on three sides of the collective chimney of Krematorium II, a job that took him until 24th January. On 13th January, the Bauleitung reminded the Auschwitz DAW (German Equipment Workshops) that its woodworking shop was to produce on time the articles ordered for the different worksites around the camp. Particular mention was made of the doors ordered by the Bauleitung on 26th October 1943 «for Krematorium I [to become Kr II] at the POW camp [Birkenau] of which there is urgent need, «zur Durchführung des Sondermassnahmen/for implementing the special measures» [Volume 11 of the Hoess Trial, Annex 4, microfilm no 205]. The same day, Messrs Karl Falck began work on the drainage of Krematorium II, a job that lasted until 30th March. On 18th January, the DAW replied that the doors for worksites 30 and 30a had been made in accordance with the five tracings attached to the letter and that the Bauleitung should inspect them for conformity. It was Kirschneck who did this. The DAW also told the Bauleitung that any required changes could be made up to 21st January. However, it was not until 23rd that the Bauleitung told the DAW that one door thickness had to be increased and at the same time requested delivery of the windows for the roof space of Krematorium II (the two at each gable end and the thirteen dormer windows). Between 26th January and 7th February, Messing fitted the pulsed air blower motors (known as «secondary motors») on the five 3-muffle furnaces of Krematorium II. On 27th January, the Bauleitung informed Huta that their engineer, Herr Stephan, had not used a front protection agent when pouring the concrete roof of Leichenkeller 2, despite the cold weather. Furthermore, the pit for the corpse 1/8 (of Kr III), which should have been allowed for in the foundations, had been forgotten. It was now being dug, thus compromising the handover date for Krematorium II [?] and should be temporarily stopped, but the work was continuing despite the orders given. If either of these faults caused the slightest damage or delay, Huta would have to take the consequences. Krematorium II had to be finished by 31st January. This letter was not without its effect, for Huta finished the shell of Krematorium II almost on time. 213 ===== PDF PAGE 0206 | page-206.md ===== 1660 Bftb.-Nr.: /43/3/Lp. Auschwitz, 29.1.1943. # Aktenvermerk Auf Grund der heute vormittag stattgefundenen Besprechung mit der Bauleitung und der darauffolgenden Besichtigung der Krematorien II, III, IV und V wurden nachstehende Fertigstellungstermine vereinbart und von mir aus durchaus für möglich gehalten. # Krematorium II Bei diesem Gebäudekomplex stellte ich fest, daß das Ofenraumgebäude mit den Nebenräumen vollkommen fertiggestellt ist, dazgleichen auch der große Leichenkeller 1. Der Leichenkeller 2 ist soweit fertiggestellt, bis auf die Ausschaltung der Beche, welche Arbeiten von frostfreien Tagen abhängig sind. Die 5 Stück 3 Muffel-Hintscherungsöfen sind fertig und werden z.Z. trockengeheizt. Die elektrischen Anschlüsse für die zum Ofen gehörenden Motore für die Druckluftgebläse werden z.Zt. vorlegt. Die 3 großen Gaugszämlagen, an den Schermsteinen befindlich, sind eingebaut und betriebsfertig erstellt. Auch hier werden zur Zeit die elektrischen Anschlüsse für die Motoren vorlegt. Der Leichenauftrag wird z.Zt. provisorisch eingebaut (als Flabensauftrag). Die Be- und Entlüftungsanlage für die Leichenkeller ist infolge der Waggonsperre, die vor einigen Tagen erst aufgehoben wurde, noch nicht eingetroffen, die Waggons rollen und wird täglich mit dem Eintreffen dieser Materialien gerechnet. Der Einbau kann in ca. 10 Tagen erfolgen. Somit kann die vollkommene Inbetriebnahme des Krematoriums II bestimmt am 13.2.1943 erfolgen. Der im Gebäudekomplex des vorstehenden Krematoriums untergebrachte Müllverbrennungssofen wird in den nächsten Tagen fertiggestellt. Auch ist für diesen Ofen der Anbau bereits fertig. - 2 - Document 24 [PMO file BW 3034, page 105] # Translation: [Manuscript] BW 30 Krema 1 Correspondence register no. /43/Kirschneck/Lp Auschwitz, 29/1/43 # Summary Report [Manuscript] Invalid ! As a result of this morning's conversation with the Bauleitung and the subsequent inspection of Krematorien II, III, IV and V, the following completion dates were agreed upon, and can in my opinion be respected. # Krematorium II In this complex, I observed that the building with the furnace room and its ancillary rooms is entirely completed, as is the large corpse cellar 1. Corpse cellar 2 is completed as far as possible apart from removal of the formwork for the ceiling, work which depends on there being no frost. The 5 3-muffle incineration furnaces are ready and are at present being warmed through for drying. The electrical connections for the pulsed-air blower motors forming part of the furnace installation are at present being installed [by the Topf fitter, Messing]. The three big [suction-type] forced draught installations in the chimneys are in place and ready to operate. Here again, the electrical connections for the motors are being installed [by Messing]. The corpse hoist is being installed on a temporary basis [awaiting delivery of an electric lift]. The ventilation and air-extraction systems for the corpse cellars have not yet arrived due to the blockage of wagons, which was only lifted a few days ago. The wagons are now moving again and this material is expected any day. They can be installed in about 10 days. It will therefore certainly be possible to bring Krematorium II completely into service on 13/2/43. The waste incinerator installed in this complex of buildings will be completed in the next few days. The annex construction housing this incinerator is already completed. - 2 - 214 ===== PDF PAGE 0207 | page-207.md ===== 4060 - 2 - ### Krematorium III Bei diesen Krematorium sind die Außenmauern des Gebäudes fertig und die Ofenraustaufsche wird zur Zeit eingeschaltet. Der Schornstein mit 3 Scharen wird in 3 Tagen fertig sein. Somit erfolgen bei diesem Krematorium die Einbeuten der 5 Stück 3 Muffel-Kindschorungsöfen in 5 Wochen. Jedoch werden die Rauchkanäle von den Öfen in 8 Tagen begonnen. Die Wanne für die Grundwasserisolierung, sowie die dreilagig aufgelegte Pappisolierung samt Rektaboten ist fertiggestellt, ebenso die Entwässerung innerhalb der beiden Leichenheller. Gegenwärtig wird Belastungsbeton ausgebracht. Die Inbetriebnahme der 3 Muffel-Kindschorungsöfen ist am 17.4.1943 möglich. ### Krematorium IV Das Ofengebäude nebst den zwei Schornsteinen und den Nebenräumen sind soweit fertig, das Ofenfundament hergestellt. Mit dem Aufbau des 8 Muffel-Kindschorungsofens wird am Montag, den 1.2.1943 begonnen, die Fertigstellung des Ofens erfolgt am 20.2.1943. ### Krematorium V Die Baumaterialien liegen auf der Lagerstelle. Die Fundamente für die Gebäudeaustauschsitzung sind begonnen, desgleichen auch das Fundament für einen Schornstein. Die Arbeiten an diesen Krematorium werden mit besonderen Hochdruck vorangetrieben. Die Fertigstellung des Krematoriums wird im wesentlichen von der Witterung abhängen. Sollten der Februar und März gelindes Wetter haben, sodaß mit Hochdruck gearbeitet werden kann, so kann das Krematorium Ende April in Betrieb kommen. Die Besichtigung der vorstehend aufgeführten Krematoriumgebäude und Innenseinrichtungen hat gezeigt, daß trotz der großen Beauftragten und der Materialbeschaffungsschwierigkeiten die Arbeiten flott vorangegangen sind. Document 24a (PMO file BW 20.34, page 196) Translation: - 2 - ### Krematorium III In this Krematorium, the external walls of the building are completed and the formwork is at present being erected for the furnace room ceiling. The three-flue chimney will be completed in 3 days. The installation in this Krematorium of the 5 3-muffle furnaces will take place in 5 weeks [6th March]. However, work on the furnace flues will start in 8 days [6th Feb.]. The basins for protection from groundwater and the three layers of dump-proofing, including the protective concrete, are completed, as is the internal drainage of the two corpse cellars. The ballast concrete is at present being poured. It will be possible to bring to [5] 3-muffle furnaces into service on 17/4/43. ### Krematorium IV The furnace building, the two chimneys and the ancillary rooms are completed. The furnace foundations are ready. The erection of the 8-muffle incineration furnace will begin on Monday, 1/2/43 and the furnace will be completed on 28/2/1943. ### Krematorium V The construction materials are on the site. Work has begun on the foundations for the external walls and for one chimney. Work on this Krematorium will proceed as quickly as possible, but its completion will depend mainly on weather conditions. If the weather is mild in February and March, permitting intensive work, it will be possible to bring the Krematorium into service at the end of April [it was actually handed over on 4th April]. The inspection of the above-mentioned crematorium buildings and their internal installations has shown that despite the great amount of construction work involved and the difficulties due to weather conditions and the supply of materials, work has progressed rapidly. [In the author's opinion the note «invalid» probably concerns the dates of bringing the Krematorion into service or the conclusion of the last paragraph]. 215 ===== PDF PAGE 0208 | page-208.md ===== Abschrift 2. Februar 1943 Bftgb.-Nr. 22356/43/Bi./Ko. Betr.: Prüfbericht des Ing. Prüfer der Firma Topf und Söhne, Erfurt, vom 29.1.1943 über den Bausustand des Krematoriums II Bezug: - - - Anlg.: 1 Abschrift An den Lagerkommandanten S-Sternbannführer Hoess K. L. Auschwitz In der Anlage wird ein Prüfbericht des Ing. Prüfer der ausführenden Firma Topf und Söhne, Erfurt, über den Bausustand der Krematorien II, III, IV und V im K.G.L. mit der Bitte um Kenntnisnahme überreicht. Der Leiter der Zentralbauleitung der Waffen-SS und Polizei Auschwitz S-Sternbannführer Verteiler: Registratur, Krematorium II-V, K.G.L. P.O.S.C.A. [Signature] S-Notnr.(P) Document 25 [PMO file BW 30.34, page 99] Translation: [manuscript] SS Second Lieutenant (S) Kirschneck BW 30 Copy 2nd February 1943 Correspondence register no. 22356/43/Bi/Ko Subject: Inspection report of 29/1/43 by Engineer Prüfer of Messrs Topf & Sons of Erfurt concerning the state of construction of Krematorium II Reference: - Enclosure: 1 copy Camp Commandant SS Lieutenant-Colonel Hoess KL Auschwitz Please find enclosed for your information an inspection report by Engineer Prüfer of the firm involved. Messrs Topf & Sons of Erfurt, concerning the state of construction of Krematorien II, III, IV and V of the POW camp. Head of the Auschwitz Waffen SS and Police Central Construction Management SS Major Distribution: Registration, Krematorien II-V, POW camp For Archives [Signed] Pollok SS Second Lieutenant (Specialist) 216 ===== PDF PAGE 0209 | page-209.md ===== On the morning of 29th January, two days before the planned date for bringing Krematorium II into service (31st), Bischoff, Kirschneck and Pfifer, probably accompanied by other Bauleitung SS and representatives of all the civilian firms working on the Krematorium, went to Birkenau and thoroughly inspected worksites 30, 30a, 30b and 30c. In the afternoon, Kirschneck drew up a detailed report of the inspection (Documents 24 and 26a). As soon as he had finished, Pfifer read it and coolly rewrote it, simplifying the text to «erase» some of the obvious delays. Pfifer entitled the shortened test «Prüfbericht/Inspection report» and gave it to Bischoff (Documents 23 and 23a). Then Bischoff, in response to a request made the previous day by the SS-WVHA in Berlin for a progress report, sent the Pfifer report off to his chief, Kammler, informing him that Krematorium II was completed (Documents 22) and claiming it was operational, which was far from the case. He wrote that he expected the building to be ready for official handover on 20th February, whereas the actual date was 31st March. This «victory communiqué» brought Bischoff immediate promotion: he was made a Major the next day, 30th January. Bischoff had very cleverly manoeuvred his superior, and the delays that inevitably appeared were attributed to Pfifer and issue to Messrs Topf, which was only fair. However, in his letter Bischoff made an enormous gaff, explaining to Kammler that though it had unfortunately not been possible to remove the formwork from the ceiling of Leichenkeller 2, because of the Silesian cold, this was of little importance, because the «Vergasungskeller» could be used in its stead [as a normal morgue]. There was the fateful word, «gassing cellar», written by Bischoff himself and designating Leichenkeller 1, as can be seen after cross-checking with Kirschneck's report and Prüfer's simplified «inspection report». This is the first of the «slips» that SS and civilians could not help making, involuntarily or otherwise, as the criminal conversion of the Krematorium progressed, since in the course of their work they had to give precise designations to the homicidal installations. The afternoon of 29th January 1943 was extremely busy, because in addition, Bischoff and Pfifer considered the possibility of constructing a SIXTH INCINERATION INSTALLATION, KREMATORIUM VI, based on the principal of open-air incineration ditches and the experience gained with them in the Birkenau woods between 20th September and 30th November 1942. Pfifer was to produce the drawings and Pollok was to follow progress for the Bauleitung [Volume 11 of the Hoess trial, Annex 1, page 58]. Pfifer being a fast worker, both in business and in designing furnaces, it is most likely that on his room home from Auschwitz, and according to his habit, he produced the plans for this project at home (2 Hermann-Göringstraße, Bischleben) and during his free time (hence probably on Sunday 31st January). The drawings of this envisaged new cremation installation have not come down to us. It was designated as an «offene Verbrennungskammer/open cremation chamber» or «geoder Ring-Einsteuernungsanlage/Big ring incineration furnace. Pollok reported that its dimensions were «48.75 by 3.76 metres». Bearing in mind that this «furnace» pit was most probably circular, these dimensions could apply to the overall installation or to the diameter and depth of the pit. In the latter case, the surface area of the «furnace» would be 1.865 m² and the cubic capacity approximately 7,000 m³, which is absolutely gigantic and technically quite utopian. In order to remain exploitable within the limits of human strength, the diameter would have to be no more than about fifteen metres. 6 [In the author's opinion, the foundations and the circular wall would have been poured in reinforced concrete, the whole being protected by a thick layer of firebrick. On the bottom there would have been short pillars of refractory material, about one metre long, supporting a framework of refractory beams on which the corpses would rest. Firing by coke or coal would be effected through three (or more, depending on the diameter of the pit) openings spaced equidistantly around the circumference, in the form of trenches sloping from ground level to the floor of the «furnace-pit». It is very possible that Pfifer would have considered improving the efficiency of this internal site by installing pulsed-air blowers, which would have enabled him to sell more of his own firm's products. Operation would have been cyclical the hearth would be lit, corpses would be thrown on to the grid of refractory material, then, when the space between this and the floor of the pit had become choked with ash and clinker, it would have been necessary to let it cool and clean it out completely before beginning a new cycle. The advantage would have been great incineration throughput for very little fuel consumption. The disadvantages, a fire visible day and night for kilometers around, terrible heat, the danger in case of sudden gusts of wind, an obturbable smell and, above all, the work of cleaning out and recharging the furnace pit, would be exhausting if not mortally dangerous. The fact is that optimal operation would require that the pit should not cool too much between cycles, to enable the following cycle to start easily, which would mean that the prisoners cleaning out the pit and preparing it for the next firing would be forced to work in a very hot furnace. Even though this project never came to anything, its principle was not forgotten, and was put into practice in a primitive way in the open-air incineration ditches dug near Krematorium V and Bunker 2/V. In the author's opinion, the future Krematorium VI would most probably have been installed in the birch wood, 300 meters north of Krematorium V. The reader may be interested in how that for a long time one of the Birkenau guides used to tell visitors that Krematorium VI was planned to be electric. The victims would have stepped on a conveyor belt and been taken into the Krematorium where they would have been electrocuted and incinerated in a continuous production line operation. The location was to be in B.III, which was an error of only 200 to 300 metres, since Krematorium VI would probably have been to the west of B.III, in the woods. This poor guide was in fact only repeating what had been written by a Soviet journalist, Boris Polevoi, in «Pravda» on 2nd February 1945. Legends die hard.] On Monday 1st February, a team of bricklayers, civilians and prisoners, working for Messrs Robert Koehler, completed the three-floor collective chimney of Krematorium III (Documents 26 and 26a). On Tuesday 2nd February, the newly promoted SS Major Bischoff sent the Pfifer report to Hoess, to inform him of progress on the four Krematorien (Documents 25). This letter shows that Hoess did not participate in the visit to the worksites on the morning of Friday 29th January. On 3rd February, Kirschneck sent a telegram to Topf, listing their fitter, Messing's, requirements for the air extraction systems for the whole of Krematorium II. At 4.15 pm, Topf senior engineer Schulz telephoned from Erfurt, saying that the requested material would be despatched without fail on Saturday 6th February. On 5th February, Pfifer wrote to the Bauleitung regarding Messing's request, saying that he was having the blowers and ducting taken from a consignment intended for another camp and confirming that they would be on a wagon that should arrive at Auschwitz on 6th February. Asking the Bauleitung to excuse this delay, he announced that two other foremen were shortly to arrive at Auschwitz, Holick (already on his way) and Seyffarth, and that a specialist fitter would later be arriving to help Messing to install the ventilation and air-extraction systems. On the subject of the «large circular incineration furnace», for the supply of which the Bauleitung had [already] received an estimate, Pfifer gave them until 9th February to confirm the order, so that he could immediately start on the manufacture of the metal parts. Krematorium VI was more built for the simple reason that KL Auschwitz had no need for it. With five Krematorien and a total of 52 incineration muffles, the cremation capacity was more than adequate with respect to its end needs, to the extent that in July 1943, just after the official handover of Krematorium III (the last to be completed), the three two-muffle furnaces (6 muffles) of Krematorium I were taken out of service. The same day, Huta sent to Herr Stephan, their foreman at Krematorium II and III, a letter concerning the complaints made by the Bauleitung on 27th January. Huta exonerated him with respect to the non-use of frost protection agents during the pouring of the concrete roof of Leichenkeller 2, a practice the firm was against in all circumstances, but asked him to give his reasons for forgetting to dig the pit for the corpse lift of Krematorium III sufficiently deeply, while its dimensions were perfectly indicated on Bauleitung drawings 1173-1174 and 1301 and that of Krematorium II had already been correctly completed. On 8th February, Messing, who had still not received the ventilation material required for Krematorium II, stopped work there, and in order not to waste time, fitted the anchors for the 8-muffle furnace of Krematorium IV, probably being engaged on this until and including 10th February. On 10th February, work began on piercing the opening for and building the western access stairway to Leichenkeller 2 (future undressing room) of Krematorium III, under the supervision of Huta foreman Kolbe. This was done in six days, being completed on 15th (PMO file BW 30-05, pages 25 to 27). It is not known when this operation was carried out for Krematorium II. The only mention of its realization dates from 26th February, or eleven days AFTER that of Krematorium III was completed. This paradox cannot be explained without further documents. The same day, the Bauleitung telegraphed Topf to again confirm the orders for the «mechanical» installations (five 3-muffle furnaces and the ventilation systems) for Krematorium III and two corpse lifts (one for II and the other for III), as well as a provisional mechanical goods hoist (for Krematorium III), all this material being for immediate procurement or manufacture and to be delivered as soon as possible in order for Krematorium III to be ready for service on 10th April (Document 27). On 11th February, the Bauleitung finally received, apparently five days late, the wagonload of material promised by the Topf engineers Schulze and Pfifer. On checking its contents, Messing found that the blower for Leichen keller 1 and the air extractor fan motor for Leichenkeller 2, both for Kr II, were still missing. This time, things had gone too far, and it was Jährling, a civilian Bauleitung employee, who asked Topf to explain themselves. He recalled that on 21st January Topf had announced that ALL the ventilation and air extraction equipment (for Krematorium II) would be despatched on 22nd, whereas when this first wagon arrived there were so many parts missing that Messing was unable to continue his work. In response to a telephone enquiry, Pfifer had maintained that the material had in fact been sent. As nothing further arrived, the Bauleitung had, at Messing's request, sent a telegram to which Schulze had immediately replied by telephone, saying that the parts had not yet been manufactured but would be sent on 6th February. Pfifer had confirmed in writing on 5th February that the material should in fact be delivered the following day, adding that it had been taken from another consignment! On 10th February, the Bauleitung, still having received nothing, had cabled to Topf the confirmation of orders for equipment for Krematorium III. The arrival of the second wagon on 11th February with the material still incomplete had caused another telegram to be sent, and also a letter concerned essentially with the lack of the blower and its motor for Leichenkeller 1 (the future gas chamber), «for which the need is most urgent». However, Messing recommended work on installing the ventilation systems of Kri II and continued uninterrupted until 13th March. The Bauleitung SS, having triumphedly announced to their superior in Berlin, Kammler, that Krematorium II was completed, were very annoyed that it should still not be operational for lack of the ventilation essential for its operation. The fault lay with Messrs Topf, and in particular with Pfifer, who promised instant miracles to the Bauleitung, whereas in fact things dragged on and material failed to arrive. However, Prüfer's failure to keep his wood was very largely due to the incompatibility between this genuine desire to rapidly manufacture and sell his firm's products and the ever-increasing shortages of all sorts of goods and materials in Germany, which frequently slowed or halted production. Still on 11th February, the Bauleitung had Jährling send Topf the order for the delivery and installation of the waste incinerator for Krematorium III (this matter being not yet settled), for a price of 5,791 Reichs marks according to the Topf quote of 5th February. On 12th February, Messrs Topf sent a first letter (Document 27) acknowledging receipt of the telegram of 10th concerning Krematorium III and the corpse lifts, then, in a second letter repeating the text of the telegram of 10th, it attached that of 11th concerning the fans and motors for Leichenkeller 1 and 2 of Krematorium II (Part II, Chapter 6). It announced that Pfifer would arrive at Auschwitz in the afternoon of 15th February, and the despatch of a replacement motor for Leichenkeller 2. The same day, the consignment note for the shipment of the missing parts was drawn up, and the Bauleitung received on 14th February. Through the intermediary of Pollok, Bischoff informed Kammler at the SS-WVHA in Berlin of the difficulties encountered with Topf, thus putting the blame for the delay in the coming into service of Krematorium II onto this firm. In addition, still through Pollok, Bischoff informed Camp Commandant Hoess of the project for Krematorium VI, stemming from the experience gained with open-air incineration ditches. The Bauleitung envisaged a workforce of 350 prisoners for its construction, almost as many as were employed on the construction of the four new Krematorien. This project was, of course, never implemented because the additional cremation capacity was not required. On 17th February, the Bauleitung Drawing Office produced a general plan of the Birkenau POW camp, drawing 1991, showing the three construction stages in their final form of top capacity of approximately (80,000 prisoners) and equipped, for the first time on any 217 ===== PDF PAGE 0210 | page-210.md ===== drawing with FOUR KREMATORIEN (labelled 2, 3, 4 and 5), giving one incineration muffle for 2,200 prisoners, a ratio that does not appear really criminal [for purposes of comparison, KL Lublin-Majdanek, with an average population ranging from 15,000 to 20,000 prisoners, had a crematorium with five muffles, giving a ratio of 1 muffle for 3,000 to 4,000 people], but it was criminal if one considers the state of progress in the building of prisoners' accommodation barracks with that of the Krematorien. If the SS had had them built as and when the construction stages were completed, it might have been possible to believe that these buildings were «normal», serving only to cremate the dead among a growing population, but as they had all been planned at the same time (all four in July/August 1942), it is obvious that this was not for health reasons but for some quite different purpose. In addition to the two sets of railway tracks appearing on earlier drawings, there was now a third, with a broad space between it and the other two, like a particularly wide station platform. This was to be the «ramp» where the selection was made between those Jews fit for work and those not [Document 28]. This drawing also shows the precise state of the buildings at Birkenau planned, under construction or completed. ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) On 18th February, Kirschneck informed Messrs Industrie-Bau AG, the firm responsible for the roof of Krematorium III, of an extension of 2 metres in the southern wing housing the waste incinerator, and inviting them to send a quotation for the additional work. ![img-1.jpeg](img-1.jpeg) On 20th February, Kirschneck informed the camp labour office that on 18th, of 200 prisoners sent to the construction sites of Krematorien II (and III), only 40 were «strong» (capable of work) and on 19th, still out of 200, only 80. Pollok signed this letter in Bischoff's stead. On 22nd February, the Bauleitung Drawing Office drew complementary sheet 2136 for Krematorium III (BW 30a) with a front elevation, a side elevation and a plan of the ground floor. The principal modification was in the length of the annex wing, which was 12 metres for Krematorium II but became 14 for Krematorium III. On 24th and 25th February, Messing installed the air extractor fan in Leichenkeller I (the future gas chamber). On 26th February, on a hand-written note, countersigned by Kirschneck, concerning the terra-cotta pipes for the drainage of Krematorium II and the supply of doors and windows for Krematorium III, there was mention of the entrance to the future undressing room of Krematorium II (BW 30, Eingang Keller 2), accompanied by a rough sketch showing the western access stairway [Document 29]. This is the first trace of this stairway, which could be used only by living people (assuming drawing 2003 was totally respected), which did not appear on the initial drawings but did on the inventory drawing, 2197 [see annex]. At 6.20 pm, SS Second Lieutenant Kirschneck (his name having been written on a copy by Jährling during filing) sent to Topf a telegram requesting the immediate despatch of TEN GAS DETECTORS for BW 30, i.e. Krematorium II [PMO file BW 30/34, page 48, presented in Part II Chapter 6 «The ventilation systems of Krematorien II and III» and Chapter 8 «Criminal traces»]. This telegram on its own establishes that Messrs Topf, and in particular their representative at Auschwitz, Prüfer, had compromised themselves up to the neck in installing a gas chamber in Krematorium II. Since Topf's production consisted essentially of brewery equipment (cauldrons, vats, etc), metal conduits and containers (ventilation ducting, grain Document 26 [PMO seq. no. 20995/05] Document 26a [PMO seq. no. 20995/05] Example of the construction of a collective chimney with three (or four) flues, typical in the composition of the gang of bricklayers working on it: two civilians, two prisoners and an SS guard (in actual fact, there was one SS man for an entire worksite, where 100 to 150 civilians and prisoners would be working). This gang is very probably working for Messrs Robert Koehler of Myslowitz, a firm specialized in the construction of chimneys, and here building that of the «Frankenwerk/Dietrich heating plant», located several hundred metres west of the Stammlager or main camp. 218 ===== PDF PAGE 0211 | page-211.md ===== ВН 30/27 КОПИЯ ЛАГОВЫХ / Е.А. ТОПР и СЛАВНЫХ оргурт, 12 февраля 1943 года Центральной строительной Конторе О. и. Голицын О. с. в. о. н. и. м. КАЛАШЕ : Краматорий 2 и 3 К.Г.Л. Подтверждена получением воли телеграфии от 10 февраля следующего содержания : Еще раз подтверждена получением воли заказа на пять штук тройных дубильных печей вольтфильное два электрического листа для подъемов трупов и один временный лист для трупов. Также заказаны практическое приспособле- ние подачи угля и приспособление для транспорта пепла. Наш недоемит доставить полную установку для крематории и 3. Сандами, что примите все меры для немедленной от- правки всех машин с частями. Установка обязательно должна вступить в строй 10 апреля 1943 года. Е.А. ТОПР и СЛАВНЫХ БЕРКО : Капитан /КОПИЯ/ [Signature] Document 27 [PNO file BW 30/27, page 24] Translation: COPY / ORDER / J A TOPF & SONS Erfurt, 12th February 1943 SS and Police Central Construction Management O s w i e c i m CONCERNING: Krematorien 2 and 3, POW camp We acknowledge receipt of your telegram of 10th February reading as follows: We once again confirm receipt of your order for five triple muffle furnaces, including two electric lifts for the corpses and one provisional hoist for corpses. Also the order for a practical device for charging coal and a device for transporting ashes. You are to deliver the whole installation for Krematorium 3. We expect you to take the necessary steps to immediately despatch all machines and parts. The complete installation must come into service on 10th April 1943. J A TOPF & SONS [certified a true copy] Captain / KUNIN / [Not having a photograph of the original, the author presents here the Russian translation of the document. However, as the telegram concerned was twice transcribed in almost identical terms (on 11th February in a Bauleitung letter to Topf and on 12th in the reply), it is possible to make a comparison between the two German originals and the Russian translation. This last is a somewhat botched job, with a real error in the third line, where «we confirm our order» becomes «we confirm [receipt of] your order», to say nothing of the transformation of the Roman numerals II and III into 2 and 3 and the word «Anlage K III/installation K III» into «Krematorium 3». This letter is presented in Russian in order to demonstrate the difficulty, if not impossibility, of working with such translations, probably made in haste and in the heat of the moment in 1945, using unqualified translators taken from among the Soviet troops who liberated the Auschwitz-Birkenau camp. The German texts and the English translation are to be found Part II, Chapter 6, «The ventilation systems of Krematorien II and III».] 219 ===== PDF PAGE 0212 | page-212.md ===== really criminal 16... ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) Document 28 [PMO file BW 2/14 seq. no. 21135/30] Situation plan of the Auschwitz POW camp [Birkenau] Scale 1:2000 Drawing 1991, drawn by prisoner 15592 on 17th February 1943. 220 ===== PDF PAGE 0213 | page-213.md ===== Auschwitz, am 6.3.1943 PARTNERST. RÜCKEN V. SEVERSKY AROH!WUM BW 30/25 M. 24365/43/20/1m Detr.: Kla Auschwitz, Krem. II und III KGL, BW 30 u. 30 a Besw.: Dert. Schreiben vom 22.2.43 D.IV. Prf. Anlg.: - - - Firma Topf und Söhne Erfurt Auf Grund Ihres Vorschlages erklärt sich die Dienststelle einverstanden, dass der Keller 1 mit der Abluft aus den Bäumen der 3 Zungsanlagen vorgewürzt wird. Die Anlieferung und der Einbau der hierfür benötigten Rohrleitungen und der Druckluftgebläse muss schnellstens erfolgen. Wie Sie in o.a. Schreiben angeben, sollte die Ausführung noch in dieser Woche geschehen. Um Bergabe eines spezifizierten Kostenangebotes 3-fach für Lieferung und Einbau wird gebeten. Desgleichen wird um Einwendung eines Nachtragsangebotes für die Veränderung der Entlüftungsanlage für den Auskleideraum gebeten. Nach Eingang dieser Angebote wird Ihnen schriftlich Auftrag erteilt. Der Leiter der Zentralbauleitung der Waffen-SS-Polizei Auschwitz H.-Turnbaumführer 37. Verteiler: 1 Bault. KL u. Landw. 2 Registr. KGL BW 30 u. 30 a 1 Sachbearb. Document 30 (PMO file BW 30/25, page 7) # Translation: [manuscript] Krema II and III Correspondence register no. 24365/43/Ji/Lm Auschwitz, 6/3/43 Subject: KL Auschwitz Krematorien II and II POW camp, BW 30 and 30a Reference: Your letter of 22/2/43 D.IV Prf Enclosure: Topf & Sons Erfurt In accordance with your suggestion, the service agrees that cellar 1 should be preheated with the air coming from the rooms of the 3 forced draught installations. The supply and installation of the ductwork and blowers necessary to this end are to be effected as soon as possible. As you point out in your above-mentioned letter, execution should commence this week. We would ask you to send in triplicate detailed quote for supply and installation. At the same time, we would ask you to send an additional quotation for the modification of the air extraction installation in the undressing room. After receipt of these quotations we shall send a written order. Head of the Auschwitz Waffen SS and Police Central Construction Management [Bischoff's initials] SS Major [Jährling's initials] Distribution: 1 KL and Agriculture Bauleitung 2 Files KGL BW 30 and 30a 1 Official in charge 221 ===== PDF PAGE 0214 | page-214.md ===== ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) Document 29 (PMO file BW 3024, page 6b, microfilm 1000) This rough sketch represents Leichenkeller 2 of Kromstierum II, attached to the western side of the building. The upper arrow indicates the location of the entrance for corpses, with staircase on each side of the corpse chain (an arrangement abandoned when the commutation was converted into an instrument of extremisation). The few steps added at the western end of Leichenkeller 2 represent part of the access stairway to the future anchoring room. The rectangle at the bottom of the sketch represents the access to the basement from the north yard, used by the visitors for one week in March 1943, but subsequently reserved for the use of the SS involved with the gossings. 222 # BETRIEBSVORSCHRIFT # des koksbeheizten Topf-Dreimuffel- # Einäscherungsofen Vor Beschickung der beiden Koksgeneratoren mit Koks muss der Rauchkanalschieber am Ofen geöffnet werden. Nunmehr kann in den beiden Generatoren Feuer angefacht und unterhalten werden, hierbei ist zu beachten, dass die Sekundarverschlüsse rechts und links der Ascheentrahmetüren (Koksgeneratoren) geöffnet sind. Nachdem die Einäscherungskammern gut rotwarm (ca 800°C) sind können die Leichen hintereinander in die drei Kammern eingefahren werden. Jetzt ist es zweckmässig das seitwärts am Ofen stehende Drispluftgebläse anzustellen und ca 20 Minuten laufen zu lassen. Hierbei ist zu beobachten, ob zuviel oder zu wenig Frischluft in die drei Kammern eintritt. Die Regulierung der Frischluft erfolgt durch die Drehklappe, die sich in der Luftrohrleitung befindet. Weiterhin müssen die rechts und links der Einführstüren angeordneten Lufteintritte halb geöffnet werden. Sobald die Leichenteile vom Schamotterost nach der darunter liegende Aschaschräge gefallen sind, müssen diese mittels der Kratze nach vorn zur Ascheentrahmetür gezogen werden. Hier können diese Teile noch 20 Minuten zum Nachverbrennen lagern. Dann wird die Asche in den Aschebehälter gezogen und zur Abkühlung beiseite gestellt. Zwischendurch werden neue Leichen in die Kammern nach einander eingeführt. Die beiden Koksgeneratoren müssen von Zeit zu Zeit mit Brennstoff beschickt werden. Jeden Abend müssen die Generatorsorte von den Koksschlacken befreit und die Asche herausgenommen werden. Zu beachten ist ferner, dass nach Betriebsschluss, sobald die Generatoren leer gebrannt und Lufteile nicht mehr vorhanden sind, alle Luftschieber und Türen, deugt auch der Rauchkanalschieber am Ofen geschlossen sein müssen um den Ofen nicht auszukühlen. Nach jeder Einäscherung steigt die Temperatur im Ofen. Daher bitte beachten, dass die Innentemperatur nicht über 1000°C kommt (Weissglut). Diese Temperatursteigerung kann durch Lufteinblasen verhindert werden. Document 31 Operating instructions for the Topf coke-fired 3-muffle incineration furnace (as installed in Kromstierum II and III). Document produced by Dr Miklos Nyteli in his book «Auschwitz: A doctor's eyewitness account» (see Part II, Chapter 2 for bibliographical details). The instructions are exactly the same as for the double-muffle furnaces and an English translation can be found on Part II, Chapter 2 «Kromstierum I». ===== PDF PAGE 0215 | page-215.md ===== silos, etc), together with the associated components (fans, valves and cocks) and, of course, incineration furnaces, they did not manufacture gas detectors, objects associated with systems totally foreign to their spheres of activity, so they must necessarily have had to order them from another civilian firm. Why did the SS use Topf as an intermediary instead of directly approaching a specialist supplier? The answer must be that in this was they avoided awkward questions or the putting of two and two together that might have occurred if some civilian firm not knowing the «special activity» of the Auschwitz camp had received such an order. On the other hand there were no such worries in dealing with Piffer, who was after all technical advisor for the Krematorien. From 26th to 28th February, Messing was working on the air extraction ducting of Leichenkeller 2 (the future undressing room), which was in the form of a metal tube twenty centimeters or so in diameter running the whole length of the room [see the drawing by David Olère, Part II Chapter 6]. On Friday 27th February, following the letter concerning the weak state of the prisoners detailed to worksites 30 and 30a, the Bauleitung informed the camp labour service that this commando, since it could not be employed on worksite 30, had been sent to 30b (Krematorium IV), probably to do simple handling jobs better suited to their physical condition, and requested that the number of prisoners be increased and the commando be ready to work on both sites 30 and 30a, the next day. On the same day, the Bauleitung sent to Messrs Topf its requests for the release of metal parts for the ventilation and air extraction installations and for the forced draught system for Krematorium II, asking Topf to specify the needs more precisely, naturally as a matter of urgency. In addition the Bauleitung informed Industrie-Bau AG that work on the roof of Krematorium II should be commenced immediately, the cost being estimated by the Bauleitung at 9,418.04 RM. On 28th February, following a conversation with Piffer, Jährling wrote out the Bauleitung's firm orders for two electric corpse lifts (one for Kr II, the other for III, to be used to raise the corpses from the basement morgues to the level of the furnace room on the ground floor) for a total of 18,742 RM (9,371 RM each), fitted with a transport cage 1.80 meters long, 1.35 wide and 2.10 high. This was in addition to a Demag goods hoist of 1,500 kg capacity at a price of 968 RM, to be delivered immediately to temporarily equip Krematorium II. On 1st March, the contract for the roof of Krematorium III was awarded to Industrie-Bau AG, on the basis of its tender of 27th February (drawn up by the Bauleitung) for a sum of 9,418.04 RM. On the same day, Huta transmitted to its foreman at Auschwitz, Herr Stephan, Sheet 11 [see annex] of Project 7015/IV (Krematorien II and III) drawn that day and concerning the ceiling supporting beam and cross beams of the waste incinerator room (probably of Krematorium III, for this was modified with respect to Krematorium II, the annex wing being made longer). From 1st to 7th March, Messing worked on the ventilation system of Leichenkeller 1 (future gas chamber) which he brought into service on 7th. On 3rd March, the Bauleitung sent to Industrie-Bau AG a release request form for iron to be filled in immediately. This was for 25 Kg required for the additional 2 metres of roof on the southern wing of Krematorium III and was on top of the request for 800 kg already made for the roof as a whole. On 5th March, the Bauleitung ordered from the metalworking shop of the Auschwitz DAW (German Equipment Workshops) «1 St[le]ck Handgriff für Gastür Ø 12/1 handle for gas [tight] door, 12 [mm] diameter» for Birkenau Krematorium II. The order was received on 6th March and completed on 10th. This was not an ordinary door handle, but a metal bar 20 to 30 cm long, riveted at each end and fitted horizontally on the door to facilitate its handling. On 6th March, the Bauleitung ordered from the DAW metalworking and wood working shops «one gas [tight] door, 100 [cm wide] by 192 [cm high] for Leichenkeller 1 of Krematorium III, BW 30a, to be made on the same pattern as dimensions as the cellar door of the Krematorium opposite [II] with a 8 mm double glass peep-hole, with rubber sealing strip and fittings». The door had still not been made by 31st March. This order proves that the Leichenkeller 1 of Krematorien II and III were fitted with gas-tight doors [see this extract from a letter of 31st March 1943, Part II, Chapter 8, «Criminal traces»]. The same day, the Bauleitung sent a letter to Messrs Topf, written by Jährling and signed by Bischoff, agreeing to the written suggestion [by Piffer] [this has not been found, and was probably destroyed because it discussed the project in «too realistic» terms] that the CORPSE CELLAR [LEICHENKELLER] 1 SHOULD BE PREHEATED with the hot air coming from the three small rooms housing the motors for the forced draught installation [Document 30]. This installation, driven by three 15 HP (11 kW) motors driving the three fans drawing the flue gases from the furnaces to the chimney, produced a lot of heat, and neither the SS nor Piffer had planned any way of dissipating it. It is more than likely that it was again Piffer who had the bright idea of getting round this problem by channeling the unwanted heat to the Leichenkeller 1, where heat was required to bring the temperature of the room up as quickly as possible to 25 or 30 degrees centigrade (the temperature of evaporation of hydrocyanic acid being 26-27 °C). If the gas chamber were to be preheated, the toxic effect would be instantaneous, producing a «flash» death. Piffer, while claiming to act out of «humanity» towards the poor Jews, was doing everything in his power to push his firm's sales, on which he got a commission of 2%. In the author's opinion, this letter is one of the most vital elements in proving the existence of a homicidal gas chamber in Leichenkeller 1 of Krematorium II. Otherwise it is incomprehensible and absurd that there should be plans to heat a morgue, a place that by definition should be kept cool. Furthermore, one cellar of Krematorium II is formally designated an «Auskleideraum/Undressing room». The letter does not specify which cellar, but Messing, in his timesheets, indicates it precisely: «Auskleidekeller II/undressing cellar II [for 2]». Thus, this document contains two damning «slips», important indirect proofs demonstrating the «abnormality» of the Leichenkeller: Leichenkeller 1 can no longer be an underground morgue because there are plans to «preheat» it; Leichenkeller 2 can no longer be a morgue because it has become a place where people get undressed. However, before Prüfer's bright idea could be put into practice, one of the forced-draught motors caught fire, damaging the installation. This fire caused the system to be withdrawn from service in Krematorium II and totally abandoned in Krematorium III. Natural draught was henceforth used in all four Krematorien, which meant lost commission of several hundred Reichsmark for Piffer and the impossibility of preheating the Leichenkeller 1. Document 32 ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) 223 ===== PDF PAGE 0216 | page-216.md ===== On 8th and 9th March, Messing continued working 8 hours a day on the air extraction system of Leichenkeller 2, which he designated «Auskleidekeller/ undressing cellar». On 10th March, Messing worked for SIXTEEN HOURS straight, testing the ventilation and air extraction systems of Leichenkeller 1 of Krematorium II. These tests were intended to determine first the effectiveness of the ventilation, then the waiting time necessary between the introduction of the toxic gas and the opening of the gas-tight door. The ventilation system of Leichenkeller 1 had initially been designed for a morgue, with the fresh air entering near the ceiling and the cold unhealthy air being drawing out near the floor. Its use as a gas chamber really required the reverse situation, with fresh air coming in near the floor and warm air saturated with hydrocyanic gas being drawn out near the ceiling. But the SS and Prüfer chose to maintain the original «morgue» ventilation system in the gas chamber, hoping that it would be efficient enough. The famous ten gas detectors, ordered through Topf, were used to check this point, and probably also to check the gas-tightness of the door sealing. It would appear that by the evening it was established that the ventilation was almost satisfactory, and that 20 to 30 minutes appeared sufficient to bring the HCN concentration down to a reasonable level so that the door could be opened and the future (corpse) «extraction commando» could start its work in reasonable safety. In the author's opinion, it was still necessary to make some adjustments and modifications before the optimal result was achieved. On 11th March, principal engineer Schulze [written Schulze] obtained from Bischoff a certificate of presence at Auschwitz for 1st to 12th March, having had to remain on site, in accordance with the contract, for the installation of the ventilation and air extraction systems [of Leichenkeller 1] of Krematorium II. This certificate states that the ventilation of the gas chamber was to come into service in the evening of 12th March. In fact it was not ready until the following evening. The same day, Jährling sent the Camp Kommandantur Administration three copies of the «Betriebsumweisung/ Operating instructions» for the 3-muffle furnaces of Krematorium II [Document 31] supplied by Messrs Topf and being no different from those provided for the third double-muffle furnace [known as the «new furnace» of Kr I]. Two copies were displayed in the furnace room [one of them being «recuperated» by Dr Miklos Nyszeff in November 1944] and the other was filed. On 12th March, Messing was again at work on the ventilation of the «undressing cellar» [Leichenkeller 2] of Krematorium II, probably waiting for parts to be manufactured locally or the completion of other work before finishing off the ventilation system of Leichenkeller 1. The same day, Jährling calculated the theoretical coke consumption to allow for the four Krematorien and obtained a figure of 8,264 kg for 12 hours of operation (it being implied that the furnaces would operate 12 hours a day) [Document 32]. His calculation contained TWO ERRORS [?], the first concerning the consumption of Krematorien IV and V, and the second an error in addition (a mistake of 800 kg - he should have obtained a total of 7,464, not 8,264). Bischoff initialed the incorrect result without question. The figures were considered to be maximum consumption («Spitzleistungen/Peak production»). Jährling admitted he could not determine annual consumption because it was not known how many hours a day the furnaces would be working. [The correct theoretical consumption was calculated by Jährling on 17th March [Document 33], giving a figure of 7,840 kg of coke for the four Krematorien in 12 hours of activity PER DAY. Very proud of himself for having achieved a «good» result, Jährling signed it and added his status «Z.a. Ing. Civilian employee, Engineer» a detail that should have been omitted considering his arithmetical abilities! The result of 12th March, instead of being cancelled and destroyed, was filed with that of 17th, on which Kirschneck nevertheless wrote «dieser Vermerk is richtig/this note is correct!». While it might be thought that these calculations were the result of incompetence and irreality, this is not the case and the theoretical result, apparently very approximate, turns out quite accurate when compared with another PMO file. PMO microfilm 12,012 contains the coke delivery notes for the Krematorien (without distinguishing between them) from 16th February 1942 to 25th October 1943, a period in which Krematorium I was the only one in operation for the first thirteen months, followed by the completion and bringing into service (between 22nd March and 25th June 1943) of the four Birkenau Krematorien and the abandonment of the «old Krematorium» at the Stammlager. The same two hundred and forty delivery notes preserved make it possible to determine coke requirements month by month: | 1942 | | 1943 | | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Feb | 22 tonnes | Jan | 23 tonnes | | (from 16th only) | | Feb | 40 | | Mar | 39 | Mar | 144.5 | | Apr | 39 | Apr | 60 | | May | 32 | May | 95 | | Jun | 29.5 | Jun | 61 | | Jul | 16.5 | Jul | 67 | | Aug | 31.5 | Aug | 71 | | Sep | 52 | Sep | 61 | | Oct | 15 | Oct | 82 | | Nov | 17 | | | | Dec | 39 | | | Disregarding February 1942 (incomplete data) and stopping at the end of February 1943, we can determine the average monthly coke consumption of Krematorium I over a twelve-month period: 31.1 tonnes. As Krematorium I had 3 double-muffle furnaces, one muffle required approximately 5.2 tonnes of coke per month. The note of 17th March 43 establishes a theoretical daily consumption of 7.84 tonnes for the four new Krematorien with a total of 46 muffles, which also gives a monthly consumption of 5.2 tonnes of coke per muffle. These two concordant figures, coming from different sources, show that the theoretically calculated figures of the note of 17th March can be considered valid and that in PMO microfilm 12,012 the delivery notes for the supply of coke to Krematorium I [Document 34] are complete. As from March 1943, the delivery notes [Documents 35 and 36] indicate only total consumption, without any breakdown between the different Krematorien. Disregarding March 1943, when Krematorium I was probably still working and large quantities of coke were used in drying out and warming through the Birkenau furnaces, then assuming for the sake of argument that all the Birkenau Krematorien were operational at the beginning of April, then the overall consumption was 497 tonnes of coke in seven months (April to October) and with a monthly consumption of 5.2 tonnes per muffle, then the total coke Document 33 1660 Zftgb.: 24 757/43/28/1m Auschwitz, am 17.3.1943 Aktenvermerk Betr.: Schätzung des Kokeverbrauches für Krematorium II KSL nach angeben der 3m. Topf u. Söhne (Erbauer der Ifan) von 11.3.43. 10 Feuerungen = 350 kg/std. In 12 Std. = 12, 350 = 4 800 kg, 2 Krematorien Gemuth 0 400 kg. Bei Dasarbetrieb vermindert sich diese Menge wesentlich, sodass mit 2/3 der Menge gerechnet werden kann. Für Krematorium II u. III Gemuch Verbrauch in 12 Stunden = 350 x 12 / 3 = 2800 x 2 = 2600 kg. Krematorium IV = V. mit je 4 Feuerungen = 8 Feuerungen zusammen = 30 x 4 x 12 / 2 = 1120 x 2 = 2240 kg in 12 Stunden (1 Tagesbet.) Krematorium II = 2 000 kg III = 2 800 IV = 1 120 V = 1 120 sum. = 7 840 kg in 12 Std. (1 Tagesbet.) Dies sind Spitzenleistungen! Ein Jahresbedarf lässt sich nicht angeben, da vorher nicht bekannt ist, wieviel Stunden kann. Tage gekost werden muss. Jährling 22.4.47 Verteiler: 2 Verwaltung II 2 Sachbearbeiter 3 Begleite, 30 30 KSL Jahrl. Auschwitz Document 33: [Dossier P.M.O. BW 30/34, page 54] 224 ===== PDF PAGE 0217 | page-217.md ===== Document 34: [6 tonnes de coke le 16.03.42] Bescheinigung. 6 - To. KOKS - KOHLE - gemischt für Abteilung - Haus Nr. Krematorium gefahren am 16.3.42 durch Rollwagen Nr. 11 Capo Rollwagen Mihag 5371 Oben angegebene Menge KOKS - KOHLE - ist auszugeben. Capo 4-Unterkunftskammer AROHIWUM Nr. 12012 Document 34 Document 36: [16 tonnes de coke le 30.04.43] Nr. 993 Bescheinigung. To Kohle 15 To Koks To Briketts für Abt. - Haus Nr.: Krematorium beliefert am: 30 April 1943 Capo 4-Unterkunftskammer: Unterschrift des Empfängers: Mihag 4458 AROHIWUM Nr. 12012 Nr. 274 Bescheinigung. 4 To. Koks - Kohle gemischt für Abt. - Haus Nr. Krematorium gefahren am 11. 3 1943 durch Rollwagen Nr. 2 Capo Rollwagen Mihag 4392 Oben angegebene Menge Koks - Kohle ist auszugeben. Capo 4-Unterkunftskammer Bemerkungen: Unterschrift des Empfängers Document 35: [4 tonnes de coke le 11.03.43] Document 35 225 ===== PDF PAGE 0218 | page-218.md ===== ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) Document 37 [PMO neg. no. 21004] Situation plan of the POW camp, Auschwitz Upper Silesia [Birkenau] Scale 1:2000 Drawing 2216 Drawn by prisoner 538 and checked by Dejaco and Janisch on 20/3/43 Approved by Bischoff on 1/4/43 There are several prints of this plan, which was used by the Soviet Commission in 1945 to situate the Birkenau Krematorien. One of these prints, classified by the Soviet Commission as the 8th drawing, is preserved in the PMO Archives, now canvas backed and classified under neg. no. 20583. The Soviet Commission used essentially only EIGHT Bauleitung drawings of the Birkenau Krematorien, seven concerning Krematorien II and IV and an overall plan of the camp, that reproduced here. The Commission attributed the numbers 1 to 8 as follows: 1. Drawing 933 of 19/1/42 [Kr II] 2. Drawing 934 of 15/1/42 [Kr II] 3. Drawing 1173-1174 of 15/1/42 [Kr II] 4. Drawing 932 of 23/1/42 [Kr II] 5. Drawing 1311 of 14/3/42 [Kr II] 6. Drawing 1678 of 14/8/42 [Kr IV] 7. Drawing 2036 of 11/4/43 [Kr IV] 8. Drawing 2216 of 20/3/43 [Overall plan] The wooden hut installed in the north yard of Krematorium II served as an undressing room until 30th March 1943, and was dismantled 226 ===== PDF PAGE 0219 | page-219.md ===== received by the four Krematorien WAS ONLY SLIGHTLY MORE THAN THAT REQUIRED FOR 14 MUFFLES OUT OF 46 (including March 1943, the result changes very little, being slightly over 15 muffles). From April to October 1943 Krematorium II, III, IV and V worked the equivalent of only TWO MONTHS at full capacity (out of seven). Admittedly, they incinerated the corpses of between 165,000 and 215,000 victims during that time, but it is apparent from the files that Birkenau was OVER-equipped with cremation capacity, because until the end of October 1943 they were used to ONLY A QUARTER OR A THIRD OF THEIR MAXIMUM CAPACITY (which means that the 15 incineration muffles of JUST ONE installation of the Krematorium II/III type or the 16 muffles of Krematorium IV AND V would have amply suffered for the incineration of the corpses from the extermination of the Jews and that two Krematorien, II and III, or three Krematorien, III, IV and V were superfluous to requirements). This over supply of cremation capacity is confirmed by Camp Commandant Hoess in his autobiography [«Commandant of Auschwitz», Pan Books 1961, page 216]. «Number III [IV/IV] failed completely after a short time and later ceased to be used altogether. Number IV [IV/IV] had to be repeatedly shut down, since after its fires had been burning for from their brain models, the ovens or the chimneys burnt out. The gassed bodies were mostly burnt in pits behind crematorium IV [IV/IV].» In fact this was the situation only in the summer of 1944 during the extermination of the Hungarian Jews. It should be noted that before May 1944 the SS made no attempt to repair Krematorien IV and V, considering (and the coke consumption figures prove it) that ON THEIR OWN the 30 muffles of Krematorien II and III [the 6 of Kr I finally having been withdrawn from service] were AMPLY SUFFICIENT for «routine» extermination. The only major, most undertaken was that of the Krematorium II chimney, in May to July 1943, as at this time the SS could not let their cremation capacity tend towards zero. In the author's opinion, the excess cremation capacity at Birkenau, which remained a constant feature even during the extermination of the Hungarians, was due to two factors: first, the absolute panic that seized the SS in July/August 1942 when they were confronted with a raging typhus epidemic and were in a situation where they had to combat this by every possible means and at the same time urgently find an «industrial» technique for large-scale extermination; second, the influence of Topf engineer Prüfer, a born fighter who now how to profit from the SS panic and appear as their saviour, selling them all he could and taking a profit for himself. On Saturday 13th March, after a working day of FOURTEEN HOURS during which Messing put the finishing touches to the job, the ventilation and air extraction systems of Krematorium II Leichenkeller 1 WERE FINALLY DECLARED «FIT FOR SERVICE». ON SUNDAY 14TH MARCH, Messing continued installing the ventilation of Leichenkeller 2, which he called «Auskleiderkeller II/Undressing cellar II». IN THE EVENING, ABOUT 1,500 JEWS FROM THE CRACOW GHETTO WERE THE FIRST VICTIMS TO BE GASSED IN KREMATORIUM II. They did not undress in Leichenkeller 2, still cluttered with tools and ventilation components, but in a stable-type but temporarily erected in the north yard of the Krematorium [Document 37]. On 17th March, Jährling again calculated the theoretical daily coke consumption of the four Birkenau Krematorien, this time without any errors: 7.84 tonnes for 12 hours (one day of operation) [Document 38]. In view of the approaching date for the official handover of Krematorium II, the Bauleitung Drawing Office produced an inventory drawing on 19th March, drawing 2197, to be attached to the deed of transfer. Drawing 2197 to a large extent copied drawings 932, 933, 934, 936 [937, 938], 980, 1173-1174 and 1311, bringing them all together and modifying them according to the changes since made (but not completely). Three versions of 2197 were produced, with the differences concerning only the «Kellergrundries/Basement plan» [see these drawings in annex]. The most complete is 2197(b)(r), showing the building's drainage (inspired by 1300) and lighting systems. This drawing is essential for understanding the inventories, attached to the deed of transfer, describing the equipment installed on each floor of Krematorium II, and it even makes it possible to correct an error on one of these inventories. One of the two commissions of enquiry (probably the Polish Commission) had 2197 redrawn after the war, because it is barely legible [Document 38]. On the same day, Huta requested their site superintendent at Auschwitz, Herr Stephan, to find out which of his workers had worked on the night shifts initiated to complete Krematorium II, and for how long, so that this nightwork could be invoiced to the Bauleitung, who had ordered it. On 19th March the Bauleitung drew up the «Übergabeverhandlung/Deed of transfer» for the handover of Krematorium IV to the KL Auschwitz Administration. Accepted on 22nd March, Krematorium IV was officially the first Birkenau Krematorium to come into «action» (built in five months and completed less than seven months after being designed). In actual fact, the furnaces of Krematorium II had been operational since the beginning of March and the gas chamber since the 14th. On 24th March, the engineers Prüfer and Schulze, summoned by the Bauleitung, arrived at Auschwitz to find a solution to the problems encountered in the operation of Krematorium II during the first gassings (1,500 Jews from Cracow) the on the 14th and 2,200 from Saloniki on 20th). A summary record of this meeting, which lasted two days, was compiled by Kirschneck on 25th [Document 39]. There was bad news for Topf: the famous forced draught installations, which had done nothing but cause problems, were to be dismantled. This decision meant that the installations planned for Krematorium III were to be abandoned and the planned preheating of Leichenkeller 1 was no longer possible. Also, a more substantial blower casing, in cast iron, was to replace the wooden one in place, probably to prevent leakage. Finally, the corpse charging trolley (of the type used in Krematorium I) was to be abandoned in favour of the easier-to-use «Leichenentrag [or Leichenbent]/Corpse stretcher [or board]». As a result the rails running along the furnace room and carrying the turntable were removed and replaced by a concrete trough which was kept full of water to make it easier to drag the corpses from the lift to the furnaces. The rails in front of the furnaces, however, were left in place even though now redundant [Document 40, 41, 42 and 43]. During Prüfer and Schulze's stay at the camp, almost 2,000 Jews from the Saloniki ghetto were gassed on 24th and a further 1,200 on 25th. The two engineers must have witnessed this, in view of their degree of involvement in the homicidal installations of Krematorium II. [Document 39, the summary record of the meeting of 25th March 1943, is a «criminal trace» concerning the existence of homicidal gas chambers.] On 29th March, Jährling, on behalf of the Bauleitung, confirmed to Topf by letter that the wooden case or housing of the two air extractor fans (for the Leichenkeller 1 of Krematorien II and III) were to be replaced by a cast iron model. From 29th to 31st March, Messing was completing the installation of the undressing room ventilation system, which became operational on 31st. On 30th March, Kirschneck wrote a brief note to the effect that SS Second Lieutenant Eggeling (an agricultural engineer) was to be responsible for all water supply and drainage work for Krematorium III. [The drainage system of Krematorium III was simplified as compared with that of Krematorium II. For example, the Kr II gas chamber [Leichenkeller 1] sewer manhole was brick-built with an internal iron ladder, whereas in Kr III it was simply a few sections of low-cost concrete pipe [Document 44, 45, 46, 47 and 48]. In the author's opinion, this type of simplification of construction, based on the experience of building Krematorium II, was used wherever possible in Krematorium III, which probably explains its lower overall cost: 554,550 RM for Kr III, as against probably 646,000 RM for Kr II.] On 31st March, KREMATORIUM II WAS OFFICIALLY ACCEPTED BY THE CAMP ADMINISTRATION. ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) Document 38 [When a Krematorium was handed over to the camp administration, the Bauleitung compiled a set of documents comprising: - A. The deed of transfer («Übergabeverhandlung») - B. A description of the building («Gebäudebeschreibung») [this was in fact on the verso of the above, A and B being a single sheet]. - C. An inventory drawing («Bestandsaufnahme») of the building on a scale of 1:200 (Kr II and III) or 1:100 (Kr IV and V). - D. Three inventories (basement, ground floor, roof space) indicating the nature and number of electrical, sanitary or other installations on each floor for Kr II and III (3 sheets), or just one inventory (ground floor) for Kr IV and V (1 sheet). - E. The construction contract («Bauantrag») with an explanatory report («Erläuterungsbericht») (2 sheets). - F. A summary of the expenses incurred and the total cost of the building («Kostenverschlag») (2 sheets). In theory, such a file should have been handed over each time one of the Krematorien was accepted, making a total of 32 documents and drawings. However, only 20 documents are known at present: Krematorium II: A, B, C, D (E and F missing, C is drawing 2197). Krematorium III: A, D, E, F (B and C missing. Probably no specific drawing). Krematorium IV: A, C, D, E, F (B missing, C is drawing 2036) Krematorium V: (All documents missing. Probably no specific drawing). The known documents are preserved in PMO file BW 30/43.] 227 ===== PDF PAGE 0220 | page-220.md ===== ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) Document 40 Document 43 ![img-1.jpeg](img-1.jpeg) Document 46 ![img-2.jpeg](img-2.jpeg) ![img-3.jpeg](img-3.jpeg) Document 41 Document 44 ![img-4.jpeg](img-4.jpeg) Document 47 ![img-5.jpeg](img-5.jpeg) ![img-6.jpeg](img-6.jpeg) Document 42 Document 45 ![img-7.jpeg](img-7.jpeg) ![img-8.jpeg](img-8.jpeg) Document 48 228 ===== PDF PAGE 0221 | page-221.md ===== Documents 40 and 41 [PMG seq. nos 21334/321 (above) and 21334/320 (below)] «Cofin (in fact corpse) charging trolley» found in storage at the liberation of the camp. While photographs were being taken, a former prisoner lay on the charging slide in front of a correction muffle to show how it was used. It is difficult to imagine that such a trolley would enable 5 to 7 corpses at a time to be charged the muffle of a Topf furnace as testified by certain former Sonderkommando members after the war (one went so far as to say 12). The maximum capacity was more like 3 corpses, not «in good health» but reduced to «mountain» condition. Document 42: (Photo by the author) In the ruins of Krematorium II furnace room, view of the three sets of rails, set in the floor in front of furnace 1, on which the corpse charging trolley was to run. Though redundant after the charging method was changed, these rails were not removed. Document 43 [Sketch by David Olère] View of the furnace room of Krematorium III, looking east-west, drawn by David Olère after his return from deportation. The sketch shows the simplified charging method, using the «corpse stretcher». The absence of the rails in front of the furnaces in Olère's memory is significant: since they served no purpose, his visual memory did not retain them. The shallow trough of water, along which the victims' corpses were dragged from the lift at the end of the room, is on the right. Document 44 (Photo by the author) Entrance to the Leichenkeller 1 (gas chamber) sewer manhole, situated on the outside, against the centre of the western wall. The top rung of the metal ladder can be seen. Document 45 (Photo by the author) View of the inside of the manhole of document 46 with its access ladder. On the left is the red running from the waste water stop cock to its control wheel above ground. The location can be seen on Backslung drawing 1300 of 18/6/42. Document 46 (Photo by the author) Concrete cover with metal handle, weighing about 20 kg, originally made for the manhole of documents 44 and 45, now next to the remains of an opening on the roof of Leichenkeller 1 (the gas chamber) of Krematorium II, through which Zyclon-B was poured. Document 47 (Photo by the author) General view, looking roughly south-north, of the ruins of the Krematorium III gas chamber, very overgrown with vegetation. In the centre the four supporting pillars are still upright. The top of the sewer manhole is on the left, against the west wall, raised considerably above the ground. Document 48 (Photo by the author) Close up view of the manhole of document 47, made up of 4 to 6 sections of concrete pipe and with a concrete lid in two pieces (only one of which remains). This type of manhole has no built-in access ladder. In the background is one of the pillars that supported the roof of the Krematorium III gas chamber. Document 49 33. Zentralbauleitung der Waffen-H und Polizei Auschwitz - O/S Auschwitz, den 31. März 1943 Übergabeverhandlung. Zentralbauleitung der Waffen-H und Polizei Auschwitz: Vertreten durch: Das von der Zentralbauleitung der Waffen-H und Polizei Auschwitz errichtete - anstandgesetzte - umgebte - Bauwerk "r. K.G.L. 30 Krematorium II. wurde heute an die Kommandantur (Unterkunftsverwaltung) des K.L. Auschwitz übergeben. Beschreibung: siehe Rückseite Umstehend aufgeführte Räume und die in der Anlage 1 gesondert aufgeführten Hinrichtungsgegenstände sind ordnungsgemäß von der Zentralbauleitung der Waffen-H und Polizei Auschwitz übergeben und von der Kommandantur (Unterkunftsverwaltung) des K.L. Auschwitz übernommen worden. Die Unterkunftsverwaltung hat nachfolgende Wünsche geäußert: Diese Arbeiten werden auf den schnellsten Wege fertiggestellt. Übergabeverhandlungen geschlossen und gefertigt: Auschwitz, den Konj. Lager Aufgang 1943 Der Übergebende: Der Übernehmende: Zentralbauleitung der Waffen-H und Vollendung K.-L. Auschwitz O/S Anlagen: 1 Verzeichnis der Hinrichtungsgegenstände 1 Satz Bepläne (Maßstab 1:200) 1 Verzeichnis über amtliche an Bau eingesteten Firmen mit Angaben der Haft- und Garantien 1 Bestätigung über Schornsteinabnahme Bei Ausführung der Arbeiten in Vierenregie mit Haftlingen kommt eine Haft- und Garantienzeit nicht zur Anwendung. Die Arbeiten wurden teils von Fa.A.G. "HUTA", teils von Haftlinge ausgeführt. Dachstuhl v. Infuziebau A.G. Bielitz, Maschinen u. Wende Ofenanlagen v. Fa. Topf u. Schne. Erfurt. 2 Jahre Garantienzeit. Document 49: [Dossier P.M.O. BW 30/43, page 9] 229 ===== PDF PAGE 0222 | page-222.md ===== milyon: BW 30-2 30a Mfgb.: 1/1/9/43/Kir/ln Auschwitz, am 25.3.1943 PÄRIPTETRE BEDROH 9 AUGUSTUS AROH/WUM B4 30/25 Aktenvermerk Betr.: Besuch der beiden Vertreter der Firma Topf u. Söhne-Erfurt, der Herren Obering, Prüfer und Obering, Schultze. Betr.: Geographische Herbststellung zwecks Behebung von Mängeln am Krematorium II u. III in KSL Auschwitz. Ort u. Zeit: Zentralbauleitung der Waffen-S und Pol. Auschwitz, am 24.3. und 25.3.1943. Krematorium II: Nachdem sich die drei Baugengangungen in keiner Weise be- führt haben, ja sogar nach der ersten Vollbenutzung durch zu hohe Temperaturen Schaden litten, werden diese im Leuten der Firma Topf u. Söhne ausgebaut und von dieser Firma zu- rückgenommen. Die ZBL erwartet, dass dadurch für sie kein Kensmifternverlust erweicht und die betreffende Hissemange- gutgeschrieben wird. Die drei Nichtrauchtern (je 15 PS) mit Kupplung, Schalter und Anlauer übernimmt die ZBL für das Ball, dass diese durch die hohen Temperaturen nicht beschädigt wurden. Die Warmluftzuführungsanlage für den Leichenkeller I muss wegen der Konstruktionsänderung ent- fallen und wird von der ZBL auf Lager genommen. Anstelle des Holzgeräuses für die Aktionsanlage der Leichen- kelfer I wird ein Schädigeschlappable ein Ausführung an- weht. Die Mehrkosten des Gebläsegehäuses übernimmt die ZBL. Bei den 5 Stück Dreisauffen von der Vergleifüh- rungswagen mit Leichenkragen ausgetrocknet; der Wagen kommt auf Lager der ZBL. Der Einbau der Mehrbühne des Demag-Aufzug erfolgt durch einen Konteur der Firma Topf. Krematorium III: Verteller: 1. Pw. Topf 2. Haschbau 3. Handekte 4. Registr. KOL BW 30 Auf Grund der Erfahrung in Krematorium II kommen die vor- gesehenen und unzulieferten Baugengangungen nicht zum Ein- bau, werden jedoch von der ZBL auf Lager übernommen. (Vorgesehen für Porcheiswerk). 8 Document 39 (PMO file BW 30-25, page 8) Translation: [Illegible] BW 30 and 30a Correspondence register no. 45269/Kir/Lm Auschwitz, 25/3/43 Summary record Subject: Visit by two representatives of Messrs Topf & Sons, Erfurt Chief Engineers Prüfer and Schulze Reference: Telegraphed summons with a view to eliminating the faults in Krematorium II and III at Auschwitz POW Camp [Birkenau] Place and Date: Auschwitz Waffen SS and Police Central Construction Management 24/3 and 25/3/1943 ### Krematorium II Since the three forced draught installations have not given satisfaction in any respect, and even suffered damage after the first real utilization because of too high temperatures, they are to be dismantled at the expense of Messrs Topf & Sons and taken back by that firm. The ZBL [Zentral Bauleitung] counts on the fact that it will suffer no loss of material and that the corresponding quantity of iron will be posted to its credit [this concerns the materials rationing]. The ZBL will take the three electric motors (each of 15 HP) with their connections, switch and starter, provided they have not been damaged by the high tempera- tures. The hot air supply installation for Leichenkeller I [1] must be eliminated because of this modification, and the materials will be stored by the ZBL [in the Bauhof]. In place of the wooden blower for the air extraction installation of Leichenkeller I [1], a cast iron blower has been chosen. The ZBL will assume the additional cost of the blower housing. For the 5 three-muffle furnaces, the coffin [1] charging trolley will be replaced by corpse stretchers; the trolley will be stored by the ZBL. Installation of the Demag goods hoist transport platform will be effected by a Topf fitter. ### Krematorium III In view of the experience with Krematorium II, the forced draught installations planned and delivered will not be installed, but will be stored by the ZBL. (For use in the district heating plant). [initialled by Bischoff] [signed] Kurt Prüfer Distribution: 1 Messrs Topf 1 Machine store 2 Files 1 Register POW camp BW 30 230 ===== PDF PAGE 0223 | page-223.md ===== The description of the building [Document 50] associated with the deed of transfer for Krematorium II [Document 49] shows that Leichenkeller 1 was fitted with a «GASDICHTE TÜR: GAS-TIGHT DOOR» [Document 51], and the basement inventory [Document 52] also lists 4 «DRAHTNETZEINSCHIEB VORRICHTUNG[EN]/WIRE MESH INTRODUCTION DEVICES» with 4 «HOLZBLENDEN/WOODEN COVERS» [incorrectly attributed by a Bauleitung clerk to Leichenkeller 2. See the explanation in Part II, Chapter 8]. These, apparently «neutral» terms, designated, with no possible shadow of a doubt, the heavy mesh columns into which the Zyclon-B was poured in the form of pellets, the top of which, outside the roof, were closed by wooden covers. This proves formally that Leichenkeller 1 of Krematorium II was fitted out as A GAS CHAMBER USING ZYCLON-B. It is not possible with these documents alone to prove that it was «homicidal». But, Messing's designation of Leichenkeller 2 as the UNDRESSING CELLAR, together with the fact that in the ceiling of Leichenkeller 1 about twenty emplacements for dummy showers still exist in the ruins (these are not shown on the Krematorium II basement inventory, whereas the 14 of Kr III are), introduce the missing, «human», element. We now have the set: (undressing cellar) + (gas-tight door + 4 mesh columns + 4 covers + about 24 dummy showers), which no longer corresponds to: (corpse cellar 2) + (corpse cellar 1), but to: (undressing room) + (homicidal gas chamber). Still on 31st March, a letter written by Kirschneck and signed by Bischoff reminded the Auschwitz DAW [German equipment workshops] of the order of 6th March for one «Gastür/Gas door», 100 by 192 cm to be made for Leichenkeller 1 (the gas chamber) of Krematorium III [See Part II, Chapter 8]. As from 1st April, all efforts were concentrated on Krematorium III whose construction had virtually ceased in order to finally complete Kr II (on 31st March) and also finish Kr V as quickly as possible (4th April). The Krematorium III drainage work was started on this day by Messrs Karl Falck, who worked on it until 13th April. Messrs Triton also helped with this job from 2nd to 13th April. Still on 1st April, Topf sent the Bauleitung an invoice for 25,148 RM for the installation of one furnace, without indicating either the model or where it was installed. In the author's opinion it was probably an estimate for the «circular» furnace of the envisaged Krematorium VI, which was never built. On 4th April, Krematorium V was officially handed over to the camp administration. It would appear that it was not yet completely operational, since the gas-tight doors of the gas chambers were fitted on 16th and 17th April by a gang working for Huta. 25 ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) Document 50 [PMO No BW 3043, page 34] # Translation: # Description of building General: Single-storey building, partly over basement, comprising: Basement: Corpse cellar 30.0 x 7.0 [m] with ventilation and air extraction ducts, 1 gas-tight door, 1 corpse cellar 50.0 x 7.93 [m], wind break and vestibule, 1 gold processing room, 1 office with safe, 1 antechamber with lift [temporary goods hoist], 3 stairways, 1 [corpse] chute. Ground floor: 1 wind break, 1 corridor, 1 dissecting room with table, 1 laboratory, 1 washroom, 1 WC, 1 [corpse] washing room, 1 incineration room with 5 3-muffle cremation furnaces and blower installation, with corpse charging trolley on rails, coal [in fact coke] or clinker trolley on rails, 1 brick separating wall for the ashes of corpses [outside yard], 1 motor room [in fact three], 1 waste incinerator room, 1 brick separating wall for waste [another outside yard], 1 fuel store, 1 capo's room, 1 tool store [irons for firing and operating the furnaces], 1 room with urinal and WC [and shower], 1 prisoners' rest room, 1 corridor, 1 stairway. Roof space: 1 heraclite-built room for prisoner accommodation, 1 loft with furnace room air extraction ducts, 1 loft with air extraction for the whole Krematorium and 1 temporary goods hoist. External walls: Brickwork with no facing Internal walls: Brickwork, plastered and whitewashed Ceilings: Ackermann reinforced parpends Floors: Concrete floor with cement screed Stairways: Reinforced concrete with cement screed Roof: Gable roof with dormers, tile covered Windows: Single glazing Water supply and drainage: Basement and ground floor Lighting: Electric lighting Heating: 1 chimney installation 15.46 m high 231 ===== PDF PAGE 0224 | page-224.md ===== ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) Document 51 [PMO photos 31 (left) and 32 (right) of microfilm 205] Exterior and interior of a gas-tight door from a homicidal gas chamber (as can be seen by the heavy hemispherical grill protecting the inspection peephole on the inside) found in the Bauhof (building materials yard) on the Liberation of the camp. Document 52 [PMO file BW 30/43, page 12] Enlargement of part of the basement inventory of Krematorium II drawn up as part of the set of hardware documents. 4 «DRAHTNETZEINSCHIEVVRRICHTUNGEN» 4 WIRE MESH INTRODUCTION DEVICES with 4 HOLZBLENDEN/WOODEN COVERS were installed in Leichenkeller 1 (but have been mistakenly entered in the line corresponding to Leichenkeller 2). [The entire document is presented in «One proof, one single proof»] ![img-1.jpeg](img-1.jpeg) Document 52: [Dossier P.M.O. BW 30/43, page 12] [Agrandissement partiel du bordereau récapitulant les équipements du sous-sol du crématoire II à sa livraison. Quatre DRAHTNETZEINSCHIEVVRRICHTUNGEN/DISPOSITIF(S) D'INTRODUCTION EN TREILLIS DE FIL DE FER avec quatre HOLZBLENDEN/OETURATEURS EN BOSS avaient été posés dans sa L-Keller 1 (inscrits faussement sur la ligne correspondant à la L-Keller 2). Le document entier est présenté dans les chapitres "Une preuve..." et "État..."] 232 ===== PDF PAGE 0225 | page-225.md ===== # VEDAG Techn. Registr. VEREINIGTE DACHPAPPEN-FABRIKEN · AKTIENGESELLSCHAFT Betriebe Schlesien BRESLAU 1 · ELFERPLATZ 1a Fernruf: Breslau, Sammelnummer 50431 · Drankenmittl: Vedag Breslau HUTA Hoch- und Tiefbau Kattowitz Friedrich-Strasse ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) Ihre Zeichen Ihre Nachricht vom Unser Zeichen Abendungstag Betrifft: Auschwitz Krems I und II Go.M.350 6. April 43 Wie uns unser Vorarbeiter mitteilt, sollen die Decken nur einlagig isoliert werden, weil diese Bauten nur als vorübergehend ausgeführt werden. Eine Deckel ist bereits fertiggestellt, während die zweite Decke in den nächsten Tagen isoliert wird. Wir nennen Ihnen als Accordpreis für fix und fertige Ausführung der einlagigen Isolierung ... Kms. 1,65 je um Wir bitten Sie aber, davon Kenntnis nehmen zu wollen, daß man für einlagige Decken-Isolierungen die übliche Garantie von 2 Jahren nicht über- nehmen kann, was erklärlich ist und wir empfehlen Jhnen, sich der Bauherrschaft gegenüber eben- falls den Rücken zu denken. Au 4 au 12/4, 43 gehörten Heil Hitler! ![img-1.jpeg](img-1.jpeg) Vedag, Form 9, 8. April 1943 Document 53 [PMI file BW 50/50, page 53] ### Translation of the text of the letter from Vedag (bituminous felt manufacturers) to Huta (civil engineers): Your ref. Your letter Our ref. Go.M.350 Posting date 6th April 43 Subject: Auschwitz Krematorien I and II [actually II and III] Our foreman informs us that the floors are to be damp-proofed with only one layer, as these buildings are built to be only temporary. One floor is already finished, while the second floor is to be damp-proofed in the next few days. We indicate to you as Agreed price for complete and finished execution of single-layer damp-proofing: 1.65 Rmk per square metre We would ask you, however, to note that for single-layer damp-proofing of a floor, it is not possible to give the usual guarantee of 2 years, which is understandable, and we recommend you to also cover yourselves by informing the customer. Heil Hitler! [manuscript] Wrote to the SS on 12/4/43 [initials] [2. Vedag initials] Document 54 (Photo by the author) Rear view of one of the 145 galvanized plates, perforated by hand, which were set into and nailed to the wooden fresh air ducts in the upper part of the Leichenkaffer I of Krematorien II and III, now kept in the PMO «stores», Block 25. Toxicological analyses were carried out in 1945 by the Cracow Forensic Institute (7 Copernicus street) on 4 complete plates and 2 damaged ventilation refillers found in the ruins of Krematorium II. After scraping the white substance that covered these objects back to the metal, 7.2 grammes of scrapings were collected and subjected to two qualitative analyses, which established the presence of cyanide compounds. The report, signed by Dr Jan Z Robel, was written on 15th December 1945 and transmitted to the Exarmining Judge, Jan Schu. ![img-2.jpeg](img-2.jpeg) 233 ===== PDF PAGE 0226 | page-226.md ===== On 6th April, Vedag informed Huta that they could not give the usual two year guarantee because the floors (probably the basements of Krematorium III) had been sealed with only one layer of damp-proofing material. The firm had been warned of this by their foreman at Birkenau, who said it was BECAUSE THESE BUILDINGS [Krematorium II and III] WERE BUILT TO BE ONLY TEMPORARY «weil diese Bauten nur als Vorübergehend ausgeführt werden» [Document 83]. [This statement about the future of the Krematorien goes considerably further than does Camp Commandant Hoess in his «Commandant of Auschwitz» «The crematoria were erected at the end of the two main thoroughfares in the Birkenau camp, firstly in order not to increase the area of the camp and consequently the safety precautions required, and secondly so that they would not be too far from the camp, since it was planned to use the gas chambers and undressing rooms as bath houses when the extermination actions came to an end». So Hoess envisaged that once the extermination was over, i.e. when there were no more Jews left in Europe, the gas chambers and undressing rooms would be converted into baths and showers. It was already with this in mind that Bischoff, through the intermediary of Jährling, requested Topf on 15th May 1943 to draw up the plans for 100 showers using water heated by the waste incinerator of Krematorium III (this system was found in the crematorium of KL Natzweiler (Struthof), where the incinerator supplied the heat for the hot water tank for the showers next door to the incinerator room). Traditional historians have [wrongly] interpreted Hoess' remark as proof that the Leichenkeller I of the Krematorien could be used both as showers AND as gas chambers, because they did not know exactly how a homicidal gas chamber functioned at Birkenau. They thought they were equipped with REAL SHOWERS with the associated pipework and imagined that the SS could deliver toxic gas or harmless water, as they wished. A precise knowledge of the operation of the gas chambers makes it possible to confirm that Hoess was indeed thinking of the FUTURE of the Krematorien, AFTER the extermination. In the author's opinion, this idea probably applied to 1942 and would have been the first stage in the «white-washing» of the Birkenau Krematorien. For even if the war had ended later than it did, in 1946 or 1947, with the victory or defeat of the Germans, i.e. in either case permitting the «round up» and «removal» of the Jews, it is certain that at least three of the Birkenau Krematorien, having fulfilled their «mission» and in view of their excess number, would have been destroyed, the remaining one being converted to appear simply a normal cremation installation for health reasons, with or without a shower installation. What is more, the projected later use of the Krematorien for the annihilation of the Slav peoples is pure myth, based on no document.] Messing, after having worked on 5th April on the air extraction system of the Krematorium III furnace room, worked from 6th to 11th on Leichenkeller I, where he installed the ventilator fan [in fact the extractor fan]. [The ventilation system of Leichenkeller I in Kr III was «improved» as compared with that of Kr II, by having an increased number of fresh air inlets. On 18th February, 50 perforated galvanized plates, 7 x 18 cm, had been ordered for Leichenkeller I of Kr II (for the air inlets near the ceiling, spaced at intervals of 120 cm) and on 19th an unknown number of protection «grills» of 10 mm diameter iron rod (for the air extraction ducts, near the floor). These two orders were completed on 15th March (the absence of these parts in no way affecting the operation of the gas chamber). Still on 15th March, an order was issued for Leichenkeller I of Kr III for 95 perforated zinc plates, 7 x 18 cm, (for the upper air inlets, here spaced at 60 cm intervals) and for 45 10 mm iron rod protection «grills» (for the lower, air extraction ducts and spaced about every 150 cm). The order was completed on 23rd March. Some of the perforated zinc plates [Document 54] were found after the Liberation in the «Bauhof» (lying under the iron supports for the brickwork of the 8-muffle furnace of Krematorium IV). Scrapings from the surface of some of them were subjected to toxicological analysis which revealed THE PRESENCE OF CYANIDES. The protection «grills», whose form was not known (there was a sketch in the order book of the DAW «WL» metalworking shop, but the original is not in the possession of the PMO and is thought to be in the Soviet Union), were brought to light during the excavations carried out in 1968 in the ruins of the northern part of Leichenkeller I or Krematorium III, along the eastern wall [Document 55] and makes it possible to show their configuration [see sketches in the French text: left, face view; centre, side view; right, oblique view]. ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) Document 55 [PMO reg. no. 14500] Excavations carried out on 14th August 1968 by a group of Germans from the «Sühnezeichen» organization in the northern part of the ruins of the Krematorium III gas chamber. It was possible to clear, at the base of the eastern wall, three «grills» covering the air extraction vents in the lower part of Leichenkeller I. Unfortunately the walls of the excavation were not consolidated and landslips caused the brick walls to collapse, leaving a scarcely identifiable mass. ![img-1.jpeg](img-1.jpeg) Document 55 bis 234 ===== PDF PAGE 0227 | page-227.md ===== # Zentral-Bauleitung bei Rieffen-W und Dailys Bauleitung, DE Bauleitung, den 4. Mai 1943. General Bauleitung Nr. 80 General Bauleitung Nr. 22230 Mann. Nr. 28095/43/Ja/L. bei Rieffen-W und Dailys, Dailys 7018/5. Betr: Krematorium II (I) und III (II), Isolierungsarbeiten. Bez.: Schreiben Ds/St v. 12.4.43. Anlg: — Firma HUTA Hoch- und Tiefbau-Aktiengesellschaft Kattowitz Friedrichstr. 19. ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) Zu o.a. Schreiben wird mitgeteilt, daß sich seinerzeit die Bauleitung auf Vorschlag des Isoliermeisters Krause der Firma Vedag damit einverstanden erklärt hat, die Isolierung einlagig durchzuführen. Mit Rücksicht auf die ausserordentliche Dringlichkeit der Arbeiten und den Vorschlag durch den Isolier- meister Krause hatte die Zentralbauleitung eine Rückfrage bei Ihrer Firma nicht für notwendig befunden. Der für den inzwischen zur Wehrmacht eingezogenen Isoliermeister Krause abgestellte Isolierer erklärte der Bauleitung gegenüber, daß die Garantie von 2 Jahren für die Isolierungsarbeiten der Keller nur dann übernommen werden kann, wenn die Isolierung mindestens zweilagig ausgeführt wird. Die Zentralbauleitung ist mit der Ausführung der Isolierung der weiteren Kellerdecken in 2 Lagen einverstanden, wenn für diese Ausführung die Garantie von 2 Jahren durch Ihre Firma übernommen wird. Von der Übernahme einer Garantie von 2 Jahren für die bereits ausgeführte einlagige Kellerisolierung wird von der Zentralbauleitung Abstand genommen. Sie werden jedoch hiermit aufgefordert, umgehend Nachtragsangebote für die Isolierung 1. einlagig, 2. zweilagig der Zentralbauleitung vorzulegen. Bein für 2 Lagen wird ein langes aufgehalten! für 2 Lagen muß kein vorabkehrig G-2 Der Leiter der Zentralbauleitung der Waffen- und Polizei Auschwitz S-Sturmbannführer. Document 56 [PMO file BW 30/30, page 3 (original) and BW 30/34, page 65 (file copy)] Translation: Auschwitz, 4th May 1943 Correspondence register no. 28095/43/Ja/L. Subject: Krematorium II (I) and III (II), Damp-proofing work Reference: Letter Ds/Wi of 12/4/43 Enclosure: — Messrs Huta Civil Engineers Kattowitz Friedrichstraße 19 With reference to the above-mentioned letter, we would inform you that the Bauleitung agreed at the time to the suggestion by damp-proofing foreman Krause of Messrs Vedag that the damp- proofing should be in a single layer. In view of the extreme urgency of the work and the suggestion made by foreman Krause, the Bauleitung did not consider it necessary to refer back to your firm. The damp-proofing expert who has replaced foreman Krause, who has in the meantime been called up in the Wehrmacht, has told the Bauleitung that the 2 year guarantee for the damp-proofing of the cellars can be given only if there are at least two layers of damp- proofing material. The Bauleitung agrees that the damp-proofing of the floors of the other cellars shall be in two layers, provided that your firm will give a 2 year guarantee in this case. For the work already done with a single layer of damp-proofing, the Bauleitung waives the 2 year guarantee. You are nevertheless hereby requested to immediately submit to the Bauleitung an additional quote for damp-proofing: 1. in one layer, 2. in two layers. Head of the Auschwitz Waffen SS and Police Central Construction Management [signed] Bischoff SS Major [Manuscript] To Herr Dr. h.R. The prices for 2 layers appear on the main quote! for a single layer the price is to be determined [initialed] 7/5 235 ===== PDF PAGE 0228 | page-228.md ===== On 12th April, Huta covered themselves vis-à-vis the Bauleitung by telling them that the since the floors of the Krematorium III [-II] in the text] basements had only a single layer of damp-proofing, Vedag refused to give the usual guarantee of two years and that under these conditions Huta were unable to do so. On 13th and 14th April, Messing worked on the air extraction system of Leichenkeller 2 of Krematorium III, calling it in his timesheets «Auskleidekeller/Undressing cellar». On 16th April, Topf & Sons wrote to the Bauleitung concerning the damaged blowers of the forced-draught installation of Krematorium II [designated «I» in the letter, even though the subject of this letter is without doubt Kr II and III], requesting them to be returned to Erfurt immediately on removal. Topf credited the Bauleitung with the sum of 3,705 RM, but refused to return the metal ration coupon arguing that they could no longer use it for other orders. Having received an order from the Bauleitung on 16th April for the fittings for ONE «Gastür/Gas [tight] door» (which was ready on 20th), the Auschwitz DAW metalworking shop that same day requested the iron required for FIVE such doors [for worksites 30a and 30b, Krematorien III and IV]. The metalworking shop was killing two birds with one stone, for the fittings to be produced were for the «Gastür» of Krematorium III and for the four doors of the two [at this date] gas chambers of Krematorium IV. From 17th to 24th April, a gang from Messrs Josef Kluge of Gleiwitz covered the dissecting table of Krematorium III with granite [«Terrazoe»] and took it to the Krematorium, where it was installed. From 19th to 22nd April, Messing continued work on the air extraction system of Leichenkeller 2 of Krematorium III, still calling it the «Auskleidekeller/Undressing cellar». Worksite 30a was deserted on 1st and 2nd May, despite the fact that it was way behind schedule (it should have been finished on 10th April) because of the Labour Day holiday. Nobody was gassed on these two days. On 4th May, Janisch replied for the Bauleitung to the Huta letter of 12th April [Document 86]. The scapegoat was naturally somebody who was absent, damp-proofing foreman Krause of Vedag, meanwhile called up in the Wehrmacht, who had authorized the single-layer of proofing material. His replacement refused it, saying that two layers were necessary for Vedag to be able to give their two-year guarantee. The Bauleitung, probably tired of these futile arguments which were holding up work on Krematorium III, was conciliatory on this matter, agreeing that work should continue with two layers provided a damp-proofing guarantee was given, and waiving the guarantee with respect to the work already done with only a single layer. In the afternoon of the same day, SS Major Alfred FRANKE-GRICKSCH, adjutant to SS General Maximilian VON HERFF [Documents 57 and 57a], Head of the SS Central Personnel Office [SS Personal Hauptamt, 98-99 Wilmersdorferstraße, Berlin-Charlottenburg], accompanying the General on a tour of inspection in the «General Government» [the half of the Polish territory occupied by the Germans and placed under the authority of Hans Frank], arrived in K 1, Auschwitz (although reported, the presence of General von ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) Documents 57 Herff is doubtful). Franke-Gricksch visited Krematorium II and is supposed to have witnessed the gassing of those unfit for work from a convoy of 2,930 Greek jews (from the Salonika ghetto). Following this visit, between the evening of 4th May and 16th May he wrote a report on what he had seen at Auschwitz-Birkenau for his chief, von Herff, and for Reichsführer SS Himmler. This report was entitled: «JEWISH RESETTLEMENT ACTION» [Document 58]. ![img-1.jpeg](img-1.jpeg) Documents 57a Documents 57 and 57a (Personal archives) Maximilian von Herff, Alfred Franke-Gricksch's chief. Born in Hannover on 17th April 1893, died 6th September 1945 in a prison camp in England. Left: As SS Brigadier-General, probably in August 1942, when he was made Head of the SS Central Personnel Office, a position he held until May 1945. Right: Wearing the uniform of the highest rank he held: SS Lieutenant-General. On 5th May, the Auschwitz DAW metalworking shop received an order from the Bauleitung, made out the previous day, for the production of «2 handrails [for stairways], each 7.70 m long, 1 m high (see sketches 1 and 2)» and «2 handrails, each 12.20 m long, 1 m high (see sketch 3)» - for the 2nd basement stairways» [the 2-seen Kellentreppen]. This order requesting delivery for 14th May, was not completed until 25th. [As the original orders of the «W», metalworking shop Schlosserei WL» are not in the possession of the PMO, the three sketches are not known.] A study of Bauleitung drawings 2003 and 2197 reveals that the two 7.70 m guardrails, of different form, were for the access stairways to the basement vestibules of Krematorien II and III (running from the north yard of Kr II and the south yard of Kr III) [Figures 1 and 2]. The two others of 12.20 m, identical in form, were for the access stairways to the undressing rooms (Leichenkeller 2) of Krematorien II and III [Figure 3]. They were removed when Krematorien II and III were dismantled in December 1944 and found intact in the «Bauhof» after the Liberation of the camp [Document 89]. On 11th May, Jährling wrote an urgent telegram to Messrs Topf of Erfurt, signed by Kirschneck and sent by the civilian employee Ludwig at 18.01 hours, requesting that Prüfer set out for Auschwitz without delay and that the drawings and calculations for the chimneys and the installation instructions for the temporary Demag III goods hoist [for Krematorium III] be sent at once. This telegram does not state which building(s) the chimneys were for. [This urgent telegram was the first of a series, the total number of which is not known, reflecting the general air of panic reigning in the Bauleitung. The crematorium situation in Birkenau had suddenly deteriorated as the remaining telegrams in the series show: Krematorium IV and II, handed over on 22nd and 31st March respectively, WERE OUT OF ORDER, with damaged chimneys; Kr III, although not completed, could have been operational IF it had been possible to feed the furnaces with corpses from the basement, but this was not the case, as the goods hoist could not be installed because the instructions were not available! (Messing started installing in on 17th May and completed the job on 9th June). Only Krematorium V was functioning correctly.] Hearing nothing from Topf, Jährling sent a second urgent telegram on 14th May, this time signed by Bischoff, requesting the static and thermal calculations for the chimneys of Krematorien II and IV and insisting that Prüfer should come to Auschwitz [Document 60]. The civilian employee Schwender sent the text at 1600 hours. This telegram in fact confirmed a telephone conversation between Jährling and Topf in the morning, in which he had learned that Prüfer was on a business trip in the Rhineland, but would do his best to arrive in Auschwitz by Monday 17th May. Only ONE AND A HALF HOURS LATER, Schwender sent another urgent telegram to Topf, signed by Bischoff and, in view of the late hour, dated and filed the next day [Document 61]. In this telegram, Jährling requested the urgent study of an installation to obtain hot water from the waste incinerator of Krematorium III, then under construction, to supply about one hundred showers (probably to be located in an annex building built on the southern wall of the Krematorium). Prüfer was supposed to bring the relevant drawings with him on 17th May. [This plan was never implemented, although such installations were built in other camps, for example in the crematorium of K 1, Natzweiler (Struthof) where the incinerator was the main source of heat for the showers]. Although this request for a hot water system for a hundred NORMAL showers was in no way criminal, it was recorded in the Krematorium III, worksite 30a, file under the heading «SONDERMASSN[AHMEN]/SPECIAL MEASURES» because the building was connected with these measures, the killing and cremation of Jews unfit for work. On Monday 17th May, it is more than likely that Prüfer arrived at Auschwitz as arranged. As we have no formal proof we cannot be categorical, but if Messing began installing the lift of Krematorium III precisely on 17th May, this was not simply a whim on his part, but because he had received the installation instructions brought by Prüfer. The engineer was certainly present on 18th [Topf letter of 9/6/43]. According to subsequent telegrams it is clear he had not brought the drawings and calculations required for the repair of the chimneys of Krematorien II and IV, and in fact he could not reasonably produce them until he had seen the location and extent of the damage. It was only after inspecting Krematorien II and IV that the following decisions could be taken, after consultation with Bischoff: repair Kr II as quickly as possible, abandon the operation of the Kr IV furnace completely and improve the operation of Kr V by fitting its gas chambers (and those of Kr IV, still intact) with an air extraction system. [This abandonment of Krematorium IV was not formally stated (and for good reason): This is particularly evident on reading the letter of 28th June 1943 on the throughput of the Krematorien), but it can be deduced from several pieces of evidence: subsequent correspondence between the Bauleitung and Topf makes no mention of its repair. Camp Commandant Hoess in his memoirs states that «Number III [Kr IV] failed completely after a short time and later ceased to be used altogether» after the first fifty days (22nd March to 10th May 1943), during which time operation had to be interrupted at least once for repairs to fissures that had appeared in the furnace, and during which time less than 10,000 victims were cremated (probably 6,000), not a single member of the Sonderkommando reports having worked on the furnace of Krematorium IV. What is more, Krematorium V being of identical design, it was to be feared that it would suffer the same damage unless it was used more moderately. Despite the fact that Kr V had to be shanken with users, it absolutely had to go on being used until Krematorium III came into service. It was then mothballed, barely operational. In May-June 1944, despite repairs the furnace of Krematorium V was an inefficient as ever and operations were frequently interrupted by breakdowns, so open-air cremation ditches were dug near the gas chambers. It would appear that Krematorium V really worked for only two months in 1943, annihilating about 15,000 victims. In summer 1944, it can be «credited» with about 50,000 people gassed, but they were cremated in the open-air ditches.] 236 ===== PDF PAGE 0229 | page-229.md ===== ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) Figures 1, 2 and 3 [Drawings by the author] Figure 1 shows the access stairway to the basement vestibule of Krematorium II, leading down from the north yard. The bannister rail is in the form of an inverted «L». Figure 2 shows the corresponding access stairway to the basement vestibule of Krematorium III, leading down from the south yard. The bannister rail is in the form of an «L» (hence the need for two different sketches for the two 7.70 m rails). Figure 3 shows the plan and oblique views of the guardrail for the access stairway to the undressing rooms of Krematorium II and III. The rail is of a «U» shape and therefore identical for the two Krematorien (the original sketch 3 was probably an oblique view). ![img-1.jpeg](img-1.jpeg) Document 59 [PMO neg. no. 897 (Luczko series)] Metal guard rails from the access stairways to the basements of Krematorium II and III stocked in the «Bauhof» and found after the Liberation. A guardrail for the access stairway to the undressing room of Krematorium II or III is perfectly recognisable, but in the centre of the photo the rails are so piled up as to be unidentifiable. 237 ===== PDF PAGE 0230 | page-230.md ===== THE FRANCKE-GRIKSCH REPORT This report was shown to Professor Charles W. Sydnor of Hampton-Sydney College, Virginia (United States) in 1976 by a person from Richmond (Virginia) who had discovered it after the second world war. This man, apparently Eric M. Lippmann according to the signature, was at the time employed by the US Army on collecting documents and seeking anything that might be used as evidence in the Nuremberg trials. He seems to remember finding the carbon copy of the original report among a set of documents in a place he cannot recall exactly, somewhere in Bavaria. The original was not there. Having immediately realized the value of this report, which described the whole process of exterminating the Jews in Auschwitz, he made a typed copy for himself, as he had to hand the carbon over to the American Prosecutor at Nuremberg. He certified in longhand that he had made a true copy, and signed it «Eric M. Lippmann». The two sheets that he typed are now preserved in the Tauber Institute of Brandeis University with other documents from the Third Reich. [The author would like to stress that in 1945-47 it was not so easy to reproduce documents as it is today. Finding the original of a document, whose content is perfectly well known, requires long and laborious research with frequently uncertain results. Political interference can lead to utter confusion in this type of investigation, as has been shown by the recent case of a highly-placed person in Austria.] Part of a report rendered by SS Sturmbannführer Francke-Gricksch on a trip through the General Gouvernement on 4 to 16 May 1948. ## Umsiedlungs - Aktion der Juden. Eine besondere Aufgabe hat das Lager Auschwitz in der Regelung der Judenfrage, modernste Massnahmen ermöglichen, eine in kürzester Zeit und ohne grosses Aufsehen die Durchführung des Führerbefehls. Die sogenannte "Umsiedlungsaktion" der Juden läuft folgendermassen ab: Die Juden kommen in Sonderzügen (Güterwagen) gegen Abend und werden auf besonderen Gießen in eignes dafür abgegrenzte Bezirke des Lagers gefahren. Dort werden sie ausgeladen und durch Trafekommissionen in Anwesenheit des Lagerkommandanten und mehrerer SS-Führer erst einmal auf Arbeitsfähigkeit untersucht. Hier kommt jeder, der noch irgendwie in den Arbeitsprozess eingebaut werden kann, kommt in ein besonderes Lager. Vorübergehend Erkrankte kommen sofort in das Sanitätslager und werden durch besondere Post wieder gesund gemacht. Grundsatz ist: Jede Arbeitskraft der Arbeit zu erhalten. Die "Umsiedlungsaktion" älterer Art wird völlig abgelehnt, da man es sich nicht leisten kann, wichtige Arbeitserregien laufend zu vernichten. Die Untauglichen kommen in ein grösseres Haus in die Kellerräume, die von aussen zu betraten sind. Man geht 5-6 Stufen herrnter und kommt in einen längeren, gut ausgebauten und durchlüfteten Kellerräum, der rechts und links mit Sänken ausgestattet ist. Er ist hell erleuchtet und über den Sänken befinden sich Nummern. Den Gefangenen wird gesagt, dass sie für ihre neuen Aufgaben desinfiziert und gereinigt werden, sie müssten sich also völlig entkleiden, um gebadet zu werden. Um jegliche Panik und Umruhe zu vermeiden, werden sie angewiesen, ihre Kleider schon zu ordnen und unter die für sie bestimmten Nummern zu legen, damit sie nach dem Bad auch ihre Lachen wiederfinden. Es geht alles in völliger Höhe vor sich. Denn durchschreitet man einen kleinen Flur und gelangt in einen grossen Kellerräum, der einen brausebad ähnelt. In diesem Raum befinden sich drei grossen Säulen. In diese kann man von oben ausserhalb des Kellerräums- gewisse Mittel herablassen. Nachdem 300-400 Menschen in diesem Raum versammelt sind, werden die Türen geschlossen und von oben herab die 2 Behälter mit den Stoffen in die Säulen gelassen. Sowie die Behälter den Boden der Säule berühren, entwickeln sie bestimmte Stoffe, die in einer Minute die Menschen einschläfern. Einige Minuten später öffnet sich die Tür an der anderen Seite, die zu einem Fahrstuhl führt. Die Haare der Leichen werden geschnitten und von besonderen Fachleuten (Juden) die Zähne ausgebrochen (Goldsähne). Den hat die Erfahrung gemacht, dass die Juden in hohlen Zähnen Schmuckstücke, Gold Platin usw. versteckt halten. Danach werden die Leichen in Fahrstühle verlade: und kommen in den 1. Stock. Dort befinden sich 10 grosse Hermetorizeofen, in welchen die Leichen verbrannt werden. (Da frische Leichen besonders gut brennen, braucht man für den Gesamtvorgang nur 1/2 - 1 Ztr. Koks.) Die Arbeit selber wird von Judenhäftlingen verrichtet, die dieses Lager nie wieder verlassen. Bisheriger Erfolg dieser "Umsiedlungsaktion": 500000 Juden Jetzige Kapazität der "Umsiedlungsaktion"-öfen: 10 000 in 24 Stunden. I affirm, that this a true copy of the original report. Eric M. Lippmann Document 58/1 Document 58/01 [Photocopy of the typed copy of the carbon copy in SS Major Francke-Gricksch career file, kindly transmitted to Serge Klarsfeld by Charles W. Sydnor, Jr.] 238 ===== PDF PAGE 0231 | page-231.md ===== Translation: # Jewish resettlement action. The Auschwitz camp has a special task in the settlement of the Jewish question. The most modern methods make it possible to implement the Führer Order very quickly and discreetly. The so-called «resettlement action» for the Jews proceeds as follows: The Jews arrive in special trains (goods wagons) towards evening and are taken by a special line to a special area of the camp. There they are unloaded and examined by a medical board in the presence of the Camp Commandant and several leading SS in the first place to see if they are fit for work [«selection»]. Here anybody who can be integrated into the work process in anyway is sent to a special camp. Those with some temporary ailment are sent immediately to the quarantine camp [B.III] and are brought back to health through a special diet. The basic principle is: keep as many prisoners as possible for labour. The «resettlement action» of the old sort is completely rejected, for it is not permissible to systematically destroy substantial labour capacities. The unfit go to a biggish house, into the basement rooms, which are accessible from the outside. They descend 5 or 6 [1] steps and come to a long, well-built and ventilated basement [Leichenkeller 2], fitted with benches on the right and left. It is brightly lit, and above the benches are numbers. The prisoners are told that they are to be disinfected and washed ready for their new tasks. They therefore have to undress completely to be bathed. In order to avoid any panic or disorder, they are told to arrange their clothes neatly and leave them under a number so that they can find their things again after the bath. Everything proceeds in complete calm. They then go through a small corridor [«Gang» on drawing 932] and arrive in a big basement room [Leichenkeller 1] that resembles a shower room. In this room, there are three big pillars [2]. Into these it is possible from above, outside the basement, to lower certain products. After 300 to 400 people have gathered in this room, the doors [3] are closed and from above the containers with the products [cans of Zyclon-B pellets] are lowered into the pillars. When the containers reach the floor of the pillars, they produce certain substances that put the people to sleep [1] in one minute. A few minutes later, the door on the other side [4] is opened, leading to a lift [«Aufzug»]. The hair of the corpses is cut off and the teeth are broken out (gold teeth) by qualified people (Jews). It has been observed that Jews have hidden jewels, gold, platinum, etc. in hollow teeth. After this the corpses are loaded into the lift and go to the first floor [5]. There, there are 10 big crematorium furnaces [6] in which the corpses are burned. (As fresh corpses burn particularly well, the whole process requires only 1/2 to 1 Zentner [25 to 50 kg] of coke). The work itself is carried out by Jewish prisoners who will never leave this camp. The result to date of this «resettlement action»: 500,000 Jews [7]. The present capacity of the «resettlement action» furnaces: 10,000 in 24 hours [8]. [Franke-Gricksch reports that «The unfit go to a BIGGISH HOUSE, into the basement...», without saying that it is a crematorium, or which one. Later in his account we learn that the «house» is equipped with «big crematorium furnaces», so it must have been a crematorium. Only Krematorien II and III had semi-basements, whereas Krematorien I, IV and V had none. On 4th May 1943, only Krematorium II was complete and operational, while Kr III was not yet ready. Franke-Gricksch's «biggish house» can therefore be nothing other than Birkenau Krematorium II. The errors in his report are: [1] «5 or 6 steps» (for the access stairway at the western end of Leichenkeller 2) instead of 10. Simple lack of attention on the part of a man who used this stairway only once. The error would be more serious on the part of a Sonderkommando member, using it several times a day. [2] «three big pillars» [columns for pouring Zyclon-B] instead of four. The explanation of this error is that Franke-Gricksch must have just gone a few paces into Leichenkeller 1, not down to the end, and thus noticed only three of the four columns. [3] «the doors [of Leichenkeller 1] are closed» instead of the door, singular. This is probably due to confusion with the double door of Leichenkeller 2 leading to the corridor, through which he had just come before having a quick look over the threshold of Leichenkeller 1. [4] «the door on the other side is opened, leading to a lift». There was not an entrance door at one end and exit at the other, but only one door to Leichenkeller 1, through which the victims entered and from which the corpses were removed. This is the most glaring fault, but may be explained by the route taken during Franke-Gricksch's visit. [5] «go to the first floor» instead of the floor above, or ground floor. A common mistake made by many witnesses. [6] «10 big crematorium furnaces», instead of 5 three-muffles furnaces or 15 muffles. As with Leichenkeller 1, Franke-Gricksch probably did not go the whole length of the furnace room, but stood at the western entrance in front of the first furnace and listened to the explanations given. It could be that the figure ten was the total he was given for the capacity of Krematorien II and III together (10 three-muffles furnaces). [7] «500,000 Jews» (in May 1943), instead of a true figure of probably somewhere between 200,000 and 250,000. This figure would have been provided by the Auschwitz SS guide and Franke-Gricksch is merely repeating the inflated figure given to make the camp look efficient. [8] «10,000 in 24 hours», instead of the «official» figure of 4,756 per day for the FIVE Krematorien (I, II, III, IV and V), itself a theoretical figure that was never achieved in 1943, as proved by the Krematorium coke consumption. The maximum daily throughput of the 4 Birkenau Krematorien was in the order of 3,000 incinerations. What is more, in May 1943, Kr III was not yet in service. This is simply another Auschwitz SS propaganda figure passed on by Franke-Gricksch.] [The report was found in his career file and is now thought to be preserved in the National Archives Collection of World War II, War Crimes Records, in Washington, under reference NA RG 238. The author is unable to be certain whether or not Franke-Gricksch was a direct witness of the gassing of the Greeks found unfit for work. The enthusiastic tone of the report throws some doubt on his DIRECT participation, despite his description of the gassing, and this would explain certain errors. Unlike other dignitaries of the Third Reich, who after witnessing the «special treatment» of the Jews, became silent about it, visualising the insane consequences, Franke-Gricksch is quite lyrical about the technique used by the Auschwitz SS to implement the «Jewish resettlement action», the title he gave to his report, which in fact was to be the very first report on the extermination of Jews in the Birkenau Krematorien, at a time when Kr III was not even finished. In addition, this report was produced under very favourable circumstances: it was the first, the author was an SS witness writing freely (not testifying before an Allied tribunal) and he had visited the site, guided and given explanations by one of the people responsible for its operation. However, as compared with the testimony of former Sonderkommando members collected after the war, his report is disappointing, and contains eight errors, six of which can be attributed to its author, Franke-Gricksch. There are two hypotheses possible: either Franke-Gricksch visited Krematorium II when it was empty, or he witnessed a batch of unfit for work being gassed and then incinerated. In 1942-43, most of the «special actions» took place at night for obvious reasons of discretion, and since Franke-Gricksch was expected in Cracow in the evening of 4th May it is almost certain that he would have been unable to see the arrival of the Greek Jews, which probably took place after his departure. This is the author's firm belief, but he is unable to prove it. The most striking and serious error in his report is his stating that the gas chamber (Leichenkeller 1) had a door at each end. This can be explained only if there was some kind of break in his visit to the crematorium that caused him to lose his hearings somewhat. His error becomes comprehensible if we assume the following itinerary: descent from the outside to the undressing room [Leichenkeller 2], walk through its entire length to the double door at the far end, through this into the short corridor and then the vestibule, from which he took a few steps into the gas chamber [Leichenkeller 1], whose operation was then explained to him. He emerged from the basement via the northern stairway into the yard, then entered the ground floor of the crematorium through the north entrance and was shown into the furnace room. Here the virtues of the Topf furnaces were extolled, probably while he was standing before Furnace 1. Then he took the corpse left down to the basement, a front of the entrance to the gas chamber (where, not recognizing the vestibule he had passed through some time before, he thought this was ANOTHER door to the gas chamber). He probably went back up to the ground floor on the corpse hoist and left the Krematorium through the main, north, door. The «break» thus occurred when he emerged from the basement by the northern stairway, instead of more logically taking the corpse hoist directly up to the furnace room. One indication that Franke-Gricksch did not actually witness a gassing, is his description of the successive states of the victims: they walk in, not put to sleep and are then corpses to be incinerated. Finally, the Franke-Gricksch report is very short on detail regarding Krematorium II, even though it does correctly describe its criminal operation. It's only real, and very important, merit is that it gives a clear and precise explanation of the term «Jewish resettlement action/Umsiedlungsaktion der Juden». The original method was wholesale annihilation, the second method involved selection into three groups (those fit for work being used as labour, those temporarily unfit being rapidly cured and used as labour, those unfit being sent to a «biggish house» [Krematorium II] where they are «put to sleep» and reduced to ashes). The title of the «Auschwitz Album» by Serge Klarsfeld, «Umstellung der Juden aus Ungarn» [Resettlement of the Jews from Hungary], despite the fact that it has been possible to compare certain scenes in the photographs with a «peaceful country outing against a background of barbed wire», can no longer give rise to any discussion, and covers the second type of «resettlement»]. 239 ===== PDF PAGE 0232 | page-232.md ===== ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) Document 60 [PMO file BW 30.54, page 41] Translation: | | [manuscript] Krema II | | --- | --- | | Correspondence register no. 28785/43/Jä/Lm | Auschwitz, 14/5/1943 | | TELEGRAM URGENT ! | | | Address: | Topfwerke Erfurt | | Text: | Bring thermal and static calculations for chimneys of Krem II and IV. Presence Chief Engineer Prüfer absolutely necessary immediately. | | | Sig. Bischoff | | Transmitted 14/4 [error, should be 5] /1943 1600 hours Sig. Civilian Employee Schwender | | | NB. Telephoned this morning to the Topf works. Chief Engineer Prüfer is on a business trip in the Rhineland and has been told by his firm by telephone that he is urgently required in Auschwitz. Arrives here Monday [17th May]. Not possible earlier. Requested assurance regarding calculations for the two Krema (that is II and IV). | | | | [signed] Jährling | | [manuscript] SS Second Lieutenant Kirschneck | | 240 ===== PDF PAGE 0233 | page-233.md ===== ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) Document 61 (PMO file BW 30/34, page 40) # Translation: Correspondence register no. 28819/43/Jä/Lm [manuscript] Krema II [Error: should be III] Auschwitz, 15/5/1943 # URGENT TELEGRAM! Address: Topfwerke Erfurt Text: Bring Monday [17th May] rough plan for production of hot water for about 100 showers. Fitting of heating coils or boiler in the waste incinerator at present under construction Krem III or system for using the high temperatures of the flue gases. It would be possible to raise the brickwork of the furnace to take a large tank. Herr Prüfer is requested to bring the relevant drawings on Monday 17/5. Sig. Bischoff Transmitted 14/5 Time 1730 hours Sig. Civilian Employee Schwender Distribution: 1 SPECIAL MEASURES file, POW camp, [manuscript] Krem III, BW 30a 1 Project leader [Kirschneck's initials] 1 SS Second Lieutenant Kirschneck On 25th May, Messrs Robert Koehler of Myslowitz, who had built the collective chimney of Krematorium II, started repairing it by demolishing the lining [»Abbruch der Futter«], an operation that took until 5th June [PMO file BW 30/34, pages 10 and 11]. On Saturday 29th May, Bischoff had Kirschneck send a telegram [Document 62] to engineer Schulze of Topf, requesting the immediate dispatch of the original drawings for the chimney of Krematorium II, as promised by Prüfer to Messrs Koehler, who were unable to proceed without them. In fact, according to the »Tagelohnzettel«/daily pay sheets» [timesheets] compiled weekly by Messrs Koehler, work did not stop, as claimed by Bischoff, but the firm worked on the removal of the damaged lining from 25th May to 5th June without a break, except for Sunday 30th May. On 1st June, the Bauleitung sent a further telegram to Topf, again requesting the drawings promised by Prüfer and claiming that Messrs Koehler had had to stop work because the drawings were not available. But this forced stoppage still does not appear on the Koehler timesheets. On 2nd June, Messrs Topf wrote acknowledging receipt of the Bauleitung telegrams of 29th May and 1st June [Document 61. This document, from a Soviet source, is unfortunately incomplete, because the Soviet Commission forgot to photograph the vessel and repeated its telegraphed reply, to the effect that Topf needed the original drawings from Koehler in order to obtain the dimensions of the chimney. From 7th to 16th June, according to the Koehler »Tagelohnzettel«, work on repairing the chimney of Krematorium II was interrupted. Koehler and the Bauleitung were waiting for Prüfer's new drawings. On Thursday, 17th June, the drawings had still not reached Auschwitz, but the Bauleitung nevertheless told Koehler to proceed with the relining of the chimney. Work began that day and was no doubt concerned only with preparation (PMO file BW 30/34, page 9). On Saturday 19th, in a letter signed by Bischoff, Kirschneck replied to the Topf letter of 2nd June, accusing them of breaking their word. The situation was totally outside the control of the SS, but they did have grounds for complaint: Topf were asking Koehler for drawings of a chimney that they themselves had designed in 1942, work for which the Bauleitung had in fact paid them 1769,36 RM. Topf claimed not to know the dimensions on their own drawing, also forgetting that Koehler had built the chimney scrupulously following (in theory) the dimensions and materials specifications appearing on the Topf drawing. The Bauleitung, exasperated by the course of events, demanded that argument should stop and that the chimney should be rebuilt, and hence that Topf should keep their promise and send new drawings to Messrs Koehler. This letter had not yet been posted when the long-awaited drawings finally arrived on Monday, 21st June. Relining of the chimney then proceeded without a break (apart from Sundays) until Saturday, 10th July [PMO file BW 30/34, pages 6 to 8]. Krematorium II was again operational at the beginning of the following week. 241 ===== PDF PAGE 0234 | page-234.md ===== 29684 /43/Ki./Schul. Telegram. Anschrift: Topfwerke, Erfurt, Text: Von Herrn Prüfer versprochene Ausführungszeichnungen Schornstein Krematorium II für Fr. Köhler noch nicht einge- treffen. Erbitten sofortiges Zusendung, da Arbeit einge- stellt werden müsste. Verteiler: Reg.Akt BW 30 Krema II Bauleitung KGL(Ustuf.Janisch) Bauleitung KL.(Ustuf Kirschneck) Techn.Abt.ZA.Jährling. Zentralbauleitung Auschwitz 9 - Sturmbannführer. ARCHIWUM BW 30/34 Document 62 [PMO file BW 30/34, page 38] Translation: [manuscript] Krema II 29684/43/Ki/Schul [undated, but of 29/5/1943] TELEGRAM Address: Topfwerke Erfurt Text: Construction drawings for Krematorium II chimney promised by Herr Prüfer for Messrs Köhler not yet arrived. Request immediate dispatch as work had to cease. Zentralbauleitung Auschwitz [Bischoff's initials] SS Major Distribution: File BW 30 Krema II Bauleitung POW camp (SS Second Lieutenant Janisch) Bauleitung KL (SS Second Lieutenant Kirschneck) Technical Section Civilian Employee Jährling 242 ===== PDF PAGE 0235 | page-235.md ===== Document 63 (PMO file BW 30/43, page 19) Translation of letter from Messrs J A Topf & Sons: [manuscript] BW 30 To Auschwitz Waffen SS and Police Central Construction Management Auschwitz, Eastern Upper Silesia Received 7th June 43 [initialed by Bischoff and Kirschneck] ERFURT, 2/6/43 hes. 30554/43 Our Division: D IV Prf Subject: Krematorium II Chimney We acknowledge receipt of your telegrams: of 29.5.43 [Saturday] «Construction drawings for Krematorium II chimney promised by Herr Prüfer for Messrs Köhler not yet arrived. Request immediate dispatch as work has had to cease.» of 1/6/1943 [Tuesday] «Send immediately drawing requested by telegram for Messrs Köhler concerning chimney Krematorium II]. Chief engineer Prüfer fully aware of the purpose of this request. Delay therefore inexcusable. Telegraph whether the drawings have been sent. Chimney constructor had to stop work today due absence of drawing.» To which replied today: «Requested Köhler by telegram Saturday [29th May] supply original drawing of chimney enable us produce construction drawing as we do not know dimensions of the chimney.» Replied in writing PTO [Friday] 16/7/1943 Correspondence register no. [initialed] Kirschneck ===== PDF PAGE 0236 | page-236.md ===== On 24th June 1943 (sometimes given as 25th June [see Document 65, line beginning <53<]) the deed of transfer [Document 64] by which the Bauleitung handed over Krematorium III to the camp administration was signed. Despite the difficulties with Vedag, who had refused to guarantee the dump-proofing of certain basement areas for two years, the Bauleitung nevertheless gave such an undertaking. The firms who worked on Krematorium III and their areas of responsibility were stated: foundations and walls by Huta; assisted by prisoner labour, roof by Industriebau AG; furnaces and machinery by Topf & Sons; the chimney by Koehler. Other subcontractors, whose contribution was minimal, were not named. One of the inventories accompanying the deed of transfer, that for the basement [Document 66] contains a **CRIMINAL TRACK; INDIRECTLY PROVING THE EXISTENCE OF A HOMICIDAL GAS CHAMBER IN LEICHENKELLER 1 OF KREMATORIUM III** [The argument concerning this proof is to be found in Part II, Chapter 8]. The inventory for the ground floor [Document 67] includes, unlike that for Krematorium II, the dissecting table, the 5 3-muffle furnaces, the 5 furnace blower motors, the waste incinerator and 5 complete sets of furnace items [5 except Schirnghitz]. The explanatory report on the construction contract gives the date for the start of work as July 1942, which is too early and should probably be LATE AUGUST OR EARLY SEPTEMBER. The price of the building amounted to 554,500 Reichsmark. On 28th June, following the handover of Krematorium III, the last one to be completed, Jährling calculated the overall throughput for the five Krematorien as 4,756 people in 24 hours, and sent this information to SS General Kammler in Berlin [Document 68]. This «official» figure, coolly doubled when explaining operations to high-ranking visitors (cf. SS Major Franke-Gricksch's report above, giving a figure of 10,000 in 24 hours), had no basis in practice, and probably has to be divided by two or three to arrive at the rate figure. The different visitors, SS, political leaders or others, were obviously unable to check the figures given by the camp SS, but accepted them as true and went away praising the Auschwitz SS for having found such a splendid solution to the «Jewish question». [The throughput of Krematorium I, estimated at 340 per day, is a valid figure based on relatively long practice, but the figures for Krematorien II, III, IV and V are purely theoretical, especially those for IV and V which were calculated by extrapolation from the planned figures for Krematorien II and III. The fact is that Krematorium II (and hence also III) was planned as early as 30th October 1941 to incinerate 60 corpses per hour. Obviously the SS had to stick to this figure that they had announced: 60 per hour x 24 hours = 1,440 corpses per day. Any lower throughput would be bad for their promotion prospects or could even be regarded as sabotage. As Kr II had 15 muffles and Kr IV and V each had 8 muffles, the throughput for each of these last was calculated as: (1440 x 8)/15 = 768 corpses per day, a purely hypothetical figure based on no practice of any sort. The real throughput of type II/III Krematorium was from 1,000 to 1,100 corpses per 24 hours and the maximum for a type IV/V was about 300 a day. The total capacity for the four Krematorien was therefore about 3,000 a day but in practice the real capacity at Birkenau was even less than it appears at that time (and Krematorium I at the main camp was closed down shortly afterwards); Kr IV was soon permanently shut down; V worked only intermittently, II was working again after repairs to its chimney, and III had just begun operations. These last two could incinerate 2,000 to 2,200 corpses a day, and this was the true incineration capacity at Birkenau from the beginning of July 1943 until April/May 1944. This much lower than advertised throughput is confirmed by the low coke consumption figures for the four Krematorien recorded until the end of November 1943, which was only enough to keep one Krematorium of type II/III in full operation.] Not directly connected with the construction of Krematorien II and III, but still of some relevance is a Topf letter of 7th July 1943, replying to one of 2nd written by Jährling, justifying the price asked for the two 8-muffle furnaces for Krematorien IV and V. The Bauleitung was probably balking at having to pay for these unusable furnaces covered by a TWO MONTH guarantee that had already expired (Topf letter of 10th April 1943 [see Part II, Chapter 7 «Krematorien IV and V»]). This letter mentioned the taking from the «Mogilew contract» of two twin 4-muffle furnaces, designed by Prüfer, for Krematorien IV and V, which were in fact designed around these furnaces. [In the author's opinion, the defects in Krematorien IV and V cannot be directly attributed to Prüfer. His technical solutions for the 4-muffle furnace, in which certain metal parts (rationed) were replaced by firebrick constructions (unrationed), were rather clever. The 8-muffle furnaces (obtained by twinning two 4-muffle furnaces) roared so well during their adjustment by Topf (foreman Willi Kock) that the ground around the Krematorien trembled (according to Filip Müller). Prüfer was let down by the poor quality of the refractory materials available in this fourth year of a war that was bleeding Germany white. Hoess admitted this indirectly: «Owing to the wartime shortage of materials the builders were compelled to economise during the constitution of crematoria IV and V [IV and V] and they were therefore built above ground and were of less solid construction. It soon became apparent, however, that the flimsy construction of these two [butimed] four-rotor ovens did not meet to the requirements.» These furnaces, whose design was technically sound (for example, the engineer Martin Klettner of Topf applied in 1951 to the Patent Office of the Federal Republic of Germany for a patent for a single muffle cremation furnace using the guillotine door designed by Prüfer) and which were carefully constructed, were unable to justify the hopes placed in them simply because they were built with second-rate materials.] On 17th July, Kirschneck informed Topf that the repair of the Krematorium II chimney lining was completed (and had been since 11th). By comparing the very first Topf drawing of the chimney with later ones, the Bauleitung SS been able to see that initially the Erfurt firm had not taken account of the different thermal expansions produced or the very high temperatures reached. The Bauleitung therefore raised the question of liability for these defects. They also notified Topf that the underfloor flues from the furnaces to the chimney were deteriorating and, under the terms of the guarantee, should be rapidly repaired or replaced. [PMO file BW 30/34, page 17]. On 21st July 1943, Huta sent back to the Bauleitung the original drawings for Krematorium II (which were also used for Kr III) that they had received on 2nd August 1942. The drawings concerned were 932, 933, 934, 935, 936, 937, 980, 1173-1174, 1300, 1301, 1311, 1341 and 1541 (drawings 935, 937, 1300 and 1541 having reached them later). Huta also enclosed their own drawings with those of the Bauleitung, i.e. sheets 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 and 11 of project 2015/IV. This coming and going of drawings is in itself proof that the original drawings of Krematorium II were in no way secret. By contrast, drawing 2003 and the different versions of 2197, where the criminal arrangements were clearly visible, were not communicated to Huta, or at least not officially [see these documents in annex]. On 4th August, Topf informed the Bauleitung that the permanent corpse lifts for Krematorien II and III (which were using provisional goods heists) were still not ready. Topf's subcontractor could not complete them because official authorization had again been refused. Topf requested the Bauleitung SS to inform their surprises in Berlin so that they could intervene to resolve the situation. Topf explained that the subcontractor had already built a substantial part of the lifts, but feared that if authorization was refused the order would be immediately suspended [PMO file BW 30/34, page 19]. On 6th August, Topf replied to the Bauleitung letter of 17th July, expressing doubt that the underfloor flues should be failing in their turn, after the problems with the chimney lining. [It would appear that, despite the evidence of damage to the flues, there was some justification for Topf's surprise. The author would like to point out that, during a conversation with David Olère, the later had declared that the problems with the underfloor flues were caused by members of the Sonderkommando trying to immobilize Krematorium II through sabotage, that this «induced» damage did not suffice to stop operations, while the spontaneous damage to the chimney had closed the Krematorien down for a month and a half. It is difficult to assess the impact of these «manipulations», which consisted of discreetly introducing cold water into the underfloor channels, knowing that the excessively high rates of incineration were bound to cause damage]. On 9th September, Bischoff told Kirschneck to send the Topf letter of 4th August concerning the hold up with the permanent lifts for Krematorien II and III to the SS-WVHA in Berlin, asking them to rapidly solve this problem [PMO file BW 30/34, page 18]. On Friday 10th September, Prüfer arrived in Auschwitz to confer with the Bauleitung on the settlement of the expenses incurred in the relining of Krematorium II chimney. From the beginning of the talks, the Bauleitung position was clear: Topf and their representative Prüfer were directly responsible for the defects in the chimney. The fact is that after the first, round chimney of Krematorium I, planned and built by the Bauleitung, was taken out of service, Topf had supplied the drawings for a second, of square section. These drawings had served as model for SS Second Lieutenant Dejaco's Drawing Office in producing the drawings of the «Project for a Krematorium» (such as 932, 933, 934 and 980), a building that was in the end to be constructed in two mirror-image versions at Birkenau. The SS, while admitting their own lack of competence in that area, insofar as they slavishly copied the Topf drawings for the chimneys of Krematorien II and III, nevertheless considered that the Erfurt firm had given them incorrect data, which was the probable cause of the damage to the chimney. After this first meeting, some members of the Bauleitung went with Prüfer to inspect the Birkenau Krematorium. The Topf chief engineer was forced to admit that the complaints about the underfloor flues in the letter of 17th July were justified: «whole sections of the roof [of the flues] were caving in and... the connections between the hot flues and the chimney were in very bad condition». The SS also pointed out to Prüfer that the draught control dampers in the chimney, which had melted due to faulty construction (implied to be Topf's fault) had been repaired entirely satisfactorily by the Bauleitung themselves. As Prüfer's situation was becoming difficult, he threw the blame for the defects in the chimney onto Messrs Koehler, the firm who had built it, claiming that they had used lime mortar instead of refractory mortar. The SS therefore decided to convoke the engineer Robert Koehler, the head of this firm, for the next day. On Saturday 12th September, Koehler swept away Prüfer's accusations, saying the work had been carried out correctly and using the prescribed materials. The discussion then became somewhat heated. The SS mentioned the other arguments previously put forward by Prüfer to explain the collapse of the chimney lining. But Prüfer was a good talker and his «scientific» demonstrations carried the day. The SS nevertheless pointed out that at each visit Prüfer put forward a new reason for the problems with the chimney. As for Robert Koehler, who lived in Myslowitz, about twenty kilometers from Auschwitz and was thus well-informed about what went on there, in his opinion the real cause of the poor state of the chimney before its repair by his firm was simply the excessive rate of cremation. However, the SS were reluctant to have Prüfer lose face completely - he had compromised himself too much with them - and so they accepted his «technical» reasons, while knowing that Koehler was right. Finally, in order that nobody should feel too upset and in order to maintain good relations, the cost of repairing the chimney, estimated at 5,000 RM, was split three ways: 1/3 for Topf, 1/3 for Koehler (who really was not at fault!) and 1/3 for the Bauleitung. And this was the end of the affair. • 244 ===== PDF PAGE 0237 | page-237.md ===== Document 64 [PMO file BW 3043, page 20] Translation: 59. Zentralbauleitung der Waffen-II und Polizei Auschwitz O/S Auschwitz, den 24 Juni 1943 Übergabeverhandlung. Zentralbauleitung der Waffen-II und Polizei Auschwitz: Vertreten durch: Das von der Zentralbauleitung der Waffen-II und Polizei Auschwitz er- richtete - Instandgesetzte - umgebende - Bauwerk Nr. 30a KOL Krematorium wurde heute an die Kommandantur (Unterkunftsverwaltung) des K.L. Auschwitz übergeben. Beschreibung: siehe Rückseite Unstehend aufgeführte Räume und die in der Anlage 1 gesondert auf- geführten Einrichtungsgegenstände sind ordnungsgemäß von der Zentral- bauleitung der Waffen-II und Polizei Auschwitz übergeben und von der Kommandantur (Unterkunftsverwaltung) des K.L. Auschwitz übernommen worden. Die Unterkunftsverwaltung hat nachfolgende Wünsche geäußert: Diese Arbeiten werden auf dem schnellsten Wege fertiggestellt. Übergabeverhandlungen geschlossen und gefertigt: Auschwitz, den 24 Juni 1943 Der Übergebende: Zentralbauleitung der Waffen-II und Auschwitz O/S. SS-Sturmbannführer Anlagen: 1 Verzeichnis der Einrichtungsgegenstände 1 Satz Reuplöse (Maßstab 1:200) 1 Verzeichnis über ähnliche an Bau eingesetzten Firmen mit Angaben der Haft und Garantiezeiten. 1 Bestätigung über Schornsteinabnahme Bei Ausführung der Arbeiten in Eigenregie mit Häftlingen kommt eine Erfurt- und Garantiezeit nicht zur Anwendung. Die Maurerarbeiten wurden teils von Firma A.G.Huta teils von Häftlingen, Dachstuhl von Industriebau-Bünden A.G. Bielitz, Maschinen und Ofenanlage Firma Topf u.Schne,Erfurt, Schornsteinanlage Firma Köhler - Myslowitz. 2 Jahre Garantiezeit. [The description of Krematorium III appearing on the verso is not known, the Moscow Prosecutor having omitted to photograph and communicate the verso] Waffen SS and Police Central Construction Management Auschwitz Auschwitz, 24th June 1943 # DEED OF TRANSFER Auschwitz Waffen SS and Police Central Construction Management Represented by: Worksite 30a of the POW camp, Krematorium III built - repaired - modified - by the Auschwitz Waffen SS and Police Central Construction Management has this day been handed over to the Kommandantur (Accommodation Administration) of KL Auschwitz. Description: see verso The surrounding areas and the equipment installed, indicated separately in annex 1, have been duly handed over by the Auschwitz Waffen SS and Police Central Construction Management and taken over by the Kommandantur (Accommodation Administration) of KL Auschwitz. The Accommodation Administration expressed the following wishes: This work was completed by the quickest method possible. Deed of transfer completed and closed: Auschwitz, 24th June 1943 The transferer Waffen SS and Police Central Construction Management Auschwitz, Upper Silesia The transferee KL Auschwitz Kommandantur Auschwitz Garrison Administration Buildings operation service [signed Bischoff] SS Major [Two illegible signatures] SS Sergeant-Major SS Sgt [Initialed by Kirschneck] Annexes: 1 inventory of equipment 1 set of construction drawings (scale 1:200) 1 list of all firms having participated in construction, with indication of length of liability and guarantee 1 certificate of acceptance for the chimney Since the work was carried out on own account using prisoners, the length of liability and guarantee is inapplicable. Bricklaying and concreting was done partly by Messrs Huta, partly by prisoners, the roofing by Industriebau A G of Bielitz, machinery and furnace installation by Messrs Topf & Sons of Erfurt, construction of the chimney by Messrs Köhler of Myslowitz. 2 year guarantee. 245 ===== PDF PAGE 0238 | page-238.md ===== Document 65 [PMO für BW 30/25, page 14] Part of the register of buildings handed over by the Bauleitung to the camp administration. The entry for Krematorium III is on the second last line: Reg. No. 53; Bflgb Nr./Correspondence register no: 31370/43/Kd/Ge; Datum d. Übergabe/Date of transfer: 25/6/43; Bauwerk Nr/Worksite No: POW camp 30a; Bezeichnung des Gebäudes/Designation of building: I Krematorium III; Melding an Amtsgruppenchef C/Report to Head of Office Group C; 31350/43/Ju/We ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) Document 66 Document 67 ![img-1.jpeg](img-1.jpeg) ![img-2.jpeg](img-2.jpeg) 246 ===== PDF PAGE 0239 | page-239.md ===== Document 68 [PMO file BW 30/ 42 page 2 and Archiv Domburg (GDR) ND 4586] ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) On Monday 13th September, Kirschneck wrote up a summary of the sometimes heated discussions of 10th and 11th [Document 69 and 68a]. In this summary he formally stated that PRÜFER HAD BEEN CONSULTANT FOR THE WHOLE INSTALLATION IN SUMMER 1942 [i.e. for the four new Krematorien]. This was already apparent from previous correspondence, but had never been spelled out so clearly before. Despite the «amicable arrangement» that had been arrived at, i.e. equal division of the cost of repairing the chimney between the three parties, a solution that was in fact to Prüfer's advantage, the report makes it clear that relations between Prüfer and the Bauleitung, which had been excellent in the second half of 1942, had deteriorated and were becoming rather bad. The SS were blaming him for the building of two useless Krematorien (a waste of 400,000 RM) and for the problems with the chimney of Krematorium II. On 28th September, Kirschneck sent a registered letter to Messrs Robert Koehler, announcing that the cost of repairing the lining of the chimney in fact amounted to 4,500 RM, so that the firm owed 1,500 RM [which meant that Koehler had worked on this job simply for the glory, their profit having gone up in smoke] and that the final account would be sent shortly. In addition, the SS informed Koehler that the Bauleitung had once again urgently requested the latest drawing of the chimney [probably concerned with the consolidation or relining of the underfloor flues] which Topf had been promising to dispatch without fail for TWO MONTHS already (since the end of July 1943) [PNO file BW 30.34, page 16] [What happened after this, i.e. whether or not the repairs were carried out, and if so whether by Topf or Koehler, is not known. If it was done, the job would have been extremely difficult and unpleasant, for the bricklayers would have had to work lying down in flues 50 cm wide and 70 cm high, which seems to be at the limits of the possible. Alternatively, the flues could have been reached from above, but this would have meant demolishing one third of the concrete floor of the ground floor of the Krematorium, which does not seem to have been done. In any event, if the work was done, it would have been in October 1943 and the furnaces would have had to be shut down for a considerable time. So in the second half of 1943, Krematorium II was out of service for two to three months for sundry repairs. As for the Krematorium III chimney, of the same design as that of Kr II, it is not known whether similar problems were encountered, also causing that Krematorium to be shut down for a while, as the available files have nothing to say on the subject. The sudden and permanent shutdown of Krematorium IV, the gradual shutdown of V and the temporary shutdown of II, are again in line with the coke delivery figures for the four Krematorien from March to the end of October 1943, which indicate an average rate only just sufficient to keep one Krematorium of type II/III in full operation.] In late September and early October 1943, Huta produced the regularization drawings for Krematorien II and III. The first, sheet 12 (not known today), was drawn on 20th September, then followed on 21st 13a, 23rd 14a, 24th 15 and finally, on 9th October, 16a [see these drawings in annex]. On 2nd November 1943, Huta sent the Bauleitung the final accounts for their work on Krematorien II and III. The next day, they sent a registered package to complement these accounts, containing three copies of more of their drawings for the two buildings: sheets 13, 14, 15 and 16 of project 109 [70150V]. On 6th November, following a conversation between Camp Commandant Hoess and Bischoff (who had just been appointed Head of the Silesian Waffen SS and Police Construction Inspectorate and replaced as head of the Auschwitz Bauleitung by SS Lieutenant Werner Jothann, a building technician), a letter was written for the Bauleitung by SS Sergeant Kamann (responsible for gardening and a photographer), requesting SS Major Joachim Caesar, head of the agricultural section of the camp, to supply various trees to surround Krematorien II and III (referred to as I and II) [Document 70]. This ring of greenery was intended more to make the Krematorium sites look agreeable than to camouflage them, as was mistakenly thought for a long time. Judging by what was actually planned (as against the 300 trees and 500 bushes planned for each Krematorium) and where it was planned, half way between the buildings and the surrounding barbed wire fences [Document 71], the aim was clearly more to reassure future victims with a calm rural décor that to try to hide a criminal activity known throughout the camp. What is more, because of a lack of plants, the implementation of the plan was very late (1944) and was limited to a very thin ring, scarcely visible [Document 72] and incomplete [Document 73], with small trees (the diameter of whose trunks was no more than five centimeters in 1945 [Document 71]) and the creation of a formal garden in the north yard of Krematorien II, perfectly visible in the aerial photograph of 25th August 1944 and found intact at the Liberation [Document 74]. [This letter, often cited by traditional historians, is the basis of the myth of the «Tarnung/camouflage» of the Krematorien. Thanks to the concept of «camouflaging» the means by which the most criminal aspect of the Third Reich was implemented, certain historians seem to have considered themselves authorized to make quite unjustifiable generalizations. The use of «camouflage» enabled them to replace scant knowledge by certainty and brought dangerous by confused thinking. A suspect installation was «criminalized» by the introduction of «camouflage». A shower room was or a disinfestation gas chamber could be a camouflaged homicidal gas chamber. If the documents found proved that the suspect installation was in fact used normally for its stated purpose, then the second aspect of «camouflage» came into play, «coding», an indispensable complement in certain writings. The document mentioning normal use, according to this argument, must be «in code», because it referred to a «camouflaged» place. Thus the word «Leichenkeller 1» [corpse cellar 1] in Birkenau Krematorien II and III «encoded» the homicidal gas chamber function, and «Leichenkeller 2» encoded the undressing room function (one wonders what «Leichenkeller 3» would have encoded, if, unfortunately, it had not been split up into perfectly clearly designated rooms). This historical «methodology», all the more intransigent because it was ignorant, stood in the way of any objective research, because being ignorant of the chronological and architectural evolution or even the practical arrangement of the premises, it had taken the easy way out. The theory of «camouflage-coding» was further reinforced by a third concept, the last of the trilogy, that of «secret», which made it possible to hide gaps in one's own knowledge by blaming the «secrecy» supposedly practised by those to be denounced. In fact the extermination of the Jews was such an open secret that in 1943-44, train passengers going through Auschwitz station in daytime crowded to the windows to better see where the Jews were being liquidated, and at night they saw Birkenau brilliantly lit by the thousand lamps of its perimeter fence. What they did not know, and this was the only «secret», was the method used by the SS. 247 ===== PDF PAGE 0240 | page-240.md ===== Document 49 Kl./Lei. 36732/47 Auschwitz, den 13.9.1943. PARTNERIE REISER W. GERSHBERG AROHIWUM BW 30/25 # Aktenvermerk: Betreff: Besprechung über Kostenübernahme, die durch die Neuerstellung des schadhaften Schornsteinmantels im Krematorium II KGL BW 30 entstanden sind, ist. An Freitag, den 10.9.1943 sprach bei der hiesigen Dienststelle als Vertreter der Firma Topf & Söhne, Erfurt, Herr Oberingenieur Prüfer sowie Klärung des unter betreffs entstandenen Sachverhaltes vor. Von Seiten der Zentralbauleitung wurde der Standpunkt vertreten, daß der Schaden des Schornsteinmantels vor allem auf die falsche Entwürfe, bzw. Ausführungsberatungen durch die Fa. Topf & Söhne zurückzuführen ist. Herr Oberingenieur Prüfer war im Jahre 1942 der Berater der gesamten Anlage und erklärte s. Ht. §-Untersturmführer (F) Ertel, §-Untersturmführer (F) Dejaco, sowie §-Untersturmführer (F) Jannisch, daß die Krematorien nach den der Fa. Topf gelieferten Zeichnungen ausgeführt werden sollen. Betreffs der Schornsteine sollte einerseits der Entwurf des Schornsteinplanes für das Krematorium I im Stammlager, andererseits die Abmessungen und Ausführungen der einzelnen Schornsteinbenteile nach den vorermahnten Planen der Fa. Topf & Söhne, ausgeführt werden. Unter Schornsteine zeigt eine Mantelstärke von 12 cm, das Mantel abgeben ist bis zu 6 h Höhe orange, sowie alles übrige Schornstmauerwerk gekennzeichnet. Das Mantelmauerwerk ist rot gezeichnet, bedeutet also Ziegelmauerwerk. Bei einer anschließenden Besichtigung und Rücksprache mit den Ober-Capoß der Krematorien wurde festgestellt, daß nicht wie im Schreiben vom 6.8.1943/2000, Nr. h. e. u./DIV/Prf, das Einfallen von Teilen der Rauchkanäle ein Irrtum oder eine Verwechselung war, sondern, daß tatsächlich wie im Schreiben der Bauleitung von 17.7.1943 erwähnt wird, ganze gewölbeteile eingingen und auch die Anschlüsse der Heiskanäle an den Schornstein sehr schadhaft waren. Bei dieser Gelegenheit wurde auch festgestellt, daß alle Schieber zum Regulieren des Luftzuges durch falschen Einbau - 2 - - 2 - abschmolzen und wurden diese Mängel nunmehr auf Grund eigener Erfahrung behoben und gewähren derzeit einwandfreies funktionieren. Herr Oberingenieur Prüfer bezeichnete diesmal als Grund der Mantelschadhaftigkeit, die Ausführung des Mauerwerkes mittels Kalkmörtel statt Schanottmörtel, als auch Fehlerhaftigkeit in der statischen Berechnung. Dem gegenüber wurde in der tage darauf folgenden Rücksprache mit Herrn Ingenieur Koehler, der diesen Schornstein nach den Zeichnungen der Fa. Topf & Söhne ausführte, daß der Mantel einwandfrei von unten bis zum oberen Ende mit Schanottmörtel gemauert wurde. Herr Oberingenieur Prüfer wird aufmerksam gemacht, daß er bei jedem seiner stattfindenden Besuche für die Ursachen des Einstürzens des Schornsteinmantels eine andere Begründung einbringe. Bei seinem vorletzten Besuch erklärte auch Heisein des Kommandanten, die großen Spannungen, die durch einseitige Heizung einzelner Öfen entstanden, denen im Entwurf nicht Rechnung getragen war, als Ursache. Nach Ansicht der Zentralbauleitung dürfte dies auch tatsächlich die Hauptursache sein und wurde den in den Neu-Entwurf der Fa. Topf & Söhne nunmehr Sorge getragen, in dem der Mantel durch die verschiedenartige Eindehnung des Froschen verschiedenartiges Öffnungen gehalten wird, und die einzelnen Mantelteile ineinander verschieblich gehalten werden, geachtet. Herr Ingenieur Koehler erklärte in der bereits erwähnten Rücksprache, daß die Überbelastung der Schornsteinanlage die wesentlichste Ursache für die Schadhaftigkeit wäre. Nachdem sich die Schuldfrage nicht restlos klären ließ, erklärte sich in Interesse eines weiteren guten Einvernehmens Herr Ingenieur Koehler, von der Fa. Robert Koehler, Myelowitz und Herr Oberingenieur Prüfer für die Fa. Topf & Söhne (verbehaltlich der Rücksprache mit seinem Chef) einverstanden, je 1/3 der neu angefallenen Gesamtkosten zu übernehmen, falls auch ihrerseits die Bauleitung bereit ist, einen solchen Betrag selbst zu übernehmen. Die Gesamtkosten wurden überschlägig mit RM 5 000,- beziffert. Es soll mit dieser Regelung die Neuerstellung des Schornsteinmantels im Krematorium II KGL BW 30 endgültig geklärt sein. Gesehen und Genehmigt: §-Untersturmführer (F) §-Sturmbannführer. PARTNERIE REISER W. GERSHBERG AROHIWUM BW 30/25 248 Document 49 ===== PDF PAGE 0241 | page-241.md ===== Document 69 [PMO file BW 30/25, page 11] Translation: (the corrections are not translated) KI/Lei. 36132/43 Auschwitz, [Monday] 13/9/1943 # Summary Record Subject: Meeting concerning the imputation of the costs incurred in having to replace the defective lining of the chimney of Krematorium II, POW camp BW 30 On Friday, 10/9/1943, Herr chief engineer Prüfer, as the representative of Messrs Topf & Sons of Erfurt, consulted with this service [Bauleitung] to clarify the situation with regard to the subject stated. The Zentralbauleitung maintained the position that the damage to the chimney lining was due above all to the incorrect drawings and instructions furnished by Messrs Topf & Sons. Herr chief engineer Prüfer was in 1942 the consultant for the whole installation and he declared at the time to SS Second Lieutenants (Specialists) Ertel [Ertl], Dejaco and Jahnisch [Janisch] that the Krematorien should be built according to the drawings provided by Messrs Topf. As for the chimneys, they should be built according to the project drawing for the chimney for Krematorium I in the main camp on the one hand and the measurements and instructions for the individual parts of the chimney appearing on the above-mentioned drawings provided by Messrs Topf & Sons. One of these drawings shows a lining thickness of 12 cm. The lining itself is shown to a height of 6 m in orange, as is all the other refractory brickwork. The brickwork supporting the lining is shown in red, meaning ordinary bricks. [See drawing 933[-934] (r) in annex, where the lining of the chimney, of a colour different from the pink walls, should be orange, which it is very faintly on the original in the PMO archives]. During a subsequent inspection and conversation with the Chief Capo of the Krematorien, it was noted that the collapse of part of the flues was not error or confusion, as [claimed] in the letter of 6/8/1943 corres. reg. no. h.e.s./D IV/Prf, but in fact as stated in the Bauleitung letter of 17/7/1943, whole sections of the roof [of the flues] were caving in and the connections between the hot flues and the chimney were in very bad condition. On this occasion it was also established that all the draught adjustment dampers had melted due to a fault in construction, but this fault had been eliminated in the light of our own experience and now Document 69a [PMO file BW 30/25, page 12] Translation: (the corrections are not translated) the system worked perfectly. Herr chief engineer Prüfer this time designated the reason for the damage to the lining as being that the brickwork was bonded with lime mortar instead of refractory mortar, and also errors in the static calculations. In reply to this, in the conversation on the following day [Saturday 12th September] with Herr engineer Koehler, who built this chimney according to the Topf & Sons drawings, stated that the lining was completely built with refractory mortar from the bottom to the top. It was pointed out to Herr chief engineer Prüfer that with each visit he brought a new explanation for the reasons for the collapse of the chimney lining. During his last visit but one, in the presence of the Commandant, he gave as the reason the great stresses caused by firing individual furnaces [while leaving the others cold], which was not taken into account in the plans. In the opinion of the Zentralbauleitung, this was in fact probably the main reason, and would be taken into account in the new Topf & Sons plans, in which the different rates of expansion of different parts of the lining would be allowed for by having openings such that they could slide with respect to one another. Herr engineer Koehler declared during this conversation that the overloading of the chimney installation was the most important cause of the damage. Since it had not been possible to completely settle the question of liability, Herr engineer Koehler for Messrs Robert Koehler, Myslowitz and Herr chief engineer Prüfer for Messrs Topf & Sons (subject to consultation with his superior) declared their agreement, in the interests of further good relations, to each assume 1/3 of the total extra cost, provided that for its part the Bauleitung was prepared to assume a similar sum. This total cost was provisionally estimated at 5,000 RM. With this settlement, the reconstruction of the chimney lining in Krematorium II, POW camp BW 30, is considered to be finally settled. Read and approved SS Second Lieutenant (Specialist) SS Major 249 ===== PDF PAGE 0242 | page-242.md ===== 6. November 1943. 39523/43/Kam/2. Betr.: Abgabe von Pflanzsmaterial für die Anlage eines Grüngürtels für die Krematorien I und II im KGL. Bez.: Unterredung zwischen den Lagerkommandanten ¼-Ober-sturmbannführer Höss und ¼-Sturmbannführer Bischoff. Anlg.: --- An den Leiter der Landwirtschaftlichen Betriebe ¼-Sturmbannführer (F) Caesar im K.L. Auschwitz a/o. Auf Grund einer Anordnung des Lagerkommandanten ¼-Obersturmbannführer Höss sollen die Krematorien I und II im KGL mit einem Grüngürtel als natürlicher Abschluß zum Lager hin verwehen werden. Zur Durchführung dieser Maßnahme wird - folgendes Pflanzsmaterial aus Forstbeständen benötigt: 200 Stück Laubhelsbeume 3 - 5 a hoch 100 " Laubhelsmeister 1 1/2 - 4 a hoch 300 " Fichten und Eleftern 1 1/2 - 4 a hoch sowie 1000 " verschiedene Hochhörtsäuber 1-2 1/2 a hoch aus Baumschulbeständen. Es wird im Verfügungstellung dieses Pflanzsmaterials gebeten. Der Leiter der Zentralbeilung der Waffen-4 und Polizei ausgibt: Vertreter: 1 ¼-Hatuf. (F) Dejaco 1 ¼-Stubaf. Bischoff 1 Registratur 1 ¼-Uechs. Kamann Document 70 [PMO file BW 30/34, page 14 and Volume 11 of the Hoess Trial, annex 7] Translation: 6th November 1943 39533/43/Kam/Jl Subject: Delivery of plant material for the establishment of a ring of greenery for Krematorien I [II] and II [III] in the POW camp Reference: Conversation between Camp Commandant SS Lieutenant Colonel Hoess and SS Major Bischoff Enclosure: --- Head of the Agricultural Service SS Major (Specialist) Caesar KL Auschwitz, Upper Silesia By order of Camp Commandant SS Lieutenant Colonel Hoess, Krematorien I [II] and II [III] in the POW camp are to be provided with a ring of greenery to constitute a natural separation from the rest of the camp. To implement this measure, the following plant material is necessary, to be taken from forestry stocks: 200 deciduous trees 3 - 5 m high 100 deciduous trees 1 1/2 - 4 m high 300 spruce and pine trees 1 1/2 - 4 m high and 1000 assorted bushes 1 - 2 1/2 m high from the nurseries. You are requested to make these plants available to us. Head of the Auschwitz Waffen SS and Police Central Construction Management [initialed] Jothann SS Lieutenant (Specialist) Distribution: 1 SS Second Lieutenant (S) Dejaco 1 SS Major Bischoff 1 Registration 1 SS Sergeant Kamann 250 ===== PDF PAGE 0243 | page-243.md ===== Krematorien II and III were never camouflaged, in the first place because the actual process of extermination went on inside their walls. Dr Mengele's twins, for example, who lived in the hospital sector, II, III, were able to see through the barbed wire fence perfectly well, and regularly until the end of 1944, columns of a few hundred to a thousand people enter the grounds of Krematorium III and disappear into one of its underground annexes, and a few hours later they would see the chimney belching smoke and flame. If there had been some kind of hedge behind the barbed wire, they would not have been able to observe these external signs of the extermination process. However, there was one particular form of camouflage put in place, **not to hide the buildings, but what went on around them.** This decision was taken by a meeting of SS held at 1800 hours on 16th June 1944 [Summary record of 17/6/44, Correspondence register no. 8580/44/2a/2c]. In this summary, under item 16, the expression «Tarnung der Krema/Camouflage of the Krematorien» was used, but this «camouflage», or more correctly in this case «masking», was considered necessary to hide, not the building itself, but the open air incineration ditches dug behind Krematorium V. Krematorium IV was given a similar screen even though it was out of use and had no incineration ditches. The reason is not known, except for a rather surprising desire for symmetry with Kr V [Document 75]. This screen had to be placed against the barbed wire, and rush matting was envisaged but it was actually done using branches cut from the adjacent wood and placed in front of or behind the barbed wire, probably in July 1944. Following the Sonderkommando revolt of October 1944, Krematorium IV was dismantled and the surrounding barbed wire and screen also. In January 1945, all that remained of this «camouflage» was a hedge to the south of Krematorium V, along the ring road.] At the end of 1943, according to Henryk Tauber's deposition, the gas chamber (Leichenkeller I) of Krematorium II was divided into two chambers by building a wall across the middle. This modification is not mentioned in any Bauleitung document, and it was probably made under the responsibility of the Krematorium administration. Two other former prisoners confirmed this division into two, without realizing it, by describing what they saw in 1944. In «Témoignages sur Auschwitz» (page 161), Dr Paul Bendel relates that in Krematorium II: «the gas chambers proper [are] two in number» and: «In the middle of these, there descend from the roof two mesh tubes with external valves used to emit the gases». In «Camps de Concentration» (page 162), Dr Michel Schechter [provided the reference for this passage is correct and that the doctor is in fact the author] also describes Leichenkeller I of Krematorium II: «A big room followed on from the first [undressing room], approximately 10 [in fact 15] metres long, 6 or 7 metres wide and 5 or 6 [2.5 in fact] metres high. In the upper part, on the centre line of its longer dimension, there were two latticework chimney-like structures, with an opening outside the roof through which the gases arrived and spread throughout the room through the lattice of the tubes». In saying that the gas chamber(s) of Krematorium II had only TWO columns for the introduction of Zyclon-B, instead of FOUR, these witnesses confirm that the original gas chamber had been divided in two, even though they did not know this. At the end of 1943, splitting the 210 m$^{2}$ of Leichenkeller I into two chambers of 105 m$^{2}$ was not simply partitioning, but was a **reduction in capacity**. The construction of a central wall, with a communicating door, gas-tight or not, **would necessarily have reduced the rate at which corpses could be extracted from Leichenkeller I.** There would on the face of it be no advantage to the SS in this deliberate slowing of the extermination process, but in fact there was a change in the method of operation, so ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) ![img-1.jpeg](img-1.jpeg) Document 71 [PMO neg. no. 822] Southwest/northeast view of the ruins of Krematorium III after the Liberation in 1945, photographed from a watchtower covering the ramp. The containers of bricks show that the dismantling of the building had not been completed when the SS blew up the concrete parts of the structure on 20th January 1945. The present state of the site is not as shown on the photo, as all the bricks, those in the containers and the others, have been removed, as have the remains of the internal walls still visible on the photo. The pile of logs in the foreground, faithfully shown by David Olère in his drawing of Krematorium III, were to fire the furnaces when there was no coke. Between the ruins of the building and the barbed wire fence is the ring of greenery around Krematorium III. The size and location of the plants proves beyond any doubt that the intention could not have been to camouflage, but was rather to make the site more pleasant. ![img-2.jpeg](img-2.jpeg) Document 72 [Photo 19 of Serge Klarsfeld's «Auschwitz Album»] East/west view of the Birkenau ramp in May or June 1944, showing the arrival of a convoy of Hungarian Jews. In the background is Krematorium II with its collective chimney, very clearly visible. Seven or eight months after the order for a «ring of greenery» given by Camp Commandant Hoess, not a single tree can be seen, and between the posts supporting the barbed wire we can even make out the windows of the prisoners' rest room and the door of the coke store. Where is the «camouflage»? 251 ===== PDF PAGE 0244 | page-244.md ===== that less victims were gassed at one time, thus less gas chamber space required. The old formula of 2,000 at a time had gone out of fashion and the maximum size of a batch became 1,000. In the author's opinion, there could be only two possible explanations for such a modification: either the number of people to be gassed turned out to be smaller than anticipated, or the gassing of large batches meant prolonged overloading of the cremation furnaces and led to frequent breakdowns, thus reducing the overall efficiency of the Krematorium. By limiting the capacity of Leichenkeller I to 1,000 people, the SS optimized their incineration installation by regulating it to avoid the problems brought about by «accelerated» working. The author considers that this new method, based on experience, made it possible to improve the incineration throughput of the Krematorium. The same principle was applied in May 1944 in Krematorium V, where an internal wall was built to create a gas chamber of about 12 m² in order to be able to «treat» small groups using a minimum of Zyclon-B. It is not known whether Leichenkeller I of Krematorium III was divided in a similar way, but this would seem logical. At the present time, one of the few opportunities that exist for verifying this would be to study ALL of David Olère's sketches, assuming that somewhere he had drawn from memory the interior of the gas chamber of Krematorium III. However, this research is not possible at the moment, because fifty of Olère's sketches (about half of his historical production) are not at present available to the public. [On 19th December 1943, most probably, Huta gave the new head of the Bauleitung, SS Lieutenant Jothann, virtually all their original drawings for Krematorien II and III, in order to finalize business concerning these two buildings. This letter, actually dated 1944 and cited as such in the annexes, is much more likely, in the logical succession of the correspondence exchanged, to date from 1943, its writer having somewhat anticipated the arrival the new year. Chronologically, the date of 19th December 1943 is more plausible than 19th December 1944. In this case, the author's comments on this letter in the annexes are mistaken, because they are too «dramatised». They are nevertheless left uncorrected, because it is impossible to actually prove that the letter was written in 1943 as there is no supporting documentary evidence.] From the end of 1943 until April 1944, Krematorien II and III functioned regularly, but not at full capacity, in accordance with the numbers of people found unfit for work. Krematorien IV and V, were out of service and not required anyway. In anticipation of the arrival of the Hungarian Jews, the SS Krematorium Administration had the FOUR buildings gradually made ready for service. On 13th April, the DAW metalworking shop received an order (no. 1483) for the repair of 20 furnace doors and for 10 scrapers for Krematorien I [II] and II [III]. This work was completed on 17TH JULY 1944 [a date that remains inexplicable because impossible to check in the original file]. On 5th May, still for Krematorien II and III, the metalworking shop completed 40 nuts and bolts produced according to a sketch attached to an order of 27th April (no. 1513). Finally, on 1st June, this shop received an order (no. 1600) for the repair of 30 furnace doors for Krematorien III [IV] and IV [V] and for 4 slices. This order, marked urgent, was completed on 7th June [this order from the SS administration raises the question of its late date with respect to the «resettlement» of the Hungarian Jews and the number of doors is a mystery, as it seems excessive and is not a multiple of 8. We have no documents to elucidate ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) ![img-1.jpeg](img-1.jpeg) Document 73 [PMO neg. no. 21334/49] Western access stairway to the undressing room (Leichenkeller 2) of Krematorium II in 1945. In the centre, standing on the top step, is the Examining Judge, Jan Sehn. In the background is the barbed wire fence. On the left is a post supporting three strands of barbed wire to prevent any «leakage» away towards the southern grounds of the Krematorium. There is no ring of greenery here. Document 74 [PMO neg. no. 21334/48] In the centre, his tie flying in the wind, is the Examining Judge, Jan Sehn, accompanied by various officials, walking in 1945 between the «formal garden» (behind them) and the undressing room (Leichenkeller 2) in the north yard of Krematorium II, heading for the western access stairway. Jan Sehn was following exactly the same route as those found unfit for work, from the entrance gate (in the background on the right) to the stairs down to the undressing room. In the middle ground is the famous garden which, according to the «revisionists» should not have been intact if the SS had really gassed people, as it would have been trampled out of existence by the crowds to be «treated». It is nevertheless protected by pickets carrying a very low strand of barbed wire, an apparently laughable barrier, but in fact vicious and effective. ![img-2.jpeg](img-2.jpeg) Document 75 [Le Monde Juif, No. 97, page 14] 252 ===== PDF PAGE 0245 | page-245.md ===== either problem). After their revision, an operation that may be considered routine, Krematorien II and III fulfilled their role perfectly from May to July 1944. As for Krematorien IV and V, we have no precise information about their reactivation. According to Sonderkommando and SS accounts and depositions concerning the «forest Krematorien», which are confused and divergent on this point, the following situations emerge. Krematorium IV either functioned again for a very short time, a few days to a few weeks, before being closed down for good, or was not restarted at all and served as accommodation for about 700 Sonderkommando men, who occupied ALL the available space in the building, (including the gas chambers, but not the furnace room and its annexes, which were probably reserved for the Capos). The furnaces of Krematorium V, not so badly damaged as those of Kr IV, either worked at such a slow rate that open-air incineration ditches had to be rapidly dug behind the gas chambers in order to compensate for their poor throughput, or, knowing in advance that the Krematorium V furnaces would be unable to operate at the pace required for the future, the SS decided to replace them with five small incineration ditches and to reactivate Bunker 2, under the designation Bunker V, which also had an incineration ditch. There is still another possibility, in view of the repairs of early June, i.e. that Krematorien IV and V were not repaired by the end of April 1944 and the SS had the five incineration ditches dug and Bunker 2/V reactivated right away. It is possible that, overwhelmed by the mass arrivals of Hungarian convoys in May, they tried at the beginning of June to rapidly reactivate Krematorien IV and V in order to increase incineration capacity at Birkenau. These cursory repairs, made in extremis, seem to have succeeded in the case of Kr V, which worked more or less correctly until January 1945, but turned out to be inadequate in the case of Kr IV, whose furnaces and chimney needed to be completely rebuilt. Between May and the beginning of July 1944, some 200,000 to 250,000 Hungarian Jews were annihilated in the gas chambers and incineration furnaces of Krematorien II and III, the gas chamber and five incineration ditches of Krematorium V, and the gas chamber (the original internal walls dividing the building into four small gas chambers had been removed, leaving a single chamber of external dimension 7 m by 15 m) of Bunker 2/V and six incineration ditch of 30 m³ area. According to the accounts of former prisoners, this was the darkest and most depressing period in Birkenau, at the time when the Liberation of Europe was beginning. The most palpable sign of this denemal period, engraved on the memory of survivors, was four black columns of smoke, belched forth 24 hours a day by the Krematorien. This picture, of course, cannot be taken entirely at face value, because two of the Krematorien were out of service and aerial photographs taken during this period show no trace of smoke. An argument has grown up over the discrepancy between the memory of survivors and the indisputable evidence of the aerial photos. Even though this can now be explained by the gaps between the arrival of convoys, historians have been extraordinarily unlucky in that the American reconnaissance aircraft flew over Auschwitz-Birkenau precisely on days when nothing was happening or when the cremation of the last batch had finished. On the other hand, it is easier to explain the four columns of smoke, despite the fact that two of the four Krematorien were not working. The chimneys of Krematorien II and III were visible from almost all over the Birkenau camp and everybody could see when they were smoking. In the case of Kr V, practically surrounded by the batch wood and hence invisible to most of the prisoners, the incineration ditches behind it burned regularly, giving the impression that the furnaces were working. As for Kr IV, partly hidden by a screen of trees, an observer within the limits of B.II (and most of the survivors are in this category) could see the smoke coming from the incineration ditch of Bunker 2/V, located 400 m to the west of Krematorium IV and on the same line of sight, and had the impression it was coming from the Krematorium. On 6th June 1944, the Bauleitung produced drawing 4054, on which the «Jewish ramp» where the convoy arrived was transformed into a real station, an installation that could be called the «extermination station» [Document 94]. This version produced by the Bauleitung Drawing Office is more realistic than the plan mentioned by Hoess of a huge station covering the four Krematorien, for it includes only Krematorien II and III, the only ones that were actually working. [It should be pointed out that the only piece of «Camouflage» found on any of the known Bauleitung drawings appears here, where «Gemischehilfe/Vegetable shed» probably stands for «Effektenhalle/Effects shed»]. On 26th June 1944, the US Air Force photographed the entire Auschwitz-Birkenau-Monowitz complex from a height of 70,000 feet [Document 77]. An enlargement [Document 78] reveals no activity in the four Krematorien, which is perfectly natural, because the last transport of Hungarian Jews from Węgier had arrived on 18th June and the next did not arrive at Birkenau until 28th June. On 25th August 1944, the US Air Force photographed, in clear weather, part of the Birkenau camp (B.I, the ramp and Krematorien II and III, from a probable height of about 3,000 feet [Document 79]. No incineration activity can be detected in the Krematorien, and yet the previous day five transports had arrived in the camp: there from Lodz, one from Węgier (Hungary) and one from Boryslaw (Soviet Union). The total number of deportees in these five convoys is not known, but the number selected for work to those from Lodz 10, 7, and 222; from Hungary 28 and from the Soviet Union 2. A total of 269 judged fit for work. Assuming that 19 THE WORST CASE 10% of the total were pronounced fit, the total for the five convoys would be in the order of 2,700 people. The incineration of 2,400 or 2,500 corpses in Krematorien II and III and the ditches of Krematorium V and Bunker 2/V was a matter of routine, compatible with the real throughput of the installations, and could have been completed by the time the photograph was taken, before midday on 25th August. (It should be noted that the incineration ditches were not photographed, so we do not know whether they were operating or not.) On 13th September 1944, Krematorien IV and V were photographed by an American aircraft [Document 75], and no trace of smoke can be seen. No convoy had arrived at Birkenau that day, and only the 300 Jewish children of a transport from Kowno had been gassed the previous day. After the Sonderkommando revolt of 7th October 1944, Krematorium IV, which was set on fire during the uprising, was completely demolished except for the concrete floor, which remained in place. On 26th November 1944, following the publication in American newspapers of the «War Refugee Board» report on the Auschwitz-Birkenau extermination camp, Himmler gave the order, probably verbal (no written trace ever having been found) to completely dismantle Krematorien II and III. ### THE USE OF THE KREMATORIEN FOR THE «RESETTLEMENT» OF JEWS UNFIT FOR WORK After selection of the Jewish ramp at Auschwitz station [the new siding in the very center of the Birkenau camp was not completed until May 1944, for the arrival of the Hungarian transports], groups of 1,000 to 1,500 classified as «unfit» [for work] were taken on foot, or for the weaker ones, by truck, to Krematorium II or III. For about two weeks, from 15th to the end of March 1943, victims heading for Krematorium II, the only one ready at that date, used a particular route. Because the access stairway to the underground undressing room was not yet finished, a stable-type hut was erected on a north-south line in the north yard of the building [Document 80], to serve as a temporary undressing room. After passing through the wire mesh press in the fence round the Krematorium, the unfit entered this hut at the northern end, emerged naked from the southern end and, then being visible to the prisoners in B.III, disappeared into its northern stairway of the Krematorium [Document 81]. From there, they were channeled into Leichenkeller 1, the gas chamber, the door was shut on them and they were gassed. Once the stairway from the outside directly to the underground undressing room was completed, the hut was dismantled, and from April 1943 the victims entered the north yard of Krematorium II, walked along the northern side of the undressing room along its whole length, went down the western stairway [Document 82], with its metal guard rails, and entered the undressing room. The whole operation now being underground, nothing was visible from the outside, which was not the case before. Once they were undressed [Document 83], the unfit went through the double door at the far end of the undressing room along a short corridor and through the vestibule into the gas chamber, whose entrance was on their right. As soon as the whole group of 1,000 to 1,500 people was in the gas chamber, the gas-tight door was closed and closed with its two thick bars, which were screwed tight. The lights in the room were then probably extinguished. On the roof, SS medical orderlies wearing gasmasks introduced 1 or 1.5 kg of Zyclon-B into each of the four «chimneys» with their covers [making 4 to 6 kg in oil] which projected 40 or 50 cm above the grass growing on the earth bank covering the roof of the gas chamber. Death followed very quickly, as the amount of Zyclon-B used was FORTY times the lethal dose [Document 84]. In a few minutes, five at the very most, depending on the humidity of the air and the ambient temperature, all the victims were dead. In theory, an SS doctor was supposed to check by looking through the peephole to make sure nobody was still moving. But as a real check was impossible it could but be cursory and was generally dispensed with altogether, the poison used being so very toxic and effective. The air extraction system was then switched on for at least 20 to 30 minutes, for there was a great deal of poisoned air still in the chamber, the amount absorbed by the victims being minimal. The gas-tight door was then unbolted and opened, and the work of extracting the corpses began immediately [Document 85]. The «dentists» then pulled out the gold teeth and collected any jewelry [most of the «crematorium» gold came from melted down jewelry, NOT GOLD TEETH, which only accounted for a very small percentage]. «Barbers» cleared the hair off the women. These two operations were carried out either directly in the gas chamber entrance [Document 86] or where the corpses were taken from the lift at the end of the furnace room. In the early days the corpses were loaded 3 or 4 at a time on the temporary goods hoist, then later 10 to 15 at a time on the permanent electric lift, and sent up to the ground floor. There, the Sonderkommando men attached leather thongs to them and slid them along a shallow trough of water to a point in front of one of the furnaces [Document 85]. They were placed head in foot in threes on a metal-«corpse stretcher» and charged into one of the muffles (this was the normal number for normal adults, it could be more in the case of children, but it could never possibly have been twelve adults, even reduced to musulman state, as claimed by one former Sonderkommando man) [Document 87]. The incineration of such a charge took 45 to 60 minutes [Document 88], though some unrealistic witnesses have claimed it took only 15 to 20 minutes, or even less. The pulsed air blowers on the side of the furnaces were apparently used only when starting up a furnace. Once the furnace was hot, the corpses burned spontaneously. Witnesses have stared for drawn [Document 89] that when working at full capacity and high temperature, flames leapt 2 or 3 metres from the top of the chimney. There is no photographic evidence to corroborate this claim, however. The work of incinerating the corpses was watched by the SS from a room known as the «Capo's room» [Document 90]. The destruction of 1,000 to 1,500 people took a whole day or more. The two bottlenecks in the process that put absolute limits on the extermination capacity of Krematorien II and III were in fact the extraction of corpses from the gas chamber, which took «hours and hours» according to former Sonderkommando member David Olère, and then the cremation process, which took 24 to 36 hours. Somewhere between 15th and 20th June 1944, during the extermination of the Hungarian Jews, the three working Krematorien and Bunker 2/V established the unhappy record of between 4,000 and 5,000 people eliminated in a single day (the «emotional» figure put forward after the Liberation for this day was 25,000). ### THE DESTRUCTION OF KREMATORIEN II AND III After the order was received to destroy Krematorien II and III, an «Abbruchkommando/demolition commando» was formed on 1st December 1944 to perform this task. Work advanced rapidly. The roofs were dismantled, the undressing room ventilation systems removed, the chimneys and furnaces dismantled. On 21st December 1944, the floors of the roof spaces were bare and the earth banks over the undressing rooms (Leichenkeller 2) had been removed, this earth being placed on the ground on either side of these premises [Document 91]. The way in which the earth was removed not cleared away from the cellars shows that the SS intended to expose the walls as well, so as to be able to remove all trace of the Krematorien. Unfortunately for them, it would appear that these outdoor activities had to stop because the ground was frozen. Work then proceeded inside the buildings, the ten cremation furnaces being removed, so that only the empty foundation pits were found at the Liberation. On 14th January 1945, internal dismantling continued [Document 92]. In the afternoon of 18th January, Auschwitz II [Birkenau] was evacuated. It had not been possible to complete the destruction and removal of the Krematorien, partly because of its front and snow and partly because of the lack of time, for the Russian troops were dangerously clear. On 20th January 1945, the SS blew up the remaining carcasses of Krematorien II and III, apparently in daytime (towards midday for Kr III, according to Mr Otto Klein's 253 ===== PDF PAGE 0246 | page-246.md ===== Document 76 (PMD file BW 2/41) «Lage- und Absteckungsplan über Bebauung des Geländes zwischen Bauabschnitt 1 und 2 im K.L.II Birkenau» location and development plan for the land between construction stages 1 and 2 in K.L.II Birkenau. Maßstab/Scale 1:1000. Drawing 4054, drawn by prisoner 471 on 21/6/1944 checked on 22/6/44 and approved by SS Lieutenant Jothann on 24th or 26th June 1944 [The inscriptions are translated in Part V. Chapter 2 «The extermination station»] ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) 254 ===== PDF PAGE 0247 | page-247.md ===== ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) 255 ===== PDF PAGE 0248 | page-248.md ===== # Document 77 Aerial photograph of the Auschwitz-Birkenau-Monowitz complex, taken from 30,000 feet on 26th June 1944. The Birkenau camp above, Auschwitz below it and slightly left, Monowitz below, centre. ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) # Document 78 Enlargement of the aerial photograph of 26th June 1944, showing the Birkenau POW camp (old name) or KL Auschwitz II (new name). There is no protective screen around Krematorium IV at this date. ![img-1.jpeg](img-1.jpeg) ![img-2.jpeg](img-2.jpeg) # Document 79 Aerial photograph taken on 25th August 1944, showing Auschwitz station (top right) and part of Auschwitz II, including B.I. the ramp and Krematorium II and III. ![img-3.jpeg](img-3.jpeg) # Document 80 [PMO neg. no. 20583] Part of an overall plan of Birkenau, Bauleitung drawing 2216, drawn on 20th March 1943 and showing Krematorium II and III. In the grounds of Kr II, in the north yard, there is a stable-type hut, type 260/9 (40.76 m by 9.56 m) that served as a temporary undressing room from 15th to 31st March 1943, while the western access stairway of Leichenkeller 2 (the undressing room) was being built. 256 ===== PDF PAGE 0249 | page-249.md ===== ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) # Document 81 [Photo by the author] Present state of the northern access stairway to the basement of Krematorium II (on the right). On the left are the three steps that led up to the ground floor of the Krematorium. It was between the moment when the victims emerged naked from the southern end of the undressing hut and when they disappeared down this stairway that they were briefly visible from B.III. The gas chamber was in the background, on the right. ![img-1.jpeg](img-1.jpeg) # Document 82 [Photo by the author] Present state of the western access stairway to the underground undressing room (Leichenkeller 2) of Krematorium II, photographed from the watchtower next to enclosure 27 of the Krematorium. In the background on the left, at right-angles to the rest are the ruins of the underground gas chamber. It is possible that the trees belong to the old «ring of greenery», which gives an idea of what their size must have been in 1944. The SS guards in this tower were in the box seat for seeing how «resettlement» operations proceeded. 257 ===== PDF PAGE 0250 | page-250.md ===== # Document 85 [Sketch by David Olère, 1946] Extracting the corpses from the gas chamber of Krematorium III, as remembered by David Olère. The gas-tight door, a little wider and thicker than the real thing, is similar in pattern to that found after the Liberation, despite the fact that the protective grid over the peephole on the inside of the door is different from that drawn by the former prisoner Konrad Gracz (declaration of 7th May 1979, «Oswiadczenia», volume 92, pages 235 to 247). It is unfortunate that in order to make a bigger impression David Olère has drawn the end of a 3-mile furnace, whereas they were on the ground floor, not in the basement. ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) Document 84 [Painting by David Olère] ![img-1.jpeg](img-1.jpeg) ![img-2.jpeg](img-2.jpeg) Document 86 [Sketch by David Olère, 1946] Canvas by David Olère, 131 cm by 162 cm, entitled «GASSING BY ZYCLON-B». The dominant colour is a blue of the same shade as the Zyclon-B pellets. It is not known if and how David Olère was able to witness such a scene through the peephole of the gas-tight door of the gas chamber, without being detected by the SS, and in any case, the lights were usually switched off, though there may well have been exceptions to this rule. Whether the picture is entirely imaginary or is based on what the artist actually saw, this is the only one showing a homicidal gassing. ![img-3.jpeg](img-3.jpeg) Document 83 [LICA Journal «Le droit de vivre», of 15th February 1964, page 3] Sketch by David Olère, former member of the Sonderkommando, drawn in 1946 and showing the undressing room (Leichenkeller 2) of Krematorium III. Upper left is the air extraction duct. The gas chamber was beyond the far end of the room, off to the right. A woman's hair being sheared off by a «barber» and gold teeth being extracted by a «dentist», both members of the Sonderkommando, being closely watched by an SS man. This scene in situated INSIDE the gas chamber of a Krematorium of type II/III, as shown by the wire mesh Zyclon-B introduction column in the background. 258 ===== PDF PAGE 0251 | page-251.md ===== # Document 87 [Sketch by David Olère, 1945] View of the furnace room at work. The scene shows the charging of corpses using a «corpse» stretcher. On the right is the trough of water making it possible to slide the corpses more easily from the lift in the furnace. This lift, which brought the corpses up from the basement, is seen at the far end of the furnace room, loaded. ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) ![img-1.jpeg](img-1.jpeg) # Document 88 [Final photograph in the «Auschwitz Album» by Serge Klarsfeld] Partial view, showing two muffles of one of the two Topf three-muffle furnaces in the Krematorium of Buchenwald Concentration Camp, found intact at the Liberation. The photograph is from an unknown American source. These furnaces were identical to those installed in Birkenau Krematorium II and III. They were designed by Topf chief engineer Kurt Prüfer. # Document 89 [Sketch by David Olère, 1945] View of Krematorium III, looking southeast/northwest, as remembered by David Olère. Despite certain errors, particularly in the form and number of skylights in the roof, the building is very well depicted, with a clump of trees in the background that still exists today. The pile of logs was found in the same place at the Liberation (see Document 71). The lightning conductors, twisted by the intense heat, are incorrectly placed but nevertheless constitute the kind of detail that can hardly be invented. Despite these faults, this sketch is almost as good as a photo- graph. ![img-2.jpeg](img-2.jpeg) ![img-3.jpeg](img-3.jpeg) # Document 90 [Sketch by David Olère, 1947] Scene representing three SS men sitting in the «Capo’s» room» and consuming «the leftovers» of a convoy of French Jews while watching the «unfit» from this convoy being incinerated in Krematorium III. According to the ground floor plan of the building, this surveillance window should be a sliding window with no horizontal division, but it could nevertheless have been as David Olère drew it. The position of the furnaces with respect to the window proves that this must be Krematorium III. 259 ===== PDF PAGE 0252 | page-252.md ===== statements to the author. A group of Dr Mengele's twins, to which Mr Klein and his brother belonged, was ordered by the SS to take cans of inflammable material and explosives into Krematorium III, then having left the building the twins sought safety in a drainage ditch, from where they watched the explosion) or according to Danuta Czech's «Calendar», towards late afternoon. ## AFTER THE WAR: RUINS, MONUMENTS AND EXCAVATIONS The Soviet troops who liberated Birkenau on 27th January 1945 between 2 and 3 o'clock in the afternoon found three Krematorien in ruins, inaccessible because of the rubble. The Soviet investigation commission does not seem to have touched those of Krematorien II and III, but left them as they were. On the other hand, the clearing of Krematorium V began immediately. The fact is that the Soviet Commission had seen that while in the case of Krematorien II and III the SS had dynamited almost entirely dismantled carcasses, the situation was different with Kr V, where the SS had blown up the COMPLETE BUILDING one night (between 22nd and 26th January, the exact date is not known). As no incineration furnace remained in the camp (those of Krematorien I, II, III and IV having been dismantled earlier), it was hoped that that of Kr V would be found not too badly damaged in the ruins of the building [like the five furnaces built by Meser H Kori at KL Majdanek, which had remained intact despite the fact that the SS had burned the Krematorium in July 1944.]. However, the SS had placed a lot of explosive in the muffles of Kr V, so that when the rubble was cleared, virtually nothing remained of the big 8-muffle furnace but the twisted metal frame. For reasons of safety and for investigation purposes, the ruins of Krematorium II [Documents 93, 94, 95, 96 and 97] were cleared of rubble shortly afterwards in order to give access and so that the Polish Commission (which had taken over from the Soviet Commission) could understand its arrangement and undertake research. The same was done with Krematorium III [Document 71], where the demolition work was less advanced than in the case of Kr II. At this time, and for a period of several months, nobody was allowed to visit the Krematorium areas and the entrance to Birkenau was even guarded by the militia. Certain revisionists have presented this measure as being intended to allow the ruins of the Krematorien to be arranged to make them fit official history. A claim all the more contemptible when one knows the real reason, which was to protect the Krematorium sites from scavengers, to prevent (in actual fact to unsuccessfully try to limit the damage) the local population from digging for «Jewish gold», which they started to do immediately after the Liberation. This ignoble treasure hunt was crowned with success for some Poles, but had the disastrous consequence of destroying virtually all the manuscripts/letters, photographs and other evidence concerning the criminal activity of the Krematorien that had been buried at such risk by members of the Sonderkommando. Fortunately for the Polish Commission, the Auschwitz main camp was almost intact, and much material having belonged to the victims of the extermination were found there [readers who have seen the Soviet film on the Liberation of the camp will certainly remember the scene in which the heaps of cylindrical paper sacks of about 20 kg stuffed full of women's hair were presented]. The buildings, even the roof spaces, were chock-a-block with the most varied and surprising ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) Démantèlement des chambres à gaz II et III, le 21 décembre 1944. undressing room roof removed roof and chimney dismantled fences removed débris toil de la salle de déshabillage enlevé toil et cheminée démantelés grillages enlevés débris Document 91 ![img-1.jpeg](img-1.jpeg) Camp d'extermination de Birkenau, le 14 janvier 1945. disinfection building gas chambers women's camp evacuated men's camp The « Birchwood » Section III dismantled destroyed barracks main gate quarantine camp to S.S. barracks bâtiment de désinfection chambres à gaz camp des femmes évacué camp des hommes le « Bois de bouleaux » Section III démantelée baraque détruite entrée principale camp de quarantaine vers les baraques des S.S. Document 92 Document 93 [PMO reg. no. 1204] The ruins of the waste incinerator room of Krematorium II being filmed, probably in summer 1945, by a Polish cameraman who also filmed the final stages of the clearing of Krematorium V. This film has not been found and remains unknown. Document 94 [PMO reg. no. 936] View of the ruins of the waste incinerator room of Krematorium II, looking east west, in summer 1945. Document 95 [PMO reg. no. 1203] View from west to east of the ruins of Krematorium II. The photographer is standing in the north yard of the building, between the «formal garden» (on his left) and the undressing room (on his right), the soil that used to cover its roof being visible on the photo. In the background on the right are the barracks of Sector «b» of the first construction stage of Birkenau, designated B.Ib. Document 96 [PMO reg. no. 857] West/east view of the ruins of the undressing room (Leichenkeller 2) of Krematorium II. The photographer is standing on the top steps of the western access stairway. The roof has collapsed onto its floor. Certain supporting pillars have collapsed completely while others have pierced the roof. On each side of the undressing room are the heaps of earth removed from the roof. At the far end are the remains of the furnace room. Document 97 [PMO neg. no. 858] South/north view of the ruins of the gas chamber (Leichenkeller 1) of Krematorium II, taken from its southern end. Bottom left is one of the four openings, the chimney dismantled, through which the Zyclon-B was poured. In the foreground, the roof is resting on a pillar that withstood the explosion. The black parts of the roof are the places where the protective layer of concrete has cracked and exposed the layer of bituminous damp-proofing material. 260 ===== PDF PAGE 0253 | page-253.md ===== ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) Document 93 ![img-1.jpeg](img-1.jpeg) Document 94 ![img-2.jpeg](img-2.jpeg) Document 95 Document 96 # **Document 96: [Photo P.M.O. nég. n° 857]** Vue des ruines du vestiaire (L-Keller 2) du crématoire II, prises selon un axe ouest-est, le photographe se tenant sur les premières marches de l'escalier d'accès ouest. Le plafond s'est effondré sur le sol. Certains piliers se sont à moitié affaissés, alors que d'autres ont percé le plafond. De part et d'autre du vestiaire les monticules parallèles de remblai déjeté. Au bout, les restes de la salle des fours. ![img-3.jpeg](img-3.jpeg) # **Document 97: [Photo P.M.O. nég. n° 858]** Vue des ruines de la chambre à gaz (L-Keller 1) du crématoire II, prises selon un axe sud-nord et de son extrémité sud. En bas et à gauche, une des quatre ouvertures démantelées de versement du Zyclon-B. Au premier plan, le plafond repose sur un pilier qui a résisté au choc de l'explosion. Les parties noires de plafond correspondent aux emplacements où la couche de protection en ciment ayant craqué, elle laisse apparaître le carton bitumé d'étanchéité du dessous. ![img-4.jpeg](img-4.jpeg) Document 97 261 ===== PDF PAGE 0254 | page-254.md ===== ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) Document 98 Document 99 ![img-1.jpeg](img-1.jpeg) Document 100 Document 101 # Document 98 [PMO neg. no. 810] Roof space of one of the Blocks in the main camp serving as a store for sewing machines brought to Auschwitz by victims who thought they would be able to go on practising their trade there. Faurisson presented this photograph, taken in 1945, as proof of the existence of a tailoring workshop in the camp. Unfortunately for him, some of the machines are damaged and out of order and their arrangement is clearly a crowding together for storage, not the layout of a workshop. # Document 99 [PMO neg. no. 21334/112] Probably in the second quarter of 1945, the Examining Judge, Jan Sehn, showing officials some of the objects found in the «Bauhof» and explaining their function in the Krematorien. The clothing of two of the men (on the extreme left) and right of the groups is still that of the German style of the war years, boots and black leather coat. In the foreground on the right are the metal ducts from the air extraction systems of the undressing rooms (Leichenkeller 2) of Krematorien II and III. # Document 100 [PMO neg. no. 9452] Northeast/southwest view of the belvedere with its access steps, installed on the floor of the western part of the roofspace of Krematorium II. In the background on the right is the undressing room, centre left the end of the gas chamber. The ruins were not then completely cleared of vegetation as they are today. ![img-2.jpeg](img-2.jpeg) ![img-3.jpeg](img-3.jpeg) # Document 101 [PMO neg. no. 8303] The commemorative plaque erected in the north yard of Krematorium II, between the waste incinerator room and the northern entrance to the ground floor. In the background are the wooden steps leading to the belvedere. # Document 102 [PMO neg. no. 8304] Close-up of the commemorative plaque on its stone base. The Polish text reads «IN MEMORY OF THE MILLIONS OF JEWS MARTYRS AND FIGHTERS EXTERMINATED AT THE AUSCHWITZ-BIRKENAU CAMP BY THE HITLERIAN RACE MURDERERS, 1940-1945. The Hebrew texts have the same meaning. The dates 1940-45 refer to the deaths throughout the camp and not specifically in this Krematorium which worked only in 1943 and 1944. Note the seven-branch candelabras engraved on the stones at the bottom corners of the plaque. This memorial was subsequently removed. # Document 103 [PMO neg. no. 3486] The first monument erected at the end of the ramp between Krematorien II and III. View of its western face. The second was to be erected further to the west. In the background, the main entrance to the Birkenau camp, with to the right B.I and to the left B.II. 262 ===== PDF PAGE 0255 | page-255.md ===== # Document 104 [PMO neg. no. 10201] The construction, during the winter of 1963-64, of the second Birkenau monument, a collective work by Pietro Cascella, Giorgio Simoncini, Jerzy Jarnuskiewicz and Julian Palka. Its title, «International monument to the victims of Fascism», typical of the phraseology of the People's Republics, is absurd. Perhaps more appropriate would be «INTERNATIONAL MONUMENT TO THE VICTIMS OF HUMAN FOLLY» # Document 105 [PMO neg. no. 10198] View of the second Birkenau monument, taken on the same day as the preceding one, on a west/east line. This photograph, taken in the winter of 1963-64, was presented on page 53 of the supplement to the «Patriote Résistant» of January 1970, «L'impossible oubli», under the caption «Auschwitz in 1942»! Its author, knowing nothing about scaffolding methods in that part of the world, had decided after comparing this photograph with one of the construction of the chimney of Krematorium IV in 1943, that this scene too must date from the war. ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) Document 102 Document 104 ![img-1.jpeg](img-1.jpeg) Document 103 Document 105 ![img-2.jpeg](img-2.jpeg) ![img-3.jpeg](img-3.jpeg) 263 ===== PDF PAGE 0256 | page-256.md ===== objects [Documents 40, 41 and 98]. In the film «Chronicles of the Liberation of the camp, 1945», already mentioned, the outside of a gas chamber using Zyclon-B in the section of the camp known as «Kanada I» is shown, with its characteristic gas-tight door with a peephole. There is a real problem here, however, for this gas chamber was strictly for disinfestation, not for homicidal purposes. The interior, several photographs of which were taken at the Liberation and in the 50s and 60s, never seems to have been filmed, probably because it was not fitted with false showers. In the search for evidence of the criminality of the Krematorien, the «Bauhof», the camp's building materials yard, turned out to be a very valuable source, and was exploited to the full by the Examining Judge, Jan Sehn [Document 99], in conjunction with the correspondence found concerning the construction of the Krematorien. Then, during the 50s, the Krematorien became places of pilgrimage. A belvedere was built on the collapsed roof of the furnace room of Krematorium II, where the motors for the ventilation systems were installed and where some of the Sonderkommando men used to live [Document 100]. A first commemorative plaque was erected near the ruins of Krematorium II, on private initiative [Documents 101 and 102]. A central monument, between Krematorien II and III and the end of the ramp, was erected by the Polish authorities [Document 103]. It would appear that the central monument was later than the commemorative plaque of Krematorium II, whose Hebrew inscriptions were considered too «provocative» [!] at the time and caused it to be removed. Finally, in 1963-64, the present monument was erected [Documents 104 and 105], chosen from the works presented in an international competition held by the Auschwitz Museum and the Polish authorities. It is located on part of the land belonging to the two Krematorien, set on very large stones arranged irregularly and extending over a considerable area, thus preventing and subsequent archeological research. Its artistic value is for the individual to judge. The base of the monument is of nineteen stone tablets, each bearing a text in a different language. The content of these texts varying slightly from one to the other, for example, here are the English, French and German versions: FOUR MILLION PEOPLE SUFFERED AND DIED HERE AT THE HANDS OF THE NAZI MURDERERS BETWEEN THE YEARS 1940 AND 1945 ICI DE 1940 A 1945 4 MILLIONS D'HOMMES DE FEMMES ET D'ENFANTS ON ETE TORTURES ET ASSASSINES PAR LES GENOCIDES HITLERIENS MÄRTYRER UND TODESORT VON 4 MILLIONEN OPFERN ERMORDET VON NAZISTISCHEN VÖLKERMÖRDERN 1940 - 1945 The figure of 4 million victims is now recognized as «emotional» and should really more in the order of 1 million. Despite this incorrect figure, repeated in 19 different languages, the vision who steps and meditates before the Birkenau monument cannot but be aware that he is there between two buildings designed as normal crematoriums by a few dozen men, then criminally converted by these men, and built and fitted out by a few hundred more, and in the end so destructive that they killed and reduced to ashes about 750,000 people, the very great majority of whom were non-combattants whose only crime against the régime that annihilated them was their Judaism. Before the second monument was built, much digging and searching was done in the crematorium grounds and ruins. The hunt was essentially for notes, photographs and other objects hidden in the heaps of ashes or buried by members of the Sonderkommando. As of 1962, only six manuscripts had been found, whose Hebrew texts were attributed to three authors, Zalmann Gradowski, an «unknown author» (presumed to be Leib Langfus) and Zalman Lewental, and also a letter written in French by Hermann Chains. All these writings were published by the Auschwitz Museum in a special volume entitled «Amidst a nightmare of crime», together with the deposition of Stanislaw Jankowski (whose real name was Alter Feinsilber) made on 16th April 1945 and in fact placed at the front of this book. On 5th November 1970, an inhabitant of Oswiecim, Wojciech Borowczyk, brought to the Auschwitz Museum a set of five manuscripts found in the attic of his house during a major tidy up. These Hebrew manuscripts, which had been found by his older brother, Gustav Borowczyk in April 1945 near the ruins of Krematorium III, had never been handed over to an interested body because the elder brother had left the town. They thus lay undisturbed in the attic for twenty five years. This «new» testimony, written by a Sonderkommando man whose first name was Lejb, was translated by Dr Roman Pytel and published by the Auschwitz Museum under the title «Ich will leben...» [I want to live...] The author knows of two other excavations made during the 60s to investigate the gas chambers of Krematorien II and III. The first dug a trench round the walls of Leichenkeller I of Krematorium II [Documents 106, 107, 108 and 109]. The second, undertaken in August 1968, was at the northern end of Leichenkeller I of Krematorium III and cleared away the soil to expose the air extraction vents near the base of the walls [Document 55]. This last excavation was not consolidated and resulted in land slips that further damaged and jumbled the ruins of this part of Krematorium III. ## COMMENTS AND CONCLUSIONS As we come to the end of this study, one observation is certainly called for: most of the German documents used in it have been available to historians for forty years, and yet no precise and detailed history of Krematorien II and III was ever produced during this time and it was not until 1988 that the present author completed such a study, subject to the gaps and errors that may become evident later. In the author's opinion, the reason why such a task has never been undertaken before is to be found in the degree of interest shown, in the main countries concerned about the extermination of the Jews, in the study of the technical means by which it was made possible. After the work done by the Examining Judge, Jan Sehn, on the question, the Poles felt no need to probe any further. After Jan Sehn's death in 1957, nobody thought to pursue a question his study of the Krematorien where the homicidal gas chambers were located, because the facts were considered to be obvious, as plain to see as far as in the sky. What is more, a certain anti-semitic past, which ought to be forgotten as view of the vicissitudes suffered by the Poles since 1945, turned their historical research away from this field, where the findings were known and accepted, towards work on Polish resistance during the war for the survival of this country. In the Federal Republic of Germany, despite several trials where former SS men claimed that they had scarcely participated in the «actions» at all, or even that they had seen nothing at all, and where former prisoners often invented things, an ostrich-like attitude and the desire to forget were stronger than any interest in historical research, the main aim being to avoid fanning the embers of a still-insuddering past. The case of the German Democratic Republic was different, its political structure allowing it to squarely face an denounce a past of which it considers the other Germany to be the direct heir. In Austria, a trial such as that of the two «Krematorium architect» ended up being dismissed for lack of evidence, simply because the historical material provided by the Poles and the Russians was not properly exploited, and because of an unconscious refusal of self-criticism on the part of the population. The Soviet Union, hampered by the variations and contradictions in its political orthodoxy and trapped by memories of a guilty past (Katyn, the Gulag) and by an equally guilty present, discredited itself in the eyes of world opinion and gradually lost any rights on the subject, even though it was the Soviet Army that liberated Auschwitz-Birkenau and had seized documents from the archives the quantity and value of which still remain unknown. The Anglo-Saxon world felt itself to be relatively little concerned (United Kingdom) or too far away to really participate (United States, with some very notable exceptions such as Real Hilberg). The position of Israel would seem to be close to that of Poland on the evidence of the mass gassings, a position reinforced by the presence of numerous survivors of the camps, and interest turned more towards a religious preservation of the memory rather than a close study of the mechanics of the extermination. There remains the case of France, where the Jewish population was free to express itself fully. Unfortunately, the appearance of the «iron curtain» made contacts and visits to the places where the extermination had taken place very difficult, and the historians having the capacity and the desire to study the question generally preferred to take the easy way out and rely on what was said and written by «prominent» witnesses (and by them only), ignoring the testimony of ordinary deportees (those who had suffered the most, but without glorifying themselves for it after the war), and disregarding the German archives preserved «on the other side» of the iron curtain. The fact that the history of the extermination rested essentially on eyewitness accounts gave rise in the West to a debate based on comparison and confrontation of these testimonies, a critical attitude which led in the end towards some people purely and simply denying the existence of homicidal gas chambers. Testimony history and its revisionists offspring being very closely linked, the one having generated the other, it became absolutely essential to find a new historical approach in order to escape from the closed circle of futile debate and go further in search of the truth. A precise study based on material evidence, such as the study of Krematorien II and III, meets this requirement of getting out of the circle, but can by no means be considered definitive, because like any human endeavour it contains imperfections. It is intended above all to be the beginning, open to criticism and improvement, of a detailed, in-depth study of all the gas chambers, for homicidal or disinfestation purposes, still existing in the Nazi concentration camps. This study already demonstrates the complete bankruptcy of the traditional history (and hence also of the methods and criticisms of the revisionists), a history based for the most part on testimonies, assembled according to the mood of the moment, truncated to fit an arbitrary truth and sprinkled with a few German documents of uneven value and without any connection with one another. This new methodology is also a form of protection against the temptation to seek media success, as in films or television programmes which, despite their success, disdain even the most elementary historical approach and cut themselves off from basic realities. Finding a hitherto unknown document that makes it possible to fill a gap between two known facts and thus improving our overall knowledge is a thousand times more necessary and important than constantly wasting kilometers of film on the same places, the same ruins and the same monuments without ever bringing anything new. The money invested in these films or television broadcasts would have been better spent on genuine historical research in order to establish a less fragile truth than that based on human memory, which is fallible and changes over time. Above and beyond the methodological errors, the faults, deliberate or otherwise, the many sophisms that were committed and triggered a violent nihilist reaction, it is essential to recall the significance of Krematorium II and III, as it was illustrated after the Liberation by a Soviet artist who portrayed Krematorium II (working on the basis of German drawings of the «930s series) in a deserted landscape [Document 118] and as portrayed symbolically from 1945 by David Olère. After his return to France, with people constantly coming to ask him «Have you any news of my mother, my father, my brothers and sisters, my dear children, my grandparents, my uncles and aunts, my friends and neighbours, please, where are they?» David Olère, in a weak state and exasperated by all these people who had still not understood, used to reply by thrusting ONE SINGLE SKETCH [Document 111] under their noses. Completed on 4th February 1988 264 ===== PDF PAGE 0257 | page-257.md ===== Documents 106, 107, 108 and 109 [PMO neg. nos 9922 (top left), 9924 (top right), 9919 (bottom left) and 9918 (bottom right)] South-north views of the excavations carried out round the perimeter of the gas chamber (Leichenkeller 1) of Krematorium II. The trenches were filled in afterwards. Document 106 ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) ![img-1.jpeg](img-1.jpeg) Document 107 Document 108 ![img-2.jpeg](img-2.jpeg) ![img-3.jpeg](img-3.jpeg) Document 109 265 ===== PDF PAGE 0258 | page-258.md ===== Document 110 [PMO neg. no. 826] Northwest/southeast view of Krematorium II in activity: a sketch produced in 1945 by a member of the Soviet Investigation Commission and based on Bauleitung elevations of the building (drawings 936, 937 and 938). ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) Document 111 [Sketch of Krematorium III by David Olère, 1945] ![img-1.jpeg](img-1.jpeg) 266 ===== PDF PAGE 0259 | page-259.md ===== # ANNEXES # CHRONOLOGY OF THE DRAWINGS OF KREMATORIEN II AND III | Lu. A. | Hein | Depot | C. I. Hortschaltgebäude - B. 47a Krematorium | Maul | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 2a | " | 47a | Keller | 1:100 | | 10 | " | 47a | Einbau einer Einäscherungsanlage | 1:100 | | 11 | " | 47a | Erdgeschoss | 1:100 | | 19a | " | 47a | Schisautalschmitt - Portchalschmitt | 1:10 | | 29a | " | 47a | Erdgeschoss, Schmitte | 1:100 | | 29a | " | 47a | Worksatz, Aussichten | 1:100 | | 26 | " | 47a | U-Entwärbungen für Schornstein | — | | 34 | " | 47a | Schmiedeeiserne Fenstergitter | — | | 36 | " | 47a | Augedoppelte Eingangsstüre | 1:50 | | 37 | " | 47a | Wirkelreisen aus Füllblech | — | | 38 | " | 47a | Schmiedeiis, Bechtage d.d. Eingangsstüre | — | | 51 | " | 47a | Schmiedeeiserne Schnitte | 1:1 | | 342 | " | 47a | Einbau einer Einäscherungsanlage | 1:100 | | 370 | " | 47a | Neubau Kremat - Aussicht | 1:100 | | 371 | " | 47a | Neubau Kremat - Erdgeschoss | 1:100 | | 375 | " | 47a | Neubau Kremat - Aufstellung der Vertreimungsp. | 1:100 | | 352 | " | 47a | Grundriss | 1:100 | | 353 | " | 47a | Erdgeschoss | 1:100 | | 354 | " | 47a | Schmitte | 1:100 | | 935 | " | 47a | Aussicht - Westen | 1:100 | | 936 | " | 47a | Aussicht - Westen | 1:100 | | 937 | " | 47a | Aussicht - Osten | 1:100 | | 938 | " | 47a | Aussicht - Süden | 1:100 | | 980 | " | 47a | Worksatz | 1:100 | | 1173 | " | 47a | Schmitt durch Leichen Keller mit be ü entflüftungsanlage | 1:100 | | 1174 | " | 47a | Quarchmitt durch den linkshellschunkel | 1:100 | | 1241 | " | 47a | Bestandplan des Gebäudes 47a / Krematorium | 1:200 | | 1301 | " | 47a | Stundwundplan | 1:100 | | 185 | KgL | 47a | Leichenhalle H. G. L. | 1:100 | | 812 | KgL | 47a | Leichen - Halle für das H. G. L. | 1:100 | | 873 | KgL | 47a | Torschlag zur Errichtung eines prov. Krematorium H. G. L. | 1:100 | | 1040 | KgL | 47a | Leichenhalle für H. G. L. | 1:100 | | 1062 | KgL | 47a | Krematorium H. G. L. | 1:100 | | Lu. A. | Hein | Depot | C. I. Krematorium B. 47a BW. II. u. BW. 30 | Maul | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1300 | KgL | 47a | Entwässerung des Krematorium. | 42 | | 1311 | | 47a | Dieblatt zum Grundriss vom Lehrgeschoss | 1:100 | | 1341 | - | 47a | Einzelheiten in Biom. Buchladen | 1:10 1:5 | | 1439 | - | 47a | Errichtung eines Schornsteins am Krematorium. | 1:200 | | 1740 | - | 30 | Siwa. Fenster im Dachgeschoss | 1:10 | | 1745 | - | - | Schornstein Krematorium 3. | | | 2036 | KgL | 30 | Einäscherungsanlage H. G. L. Erdgeschoss | 1:100 | List as at mid-January 1943 of the Bauleitung drawings produced for the construction of Birkenau Krematorien II and III (classified as BW 30 and 30a respectively): - 932 Plan [of basement] (manuscript: in drawer) - 933 Ground floor - 934 Sections - 935 West elevation - 936 North elevation - 937 East elevation - 938 South elevation - 980 Roof frame - 1173 Cross-section of the Leichenkeller [1] with the ventilation and air extraction installations - 1174 Cross-section of the basemented area - 1301 Foundation plan (in drawer) - 879 Proposal for the construction of a provisional Krematorium in the POW camp - 1062 POW camp Krematorium - 1300 Krematorium drainage system - 1311 Correction sheet to basement plan - 1341 Details of doors, dormer windows [not held] - 1434 Construction of chimney for Krematorium [II. Dated 3/6/42. Not held] - 1740 Sketch of dormer window [not held] - 1745 Krematorium 3 [III] chimney [not held] 267 ===== PDF PAGE 0260 | page-260.md ===== Drawing 936 (p) ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) 268 ===== PDF PAGE 0261 | page-261.md ===== ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) # BAULEITUNG DRAWING 936 OF 15/1/42 The first drawing, 936(p) [Polish] comes from the PMO Archives, file BW 30/04, neg. no. 17810 and 20818/6 The second drawing, 936(r) [Russian] comes from the «October Revolution» Central State Archives in Moscow. Krematorium [Birkenau Krematorium II, BW 30], scale 1:100 Drawn on 15/1/42 by SS Sergeant Ulmer, checked on 28/1/42 by SS Second Lieutenant Dejaco and approved on 28/1/42 by SS Captain Bischoff. This drawing of the four elevations of Birkenau Krematorium II was produced by combining drawings 935, 936, 937 and 938 for the new Krematorium originally intended for the Auschwitz main camp: - The east elevation of drawing 937 became the north at Birkenau; - The west elevation of drawing 935 became the south at Birkenau; - The south elevation of drawing 938 became the east at Birkenau; - The north elevation of drawing 936 became the west at Birkenau. Since the west elevation at Birkenau, formerly the north elevation at the main camp, was at the bottom right of the combined drawing, its number was given to the new drawing, on which the shadows are still those of the original planned location in the main camp. The three identification blocks of drawings 935, 937 and 938 were scratched out, but traces of them are still visible below and to the right of each elevation [on 936(p)]. The original title «Entwurf für das Krematorium» was erased from drawings 935, 936 and 938, and only the word «Krematorium» was retained on 937. The original orientation of each elevation was also scratched out, the traces being particularly visible on 936 and 938. The nature of the land at Birkenau, where the groundwater is almost at surface level (unlike the main camp, where it lies deeper), meant that the two Leichenkeller [«corpse cellars»] could no longer be directly under the building, as had probably been initially planned, but had to be raised to form semi-basements. Because of this local constraint, the elevation drawings for Birkenau were modified by adding indications of the semi-buried Leichenkeller: - The beginning of the roof of Leichenkeller 2 is shown at the right hand end of the north elevation; - On the left, the roof of Leichenkeller 1, with its underground walls shown in broken lines [on 936(r)], and on the extreme left the beginning of the roof of Leichenkeller 2 can be seen on the south elevation; - The roof of Leichenkeller 1 is drawn on the left of the east elevation; - The roof and the underground walls in broken lines [on 936(r)] of Leichenkeller 2 appear in the centre of the west elevation, with on its right the beginning of the roof of Leichenkeller 1. [On drawing 936(p), the broken lines of the Leichenkeller walls are present, but are practically invisible on the photograph presented, whereas they can clearly be seen on 936(r).] The date of 15th January 1942 attributed to this drawing is clearly wrong, for it is that for the project for the main camp, not Birkenau. A more likely date would be slightly before or contemporary with that estimated for drawings 1173 and 1174, in April 1942 (necessarily after the decision to transfer the site of the new Krematorium, which was taken on 27th February 1942). Modification of the orientation of the building Recapitulation | Drawing 937 East elevation —> North | Drawing 938 South elevation —> East | | --- | --- | | Drawing 935 West elevation —> South | Drawing 936 North elevation —> West | 269 ===== PDF PAGE 0262 | page-262.md ===== Drawing 936 (r) ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) 270 ===== PDF PAGE 0263 | page-263.md ===== # BAULEITUNG DRAWING 1173-1174 OF 15/1/42 The first drawing, 1173-1174(g) [Polish] comes from the PMO Archives, file BW 30/08, neg. no. 17812 and 20818/9 The second drawing, 1173-1174(r) [Russian] comes from the «October Revolution» Central State Archives in Moscow. General title: «Entwurf für das Krematorium/Project for the Krematorium» Krematorium [Birkenau Krematorium II, BW 30], scale 1:100 Drawn on 15/1/42 by SS Sergeant Ulmer, checked on 28/1/42 by SS Second Lieutenant Dejaco and approved by SS Captain Bischoff. [Approval not dated, but also of 28/1/42] 1174: Längsschnitt durch den unterkellerten Teil/longitudinal section of the basemented part [left hand side]. 1173: Schnitt durch Leichenkeller 1 mit Be- und Entlüftungskanälen/Cross-section of Leichenkeller 1 with ventilation and air extraction ducts [right hand side]. 271 ===== PDF PAGE 0264 | page-264.md ===== Drawing 1173-1174/pt Translation of inscriptions: (left to right and top to bottom) Drawing 1174: - Erdanschüttung/earth bank. - Vorlage/hard fill. - Gewachsener Boden/natural earth. - Absetzgrube/drainage ditch. - Rutsche/corpse chute. - Belüftung/ventilation. - Unterzug/joist. - Eisenbeton - Bohlendecke/reinforced concrete roof beams. - Aufzug/corpse fill. - Entlüftung/air extraction. - Entlüftungskanal/air extraction duct. - Verbrennungsraum/incineration room [furnace room]. - Betonboden m[it] Glattstr[ich]/concrete floor with smooth screed. - Vorlage 18cm HGH [?]/18cm hard fill. - Gewachsener Boden/natural earth. Drawing 1173: - Anschüttung/earth bank. - Belüftungskanal vom Dachgeschoss/ventilation duct from roof space. - Entlüftungskanal - Verbindung [unter d. N.G. Fussboden]/air extraction duct junction [below new ground level]. - Belüftungskanal - Verbindung/ventilation duct junction. - Anschüttung/earth bank. - Entlüftungskanal zum Dachgeschoss/extraction duct to roof space. - Neue Geländehöhe/new ground level. - Gewachsener Boden/natural earth. - KREMATORIUM - Zutritt verboten/CREMATORIUM - keep out. ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) 272 ===== PDF PAGE 0265 | page-265.md ===== Drawing 1173-1174(p) ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) 273 ===== PDF PAGE 0266 | page-266.md ===== Drawing 1173 uses the west elevation of the Krematorium intended for the Auschwitz main camp (drawing 935, reused in the combined elevation drawing 936). The date of 15th January 1942 corresponds to this older drawing, NOT to the new number allocated by the Bauleitung, 1173, which according to comparison with others drawings must have been issued in April 1942. Drawing 1173 shows the cross-section of Leichenkeller I (the future gas chamber) where it joins the ground floor of the building, and shows in detail the paths of the ventilation and air extraction ducts. The transformation of this room into a homicidal gas chamber did not bring about any modification in the ventilation system, which had been designed for an underground morgue. The idea was that fresh air coming in [Belüftung] near the ceiling would cool and descend to the lower layers and be taken out near floor level through the air extraction ducts [Entlüftung]. If the system had been designed in the first place for a gas chamber using hydrocyanic acid, it would have been reversed with respect to that drawn, with the fresh air coming in below and the warm, toxic air being extracted from above. This cross-section, contrary to what historians have hitherto claimed, cannot be used to prove the existence of a homicidal gas chamber in Leichenkeller I of Krematorium II. Unlike on drawings 933 and 934, the transverse connection of the fresh air inlet duct is not covered with earth. Drawing 1174, drawn like 1173 in April 1942, shows the shape of the corpse chute designed to serve the at first three, then two underground morgues of Krematorium II (Leichenkeller I and 2), and, in the roof space, the various ventilation chimneys, the single chimney on the left being the fresh air intake for Leichenkeller I, and one of the two on the right being the noxious air outlet for Leichenkeller I while the other is the air outlet for either Leichenkeller 2 or the furnace room. The discrepancy between the numbers of this drawing and its date is an indication that the members of the Bauleitung, who had completed the study for the new Krematorium at the main camp only on 28th January 1942, with a complete series of drawings (932, 933, 934, 935, 936, 937, 938), had been caught unprepared by the decision made on 27th February 1942 to transfer the building to Birkenau where the nature of the land was different. Pushed for time, they used the drawings from their earlier study, making the absolute minimum of changes and not even bothering to change the dates and some of the numbers on the original identification blocks. ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) 274 ===== PDF PAGE 0267 | page-267.md ===== Drawing, 1173-1174(r) ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) 275 ===== PDF PAGE 0268 | page-268.md ===== ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) # BAULEITUNG DRAWING 933 [PMO Archives, second drawing of file BW 30/02, aug. no. 20818/4] Entwurf für das Krematorium/Project for the Krematorium Grundriß vom Erdgeschoß/Ground floor plan Krematorium [Birkenau Krematorium II, BW 30], scale 1:100 Drawn on 19/1/42 by SS Sergeant Ulmer, checked on 28/1/42 by SS Second Lieutenant Dejaco and approved on 28/1/42 by SS Captain Bischoff. # Translation of inscriptions; (left to right and top to bottom) - Stufen, Türen- und Fensterumrahmungen - Oberschl. Sandstein/Steps, door and window frame facings sandstone! W.Clo/WC Rutsche/Corpse] chute Toilette/Toilets Plattenbelag/Tiling - Sezierraum/Dissecting room Steinholz Fussboden/Xylolite floor Schmiede Eisengitter/Wrought iron grill Waschraum und Aufbahrungsraum/Washing and laying out room Platten-B/Tiling Windfang/Windbreak Flur/Vestibule Be- und Entlüftungsschächte vom U G/Ventilation and air extraction shafts from basement Aufzug/Corpse lift Dehnungsfuge/Expansion joint Ofen/Furnace Entluffungslocher zum Abluftkanal/Vents to hot air extraction duct Betonboden/concrete floor Siphon/Siphon Verbrennungsraum/Incineration room [Furnace room] Müllerverbrennungsofen/waste incinerator - Saugzuganlage/Suction type forced-draught installation Motor-Raum/Motor room Gleis für Kokszufuhr/Rail for bringing coke Gleis für Beschickung der Ofen/Furnace charging rail Dielenwand/Wooden partition wall Eisenbetonreppe/Reinforced concrete steps 19 Steigungen/19/Steps Capo/Capo's [room] Geräte/Irons [for operating the furnaces] Schr[ank] für Urnen/Cupboard for urns Gefalle/Slope - Verstärkungsrippe/Stiffening rib Bremstofflage/Fuel store Ca 1 1/2 Eisenbahnwagons Fassgehalt/Capacity about 1 1/2 railway wagons loads Brasse/Shower - Pisseir/Urinal - Aufenthaltsraum für Häftlinge/Prisoners' rest room Abfuhr für Schlacke und Asche/Clinker and ash dump Drawing 933, the ground floor plan of the new Krematorium for the main camp, seems to be original and scarcely to have been changed at all with the change of site to Birkenau. In fact, after the change in the orientation of the building, only the partial outlines of Leichenkeller 1 (bottom left) and 2 (extreme left) seem to have been added to the original drawing, its internal arrangement not having changed in the least. The central ventilation shafts [Be- und Entlüftungsschächte vom U G/Ventilation and air extraction shafts from basement] seem to be original, the one on the left being for fresh air intake and the one on the right for air extraction. However, according to drawing 1173-1174, both were for air extraction, while a third was created for the ventilation of Leichenkeller 1, visible in the southwest corner of the [corpse] washing room [Waschraum]. The location of the door to access the corpse chute, down which the bodies were to be slid for storage in the underground morgues, shows that the Krematorium was originally designed for the Auschwitz main camp, where this door would have given directly onto the «Kasernenstraße», the road passing between the SS administration buildings and the Old Krematorium [Kr I] [Figure 1]. On the other hand, in Birkenau, this door, which ought to be the most used in a krematorium, is almost on the opposite side of the building to the entrance gate to the grounds of Krematorium II and would necessitate a considerable detour for the delivery of corpses [Figure 2]. This drawing was combined with 934 of 27/1/42, the «section drawing», the combination still bearing the number 933 and the date 19/1/42. It will be designated here as 933[-934]. 276 ===== PDF PAGE 0269 | page-269.md ===== ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) ![img-1.jpeg](img-1.jpeg) Figure 1 - Port d'accès à la glissoire/Chute access door - Emplacements présumés des Leichenkeller 1 et 2/Presumed locations of Leichenkeller 1 and 2 - Kasernenstraße (Name of a camp road) - Bâtiments SS/SS buildings - Camp principal Auschwitz/Auschwitz main camp ![img-2.jpeg](img-2.jpeg) Figure 2 - Port d'accès à la glissoire/Chute access door - Entrée principale au crématoire II/Main entrance to Krematorium II - Hauptstraße (Name of a camp road) - GKL Birkenau/Birkenau POW camp 277 ===== PDF PAGE 0270 | page-270.md ===== ### BAULEITUNG DRAWING 933[-934] The first drawing, 933[-934] (p) [Polish] comes from the *PMO Archives, the first drawing of BW 3092, aug. no. 2095* The second drawing, 933[-934](r) [Russian] comes from the «October Revolution Central State Archives in Moscow. Entwurf für das Krematorium/Project for the Krematorium» Schnitte/Sections Grundriss von Erdgeschoß/Ground floor plan Krematorium [Birkenau Krematorium II, BW 30], scale 1:100 Drawn on 19/1/42 by SS Sergeant Ulmer, checked on 28/1/42 by SS Second Lieutenant Dejaco and approved on 28/1/42 by SS Captain Bischoff. Drawing 933[-934] (p) ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) 278 ===== PDF PAGE 0271 | page-271.md ===== Drawing 933(-934)(p) ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) 279 ===== PDF PAGE 0272 | page-272.md ===== Drawing 933(-934)(p) # Translation of inscriptions: [see drawings 933 and 934] This drawing is a combination on the same sheet of drawing 933 of 19/1/42, the ground floor plan, and 934 of 27/1/42, sectional drawings of the building and its Leichenkeller 1 and 2. The date is that of the original drawing, and is thus not valid for the combined drawing. It is likely that only the sections of the furnace room and the waste incinerator room have not been modified. On the other hand, the cross-sections of Leichenkeller 1 and 2 were most probably added in April 1942. Only drawings 933, 934 and 1173-1174 were coloured as illustrated on the photographs of the drawings from the Moscow archives. The colouring system was not completely uniform, having been done at different times for the different drawings, so that details are not exactly the same, but as a general rule brick walls were a reddish pink, cement block ceilings violet, concrete floors pale green and the roof frames yellow. ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) 280 ===== PDF PAGE 0273 | page-273.md ===== ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) Drawing 933-934(p) 281 ===== PDF PAGE 0274 | page-274.md ===== Drawing 933-934(r) ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) ![img-1.jpeg](img-1.jpeg) 282 ===== PDF PAGE 0275 | page-275.md ===== Drawing 933-934(r) ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) 283 ===== PDF PAGE 0276 | page-276.md ===== ## BAULEITUNG DRAWING 932 Drawing, 932(p) The first drawing, 932(p) [Polish] comes from the *PMO Archives*, BW 31/01, neg. run. 17079 and 20935/3 The second drawing, 932(r) [Russian] comes from the «October Revolution» *Central State Archives in Moscow*. Krematorium [Birkenau Krematorium II, BW 30], scale 1:100 Entwurf für das Krematorium/Project for the Krematorium» Schnitte/Cross-sections Grundriß vom Untergeschoß/Basement plan Drawn on 23/1/42 by SS Sergeant Ulmer, checked on 28/1/42 by SS Second Lieutenant Dejaco and approved on 28/1/42 by SS Captain Bischoff. [The date 7/7/42 followed by unknown initials above the identification block on 932(p) would appear to be of civilian origin (the Huta civil engineering firm perhaps)] ### Translation of inscriptions; (from left to right and top to bottom) - Betonboden/concrete floor - Siphon/Siphon - Pfeilerfundamente/Pillar foundation - Isolierung/Damp-proofing - LEICHENKELLER 2/CORPSE CELLAR 2 - Absetzgrube/drainage ditch - 13 Steigungen/13 steps - GANG/CORRIDOR - Zum Kanal/To sewer - Entlüftungskanal/air extraction duct - LEICHENKELLER 3/CORPSE CELLAR 3 - Rutsche/Corpse chute - LEICHENKELLER 1/CORPSE CELLAR 1 - SIEHE DECKBLATT - ZEICHNUNG NR 1311/ SEE CORRECTION SHEET - DRAWING 1311/ - VORRAUM/VESTIBULE - Anflug/Corpse lift - Entlüftungsschacht/Air extraction shaft - Entlüftungskanal/air extraction duct - Nicht unterkellert/Without basement - Nach stat. Berechnung/According to static calculations - Schornstein/Chimney - Rauchkanal/Underfloor smoke flue - Ofenfundamente/Furnace foundations - Kontrollschacht/Inspection manhole - Klärgrube/Cesspit Drawing 932 is now the best known of all the Krematorium II drawings. Widely published by both the traditional historians (Georges Wellers) and the revisionists (Robert Faurisson), it is presented as evidence or counter-evidence, depending on the thesis supported, without any valid comment or serious study. In fact, drawing 932 contains no «criminal traces» indicating the final purpose of Krematorium II, whose apparent «normality» here would seem to support the revisionist argument. Drawing 932 is made up of three parts: - in the centre, the foundations, with no basements, of the furnace room and the north wing containing the waste incinerator; - on the right (east), the foundations, with no basements, of the fuel store and other ancillary rooms; - on the left (west), the basement or «cellar» part of the Krematorium, with the corpse chute serving the three underground morgues originally planned. The date of 23/1/42 is that of the original version, but cannot be accepted for this version, for the semi-basements, Leichenkeller 1 and 2, as shown here could not be built on the site in the main camp for lack of space. This drawing is therefore most probably a **second version** of the basement area of the planned Krematorium, redrawn to suit the new site in Birkenau, no doubt in April 1942. The only difference between this and the original version of January 1942 drawn for the main camp would be: 1. An increase in the area of the two Leichenkeller originally planned [letter of 22nd October 1941, no. 7157/41 Ho], explicable by the camp originally planned for 10-30,000 prisoners being increased to take a planned 100-150,000 or even more; 2. Leichenkeller 1 and 2 now planned as semi-basements instead of full basements, because of the high water table in Birkenau; 3. creation of a third underground morgue, Leichenkeller 3. The numbering of the three Leichenkeller, 1, 2, and 3 is not explained in any known German document. Judging by their arrangement around their source of supply, the corpse chute, and the ventilation shown on drawing 932, it is reasonable to suppose that: a) Leichenkeller 3 was to be the reception morgue, where the prison numbers of the corpses would be recorded; b) Leichenkeller 2 was to be temporary storage for newly arrived and recorded corpses awaiting cremation (delay of 3 or 4 days); c) Leichenkeller 1 was to take corpses several days old, beginning to decompose and thus requiring the room to be well-ventilated, to be incinerated as soon as possible. There is nothing on this drawing that indicates the future «special» use of this Krematorium. Quite the contrary, it looks a perfectly «normal», though very high capacity, incineration facility. The arguments against Krematorium II having been planned from the outset as an instrument of extermination are as follows: 1. No access stairway from the exterior to the future undressing room (Leichenkeller 2) [this absence is particularly visible on 932(r), where the Soviets have tried to rectify the defect by adding some steps in the centre of its west wall, which is incorrect, the actual location being more to the north]. What is more, the Krematorium was actually built **without** this stairway (plants neg. run 246 and 20993/463 for Krematorium III) which was added later; ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) 284 ===== PDF PAGE 0277 | page-277.md ===== ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) 2. The direction in which the double doors of the three Leichenkeller opened is shown as being from the outside (corridor and vestibule) to the inside [see sketch]. If large numbers of people were gassed in Leichenkeller 1 with such an arrangement it would have been virtually impossible to open the doors, which would be blocked by corpses; 3. A single door is easier to make gas tight than a double door like that planned for Leichenkeller 1; 4. The drains of Leichenkeller 1, being connected to the others in the western part of the building, run directly into the common sewer (Absetzgrube), so that if gas were used in Leichenkeller 1, there would be a chance of toxic gas penetrating rooms on the ground floor [see drawing 932(r), where the trace of the drains of Leichenkeller 1 is underlined in blue]; 5. The ventilation and air extraction system of Leichenkeller 1 was designed for a morgue, not a gas chamber, though in the end it was used without modification; 6. The central location of the corpse chute, with the bottom end advancing well into the vestibule between the three Leichenkeller would be in the way of people going from the undressing room (Leichenkeller 2) to the gas chamber (Leichenkeller 1). ![img-1.jpeg](img-1.jpeg) Photo A 285 ===== PDF PAGE 0278 | page-278.md ===== The following modifications were made to adapt the Leichenkeller of Krematorium II to suit the new role of «special treatment»: 1. An access stairway from the exterior to the undressing room (Leichenkeller 2) was built. In the meantime a hut erected in the Krematorium yard was used as a temporary undressing room in the second half of March 1943; 2. The direction in which the double door of Leichenkeller 1 opened was reversed (Drawing 2003 of 19/12/42, drawn by Dejaco; 3. This double door was subsequently reduced to a single, gas-tight door; 4. The drainage system of Leichenkeller 1 was separated from the other drains in the west of the building and run direct to a sewer outside the building (drainage drawing, 1300, of 18/6/42); 5. The efficiency of the Leichenkeller 1 ventilation system was tested after introducing Zyclon-B in March 1943; 6. A wooden wall was built in front of the corpse chute, which caused problems with passage from Leichenkeller 2 to Leichenkeller 1 (order 204 of 18/3/43 for Krematorium II, sent to the DAW workshops); 7. 4 heavy wire mesh columns with lidded chimneys above the roof for pouring Zyclon-B were installed in Leichenkeller 1 (PMO file BW 30/43, page 12); 8. 24 wooden dummy showers were installed in the ceiling of Leichenkeller 1 (PMO file BW 30/43, page 24 for the Krematorium III); 9. The 3 water taps in Leichenkeller 1 were removed (drawing 2197b). 10. Benches with clothes hooks on the wall above them were installed in Leichenkeller 2; 11. The area of Leichenkeller 3 was reduced (drawing 1311 of 14/5/42) then this morgue was eliminated altogether, having no use in the criminal context of Krematorium II (drawing 2003 of 19/12/42). Dimensions and volumes of the Krematorium II and III Leichenkeller | | Length (m) | Breadth (m) | Area (m²) | Height (m) | Volume (m³) | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Leichenkeller 1 | 30.00 | 7.00 | 210 | 2.41 | 506 | | Leichenkeller 2 | 49.49 | 7.93 | 392.5 | 2.30 | 902.7 | | Leichenkeller 3 | 12.30 | 5.58 | 68.6 | 2.31 | 158.5 | Drawing, 932(r) Einheit für das Krematorium. Tod ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) ![img-1.jpeg](img-1.jpeg) 286 ===== PDF PAGE 0279 | page-279.md ===== ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) ![img-1.jpeg](img-1.jpeg) Photo B Schematic diagram of Zyclon-B introduction system taken from drawing 932(r) Translation of inscriptions: - Ouverture/Opening (fresh air duct) - Terrain/Earth - Beton/Concrete - Tuyère/Tube - Mur/Wall This sketch, found on the bottom left of 932(r), is inversed with respect to the German inscriptions. The inscriptions on the sketch, which is a cross-section of Leichenkeller I, the gas chamber, of Krematorium II, are written in French. This may be because in January 1945, the Soviet Commission investigating the crimes committed in Auschwitz-Birkenau called upon educated former prisoners of various nationalities to act as consultants and explain the way the gas chambers worked, as this was not fully understood at that time. The Soviet film «Chronicles of the Liberation of the camp, 1945» shows a group of medical men and academics, still in their prison uniform, guiding members of the Soviet Commission. Among them was a French doctor, Henri Limousin, who is perhaps the author of this sketch. From the historical standpoint, this view of a gas introduction «tube» is valid in its general principle, but inexact in its structure, which has been known precisely since the testimony of Michal Kula, a former prisoner having worked in the DAW metalworking shop, where the wire mesh Zyclon-B introduction columns were made. Two versions were produced, one where the gas was diffused from the lower part and the other from the upper part. 287 ===== PDF PAGE 0280 | page-280.md ===== # BAULEITUNG DRAWING 934 [PMO file BW 30/03, neg. nos 6228, 17809 and 20818/5] Entwurf für das Krematorium/Project for the Krematorium Schnitte/Sections Schnitt durch Leichenkeller 1/Cross-section of corpse cellar 1 Schnitt durch Leichenkeller 2/Cross-section of corpse cellar 2 Krematorium: Scale 1:100 [Krematorium II of Birkenau POW camp] Drawn on 27/1/42 by SS Sergeant Ulmer, checked on 28/1/42 by SS Second Lieutenant Dejaco and approved on 28/1/42 by SS Captain Bischoff ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) 288 ===== PDF PAGE 0281 | page-281.md ===== # Translation of inscriptions (left to right and top to bottom) # Furnace room - Firsthöhe/ridge height. - Traufhöhe/gutter height. - Fenstersturzh/window lintel height. - Fensterbanckh/window sill height. - Sockelhöhe/base height. - Sockel-Oberschl. Sandstein/base facing sandstone. Gewachsener Boden/natural earth. - Dachdeckung-Ziegel/tile roof covering. - Eisenbeton-Hohlkörperdecke/ceiling of hollow reinforced concrete blocks. - Betonboden m. Glattstr/concrete floor with smooth screed. - Vorlage 18cm HCH [?]/18cm hard fill. Lehmschlag/clay base. - Erdanschüttung/earth bank. - Entlüftungskanal/air extraction duct. - Ofen/furnace. - Pfeilerfundamente/pillar base. - Rauchkanal \(0.70 \times 0.60\)/smoke flue \(70 \times 60\) cm. - Türenhöhe!/door heights! - Saugzuganlage/suction type forced-draught installation. - Schornsteinfundamente [Nach Boden Belast(un)gsprobe/chimney foundation [after testing soil strength]. - Rauchkanal-Schieber/flue damper. - 3 Züge \(0.80 \times 1.20/3\) flues \(80 \times 120\) cm. - Schornstein/chimney. - Schornstein-Verwahrung/chimney flashing. - Müllerverbrennungsofen/waste incinerator. - Betonboden m. Glattstr./concrete floor with smooth screed. - Vorlage 20cm HCH [?]/20cm hard fill. - Türen- und Fensterumrahmungen - Oberschl. Sandstein/facing of door and window frames sandstone! # Leichenkeller 1: - Entluftungskanal/air extraction duct. - Senkrechte Isolierung/vertical damp-proofing. - Isol(ierung)/damp-proofing. Belüftung/ventilation. - Erdaufschüttung/earth bank. Kies/gravel. Wasserdichte Abdeckung/water-tight covering. - Betonboden mit Glattstrich 14cm Stk/concrete floor with smooth screed 14cm. - Pfeilerfundamente/pillar base 150 x 150, 60 cm deep. Erdanschüttung/earth bank. Gewachsener Boden/natural earth. # Leichenkeller 2: - Abwasserkanal/sewer. - Senkrechte Isolierung/vertical insulation. Erdaufschüttung/earth bank. Kies/gravel. Wasserdichte Abdeckung/water-tight covering. - Betonboden mit Glattstrich 14cm Ssk/concrete floor with smooth screed 14cm. Erdanschüttung/earth bank. As already mentioned, only the section of the main building is original and of 27/1/42, the cross-sections of Leichenkeller 1 and 2 having been designed and added to this drawing in April 1942. It was long believed that this drawing was material and undeniable proof that Leichenkeller 1 of Krematorium II was a gas chamber. This conviction was based on the difference in ventilation arrangements of the two Leichenkeller: Leichenkeller 1 had a fresh air supply and an air extraction system, whereas Leichenkeller 2 had no ventilation whatever. Since the final use of the two rooms was known, Leichenkeller 1 being a gas chamber and 2 an undressing room, it was tempting to seek proof of the criminal intention by simply comparing the two rooms, bearing in mind two elementary facts: the gas chamber absolutely had to have a ventilation system, whereas this was not so vitally necessary in the undressing room. Unfortunately this elegantly simple demonstration is completely demolished by two facts. First, in Leichenkeller 1 the fresh air came in near the ceiling and the air extraction vents were near the floor, which means that the system was designed for a cool morgue, not for a warm gas chamber were the fresh air should come in from below and the foul air be extracted from above. Second, there are several notes and letters, from SS and civilian sources, to say nothing of the traces found in the ruins of Krematorium II, that prove that Leichenkeller 2, the undressing room, also had a ventilation and air extraction system. So the argument based on the ventilation systems, brilliant in its simplicity and perfectly in line with extermination by gassing, collapses completely because it did not take into account all the available documents, and was mistaken because, hypnotised by the terms «Be- und Entlüftung» themselves, the technical reality of their being inappropriately designed for a gas chamber was not even noticed. Many other details now prove that the room known as Leichenkeller 1, which in the past has been presented as having been specifically designed as a gas chamber, could not have originally been anything other than an underground morgue. Subsequently, however, a number of modifications turned it into a gas chamber using Zyclon-B and used to asphyxiate very large numbers of people with hydrocyanic acid gas. 289 ===== PDF PAGE 0282 | page-282.md ===== # Bauleitung drawing 980 [PMO file BW 30/07, neg. no. 20922/1] Entwurf für das Krematorium/Project for the crematorium Werksatz/Roof frame Krematorium: Scale 1:100 [Krematorium II of Birkenau POW camp] Drawn on 3/2/42 by SS Sergeant Ulmer, checked on 3/2/42 by SS Second Lieutenant Dejaco and approved on 7/2/42 by SS Captain Bischoff Underneath the identification block on this drawing is the reference 7015/IV, given by the civilian firm HUTA to Krematorium II during their study in the summer of 1942 of drawings of this building given to them by the Bauleitung. # Translation of inscriptions: - Kaminverwahrung/chimney flashing. - Sämtlich eingeschriebene Masse sind Rohbaumasse und sind vor Baubeginn zu überprüfen. Unstimmigkeiten sind sofort zu melden!/All dimensions given are rough figures and are to be checked before work begins. Any discrepancies are to be reported immediately! This drawing is directly connected with the «930 series» for a new crematorium in the main camp. It was probably modified in April 1942 to suit the new site in Birkenau, but the changes would have been limited to the ventilation chimneys of the Krematorium: a) Creation of a fresh air intake chimney for Leichenkeller 1; b) Addition of three (or two) air outlet chimneys to the one (or two) already planned. The dimensions of the ventilation chimneys shown on drawing 980 (left to right) | Chimney | Section (cm) | Purpose | | --- | --- | --- | | Left hand (fresh air intake) | | | | 1st | 80 x 50 | Leichenkeller 1 (future gas chamber) | | Right hand (foul air extraction): | | | | 2nd | 50 x 80 | Leichenkeller 2 (future undressing room) | | 3rd | 50 x 30 | Dissecting and washing/laying-out room | | 4th | 50 x 84 | Furnace room | | 5th | 50 x 70 | Leichenkeller 1 (future gas chamber) | It should be pointed out that until 1980, the exact functions of the single air intake and the four air extraction chimneys were not precisely known, and the discovery of the timesheets filled in by the Topf & Sons fitter, Messing, who installed the Krematorien II and III ventilation systems, has entirely confirmed the hypotheses put forward by the author. 290 ===== PDF PAGE 0283 | page-283.md ===== ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) Drawing 980 291 ===== PDF PAGE 0284 | page-284.md ===== # Bauleitung drawing 1301 [PMO file BW 30/10, neg. no. 20922/3] Entwurf für das Krematorium/Project for the crematorium Fundamentplan/Foundation plan Krematorium: Scale 1:100 [Krematorium II of Birkenau POW camp, BW 30] [This is the first drawing of Birkenau Krematorium II to bear the official worksite (BauWerk) number attributed by the Bauleitung: BW 30. This reference «BW 30», henceforth used to designate Krematorium II, was a later hand-written addition to the identification block] Drawn on 8/5/42 by SS Sergeant Ulmer, checked on 8/5/42 by SS Second Lieutenant Dejaco and SS Sergeant Ertl, and approved on 8/5/42 by SS Captain Bischoff # Translation of inscriptions (left to right and top to bottom) - Sämlich eingeschriebene Masse sind Rohbaumasse und sind vor Baubeginn zu überprüfen. Unstimmigkeiten sind sofort zu melden! All dimensions given are raw figures and are to be checked before work begins. Any discrepancies are to be reported immediately! Leichenkeller 2 - Aussparung für die Kanalisation (Höhenmaße)/Spaces for drains (levels) - Siehe Schnitt ...(?) Entlüftungsanlage Zeichnung Nr 1174/See cross- section ...(?) air extraction installation drawing 1174 Leichenkeller 3 Vorraum/Vestibule Leichenkeller 1 - SIEHE DECKBLATT - ZEICHNUNG NR 1311!/SEE CORRECTION SHEET - DRAWING 1311! - Fundamentvertiefung unter den Rauchkanalen - 20 cm/Foundation deepened under smoke flues - 20cm - Aussparung für die Rauchkanalen/Spaces for smoke flues - Ofenfundamente - Siehe Fundamentplan der Firma Topf/Furnace foundations - see foundation drawing by Messrs Topf - Nicht unterkellerter Teil/Part without basement - Müllverbrennungsofen nach Angabe des Fa Topf/waste incinerator according to Messrs Topf data Gewachsener Boden/Natural soil - Kaminfundament, Ausmaße nach statischer Berechnung und Bodenblastungsprobe [OK Kaminfundament]/Chimney foundations, dimensions according to static calculations and soil resistance test [OK(?) chimney foundation] Klärgrube/Cesspit - Fundament vertiefung unter der Klärgrube/Deeper foundations under the cess-pit Drawing 1301 of 8/5/42 is above all a technical drawing, the logical sequel to 932. The number on the identification block corresponds to the date written on it. Despite the fact that about 360 drawings had been produced since the «930 series» for the new Krematorium at the main camp, the Bauleitung Drawing Office still used the old title from this series, «Entwurf für das Krematorium», on this drawing. Ertl, then SS Sergeant, later to be promoted Second Lieutenant, whose signature appears alongside that of Dejaco on this drawing, checked it in his capacity as construction engineer and head of the Bauleitung construction section (Hochbauabteilung). Dejaco was an architect and head of the Drawing Office. He decided the layout of the rooms in the Krematorium, but other members of the Bauleitung, each according to his speciality, made the technical calculations. There are three essentially distinct drainage systems in drawing 932: - The western system collects waste water from Leichenkeller 1, 2, and 3, the corridor/vestibule and the western part of the ground floor; - The eastern system collects waste water from the furnace room and its annexes on the ground floor; - The northern system collects waste water from the north wing housing the waste incinerator. The three systems lead to three different connections to the external sewers. On drawing 1301, the western, eastern and northern systems are joined together and lead to a common collector in the west, which in turn leads to the «Königsgrabe» [King's ditch], running to the southwest of Krematorium II. The drainage systems are in fact not explicitly shown on drawing 1301, but the pattern can be deduced from the spaces in the foundations left for the passage of drainpipes. The drainage system drawing itself is 1300. Drawing 1301 is a faithful copy of 932, except for the modifications to the drainage system. As with 932, there appears to be no indication of the future criminal role of Krematorium II, except that in the southern wall of Leichenkeller 1 there is a gap that did not appear on 932, which appears to indicate that as early as May 1942 there was the intention to make the drainage of this room separate from the rest of the system, with the waste water being evacuated towards the south. After a study by the constructors, Huta of Kattowitz, the foundations were laid as shown on drawing 1301, except for the concrete floors of Leichenkeller 1 and 2, which were made very much thicker, eliminating the need for special foundations for the pillars supporting the roofs (the 14 cm thick floor and 60 cm pillar bases were evened out to a 40 cm layer of concrete, no doubt to make it easier to damp-proof these rooms against the Birkenau groundwater. 292 ===== PDF PAGE 0285 | page-285.md ===== ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) Drawing 1301 293 ===== PDF PAGE 0286 | page-286.md ===== ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) ## Bauleitung drawing 1311 The first drawing, 1311(r) [Russian] comes from the «October Revolution» Central State Archives in Moscow. The second drawing, 1311(p) [Polish] comes from the PMO Archives, file BW 30/11, neg. no. 20922/5 Entwurf für das Krematorium/Project for the crematorium Deckblatt zum Grundriß vom Untergeschoß/Correction sheet to basement plan Krematorium: Scale 1:100 [Krematorium II of Birkenau POW camp, BW 30] Drawn on 14/5/42 by SS Sergeant Ulmer, checked [not dated] by SS Second Lieutenant Dejaco and SS Sergeant Ertl, and approved on 23/5/42 by SS Captain Bischoff ### Translation of inscriptions (left to right and top to bottom) - Leichenkeller 2 - Betonboden/Concrete floor - Leichenkeller 3 - Gang/Corridor - Büro/Office - Tres[s]orraum/Strongroom - Vorpf[atz]/Antechamber - Siphon/Siphon - Vorraum/Vestibule - Leichenkeller 1 - Goldarb[et]/Gold working - Ofen/Stove [or gold smelting furnace?] - Entlüftungsschacht/air extraction shaft Drawing 1311 is a correction sheet modifying drawings 932 and 1301, mainly as regards Leichenkeller 3. About two thirds of the area of this room was reorganized as follows (reading from left to right): a «Goldarb[et]/goldworking room for the recuperation of gold teeth, no doubt, in view of the «furnace» in the corner for melting them down into rough ingots); an antechamber giving onto the goldworking room and an office where records of the gold operations were kept and where there was a strongroom for storing the records and the booty before its shipment to the Reich. The remaining third of the area retained the designation «Leichenkeller 3». The designation «goldworking» was considered in 1945-47 by the Soviet and Polish Commissions to be important incriminating evidence against the SS concerning the extermination of the Jews, but in fact on its own it proves nothing, as the recovery of gold from corpses is current practice, even though it may be considered repugnant. The term «Goldarbeit», this time spelled out in full, is also found on drawing 2003, showing the final version of the rearrangement of Leichenkeller 3, but the room so designated was never actually used for that purpose. However, according to the testimony of former Sonderkommando men [see sketch by David Olère] there was a primitive gold recovery and smelting shop on the ground floor of Krematorium III. On Bauleitung drawing 2136, this room is designated «Labor[atorium]/Laboratory». drawing, 1311(r) 294 ===== PDF PAGE 0287 | page-287.md ===== As soon as the large-scale extermination of the Jews began, the goldworking shop in Krematorium III was no longer used exclusively for the recovery of gold teeth, but also for melting down the victims' jewelry (rings, earrings, necklaces, bracelets, watches). Dr Miklos Nyiszli in his «Auschwitz, A doctor's eyewitness account» mentions that: the space corresponding to the dissection room in number one [Kr II] was here [in Krematorium III] used as a gold foundry... The smelling took place in a graphite crucible about two inches in diameter. The weight of the gold cylinder [actually a disc] was 140 grammes. I knew that figure to be exact because I had weighed more than one on an accurate scale in the dissection room [of Krematorium II]. This «foundry» produced rough disks 5 cm in diameter, 0.4 cm thick and weighing 140 g. Some of them can be seen in David Olère's sketch, on the edge of the table, underneath the blowlamp, where the two prisoners are at work. ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) ![img-1.jpeg](img-1.jpeg) [Sketch by David Olère, 1945 or 46] Reduced photograph of an early sketch by David Olère, former member of the Sonderkommando of Krematorium III, showing two prisoner gold founders at work, closely watched by an SS man. The scene is the room marked «Labor/Lab» on a Bauleitung drawing of Krematorium III: 2136 of 22/2/43. (Source: Myriam Novitch) Drawing, 1311(p) # Entwurf für das Krematorium~ # Deckblatt zum Grundriß vom Untergeschoß~ Bl. 1:100. ![img-2.jpeg](img-2.jpeg) ![img-3.jpeg](img-3.jpeg) ===== PDF PAGE 0288 | page-288.md ===== # Bauleitung drawing 1300 [PMO file BW 30/09, reg. no. 20922/2] Krematorium - Entwässerung/Drainage Maßstab/Scales 1:100 and 1:500 Drawn on 18/6/42 by Prisoner 17133 checked on 9/7/42 by SS Second Lieutenants Eggeling and [identification uncertain] Töfferl and approved on 10/7/42 by SS Captain Bischoff Eggeling was a Bauleitung SS Second Lieutenant (Specialist), an agricultural engineer, at first responsible for drainage and irrigation on the camp farmland, then, as from 31st January 1942, in charge of road building and water supply and drainage in the Birkenau camp. It is in this latter capacity that he signed this drawing. Töfferl [if the signature next to that of Eggeling does indeed correspond to this name] was another Bauleitung SS Second Lieutenant (Specialist), a civil engineer working in the surveying office who was made available to help the SS engineers of other services when required. # Explanatory description: This drawing is based on 932, the basement plan. On this very simplified plan, the different drains and associated pipework (for waste water and rainwater) are drawn with the relevant collector sinks (numbered I to XV). Also shown are the diameters of the pipes, the depths at which they are to be laid and their slope. The three longitudinal section drawings on the left concern the location of the twelve sewer manholes (I to XII) and the slopes between them: 1st section: manholes I to VIII 2nd section: manholes IV to XI 3rd section: manholes IX to XII The scale for the depths is 1:100 and for the lengths 1:500. Associated with these three sections are two tables summarizing the characteristics of the installation, specifying: ground level, depth of sewer, diameter and slope, distance between manholes. # Translation of inscriptions (left to right and top to bottom) Längschnitt zwischen Revisionsschächten I-VIII/Longitudinal section between manholes I and VIII: - OF [Oberfläche]/Surface [of ground] Geländerhohen/Levels Kanalsohlenkoten/Depth of sewers Querscnitt u. Gefalle/Cross-section and slopes - Entfernungen/Distances Längschnitt zwischen Revisionsschächten IV-XI/Longitudinal section between manholes IV and XI Längschnitt zwischen Revisionsschächten IX-XII/Longitudinal section between manholes IX and XII: Gefalle/Slopes Bemerkung/Remark Kanalhöhe/Sewer height zum Graben/to the ditch # Erläuterungen/Key: - Innere Kanalisation/Internal drains - Aussere Kanalisation mit Regenwasser/External drains with rainwater Die unter der Decke verlegte Abfluß Leitungen/Runoff pipes laid under the roof [key not used] - Automatische Rückstauklappe d. 15 mit Zusätl. Handbetätigung/Automatic 15 [cm] diameter non-return valve also fitted with a manual control Angegebene Hohen für die Kanalsohle/Indicated heights for bottom of sewer Gelandehohen/Levels Bogen mit Putzmoglichkeit/Elbow with cleaning trap The main sewer for all the waste water from Krematorium II, planned as a 25 cm pipe, has been crossed out with two red pencil crosses along its route and from manhole II there runs a red arrow and underneath it is written «zum [to the] Königsgraben» [the name of a main drainage ditch in the camp]. On the site, however, the concrete cover of manhole I can still be seen in place, and is to the southwest of Leichenkeller 1. The modification hand-written on the drawing was therefore not implemented, though this makes little difference in the end for there were only two places the main sewer could run to: the Königsgraben (to the west), or the «Kläranlage I/Water purification plant I» (to the south), which again finally led to the Königsgraben. The sewer manholes associated with Krematorium II were of square section, brick-built and with a metal ladder built in, whereas those installed for Krematorium III were simply made of a few sections of 1 metre diameter concrete pipe, with no internal ladder. The construction of the Kr III drainage system was greatly simplified as compared with that of Kr II. The complete separation of the drainage system of Leichenkeller 1 from that of the rest of the building (as foreshadowed on drawing 932), is the first trace of the criminal conversion of Leichenkeller 1 into a gas chamber. This drawing must have later been modified slightly to take account of the new features in Bauleitung drawings 1311 and 2003, which split up the area occupied by Leichenkeller 3, and to allow for the creation of the direct access stairway from the outside to Leichenkeller 2 (the undressing room). The final version of the Krematorium II drainage system is to be seen on Bauleitung drawings 2197[a and b] of Soviet source. 296 ===== PDF PAGE 0289 | page-289.md ===== Drawing 1300 ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) 297 ===== PDF PAGE 0290 | page-290.md ===== # Drawing 1305 by the civilian firm Messrs Konrad Segnitz [PMO file BW 30/20, neg. no. 20946/3] VOLLMAR BOHLEN BINDER DACHKONSTRUKTION - FÜR BAU: KGL BW 30 ZENTRALBAULEITUNG der WAFFEN-SS und POLIZEI - AUSCHWITZ Roof frame in «Vollmar» beams - for building: POW camp BW 30 Waffen SS and Police Central Construction Management Auschwitz M./Scales 1:100 and 1:10 Drawn on 7/8/42 statistics checked by the inspection engineer A Bsdok on 31/8/42 received on 4/9/42 and countersigned by SS Sergeant Ertl and SS Captain Bischoff # Translation of inscriptions (left to right and top to bottom) - Längschnitt/Longitudinal section [actually cross-section] - Draufsicht/Plan view - Schornsteinbreite/Chimney widths [of the ventilation ducts] - 68 Stk Vollmarbohlenbinder/68 «Vollmar» beams - Schnitt Hauptdach/Main roof cross-section - Kronendacheindeckung/Ridge covering - Binderabstand/Distance between beams - Punkt A/Point A - Wechsel/Supporting plate - Schnitt Seitenflübel/Wing cross-section - Jeden 4 cm Binder A[n]ker gegen Soc[kel?]/Beam anchor every 4 cm against plate[?] - Kragsteine/Firebrick - Schornsteinschnitt/Chimney cross-section The longitudinal and plan views on this drawing were inspired respectively by Bauleitung drawings 933-934 and 980. The chimney cross-section is from Bauleitung drawing 1434 of 3/6/42. «Errichtung eines Schornsteines am Krematorium/Construction of a chimney at the Krematorium [II]», a drawing not found after the Liberation. This civilian drawing brings nothing new with respect to the Bauleitung drawings, except that the height of the ventilation chimney is shown for the first time. 298 ===== PDF PAGE 0291 | page-291.md ===== Drawing 1305 ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) 299 ===== PDF PAGE 0292 | page-292.md ===== # Bauleitung drawing 1541 [PMO Archives, file BW 30/13, neg. no. 20922/6] Krematorium KLG BW 30 Treppe vom Erd- zum Dachgeschoß/Stairs from ground floor to roof space M./Scale 1:10 [Krematorium II of Birkenau POW camp, BW 30] Drawn on 14/8/42 by SS Sergeant Ulmer, checked on 14/8/42 by SS Second Lieutenant Dejaco and SS Sergeant Ertl, and approved on 18/8/42 by SS Captain Bischoff ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) 300 ===== PDF PAGE 0293 | page-293.md ===== Drawing 1541 ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) Translation of inscriptions (left to right and top to bottom) - Antritt/First step - Verputzt/Screeded - Fußsockel/Base - Brennstoffraum/Fuel store - 19 Steigungen 18,4 cm hch, Auftritt 24 cm - Vorsprung 4 cm/19 steps 18,4 cm high, tread depth 24 cm overhang 4 cm - Flur/Corridor - Öffnung in der Treppenuntermauerung zum Durchwerfen de Kohlen/Opening in the wall under the stairs for access to coal - Handläufer - Flacheisen/Handrail - Flat iron bar - Tritte 12 cm eingespannt/Steps set in 12 cm - 2 cm R(h)ohstrich/2 cm mortar screed - Hohlkörperdecke/Hollow block concrete ceiling The last drawing of Krematorium II drawn by SS Sergeant Ulmer, 1541 is of no real interest in itself. If the whole of the building had been treated in such precise and detailed fashion, right down to trivia, fifty drawings would not have been enough. The reason why Ulmer drew a quite ordinary staircase with a loving care quite alien to the sense of urgency normally so dear to the SS probably has nothing to do with the job itself. A note written by Dejaco on 9th February 1943 [of Soviet source] concerning the personnel employed in the Bauleitung Drawing Office run by Dejaco indicates that Ulmer has been transferred to a combat unit. The date of his departure is not known, but must have been somewhere during the six months between his drawing 1541 and Dejaco's note. It would appear possible that Ulmer undertook this not very useful work to stretch out time and delay his posting to the front as long as possible, an eminently sensible attitude. 301 ===== PDF PAGE 0294 | page-294.md ===== ## Bauleitung drawing 2003 [PMO Archives, file BW 3012, aug. no. 20922/4] Krematorium im KLG/Krematorium in POW camp Deckblatt zu Zeichnung Nr 932 u. 933/Correction sheet to drawings 932 and 933 Verlegung des Kellerzuganges an die Strassenseite/Relocation of the basement access to the side nearest the road Kellergeschoss/Basement Erdgeschoss/Ground floor M./Scale 1:100 [Krematorium II of Birkenau POW camp, BW 30] Drawn on 19/12/42 by SS Second Lieutenant Dejaco and approved on 5/1/43 by SS Captain Bischoff ### Translation of inscriptions (left to right and top to bottom) #### Basement: - Leichenkeller 2 - Büro/Office - Tresor/Strongroom - W.f. u. Vorplatz/Windbreak and anteroom - Vorraum/Vestibule - Goldarbeit/Goldworking - Aufzug/Corpse lift - Leichenkeller 1 - Nicht unterkellert/Without basement #### Ground floor: - Kellereingang/Access to basement - WC - W.R./Wash room - Abstellraum/Store - Sezierraum/Dissecting room - Waschraum/[Corpse] washing room - Krem. Eingang/Krematorium entrance - W.F./Windbreak - Flur/Corridor - Aufzug/Corpse lift - Ofen/Furnace Bauleitung drawing 2003, drawn by Dejaco himself, is of the utmost importance in the evolution of the plans for Krematorium II and marks the transition from a «normal» crematorium fitted with a corpse chute supplying three underground morgues to an «abnormal» complex that cannot fit any logic other than criminal. The new arrangement of the basement shows the following modifications as compared with drawings 932, 933 and 1311: 1. The double door of Leichenkeller 1 now opens outwards (it had been realized that it would be impossible to open the doors of the gas chamber if they opened inwards, as in the original design); 2. The corpse chute has been eliminated (a vital point, implying that since this was no longer required the Leichenkeller could no longer be morgues in any normal sense, or else that the «corpses» arrived on foot); 3. The installation of an access stairway leading directly from the north yard of Krematorium II to a basement antechamber between the goldworking room and the associated office, and then to the junction between Leichenkeller 2 and 1. The western access stairway direct to Leichenkeller 2 was not yet planned [the first mention of it found in the PMO Bauleitung files being dated 26th February 1943], so that the stairs drawn by Dejaco became the ONLY POSSIBLE ACCESS to the Leichenkeller, through which the «corpses» had to pass. Replacing a chute designed to take corpses by an ordinary stairway defies all logic - unless the future corpses entered while they were still living and could walk down the stairs. But if the basement was being filled with live people, what could the function of the «morgues» now be? ## Krematorium im K.G.L. Deckblatt zu Zeichnung Nr 932 u. 933, Verlegung des Kellerzuganges an die Strassenseite, ### Kellergeschoss ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) 302 ===== PDF PAGE 0295 | page-295.md ===== # Erdgeschoss ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) B.W. 30 Krematorium im K.G.L 1:100 2005 2003 It could possibly be argued that Dejaco, pressed for time, left out the chute which was unimportant in this drawing, the main purpose of which was to show the creation of a stairway from the north yard of the Krematorium to the basements. But the ground floor plan confirms the abolition of the chute, for a storeroom is installed in its place. This drawing was made at a time when work on Krematorium II was well advanced and the main structure was completed, so only part of the modifications were actually realized in the building. The stairway was built, as can still be seen in the ruins, but the corpse chute was also built, no doubt because it was already in place when drawing 2003 was made. At a later date, in order to avoid the lower end of the chute interfering with the passage of victims from Leichenkeller 2 to Leichenkeller 1, the chute was enclosed behind a wooden wall. Keeping the chute meant that if necessary the Krematorium could easily return to being a «normal» facility. By eliminating it completely, Dejaco clearly revealed that the role of the building was no longer to cremate people dying in the camp, but to cremate people dying on the spot. During the trial of Walter Dejaco and Fritz Ertl, considered to be the «Krematorium architect», a trial held before the Vienna Assize Court from 18th January to 10th March 1972, drawing 2003, which formally accuses Dejaco, could have led to his being found guilty (Dejaco alone). The main Bauleitung drawings of Krematorium II (932, 933, 934, 936, 980, 1301, 1311, 1173-1174 and 2197) were furnished to the court by an envoy from the Warsaw-based Central Commission for research into Hitlerian crimes in Poland, Mr Stanisław Kaniewski at the 25th session on 1st March 1972, but they were studied for only one hour (between 11 and 12 o'clock), during which time there was much quibbling about the size of the pillars supporting the Leichenkeller roofs, which one witness claimed were hollow. Drawing 2003, drawn by the hand of Dejaco himself, was not even cited as such. The designated expert, incapable of understanding these drawings, virtually admitted defeat. There was no correct and detailed exploitation of this valuable historical material. Needless to say, the case against the two accused was dismissed for lack of evidence. As it appears on drawing 2003, Krematorium II offered the following possibilities with regard to large-scale extermination: 1. The victims arrived on foot or were brought by truck to the north yard of the Krematorium, then went down the steps to the basement and were directed to Leichenkeller 2 where they undressed. Then, naked, they were pushed into Leichenkeller 1, the door or doors closed on them, and they were gassed. However, some people, arriving at the bottom of the steps in the vestibule at the junction between Leichenkeller 1 and 2, before going into Leichenkeller 1 might have been worried by the disquieting aspect of the entrance to a room presented as a shower room. If the doors were closed, they saw a wooden door with a sizeable peephole and heavy bars to close it. If the the doors were open they would see a forest of pillars, some concrete, some in very heavy wire mesh. The famous dummy showers, fixed to the ceiling, would be virtually invisible from outside the room, being masked by the reinforced concrete beams supporting the roof. Whatever they saw, these people might have doubts about this «shower room» and recoil, or even revolt, something the SS wanted to avoid at all costs. This would explain why, in the «War Refugee Board» report on the extermination camps in Upper Silesia [see Part III, Chapter 1] published in November 1944, the witnesses, speaking of the earliest gassings in Krematorium II, stated that the walls of Leichenkeller 1 were camouflaged to give the impression of «a huge shower room». 2. The erection of a stable-type hut, running north/south in the north yard of Krematorium II made it possible to have the victims enter through the northern end, undress and emerge naked from the southern end, a few meters from the steps down to the basement. Going through the antechamber and vestibule, they were directed straight into Leichenkeller 1, crowded in and gassed. This was the route taken by the victims in the second half of March 1943, while the new access stairway at the western end of Leichenkeller 2 was being built. In this scenario, which was actually employed, the people emerging from the hut were naked, upset and completely defenceless, incapable of any resistance. They obeyed unconsciously, like a frightened herd of animals and the SS treated them as such. There was no possibility of any revolt. 3. By reversing the direction in which the double doors of Leichenkeller 2 opened and making the undressing but a permanent fixture, there was another possibility, which in the author's opinion must have been considered by the SS. This was using Leichenkeller 1 and 2 alternately as gas chambers (both of them having ventilation and air extraction systems). This was the method planned in January 1943 for the gas chambers of Krematorium IV and V. However, the incineration capacity of the five three-muffle furnaces of Krematorium II was not great enough to handle the number of corpses that would have resulted from this system, and it was never used. Lastly, it should be noted that there is a design fault in this drawing: when the double doors of Leichenkeller 1 are opened, the right hand one interferes with the lower door of the lift. This is no doubt one of the reasons why the double doors of Leichenkeller 1 were converted to a single one opening to the left. 303 ===== PDF PAGE 0296 | page-296.md ===== ## Bauleitung drawing 2136 [PMO Archives, file BW 30a15, aug. no. 20922/7] ### Krematorium III Ergänzungsblatt/Supplementary sheet M./Scale 1:100 Drawn on 22/2/43 by prisoner 538 and checked on 22/2/43 This drawing, a pale blue-violet, is a copy of the original, which is not held by the PMO, but is probably held in the Soviet Union. According to Annex 20 of Volume 11 of the Höss trial, containing the deposition of a former prisoner, Krystyna Horczak, made on 18th August 1946 before the Polish Examining Judge, Jan Sehn, the original of this drawing was one of two taken from a file by this witness while she was working for the Bauleitung, from the end of 1943 to early 1945. These originals and two small freehand copies were given, by a very circuitous path, to the Polish judiciary. The stolen drawings are not annexed to Krystyna Horczak's testimony, but it would appear that 2136 was one of them, but this is not absolutely certain. The only evidence to confirm this suspicion is the rubber stamp in the top right hand corner of [Jan Sehn's] Cracow Regional Commission for research into Hitlerian crimes in Poland [Okręgona Komisja Badania Zbrodni Niemieckich w Krakowie], which is found on only two known drawings of the Krematorium: the Topf & Sons drawing d.59042 of Krematorium I designated «Einbau einer Einäscherungsanlage für KL Auschwitz» [Construction of an incineration installation for KL Auschwitz] of 25/9/41 and this drawing 2136 of Krematorium III of 22/2/43. ### Translation of inscriptions (left to right and top to bottom) The inscriptions are the same as on drawing 933 (see Sheet 51) except for the following additions: - Vorderansicht/Front elevation [south] - Erdgeschossgrundriss/Ground floor plan - Vorraum/Antechamber - Labor/Laboratory - Seziertisch/Dissecting table - Kellereingang/Basement entrance - Seitenansicht/Side elevation [west] The south (front) and west (side) elevations of Krematorium III are copies of the north and east elevations of Krematorium II as shown on drawing 936. The proof of this is that the orientation of the shadows of the dormer windows, the annex wing and the chimney still corresponds to that of the original location planned for the new Krematorium in the main camp (Auschwitz Stammlager). Two subsequent changes in orientation have produced the illogical situation where the shadows on the south elevation correspond to an eastern aspect and those of the west elevation to a south aspect! The elevations of 936 were copied, but taking into account the special features of this building: 1. On the front elevation: inversion between the main entrance door and the furnace room windows; a metal guardrail for the basement access stairway; 2. On the side elevation: combination of the east and west elevations of drawing 936, with elimination of the west double window of the laboratory and extension of the south annex wing whose length was increased from 12 metres in Krematorium II to 14 in Krematorium III. The near ends of the roofs of Leichenkeller 1 and 2 are left out of the south and west elevations. Leichenkeller 1 appears on the ground floor plan. Despite the fact that they appear on the drawing, the three forced draught fan motors were never installed because of the problems encountered with those in Krematorium II. The furnaces used natural draught from the outset. The corpse chute was built in Krematorium III and can still be seen in the ruins. As in Krematorium II, it was closed off by a wooden wall (Bauleitung order of 10/4/43, completed by the DAW workshops on 14/4/43). The chute's being hidden in this way explains why, for example, it is absent from the memory of the former Sonderkommando member David Olère in his sketch of corpses being extracted from the gas chamber [Document 85] and his plan of Krematorium III drawn immediately after his return to France [see Author's Postface]. Leichenkeller 2 (the undressing room) of Krematorium III was also given a western access stairway for the victims, and two walled-off yards with the same functions as those of Krematorium II. These additional changes appear on Bauleitung drawing 4054 of 21/6/44 [see Document 76], and can also be seen in the ruins. The laboratory was never used as such, but served as a workshop for the «gold founders», producing rough discs of gold, 5 cm diameter and weighing 140 grammes (according to Dr Miklos Nyiszli and David Olère). There are no «criminal traces» on this drawing, which simply shows a large capacity, but «normal», cremation facility. 304 ===== PDF PAGE 0297 | page-297.md ===== ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) | Bestellung der Rüchse 49 und Belgiei | | | | --- | --- | --- | | J.d. 20 | in halbbede Höhe | | | Bezirkungen | Krematorium II. Pogorhabergasse | | | Heizner | 1-439 | Juni 16, 2006 | | Freistaat | Abteilung Nr. 1298 | M. 2. 09 | | Beamt | | 24. 2. 09 | | Architekt | | | ===== PDF PAGE 0298 | page-298.md ===== Drawing 2197(p)/I Bestandsaufnahme des Krematoriums II K. G. L. Auschwitz Maßstab 1:200 West Ansicht ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) ![img-1.jpeg](img-1.jpeg) Schnitt A-B ![img-2.jpeg](img-2.jpeg) Schnitt G-H ![img-3.jpeg](img-3.jpeg) Erdgeschoss ![img-4.jpeg](img-4.jpeg) 2197 306 ===== PDF PAGE 0299 | page-299.md ===== Drawing 2197(p)/II ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) ### Bauleitung drawing 2197 of 19/3/43 The first drawing, 2197(p) [Polish] comes from the PMO Archives, file BW 30/14, neg. no. 20946/1. The second 2197(a)(v) [Russian] and third 2197(b)(v) drawings come from the «October Revolution» Central State Archives in Moscow. Drawing 2197 held by the PMO is not the original, but a pale pink copy, faded and scarcely legible, made for the Polish Commission from the originals collected at the beginning of 1945 by the Soviet Commission. The Museum also has a second copy of 2197 in the BW 34/34A file (No. 8) on a bluish background, which is easier to read than the pink one. There is also a tracing, which was probably used to produce the copies, classified under number 19949. 2197(a)(v) and 2197(b)(v) were given by the Moscow Prosecutor to the Warsaw Central Commission for research into Hitlerian crimes in Poland as exhibits in the Dejaco/Ertl trial in 1972. However, they were not transmitted as complete sheets, but each was divided into six photographs. Since the two drawings are virtually identical, an employee of the Central Commission thought there were two copies of the same drawing and sent only one set of six photos to the trial, keeping the other in the research section of the Commission. Unfortunately during the handling of these photographs, the two sets got mixed up, and two photos of one replaced two of the other. This carelessness meant that of the six photos remaining in Warsaw, two belonged to the drawing sent to Vienna, and the Vienna set contained two incorrect photos. Nobody seems to have noticed this substitution, and it was quite by chance that the author stumbled on it by comparing the Warsaw and Vienna copies of 2197. Despite the very poor quality of the copies, 2197(b) is a vital drawing, for it shows the location of lights and water taps in Krematorium II, which is important for an understanding of the instruments of extermination and for exploiting other relevant documents. Seven parts of the 2197(p) presented here have been highlighted in black by the author to make them easily legible. Bestandsaufnahme des Krematoriums II KGL Auschwitz/Inventory drawing of Krematorium II, Auschwitz POW camp M./Scale 1:200 Drawn on 19/3/43 by prisoner 71134 307 ===== PDF PAGE 0300 | page-300.md ===== Drawing 2197(p)/III ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) 308 ===== PDF PAGE 0301 | page-301.md ===== Drawing 2197(p)IV Translation of inscriptions (left to right and top to bottom) ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) - Situation/Situation drawing 1:5000 - Bauabschnitt 1/Construction stage 1 - Schnitt/Section - Kellergrundriss/Basement plan - Leichenkeller 2 [on 2197a(r) and 2197b(r) only] - Rückstauklappe/Non-return valve - Büro/Office - Vorplatz/Antechamber - Goldarb(eit)/Goldworking - Vorraum/Vestibule - Aufzug/Corpse lift - Leichenkeller 1 [Handwritten on 2197a(r) only] - Die Füchsen dürfen keine Ecken und scharfe Künten aufweisen. Berlin, den 17.6.44 CIII/S(?)W/The flues must have no corners or sharp edges. Berlin, 17/6/44 CIII/S(?) [signed] Wolter - Klärgrube/Cesspit - Schnitt/Section - West Ansicht/West elevation - Erdgeschoß/Ground floor - Laboratorium/Laboratory - Waschr/Washroom - Rutsche/[Corpse] chute - Sezierraum/Dissecting room - Waschraum/[Corpse] washing room - WF/Wind break - Flur/Vestibule - Aufzug/Corpse lift - Ofen/Furnace - Müllverbrennungsraum/waste incinerator room - Motorraum/Motor room - Verbrennungsraum/Incineration room [Furnace room] - Brennstofflager/Fuel store - Flur/Corridor - Capo/Capo['s room] - Geräte/[Furnace] irons - Schnitt/Section - Süd Ansicht/South elevation - Entlüftungskanalverbindung/Air extraction duct connection - Belüftungskanalverbindung/Fresh air duct connection - Werksatz/Roof frame - Nord Ansicht/North elevation - Ost Ansicht/East elevation [on 2197a(r) and 2197b(r) only] - Erläuterung/Key - Wasserleitung/Water pipe - Inner Kanalisation/Interior drains - Die unter der Decke verlegte Kanalisation/Drainpipes laid under cover - Äußere Kanalisation/Exterior drains [on [b] only] - Elektrische installation/Electrical installation 309 ===== PDF PAGE 0302 | page-302.md ===== This inventory drawing is the combination of the principal Bauleitung project drawings for Krematorium II (and by extension, for Kr III), with the addition of a situation plan of the building. The project drawings were also updated according to the modifications made during construction. # Drawing 2197 is made up as follows: - Situation drawing, 1:5000, with orientation, showing the location of Krematorium II with respect to BA.I (the first construction stage of the Birkenau camp); - Schnitt/Section A-B: cross-section of the building through the Vorraum/ Vestibule leading to Leichenkeller 1 and 2 and the Vorplatz/Antechamber, including the modifications shown on drawing 2003, except as regards the corpse chute, which remains; - Schnitt/Section G-H: partial copy of drawing 934 showing cross-sections of Leichenkeller 1 and 2, the cross-section of Leichenkeller 2 (the undressing room) being unchanged; - Kellergrundriss/Basement plan: taken from 932, it shows: The final arrangement of the basement, with [on 2197]s] and [b]r) only] the drainage system, basically as on drawing 1300, adapted according to the changes made; The final arrangement of the former Leichenkeller 3 and the junction between Leichenkeller 1 and 2, as shown on drawing 2003, with the corpse chute retained, contrary to what had been planned, though the bottom end was truncated to stop it encroaching on the the vestibule (making passage from Leichenkeller 2 to Leichenkeller 1 easier) the opening at the foot of the double stairway being closed off by double doors. It is not known whether these doors were ever installed, but on 19/3/43 the DAW workshops completed a Bauleitung order of 17/3/43 for a wooden wall to fence off the chute of Krematorium II, thus coming more or less into line with drawing 2003; On the three versions of 2197, there is an access stairway at the western end of Leichenkeller 2, making the path taken by the victims more «linear». The drainage of this room was modified accordingly; Drawing 2197[b]r) shows not only the final version of the drainage system, but also the water taps [using the symbol ↵ ] and the electric lamps [symbol ⊕ ] in Krematorium II. Thus Leichenkeller 2, the undressing room, had five taps along its southern wall and 10 lamps placed alternately on the north and south walls. Leichenkeller 1, the gas chamber, was fitted with three taps, which were subsequently removed, and 16 lamps arranged in pairs along the longitudinal centre beam. This number of taps and lamps is confirmed by the inventory of the Krematorium II basement drawn up as part of the official handover procedure, and makes it possible to correct an error made by a Bauleitung employee, who made an entry on the wrong line of the form; - Schnitt/Section C-D: copy of the cross-section of Krematorium II through the chimney, as per drawing 934; - West Ansicht/West elevation: copy of drawing 936 (original north side, now become west) with additional traces of the roof of Leichenkeller 2 (cross-section) and the beginning of the roof of Leichenkeller 1; - Erdgeschoß/Ground floor plan: copy of drawing 933 with the following modifications: The original dissecting room is divided in two: the dissecting room proper and a laboratory for examining the results; In the WC in the southeast part of the Krematorium, the shower shown on drawing 933 has been omitted, though it was actually installed (according to the account by Dr Miklos Nyiszli); Drawing 2197[b]r) The forced-draught installation supplied by Messrs Topf & Sons was removed after many problems caused by the motors overheating, and natural draught proved to be perfectly adequate. The three rooms thus freed (though still designated «Motorraum») were allocated to new functions [according to Henryk Tauber - see Part III, Chapter 3]. One became the room of the Chief Capo of the Krematorien, and the other two were converted into a shower room (with a dozen showers) for the Sonderkommando; The waste incinerator is shifted slightly to occupy a more central position than that originally planned; The creation of two yards, enclosed by walls about one metre high. According to former Sonderkommando members, the northeast yard (dimensions: 6 m by 12 m) was used to store various personal documents brought by the victims, «waste» of no market value to the SS, before it was burned in the waste incinerator. In 1944, this yard was covered by a lean-to roof extending from northeast roof of the north wing of Krematorium II, to protect these papers from the rain. In addition, the east window of the incinerator room was made bigger to accelerate the process of feeding the «waste» from the yard to the incinerator. The second yard, to the south, (dimensions 2.5 m by 8 m) was used to contain the human ashes from the furnaces (the clinker from the firebox side of the furnaces was dumped on the north side, near the coke store); Schnitt/Section E-F: copy without change of the longitudinal section of the basement part, as per drawing 1174. The encroaching part of the corpse chute is maintained on this section, whereas it no longer exists on the basement plan; Süd Ansicht, Schnitt I-J/South elevation, section I-J: copy of drawing 1173 (itself derived from the south elevation of drawing 936) with the following additions: Construction, perpendicular to the west side of the Krematorium of a wall to keep access to the corpse chute clear by holding back the earth bank covering the roof of Leichenkeller 2; Erection of the ventilation and air extraction chimneys for Leichenkeller 1 and 2, the furnace room and the dissecting room/laboratory/ washing room complex. In actual fact, after having been built according to drawing 2197 [photographic proof: PMO reg. no. 20995/07] these chimneys were later increased in height [photographic proof: PMO reg. nos 20995/400 and -/ 504 for Kr II and 20995/501 for KrIII]; Construction of the south yard for human ashes, below the last two double windows at the south east end of the furnace room; Werksatz/Roof frame: taken from drawing 980 without modification except that the detail is drawn for the western half of Krematorium II only; Nord Ansicht/North elevation: copy of the north elevation on drawing 936 with the north east enclosed «waste paper» yard and the beginning of the roof of Leichenkeller 2; Ost Ansicht/East elevation: copy of the east elevation on drawing 936 with the two new enclosed yards, Drawing 2197 provides a very fair inventory of Krematorium II, except for certain modifications made later. It lacks precision regarding the different ventilation systems of the building and their associated motors. Lastly, there is no mention of equipment specifically associated with gassing (gas-tight doors, dummy showers and Zyclon-B introduction columns and chimneys). However, the inventory sheets are more eloquent on this subject, or more «indiscrete», depending on the point of view, and specifically mention this equipment necessary for large-scale gassings. Despite their lack of «criminal traces» the three versions of this drawing, and in particular 2197[b]r), form the essential complement to the inventories. 310 ===== PDF PAGE 0303 | page-303.md ===== ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) 311 ===== PDF PAGE 0304 | page-304.md ===== ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) Drawing 2197(b)(r) 312 ===== PDF PAGE 0305 | page-305.md ===== # The drawings produced by the civilian firm HUTA As from October 1941, two civilian firms based in Upper Silesia were engaged in building the KGL [KriegsGefangenenLage/POW camp] Birkenau: HUTA (Hoch- und Tiefbau Aktiengesellschaft, 19 Friedrichstraße, Kattowitz) and LENZ (Schlesische Industriebau Lenz & Co AG, 23 Grundmannstraße, Kattowitz). As soon as the SS authorities had decided to go ahead with the building at Birkenau of the projected new Krematorium (which was to become Krematorium II), designed by the Bauleitung, the latter offered the contract to the two main firms already working in the camp and thus familiar with it. Lenz refused because of shortage of labour, while Huta accepted and was asked to start work on the project immediately. With a covering letter of 2nd August 1942 [Document 1], Huta was sent ten Bauleitung drawings of the building. All of these have survived, except for drawing 1341 of the doors and dormer windows. This letter, signed by the head of the Bauleitung, Bischoff, and signed on receipt on 4th August by a Huta person (left hand signature), is material proof that, contrary to what was thought after the war, there was nothing secret about the drawings of Krematorium II, for they were sent to a civilian firm with no particular instructions. Huta allocated a number to the new project, and another to the technical studies required for the building [Document 2]. These studies were complementary to those of the Bauleitung, for they concerned specific construction details. Thus Huta allocated the worksite number 7015/IV [Document 1bis] to Krematorium II (and also III) and produced sixteen drawings for it, numbered 109/1 to -/16. The only ones surviving today are drawings 10, 11, 13a, 14a, 15 and 16a (the significance of the suffix «-a» is not known), or six out of sixteen. The Huta number 7015/IV was inscribed on two Bauleitung drawings: 936 (Elevations) [Document 3] and 980 (Roof frame). This irrefutably confirms that Huta's civilian employees, who were perfectly free to talk of their work outside, were fully conversant with the drawings of Krematorium II, and studied them carefully, as proved by the static studies carried out. In the face of such evidence, it is difficult to go on talking about «secrecy». Huta drawings 109/1 to 109/11 were working drawings (mainly concerned with the reinforcing bars of the concrete ceilings), produced as and when required by progress on the site. On the other hand, drawings 109/12 to 109/16 were recapitulatory drawings produced in September and October 1943, long after Krematorien II and III had been completed. On 19th December 1944, all the original Huta drawings (except for two which were copies) concerning Krematorien II and III were given by the Huta representative who had received the initial Krematorium II drawings in August 1942 into the hands of SS Lieutenant Werner Jothann, then head of the Bauleitung [Document 4]. At this late date it is obvious that the handing over of the Huta drawings to Jothann had nothing to do with tying up the loose ends of the business and completing the Krematorium files [for posterity and before the end of the war!]. The real reason was the SS wanted to retrieve everything connected with the extermination, which had finally been denounced in the world press, and to destroy all the evidence before the final collapse of the Third Reich. In addition, together with the order to stop the gassings, the order was Static calculations for Krematorium II [PMO file BW 30/40, page 1] ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) First page of the second set of static calculations made on 22nd October 1942 by Dziubany, an engineer employed by Huta of Kattowitz. There were 21 pages in all (the last page is now missing), referring to items 1 to 38 of the original estimate. It was received by the Bauleitung on 26th October and entered in the correspondence register under the reference 16975/42. 313 ===== PDF PAGE 0306 | page-306.md ===== Drawing of the chimney for Krematorien II and III [PMO file BW 30/40, page 47] given to dismantle Krematorien II and III [IV had already been demolished and V continued in service for «normal» cremations]. The destruction of the «murder weapon» started at the beginning of December 1944. Because of bureaucratic delays, the Bauleitung's request for Huta's drawings was also made at the beginning of December 1944. The Huta drawings presented here were not found among the Bauleitung documents recovered after the Liberation, but in a search of the Huta offices in Kattowitz ordered by the Examining Judge Jan Sehn in 1945 or 1946. In conclusion, the Huta drawings do not contain «criminal traces», but they do make it possible to better understand some of the Bauleitung drawings and they also show that the «secrecy» that was thought after the war to have surrounded the Krematorien could not have existed during their planning and construction. However, once the «special actions» were over, there is no doubt that the SS tried, without completely succeeding, to get rid of all the evidence. They destroyed their archives (but not completely). At Birkenau, they dismantled Krematorien II and III, but were unable to finish the job and ended up having to dynamite what remained. Lastly, in addition to such measures they desperately tried to find and liquidate any surviving members of the Sonderkommando, right up to May 1945. ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) # Translation of inscriptions: - Fuge/Joint - Eigengewicht/Static weight - Winddruck/Wind pressure - Kippmoment/Turning moment This drawing is extracted from the first set of static calculations produced by the Huta engineer Dziubany, relating to items 1 to 25 of the original estimate. Despite the letter of 2nd August 1942 [Document 1] telling Huta not to concern themselves with the static calculations for the chimney, they nevertheless did carry out such a study in conjunction with Bauleitung drawing 1434. «Ernährung eines Schormotons am Krematorium/Construction of a chimney at the Krematorium», drawn on 3rd June 1942, though this did not stop Messrs Topf & Sons, responsible for the furnaces, from producing their own drawings. In the end the two identical chimneys of Krematorien II and III were built by Messrs Robert Koehler of Myslowitz. Despite all the calculations and the care taken with the actual building, serious problems were encountered with the chimney of Krematorien II as early as May-June 1943, and part of the lining even collapsed. After much discussion, which went on until mid-September 1943, between Kurt Prüfer, chief engineer at Topf, Robert Koehler and the Bauleitung, during which each listened the other for the defects, the three parties finally agreed that the cost of relating the Krematorium II chimney should be equally shared between them [PMO file BW 30/25, pages 11 and 12, Abonnement K16st nr. 3161/52-43 of 1189/43]. 314 ===== PDF PAGE 0307 | page-307.md ===== Document 1 [PMO file BW 30/30, page 22] # Zentral-Bauleitung der Waffen-SS und Polizei Auschwitz O.-E. Auschwitz, den General Auschwitz Nr. 46 Zentral Bipolewitz Nr. 22559 Bifach.-Nr.: 11149 Bei Rückentwurf Angabe des Aktienzeichens notwendig Betr.: Neubau des Kreatoriums Statistische Berechnung. Einschreiben Beug.: - . - Anlg.: Plan Nr. 936, 1173/74, 934, 986, 933, 1311, 932, 1301, 1341 An die "HUTA" Hoch- und Tiefbau Aktiengesellschaft Kattowitz Friedrichstraße 13 ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) In der Anlage werden die Pläne für den Neubau des Krematoriums möchte Erstellung der statischen Berechnung übersandt. Ausgenommen von der zu erstellenden stat. Be- rechnung ist der Schornstein samt Fundament, sowie die Ofsefundamente, welche von einer Spezialfirma berechnet werden. Die statische Berechnung ist in zweifacher Ausfer- tierung und mit den Prüfungsvermerke eines eingetragenen Prüfingenieurs versehen, den Beuferischritte entsprechend rechtzeitig vorzulegen. Die in der Anlage übersandten Pläne sind nach Wer- tigstellung der stat. Berechnung sofort zurückzureichen. Der Leiter der Zentralbauleitung der Waffen-SS und Polizei Auschwitz 9 Zeifen, an H. Zadore abgegeben 78.42 G imidazinal 9.00 m mit Tönig) und 44. Aug. 1 15 m für G. 78.42 Der Kollweg anliefert Bipole mit dem Kollweg 7 1904 Document 1 (Dossier P.M.O. BW 30/30, page 22) # Translation: Auschwitz Waffen SS and Police Auschwitz, 2nd August 1942 Central Construction Management Correspondence register no. 11349/42/Ja/Lp Quote ref in any reply Subject: Construction of the Krematorium Static calculations Register Reference: — Enclosure: Drawings 936, 1173/74, 934, 980, 933, 1311, 932, 1301, 1341 Meses «HUTA» Hoch- und Tiefbau Aktiengesellschaft Kattowitz 19 Friedrichstraße The enclosed drawings are sent for the purpose of producing the static calcula- tions. Not to be included in these stat. calculations are the chimney and its foundation, and the furnace foundations, which are to be calculated by a specialist firm. The static calculations are to be furnished in good time with respect to the progress of the work, in two copies and stamped by an authorized test engineer. The enclosed drawings are to be returned as soon as the static calculations have been completed. Head of the Auschwitz Waffen SS and Police Central Construction Management [signed Bischoff] [Initials of the Huta site superintendent at Auschwitz Stephan(?)] [Manuscript] 9 drawings given to Herr Zadore on 5/8/42 [initial] Depth of water table: 1.00 m with drainage ) According to information given « 1.50 m without « ) by phone by Janisch [initial] 5/8/42 Document 1 gives the numbers of the nine (1173/74 counts as a single drawing) Bauleitung drawings of the «Projected Krematorium» given to Herr Zadore (one of the Huta foremen working at Auschwitz), and which were supposed to be returned to the Bauleitung once the static calculations had been completed. In fact, Huta received four more drawings of the future Krematorium II - 935, 937, 1300 and 1341 - and the complete set of drawings was not returned to the Bauleitung until the end of July 1943 [Document 1bis]. Thus the initial drawings of the two main Birkenau Krematorien, II and III, spent ALMOST A YEAR «floating around» in a civilian firm whose employees were subject to no oath of secrecy of any sort and were free to talk outside. 315 ===== PDF PAGE 0308 | page-308.md ===== Document 1bis [PMO file BW 30:30, page 25 (microfilm 1255)] ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) Translation: | | Kattowitz, 21st July 1943 Za/Wi | | --- | --- | | Herr Site superintendent Stephan HUTA AG worksite Auschwitz | Techn. Registr. | | Subject: Krema. | | | As requested we are sending you drawings - 932, 933; 934, 935, 936, 937, 980, 1173, 1174, 1300, 1301, 1311, 1341, 1541 and also our drawings No. 7015/IV Sheet 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 and 11. | | | We would ask you to return the original drawings No. 7015/IV Sheet 3 and 5 after consultation. | | | | Heil Hitler! [initial] | | 24 drawings | | Document 2 [PMO file BW 30:25, page 15] | Waffen 44 Auschwitz Nr 7015 | | | | | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Datum | TB Nr Blatt | KB Nr | Bankerr | Bauteil | | | | | | | | | | Schalbrücke | | | | 13.2.42 | 89/4P | 7015 | Waffen 44 | Schalbrücke b. Auschwitz | | 13.2.42 | 89/4P | 7015 | " | " | | 5.3.42 | 89/4P | 7015 | " | " | | 6.3.42 | 89/4P | 7015 | " | " | | | | | | | | | | Krematorium | | | | 30.9.42 | 189/1 | 7015/IV | Waffen 44 | Übersichtsplan | | 30.9.42 | 189/2 | 7015/IV | " | Bew der Lecke über den Oberraum | | 30.9.42 | 189/3 | 7015/IV | " | Stelken über den Oberraum | | 1.10.42 | 189/4 | 7015/IV | " | Bew der Stelken in Hülse | | 20.10.42 | 189/5 | 7015/IV | " | Bew der Lecke über dem Keller | | 22.10.42 | 189/6 | 7015/IV | " | " | | 6.11.42 | 189/7 | 7015/IV | " | " | | 20.10.42 | 189/8 | 7015/IV | " | Lecke über dem Dranzenkoffloger | | 12.11.42 | 189/9 | 7015/IV | " | Lecke über dem Heierraum | | 13.11.42 | 189/10 | 7015/IV | " | Lecke über Kellterbrennungsraum | | 11.8.43 | 189/11 | 7015/IV | " | Krema | | 20.9.43 | 189/12 | 7015/IV | " | " | | 21.9.43 | 189/13 | 7015/IV | " | " | | 23.9.43 | 189/14 | 7015/IV | " | " | | 24.9.43 | 189/15 | 7015/IV | " | " | | 9.10.43 | 189/16 | 7015/IV | " | Krema z (3) | 316 ===== PDF PAGE 0309 | page-309.md ===== Translation Document 2 # Column headings: Datum/Date - TB Nr u[nd] Blatt/Technical service no. [?] and Sheet KB Nr/Workable no. [?] Bauher/Damer or prime contractor Bauteil/Component of construction Gez/Drawn [7] Entries concerning the Krematorium (the first four entries concern a bridge over the river Sola): | 30/9/42 | 109/1 | 7015/IV | Übersichtsplan/Overall plan | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 30/9/42 | 109/2 | 7015/IV | Bew[er]ung der Decke über den Ofenraum/ Reinforcement for ceiling over the furnace room | | 30/9/42 | 109/3 | 7015/IV | Balken über den Ofenraum/Beams over the furnace room | | 1/10/42 | 109/4 | 7015/IV | Bew. der Balken u. Stützen/Reinforcement for beams and supports | | 20/10/42 | 109/5 | 7015/IV | Bew. der Decke über dem Keller II/Reinforcement for the ceiling over Leichenkeller 2 | | 22/10/42 | 109/6 | 7015/IV | Bew. der Decke über dem Keller I/Reinforcement for the ceiling over Leichenkeller 1 | | 6/11/42 | 109/7 | 7015/IV | Bew. der Decke über dem Keller III/Reinforcement for the ceiling over Leichenkeller 3 | | 20/10/42 | 109/8 | 7015/IV | Decke über dem Brennstofflager/Ceiling over the fuel store | | 12/11/42 | 109/9 | 7015/IV | Decke über dem Sezierraum/Ceiling over the dissecting room | | 13/11/42 | 109/10 | 7015/IV | Decke über Müllverbrennungsraum/Ceiling over the waste incinerator room | | 1/3/43 | 109/11 | 7015/IV | Krema. [Deckenbalken u. Unterzug im Müll- verbrennungsraum/ Beams and supports in waste incinerator room | | 20/9/43 | 109/12 | 7015/IV | Krema. | | 21/9/43 | 109/13 | 7015/IV | Krema. | | 23/9/43 | 109/14 | 7015/IV | Krema. | | 24/9/43 | 109/15 | 7015/IV | Krema. | | 9/10/43 | 109/16 | 7015/IV | Krema. 2 (3)/Krematorien II (and III) | [The title and content of drawing 109/12 are unknown at present] Document 3 ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) Fragment of Bauleitung drawing 936 of the four elevations of Krematorium II, showing its identification block with written below it on the right the number «7015/IV» given to the Kr II worksite by Huta. The only Bauleitung drawings to have this number on them are 936 and 980. This identification actually written on the drawing is tangible confirmation of the correspondence regarding the supply of drawings to Huta. 317 ===== PDF PAGE 0310 | page-310.md ===== Document 4 [PMO file BW 30/30, page 1 (microfilm 1255)] ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) Document 4. Translation: [manuscript] Subj.: Krema 19th December 44 Jes/Wi To the Waffen SS and Police Central Construction Management Auschwitz Handed to SS Second Lieutenant Jothan[n] As agreed, we transfer to you 15 sheets of original drawings and prints to be used as you see fit. Heil Hitler! Huta Hoch- und Tiefbau A.-G. Niederlassung Kattowitz Heil Hitler! Huta Hoch- und Tiefbau A.-G. Niederlassung Kattowitz Encl.: Original drawings No. 109/1,2,3,4,5,6,7, 8,9,10,11,13+14 Prints: No. 109/15 and 16 # HUTA DRAWING 109/10 OF 13/11/42 [PMO Archives file BW 30/21, first drawing, neg. no. 20946/4] Betr.: Auschwitz Kr/Subject: Auschwitz Krematorium Decke über dem Müllverbrennungsraum/Ceiling over the waste incinerator room Scale 1:25 Projekt Nr. 7015/IV, Blatt Nr 10/Project no. 7015/IV, Sheet 10 Translation of inscriptions from top to bottom and left to right: - Unterzug I u. II/Beams I and 2 - Pos. 41 u. 42/Positions 41 and 42 [refers to the supplementary static calculations for Krematorium II of 12th November 1942 by Dziubany, a Huta employee (PMO BW 30/40)] - Bügel/Stirrup reinforcement - Schnitt a-a/Section a-a - Pos. 6,7,8,9 und für Unterzug II Pos. 42/Positions 6,7,8,9 and for beam II position 42 [refers to Huta static calculations of 29th August and 22nd October 1942 for: - the external walls of Leichenkeller 1 (pos. 6), - the reinforced concrete roof of Leichenkeller 2 (pos. 7), - the longitudinal beam above the supporting pillars of Leichenkeller 2 (pos. 8) - and the cross-beams perpendicular to the row of pillars of Leichenkeller 2 (pos. 9)] - Türstürz Pos. 16/Door lintel pos. 16 [BW 30/40] - Schnitt b-b/Section b-b Column headings: - Nr/No. - Anzahl/Number - Ø/Diameter - Länge/Length - Ges. Länge/Total length - Ges. Gewicht/Total weight This Huta drawing is of little interest except as an illustration of the degree of civilian participation in the design and construction of the Birkenau Krematorien. 318 ===== PDF PAGE 0311 | page-311.md ===== HUTA DRAWING 109/10 OF 13/11/42 ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) 319 ===== PDF PAGE 0312 | page-312.md ===== HUTA DRAWING 109/11 OF 1/3/43 ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) 320 ===== PDF PAGE 0313 | page-313.md ===== HUTA DRAWING 109/11 OF 1/3/43 [PMO Archives file BW 30/21, second drawing, neg. no. 20946/5] Betr.: Krema./Subject: Krematorium There is no title in the identification block, but the drawing is of: Deckenbalken im Müllverbrennungsraum/Roof beam in the waste incinerator room Unterzug im Müllverbrennungsraum/ Cross-beams in the waste incinerator room Scale 1:25 Projekt Nr. 7015/IV, Blatt Nr 11/Project no. 7015/IV, Sheet 11 Translation of inscriptions: See Huta drawing 109/10. 321 ===== PDF PAGE 0314 | page-314.md ===== # HUTA DRAWING 109/13A OF 21/9/43 [Regularization] [PMO Archives, file BW 30/19a, neg. no. 20922/10. File BW 30/18, neg. no. 20946/2, also contains a copy of this drawing, made after the war and bearing no date or reference] Bauherr: Waffen SS u. Polizei Auschwitz/Auschwitz Waffen SS and Police Krematorium 2 [II] There is no title, but the drawing is concerned with: Erdaushub/Excavation Technical no. 109, Sheet 13a Project no. 7015 Scales 1:50 [Leichenkeller cross-sections] and 1:200 [Krematorium] # Translation of inscriptions: - Grundriß/Plan - Schnitt a-a/Cross-section a-a [Leichenkeller 1] - Auffüllung/Earth bank - Isolierung 3 Lagig/Damp-proofing 3 layers [floor] - 2 lagig/2 layers [walls] - 1 lagig/1 layer [roof] - Schnitt b-b/Cross-section b-b [Leichenkeller 2] - Isolierung 1 Lagig/Damp-proofing 1 layer [roof] - 3 lagig/3 layers [walls and floor] Huta Sheet 13a shows details of the construction of Leichenkeller 1 and 2 and comparison with the cross-section of Leichenkeller 1 in Bauleitung drawing 934 (shown below the Huta drawing) reveals the main modification made: the thickening of the concrete floor. In addition, the upper ventilation duct was made of wood fixed to wooden battens attached to the ceiling. With a concrete floor, brick walls and a reinforced concrete roof covered with earth, wooden ventilation duct and bituminous felt damp-proofing, Leichenkeller 1 was certainly a composite structure, but it was very solid. Even on this regularization drawing, made long after Krematorium II was completed, neither the western nor the northern access stairways to Leichenkeller 2 are shown. ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) 322 ===== PDF PAGE 0315 | page-315.md ===== ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) 323 ===== PDF PAGE 0316 | page-316.md ===== # HUTA DRAWING 109/14A OF 21/9/43 [PMO Archives, file BW 30a/19, neg. no. 20922/11] Bauherr: Waffen SS u. Polizei Auschwitz/Auschwitz Waffen SS and Police Betr.: Krematorium 3/Subject: Krematorium 3 [III] Erdaushub/Excavation Technical no. 109, Sheet 14a Project no. 7015 Scales 1:50 [Leichenkeller cross-sections] and 1:200 [Krematorium] Huta Sheet 14a shows that the excavations for the Leichenkeller of Krematorium III had steeper sides than those of Kr II, which explains the difference in the surface dimensions. The length of the foundations of the annex wing is increased here from 12 metres for Kr II to 14 metres. The Huta cross-section of Leichenkeller 2 as compared with Bauleitung drawing 934 (above the Huta drawing) shows a thickening of the concrete floor and a strengthening of the roof. On this drawing it would appear that the cross-beams are no longer deeper at the ends, where they join the walls, thus interfering less with the air-extraction duct. But on Sheet 16a, a cross-section of Leichenkeller 2 shows that the cross-beams ARE still thickened at the ends... ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) # Translation of inscriptions: - Schnitt b-b/Cross-section b-b [Leichenkeller 2] - Grundriß/Plan view - Schnitt a-a/Cross-section a-a [Leichenkeller 1] 324 ===== PDF PAGE 0317 | page-317.md ===== ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) 325 ===== PDF PAGE 0318 | page-318.md ===== # HUTA DRAWING 109/15 OF 24/9/43 [PMO Archives file BW 30a17, reg. no. 20922/9] Bauherr: Waffen SS u. Polizei Auschwitz/Auschwitz Waffen SS and Police Betr.: Krematorium 2 (3)/Subject: Krematorium 2 (3) [II and III] Kellergeschoß u. Fundamente/Basement and foundations Technical no. 109, Sheet 15 Project no. 7015 Scale 1:100 # Translation of inscriptions: Kiesunterlager/Gravel fill Mullofen/Waste incinerator Schornstein/Chimney Bodenauffüllung/Earth banking Bemerkung/Note: Die in () Klammern eingegebenen [?] Zahlen beziehen sich auf Krema 3/The figures in round brackets refer to Krematorium III Huta drawing 109/15, concerning both Krematorien II and III, was based on Bauleitung drawing 932 as amended by 1311. None of the rooms are labelled. The dimensions are more legible than on 932 and the lower ventilation ducting of Leichenkeller 1 can be seen more clearly. 326 ===== PDF PAGE 0319 | page-319.md ===== ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) 327 ===== PDF PAGE 0320 | page-320.md ===== # HUTA DRAWING 109/16A OF 9/10/43 [Regularization] [PMO Archives file BW 30a/16, neg. no. 20922/8] Bauherr: Waffen SS u. Polizei Auschwitz/Auschwitz Waffen SS and Police Betr.: Krematorium 2 (3)/Subject: Krematorium 2 (3) [II and III] Erdgeschoß u. Schnitte/Ground floor and sections Technical no. 109, Sheet 16a Project no. 7015 Scale 1:100 # Translation of inscriptions: - Schnitt/Section - Querschnitt dd. Keller/Leichenkeller cross-sections # Inscriptions on the ground floor plan: - Im Keller Vollmauerwerk/Built into the basement wall brickwork [refers to the air extraction ducting for Leichenkeller 2] - Im Dachgeschoß/In the roof space [refers to the chimney containing the four air outlets of the Krematorium: Leichenkeller 2; dissecting and washing rooms; - furnace room; Leichenkeller 1] # Section 1-m: - Kellerdecke/Basement roof # Section i-k - Betonplatten/Concrete slabs - Decke über Erdgeschoß/Ceiling over ground floor # Underneath the Huta identification block: - Bemerkung/Note: - Die in () Klammern eingegebenen [?] Zahlen beziehen sich auf Krema 3/The figures in round brackets refer to Krematorium III Huta drawing 109/16a concerns both Krematorium II and III. In producing it, Huta used the following Bauleitung drawings: - Section a-b: 934; - Basement cross-sections: Leichenkeller 2 (above) and 1 (below): 934; - Section e-f: probably from Bauleitung drawing 1434, not found; - Section c-d: 1174, but with the floor thickness greatly increased; - Section g-h: 1173/1174, omitting the front elevation of the future Kr II; - Ground floor: 933, and 980 for the ventilation chimney; - Section i-k and l-m: drawn by Huta on the basis of the relevant Bauleitung drawings. They show the exact trace and dimensions of the Leichenkeller 1 ventilation duct. The original dissecting room has been divided in two by a thin partition wall to create a smaller dissection room and a laboratory. Huta drawing 109/16a contains no «criminal traces» but gives details of the ventilation system of Leichenkeller 1 (future gas chamber), in particular the fresh air duct. 328 ===== PDF PAGE 0321 | page-321.md ===== ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) 329 ===== PDF PAGE 0322 | page-322.md ===== Odpis. Obligatoria do zdjęć: 1./ Komora gazowa nowego krematorium - w czasie budowy 2./ Piece krematoryjne - w drugim i trzeciim krematorium 3./ Krematorium czwarte lub piąte 4./ -"- -"- -"- 5./ Piece krematoryjne - w drugim i trzeciim krematorium 6./ Materiał piecy krematoryjnych 7./ Krematorium II-gie lub III-cie w budowie 8./ Krematorium II lub III 9./ -"- -"- -"- 10./ Krematorium IV lub V 11./ Komora gazowa przy krematorium II lub III. 12./ Krematorium IV lub V 13./ Betonowanie stropu nad kosztą gazową kremat.II lub III 14./ -"- -"- -"- 15./ Kobiety przy pracy ziemnej 16./ detto /2 sztuki/ 17./ detto 18./ detto 19./ detto 20./ detto 21./ Kobiety przy pracy w kopalni żwiru 22./ Więźniarka przy pracy przy nowych blokach więziennych 23./ Więźniarki przy budowie szosy do krematorium IV i V 24./ detto 25./ Więźniarki przy budowie szosy od stacji do obozu 26./ detto 27./ Więźniarki przy pracach ziemnych 28./ detto 29./ SS-Sauptsturmführer Bischoff i ss-Untersturmführer ... 30./ Więźniarki przy budowie szosy 31./ Więźniarki przy budowie kanaku 32./ Więźniarki przy budowie szosy 33./ Więźniarki przy pracach ziemnych 34./ Widok na obóz środki w Brzezince 35./ Widok na obóz mąski w Brzezince 36./ detto 37./ detto 38./ Więźniowie przy kopaniu kanałów 39./ detto 40./ Więźniowie przy postacią wnętrzu w Bauhoffie 41./ Więźniowie przy budowie hali Kruppa 42./ detto 43./ detto 44./ Więźniowie przy pracy 45./ Fragment obozu w Brzezince wśród męczar 46./ detto 47./ Jedna z bram obozu 48./ Więźniowie przy pracy w obozie Brzezinka 49./ detto 50./ Więźniarki przy pracy ziemnej "Faulgaakommando" 51./ Więźniowie i więźniarki przy budowie nowych bloków więziennych 52./ Więźniowie przy kopaniu kanaku i delikozijnego centr.ogrzewania Z Joachim [Translation of page 31b of Volume 15 of the Hoss Trial, with the PMO negative number added afterwards in square brackets and an asterisk to indicate those concerning the Birkenau Krematorien:] 1. Gas chamber of the new Krematorium - under construction [286].* 2. Cremation furnaces - in the second or third Krematorium [287].* 3. Krematorium four or five [288].* 4. -»- -»- -»[289].* 5. Cremation furnaces - in the second or third Krematorium [290].* 6. Battery of cremation furnaces [291].* 7. Krematorium II or III under construction [292].* 8. Krematorium II or III [293].* 9. -»- -»- [294].* 10. Krematorium IV or V [295].* 11. Gas chamber near Krematorium II or III [296].* 12. Krematorium IV or V [297].* 13. Pouring the concrete roof over the gas chamber of Krematorium II or III [298].* 14. Pouring the concrete roof over the gas chamber of Krematorium II or III [299].* 15. Women working on site preparation [300]. 16. ditto / 2 photos / [301]. 17. ditto [302]. 18. ditto [303]. 19. ditto [304]. 20. ditto [305]. 21. Women working in a quarry, extracting gravel [306]. 22. Prisoner working on the foundations of a Block [307]. 23. Prisoners working on the road leading to Krematorien IV and V [308].* 24. ditto [309].* 25. Prisoners working on the road leading to the camp station [310]. 26. ditto [311]. 27. Prisoners working on site preparation [312]. 28. ditto (duplicate of 17 above) [302]. 29. SS Captain Bischoff and SS Second Lieutenant ... [in fact Dejaco] [313].* 30. Prisoners working on a road [314]. 31. Prisoners working on a drainage ditch [315]. 32. Prisoners working on a road [316]. 33. Prisoners working on site preparation [317]. 34. View of the women's camp at Birkenau [318]. 35. View of the men's camp at Birkenau [319]. 36. ditto [320]. 37. ditto [321]. 38. Prisoners digging a drainage ditch [322]. 39. ditto [322]. 40. Prisoners unloading wagons at the Bauhof [323]. 41. Prisoners working on the construction of the Krupp Hall [324]. 42. ditto [325]. 43. ditto [326]. 44. Prisoners at work [on the construction of Krematorium III] [327].* 45. Part of the Birkenau camp in the midst of the marshes [328]. 46. ditto [329]. 47. One of the doors of the camp [330]. 48. Prisoners at work in the Birkenau camp [331]. 49. ditto [332]. 50. Prisoners of the «Faulgaakommando» [sewer gas commando] at work [333]. 51. Men and women prisoners working on the construction of new accommodation Blocks [334]. 52. Prisoners digging a ditch for the district heating plant [335]. 330 ===== PDF PAGE 0323 | page-323.md ===== ## THE BAULEITUNG PHOTOGRAPHS OF KREMATORIEN II AND III All the photographs presented here were taken by the same man, SS Sergeant Kamann, but they come from two different sources: those «organized» by the former prisoner Lawin Ludwik and those found in the «Bauleitung Album», now held by the *Yad Vashem* in Jerusalem. Lawin Ludwik handed 52 photographs to the Polish judiciary and made the following first deposition, which appears of page 31 of Volume 15 of the Höss Trial: ### First deposition by Lawin Ludwik (summary made from the Polish original) During the war, the Polish prisoner Lawin Ludwik was employed in the little Zentralbauleitung [Auschwitz Waffen SS and Police - Central Construction Management] photographic laboratory. SS Unterscharführer Kamann, employed by this service and in charge of the laboratory, had a «Retina» [Kodak «Retina»?] camera and could take photographs in the camp to document the building work in progress. Ludwik noticed that among the developed rolls of film there were pictures of the buildings at Birkenau and realized that these photos could provide useful historical documentation on the camp. While the SS man was absent, he made some very small prints in the dark room. In this way he personally «organized» fifty three prints covering different periods at Auschwitz [main camp] and Birkenau. He then enclosed them in two metal capsules which were in turn put in a bottle which was buried in August 1944 near to the third Bauleitung barrack block [outside the main camp]. At 12 o'clock on 25th September 1946, Ludwik dug up the bottle in the presence of a member of the Auschwitz State Museum [a body different from the present one, whose role, from the spring of 1946, was to protect and preserve the premises with a view to organizing future exhibitions]. Tadeusz Mysłowski. The prints were in good condition and are listed below: This list in fact contains only fifty photographs, no. 28 being a duplicate of 17, and no. 39 having been forgotten. One of the missing photographs (since visible in the «Bauleitung Album», showing the south side of Krematorium II and classified by the PMO under reg. no. 20995/504) is to be found in the Archives of the Warsaw-Central Commission for research into *Historius cranei* in Poland. Ludwik's list includes fifteen photographs of Birkenau Krematorien II, III and IV, and three others showing the building of a section of the «Ringstraße/Ring road» passing between Krematorien IV and V. Ludwik subsequently completed his first deposition with a second, also to be found in Volume 15 of the Höss Trial: ### Second deposition by Lawin Ludwik (summary made from the Polish original) Ludwik testifies as follows: During the winter of 1941-42, SS Sergeant Kamann was worried about what was happening on the Eastern Front [7] At first, Kamann was employed on the gardens and the transport of horses, then he took over the little photographic laboratory belonging to the Bauleitung. Lawin Ludwik worked there for two months, then was replaced by a professional photographer, called Kubiak, but still retained some influence, because he could speak German and the new man could not. Ludwik and his fellow prisoner Kubiak decided that they should «organize» some copies of the photographs, simply by making contact prints [underlined by the author: this simple process explains the small size of the prints and the poor quality of the enlargements made after the war]. Two sets of prints were produced in this way. The first set was given to a certain Dubiel, but it is not known whether this prisoner survived or not. This set was buried in Höss [the Camp Commandant] garden, because Dubiel was a gardner there. It was put in a sealed tube, but there was an accident and the tube was broken and the contents were taken by another prisoner. The second set was also buried. This second set was dug up near the Bauleitung barracks. These photos were then enlarged and used as iron interesting evidence. Some of them had been exhibited on the walls of the Bauleitung building and appeared in several Albums of photographs which were given as presents to various high-ranking SS visitors. This second deposition by Ludwik, which differs from the first in that he no longer claims to have acted alone in «organizing» the prints, gives two pieces of information that were subsequently corroborated: 1. The exhibition on the walls of the Bauleitung of photographs showing its achievements in the field of cremation facilities; 2. The production of several Albums of photographs of the buildings erected in the Auschwitz area, which were given as souvenirs to high-ranking SS visitors, no doubt to show off the «good work» being done by the members of the Bauleitung. The first point was confirmed by SS Corporal Pery Broad of the Political Section of the camp in his affidavit of 20th October 1947, Document NI 11984 [Paris CDJC reference CLXVI-37]. Here is the seventh paragraph, translated from the German: 7. About January 1944, a panel carrying about 30 photographs was hung in the vestibule of the Auschwitz Waffen SS and Police Central Construction Management offices. These photos showed the different phases of construction of the Birkenau Krematorien. Among others, there were views of long lines of cremation furnaces. On one which I can remember exactly, there was a row of 15 furnaces [actually the 15 muffles of the five three-muffle furnaces of Krematorium II]. It was obvious that more than one copies at a time could be burned in a single furnace [muffle]. As I heard later, it was 5 to 7 copies [actually 2 or 3] that were burned at a time. I would say these photographs were on show for about a week, during which time they were seen by many civilians from the construction firms dealing with the Bauleitung. I would imagine that the sight of so many cremation furnaces would convince any visitor that Auschwitz was an extermination camp. Although epidemics had broken out sporadically, they were limited in duration and such great expenditure, so carefully planned, had never been made for them. After about a week the photos were removed by order of the Camp Commandant, because going on like this would have compromised the secrecy. Broad's account gives an idea of the number of photographs that had been taken of the four Krematorien, «about thirty». The second point was confirmed quite recently, at the beginning of 1982, when the Auschwitz Museum received from the Yad Vashem in Jerusalem a copy of an Album containing 397 photographs, which they had just bought from a German in Berlin, who had himself negotiated it just after the war from a Russian officer who had spent some time at Auschwitz. This Album, since known as the «Bauleitung Album», shows all the buildings constructed by the Bauleitung in the Auschwitz region. There are nineteen photos that concern the Birkenau Krematorien. The are grouped together in four sheets: one introductory with one photograph and the legend «Krematorien KGL», two sheets each with six photos and one with six remaining out of the original eight, two having been torn out, and one of which is a duplicate of that on the introductory sheet. The Bauleitung Album contains eighteen photos of the four Birkenau Krematorien, eight of which appear on Ludwik's list, while ten are new. In addition, the Bauleitung Album contains a photo of the south side of Krematorium II, furnaces working, under the heading «Prov. Enklütentlage im KGL/Provisional earth purification basins in the POW camp», while under the heading «Entwesungsanlage mit Effektenbaracken im KGL/Disinfestation facility and effects barracks in the POW camp» [known as the «Zentral Sauna»] a view of the southwest corners of the gas chambers of Krematorien IV and V can be obtained by enlarging a photo of the foundations. In all, we now possess 15 + 10 + 2 = 27 different photos of the four Birkenau Krematorien and 3 of the building of the road between Kr IV and V (of no great interest except for the location, and, on two of them, the presence of Bischoff and Dejaco). Of Broad's «about thirty» photos, twenty-five have been found. The arrangement of the prints on the pages of the Bauleitung Album, which are in the order in which they were taken, makes it possible to say that in fact ONLY ONE photo of the Krematorien is missing. This would be a view of the northwest corner of Krematorium II at the time it was officially handed over by the Bauleitung to the camp authorities. The following sheets contain the nineteen known photos of Krematorien II and III, arranged chronologically from late summer 1942 to summer 1943, supplemented by two prints from Serge Klarsfeld’s «Auschwitz Album» taken during the extermination of the Hungarian Jews in May/June 1944. The Leichenkeller of Krematorien II and III were excavated and built right at the beginning of the work in order to get them damp-proofed before the winter. This was managed just in time, but the roofs were not prepared and concreted until January 1943 for Krematorien II and later for Krematorium III. In the meantime a temporary roof was installed over the incomplete Leichenkeller 2 of Krematorium III, so that work could continue without being interrupted by rain or snow falls. This temporary roof did not cover the whole Leichenkeller, however, and it had to be dried out when completed. \*\*\* 331 ===== PDF PAGE 0324 | page-324.md ===== ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) Photo 1: [PMO neg. no. 294, Ludwik series] View of the east end and north side of Krematorium II, Birkenau worksite «BW 30», probably taken in the second half of October 1942. The ground floor and ceiling of the main building are two thirds completed. The chimney is completed, but still has its scaffolding. The external walls of the waste incinerator room are completed, but it has no ceiling yet. In the right hand background is Leichenkeller 2 (future undressing room) also under construction. There is no sign of an access stairway in its northwest corner. ![img-1.jpeg](img-1.jpeg) Photo 2: [PMO neg. no. 296, Ludwik series] View of Leichenkeller 2 and the north wing, the waste incinerator room, with the collective chimney of Krematorium II, taken a few minutes after Photo 1, hence also probably taken in the second half of October 1942. In the foreground is the shell of Leichenkeller 2 in the course of being damp-proofed by a coat of bitumen. Half of the north wall has just been treated. Another brick wall about 20 cm thick is to be built inside this damp-proof layer. The (temporary) floor of Leichenkeller 2 slopes gently up towards the western end of the main building which is not yet built. Narrow gauge rails (not visible here, but appearing on Photo 3) will later be laid to facilitate the transport of materials to the Leichenkeller. 332 ===== PDF PAGE 0325 | page-325.md ===== ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) ![img-1.jpeg](img-1.jpeg) Photo 3: [PMO neg. no. 286, Ludwik series] Southeast/northwest view of Leichenkeller 2 of Krematorium III, Birkenau worksite »BW 30a«, probably taken on the same day as Photos 1 and 2 in the second half of October 1942. ![img-2.jpeg](img-2.jpeg) The bituminous damp proofing is being applied as in the Krematorium II Leichenkeller 2, but the south wall is not completed while the north wall is. Visible in the bottom right of the picture are the narrow gauge rails running from the future furnace room to the bottom of the excavation, towards which an SS man is proceeding. No western access stairway has been allowed for. It will not be built until March/April 1943. The trees in the background, still there today, make it possible to identify this as being Krematorium III. The small hut under the trees is present on other photos and enables them to be situated with certainty. In the publication «KL Auschwitz. Photographic documents» (Warsaw 1980), this photo, no. 61 in the book, has a caption that is wrong on two counts: »Birkenau. Prisoners working on the construction of the gas chamber of Krematorium IV or V (Photo SS Kamann 1942)«. Any historical research based on such interpretation is doubly useless. Furthermore, this kind of error can only confuse the visitor who is trying to understand. Photo 4: [PMO neg. no. 290, Ludwik series] Southwest/northeast view of the almost completed furnace room of Krematorium II in the first half of January 1943. From left to right: furnaces 1, 2, 3 and 4 [the near end of S is visible on an identical photograph held in the Archives of the STATINI ZIDOVSKIE MUZIKEM V. PRAZE/State Jewish Museum of Prague, Osvatim/Oswiecim Section, reg. no. 24,754 (right)] It is possible to distinguish between the furnace rooms of Krematorium II and III, absolutely identical, but mirror images, thanks to the position of the sun, which can shine into the furnace front (corpus charging) side of the furnace room of Krematorium II only, through the double windows of its southern façade. A comparison of the two prints shows that the PMO version has been retouched to emphasize the dark (bluesite) stripes on the »roben« uniforms of the prisoners on the left and, for some unknown reason, to streak the pools of sunlight. In the bottom right hand corner are the rails laid temporarily to facilitate the transport of materials to Leichenkeller 2. They were removed shortly after the photograph was taken. Photo 4a 333 ===== PDF PAGE 0326 | page-326.md ===== ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) Photo 5: [PMO neg. no. 287 Ludwik series, and 20995/495 Kamann series] East-west view of the furnace room of Krematorium II taken on the same occasion as Photo 4, in the first half of January 1943. From right to left: the three-muffle furnaces 4, 3, 2 and 1. The openings below the muffle doors were to collect human ashes. The four small flaps on each furnace, two at each end of the set of three doors, were used to regulate the draught. For this picture, Kamann had all the doors closed that were open on the previous-seat, except for the centre door of furnace 1 (far end). In the foreground, the shallow slope of the narrow gauge rails running down to Leichenkeller 2 can clearly be seen. After the rails were removed, the floor was concreted. ![img-1.jpeg](img-1.jpeg) Photo 6: [PMO neg. no. 291, Ludwill series] The incineration capacity of the five three-muffle furnaces of one Krematorium of type II/III was established in 1945-46 by the technical «expert» engaged by the two Commissions (first Soviet, then Polish, Professor Dawidowski), in line with the accounts of former Sonderkommando men, as being 2,500 corpses a day, which they claimed could be pushed up to as many as 5,000. These fables, such as the incineration capacity being 18,000 a day and capable of peaks of 24,000, the maximum gassing capacity of the extermination instruments being estimated at 60,000 to 24 hours and the total number of victims being 4 million, are now recognized as being «emotional» figures, bearing no relation to reality and resulting from the shock of unbelievable events that were still very close in time. Messrs Topf & Sons, who had supplied the three-muffle furnaces, claimed that a battery of five would have a normal «productivity» of 720 corpses in 24 hours. Their designer, the Topf chief engineer Kurt Prüfer, estimated that the actual yield of his three-muffle furnaces had exceeded his expectations by one third, reaching almost one thousand cremations a day for a type II/III Krematorium. The figure of 1,440 for Krematorium II or III officially communicated by the Auschwitz SS to their superiors at the end of June 1943 is a purely administrative figure, obtained by calculation. In the non-criminal plans for this type of Krematorium, formulated at the end of December 1941, the cremation rate was to be 60 corpses per hour, so once the installation was completed the capacity must be 60 x 24 hours = 1,440 per day. It was unthinkable to admit that the actual result was less than this, and indeed any lesser figure might be interpreted as sabotage. This rate of cremation, over one third higher than Prüfer's figure, was based on absolutely flat out working 24 hours a day. Even if it was attainable in practice it could not be maintained for long without causing damage to the installation an necessitating a shut down for repairs. The Buchenwald concentration camp had two three-muffle furnaces of the same model as the ten in Birkenau. At the Liberation, those at Birkenau no longer existed, having been dismantled in December 1944, while those at Buchenwald were intact. To this day, there has never been a comparative study of this type of furnace to find out what the actual throughput was. Despite this lack, the present state of knowledge makes it reasonable to say that the daily throughput of Krematorium II or III would have been in the order of 1,000 corpses, whereas the official publications indicate a minimum of 1,440 (based on the SS letter of 26th June 1943), a figure already considerably inflated (by well over a third), and a maximum of 5,000, a figure which is technically impossible and is simply a reflection of the emotional context of the immediate post Liberation period. West-east view of the Krematorium II furnace room taken towards the end of January 1943, probably on the 25th or 26th, when the furnaces were being warmed through before the inspection on 25th January by representatives of Topf & Sons, the manufacturers, and members of the Bauleitung, the customer. According to Pery Broad, this photo already had a certain form at the time. From left to right: three-muffle furnaces 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5. The rectangular holes in the ceiling in front of each furnace were for ventilation. The three sets of 40 cm gauge rails set in the floor perpendicular to each furnace were for corpse charging trolleys identical to those used in Krematorium I. Bottom right is part of the low trolley carrying the turntable used to position the charging trolley on the rails before the desired muffle. This mobile turntable moved on two angle irons about 90 cm apart set into the concrete floor running at right angles in the other sets of rails and thus linking them. The charging trolleys were subsequently abandoned in favour of the simple and easier to use «corpse stretcher». Despite the fact that they were of no use, the fifteen sets of rails were left in place (and can still be seen today). On the other hand the turntable rails running the length of the room were removed and the space was converted into a shallow concrete trough that was filled with water so that bodies could be easily slid along it from the corpse lift to the furnaces. At the far end of the furnace room is the door to the corridor leading to the Cape's room, the furnace irons store, the WC and shower and the prisoners' soccosets. The stairs to the roof space are just beyond the entrance to the corridor, on the left. The electricity supply was already installed, but the lamps do not seem to be in place yet. 334 ===== PDF PAGE 0327 | page-327.md ===== ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) Photo 7: [PMO neg. no. 20995/505, Kamann series] View of the east end and north side of Krematorium II, taken between 20th and 22nd January 1943. On the east end of the main building, front left to right, are the double windows of the prisoners' rest room, in which Dr Miklos Nyiszli and his assistants lived in the summer of 1944, the single window of the fuel store and its double door. The last of the three dormer windows has not yet been tiled. The area around the collective chimney and the angle between the east and north sides of the roof of the waste incinerator room also still have to be tiled. The north side of the chimney has a metal inspection ladder built on it. The four lightning conductors are in place in the centre of each side of the chimney. There is no snow on the roof as from the third dormer window, for the reasons given in the comments on Photo 8 below. ![img-1.jpeg](img-1.jpeg) Photo 8 [PMO neg. no. 20995/506, Kamann series] View of the south side of Krematorium II, with in front of it Leichenkeller 1 (the future gas chamber), taken on a southwest/northeast line on the same day as Photo 7, i.e. between 20th and 22nd January 1943. On the extreme left, two workmen are tiling the roof. Kamann photographed only the part of the building where the tiling was nearly finished. The dormer windows are in place, their ridges waiting to be tiled. The fresh air intake chimney for Leichenkeller 1 is completed and the collective chimney containing the air extraction ducts for Leichenkeller 2, the washing room and laboratory, the furnace room and Leichenkeller 1 is under construction. Furnaces 1, 2, 3 and 4 (but not 5) are being warmed through to dry them out, as can be seen by the fact that there is no snow on the central part of the roof. In the right foreground, the structure of Leichenkeller 1 is complete, including the roof. The chimneys through which the Zyclon-B was poured were installed later and the roof was covered with an earth bank. 335 ===== PDF PAGE 0328 | page-328.md ===== ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) Photo 9 [PMO neg. no. 327, Ludwik series and 20995/492, Kamann series] View of the central part of Krematorium III, Birkenau worksite «BW 30a», on a southeast/northwest line, taken between 20th and 22nd January 1943. From left to right: the collective chimney for all the furnaces at a height of about 8 metres, about half its final height; covered by snow, the temporary roof protecting Leichenkeller 2 (the future undressing room); in the centre, the western end of the northern ground floor wall; lastly, on the right, the southern wall under construction. At its base, the collective chimney had three openings to which the underfloor furnace flues led (the one visible here is for the flues from cremation furnace 5 and the waste incinerator), and which were subsequently covered over. Higher up, there were three rectangular openings (one is visible here) connected with the (suction type) forced-draught system, which was never actually installed in Krematorium III because of the problems encountered with it in Kr II. This photo is incorrectly presented in Auschwitz Museum publications as showing «Prisoners employed on the construction of IG Farbenindustrie premises». ![img-1.jpeg](img-1.jpeg) Photo 10 [PMO neg. no. 20995/490, Kamann series] View looking west/east of the central part (future furnace room) of Krematorium III (BW 30a) under construction, taken the same day as Photo 9, hence between 20th and 22nd January 1943. Bottom left is the snow-covered temporary roof protecting Leichenkeller 2. Above this is the north wall of the building, with at the far end, visible almost as dotted lines, the places where the ends of the partition walls of the rooms of the northeast part of the building are to fit. The east wall is under construction, as is the chimney, which has reached about half of its final height of 16 metres. A few days later, Kamann climbed to the first stage of the chimney scaffolding to photograph the temporary roof of Leichenkeller 2 [Photo 12 below]. 336 ===== PDF PAGE 0329 | page-329.md ===== ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) Photo 11. [PMO neg. no. 20995/491, Kamann series] View looking southwest/northeast of the collective chimney of Krematorium III, taken a few days later than Photos 9 and 10, probably on 25th or 26th January. The chimney does not seem to have increased in height, but is still about 8 metres. Perfectly visible on the near side of the chimney are the opening for the flues from furnaces 1 and 2 at the base and that for the forced draught system, never to be used, above. This type of scaffolding is still used today in Poland, where standard easily erected steel scaffold is in short supply. ![img-1.jpeg](img-1.jpeg) Photo 12. [PMO neg. no. 299, Ludwik series and 20995/493, Kamann series] East/west view of the temporary roof of Leichenkeller 2 (the future undressing room) of Krematorium III, probably taken on 25th or 26th January 1943 (Kamann took this picture from the first stage of the chimney scaffolding). From left to right: some of the wooden scaffolding; the temporary roof of Leichenkeller 2, with the northeast corner slightly sagging; the small hut in the trees confirming the identification of Krematorium III; the wooden formwork for the first two supporting pillars of the furnace room with their bases, ready for the concrete to be poured; lastly, on the right, the western end of the north wall. This photo proves that at the end of January 1943, the main access stairway to the future undressing room was not yet started. In fact, since the temporary roof did not cover the whole of Leichenkeller 2, the southwest corner where it was to be located can clearly be seen (greyish triangle, centre left). No space has been left or made in the west wall, which is complete as in Photo 3 (incorrect identification of the photographs prevents this type of research or observation and means that the progressive changes made in Krematorium II and III are unknown or denied). Between the north wall and the furnace room pillars are the rails running between the furnace room and Leichenkeller 2, partly snow covered, implying they are no longer used. 337 ===== PDF PAGE 0330 | page-330.md ===== ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) Photo 13: [PMO neg. no. 293, Ludwik series and 20995/497, Kamann series] View of the west end (right) and north side of Krematorium II, probably taken on 25th or 26th January 1943. The tiling of the roof on the western part has just been completed, but some still remains to be done on the north wing (waste incinerator room). The ventilation chimneys are completed, but they were to be made higher at a later date. The furnaces do not appear to be fired. ![img-1.jpeg](img-1.jpeg) Photo 14: [PMO neg. no. 298, Ludwik series and 20995/498, Kamann series] View of the western end of Krematorium II, taken shortly before Photo 13, dated 25th or 26th January 1943. It shows the snow being cleared from the roof of Leichenkeller 2 (the future undressing room) before the pouring of the final layer of concrete. The damp-proofing of Leichenkeller 2 had already been completed. On either side of the ladder leaning on the west wall [also visible on Photo 13], are the double windows of the laboratory where Dr Miklos Nyiszli and other doctor prisoners performed autopsies for Dr Mengele. This picture is often presented in Auschwitz Museum publications as being the roof of the gas chamber (Leichenkeller 1) of Krematorium III, a doubly incorrect identification. 338 ===== PDF PAGE 0331 | page-331.md ===== ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) Photo 15: [PMO neg. no. 20995/494, Kamann series] East/west view of the furnace room ceiling of Krematorium III (BW 30a), taken as concreting was in progress, probably between 9th and 11th February 1943. On the left is part of the wooden scaffolding for the chimney. In the background the group of trees makes it possible to identify the building as being definitely Krematorium III. The scene is the top of the furnace room ceiling, which was to become the floor of the roof space, where about one hundred Sonderkommando men working in Krematorium III were housed in the summer of 1944. In front of the chimney there is a portable conveyor belt used to carry materials up from the ground. It is also visible of Photo 16. The concreting in progress is typical of the way work was done on Krematorium II and III: first in the nature and composition of the gang, a mixture of prisoners and civilian workers (probably Huta employees) in the proportion of about two to one, and in the allocation of the work, the prisoners being labourers while the civilians are supervisors or do the more skilled jobs. The prisoners here seem relatively well-shod and dressed (wearing mittens and ear coverings). No SS man is present, except for Kamann behind the camera. ![img-1.jpeg](img-1.jpeg) Photo 16: [PMO neg. no. 292, Ludwik series] Southwest/northeast view of the west end and south side of Krematorium III, taken just before or just after Photo 15, probably between 9th and 11th February 1943. The chimney is completed. On the furnace room ceiling, partly hidden by the chimney, the mixed group of prisoners and civilians seen on Photo 15 is at work. Beyond the chimney is the mobile conveyor belt. The poor quality of this print as compared with Photo 15 is due to its being an enlargement of one of the clandestine contact prints made by Ludwik. David Olere, a former Sonderkommando member, reproduced this stage of the construction of Krematorium III very exactly from memory in 1945 or 1946, but looking southeast/northwest. 339 ===== PDF PAGE 0332 | page-332.md ===== ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) Photo 17 Photo 17 and 17a : [PMO neg. no. 20995/494, Kamann series. This photo is also in the Archives of the Warsaw Central Commission for research into Hitlerian crimes in Poland, but as it was never identified or communicated to the Auschwitz Museum, it remained unexploited until it was rediscovered in the Bauleitung Album.] South/north view of the greater part of the south side of Krematorium II and its Leichenkeller 1 (gas chamber), not yet covered with earth, taken on the same day as Photos 15 and 16, probably between 9th and 11th February 1943. Photo 17a, with the explanatory inscriptions by the author, is taken from the «Auschwitz Album» (Editions du Seuil, page 211). This photo provides the following information: - The height of the ventilation chimneys of Krematorium II has been increased above that of Photo 13. - The furnaces had not yet been working at full capacity because there are no soot stains on the collective chimney; - Leichenkeller 1 has only 3 of the 4 openings for pouring Zyclon-B with which it was finally fitted. Rising about 55 or 60 cm above the roof, they were later covered to a depth of about 45 cm with gravel and earth, so that only 10 to 15 cm remained visible. This would explain why they did not stand out much when the grass grew and why they are so indistinct on the next Photo, though this seems to be in contradiction with aerial photos taken by the Americans in 1944 which show them to be higher. [The latest interpretation of these openings by Robert Faurisson should be mentioned: they are simply ventilation chimneys. In that case what was wrong with the ventilation and air extraction system installed in Leichenkeller 1? What is more, he does not take into account that the SS designated them in writing as «wire mesh introduction devices» closed by «wooden lids»... What ventilation can there be if they are closed by lids?] In the foreground is a narrow-gauge locomotive belonging to Messrs Carl Brandt of Magdeburg, for which an order for the repair of a condensation valve has been found in the correspondence concerning the construction of Krematorien II and III. This firm worked at Birkenau on the drainage and sewerage ditches and the laying of narrow-gauge railways to facilitate the transport of the materials required for enlarging the camp (for example, work on B.A.III, according to Brandt drawing 6158 of 15.3.43). ![img-1.jpeg](img-1.jpeg) Photo 17a # Translation of inscriptions: - Façade sud du Krematorium II ou BW 30/South side of Kr II or BW 30 - en janvier 1943 (livré en état de marche par la Bauleitung le 31 mars 1943/in January 1943 (handed over in working order by the Bauleitung on 31st March 1943) - Vestiaire ou Leichenkeller 2 du Kr II/Undressing room or Leichenkeller 2 of Kr II - Cheminée collective du Kr III en construction/Collective chimney of Kr III under construction - Krematorium III - Cheminées des ventilations/Ventilation chimneys - Cheminée collective du Kr II (sans sauc)/Collective chimney of Kr II (with no soot stains) - 3 ouvertures de versement du Zyclon-B/3 openings for pouring Zyclon-B - Chambre à gaz ou Leichenkeller 1 du Kr II/Gas chamber or Leichenkeller 1 of Kr II - Inscription «Carl Brandt» 340 ===== PDF PAGE 0333 | page-333.md ===== ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) ![img-1.jpeg](img-1.jpeg) Photos 17 bis Photos 17 bis and 17 bis a: [PMO neg. no. 20995/460, Kamann series. A «Bauleitung Album» photograph, appearing not under the heading «Krematorium», but under «Prov. Erdkläranlage im KGL/Provisional earth basin sewage plant in POW camp».] South/north view of the greater part of the south side of Krematorium II, probably taken in summer 1943. As there has never been any camouflage around Krematorium II and III, except in the imagination of traditional historians, when Kamann photographed «Kläranlage I/Sewage treatment plant I», he necessarily also photographed Krematorium II with its semi-basement gas chamber, given the proximity of the building to the decantation basins. The Krematorium had already been at work, as we can see by the soot at the top of the chimney. On the left, on the roof ridge, is part of the collective air outlet chimney, now twice as high as on Photo 13. Just below the 7th double window of the furnace room is the gas chamber with its Zyclon-B introduction chimneys scarcely visible. Under the 1st and 2nd windows, surrounded by a low wall, is the small yard where the ashes of the victims were thrown before being dumped in the Vistula or the Sola. As compared with the inventory drawings of Krematorium II, an unplanned chimney has appeared for the heating stove of the room known as the Capo's room, but which was in fact used by the SS. The tops of the windows of the Capo's room and the adjoining furnace iron store bear the traces of a recent fire. Photo 17 bis a is taken from the «Album d'Auschwitz», already cited, with inscriptions by the author. Photo 17 bis a # Translation of inscriptions: Façade sud du Krematorium II ou BW 30/South side of Kr II or BW 30 - vue de la Kläranlage I ou station d'épuration I probablement à l'été 1943/Seen from Kläranlage I or sewage treatment plant I probably in summer 1943 - Cheminée des ventilations/Ventilation chimney - Orifices de versement du Zyclon-B/Openings for pouring Zyclon-B - Chambre à gaz souterraine/Underground gas chamber - Cheminée collective du Kr II avec suie/Collective chimney of Kr II with soot stains - 1 à 7: les 7 fenêtres doubles de la salle des 5 fours à 3 creusets/1 to 7: the 7 double windows of the room with the 5 3-muffle furnaces - Cheminée ajoutée (chauffage piece du capo)/Added chimney (heating for capo's room) - Piece du capo (en fait des SS) avec traces d'une incendie/Capo's room (in fact used by the SS) with traces of a fire - Piece des apparéillages (ringards, etc.)/Furnace irons store - Oeils de boeuf des WC-douches/Bull's-eye windows of WC-shower room - Piece des medecins légistes détenus (Dr Nyiszli pendant l'été 1944)/ Prisoner dissectionists' room (Dr Nyiszli during summer 1944) - Rampe/The ramp - Kläranlage I ou station d'épuration I/Käranlage I or sewage treatment plant I 341 ===== PDF PAGE 0334 | page-334.md ===== ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) ![img-1.jpeg](img-1.jpeg) Photo 18: [PMO neg. no. 20995/507, Kamann series] View of the western end and south side of Krematorium III, BW 30a, at the time of its official handling over to the camp administration by the Bauleitung on 25th June 1943. This photo, with explanatory inscriptions by the author, was published in the «Auschwitz Album» (Editions du Seuil, page 215). The four Zyclon-B introduction chimneys, located on alternate sides of the roof (unlike Kermatorium II, where they are in a straight line down the centre), are almost impossible to distinguish, despite the excellent quality of the print. In the foreground, in front of the barbed wire fence surrounding Kermatorium III, is the extension of the no. 1 railway track, going past the ramp, which was used for shunting operations. 342 ===== PDF PAGE 0335 | page-335.md ===== ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) Photo 20 ![img-1.jpeg](img-1.jpeg) Photo 19 Photos 19 (upper right) and 20 (upper left): [These photos are from Serge Klarsfeld's «Auschwitz Album» where Photo 19 is numbered 128 and Photo 20 is 141] or 145, the two being identical except for the amount of background shown. 141 has been chosen here precisely for the depth of background. The two pictures, classified under the heading «Nicht mehr einsatzfähige Frauen u. Kinder/Women and children not capable of being employed», were taken one after the other, fixing the two groups between Krematorium II and III (the eastern part of the latter being visible on Photo 19), the SS photographer having his back to the south, a few metres away from the barbed wire fence surrounding Krematorium II, the gate to which is just on his left. To show the true locations of the two prints with respect to their backgrounds, they should have a space of about 15 cm between them. These are the last pictures taken of people about to enter Krematorium II. The photographer did not take pictures in the Krematorium grounds or inside the building itself. His visual report was concerned with those about to be exterminated, not the technique employed, which was known to all the SS. Given this gap in the photographic evidence (whatever the reason for it) Robert Faurisson explains that these people are simply «passing by» on their way to the Zentral Sauna to be medically examined, shorn, deloused and showered, before being integrated into the camp or transferred «elsewhere». He thus implies that their presence between the two Krematorien is simply a consequence of the route taken, and is thus perfectly normal if not commonplace. Admittedly, on many «Auschwitz Album» photographs, the SS photographer made people stop and sometimes turn completely round for the sake of the picture, but frequently one or more of the group did not obey (through fatigue, incomprehension, or deliberately) and remained facing where they were going when the photo was taken. In the «Auschwitz Album», photo 142, taken before the two presented here, shows women and children walking, not on the «Hauptstraße/Main road», but leaving it to go off at an angle towards the grounds of Krematorium II. The women and children on Photo 19 [128] are not «passing by», they are stopped, their bodies facing west and their heads turned to the south, to watch the photographer. These on Photo 20 [141] have their bodies almost facing the entrance to Krematorium II, situated in the extension of the path leading from the gate of Krematorium III (visible in the right hand background). They too have their heads turned to watch the photographer. The some 35 women and their children on these two photographs have only about two hours to live. 343 ===== PDF PAGE 0336 | page-336.md ===== ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) Photo 21: [PMO neg. no. 826] Sketch of Krematorium II hard at work. Northwest/southeast view, drawn in 1945 by a member of the Soviet Commission and based on the Bauleitung project drawings 936 and 937 of 15/1/42. As it was based on early drawings and not the inventory drawing 2197 of 19.3.43, it contains a number of inaccuracies: 1. No enclosed yard behind the waste incinerator wing; 2. No ventilation or air extraction chimneys; 3. No northern access stairway to the basement; 4. No wall extending the north wall to prevent earth from the bank on the roof of Leichenkeller 2 sliding into the above stairway; 5. The shadows on the building are doubly incorrect, as shown in the sketch, the west end seems to be in the north and the north wing in the east, in fact corresponding to the location originally planned in the Auschwitz main camp. But even for the original location, the angles of the shadows are incorrect, placing the conventional south too far east! ![img-1.jpeg](img-1.jpeg) Photo 22: [PMO neg. no. 827] Cut-away drawing of Krematorium II, looking southwest/northeast, probably produced in 1945 by a member of the Soviet Commission and subsequently labelled in Polish. # Translation of inscriptions: - WCHOD/Entrance - ROZBIERALNIA/Undressing room - KOMORA GAZOWA/Gas chamber - WSYP TRUCIZNY/Pouring of poison - PIECE/Furnace This drawing also unfortunately contains several errors which were subsequently reproduced in the plaster models now exhibited by the Auschwitz Museum on the first floor of Block 4, the «Extermination» section: - The western access stairway to Leichenkeller 2 should be further north; - The openings for pouring Zyclon-B were not staggered as shown here (and as in Krematorium III), but were in a straight line, between the central pillars supporting the roof of Leichenkeller 1; - Between the WC/shower room of the laboratory (which had only one door, not two as shown here), were the corpse washing room and the lift, forgotten here. The model of Krematorium II visible in Block 4 is based on this first representation of the functioning of a Krematorium. 344 ===== PDF PAGE 0337 | page-337.md ===== # THE PLASTER MODEL OF KREMATORIUM II EXHIBITED ON THE FIRST FLOOR OF BLOCK 4, «EXTERMINATION» SECTION ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) Photo 25 Northeast/northwest view of the north side, with in the centre the enclosed yard where the «waste» from the convoys (personal papers and other effects of no value to the SS) was stored awaiting incineration. In summer 1944, this yard was covered with a lean-to roof supported by the east side of the annex roof in order to protect the waste from the rain. ![img-1.jpeg](img-1.jpeg) Photo 23 ![img-2.jpeg](img-2.jpeg) Photo 27 View of the west end and north side. On the right is Leichenkeller 2 and in the background, 3 of the 4 Zyclon-B introduction chimneys in the roof of Leichenkeller 1 can be seen. These are staggered on the model, an error due to not having known about the American aerial photographs. The ventilation and air extraction chimneys on the roof edge are modelled on Photo 13 (before they were built higher) [PMO neg. no. 293] ![img-3.jpeg](img-3.jpeg) Photo 26: View of the north wing containing the waste incinerator and the collective chimney with its three flues. ![img-4.jpeg](img-4.jpeg) Photo 24: In the foreground is Leichenkeller 2, the undressing room, with a few people going down the western stairway. In the background on the left is Leichenkeller 1, the gas chamber, with just two of the Zyclon-B introduction chimneys visible. ![img-5.jpeg](img-5.jpeg) Photo 28: Western end of the building, north side, with the near end of Leichenkeller 2. In the foreground is the access stairway to the basement from the north yard. Before its first step was the window lighting the «Büro/Office», protected by a metal grill. The presence of a truck loaded with corpses is an error, because it was not possible to use the corpse chute, the lower end having been blocked off by a wooden wall. 345 ===== PDF PAGE 0338 | page-338.md ===== # DIE ZENTRALBAULEITING DER WAFFEN-SS UND POLIZEI AUSCHWITZ # AUSCHWITZ WAFFEN SS AND POLICE CENTRAL CONSTRUCTION MANAGEMENT Photo 1 shows some of the staff of the Auschwitz Zentralbauleitung on the steps of their main office building (located a few hundred metres northeast of the main camp, on the banks of the Sola) in winter 1941-42 or 1942-43. Those in the photograph are SS Captain Karl Bischoff, Head of the Bauleitung (in the centre, with the edge of a paper showing above his left cuff); eight of his Second Lieutenants and a probable future Second Lieutenant; three civilian workers and, lastly, seven NCOs and men. It is practically impossible to identify the NCOs and men (out of 90 known) or the civilian workers (out of 20 known). The young Acting Corporal or Corporal on Bischoff's right is not there by chance, but, as his attitude shows, he must be in Bischoff's good books and, probably the holder of a diploma in «Bauwesen», he is destined to be rapidly promoted to SS Second Lieutenant (Specialist) [SS Untersturmführer [S] for «Sonderführer» (Nov. 41-June 42) or after [F] for «Fachführer».] This type of military career was followed by seven of the fifteen known Second Lieutenants in the Bauleitung: called up in the Waffen-SS, these young men with a building or civil engineering qualification were recruited as privates, then posted as Acting Corporals or Corporals to some SS Bauleitung, where, depending on their work and achievements, they were likely to be promoted Second Lieutenant (Specialist). It would seem that the Second Lieu- tenant on Bischoff's left is Dejaco, the head of the Drawing Office. At the beginning of 1943 there were seventeen people employed in this Office: its Head, Dejaco; a Sergeant, Ulmer, who drew the first drawings of the future Krematorium II; two civilian workers, two privates working on technical drawings of a certain complexity; and, lastly, ten prisoners working on drawings of the POW camp and making prints. The fifteen known Auschwitz Bauleitung SS Second Lieutenants are: Dejaco, Eggeling, Ertl, Janisch, Johann, Kastner, Kirschneck, Peetz, Pollok, Schenk, Semena[7], Töfferl, Urbanczyk (first Head of the Auschwitz Bauleitung before Bischoff arrived on 1st October 1941), Wallerang and Wolter. Those whose names are underlined participated in various ways in the construction of the four Birkenau Krematorien, but the others were all perfectly well aware of their «abnormal» purpose (in a list showing the allocation of work covering the whole camp among the members of the Bauleitung, there appears in brackets under the heading of section II «Bauleitung des Kriegsgefangenenlagers» the explanation «(Durchführung der Sonderbehandlung/Implementation of special treatment)» [Photo 2]. This list was circulated to everybody. ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) Photo 1: [PMO neg. no. 422] ![img-1.jpeg](img-1.jpeg) Photo 2: Fifth page of a six page document listed the allocation of work at the main camp and Birkenau between the members of the Bauleitung. Undated, but probably drawn up in March or April 1942. From the «October Revolution» Central State Archives in Moscow. 346 ===== PDF PAGE 0339 | page-339.md ===== The Auschwitz Bauleitung numbered on average about one hundred people, SS and civilians, and employed an unknown number of prisoners. All the SS were NCOs or officers, mainly NCOs (Sergeants). The only known cases of three Bauleitung SS who were Privates for a while before being promoted are simply exceptions confirming the rule. The breakdown of SS and civilian staff was as follows: - 10% Officers: one Captain and fifteen Second Lieutenants, one of whom, Jothann, was to become Lieutenant and Head of the Bauleitung in 1944; - 15% civilian employees (helping the young Second Lieutenants through their long experience and participating actively in the projects under construction, like Z.A. (Zivilarbeiter/Civilian worker) Teichmann, who signed «criminal» orders for the Birkenau Krematorien); - 35% senior NCOs: about thirty Sergeants, with a few Staff Sergeants, Senior Staff Sergeants and Master Sergeants; - 40% junior NCOs: Acting Corporals and Corporals, among them men with qualifications who were often promoted Second Lieutenant (Specialist). In mid 1942, a new Bauleitung hut was built as an annex to the main building [Photo 3]. Bischoff and Dejaco knew exactly what they had planned, and visited the Birkenau worksites on many occasions to inspect progress on the four Krematorien. Photo 4 shows them together, in the summer of 1942, watching prisoners working on the «Ringstraße/Ring road» passing between the future Krematorien IV and V. The catalogue of drawings from July 1940 to January 1942 [PMO file BW 1/4] shows that as of this latter date, a little over two thousand drawings had been produced. However, this figure does not mean that the Bauleitung was making great efforts to improve the camp for the benefit of the prisoners, for half of these drawings are concerned with facilities for the SS and for the SS alone, such things as private houses, gardens, pergolas, the «Waffen-SS House», various messes, furniture and sundry other things to make their life at Auschwitz more pleasant. ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) Photo 3: [PMO neg. no. 20995/138] Part of the interior of the new Bauleitung annex. ![img-1.jpeg](img-1.jpeg) Photo 4: [PMO neg. no. 313] SS Captain Bischoff (hands on hips) and SS Second Lieutenant (F) Dejaco, with a folded drawing under his right arm, inspecting work on the «Ring road» between the future Krematorien IV and V in summer 1942. 347 ===== PDF PAGE 0340 | page-340.md ===== # THE CIVILIAN AND ASSIMILATED FIRMS WHO PARTICIPATED IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF BIRKENAU KREMATORIEN II AND III ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) Photo 1 Photo 3 ![img-1.jpeg](img-1.jpeg) ![img-2.jpeg](img-2.jpeg) Photo 4 348 ===== PDF PAGE 0341 | page-341.md ===== # Photo 1: [PMO file BW 30/25, page 14] This document lists some of the buildings handed over to the camp administration by the «Bauleitung der Waffen-SS und Polizei KGL Auschwitz/Auschwitz POW camp Waffen SS and Police Construction Management», including the four Krematorien, giving the worksite numbers and the handover date: - Worksite 30: Krematorium II handed over on 31/3/43; - Worksite 30a: Krematorium III handed over on 25/6/43; - Worksite 30b: Krematorium IV handed over on 22/3/43; - Worksite 30c: Krematorium V handed over on 4/4/43. # Photo 2: [PMO file BW 30/40, page 30] Letterhead of the Kattowitz branch of HUTA, the firm who built the shells of Krematorien II and III (and part of those of Krematorien IV and V). This letter, on the subject of the static calculations for Krematorium II, is signed by Dziubany, a Huta engineer. The contract for the construction of Krematorium II was offered at the beginning of July 1942 to two Kattowitz firms already working at the Birkenau camp: Huta and the Silesian firm Lenz & Co. Lenz refused on 15th July, claiming a labour shortage. Huta accepted and submitted their estimate on 13th July. # Photos 3 and 4: [PMO file BW 30/26, pages 59 and 60] Letterhead of the construction firm KONRAD SEGNITZ of Beuthen, Upper Silesia, run by Carl Pluta. This letter concerns the roof of Krematorium IV. The firm produced the drawings for the roofs of all four Krematorien, and built them in association with Industrie-Bau AG of Bielitz, Upper Silesia, a firm probably under the control of the SS. # Photo 5: [PMO Archives, file BW 30/36, page 80] This is a timesheet for the week of 1st to 7th February 1943 for work carried out by INDUSTRIE-BAU-AG of Bielitz, Upper Silesia, on Krematorium IV (BW 30b). This firm, probably under the control of the SS because of its field of activity (timber) was supposed to build the roof of Krematorium II, calculated, checked and redrawn by Messrs Konrad Segnitz. The respective roles of the two firms seem to have evolved over the months. Konrad Segnitz, having produced the drawings and drawn up the list of timber required, was to have a purely supervisory role, unlike Industrie-Bau, who were to supply both labour and materials. However, due to inadequate technology, Industrie-Bau had to abandon the manufacture and supply of materials to Konrad Segnitz. ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) Photo 2 ![img-1.jpeg](img-1.jpeg) Photo 5 349 ===== PDF PAGE 0342 | page-342.md ===== ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) Photo 6 ![img-1.jpeg](img-1.jpeg) Photo 6 [PMO Archives, file BW 30/34, page 92, microfilm 1066] Delivery note of the DEUTSCHE AUSRÜSTUNGSWERKE German Equipment Works, an establishment actually based in Auschwitz, where there were two shops, metalworking and woodworking), and usually known as the «DAW». This was a subsidiary of the WVHA-SS (SS Economic and Administrative Head Office), Amtsgruppe W-IV («W» for «Economic»). The DAW used private labour, and in June 1942 there were about 600 prisoners working there to produce wood and metal items (such as doors and windows and their fittings) for the Auschwitz-Birkenau camp and for the personal use of the SS. The «external» equipment of the Krematorien (gas-tight doors and windows, Zyclon-B interdiction coherens, dummy shower heads) went produced by the Auschwitz DAW. Photo 7 [PMO Archives, file BW 30/36, page 56] First letter from VEDAG of Breslau, dated 12th August 1942, replying to Huta's proposals of 8th August regarding the damp-proofing of Leichenkeller 1 and 2 of Kermatorium II. Verlag was also subsequently involved in the damp-proofing of Kr III. This firm can be considered as being a subcontractor of Huta who built the shells of the building but were not damp-proofing specialties. The red tape involved in securing the retainer of the railroad bitarren necessary for the four large Leichenkeller delayed progress on work sites 30 and 50s for one or two months. While the Huta people somehow the «special» destination of the Kermatorium, Verlag, unaware of their «agency» and their internal nature, could not adapt to the rhythm demanded by the Auschwitz-Bauleitung SS. The Baudelung interfered so much in Verlag's work in order to speed progress that the firm refused to give their usual two-year guarantee. Photos 8 and 9: [PMO Archives, file BW 30/39, pages 68 (photo 8) and 70 (photo 9)] Bauleitung order of 27th August 1942 to Messrs KARL FALCK of Gleiwitz, Upper Silesia, for the drainage system of Kermatorium II (BW 30) and the firm's timesheet for work on this Krematorium dated 18th February 1943. Messrs Karl Falck worked on the drainage of Kermatorium II from WWAD to 11/2/43 and on that of Kermatorium III from 14/4/43 to 15/4/43, employing from two to about twenty workers. Photo 10: [PMO Archives, file BW 30/34, page 6] Timesheet for the week 5th to 10th July 1943 for work carried out by Messrs ROBERT KOESSLER of Mykowitz, Upper Silesia, the firm who built the six chimneys of the four Krematorien and made the necessary repairs on the chimneys of Kermatorium II and III in mid 1943 (the sheet covers such work). The gangs employed on the red by Koessler were half civilians, half prisoners, the latter being used as labourers. Just one fountain is known Truly Woodland. 350 Photo 7 ===== PDF PAGE 0343 | page-343.md ===== Photo 8 ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) Photo 9 ![img-1.jpeg](img-1.jpeg) ![img-2.jpeg](img-2.jpeg) Photo 10 351 ===== PDF PAGE 0344 | page-344.md ===== ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) Photo 11. [PMO Archives, file BW 30/41, page 42] Timesheet for the week 7th to 13th September 1942, covering the start of work on the foundations for the five three-muffle furnaces of Krematorien II, carried out by Martin Holick, an employee of Messrs TOPF & SOHNE of Erfurt. He was helped by Willi Koch, another Topf foreman, who later regulated the draught of the furnaces in Krematorien IV and V. Topf & Sons built the two 3-muffle furnaces of Krematorien II and III and also the two 8-muffle furnaces of Krematorien IV and V. Several of the timesheets filled in by the Topf fitter, Messing, as well as the correspondence exchanged between Topf and the Bookletung prove that, contrary to what was thought after the war, Messrs Topf were knowingly very much involved in preparing Krematorien II and III for homicidal use. ![img-1.jpeg](img-1.jpeg) Photo 12. [PMO Archives, file BW 30/33, page 10] Timesheet for 13th April 1943 of Messrs TRITON of Kattowitz, a firm specialised in the drainage of buildings and which participated with Karl Falck in work on Krematorien III (BW 30a) from 2nd to 13th April 1943. Triton also worked on the drains of Krematorien IV from 2nd to 9th June 1943. The numbers employed were small, usually ten or less people. ![img-2.jpeg](img-2.jpeg) Photo 13. [PMO Archives, file BW 30/34, page 7] Timesheet of Messrs JOSEF KLUGE of Alt-Gleiwitz, who worked mainly on the construction of Krematorien IV and V and were involved in Krematorium III only from 17th to 24th April 1943, installing in separating tables, no doubt in the dissecting room. 352 ===== PDF PAGE 0345 | page-345.md ===== # THE RUINS OF LEICHENKELLER I (GAS CHAMBER) OF KREMATORIUM II Photo a*: Cross-section of Leichenkeller I of Krematorium II taken from Bauleitung drawing 934, showing the arrangement of the upper ventilation and lower air extraction ducts, originally planned for a morphe. ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) Photo b: [Photos and assembly by the author] View of the second central supporting pillar (the pillars are numbered 1 to 7, from south to north) of Leichenkeller I of Krematorium II, looking south/ north, and part of the east side of the ceiling. In the centre are the emplacements of the third and fourth dummy shower heads. On the extreme right are the remains of the wooden bottom stapled in the ceiling to which the wooden fresh air ventilators duct was fixed. Photo c*: [Photos and assembly by the author] Close-up view of the concrete ceiling, appeared in 1943-44, bearing the grain marks of the wooden formwork. ![img-1.jpeg](img-1.jpeg) Photo a**: Detail of Leichenkeller I of Krematorium II taken from Bauleitung drawing 932, showing the position of the photographer for Photos A and B. The arrow indicates the entrance through which it is still possible to penetrate the ruins of the gas chamber. Numbered 1 to 12 is the eastern row of dummy showerheads. Those in black are visible, those left white supposed through five 9 is also visible, but access is difficult). There were twelve others symmetrically placed in the western half. On this drawing, Leichenkeller I is not yet fitted out for its horizontal use; the entrance door is still a double door opening towards and the drains are still connected to the general drainage system of the building, which could have caused accidents after gassings, with hydrocyanic acid gas rising to the ground floor. ![img-2.jpeg](img-2.jpeg) ![img-3.jpeg](img-3.jpeg) 353 ===== PDF PAGE 0346 | page-346.md ===== ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) 354 ===== PDF PAGE 0347 | page-347.md ===== PART TWO CHAPTER 6 # THE VENTILATION SYSTEMS OF KREMATORIEN II AND III Account of the research undertaken by the author in order to explain the ventilation systems of Krematorien II and III. In this Chapter I shall not use the method adopted for the others, i.e. production of documents on a subject, then comments and conclusion. The problem, for there is a problem, of the ventilation systems of Krematorien II and III will be presented in the form of an account including what was known and thought in 1979, my doubts, my fairly lengthy researches, my findings and finally the discovery in 1982 in the BW 30/41 file of the «ARBEITSZEIT-BESCHEINIGUNGEN» (timesheets) of the Topf & Sons filter, Messing, who stayed at Auschwitz and installed all the ventilation systems of Krematorien II and III at Birkenau between 5th January and 9th June 1943. He was one of the rare «outside» civilians to be able to directly observe the consequences of the first gassing of 1500 Cracow Jews in Krematorium II on 14th March. In his timesheets, there are seven «slips» that reveal the «abnormal» use of the Leichenkeller (morgues, or literally «corpse cellars»), which enable two other isolated references to be explained. The documents relevant to this account will be produced as it proceeds. For 40 years, the question of the ventilation in Krematorien of type II/III was thought to be obvious and well known. It was concerned with the fresh air supply and air extraction systems for the underground gas chambers. The Bauleitung drawings of the projected Krematorium II show that the rooms designated «Leichenkeller 1» or «L-Keller 1» were ventilated. Since the testimonies of former members of the Sonderkommando assert that Leichenkeller 1 of Krematorien II and III had been used as homicidal gas chambers and since two letters from SS sources indicated that one of the cellars designated «Vergasungskeller» had been fitted with a gas-tight door, the fact that this ventilation system appeared on the Bauleitung drawings became clear premeditation. The extreme importance attached to this point is particularly evident in the book by Georges Wellers, «Les chambres à gaz ont existé», the cover of which [Document 1] is part of drawing 1174 [Document 4] which includes a cross-section of Leichenkeller 1 of the future Krematorium II, showing the upper and lower ventilation ducts. This is an indication of the value of this evidence in the eyes of Georges Wellers. His photo 8 [Document 2] reproduces the cover illustration with mention of the «ventilation ducts». His photo 9 [Document 3] shows cross-sections of Leichenkeller 1 and 2 (taken from drawing 934 [Document 5]) with the observation that L-Keller 1 is ventilated, unlike 2. Lastly, Wellers concludes (page 90), that: «It can be seen that cellar 1 is not so long as cellar 2 and, above all [my underlining], that it is provided with a ventilation and air extraction system perfectly visible and named on the cross-section, while «corpse cellar 2» has no such installation [my underlining]. This argument was put forward by the Auschwitz Museum and was used by the advocates appearing for the LICRA during the «Faurisson trial». They are blameless, since they are not historians and were simply repeating an interpretation provided by the Museum and confirmed by Georges Wellers. The truth is that this demonstration is quite erroneous, and hence any attempt to prove «premeditation» of the criminal use of Leichenkeller 1 as gas chambers on the basis of the ventilation systems is quite unfounded. I worked for a long time on establishing THE PATHS TAKEN BY THE DIFFERENT VENTILATION DUCTS in Krematorien II and III. It took me about two years to arrive at a logical explanation on the basis of the scattered evidence then available to me, whereas if I had known about the existence of PMO file BW 30/41, simply the quarter of an hour it took to read it would have saved me a great deal of groping in the dark. However, this file fully confirmed the findings of my work. At the end of 1979, after consulting drawing 932 in the Museum Archives, a drawing representing the basement of a projected Krematorium which was to become Krematorium II, I expressed my doubts as to the technical feasibility of installing a gas chamber in Leichenkeller 1, because its entrance was fitted with a double door and the passage between Leichenkeller 2 (undressing room) and Leichenkeller 1 (gas chamber) was partly obstructed by a concrete corpse chute leading almost as far as the double door of Leichenkeller 1. The archivist pointed out on drawings 933, 934 and 1174, where cross-sections of the two Leichenkeller appeared, that there was a MAJOR DIFFERENCE as regards ventilation - presence in L-Keller 1 and absence in 2 - a difference which according to him PROVED irrefutably that Leichenkeller 1 was a gas chamber and that it had been PLANNED as such. His demonstration appeared valid at the time and I believed it. However, when I had completed my study of ALL THE DRAWINGS connected with the Birkenau Krematorien, his categorical statement no longer fitted with my interpretation of some of them, and even less with several items in file BW 30/34 (microfilm 1060). A note of 3rd February 1943 from a certain Messing mentioned as air extractor fan [«Abluftgebläse] used air blower] for Leichenkeller 2 [Document 6]. A letter of 11th February 1943 signed by Bischoff, head of the Bauleitung, spoke of a 7.5 HP motor for the extractor fan of Leichenkeller 2 [Document 7]. A letter from Topf & Sons of 12th February 1943 [Document 7a] used the same terms as Bischoff on the subject of an extractor fan for Leichenkeller 2. On drawing 980 of the roof frame of the future Krematorium II [Document 8], the locations of TWO ventilation chimneys are shown. The one on the left, quite separate, is the fresh air intake for Leichenkeller 1. The other, to the right, through which the noxious air of this same Leichenkeller 1 is to be expelled, has FOUR outlets. While one outlet was for this function, the purpose of the three others remained unexplained. However, the argument of the Museum archivist was still acceptable despite the documents of BW 30/34, for the mention of a motor for an extractor fan for Leichenkeller 2 was no proof that it was actually installed... Five minutes of a television programme seen quite by chance led me to a meeting, accompanied by a former Monowitz prisoner, with Mr. David Olère, a professional artist and ex-member of the Sonderkommando who, in his canvases, evokes the universe of Birkenau. I took with me the drawings of the Krematorien so that I could question him about them, but he refused to look at them. He had his reasons for this. By their very precision, they disturbed his personal, residual vision of the infernal environment in which he had lived from 1943 to 1945. His reflex was more than understandable. On the other hand, he was willing to tell his own story. To support what he had to say, he produced his drawings and in particular those of his «Memento», produced in 1945-46, shortly after his return from deportation. The Memento was not able to show me very much however, being virtually emptied of its 60 to 70 original sketches. The greater part of them — 90 per cent — had been lent for an exhibition in Israel organised by Mrs. Myriam Novitch, who never returned them to their author and owner. Despite my difficulty in believing certain episodes related by David Olère, a drawing of the fronts of the five three-muffle furnaces of Krematorium II or III intrigued me. On the right hand side of each furnace there was drawn a part representing a pulsed air installation, identical to that fitted on the third furnace of the Old Krematorium in the main camp. I had not yet any confirmation of this little-known detail of the equipment of the Krematorien II and II furnaces, but I later found mention of it in the book by Dr. Nyiszli, «Auschwitz: a doctor's eyewitness account» [Chapter VII, page 45], this being reinforced by the method of operating a three-muffle furnace with its pulsed air blower being reproduced at the end of the book. In Volume 11 of the Hoess trial there is an identical document, but supplied for the new (third) two muffle furnace of the old Krematorium. David Olère, while interesting the «loss» of his drawings produced a journal of the LICA (former name of the LICRA) where three of his works were reproduced: a plan of Krematorium III, a group of prisoners returning to the camp, and a view of one of the undressing rooms in Krematorium II or III [in fact Leichenkeller 2 of Krematorien III]. Along the top left of the room there was a big black tube from which two smaller tubes with grids over their ends protruded downwards [Document 13]. The discovery of these unknown details, that other sources had led me to suspect, proved to me first of all that I was not dealing with a story teller, even though some of his declarations were at the limit of the credible, and secondly that on the evidence of the photos that I knew, his drawings were authentic at this early date and were very faithful in their detail and, finally, that an air extraction system (a detail pointed out by David Olère) had existed in Leichenkeller 2 of both Krematorien II and III. 355 ===== PDF PAGE 0348 | page-348.md ===== ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) Document 1: Cover of the book by Georges Wellers «Les chambres à gaz ont existé», NRF Gallimard, Paris 1981. Fragment of Bauleitung drawing 1174 showing the air intake and extraction ducts of Leichenkeller 1 of the future Krematorium II. ![img-1.jpeg](img-1.jpeg) Document 2: [Photo 8 of Wellers' book] Fragment of drawing 1174, the south elevation of the future Krematorium II, with a cross-section of Leichenkeller 1. # Translation of notes 8. Elevation of the Krematorium with in the foreground the cross-section of the cellar. The ventilation ducts can be seen on the sides. 9. Cross-section of the two «corpse cellars». The first is the gas chamber: note the air extraction duct (Entlüftungskanal) on each side of the drawing. Above, also each side, the ventilation duct (Belüftung). At the end is the entrance door. In the second «corpse cellar» («undressing room») there is no ventilation or air extraction duct. ![img-2.jpeg](img-2.jpeg) Document 3: [Photo 9 of Wellers' book] Fragment of Bauleitung drawing 934 of a Krematorium project, the future Krematorium II, showing cross-sections of Leichenkeller 1 (above) and Leichenkeller 2 (below). 356 ===== PDF PAGE 0349 | page-349.md ===== ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) Document 4: [PMO reg. nos 17612 and 20818/9] [BW 30/08] Drawings 1173 and 1174 of 15th January 1942. Forward file the Krematorium/projected crematorium. 1173: Längsschnitt durch den unterkellerten Teil/longitudinal section of the basement part. 1174: [Süd] Schnitt durch Leichenkeller 1 mit Be- und Entlüftungs- skonien [south side] section of Leichenkeller 1 with ventilation and air extraction ducts. Translation of inscriptions: (left to right) Drawing 1173: - Erdanschüttung/earth bank. - Vorlage/hard fill. - Gewachsener Boden/natural earth. - Absetzgrube/drain. - Rutsche/corpse chute. - Belüftung/ventilation. - Unterzug/cross-beam. - Eisenbeton - Bohlendecke/reinforced concrete roof beams. - Aufzug/corpse lift. - Entlüftung/air extraction. - Entlüftungskanal/air extraction duct. - Verbrennungsraum/incineration room [furnace room]. - Betonboden m[it] Glattstr[ich]/concrete floor with smooth screed. - Vorlage 18cm HGH [7]/18cm hard fill. Drawing 1174: - Anschüttung/earth bank. - Belüftungskanal vom Dachgeschoss/ventilation duct from roof space. - Entlüftungskanal - Verbindung [unter ? N.G. Fussboden]/air extraction duct junction [under new floor level?]. - Belüftungskanal - Verbindung/ventilation duct junction. - Entlüftungskanal zum Dachgeschoss/extraction duct to roof space. - Neue Geländehöhe/new ground level. - Gewachsener Boden/natural earth. - KREMATORIUM - Zutritt verboten/CREMATORIUM - keep out. 357 ===== PDF PAGE 0350 | page-350.md ===== ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) Document 5: [PMO seg. nos 6228, 17609 and 20818/6] Drawing 934, scale 1:100 Drawn on 27th January 1942 by SS Sergeant Ulmer checked by SS Second Lieutenant Dejaco and approved by SS Captain Bischoff on 28th January 1942. Entwurf für das Krematorium/crematorium project. Schnitt durch Leichenkeller 1. Leichenkeller 2/cross-sections of corpus cellars 1 and 2. Translation of inscriptions (left to right) # Chimney and furnace room section: - Firsthöhe/ridge height. - Traufhöhe/gutter height. - Fenstersturz/ window lintel height. - Fensterbank/ window sill height. - Sockelhöhe/base height. - Sockel-Obnerschl. Sandstein/base facing sandstone. - Gewachsener Boden/natural earth. - Dachdeckung-Ziegel/tile roof covering. - Eisenbeton-Hohlkörperdecke/ceiling of reinforced concrete and hollow blocks. - Betonboden m. Glattstr/concrete floor with smooth screed. - Vorlage 18cm HGH [?]/18cm hard fill. - Lehmschlag/clay base. - Erdanschüttung/earth bank. - Entlüftungskanal/air extraction duct. - Ofen/furnace. - Pfeilerfundamente/pillar base. - Rauchkanal 0.70 x 0.60/smoke flue. - Türenhöhe/door heights. - Saugzuganlage/suction type forced-draught installation. - Schornsteinfundamente [Nach Boden Belast[un]gsprobe]/chimney foundation [after testing soil strength]. - Rauchkanal-Schieber/flue damper. - 3 Züge 0.80 x 1.20/flues. - Schornstein/chimney. - Schornstein-Verwahrung/chimney flashing. - Müllerverbrennungsofen/waste incinerator. - Betonboden m. Glattstr./concrete floor with smooth screed. - Vorlage 20cm HGH [?]/20cm hard fill. - Türen- und Fensterumrahmungen - Oberschl. Sandstein/facing of door and window frames sandstone! - Gewachsener Boden/natural earth. # Leichenkeller 1 - Entlüftungskanal/air evacuation duct. - Senkrechte Isolierung/vertical damp-proofing. - Isolierung/damp-proofing. - Belüftung/ventilation. - Erdaufschüttung/earth bank. - Kies/gravel. - Wasserdichte Abdeckung/water-tight covering. - Betonboden mit Glattstrich 14cm Stk/concrete floor with smooth screed 14cm. - Pfeilerfundamente 150 x 150 x 060 Tief/pillar base 150 x 150 x 060 deep. - Erdanschüttung/earth bank. - Gewachsener Boden/natural earth. # Leichenkeller 2 (inscriptions translated above not repeated). - Abwasserkanal/sewer. - Senkrechte Isolierung/vertical damp-proofing. - Erdaufschüttung/earth bank. - Kies/gravel. - Wasserdichte Abdeckung/water-tight covering. - Betonboden mit Glattstrich 14cm Stk/concrete floor with smooth screed 14cm. - Erdanschüttung/earth bank. 358 ===== PDF PAGE 0351 | page-351.md ===== About the same time, the Museum had sent me four photos [Documents 9, 10, 11, 12] of «ventilation ducts», with no other identification, that had been found at the time of the Liberation in the Auschwitz «Bauhof» (place where new and recuperated construction materials were kept). There was no need to be particularly clairvoyant to recognise the components of the air extraction system of Leichenkeller 2 of Krematorien II and III, dismantled in December 1944 by an «Abbruchkommando» [demolition squad] and so well drawn from memory by Olère in 1946. The truth is, that I had already seen these four photos in the museum before my visit to the artist. This ducting could be attributed to a ventilation system in the Krematorien and in view of their length I was inclined to think that they had come from the undressing rooms (50m long), but at the time this was mere speculation. However, David Olère told me their function and his drawings proved their existence. It remained to find a concrete trace... During a stay at Auschwitz, as I was tirelessly walking around the ruins of the Krematorien, as is my habit, for with each visit I learn something new in in the light of the new documents I have been able to familiarise myself with, my foot suddenly went into a hole hidden by weeds in the ruins of Krematorium II. The tidying and weeding of the ruins of Birkenau is in fact a very sporadic business. Sometimes they are well cleared, and then a few months later covered with weeds. This hole [Documents 14 to 16] was circular, about 25cm in diameter and was at the junction between Leichenkeller 1 and 2, above the space shown on the drawings of the basement as «Vorraum». The air duct drawn by David Olère and those of the «Bauhof» were of substantially the same section. Unlike in Olère's drawing, in which a certain «artistic licence» must be allowed for, the duct could only have joined the others in the «Vorraum». This hole which had made me fall in the ruins established this fact and I was more than satisfied despite the fall. However, I am unable to say whether this opening is in the ceiling of the Vorraum or that of the Waschraum of the ground floor, because it is difficult to identify the origin of the ruins. Thus far, I have found no similar evidence for Krematorium III. In the light of the drawing by David Olère of the undressing room of Krematorium III, the circular opening discovered in the ruins of Krematorium II and the brief mentions found in the correspondence between the Bauleitung and Messrs Topf, it is no longer possible to uphold the argument that the Leichenkeller 1 of Krematorien II and III were specifically planned for criminal purposes because they had ventilation systems (unlike the Leichenkeller 2 which did not have ventilation) as shown on drawings 933, 934 and 1174. Since Leichenkeller 1 and 2 both had air extraction systems, either could have been used for gassing, and I consider that this possibility was ENVISAGED by the SS at the beginning (first quarter of 1943), then abandoned, the overall gas chamber capacity of the Birkenau Krematorien being already more than adequate. Of the three formerly unexplained outlets of the main ventilation chimney, two still remained to be defined. In the ruins of Krematorium III [Documents 19 to 22], dismantled by the SS, the floor of the roof space has collapsed on what was the furnace room. It is possible to see five equidistant rectangular openings above the emplacements of the five furnaces, one opening per furnace. Drawing 934 [Document 5], in its north-south section of Krematorium II, appearing on the left, indicates that an «Entlüftungskanal» [air extraction duct] ran east-west along the floor of the roof space, removing the hot air generated by the working furnaces. A drawing by David Olère of the furnace room of Krematorium III [see Part II, Chapter 5, Document 87] also shows air intakes in the ceiling above the furnaces, but with three openings per furnace. One may perhaps attribute the number of air intakes to artistic imagination, but as regards the rest of the composition, a Bauleitung photograph of the Krematorium II furnace room [Document 23], taken in February or March 1943, confirms the precision of David Olère's «souvenir step» and the presence of one opening per furnace. Without this air extraction system, the atmosphere of the furnace room would have rapidly become unbearable. A duct led to the main ventilation chimney to evacuate this hot air. Document 6: Dossier du P.M.O. B.W. 30/34, n° microfilm 1060, page 97: Bw 30 Frischluftgebläse Nr. 450 für L. Keller I. mit Saug und Druckstutzen Drosselklappe Abluftgebläse Nr. 550 für L. Keller II. mit Saug- Druckstutzen und Drosselklappe Abluftgebläse Nr. 550 für Ofenraum mit Druckstutzen Saug und Druckstutzen für Gebläse 375 für Sez. Wasch u. Aufb. Raum Holzdrosselklappe für L. Keller I. Messing / In Bleichstift geschrieben/: Schulze Den 3.2.43 telegr. bestellt, Kirschneck. [PMO File BW 30/34, microfilm No. 1070, page 97] A handwritten note from the fitter Messing of Topf & Sons mentioning [line underlined] «air extractor blower No. 550 for Leichenkeller II [undressing room]». BW 30 Fresh air blower No. 450 for C cellar 1 with suction and pressure connections [and] regulating valve. Air extraction blower No. 550 for C cellar 2 with suction and pressure connections and regulating valve. Air extraction blower No. 550 for furnace room, with pressure connections. Suction and pressure connections 375 fan for dissecting, washing and laying out room. Wooden regulating valve for C cellar 1. Messing /Written in pencil/: Schulze Ordered by telegram on 3.2.43 [initialed] Kirschneck. 359 ===== PDF PAGE 0352 | page-352.md ===== # COPY 11th February 1943 22957/43/Jdh/Pa. Subject: Krematorium III - POW - Auschwitz - Upper Silesia Ref.: Telegram from the Auschwitz Central Construction Management of 10/2/43 - 20.05 hours. Enclosure:--- Messrs. J.A. Topf & Sons Engineering Works Esfa: Dreysestraße 7/9 The above-mentioned telegram once more confirms the order already issued for the complete mechanical installations, including 2 permanent corpse lifts and 1 provisional corpse hous) to be delivered rapidly, as well as a practical installation for delivering coal and removing ash. You are thus to supply and fit the complete K III installation. We now trust that everything will be done to ensure that the mechanical components are manufactured immediately and dispatched to the site. It is essential that the complete installation come into service by 10th April 1943. The Central Construction Management expects that in meeting this deadline you will make up for your non-respect of contract in not keeping promises and issuing numerous documents not corresponding to the facts on the subject of the delivery of the furnaces for Krem[atorium]II of the PWO camp. Thus you write on 21st January 1943 that all the materials for the ventilation and air extraction installations would be sent on 22nd January 1943. When the wagon arrived, these components were missing, so that your filter Missing was unable to continue. On the telephone, Mr. Prüfer told us that all the material had been sent. After many further enquiries, another of your people told us that the remaining material had not yet been completed. Finally, the completed materials were supposed to have been put into store. Now, a consignment note arrives with a consignment date of 6th February 1943. After examination of this and a conversation with your filter, it appears that a No. 450 blower with a 3.5 HP motor is still missing, and it is precisely this blower destined for the C-cellar I for which our need is the most urgent. Also, a 7.5 HP motor for the No. 550 air extraction blower for C-cellar 2. We therefore telegraphed you once more: -dispatch immediately blower 450 and 3.5 HP motor for C-cellar I and 7.5 HP motor for air extractions blower No 550 for C-cellar II, not appearing on dispatch note of 6.2.1943, otherwise the installation cannot be brought into service. Reply by telegraph.- This negligence on your part is causing the Central Construction Management the greatest difficulties. We would ask you therefore to immediately dispatch the missing material by express in order that the installation may at last be completed. Head of the of the Auschwitz Waffen-SS and Police Central Construction Management [signed] Bischoff SS-Captain # Distribution: 1 Civilian Specialist Jährling 1 SS-Second Lieutenant Janisch 1 SS-Second Lieutenant Kirschneck 1 Records (file BW 30 Krematorium) F.d.R.d.A. [For file] Signature SS-Second Lieutenant (S [specialist]) (Handwritten) F.d.R.d.A. Pollak SS-Second Lieutenant H3HP 1063 Abschrift. 11.Februar 1943 8 22957/43/Jdh/Pa. Betr.: Krematorium III- K.O.L.-Auschwitz- C/S. Bezug: Telegram der Zentralbauleitung Auschwitz vom 10.2.1943 - 20.05 Uhr.- Anlg.: - - Firma J.A. Topf & Söhné Maschinenfabrik Bafari Dreysestraße 7/9 Mit o.a. Telegram, wurde der bereits getätigte Auftrag der gesamten Maschinenanrichtungen einschl. 2 Stck. endgültigen elektrischen Leichsmanfängen und 1 provisorischen, kurzfristig lieferbaren Leichsmanfang, sowie einer praktischen Zahlenbeschickungs- und Aschentransportverrichtung nochmals bestätigt. Sie haben daher die Anlage K III konpl. zu liefern und zu erstellen. Es wird erwartet, dass nunmehr alles daran gesetzt wird, damit die gesamten Maschinenteile sofort fertiggestellt werden und zum Versand kennen. Die Inbetriebnahme der Gesamtanlage muß bestimmt am 10. April 1943 erfolgen. Die Zentralbauleitung erwartet, daß Sie mit der Einhaltung des Termins bei dieser Anlage die Scharten wieder ausweisen, welche durch Richterfüllen von Versprechungen und mehrmalige Schreiben, die nicht den Tatsachen entsprachen, bei den Lieferungen der Ofen für Krem.II.K.B.L. entstanden. So schreiben Sie am 21.1.1943, daß die gesamten Materialien für die Be- und Entlüftungsanlage am 22.1.43 zum Versand kennen. Sein Eintreffen des Wagons fehlten diese Teile, sodaß Ihr Konteur Vessing nicht weiter konnte. Am Telefon sagte Ihr Herr Prüfer, daß sämtliche Materialien abgegangen seien. Bei nochmaliger Teeländerung wurde H3HP 1060 - 2 - von einen anderen Herrn mitgeteilt, daß die restlichen Materialien noch nicht fertig seien. Zum Schluss wurde dann die fertiggestellten Materialien angeblich in Lager gestapelt worden. Jetzt geht ein Frachtbrief ein mit Versandanzeige vom 6.2.1943. Nach Prüfung desselben und Rücksprache mit Ihrem Konteur wird festgestellt, daß ein Gebläse Nr. 450 mit 3,5 PS-Motor wieder fehlt und ausgerechnet das Gebläse für L-Keller I, welches am dringendeten benötigt wird. Außerdem 1 Motor 7,5 PS für das Abluftgebläse Nr. 550 für L-Keller II. Es wurde Ihnen dieserhalb wieder telegraphiert/Abschluß sofort auf Versandanzeige 6.2.43 nicht angegebenen Gebläse 450 mit 3,5 PS-Motor für L-Keller I und Motor 7,5 PS für Abluftgebläse Nr. 550 für L-Keller II, da andernfalls Anlage nicht in Betrieb genommen werden kann. Drahtantwort.- Durch diese Vernachlässigungen Ihrerseits entstehen der Zentralbauleitung die größten Schwierigkeiten. Sie werden deshalb ersucht, sofort die fehlenden Materialien per Klight zum Versand zu bringen, damit endlich die Anlage fertiggestellt wird. Der Leiter der Zentralbauleitung der Waffen-S und Polizei Auschwitz J.A. Topf S-Sternkannführer. # Verteilers 1 Nachbearbeiter Jährling 1 S.-Det. Janisch 1 S.-Det. Kirschneck 1 Registratur (Alt: SW, So.-Krematorium) F.d.R.d.A. gez. Unterschrift S-Untersturmführer(S) F.d.R.d.A. Document 7: Verso de la page 87 du B.W.30/34, lettre du 11.02.43 signée par Bischoff et adressée à la Topf Indienant (passage souligné en rouge) "En outre, [il manque] 1 moteur de 7,5CV pour la boufferie d'application d'air N° 550 destinée à la cave C II [le ventiaire]". Document 7: Verso of page 87 of BW 30/34, letter of 11th February 1942 signed by Bischoff and addressed to Messrs. Topf, indicating [passage underlined in red] -on addition a 7.5 HP motor for air extractor blower No. 550 for Leichenkeller II [in also missing]. 360 ===== PDF PAGE 0353 | page-353.md ===== Document 7a: [P.M.O., BW 30.34, page 84] Abschrift. J.A. Topf & Söhne. Erfurt, den 12.2.45. Eingang 14.2.43 An die Zentral-Bauloitung der Waffen- und Polizei Auschwitz Betr: Krematorium II und III KGL. 8.30 KGL Anschr. hoa. Unsere Abteilung B IV. Prf. Den Eingang Ihres Telegramms vom 10.d.M., lautend: "Für Krematorium III KGL 5mal Dreimuffelöfen wird der bereits geläutigte Auftrag der gesamten Anschineneinrichtung einschließlich 2 Stück endgültigen elektrischen Leichen- aufzügen und einen provisorischen kurzfristig lieferbaren Leichennauftrag sowie einer praktischen Kohlenbeschickung und Aschetransportvorrichtung nochmals bestätigt. Sie haben daher die Anlage K III komplett zu liefern und zu erstellen. Es wird daher erwartet, dass nunmehr alles darangsetzt wird dass die Lieferung der gesamten Aschenanteile sofort fertig- gestellt und zum Versand gebracht wird. Die Inbetriebnahme der Gesamtanlage muss bestimmt 10 4 43 erfolgen Brieffolge" bestätigen wir hiermit. Hierzu möchten wir bemerken, dass die Lieferung der 5 Dreimuffel-öfen, wie schon mit unserem Herrn Oberingenieur Prüfer abgesprochen, bestimmt am 20. Jahr erfolgt. Die Bestätigung des Auftrages über die 2 elek- trischen Leichenaufzüge sowie über den Demag-Aufzug folgt noch. Für die Kohlenbeschickungs- und Aschetransport-Vorrichtung bringt Ihnen unser Herr Prüfer, der am Montag, den 15.d.M. nachmittags dort eintrifft, geeignete Vorschläge, sowie Kostenausschlag mit. Ihre Drahtnachricht vom 11.d.M., lautend: "Absendet sofort auf Versandzeichen 6 2 47 nicht angegebene Gebläse 450 mit 7,5 PS Motor für 1 Keller I und Motor 7,5 PS für Abluftgebläse Nr. 550 für 1 Keller II da andern- falls Anlage nicht in Betrieb genommen werden kann" bestätigen wir hiermit ebenfalls und teilen Ihnen dazu mit: Gebläse Nr. 450 ist am 8.11.42 zum Versand gekommen und das Gebläse Nr. 450 (Holzgebläse) am 25.1.43. Zu letzterem Ge- bläse fehlte noch der 7,5-PS-Motor, den wir neben versehieden- tlich - telefonisch und telegrafisch - bei unserem Lieferwerk angemahnt haben. Daher haben wir uns entschlossen, vorerst einen 10-SS-Motor mit der gleichen Dreimahlper Hilgut nach dort zum Versand zu bringen. Dieser Motor könnte dann später noch ausgetauscht werden. Diese Teilnahme haben wir getroffen, damit die Inbetriebnahme der Anlage durch das Fehlen des Motors nicht infragegestellt wird. Heil Hitler! J.A. Topf & Söhne pos. gem. 2 Unterschriften. Anmerkung auf d. Originalbrief F Nach Angabe des Unterschaffens des Gebläse nicht mitgesandt sondern Gebläse Nr. 375, gem. Zährling 14.2.43. Verteiler: 1 -Hautl. Jausch 1 -Hautl. Kirsche & Z. Zährling 1 -Hautl. Kirsche 1 -ZA Zährling COPY J.A. Topf & Sons Erfurt, 12.2.43 Received 14.2.43 To the Waffen-SS and Police Central Construction Management Auschwitz Subject: Krematorien II and III POW camp Our section D IV Prüfer We acknowledge receipt of your telegram of 10th instant, reading: «For Krematorium III of the POW camp with 5 three-muffle furnaces, the order already confirmed for the complete mechanical installations, including 2 permanent corpse lifts and one provisional corpse hoist to be delivered rapidly, as well as a practical installation for delivering coal and removing ash is again confirmed. You are thus to supply and fit the complete K III installation. We now trust that everything will be done to ensure that the mechanical components are manufactured immediately and dispatched to the site. It is essential that the complete installation come into service by 10th April 1943. Letter follows.» In this regard we would point out that the delivery of the 5 three-muffle furnaces, as agreed with our chief engineer Mr. Prüfer will be made without fail on 20th March. Confirmation of the contract concerning the 2 electric corpse lifts and the Demag goods hoist will follow. As regards the coal delivery and ash removal installation, Mr. Prüfer, who will arrive there in the afternoon of Monday, 15th of the this month, will bring you suitable proposals and a quotation. We also confirm receipt of your cable of 11th instant, reading: «Send immediately 450 blower with 3.5 HP motor for C-cellar I and 7.5 HP motor for air extractor blower 550 for C-cellar II not appearing on consignment note of 6.2.43, otherwise the installation cannot be put into service.» and would state on this subject: The No. 450 blower was dispatched on 8.11.42 and the No. 450 [error : it should be 550] (wooden blower) on 25.1.43. For this latter blower the 7.5 HP motor was still lacking and we have requested this in different ways - by telephone and telegraph - from our supplier. We have therefore taken the decision while awaiting delivery so send to you by express a 10 HP motor with the same speed of rotation. This motor can then be changed subsequently. We have taken this decision in order that the bringing into service of the installation should not be compromised by the lack of a motor. Heil Hitler! J.A. Topf & Sons two signatures [handwritten]: Verified Janisch Remark on the original letter: According to the filter Messing, this was not sent, but a blower No. 375. Signed Jährling, 14.2.43. Distribution: 1 SS-Second Lieutenant Janisch 1 SS-Second Lieutenant Kirschneck 1 Civilian employee Jährling 361 ===== PDF PAGE 0354 | page-354.md ===== Document 8: [PMO neg. no. 20922/1] Drawing 980, scale 1:100 Drawn by SS Sergeant Ulmer checked by SS Second Lieutenant Dejaco on 3rd February 1942 and approved by SS Captain Bischoff on 7th February. Entwurf für das Krematorium/ crematorium project. Werksatz/roof frame. # Translation of inscriptions - Kaminverwahrung/ chimney flashing [inscribed below the collective chimney for the six furnaces]. - Sämtlich eingeschriebene Masse sind Rohbaumasse und sind vor Baubeginn zu überprüfen. - Unstimmigkeiten sind sofort zu melden!/All the dimensions given are raw figures and are to be checked before work begins. Any discrepancies are to be reported immediately! The figure lower right, 7015/IV, proves that this drawing was communicated to the Huta firm of Kattowitz, a civilian undertaking, who marked it with their own reference number, thus proving that the drawing was not «secret». ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) 362 ===== PDF PAGE 0355 | page-355.md ===== ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) Document 9 ![img-1.jpeg](img-1.jpeg) Document 10 Remarks on documents 9, 10, 11 and 12 [PMO reg. nos 993 to 996] In «AMIDST A NIGHTMARE OF CRIME» (Notes of prisoners of Sonderkommando found at Auschwitz), special issue of the Auschwitz Notebooks, PMO 1973, the unknown author relates on pages 120 and 122: «Today, November 25 [1944. Hammer is thought to have ordered the dismantling of the remaining Krematorien on the 29th], the demolition of crematorium II was begun, the next to be demolished will be crematorium III. It is interesting that first off all the ventilating motor [den gegen ventilatorischen Motor] the air-extraction motor] and pipes [air ducts] were dismantled and sent to [other] camps - some to Mauthausen, others to Gross-Rosen. Since they serve to gas people on a larger scale, as there were no mechanical appliances of that kind at all in crematoria IV and V, suspicion is aroused that on the terrain of those camps identical points for the extermination of Jews will be established.» ![img-2.jpeg](img-2.jpeg) Document 11 ![img-3.jpeg](img-3.jpeg) Document 11 Actually, the reasons for this dismantling appear to be other than those invoked by the unknown author: a desire to remove all traces of the massacres and the urgent need to recover metals in view of the catastrophic military situation. What is more, the description of the ventilation system given by this witness can apply only to the undressing rooms. Henryk Tauber says that the dismantling commenced in autumn [end November] 1944 and that the dismantled components were taken to the station and shipped off and that some of the material was abandoned on the Auschwitz I «Bauhof» and found intact in 1945. He recognised «parts of the ventilation system». These were from of the undressing rooms, since those of the gas chambers in Krematorien II and III were of a different design. These two witnesses indicate that the SS had the ventilation systems of Leichenkeller 2 of Krematorien II and III dismantled at the end of November 1944. This proves that the systems had indeed been installed. 363 ===== PDF PAGE 0356 | page-356.md ===== Only the smallest ventilation outlet still remained to be explained. Fortunately, the Bauleitung spelled out its requirements precisely. A letter of 22nd October 1941 [Document 24] referring to a conversation between Bischoff and Prüfer [Topf chief engineer] on the plan to build ONE new Krematorium - at the Stammlager and not at Birkenau - which was to become the prototype for the future Krematorien II and III, speaks of the «installation of air extraction systems in the TWO corpse cellars, the dissecting room and the furnace room». The last air outlet was therefore to ventilate the dissecting room. In fact, according to Messing [Document 6 and his time-hours, Document 27], this ventilation served both the dissecting room AND the washing and laying out room, which was in practice systematically used as an additional morgue and place for «knocking people over» with small calibre pistols. Thus all the ventilation systems of Krematorien II and III were now clearly defined. It remained only to locate the blower motors and verify that my assumptions were correct. Two years of disjointed and difficult research can be summed up in the simple schematic diagram of Document 25. It is probably definitive. During the compilation of the French version of the «Album d'Auschwitz», published by Editions du Seuil in November 1983, I was responsible among other things for the annexes on Krematorien II, III, IV and V. On the explanatory photograph of Krematorium III [Document 26] that I proposed there, the ventilation outlets for the gas chamber and the furnace room are inverted with respect to Document 25. I had located them like that on the basis of the proximity of the chimneys and the evacuation ducts. The hot air duct from the furnace room was attached to the closest outlet. For the diagram in document 25, I took account of the sections of the outlets and the associated ducts in relation to the volume of the rooms to be ventilated, a principle I shall also use for the allocating the extractor fan motors of different sizes. The ranking of the volumes of the rooms concerned, from the biggest to the smallest, is as follows: furnace room; undressing room; gas chamber; dissecting, washing and laying out rooms. The outlets are all 50cm wide, but are of different lengths: 84, 80, 70, and 30 cm, and this classification shows which outlet corresponds to which room. The Leichenkeller 1/gas chamber evacuation ducts are of a uniform 50 x 50 section in the underground parts and those external to the building, but change to 70 x 50 at the junction of the two lower evacuation ducts and keep this same section all the way through the Krematorium to the 70 x 50 outlet. This additional evidence reinforces the layout shown in Document 25. Towards the end of October 1983, at the end of what I thought was to be my last study visit to the Auschwitz Museum archives, having finished my research on virtually all the known documents concerning the Krematorien, I asked the archivist Tadeusz Iwaszko, who had become a friend in the course of my different stays, to let me «really» visit his archives. Documents are normally consulted in a room next to his office and he brings them on request and takes them away once they have been studied. I wanted to see the place where they were stored. Having agreed to my request, he explained that on the first floor of Block 24 where the Archives Service was installed, there had been the camp brothel in the time of the concentration camp. Favoured prisoners, pre-eminent people, Capos and Vorarbeiter of all sorts had access through tickets or various gifts that they «organised». For a few minutes they were allowed their slice of seventh heaven with women prisoner partners, forced to exercise this «profession». The meetings took place in six small rooms whose doors had peepholes enabling the SS responsible for the smooth operation of this «house», to watch what was going on. ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) Document 13: [PMO microfilm 205/44] Sketch by David Olère dated 1946, which appeared in «Le Droit de Vivre» [The Right to Live], the LICA Journal, of 15th February 1964, 31st year, No. 316, page 3. «Undressing room of Krematorium III» [west-east view]. Above left is the air extraction duct of Leichkeller 2. The air intakes should be more numerous than shown on this drawing. The duct did not go up through the ceiling on the extreme left as shown, but extended to the west entrance of the room. At the far end it terminated in the «Vorraum» [ventilate] and then rose vertically to join the other air extraction ducts and go to the main air evacuation chimney. In Leichenkeller 2 of Krematorium II it was upper right. The clothes hooks and the benches from along the walls and round the central pillars were found in the Bauhof in 1945 and were as drawn by David Olère. 364 ===== PDF PAGE 0357 | page-357.md ===== Document 14 ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) Document 15 ![img-1.jpeg](img-1.jpeg) ![img-2.jpeg](img-2.jpeg) Document 15a Inscription on the plan of Krematorium II[15a] Position of the photographer for documents 14 and 15 Document 16 ![img-3.jpeg](img-3.jpeg) Document 14: [Photo by the author] View of Leichenkeller 2 of Krematorium II, looking east- west and taken from above the «Vorraum». At the far end is the access stairway [labelled -escalier d'accès-]. In the foreground an upright marker brick placed by the author. Document 15: [Photo by the author] In front and to the left of the brick is a hole whose position with respect to Leichenkeller 2 can be seen. Document 16: [Photo by the author] Oblique view of the circular opening. Document 17: [Photo by the author] Close up view of the opening in the ceiling, with the brick removed. Document 18: [Photo by the author] View from above of the circular opening through which passed the air extraction duct of the Leichenkeller 2/unders- ting room of Krematorium II. Its diameter is about 25cm. Document 17 ![img-4.jpeg](img-4.jpeg) ![img-5.jpeg](img-5.jpeg) Document 18 365 ===== PDF PAGE 0358 | page-358.md ===== # Document 19: [Photo by the author] Steel and wire mesh entrance gate to Krematorium III. In the background, in front of the trees, are the ruins of the building. On the right are the remains of the collapsed roof of the furnace room. The steps on the left are not original and belong to the monument erected in the memory of the victims of Birkenau. ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) ![img-1.jpeg](img-1.jpeg) # Document 21: [Photo by the author] The hot air evacuation opening above furnace 2 of Krematorium III. ![img-2.jpeg](img-2.jpeg) ![img-3.jpeg](img-3.jpeg) # Document 20: [Photo by the author] East-west view of the collapsed roof. The five rectangular openings served to evacuate the heat generated by the five three-muffle furnaces, one opening per furnace. # Document 22: [Photo by the author] The hot air evacuation opening above furnace 1 of Krematorium III. 366 ===== PDF PAGE 0359 | page-359.md ===== In these cells, the women have now been replaced by shelves loaded with files. The visit began. Iwaszko carefully explained the content of each one. There were many files, but in view of the activity of the camp and its great size, it was obvious that there remains only a small part of what must have been an enormous amount of paper. We examined five cells whose subjects were not connected with my work, except that in one there was a file on the consumption of wood and coke by the Krematorien. The sixth cell was that of the «Bauleitung» and here I found the drawings over which I had sweated so often. I at last discovered the system under which the documents and drawings concerned with the Krematorien were classified. Each document or set of documents is catalogued under the initial designation BW 30/ [i.e. «worksite 30» the Bauleitung designation of the Krematorien] followed by a catalogue number. BW 30/1 to BW 30/34 contain the drawings of the Krematorien. BW 30/25 to 30/31 and 30/34 contain correspondence, orders and various other papers that have been found concerned with the construction of these buildings. I checked, for the principle of the thing, to make sure that I knew the main files, going through them to identify them. On the middle shelf where the BW 30 files were arranged, I found two that were carefully boxed and tied, marked in black letters Glowna Komisja Badania Zbrodni Hitlerowskich W Polsce [Central Commission for the Investigation of Hitlerite Crimes in Poland] that I had never seen. I took them and put them on small table that had been placed there to facilitate handling the documents. The open boxes revealed twelve small files, ten catalogued BW 30/32 to 42, plus 30/32 A and 30/34 A. Seeing my surprise, mixed with a certain suppressed irritation, Iwaszko assured me that he had received them only two months earlier [1]. After quickly checking to see whether there was anything new among the fourteen drawings of the BW 30/34 A, I came across the timesheets of Messing, a Topf fitter. Messing had noted, week by week, the details of the work of installing all the ventilation in Krematorien II and III. His records confirm what I had been trying to prove for two years. Obviously, the «Auskleidekeller/undressing cellars» struck us immediately. The visit had to end there because I had little time to look over everything before returning to France. I never finished visiting the archives... I bet Iwaszko a bottle of (Romanian) champagne that these new files would reveal «traces/slips» with «Gas-». By the time the archives closed I had found a «Gasskammer» [gas chamber] in BW 30/38 and asked for it to be sent to me in microfilm form as soon as possible, which was done. As for the champagne, our schedules being so tight, it became purely symbolic. These «rediscovered» files are extremely important. They contain eleven «slips» by civilian employees participating in the construction of the Krematorien. What is more, the timesheets [Document 27], brought further evidence regarding the already accusatory significance of a Bauleitung telegram [Document 28] urgently requesting Topf to supply «10 Gasprüfer/10 gas detectors» for BW 30 [Krematorium II]. I call «slips», the fact that a civilian working in an underground morgue there Leichenkeller 2) of an apparently normal cremation installation can write instead of «L-keller 2», «Auskleidekeller 2» [undressing cellar], which means that he had understood and knew very well what the purpose of this installation was. He was prudent, however, and did not have the courage to go all the way and call Leichenkeller 1 «Geskeller 1» or «Vergasungskeller 1». Messing's timesheets are the best documents found on the ventilation installations in Krematorien II and III. They cover in particular the period during which Krematorium II was unofficially brought into service. Messing was the kingpin in this work. Gassing would not have been possible in an underground gas chamber without a proper ventilation system. The beginning of the industrial extermination programme depended directly on his work. ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) Document 23: [PMO seg. no. 291] THE FURNACE ROOM OF KREMATORIUM II, END JANUARY 1943 looking west-east. At the far end on the right is the corridor from which a staircase led to the roof space and at the end of which was the room known as «prisoners rest room» where Dr. Nyiszli and his assistants were housed in summer 1944. The hot air evacuation openings are indicated above furnaces 2, 3, 4 and 5, that of furnace I being hidden by a supporting beam. These openings were connected to a duct leading to the main ventilation chimney. It is impossible to state whether this was the first or second opening at the east end, the other opening being the gas chamber noxious air outlet. David Olère relates that when the members of the Sonderkommando were made to live in the roof space of Krematorien II and III, the favourite places to sleep were along the ducting, because of the heat given off. This photograph was already famous at the time. Pery Broad speaks of it: «Krematorien I [ii] and II [iii] were fitted with 15 furnaces each able to take four or five corpses. The Auschwitz camp Bauleitung was so proud of its work that a collection of photos of the Krematorien was publicly exhibited in the vestibule of its main building. It had been entirely forgotten that the civilians who were going in and out past a close up picture of 15 cremation furnaces neatly aligned one beside the other might have been inclined to reflect less about the technical capabilities of the Bauleitung and much more about some of the more dubious institutions of the Third Reich. It is true that Grabner soon intervened and quickly put an end to this singular propaganda, but he could not prevent the Bauleitung from employing civilian workers who, naturally, were perfectly familiar with the Krematorium equipment. When they left the camp they told all that they had seen.» *** 367 ===== PDF PAGE 0360 | page-360.md ===== Document 24: Translation of the photocopy of page 116 of PMO file BW 30/34 [Krematorium II und III/BW 30 und 30a-, Schottbewechsel Buchstab 215 (microfilm 1060)]. Abschrift 22.04.1941 116 Bftge.-Nr. 715 7/41 Ho. Betr.: Bestellung von Topf-Breimuffelöfen, Saugzuganlagen und Müllverbrennungsöfen. Bezug: Besprechung zwischen den hies. Bauleiter K. Bischoff und Ihren Herrn Prüfer Anlg.: - - - Firma I. Topf u. Söhne Erfurt Die Bauleitung der Waffen- und Polizei Auschwitz nimmt Bezug auf die Unterredung zwischen Ih en Herrn Prüfer und dem hiesigen Bauleiter K. Bischoff und erteilt Ihnen Auftrag auf: 5 Stk. Topf - Breimuffelöfen mit Druckluftanlage 2 Stk. Topf - Saugzuganlagen für ca. je 10 000 cbm Abgase je 1 Stk. Topf - Müllverbrennungsöfen. In den Öfen liefern Sie die gesamte Chamotte und Isoliermaterialien sowie alle gusseisernen Teile, die Rohrleitung und die Druckluftgebläse, seitens der hies. Bauleitung werden die zu den Öfen gehörenden Baumaterialien wie Ziegelsbeine, Sand, Kalk und Zement und die schmiedeeisernen Verankerungen geliefert. Für die Bestellung wird um Ihren ausführlichen Kostenanschlag gebeten, dessen Preise dann dieses Auftrag zugrunde gelegt werden. Erwünscht ist weiterhin noch ein Kostenanschlag über die Entlüftungsanlage in den beiden Leichenkellern, Seiser- und Ofenraum. In das Projekt dringend ist, wird gebeten, die Zeichnungen für das Ofenfundament und der sonstigen Kanäle sofort anzufertigen und der Bauleitung innerhalb 14 Tagen auszustellen. Die Lieferung der o unerwähnten Teile zu den Öfen muss innerhalb 3 Monaten geschehen. In ca 6 Wochen stellen Sie der hiesigen Bauleitung einen Ihrer Konteure zur Verfügung, der die Fundamentarbeiten überwacht. 2 Pläne über das Projekt wurden Ihrem Herrn Prüfer bereits ausgehändigt. Nach diesen Plänen müssen Sie der Bauleitung die Angaben über die erforderlichen Schornsteinquerschnitte und Höhen bekanntgeben. ges. Unterschrift F. Wofel Kirschneck COPY Correspondence register no 715 7/41 Ho. 22nd October 1941 Subject: Order for three-muffle Topf furnaces, suction type forced draught installation and waste incinerators. Reference: Conversation between our Director of construction K. Bischoff and your Mr. Prüfer. Enclosure: — Messrs. J. Topf & Sons, Erfurt The Auschwitz Waffen-SS and Police Construction Management, referring to the conversation between your Mr. Prüfer and our construction Director K. Bischoff, hereby orders: - 5 Topf three-muffle furnaces with pulsed air installations - 2 Topf suction-type forced draught installations, each of approximately 10 000 m3 per hour - 1 Topf waste incinerator. With the furnaces you are to deliver all the refractory and insulating materials, as well as all cast iron components, ducting and pulsed air components. The Construction Management here will supply the other materials necessary for building the furnaces, such as bricks, sand, lime and cement and the wrought iron anchoring components. For this order we would ask you to furnish a detailed quotation whose prices will be the basis for the contract. We should also like a quotation for air extraction systems for the two corpse cellars, the dissecting room and the furnace room. This project being urgent, we would ask you to immediately draw the plans for the foundation of the furnaces and associated flues and channels and submit these drawings to the Bauleitung within 14 days. The furnace components listed above shall be delivered within three months. In about 8 weeks you shall make available to our Bauleitung one of your fitters who will supervise the building of the foundations. Mr. Prüfer has already been given two drawings concerning this project. On the basis of these drawings, you are to furnish the Bauleitung with data concerning the required section and height of the chimney. Signature For Second-Lieutenant Janish [copy of BW 30/27] For Second-Lieutenant Kirschneck [copy of BW 30/34] There are two copies of this letter, one for Janisch, the other for Kirschneck, both Bauleitung Untersturmführer (SS Second Lieutenant). The respective references of these letters are: - BW 30/27, page 27; - BW 30/34, page 116, microfilm 1060. This letter is the first concerning the installation of what was to become the future Birkenau Krematorium II, but was at that time planned as a new Krematorium at the main camp. No «criminal premeditation» can be attributed to the ventilation, since it concerns BOTH corpse cellars, the dissecting room and the furnace room. 368 ===== PDF PAGE 0361 | page-361.md ===== ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) ![img-1.jpeg](img-1.jpeg) Document 25: Definitive diagram of the ventilation chimneys established on the basis of all known evidence. # THE VENTILATION CHIMNEYS OF KREMATORIUM II (all dimensions in centimetres) - Entrée d'air frais pour la chambre à gaz ou Leichenkeller 1/ Fresh air intake for the gas chamber or Leichenkeller 1 - Désaération de l'air vicié de la chambre à gaz/ Outlet for noxious air from the gas chamber Sortie d'air chaud de la salle des fours/ Outlet for hot air from the furnace room - Désaération des salles de lavage, d'autopsie et de mise en bière/ Outlet from the washing, dissecting and laying out rooms - Désaération du vestiaire ou Leichenkeller 2/ Outlet from the undressing room or Leichenkeller 2 Document 26: PMO photograph Neg. No. 20995/507, annotated by the author and published on page 215 of «L'Album d'Auschwitz», Editions du Seuil, 1983. West and South aspect of Krematorium III or BW 30a in June 1943 (handed over in working order on 25th June 1943) - Chambre à gaz souterraine ou Leichenkeller 1 du Kr III avec orifices de versement du Zyclon-B/ Underground gas chamber or Leichenkeller 1 of Krematorium III with orifices for pouring in Zyclon-B - Porte latérale donnant sur la glissière à cadavres/ Side door leading to the corpse shute - Entrée d'air pour la chambre à gaz/ Air intake for the gas chamber - Sortie d'air du vestiaire/ Undressing room air outlet - Sortie d'air salle d'autopsie/ Dissecting room air outlet - Sortie d'air vicié de la chambre à gaz/ Gas chamber noxious air outlet - Sortie d'air chaud de la salle des fours/ Furnace room hot air outlet - Cheminée collective du Kr III/ Collective chimney of Krematorium III - Cokerie/ Coke store - Portail d'entrée sur la cour/ Yard entrance gates - Vestiaire souterrain ou Leichenkeller 2 du Kr III/ Underground undressing room or Leichenkeller 2 of Krematorium III - Salle d'autopsie/ Dissecting room - Escalier d'accès des SS au sous-sol/ Stairway for SS access to the basement - Entrée officielle du Krematorium/ Official entrance to the Krematorium - Salle du four à ordures/ Waste incinerator room 369 ===== PDF PAGE 0362 | page-362.md ===== Document 27. Extracts from PMO [for BW 30/41] # VENTILATION SYSTEM INSTALLATION WORK IN KREMATORIEN II and III CARRIED OUT BY MESSING, A TOPF & SONS FITTER, BETWEEN 15TH JANUARY AND 9TH JUNE 1943 The translation of Messing's «TIMESHEETS» is literal. The term «L-Keller» is rendered as «C-cellar» to better convey the abbreviation used in the German for «Leichenkeller/europe cellar» and emphasize - 04/05.01: Reise. - 05/10.01: Montagen d. Stiegtag-Anlagen in Krematorium. - 11/17.01: Transport und Montage der 3 Stiegtag-Anlagen im Krematorium I.(II) - 18/24.01: Stiegtag- Anlagen im Krematorium I. K.O.L. montiert. (Kr II) - 25/31.01: Stiegtag u. Be u. Entlüftungsanlagen. 5 Stück Sekundärgebläse für die 5 Designuffeichen montiert. Transport des Materials. - 01/07.02: Sekundärgebläse für die fünf designuffeichen montiert. - 08/14.02: Bauwerk 30b. Im Krematorium IV Ofenverzirkierung gesch... und garneid ergänzt. Ablaufgebläse für L.Keller I. Ablaufgebläse für Wasch 50a. u. Aufladmungsraum montiert Krematorium II. Bauwerk 30. - 15/21.02: Entlüftungsgebläse Ofenraum Entlüftungsanlage fertig montiert. - 22/28.02: Krematorium IV. Eisenteile für Verankerung garneid ergänzt. Krematorium II. Entlüftungsgebläse für den L.Keller I aufmontiert. An der Entlüftungsleitung für L.Keller II gearbeitet. - 04/05.01: Travel. - 05/10.01: Fitting of suction-type forced draught installations [on the smoke lines] in the Krematorium. - 11/17.01: Transport and fitting of three suction-type forced draught installations in Krematorium I (II). - 18/24.01: Erection of forced draught installations in Krematorium I (II) of PWO camp [Birkensu]. - 25/31.01: Fitting forced draught, ventilation and air extraction installations. Fitting 5 secondary blowers [lateral] for the five three-muffle furnaces. Transport of material. - 01/07.02: Fitting of the secondary blowers for the five three-muffle furnaces. - 08/14.02: Worksite 30b in Krematorium IV furnace anchoring [word illegible] and totally completed. Air extractor fan for C-cellar I. Air extractor fan for the washing, dissecting and laying out rooms fitted. Krematorium II worksite 30. - 15/21.02: Finished fitting the extractor fan for the furnace room ventilation installation. - 22/28.02: Krematorium IV, iron anchoring pieces fully completed. Krematorium II, air extractor fan for C-cellar I refitted. Work on the air extraction duct for C-cellar II [PMO [for BW 30/34, page 48] | | | | Telegramm | B.W. 30 | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Anschr.: | | Topfwerke Erfurt | | | | Text: | Abwandet sofort 10 Gasgrüßer wie besprochen. | | | | | | | Kostienangebot später nachweichen. | | | | | | | Zentralbeurteilung Auschwitz | | | | | | gez. Pollok | | | | | | SS-Untersturmführer | | | 26.2.43 | 18.20 | Unstuf Kirschneck | Jäh. | | - 01/07.03: Zu den Be und Entlüftungs Anlagen für LI Dreiklappen eingebaut. Die Anlagen in Betrieb genommen. B.W. 30. - 08/14.03: B.W. 30. Entlüftungs-Leitung für Auskleidekeller montiert. Be u. Entlüftungs Anlagen für L.Keller I, versuchsweise einprobiert. Entlüftungs-Anlagen Auskleidekeller gearbeitet. Be u. Entlüftungsanlagen Keller I in Betrieb genommen. Entlüftungsleitung für Auskleidekeller II gearbeitet. - 15/21.03: Entlüftungs-Anlagen für L.Keller II montiert. B.W. 30. - 22/28.03: Bauwerk 30. Entlüftungsverinlator vom Auskleidekeller umgearbeitet und Blechrohrleitung verleght. - 29/31.03: (Bauwerk 30) Krematorium II. Entlüftungsanlagen Auskleidekeller verlegt. - 01/04.04: Bauwerk 30a. Entlüftungs-Anlage für Ofenraum im Krematorium III montiert. - 05/11.04: Bauwerk 30a. Ofenraum Entlüftungsanlage. Belüftungsgebläse für L.Keller I montiert. - 12/18.04: Bauwerk 30. Fuhrstuhl repariert. Bauwerk 30a. Entlüftungs-Anlagen für Auskleidekeller montiert. Entlüftungsableitung für Ofenraum Dreinölklappen eingebaut. - 19/22.04: Entlüftungs-Anlage am Auskleidekeller Bauwerk 30a montiert. - 23/26.04: ( gas d'atestation de temps de travail) - 27/6/2.5 : Entlüftungsanlagen im Bauwerk 30a sowie Gebläse montiert. (27/30.04) Nationaler Feiertuf 1 Mai. (01 et 02.05) - 03/09.05: Bauwerk 30a. Ent. u. Entlüftungsanlagen. Gebläse für Sevier-Wasch u. Aufladmungsraum montiert. - 10/16.05: Bauwerk 30a. Be. und Entlüftungsanlagen montiert. Bauwerk 30. Entlüftungsgebläse für K.I. ausgewechselt. - 17/23.05: Bauwerk 30a. Auftrag montiert. - 24/30.05: Teste identique à l'attestation - 31.05.14: précédente ou suivante, non relevé. - 01/06.06: Montage des Aufrages im Krematorium III Bauwerk 30a. - 07/09.06: Fertigstellung des Aufrages im Krematorium III Bauwerk 30a. - 10/11.06: Rückreise nach Erfurt. | | | Telegram | Worksite 30 | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Address: Topfwerke Erfurt | | | | | Text: Send immediately 10 gas detectors as arranged verbally. Quote to follow later. | | | | | Auschwitz Central Construction Management | | | | | Signed Pollok | | | | | SS Second Lieutenant | | | | | 26.2.43 | 18.20 SS Second Lieutenant Kirschneck | Jäh[ring, Civilian worker] | | - 01/07.03: Worksite 30 butterfly valves installed in ventilation and extraction installations for C.I. These installations put into service. - 08/14.03: Worksite 30. Air extraction ducts for undressing cellar fitted. Test operation of ventilation and extraction installations for C-cellar I. Work on the air extraction installations for the undressing cellar. Ventilation and extraction installations of cellar I brought into service (13.3.43). Work on the air extraction duct for undressing cellar I. - 15/21.03: Fitting air extraction installations for C-cellar I. Worksite 30. - 22/28.03: Worksite 30. Air extractor fan for undressing cellar modified and steel duct refitted. - 29/31.03: (Worksite 30) Krematorium II. Fitted the air extraction installations for undressing cellar. - 01/04.04: Worksite 30a. Air extraction installation for the furnace room for Krematorium III fitted. - 05/11.04: Worksite 30a. Air extraction installation for the furnace room. Fitting extractor fan for C-cellar I. - 12/18.04: Worksite 30. Repaired lift. Worksite 30a. Air extraction installations for the undressing cellar fitted. Air extraction duct for the furnace rooms. Insertion of butterfly valves. - 19/22.04: Fitting air extraction installation in the undressing cellar of Worksite 30a. - 23/26.04: (No timesheets). - 27/6/2.5 : Fitting air extraction installations and fan at Worksite 30a. 1st May national holiday (1st and 2nd May). - 03/09.05: Worksite 30a. Ventilation and extraction installations. Ventilator fan for washing, dissecting and laying out rooms fitted. - 10/16.05: Worksite 30a. Ventilation and the extraction installations. Worksite 30. Extractor fan for C.I changed. - 17/23.05: Worksite 30a. Lift fitted. - 24/30.05: Test identical to previous - 31.05.14:1 or following, not copied. - 01/06.06: Fitting Krematorium III lift, Worksite 30a. - 07/09.06: Completion of Krematorium III lift, Worksite 30a. - 10/11.06: Return journey to Erfurt. 370 ===== PDF PAGE 0363 | page-363.md ===== ## COMMENTS Messing worked successively on the following tasks [the terms have been simplified and «Leichenkeller 1 and 2» have been replaced by «gas chamber» and «undressing room» respectively, the terms designating their true function]: 1. 1. Fitting 3 forced draught installations alongside the collective chimney of Krematorium II. 2. 2. Fitting 5 pulsed air blowers, one on the side of each of the 5 furnaces of Krematorium II. 3. 3. Fitting the extractor fan for the gas chamber of Krematorium II. 4. 4. Fitting the extractor fan for the dissecting, washing and laying out rooms of Krematorium II. 5. 5. Fitting an air extractor fan in the furnace room of Krematorium II. 6. 6. Fitting an air extraction duct in the undressing room of Krematorium II. 7. 7. Testing the ventilation and air extraction installations of the gas chamber of Krematorium II [10th and 11th March]. 8. 8. Bringing into service the ventilation system of the Krematorium II gas chamber [13th March]. 9. 9. Installing the air extractor fan and duct in the undressing room of Krematorium II. 10. 10. Fitting the air extraction system of the Krematorium III furnace room. 11. 11. Fitting the extractor fan for the Krematorium III gas chamber. 12. 12. Repair of the Krematorium II lift. 13. 13. Finish fitting the ventilation system for the undressing room of Krematorium III. 14. 14. Fitting the extractor fan for the dissecting, washing and laying out rooms of Krematorium III. 15. 15. Changing the extractor fan of the Krematorium II gas chamber. 16. 16. Fitting Krematorium III lift. Henryk Tauber, a former member of the Sonderkommando of Krematorium II, testified that: On 4th March 1943, he and his companions lit the hearths of the five furnaces in the morning and kept them going until 4 pm. Then 45 gassed victims, well fleshed, brought from Bunker 2 were incinerated, three per muffle in the 15 muffles of Krematorium II. The operation took 40 minutes and was carried out in the presence of members of the political section of the camp, high-ranking SS officers and civilians and Topf engineers. The furnaces were kept going for ten days, without any further cremations. In the evening of Sunday 14th March, 1500 Cracow Jews were gassed in Leichenkeller 1 after having undressed in a provisional undressing hut erected in the yard of Krematorium II. The dates given by Tauber and those of Messing's timesheets coincide perfectly. The originals [Documents 29 to 33], were filled in in green pencil by Messing. His working days were very long, eleven hours on average. On Sunday he worked only eight hours, but counted double. On 10th March, at the beginning of the «tests» on Leichenkeller 1, he worked sixteen hours, and on the 13th, when the installation came into service, fifteen hours. These are the longest days worked during the five months he spent at Auschwitz. It is now easy to understand why — the SS were in a terrible hurry. It is likely that Messing filled in his timesheets not every day, but at the end of the week. He does not use the term «Auskleidekeller» until after 8th March (or 14th if he filled in his timesheets on the Sunday), as soon as the function of Leichenkeller 2 became obvious to him. The provisional undressing hut in the yard was used only until Messing finished his work in Leichenkeller 2, when it became redundant and was dismantled. I have no idea what Messing must have thought as he was installing the motors, blowers, valves and ducts of the ventilation systems [Document 34]. After 15th March he could not have any doubts about the final destination of his work. As the first civilian witness of large scale gassing he must have spoken about it to his family and friends on his return to Erfurt. The telegram of 26th February 1943 proves that Topf & Sons were very much involved in the technical implementation of the gassing system. Compromising themselves with the SS is what they did «by order» and, what is even worse, solely for commercial gain, resulted in 1945 in the suicide of the managing Director, Ludwig Topf Junior whose «nerves had gone to pieces» [Weimar State Archives, Bestand Topf & Sons No. 2/555, Aktennotiz of 11th October 1945] and the arrest by the Russians, in the afternoon of 4th March 1946, of Kurt Prüfer, head of the D.IV. or cremation installations, division of this firm [same source, Aktennotiz registered on 24th April 1946]. In conclusion, a civilian not employed by KL Auschwitz, in his timesheets, FIVE times called Leichenkeller 2 [i.e. one of the underground morgues] of Krematorium II and TWICE that of Krematorium III the «undressing cellar». The chronology of his work confirms that the 10 GAS DETECTORS requested for Krematorium II were used to test the ventilation of its gas chamber. ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) The telegram requesting immediate dispatch of 10 gas detectors. The inscriptions written in green ink are by Ing. Sachbearbeiter Jährling, a civilian heating engineer attached to the technical section of the Bauleitung and in charge of the documentation concerning Krematorium construction. As from January 1943, he was responsible for putting in order the correspondence concerning these buildings under the overall responsibility, it would appear, of Ustuf Kirschneck. It is Jährling who calculated the (theoretical coke) consumption of the Krematorien, making a mistake which earned him a reprimand from Kirschneck. This telegram, standing out from the other BW 30/34 documents, was an *enigma*. Why would the Bauleitung ask for an 10 GAS DETECTORS from Topf, A FURNACE MANUFACTURER? Topf was neither Degesch nor Tesch und Stabenow, manufacturers and distributors of Zyclon-B. Two solutions were possible: detection of the products of combustion, such as CO or CO$_{2}$, in the furnace room, or residual presence of HCN in the Krematorium II (BW 30) gas chamber. The timesheets make it possible to understand the exact significance of this telegram. On 24th and 25th February 1943, Messing was refitting an air extractor fan for Leichenkeller 1. The gas chamber appears to be operational. SS Second Lieutenant Kirschneck on the evening of the 26th sends a telegram for the immediate dispatch of «Gasprüfer» to an enterprise specialised in the manufacture of furnaces and boilers. Topf will necessarily have to sub-contract this order. Between 1st and 7th March Messing completes all the installations of Leichenkeller 1. On 10th and 11th the «Gasprüfer» must have arrived, because they proceed to «tests». What tests? Surely determining the quantity of Zyclon-B to be used then, after ventilation, measuring the residual presence of toxic gas. By the 13th, everything is in order and the gas chamber is ready for work. On the evening of the 14th, it is inaugurated by 1500 Cracow Jews. This implacable and irrefutable sequence of events, putting in its proper context the little copy of the telegram sent on 26th February 1943 at 18.20 hours, demonstrates the guilt of Messrs Topf the preparation of the gas chambers and proves that the «10 Gasprüfer» are damning evidence in the demonstration of the existence of homicidal gas chambers in the Krematorien. 371 ===== PDF PAGE 0364 | page-364.md ===== ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) Document 29 ![img-1.jpeg](img-1.jpeg) Document 31 ![img-2.jpeg](img-2.jpeg) Document 30 ![img-3.jpeg](img-3.jpeg) Document 32 372 ===== PDF PAGE 0365 | page-365.md ===== ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) Document 33 ![img-1.jpeg](img-1.jpeg) Document 34 [PMO neg. no. 20995/506]. # Documents 29-33: Messing's timesheets Document 29: [Page 28 of BW 30/41]. Week from 8th to 14th March 1943: - BW 30 [Kr.II]. Entlüftungs-Leitung für AUSKLEIDEKELLER montiert. Worksite 30 [Kr.II]. Fitted the extraction duct for UNDRESSING CELLAR. - Be a. Entlüftungs-Anlagen für L-Keller I. versuchsweise einprobiert. Preliminary test of the ventilation and extraction installations for C cellar I. - Entlüftungs-Anlagen AUSKLEIDEKELLER gearbeitet. Work on the air extraction installations of the UNDRESSING CELLAR. - Be a. Entlüftungsanlagen Keller I in Betrieb genommen. Ventilation and extraction installations of cellar I brought into service [13th March 1943]. Entlüftungsleitung für AUSKLEIDEKELLER II gearbeitet. Work on the air extraction ducts for the UNDRESSING CELLAR 2. Document 30: [Page 26 of BW 30/41]. Week from 22nd to 28th March 1943: - Bauwerk 30. Entlüftungsventilator vom AUSKLEIDEKELLER umgearbeitet und Blechrohrleitung verlegt. Worksite 30 [Kr.II]. Modified the air extractor fan for the UNDRESSING CELLAR and refitted the steel duct. ![img-2.jpeg](img-2.jpeg) Document 34a View of the south side of Krematorium II as it neared completion in early or mid-January 1943. In the foreground on the right is Leichenkeller I, the future gas chamber, whose construction is complete but has not yet been hidden by the earth bank. The traps for introducing the Zyclon-B have not yet been installed. The skylights in the Krematorium roof are under construction, or is the collective ventilation chimney on the ridge of the roof. The separate ventilation chimney [fresh-air intake] of Leichenkeller I is completed and a man is working on the main ventilation chimney which has four air outlets. The furnaces are or have been working, as the snow has melted immediately above the furnace storm. It may be that the only worker who can be seen - a civilian to judge by his clothes - is Messing. Document 31: [Page 25 of BW 30/41]. 29th, 30th and 31st March 1943: - (Bauwerk 30) Krematorium II. Entlüftungsanlagen AUSKLEIDEKELLER verlegt. Worksite 30 Krematorium II. Refitted the air extraction installations of the UNDRESSING CELLAR. Document 32: [Page 11 of BW 30/41]. Week from 12th to 18th April 1943: - Bauwerk 30 [Kr.II]. Fahrstuhl repariert. Worksite 30 [Kr.II]. Repaired lift. - Bauwerk 30a [Kr.III]. Entlüftungs-Anlagen für AUSKLEIDEKELLER montiert. Worksite 30a [Kr.III]. Fitted the air extraction installations for the UNDRESSING CELLAR. - Entlüftungsableitung für Ofenraum. Air extraction duct for the furnace room. - Drosselklappen eingebaut. Inserted butterfly valves. Document 33: [Page 10 of BW 30/41]. 19th, 20th and 21st April 1943: - Entlüftungs-Anlagen im AUSKLEIDEKELLER Bauwerk 30a [Kr.III] montiert. Fitted the air extraction installation in the UNDRESSING CELLAR of Worksite 30 a [Kr.III]. 373 ===== PDF PAGE 0366 | page-366.md ===== # SIZES OF THE ELECTRIC MOTORS USED IN THE VARIOUS VENTILATION INSTALLATIONS OF KREMATORIEN II AND III # SOURCES : 1. [BW 30/34, p. 97] A request for missing equipment emanating from Messing and sent to Topf by SS Second Lieutenant Kirschneck 3rd February 1943 indicates: - Leichenkeller 1/gas chamber: 1 fresh air fan No. 450; - Leichenkeller 2/undressing room: 1 extractor fan No. 550; - Ofenraum/furnace room: 1 extractor fan No. 550; - Sezier-, Wasch- u. Aufbahrungsraum/dissecting, washing and laying out room: 1 extractor fan No. 375. 2. [BW 30/27, p. 55] The telegram sent by Kirschneck on 3rd February 1943 repeats the same designations for this equipment [Document 35]. [The above two documents mention only the types of fans without any information on the type or size of motor used]. 3. [BW 30/34, p. 84 and BW 30/27 p. 61] Mention of a telegram of 11th February 1943 sent by the Bauleitung in a letter of reply from Topf dated 12th February 1943 and concerning the immediate dispatch of: - Leichenkeller 1/gas chamber: 1 No. 450 fan with 3.5 HP motor; - Leichenkeller 2/undressing room: 1 No. 550 fan with 7.5 HP motor. 4. [BW 30/34 p. 85 and verso] A Bauleitung letter of 11th February 1943 to Topf confirming the lack of the following fans and motors: - Leichenkeller 1/gas chamber: 1 No. 450 fan with 3.5 HP motor; - Leichenkeller 2/undressing room: 1 No. 550 fan with 7.5 HP motor. 5. [BW 30/34, p. 84 and BW 30/27, p. 61] A Topf letter of 11th February 1943 received by the Bauleitung on 14th February 1943 confirming the dispatch of: - One No. 450 fan [for Leichenkeller 1/gas chamber]; - A wooden No. 450 fan [probably an error: should be 550], whose 7.5 HP motor is missing and will be temporarily replaced by a 10 HP Motor with the same speed of rotation. 6. [BW 30/25, p.7 (microfilm N° 1322)] A Bauleitung letter of 6th March 1943 to Topf indicate [Document 36]; - the air extraction installation of undressing room [Leichenkeller 2] 7. [BW 30/43, p. 19 (a), p. 22 (b)] Two inventory forms filled in for the official handover of the building indicate: (a) In the roof space of Krematorium II [Document 37]; - 1 fan with 1.5 HP electric motor [difficult to read]; - 2 fans with 3.5 HP electric motor; - 1 fan with 4.5 HP electric motor [difficult to read]; - 1 10 HP electric motor with lift gear, on loan! (b) In the roof space of Krematorium III [Document 38]; - 1 2.5 kW electric motor; - 2 2.6 kW electric motors; - 2 5.6 kW electric motors; - 1 1.1 kW electric motor. The emplacement for the lift and ventilation motors are confirmed by the testimony of a former prisoner, Porebski, who was a member of the electrician commando from spring 1942 to the beginning of 1945 [«Le Procès d'Auschwitz» by H. Langbein, p. 92 ff]: «In Krematorien I [II] and II [III], there were electric extractor fans to evacuate the gas and blowers by the furnaces to improve the fire...» «... in the roof space there was a room for the Sonderkommando [summer 1944]. There there was also a lift and the installation for the ventilator fans and an electrical safety installation.» [room at the roof space, in the western part of drawing 980] None of these documents gives a COMPLETE description of the ventilated rooms together with the fans and motors SPECIFIC to each. The synthesis of these sources can be summarised in a table where the motor sizes are expressed in kW/HP to harmonise the data with two suggested distributions, the only ones LOGICALLY possible in the light of the information available [Document 39]. Distribution 1 is based on: - Reserving the most powerful motor for the lift; - Distributing the motors of equal power to rooms with fans of the same type (550 for the furnace room and the undressing room); - Allocating the most powerful remaining motor, or one of equal power to those driving the type 550 fans, to the gas chamber. Distribution 2 is based on: - Distributing the motors according to the volume of the rooms [the letters exchanged between the Bauleitung and Topf between 3rd and 12th February 1943 shows that the power required depended on the size of the room: Ofenraum = Leichenkeller 2 > Leichenkeller 1 > Sezier-, Wasch- u. Aufbahrungsraum; - Allocation of the gas chamber motor in accordance with Messing's request; - The most powerful motor given to the lift then the next to the furnace room. It would seem that distribution 2 is the more likely one with motors of equal powers being attributed to each of the main large rooms. The difference between what was ordered and what was supplied shows the difficulties and delays that Topf were experiencing in obtaining electric motors of given sizes at the beginning of 1943 and illustrates the already critical situation of the Reich economy. Other motors were also installed: 1. 5 pulsed air blower motors, one on one the side of each furnace [to accelerate incineration], with a unit power of 2.2 kW or 3.0 HP, or a total of 11 kW or 15 HP per Krematorium of type II/III. 2. 3 motors for the forced draught installations, each of 11 kW or 1.5 HP, or a total for Krematorium II of 33 kW or 45 HP. These were rapidly removed as a result of faults and a small fire. Those of Krematorium III were never even installed. The total electric motor power requirement was: - Krematorium II: 60.9 kW or 83 HP, then after removal of the forced draught installations, 27.9 kW or 38 HP; - Krematorium III: 31 kW or 42.2 HP. The Archives of the Warsaw Central Commission possess a general plan of the PWO camp, Bauleitung drawing 2503 of 18th June 1943, showing the electric motors installed: Krematorium II: 11 motors totalling 40.30 kW or 55 HP; Krematorium III, 12 motors totalling 35.06 kW or 47.8 HP. The discrepancy between the number of motors known (10 and 11) and those of the drawing (12 and 13), between my findings on the total power and those of the drawing, are due to unknown factors. A motor may perhaps have been used for pumping or evacuating waste water from the Krematorien. In order to carry corpses up to the ground floor, a provisional hoist was first installed, then a permanent Demag goods lift, with different powers. Such factors mean that the study of motor sizes for the ventilation systems of Krematorium II and III cannot give absolutely precise results. 374 ===== PDF PAGE 0367 | page-367.md ===== Telegram der Zentralbauleitung Auschwitz an die Firma Topf u. Söhne, Erfurt, von 3.2.43. Abschrift: *Sendzt per Rilgut dringend Abluftgebläse Nr.550 samt Saug, Druckstutzen u. Drosselklappe für L.Keller II. Abluftgebläse Nr.550 mit Druckstutzen für Ofenraum. Saug u. Druckstutzen für Gebläse 375 für Sezierraum. Holzdrosselklappe für L.Keller I.* Zentralbauleitung Auschwitz. / In Bleieckrift geschrieben/: Herr Ing. Schulze teilt auf telef. Anruf am 3.2.43 und 1615 Uhr mit, dass alle oben angeführten Gegenstände verlässlich an Samstag den 6.1. angeschickt werden, da gegenwärtig noch nicht fertig. Kirschneck. 3.2.43 Kirschneck. Document 35: [PMO file BW 30/27, page 55] Telegram from the Auschwitz Central Construction Management to Topf & Sons, Erfurt on 3rd February 1943. Copy: «Send urgently by express air extraction blower No. 550 with suction and pressure connections and regulating valve for C-cellar 2, air extraction blower No. 550 with pressure connection for furnace room, suction and pressure connec- tions for 375 blower for dissecting room, wooden regulating valve for C-cellar 1.» Auschwitz Central Construction Management /written in pencil/ Engineer Schulze communicated by telephone on 3rd February 1943 at 16.15 hours that all the above items will be dispatched without fail Saturday, 6.1 [error, it should be 6.2], for they are not yet ready. Kirschneck. 3.2.43 Kirschneck. [inscription manuscript] Krema II u. III Bfgh.: 24365/43/Jä/Lm Auschwitz, am 6.3.1943 Betr.: Kla Auschwitz, Krem. II und III KOL, BW 30 u. 30 a Bezug: Dort. Schreiben vom 22.2.43 D.IV.Prf. Anlg.: - - - Firma Topf und Söhne Erfurt Auf Grund Ihres Vorschlages erklärt sich die Dienststelle einverstanden, dass der Keller I mit der Abluft aus den Räumen der 3 Saugzuganlagen vor- gewirmt wird. Die Anlieferung und der Einbau der hierfür benötigten Rohrlei- tungen und der Druckluftgebläsen muss schnellstens erfolgen. Wie Sie in o.a. Schreiben angeben, sollte die Ausführung noch in dieser Woche geschehen. Um Hergabe eines spezifizierten Kostenangebotes 3-fach für Lieferung und Einbau wird gebeten. Dengleichen wird um Einmdung eines Nachfragsangebotes für die Unände- rung der Entlüftungsanlage für den Auskleideraum gebeten. Nach Eingang dieser Angebote wird Ihnen schriftlich Auftrag erteilt. Der Leiter der Zentralbauleitung der Waffen-SS und Polizei Auschwitz [griffe de Bischoff] SS-Sturmbannführer [en manuscript] Jäh Verteiler: 1 Baufl. Kl. u. Landw. 2 Registr. KOL BW 30 u. 30 a 1 Sachbearb. In volume 11 of the Homs trial a recapitulatory report by Jan Sehn on the «NATURE OF THE DEVICES AND INSTALLATIONS» states: «In the letter of this March 1943, No. 24365, a second basement [was designated] as an undressing room [Auskleideraum].» This letter contains two important «slips»: 1. The mention of the recuperation of hot air produced in the «Saugzuganlagen» [forced draught installation] to preheat Leichenkeller I of Krematorium II. It is not known whether this system was actually installed. Even if it was, it would not have been able to operate very long as the motors of the forced draught installations were soon out of service, one of them having started a fire. These problems resulted in the forced draught system of Krematorium III never even being installed, while in Krematorium II it was removed and the rooms converted into accommodation for the Sonderkommando. Obercups August allocated himself one room [see Henryk Tauber's testimony, Part III, Ch 3] and the two remaining rooms were, it appears, converted as a bathroom or shower room [with ten showers, according to Dr Nyszall]. This document constitutes damning evidence. If, as the revisionists claim, Leichenkeller I remained a «morgue», it would be mad or stupid to want to «preheat» a place, by definition cool or cold, destined for the temporary storage of corpses. Clinging to the theory of the «typical morgue» without taking account of its evolution, amounts to denying the authenticity of this letter. «Preheating» makes sense only for a gas chamber using Zyclon-B, where the temperature has to be raised to 27°C for the hydrocyanic acid to evaporate. 2. Request for a modification in the UNDRESSING ROOM air extraction system. This is a serious «slip» and also constitutes additional proof that there were ventilated undressing rooms in Krematorien II and III, fitted with an air extraction system. Document 36: [PMO, BW 30/25, page 7 (microfilm N°. 1322)] [handwritten by Kirschneck] Krema II & III Correspondence register no 24365/43/Jä/Lm Auschwitz, 6.3.1943 Subject: Auschwitz Conc. Camp, Kr II and III POW camp, BW 30 and BW 30a Reference: Your letter of 22.2.43 D.IV.Prf. Enclosure: — Messrs Topf & Sons Erfurt In accordance with your suggestion, the Service agrees that cellar 1 should be preheated with air coming from the rooms of the 3 forced draught installations. The supply and installation of the ducting and the blower necessary for this purpose must be effected as quickly as possible. As indicated in your above-mentioned letter, this should be done this week. We would ask you to send us a detailed quotation for supply and installation in three copies. Similarly we would ask you to send a supplementary quotation for modifying the air extraction installation of the UNDRESSING ROOM. After receipt of these quotations we shall send a written order. Head of the Auschwitz Waffen-SS and Police of the Central Construction Management [initialed by Bischoff] SS Major [handwritten] Jäh[rling] Distribution: 1 Construction Management and Agriculture 2 Records POW camp BW 30 and 30a 1 Official responsible 375 ===== PDF PAGE 0368 | page-368.md ===== ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) Document 37 ![img-1.jpeg](img-1.jpeg) Document 38 # Document 37: [Page 10 of BW 30/43, film No. 1597/19]. Inventory of the equipment of Krematorium II signed by SS Major Bischoff and his clerk, SS Sergeant Thoma. - Krematorium 2. KGL.30. Dachgeschoss. Hflg-Schlafraum. Bodenraum. Motorraum/ Krematorium II POW 30. Roof space. Prisoners' dormitory. Loft. Motor room. - Gebläse m. elektr. Motor 1.5, - 3.5, - 4.5 P.S./ Blowers with electric motors of 1.5, 3.5 and 4.5 HP. - Elektr. Motor m. Auftragsvorichtung, leihweise! 10 PS/ Electric motor with lift gear, on loan! 10 HP. # Document 38: [Page 22 of BW 30/43, film No. 1597/17]. Inventory of the equipment of Krematorium III signed by SS Major Bischoff. - Krematorium. KGL. 30a. Dachgeschoss. Hflg-Schlafraum. Bodenraum. Maschinenraum/ Krematorium. POW 30a. Roof space. Prisoners' room. Loft. Machine room. - Elektro Motoren 2.5, - 2.6, - 5.6, 1.1 kW/ Electric motors of 2.5, 2.6, 5.6 and 1.1 kW. 376 ===== PDF PAGE 0369 | page-369.md ===== ANNEX Document 39: # Recapitulatory table of motor powers (The figures are expressed in UNHP and those underlined are those of the original documents.) | DESIGNATION OF ROOMS | Requirements as per correspondence of 3-12 February 194 | Distribution 1 | | Distribution 2 | | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | | | Krema II | Krema III | Krema II | Krema III | | AUFZUG/ Lift | - | 7,3/10 | 2 x [5,6/7, -] = 11,2/15,3 | 7,3/10 | 11,2/15,3 | | L-KELLER 1/ Gas chamber | 2,6/3,5 N° 450 | 3,3/4,5 | 2,5/3,4 | 2,6/3,5 | 2,6/3,5 | | L-KELLER 2/ Undressing room | 5,5/7,5 N° 550 | 2,6/3,5 | 2,6/3,5 | 2,6/3,5 | 2,5/3,4 | | SEZIER-, WASCH-, U. AUFBAHRUNGSRAUME/ Dissection, washing and laying out rooms | assumed to be about 1HP N° 375 | 1,1/1,5 | 1,1/1,5 | 1,1/1,5 | 1,1/1,5 | | OFENRAUM/ Furnace room | 5,5/7,5 N° 550 | 2,6/3,5 | 2,6/3,5 | 3,3/4,5 | 2,6/3,5 | | Total ventilator motor power | 14,3kW/19,5HP | 16,9kW/23,0HP | 20,0kW/27,2HP | 16,9kW/23,0HP | 20,0kW/27,2HP | # GAS 3000 PEOPLE IN LEICHENKELLER 1 OF KREMATORIUM II? IMPOSSIBLE, THE BODIES WOULD HAVE BLOCKED THE LOWER AIR EXTRACTION ORIFICES (Reply to the argument in a letter from a revisionist) Following the exchange of letters and telephone calls with a correspondent who doubts the reality of the gas chambers, I have extracted two of his arguments that appear to me valid. Describing the ventilation system of Leichenkeller 1 [of the future Krematorium II as per the cross-section on drawing 933], he pointed out to me that the air entered through the upper orifices, then was extracted through the lower ones, and concluded: «This arrangement is perfectly suitable if the room is used as a morgue: the air entering cools, becomes denser, and is extracted from the lower part.» He then asked me to imagine: «the situation in the LK 1 after the gassing of a large number of people: the corpses are heaped on top of one another; they block most of the air extraction orifices; the room is full of warm basic gas; how can there be rapid and efficient mechanical ventilation? I would say that it is not possible...» These remarks mean that Leichenkeller 1 used as a gas chamber had a poorly designed ventilation system and in the case of large-scale gassings [3000 people in 210 m³ according to Nyssch, or 13.3 per square metre], the lower orifices being blocked ventilation would become impossible [a model visible at the Museum illustrates this «maximum» case, though there are probably no more than one thousand victims depicted]. The figure of 3000 is theoretical and exaggerated, but if we take it as correct, then so is my correspondent's hypothesis and the ventilation is blocked and cannot work. What would the SS have done in the case of such an «incident»? They would have proceeded in two stages: 1. Open wide the doors giving basement access through the north yard and those of the undressing room, whose ventilation system working at full power would prevent the basement being contaminated; Before putting on their gas masks, the SS would have then ordered two to four members of the Sonderkommando to put on masks, open the gas chamber door and drag bodies out into the vestibule until several of the air extraction orifices had been cleared. Then the gas-tight door would have been closed again, the ventilation restarted, and to improve its efficiency all that was required was to open the Zyclon-B introduction covers, but not until that moment. After verifying by means of a gas detector that there was no longer any danger of hydrocyanic acid intoxication outside the gas chamber, operations would have resumed their «normal» course. 2. Once the gas chamber had been emptied, a squad of fitters or bricklayers would have fixed at the end of the chamber, in the southeast corner a steel duct of about 20 cm diameter and 2 metres high or built a brick chimney of about the same dimensions connecting with or protecting one of the lower air extraction orifices and enabling it to take in warm contaminated air from above. The time taken for the «repair» would not have been longer than an afternoon. Such an incident would not have interrupted the «operation» of the Krematorium. As the documents we possess at present make no mention of such work we can assume for the moment that the case of the «3000» never occurred, the number of victims from a convoy always being less than this. The initial ventilation system of Leichenkeller 1, which was designed for a basement morgue, is not a «definitive» obstacle to using the room as a gas chamber. 377 ===== PDF PAGE 0370 | page-370.md ===== ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) Cut away model of the Krematorium II gas chamber on display on the first floor of Block 4, the «Extermination» section [PMO] [The model was built BEFORE the discovery of the American aerial photographs] The staggered arrangement of the 4 openings for pouring Zyclon-B is valid only for Krematorium III, where the undersizing room would have been located top right. # Translation of inscriptions There are many faults in this model. Insufficient supporting pillars, only 1 out of 7 being shown. Second Zyclon-B introduction column missing. Omission of the 50 cm layer of earth over the roof of the gas chamber. Absence of victims in the vicinity of the cut-out representing the ventilation opening, which avoids suggesting the case of partial or total obstruction by the human mass depicted. - Arrivée d'air supérieur/Upper air inlet duct - Désaération basse/Lower air extraction duct - Pilier de soutien/Supporting pillar - Clapet obturateur/Cover - Cheminée d'introduction/Introduction chimney - Colonne grillagée de versement du Zyclon-B [1 à 4, la 2ème ayant été omise]/Wire grid column for the introduction of Zyclon-B [1 to 4, no. 2 having been omitted] Despite its imperfections, the model, seen from a distance, is a powerful evocation of a mass gassing. 378 ===== PDF PAGE 0371 | page-371.md ===== PART TWO CHAPTER 7 # KREMATORIEN IV AND V ## Plans, construction and general study General history of Birkenau Krematorien IV and V, covering their design, construction, limited utilization and destruction. ### KLG Birkenau Krematorien IV and V (Bauwerke 30b and 30c) Unless and until further evidence is discovered, Krematorien IV and V [Document 1] will continue to be the least known of the instruments of extermination at Birkenau. Until 1980, it was very easy to summarize the little that was known about their history. Krematorium IV entered service on 22nd March 1943 and operated until 7th October 1944, the date of the Sonderkommando revolt, when it was set on fire. Krematorium V, handed over to the camp administration on 4th April 1943, operated until 17th-18th January 1945, the night during which the evacuation of Auschwitz II [Birkenau] began, and the SS dynamited the building a few nights later. Yet key dates, found in the publications of the Auschwitz Museum, did not stop certain people from still believing in 1980 that these installations had worked continuously from 1940 to 1945. The history of Krematorien IV and V, mirror image buildings, is considered from four aspects: design, construction, operation and duration of activity (from which the number of cremations can be estimated). In 1980, the dates given above brought the answer to one aspect of this history: the duration of activity. In addition, it was thought that their operation was perfectly well known. But a certain neophyte researcher could not help noticing that the operation of Krematorien IV and V was illogical to the point of absurdity, which led him to doubt the validity of the events described. Our knowledge of the history of these two installations now having progressed somewhat, it is possible to be quite certain about the design and construction aspects. The knowledge acquired regarding their construction helps to explain their operation, though certain points remain obscure. As for the duration of activity, all the previous certainty has been swept away, but for lack of original documents it is not possible to be precise, apart from certain limits that can be seen. One might have thought that regarding this aspect the recollections of former prisoners and SS would have been decisive and made up for the lack of documentation, but unfortunately a comparison of such testimonies reveals inconsistencies: 1. Rudolf Hoess, former Camp Commandant, reports that: «Number III [Kr IV] failed completely after a short time [in 1943] and later ceased to be used altogether. Number IV [Kr V] had to be repeatedly shut down, since after its fires had been burning for from four to six weeks, the ovens or the chimneys burnt out.» In Hoess' opinion, these installations were little used and were soon abandoned, irreparably damaged. However, it would appear that Hoess was in error, for while Kr IV was closed down because its chimneys and/or furnaces were burnt out, Kr V, of exactly the same structure as IV, suffered damage that could be repaired, but could subsequently be operated only sporadically and in moderation. 2. Pery Broad, a former member of the Political Section of the camp, while rightly stating that: «Even before the construction of all four Krematorien had been completed [Kr III was still not completed in May 1943], the chimney of Krematorium [II], which had recently entered service, split as the result of overloading and had to be repaired.» goes on to say that: «In the spring [should be summer] of 1944... The four Krematorien were operating at full capacity, but very soon, as the result of continuous overloading, the furnaces were damaged and only Krematorium III [IV] was still smoking.» Thus Broad states that in, most probably, summer 1944, while Krematorien II, III and V were damaged and shut down, only Krematorium IV valiantly stood up to the continuous overloading, which is completely wrong. The episode he is relating took place in the summer of 1943 (a year earlier), when Kr II had to be shut down with a damaged chimney, IV was completely out of service and V had its furnaces and/or chimneys [half] burnt out. Only Kr III, handed over for use on 25th June 1943, was operating. 3. Dow Palsikovic, a former prisoner, in his deposition of 17th October 1963 [CD/C CCCLXI-370], states that having arrived in the Birkenau camp in May 1944 and being incorporated in the Sonderkommando, he first worked at Bunker V [2], then in Krematorium I [II] or II [III]. He reports that a group of 100 Sonderkommando prisoners were detached and taken to Krematorium III [IV]. Despite a twice repeated error regarding the number of the Krematorium that was operating in May-June 1944, for the open air cremation ditches were behind Krematorium V, not next to Krematorium IV, his deposition confirms that as of that date, only one of Krematorien IV and V was working (and hence that the other was not used). In contradiction to his earlier statements, he goes on to say that so far as he knew, no Krematorium had the slightest breakdown and they always worked perfectly. 4. Filip Müller, another former prisoner, relates in «Trois ans dans une chambre à gaz à Auschwitz» that, probably at the beginning of May 1944, there was a complete overhaul of the four Krematorien in preparation for the «Hungarian action», noting that six chimneys were checked (one each in Kr II and III and two each in Kr IV and V), four undressing rooms repainted (one in each Krematorium) and eight gas chambers repainted (one each in Kr II and III and three each in Kr IV and V). According to him, the four Krematorien were still working. The repair and maintenance work was carried out by shutting down each of them in turn. Then, as his account continues, he adds that in summer 1944, at the height of the Hungarian extermination, they were using five gas chambers (one each in Kr II and III and three in Kr IV) and the thirty eight furnaces [muffles] (lifts one each in Kr II and III and eight in Kr IV) of Krematorien II, III and IV. 379 ===== PDF PAGE 0372 | page-372.md ===== Thus Müller considered Krematorium V to be out of service, while at the same time he described himself as working there in the gas chambers, at the cremation ditches and at the 8-muffle furnace! To say nothing of the fact that he knew that Krematorium IV could not be working because between 500 and 700 Sonderkommando men, including Müller himself, were living there. Despite the fact that Filip Müller's account was recorded too late and included involuntary errors and embellishments, and perhaps even lies, it is clear from it that one of the twin Krematorien IV and V was not operational in the summer of 1944. 5. Slama Dragon, another former prisoner, heard by the Examining Judge Jan Sehn on 10th and 11th May 1945, states that he was detailed to Krematorium V in the autumn of 1943 and worked there until May 1944. He states that he was employed on gardening, wood cutting and coke transport [for which Krematorium?] as a member of the Sonderkommando of Kr V which was out of service throughout this period and whose furnaces were not reactivated until the arrival of the first transport of Hungarian Jews. He subsequently confirms that in May 1944 Krematorium V was brought back into service, but that at the very beginning of the Hungarian action the furnace of Krematorium IV was used to cremate the victims because that of V was out of order. He then reports that the Jews were burnt in five ditches dug behind Krematorium V. Dragon's statements concerning Krematorium V are now confirmed, but doubt remains about the use of the Krematorium IV furnace. 6. Henryk Tauber, another former Sonderkommando man, testified before the Polish Judiciary on 25th May 1945 and is the best witness we know as regards the descriptions of the Krematorien. While he describes very precisely the layout and installations of Krematorium IV, where he was sent in mid-April 1943, Tauber says nothing about its breakdowns, its withdrawal from service and its occupation by 500 to 700 Sonderkommando men. When he speaks of the gas chambers of Krematorium IV, it is actually those of Kr V that he describes, since he worked very little at IV and a great deal at V. He was an excellent stoker on the three-muffle furnaces [those of Kr II and III], knowing all their ins and outs and all the tricks for extracting the most from them, but he is unable to remember that the doors of the 8-muffle furnaces [of Kr IV and V] opened and closed guillotine fashion. In one extraordinary sentence, he reverses the causality having led to the digging of cremation ditches: «It was realized that the ditches incinerated the corpses better [than the furnaces], which led to the successive shutting down of the Krematorium once the ditches entered service;» Tauber, an exceptional witness, never departs far from the truth, but knowingly hides certain embarrassing facts through omission and causal metathesis, venial sins which were perfectly normal in the context of the Liberation when a single witness was scarcely able to say anything that could call into doubt the figure of 4 million victims had been decided upon too rapidly by the Soviet and Polish Commissions. A comparison of these six «recollections» leads to the certainty that Krematorien IV and V cannot have worked continuously. There are areas of silence in the testimonies of former Sonderkommando members, caught between their honesty and the desire to communicate the horror of their life in the Krematorien, an experience that really cannot be transmitted. In 1945, faced by interrogators who were more interested in knowing the number of victims in the camp than in trying to understand the demential universe of everyday extermination, they gave up the struggle and substituted a monstrous generality for their individual incommunicable experience. The said what the people facing them wanted to hear, keeping silent about anything that conflicted with their vision of the continuous functioning of the death factories. We now have a number of German documents indicating that this was far from the truth, though it still cannot be irrefutably proved. As for the SS witnesses, having nothing more to lose they generally told something close to the truth, except for such cases as the gross error of dating committed by Pery ## The genesis of Krematorien IV and V The idea of constructing Krematorien IV and V came from a civilian, Kurt Prüfer, chief engineer of Messrs Topf & Sons. While the decision to switch the «projected crematorium» from the main camp to Birkenau, to build two mirror-image versions of it [Kr II and III] and to convert these installations for criminal purposes can be understood in the context of the «Sonderbehandlung» [special treatment] of the Jews, the building of two additional «forest Krematorien» seems quite superfluous. They represent in fact Prüfer's «technical» response to the primitive experimentation of Bunkers 1 and 2. It was found that the bodies «produced» by Bunkers 1 and 2 could not go on being buried in mass graves for fear of polluting the groundwater with the toxic products produced by their decomposition, so it was decided that they should be cremated. This meant in the first place «emptying» the graves. In preparation for the second phase Prüfer proposed on 19th August 1942 that a two-muffle furnace (carefully delivered «by error» to Auschwitz) should be installed near bunkers 1 and 2 in order to «treat» their production. The SS were not fooled by this «mistaken delivery» and refused the furnace, which was subsequently sent on to its original destination, Mauthausen. However, Prüfer was not one to give up easily, and he managed to turn a refusal to spend 8 or 9,000 RM, the price of one double-muffle furnace, into an order worth 27,600 RM, the cost of two eight-muffle furnaces at 13,800 RM each. For the price of about 6 or 7 cremation muffles produced by his competitors, Prüfer was offering 16. While we know that Prüfer directly influenced the Auschwitz Bauleitung in order to ensure that his furnaces, and in particular the eight-muffle ones were installed, we can but surmise about why the order was doubled. The two-eight-muffle furnaces ordered on 28th August 1942 to equip the future Krematorien IV and V were not ordered for the sake of symmetry but, and it is here that the SS had the last word over Prüfer, because Himmler's headquarters in Berlin had two eight-muffle furnaces of the «Mogilew contract» immediately available [out of a total of three and a half] and these were switched to the Auschwitz camp. The history of this order was recalled by Messrs Topf in a letter written to the Bauleitung on 7th July 1943, probably at the time when final settlement for the Krematorien IV and V furnaces was due, and the SS were trying to obtain a maximum discount on one furnace that was completely out of service after two months and another in very bad condition [Documents 2, 3 and 4]. 380 ===== PDF PAGE 0373 | page-373.md ===== ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) Document 1 [PMO neg. no. 20583] Fragment of an overall plan of KGL Birkenau, Bauleitung drawing 2216 dated 20th March 1943, showing the emplacement of Krematorien IV and V. To the south of Kr IV are the three rows of huts of Kanada II and the Zentral Sauna (shaded). To the left of Kanada III on the drawing is sewage treatment plant II, which was never completed, though part of it entered service. 381 ===== PDF PAGE 0374 | page-374.md ===== # J. A. TOPF & SOHNE 30B MASCHINENFABRIK - FEUERUNDSTECHNISCHE BAUUNTERNEHMUNG 24 An die Zentral-Baubildung der Hoffmann und Follmal, Auschwitz /Ost-Oberschl. J. Ausfertigung 7.7.43. POSTFACH 1913 Betrifft Ihr Zeichen: Ihr Schreiben Nr. 33718/43/ JAB/Wb. UNSER ARTEILUNG D IV Puf. J. A. Topf K.L. Auschwitz, KGL Kremstv. IV und V, BE 30 b und 30 a. In der Anlage übersenden wir Ihnen eine Ablichtung des Auftragsschreibens des Reichsführers SS, Berlin, vom 6.12.1941 und den Durchschlag unseres Auftrags- und Bestätigungsschreibens vom 9.12.1941 zur gefilmdeing. Wie aus dem Auftrags- und Bestätiungsschreiben ersichtlich ist, sind uns 4 Stück Doppel-Vierpuffel-Indischerungs-Ofen zum Gesamtpreise von RM 55 300,--, dennoch je Ofen RM 13 800,--, umhölle werden. Mit Schreiben vom 30.8.42 des Wirtschafts-Verwaltungs-Hauptamtes, Berlin wurden wir aufgefordert, 2 Stück Ofen von Auftrags-Vergleich nach der Zentralbaubildung, Auschwitz, abzuwegen, was von uns durchgeführt worden ist. Sie Ihnen nicht unbekannt, mussten wir bei diesem Auftrag den ersten Großraum-Ofen bauen. Diese Anlage bedingte über mehrfache Reihen und Besprechungen beim Hauptamt in Berlin. Aufgrund dieser Besprechungen hatten Rechtsbank-Oms-Konto 75 801 Postscheck-Konto Erfurt 1783 Telegramme Topfwerke Fernsprecher Sammelnummer 20130 # 3901.A.1 KÖLN 1913 25 Für den Eftesten die Zeichnungen am Ende bann, so ergebn, auch mussten vollständig nach Aufstieg für die Ofenstrukturen usw. ange- fertigt werden. Für diese Vulgaten hatten wir 6 % der Auftrag- gumme vorgesehen und mit eingerechnet. Mit Ihrem Telegramm vom 06.10.42 wünschten Sie den Abwerkspreis für diesen Achtmuffel- Ofen. Hier ur geben wir Ihnen den Preis von RM 13 800,-- an, wobei wir die Verankerungs- eisen für den Ofen, welche Mehrlieferung zufällig auch 6 % - RM 828,-- Kosten ausmacht, mit vorgesehen hatten. Mit dortigen Schreiben vom 10.11.42 wünschten Sie ein Angebot über derselben Ofen, jedoch ohne Verankerungs-eisen, welchen Preis wir mit Kostenanschlag vom 16.11.42 mit RM 12 972,-- angeben. Wie Sie aus Verstehenden prochen können, ha- ben wir den Ofenpreis von Morilew um 6 % ernütigt, weil wir in dem die Zeichnungen und Modelle so an vorliegen hatten und zwei- tens annehmen, dass noch ein weiterer Acht- muffel-Ofen ihrerseits zur Anschaffung kon- men sollte. Da aber nach Auschwitz nicht 2 Ofen, wie von uns für dort veranschlagt, zur Bestellung kann, sondern, wie schon eingangs erwähnt, 2 Ofen von den Auftrags-Vergleich nach Ausch- witz zur Aufstellung gekommen sind, so haben wir Ihnen auch den Kostenanschlagspreis von Morilew in Höhe von RM 13 800,-- je Ofen 1913 1913 Document 2 [PMO file BW 30/27, page 5] Document 3 [PMO file BW 30/27, page 6] 382 ===== PDF PAGE 0375 | page-375.md ===== -56 26 7.7.43. -2- # Zentral-Bauleitner, Auschwitz. 1t. Schreiben vom Hauptamt, Berlin, in Rechnung gestellt. Nicht unerwähnt mäch- ten wir lassen, dass ein halber Ofen - also 4 Stück Maffeln - am 30. Dezember 1941 nach Mogilew geliefert wurde. Die restli- chen 1/2 Ofen stehen dem Reichsführer SS, Berlin, zur Verfügung; wir haben schon sehr- fach gebeten, die Materialien abzurufen, damit wir unser Lager entlasten können. Wie aus unseren vorstehenden Darlegungen es- sichtlich ist, besteht unsere Forderung zu Recht; eine Überbezahlung Ihrerseits bzw. durch das Hauptamt-Berlin ist noch nicht erfolgt. Heil Hitler! J. A. TOPPACHTINE ppa. LV. P. # Anlage: 2 Durchschläge dieses Schreibens. 1 Ablichtung Auftragsstrb.Reichsführer SS, 1 Durchschlag uns.Bestätigungsschrbs.v.9.12.4 Originalstr. nebst Anl. an 2.4 Jahrling zur 8.11.42. wiedergabe 14.7.43. 8/4 Document 4 [PMO file BW 30/27, page 7] Document 2 [PMO file BW 30/27, page 5] | To the | | 3rd copy | | --- | --- | --- | | Waffen SS and Police | | | | Central Construction Management | | | | Auschwitz/East Upper Silesia | | Erfurt [Wednesday] 7/7/43 | | Subject: | Your ref. | Our division D IV | | Your letter of 2nd inst. | Comes. reg. | Prf [Prüfer] | | KL Auschwitz | 31718/43/IAb/Wb | | | KGL Kremstorten IV and V | | | | BX 30b and 30c | | | Attached please find for your information a photocopy of the contract letter from Reichsführer SS, Berlin, of 4.12.1941 and the carbon copy of our letter of 9.12.1941 confirming acceptance of the contract. As can be seen from the contract and acceptance letters, four double four muffle corrosion furnaces were ordered from us for a total price of 55,200 RM or a unit price of 13,800 RM per furnace. A letter of 26.8.42 from the SS Economic Administration Head Office, Berlin, requested us to divert 2 furnaces from the Mogilew contract to the Auschwitz Central Construction Management, which we duly did. As you are not unaware, for this contract we had to build the first large capacity furnace. However, this installation necessitated several trips to Berlin for meeting with the Head Office. At a result of these: Document 3 [PMO file BW 30/27, page 6] 7.7.43 meetings, we frequently had to alter or add to our drawings; in addition we had to produce completely new moulds for the furnace frames, etc. To cover these expenses we had reckoned on and incorporated 6% of the contract price. [Supplement already included in the 13,800 RM, which was the gross price of one of the four Mogilew contract furnaces] Your telegram of 26.10.42 wanted to know the ex works price for three eight-muffle furnaces. For this we gave the price of 13,800 RM, in which we had included the anchor items for the furnace, an extra item that also coincidentally amounts to 6% = 828 RM. Your letter of 10.11.42 requested a price for the same furnace, but without anchor items, which we gave in our quotation of 16.11.42 as 12,972 RM. [13,800 - 828 = 12,972] As you can see from the above, we reduced the Mogilew (13,800) price by 6% (828) because first, we already had the drawings and moulds available, and second, we assumed that you intended to buy another eight-muffle furnace from us. However, as Auschwitz did not order 2 furnaces, as we had reckoned on, but as already mentioned, 2 furnaces from the Mogilew contract were installed at Auschwitz; we therefore invoiced you at the Mogilew price of 13,800 RM per furnace [i.e. 13,800 (Mogilew price) - 828 (anchor items) = 828 (reintegration of initial expenses) = 13,800] Document 4 [PMO file BW 30/27, page 7] 7.7.43 - 2 - Central Construction Management, Auschwitz as per the letter from the Head Office, Berlin. We would like to point out that a half furnace - i.e. 4 muffles - was delivered to Mogilew on 30th December 1941. The remaining 1 1/2 furnaces remain at the disposition of the Reichsführer SS, Berlin. We have asked several times that delivery be requested, so that we can free our stores [of them]. [3 4-muffle half furnaces remain in store at Erfurt] As can be seen from our above explanation, our request is justified; there has not yet been any overpayment on your part nor through the Head Office, Berlin. Heil Hitler! [rubber stamp] J A Topf & Sons IV [signed] Prüfer pp [unknown signature] Enclosures: 2 carbon copies of this letter. 1 photocopy contract letter Reichsführer SS. 1 carbon copy our confirmatory letter of 9.12.41 [manuscript] Original letter and enclosures handed over to Civilian Worker Jährling to be dealt with. [4.7.43 [unknown initials] 383 ===== PDF PAGE 0376 | page-376.md ===== # The design of Krematorien IV and V The design of Krematorium IV, the test bed, went through three phases, two theoretical and one practical. The first went on further than the drawings, while the second got a lot in the beginning of implementation, then was modified in favour of the third which led to an illogical operating sequence for Krematorium IV and consequently its mirror image, Krematorium V. The period of design, then intensive utilization lasted from mid-August 1942 until mid-May 1943, when Krematorium IV was abandoned. Krematorium V alone went through two other phases: a fourth in May-June 1944, with a modification in the internal division of the gas chamber section and the digging of cremation ditches to do the work of the closed down furnace; and finally a fifth from autumn 1944 to mid-January 1945, a phase in which the building acquired a «normality» it had never previously known, being used simply as a sanitary installation for cremating the bodies of prisoners who died «naturally». The first phase is revealed by Bauleitung drawing 1678 of 14th August 1942, entitled «Cremation installation in the POW camp», an installation to be duplicated and which was connected with the production of Bankers 1 and 2, which was the result of the «special actions». The disastrous health situation in the camp in August 1942 probably explains why the «cremation» part of the drawing was completed while the rest, considered secondary, was not. The building, measuring 67 m by 12 m, was made up of a «cremation» section (comprising the furnace room and its annexes and a separating air lock) and a «morgue» section of 48 m by 12 m, whose floor area of 576 m² was by no means exceptional for Birkenau, the combined area of Leichenkeller 1 and 2 of Krematorium II or III being slightly greater than this. However, the apparent normalcy of this additional cremation installation is called into question by a stove (source of heat) being shown in the morgue (cool room), thus indicating the presence of a gas chamber. The drawing of the roof produced by Messrs Konrad Segnitz, dated 14th October 1942, shows the complete cremation installation, with its «furnace» and «morgue» sections being aired by six ventilation chimneys. The «abnormal» indication does not appear on this drawing. Bauleitung drawing 2036 of 11th January 1943 provides further information and is to be considered the second phase of the project: the creation of two gas chambers to be used alternately, their «finished products» being evacuated via a corridor serving both of them into temporary storage in the central morgue, then «end use» of these products in the Krematorium muffles of the furnace room. This plan was logical and functional. Admittedly there was no undressing room, but it would have been possible to use a system that was employed at Krematorium II in the second half of March 1943: the erection of a wooden undressing hut in the immediate vicinity of the gas chambers. To make the gas chambers operational in this configuration required 4 gas-tight doors and 6 openings for pouring in the Zyclon-B, these last being fitted with gas-tight shutters (i.e. 2 doors and 3 openings per gas chamber). Bauleitung order 2261/80/17 of 18th January 1943 sent to the Auschwitz DAW workshops (number 109 of 19th February) was for «4 gas-tight doors» for worksite 30b (Krematorium IV). The Bauleitung order of 13th February, for worksites 30b and 30c (Krematorien IV and V) was for «12 gas-tight doors [shutters] 30 x 40 cm», six of these being destined for Krematorium IV. In the end, however, the SS departed from this linear production line in the third phase, that of practical implementation. The two rooms and the corridor serving them became a «block» of three gas chambers, a space in which the internal divisions were no longer of any significance. To make the entire block gas-tight, only THREE gas-tight doors were now required (Bauleitung letter of 31st March 1943 to the DAW workshops, referring to order 2261/80/17 of 18th January 1943 for worksite 30b, initially for FOUR doors). The number of Zyclon-B introduction openings did not change, but instead of being 5 external and 1 internal they were now all 6 external. In order to work on the same principle of operation as Krematorien II and III, i.e. all stages taking place inside the building, the big central room now had two functions: morgue and undressing room. ## The construction of Krematorien IV and V The decision to build two additional cremation installations was taken in the middle of August 1942 and the relevant contracts were drawn up between the 14th and the end of the month. It was all done so rapidly that the contracts were awarded quite informally [Documents 5 and 6]. Nine civilian firms in Upper Silesia participated in the construction of Krematorien IV and V, which were designated during the construction stage as Bauwerke/Worksites 30b and 30c. Each firm was concerned with a particular part of the job, though they helped one another where appropriate. The shells were built by HUTA of Kattowitz and RIEDEL & SON of Bielitz; the roof was designed by KONRAD SEGNITZ of Beuthen and built by INDUSTRIE-BAU AG of Bielitz; the 8-muffle furnaces were built by JOSEF KLUGE of Alt-Gleiwitz under the direction of the manufacturers, TOPF & SONS of Erfurt; the chimneys were built by ROBERT KOEHLER of Myslowitz; the external sewers and drains were installed by KARL FALCK of Gleiwitz and «TRITON» of Kattowitz. Work on Krematorium IV began on 23rd September 1942 and the building was officially handed over by the Bauleitung to the Camp Administration on 22nd March 1943, though some further work was carried out from 24th April to 8th May 1943. Work on Krematorium V started on 15th November 1942 and it was officially handed over on 4th April 1943, but it was not actually operational until 18th April and work was not completed on worksite 30c until 22nd April. The western parts of both Krematorien were fitted with gas-tight doors and shutters ordered by the Bauleitung from the DAW metalworking and woodworking shops [see Part II, Chapter 8, «Criminal traces», which lists all the «slips» revealing criminal activity made by the Bauleitung and by civilian workers]. The barbed wire fences surrounding the ENTIRE Krematorien IV and V AREA were erected by Huta in April 1943. The work was held up somewhat by unforeseen difficulties [Document 7]. The fence was not electrified until much later, the current being switched on at 1600 hours on 26th June 1944. The provisional estimate for Krematorium IV amounted to 247,000 RM, but after correction by the Bauleitung or the Inspectorate for Silesia the cost was reduced to 203,000 RM. The biggest saving was made on the shell, the price per square metre of which was reduced from the initial 50 RM to a final estimate of 35 RM. Huta and Riedel & Son cannot have been very happy about this saving of 40,000 RM made at their expense [Documents 8 and 9], Koehler was paid 60,000 RM for the two chimneys. Messrs Topf & Sons received 22,000 RM for the 8-muffle furnace and an air extraction system costing about 8,000 RM, no mention of which is to be found in the remaining documents concerned with the construction of Krematorien IV and V. The guarantee given on the furnace by Messrs Topf & Son was for only TWO MONTHS. Prefer know the place and he knew the habits of the SS. Constant overloading together with the fact that the 8-muffle furnaces were built using second rate refractory materials (the only ones available) meant that they were not likely to last long. These two factors influenced the guarantee period and the fears were fully justified [Document 10]. Since we do not have the handover documents for Krematorium V, we do not know the exact cost price of the building, but it must have been very close to that of its twin, Krematorium IV, approximately 200,000 RM. The incineration capacity of Krematorien IV and V appears in a letter sent by the Auschwitz Bauleitung to their superiors in Berlin on 28th June 1943: 768 corpses per unit in 24 hours, or a total of 1,536 per day for the two Krematorien. However, this figure was not based on practical experience of any kind but was calculated purely on the basis of the theoretical output of the 15 muffles of a Krematorium of type II/III: (1440 × 8) / 15 = 768 corpses per day The practical output of a Krematorium of type IV/V was about 500 corpses per day. However, after the irreparable breakdown of Krematorium IV and the greatly reduced activity of V, these «results» triumphantly announced to Berlin meant absolutely nothing. The fact is that Krematorien IV and V had scarcely been completed when the SS, like children with their new Christmas toys, started operating them at their absolute limit. Naturally, these overworked «toys» were soon broken. After two months, Krematorium IV was completely out of service. Krematorium V did not enter service until later, but was scarcely any better. The conditions of the two-month guarantee given by Topf were never respected: the furnaces were not operated correctly, being constantly overheated, and the Sonderkommando deliberately damaged the internal lining with their fire irons. All in all, the SS had great difficulty in trying to get some return on their investment of 400,000 RM, the approximate cost of Krematorien IV and V. ## The operation of Krematorien IV and V Arranged according to the third design stage of the SS, Krematorien IV and V were operated as follows: the «unfit for work» entered the central room and undressed there (undressing room function); naked, they were directed to the block of three gas chambers and once the gas-tight doors had been closed they were killed by means of the hydrocyanic gas given off by Zyclon-B poured in by an SS man; about thirty minutes later, the doors were opened to ventilate the gas chambers; the Sonderkommando men, wearing gasmasks extracted the bodies, removing anything that could be of use (hair and gold), and putting the bodies in the central room (morgue function) to await cremation according to the possibilities of the 8-muffle furnace (500 per day). The floor area of the block of three gas chambers was 240 m² (4800m²). 2,400 people could therefore be squeezed in at a density of 10 per square metre. To gas them, 6 kg of Zyclon-B would be required (at the rate put forward by Camp Commandant Hoess of 6 kg for 500 m² [1500 people in kr. II/III]). The SS pouring in the Zyclon-B would have to introduce one 1 kg can in each of the six openings in the outside wall, located about 2 metres from the ground. It would take four of five days to cremate these 2,400 bodies. Documents 5 and 6 [PMO file BW 30/26, pages 52 and 53] The document, dated 20th August 1942, by which the Auschwitz Bauleitung informally awarded the contract for building the chimneys of Krematorien IV and V, worksites 30b and 30c. By Messrs Robert Koehler of Myslowitz. This office with its acceptance date, is not signed by either Robert Koehler nor by Bischoff, the head of the Bauleitung. 384 ===== PDF PAGE 0377 | page-377.md ===== Document 5 Document 6 Bieter: Robert Koehler Bauzeitung: Zentralbauleitung d. Haugen Maßsch.: Myelowitz, Leo Schlageterstr. 13 Waffen-½ u. Polizei Auschwitz O/S Fernspr.: Freihändige Vergabe # Beschränkte Ausschreibung Nr. 64 a von Schornsteinbauarbeiten -Arbeiten (Ort der Arbeit) für die Krematorien IV u.V, DW 3ob u. 3oo im KGL-Auschwitz (Bezuneck, Station) Ausschreibungsunterlagen und Bestandteile des späteren Bauvertrages sind: Freihändige Vergabe 1. Dieses Formblatt „Beschränkte Ausschreibung Nr. 64 a“. 2. Die „Allgemeinen Vertragsbedingungen“ für die Ausführung von Bauleistungen — DIN 1961 — (VO8/B) 3. Die „Besonderen Vertragsbedingungen“ nach § 10 der allgemeinen Bestimmungen für die Vergabe von Bauleistungen — DIN 1960 — (VO8/A) 4. Die „Ergänzenden Vertragsbedingungen“ 5. Die „Electrischen Basisgrößen für Bauleistungen“ — DIN 1962 bis 1985 — (VO8/C) 6. Die „Erklärungen des Bieters über besondere Vergesellschaften“ 7. Die „Vorbemerkungen zum Leistungsverzeichnis“ 8. Das „Leistungsverzeichnis“ mit folgenden Anlagen: Vorbemerkungen a) b) c) 9. Die Baustellenordnung. Die Bestandteile 1., 6., 7. und 8. sind durch Unterschrift vom Bieter anzuerkennen. Der Bieter kann werktags in der Zeit von 7⁰⁰ Uhr bis 12⁰⁰ Uhr und von 14⁰⁰ Uhr bis 18⁰⁰ Uhr die Ausschreibungsunterlagen einsehen und nach Anmeldung die Baustelle besichtigen. Die Ausschreibungsunterlagen liegen aus: Zentralbauleitung, d. Waffen-½ u. Polizei Auschwitz Die Baustelle liegt bei KGL, Auschwitz Bezusteiten: Auschwitz ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) (Anschuss) D-84 # Das Angebot ist in fest verschlossenen Umschlag mit der Ausschrift: beitr.: Freihändige Vergabe Geschränkte Ausschreibung Nr. 64 a „Angebot aus Schornsteinbauarbeiten -Arbeiten für Krematorien IV u.V DW 3ob u. 3oo bis zur Angebotslösung am 30. August 1942 19 11⁰⁰ Uhr eingereichen. Wer bei der Öffnung der Angebote zugegen sein will, hat seine Berechtigung dazu ausreichend nachzumellem. Der Zuschlag wird durch Zentralbauleitung d. Waffen-½ u. Polizei, Auschwitz erteilt, jedoch nur an Bieter, die eine Bescheinigung ihres zuständigen Finanzamtes darüber vorlegen, daß aus steuerlichen Gründen keine Bedenken bestehen, ihrem öffentliche Aufträge zu erteilen; die Bescheinigung darf nicht älter als ein Jahr sein. Die Zuschlagstreit läuft am 30. September 1942 ab. Bis zu ihrem Ablauf bleibt der Bieter an sein Angebot gebunden. Für das Angebot sind nur die übergebenen Unterlagen zu verwenden. Sobald dem Bieter der Verzicht auf sein Angebot mitgeteilt werden ist, sind Zweitschriften oder Abschriften an die vorgebende Dienststelle zurückgegeben. Änderungen in den Eintragungen des Bieters müssen durch seine Unterschrift bestätigt sein. Angebote, die zahlerte Stellen aufweisen, werden nicht berücksichtigt. Anerkannt: Ausgestellt: Myelowitz, den 1942 (Ort, Datum) Auschwitz, den 20. August 1942 (Ort, Datum) Der Leiter der Zentralbauleitung der Waffen-½ und Polizei, Auschwitz (Unterschrift) (Unterschrift) H-Hauptsturmführer ![img-1.jpeg](img-1.jpeg) 385 ===== PDF PAGE 0378 | page-378.md ===== ## The difficulties Although the operating sequence looks simple enough, it had become irrational and ridiculous. It was irrational to have the victims going from the central room to the gas chambers then being brought back, thus destroying the linear logic of the initial design. It was ridiculous to have an SS man in a gasmask balancing on his short ladder with a 1 kg can of Zyclon-B in his left hand while he opened and then closed the 30 by 40 cm shutter through which he introduced the pellets with his right hand. This performance was to be repeated six times. If he was not capable of such a balancing act, the SS had to climb his little ladder three times for each opening: first to open the shutter (up and down), second to introduce the Zyclon-B (up and down) and third to close the shutter (up and down). Six openings, eighteen times up and down the ladder wearing a gasmask. A simulation shows that this exercise would take 10 minutes. A few steps installed beneath each opening would have avoided all this performance. The very first gassings showed that ventilation of the premises was a serious problem. The arrangement of the doors on drawing 2036, which had not taken account of the prevailing north wind, meant that ventilation was slow and inefficient, with the attendant risk of contaminating the rooms giving onto the vestibule if there should be a sudden gust of wind from the west [Photos 15 and 16 in annex]. At the beginning of April, fissures («Risse» in the German) began to appear in the 8-muffle furnace of Krematorium IV, WHICH HAD BEEN WORKING FOR TEN DAYS, just as Krematorium V was being handed over to the camp administration. The Bauleitung informed Topf. Summarizing, after Krematorium IV had been in operation for one or two weeks, representing two or three gassings, the Bauleitung found that: 1. The furnace was starting to crack; 2. The natural ventilation was badly oriented and dangerous; 3. Introducing the poison resembled a circus act. The following action was taken to deal with these problems: 1. Topf foreman Willi Koch filled in the «Risse», but nothing was done to rectify their cause. If the Bauleitung and Topf had been willing and able to face up to the situation, they would have demolished the furnaces and rebuilt them using better quality materials, but this was an unrealistic solution with the war nearing its fifth year. 2. A door was made in the external wall of the corridor serving the gas chambers (facing north in Krematorium IV and south in Kr V). By keeping the door between the corridor and the vestibule closed after a gassing, a north/south draught was created between the new door and that of one of the gas chambers (to the south in Krematorium IV and to the north in Kr V). This made the natural ventilation more efficient and removed the danger of accidental poisoning. Furthermore, in order to make the ventilation more rapid and even safer, at a meeting on 18th May 1943 there was talk of installing an air extraction system capable of rendering the toxic atmosphere of the gas chambers harmless in less than five minutes. 3. The Zyclon-B introduction openings were enlarged from 30 x 40 cm to 40 x 50 cm and the system for opening and closing them was simplified. The method of introduction remained the same; however, the camp authorities considering that a little physical exercise would do the medical orderlies responsible for gassing a world of good. The victims were not consulted however. They were not asked whether death was very rapid (as initially planned) or not. Through not modifying the method of introducing the poison gas into Krematorien IV and V, the SS made the agony of the «unfit for work» longer and more painful, with internal panics («Lebenskampf/Struggle for life») even more savage and desperate than in the gas chambers of the Krematorien II and III. In May 1943, the SS had to face up to the evidence. More «Risse» had appeared and the 8-muffle furnace of Krematorium IV had become unusable. After interpreting the damage on 12th or 18th May, Topf engineer Prüfer confirmed the unpalatable truth. The Topf guarantee was to expire in a few days, on 22nd and Prüfer was unable to accept that his firm should bear the cost of constantly repairing a furnace operated under such conditions. Unfortunately, we have no record of Prüfer's meeting with the Bauleitung on 18th May, which must have been difficult for both parties, each of them being partly, but not fully, responsible, and each having arguments in their favour. The true cause of the «Risse» was the poor quality of the refractory materials used, but everybody knew that it had not been possible to get anything better. Two hundred thousand Reichsmark had been thrown out of the window thanks to Prüfer's sales talk, and for a pitiful return: 5,000 to 10,000 corpses cremated at the excessively high unit cost of between 20 and 40 RM. Krematorium IV had also brought something in the form of cash, jewelry, wedding rings, watches, platinum or gold teeth, clothing, etc., but all in all a poor return on the expenditure incurred. All concerned must have thought of this, but without being able to mention such a «sordid» calculation. Both sides tried to be positive and save what could still be saved. The life of the Krematorium IV furnace was over, but the gas chambers could still be used. The furnaces of Krematorium II were intact, but its chimney lining was damaged and the installation was shut down awaiting repairs. Krematorium III was still far from finished. The entire cremation capacity of Birkenau for the moment depended on Krematorium V, a fragile instrument with the same basic faults as Krematorium IV. By using it in moderation, it was possible to make Krematorium V tide over the period until Krematorium II was repaired and III completed. Once the cremation capacity of the camp was restored, the troubles would be over. While everything depended on Krematorium V, its efficiency had to be improved, and in particular that of the gas chambers. Prüfer, always with an eye to business, offered Bischoff an air extraction system with a capacity of 8,000 m³ an hour, enough to «clean» the noxious air of the gas chambers in less than 5 minutes. The gas chambers of Krematorium IV still being operational, they could benefit from a similar system. A Topf letter of 9th June 1943 [Documents 11 and 12], evaluated the cost of this project, the responsibility of Prüfer's assistant, Schulf/Jze, at a modest 2,510 RM. [The author would point out that NOTHING in this letter indicates that the air extraction systems proposed for Krematorien IV and V were for the gas chambers, and they could on the face of it be for the furnace rooms. However, the chronology of the evolution of the two Krematorien and the problems inherent in their gas chambers support the thesis that the extraction systems were for them. Any attempt to deny that Krematorium II was shut down for repair, Kr IV permanently out of service and Kr V subsequently mothballed comes up against the problem of the coke consumption for the four Krematorien, which is known up to the end of October 1943 and which shows that the quantities delivered covered the requirements of 14 muffles only.] The testimonies we have are very evasive about the state of furnace and about what happened to Krematorium V between the middle of 1943 and the beginning of May 1944. Handed over to the camp administration on 4th April 1943, the operational as from 18th April, Krematorium V was no doubt the only one in service from mid-May until 25th June, the date on which Krematorium III was handed over. Krematorium II was not back in service until 12th July 1943. As Krematorium V had to handle all cremations for a period of almost two months, its furnace must have suffered accordingly, with the appearance of «Risse», the same causes producing the same effects. However, as it was used more moderately it was still semi-operational when it was mothballed at the end of June or beginning of July 1943. Document 7 [PMO file BW 30/30, page 5] Huta letter to the Auschwitz Bauleitung, dated 5th April 1943, concerning the creation of the barbed wire fences round Krematorien IV and V. In this letter Huta state that for the moment their cannot employ the additional 60 prisoners who were to join the 20 already working on the job, because the work has had to be interrupted because of obstacles (rails). 386 ===== PDF PAGE 0379 | page-379.md ===== Document 8 Document 9 Documents 8 and 9 [PMO file BW 30/43, pages 31 and 32] Provisional estimate for the construction of Krematorium IV, drawn up by the civilian employee Teichmann on 10th March 1944 and signed by the then head of the Auschwitz Bauleitung, SS Lieutenant Jothann. This estimate was submitted to the Construction Inspectorate for Silesia and provisionally approved on 26th May 1944. Kostenvoranschlag zum Ausbau d. Kriegsgefangenenlagers d. offen- in Auschwitz 0/3 Errichtung von einer Krestatorium A. Erwerb d. Grundstücken: Das Kriegsgefangenenlager wird auf reichseigenem Gelände errichtet A. Erwerb d. Grundstücken: B. Kreuzliessung d. Baugrundstücken: Für Planierungsarbeiten von etwa 900 qm Bodenfluche, Entfernung v. Tidwuchs u. eine incl. Verregung für 1 qm RM 1,20 v.b.N. B. Kreuzliessung d. Baugrundstücken: C. Bauten u. Aussenanlagen: I. Bauten: RM 10 b. 1 Krestatorium Zeichner, 10: Grundflache: ( 7,60 x 12,00) + (4,50 x 4,00) = 60700 qm 15,30 x 12,00 = 25570 qm Gebäudehöhe: 4,60 m 2,45 m Unbeuter Raum: 601 x 4,00 = 2500 qbm 629,66 x 255,70 x 2,5 = 2,7 bbm Kosten für 1 cbm: RM 30,- 3145,44 3030 cbm Kosten für 1 cbm: RM 50,- 3145,44 1030 x 50,- Zuschlag für 2 Schornsteinfundamente 2 Schornsteine, Thane zur Verbrennungs- Ofen u. Entwässerung v.b.N. 1 Stck. @ Muffel-Minscherungsoffen 1 Stck. Entlüftungsanlage sowie sonst. Ehrichtungsgegenstände v.b.N. II. Aussenanlagen: wird ein besonderes Bauantrag gestellt: D. Hauptingegemeins: 5 v.H. aus den Kosten von Abschnitt B - RM 1,080,- von Abschnitt C - RM 215,500,- 5 v.H. von RM 212,500,- D. Hauptingegemein u. zur Abtrundung: Hauptungsamendstellung A. Erwerb d. Grundstücken B. Kreuzliessung d. Baugrundstücken C. Bauten u. Aussenanlagen: 192079,90 RM 233,500,- RM 233,500,- RM 233,500,- RM 233,500,- 192079,90 RM 233,500,- RM 233,500,- RM 233,500,- 192079,90 RM 233,500,- RM 233,500,- RM 233,500,- 192079,90 D. Hauptingegemeins: 5 v.H. aus den Kosten von Abschnitt B - RM 1,080,- von Abschnitt C - RM 215,500,- 5 v.H. von RM 212,500,- D. Hauptingegemein u. zur Abtrundung: Hauptungsamendstellung A. Erwerb d. Grundstücken B. Kreuzliessung d. Baugrundstücken C. Bauten u. Aussenanlagen: 192079,90 RM 233,500,- RM 233,500,- RM 233,500,- RM 233,500,- 192079,90 RM 233,500,- RM 233,500,- RM 233,500,- 192079,90 Hauptungsamendstellung A. Erwerb d. Grundstücken B. Kreuzliessung d. Baugrundstücken C. Bauten u. Aussenanlagen: 192079,90 RM 233,500,- RM 233,500,- RM 233,500,- RM 233,500,- 192079,90 RM 233,500,- RM 233,500,- RM 233,500,- 192079,90 Aufgestellt: Auschwitz, den 10.III.1944 Tel./a. Der Leiter der Zentralbauleitung der Waffen- und Polizei, Auschwitz -Obersturmführer (P) Vorgeschäft! Auschwitz, am 26.5.44 an Spazieren der Waffen- und Polizei, Kottner G. Uly, O. Uly H-Obersturmbannführer 387 ===== PDF PAGE 0380 | page-380.md ===== Document 10 [PMO file BW 30/34, page 42] # Translation: [Hand written additions] Dealt with Jährling [initialed] Kirschneck Krema file [in violet pencil] Kirschneck and Janisch Referat! Copy! Check contract Rubber stamp showing the date the letter was received by the Auschwitz Bauleitung, 12th April 1943, and the correspondence register number 26939/43. Initialed by Kirschneck and Jährling To the Waffen SS and Police Central Construction Management Auschwitz/East Upper Silesia Subject: Your ref. Our division D IV Krematorium IV POW camp 30b Corres. reg. Prf [Prüfer] Your letter of 3/4/43 26419/43/Jä/Lm In reply to your letter mentioned above, we would inform you that we have requested our site foreman, Herr Koch, to repair the fissures that have apparently recently appeared in the 8-muffle furnace in Krematorium IV. At the same time we have noted the agreement made between your Head of Construction, SS Major Bischoff and our chief engineer, Herr Prüfer, according to which we are to make good any defects in the cremation furnace built by us that should appear within 2 months after its coming into service, at no cost to you. This is naturally subject to the precondition that any defects that may appear are the result of faulty construction and not, for example, caused by overheating the furnace or damaging the internal lining with fire irons, etc. As already mentioned, we have instructed our site foreman Koch to repair the damage that has occurred, which has no doubt been done in the meantime. Ever at your service, please be sure of our best wishes, Heil Hitler! [Signed] J A Topf & Sons Enclosures: 2 further copies of this letter. ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) 388 ===== PDF PAGE 0381 | page-381.md ===== # The Hungarian extermination In preparation for the Hungarian extermination, the SS had Krematorien II and III overhauled at the end of April 1944. Overwhelmed by the influx of transports, they tried at the beginning of June to bring Krematorien IV and V back into service. They failed with Krematorium IV, but were partly successful with Krematorium V. Even though its furnace worked as it had done earlier, it was not able to rapidly cremate the batches of victims turned out by its gas chambers. It was SS Master Sergeant Otto Moll who took the initiative of digging five small open-air cremation ditches behind Krematorium V, between its north wall and drainage ditch I.I. The unconsumed bones had to be smashed to powder, crushed with sledgehammers on a steel plate, another of Moll's inventions [David Olère portrayed this practice in a sketch. See document 12a]. Homicidal gassings at Krematorium V, its furnace extinguished, now proceeded as follows (fourth phase): the «unfit for work» entered via the vestibule and undressed in the central room; they were then pushed into the block of (three, later four) gas chambers and killed there; their bodies were dragged by the Sonderkommando to the cremation ditches and burnt in the open air. In good weather, in the summer of 1944, the central undressing room was not used and the victims were made to undress in the open air before being introduced directly into the gas chambers. Sometimes there was only a small number of victims and Zyclon-B was less plentiful than usual. To deal with this kind of situation, the corridor serving the two westernmost rooms was divided in two, in the proportion 1:2, thus forming a fourth small gas chamber of 13 m² (26 m³), in which small groups could be «treated» with a minimum of Zyclon-B (one 200 gramme can). At the end of May 1944, most of the Sonderkommando men were transferred from block 11 of the «Men's Camp» (B.III) to Krematorium IV, which was converted into a dormitory for them. According to Dragon, there were 700 of them, which would mean that ALL of Krematorium IV except for the furnace room and its annexes was occupied by the prisoners' bunks and no homicidal gassings would have been possible there as from this date. # The Polish Resistance photographs Four photographs were taken in the summer of 1944 during the gassing and cremation of a group of Jews at Krematorium V. The camera was introduced clandestinely by a member of the camp resistance movement, David Szmulewski. The pictures were taken by an unknown member of the Sonderkommando, who had to work under extremely difficult conditions in places where he could not be seen by or was not clearly visible to the SS guards in the three watchtowers near the north wall of the Krematorium: first in the northern gas chamber, then in the Birch Wood to the east of the building, the camera being hidden in his hand while he was out in the open. The two most dangerous moments in this episode were the transfer of the camera from David Szmulewski (on the roof of the gas chambers) to the Sonderkommando man (on the ground) and the reverse process when the pictures had been taken. Only three of these photographs are exploitable [see the study of them in annex]. Documents 11 and 12 [PMO file BW 10/27, pages 11 and 12] ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) ![img-1.jpeg](img-1.jpeg) Letter of 9th June 1943 from Messrs Topf & Sons to the Auschwitz-Biobilsberg following the meeting of 10th May concerning 2 air extraction installations for Krematorien IV and V to be supplied at a total cost of 2,510 RM. Two copies of Topf drawing D 59,620 were enclosed, showing the construction of the brick-built air extraction ducts and for arrangement of the suction duct, blower and pressure duct to be supplied by Topf. The electric motors to be used were of 3.5 HP and the system would have had a capacity of 8,000 m³ per hour. The installation was never fitted in either of the two Krematorien. 389 ===== PDF PAGE 0382 | page-382.md ===== ## The Sonderkommando revolt The revolt was triggered on 7th October 1944 and resulted in the burning of Krematorium IV, where most of the Sonderkommando men were housed, and the deaths of three SS and two to three hundred prisoners. By 9th October, only 212 Sonderkommando men remained alive. Several accounts of the uprising have been written, but they are not reproduced here as it is difficult to assess their veracity. In the author's opinion, this rebellion was an act of despair on the part of prisoners who were overcrowded and underoccupied, who had seen too much and felt that their end was near. ## The demolition of Krematorium IV Demolition began after the fire. The building was already out of service as a crematorium and could no longer be used even as a dormitory. The metal parts of its furnace were removed and stored in the Auschwitz-Banhof. After demolition there remained only the bare concrete foundation slab [Document 13]. ## The final phase of operation and the destruction of Krematorium V After Himmler gave the order to cease gassing and to demolish Krematorium II and III, Krematorium V continued to be used to cremate the bodies of prisoners who died of exhaustion, hunger or disease. The undressing room/morgue was divided up to create new rooms to house, for example, Doctor Mengele's racial research team from Krematorium II. In one of the two now unused gas chambers, butches were installed for breeding rabbits. The 30 or so remaining members of the Sonderkommando, who looked after the now «normal» operation of Krematorium V, no longer had the pickings from the Hungarian transports to rely on and had to improve their rations as best they could. They were housed in the former coal store next to the doctor's room, which was converted into a kitchen. On 17th January 1945, the SS burnt their last archives. Virtually all the files from the Political Section of the camp were destroyed, but those of the Bauleitung were forgotten in this final attempt to make it impossible to calculate the total number of deaths in the camp. In the night, taking advantage of the provisional abandonment of Krematorium V by the SS, the 30 Sonderkommando men fled towards the main entrance of the Birkenau camp and disappeared into the crowd of prisoners massed before the gates. Evacuation of the camp began in dawn on 18th January, over snow-covered roads and in arctic conditions. The SS had been over-hasty in leaving the camp, for the Russians did not actually reach Oswiecim until 27th January. There was therefore time for small groups to return to the camp to finish off destroying the «murder weapons». After having blown up the remaining shells of Krematorium II and III about midday on 20th January, the SS dynamited Krematorium V, which exploded about one o'clock in the morning of 26th January [according to Danuta Czech's «Calendar of events»]. A former prisoner, Dr Otto Wolken, relates that: «One right... the slave was broken by a great explosion... in the gas light of the moon I saw an enormous cloud of dust in the place where crematorium number five had stood the previous day.» This witness gives no date for this episode, but according to the chronology of his account it would have been in the night of 21st/22nd January 1945. A survey of the location of the explosions carried out by the author [Document 14] shows that eight identical charges were used in the central and western parts of the building, arranged in a regular and symmetrical pattern, and a larger ninth charge, or several charges, was placed in the 8-muffle furnace. All were detonated simultaneously. ## Krematorium V after the Liberation of the camp: clearance and partial reconstruction On their arrival, all the Soviets found of Krematorium IV was a concrete slab and of Krematorium V a shapeless heap of rubble [Photo 19 in annex]. They immediately began to clear the rubble, for they hoped to find the 8-muffle furnace still intact, all the furnaces of Krematorium I, II, III and IV having been dismantled. The were disappointed. The explosives that the SS had placed inside the muffles had virtually pulverised the furnace. Nothing remained of its eastern part and only a small section of the northwest part retained any form [Photo 24 in annex]. The rubble was heaped up around Krematorium V. A gas-tight door with no peephole was discovered, scarcely damaged [Photo 26 in annex]. Of the three shutters for Zyclon-B introduction openings still existing, it is not known whether they were from the «Bauhof», and therefore came from Krematorium IV, or whether they were found in the ruins of Krematorium V. Once the ruins were cleared, the various items found were stored separately with a view to making a reconstruction [Photo 23 in annex]. In the author's opinion, this would have been possible only if a Topf drawing of the 8-muffle furnace was available, and no such drawing has ever been found. By removing the twisted metal components of the furnace frame of Krematorium V and replacing them with the intact ones taken from Kr V and left in the «Bauhof», it would have been possible to reconstitute the furnace perfectly, provided the drawing was available. With no drawing it could not have been accurately reproduced. Reconstruction of the rest of the building would have presented no problem, for its external aspect and internal arrangement were clearly shown on Bauleitung drawing 2030. What is more, the type of gas-tight doors and Zyclon-B introduction shutters was known. The walls were in fact rebuilt up to a height of about one metre, but reconstruction was then halted for some unknown reason. This study of Krematorium IV and V is necessarily of a somewhat general nature. It is not possible to make an in-depth and detailed study like that of Krematorium II and III for the simple reason that very few German documents concerning Krematorium IV and V are available. This lack of documentation is no doubt a further reflection of the fact that Kr IV and V were used very little, as against the constant use of II and III. Krematorium IV served as a test bed, and as a result of this brief experiment Krematorium V was virtually deprived of its furnace. Krematorium V did play an important supporting role during a critical period in 1943, being the only installation used for the gassing and cremation of the unfit for work over a period of two months, a relatively light task that it nevertheless only just managed and which ceased as soon as Krematorium III was completed and II was brought back into service. It was kept in reserve, and its gas chamber section was reactivated during the Hungarian extermination, and used in association with open-air cremation ditches which made up for the inadequate output of its furnace, which remained unused. As from the end of November 1944, Krematorium V handled alone all the «normal» cremation of the camp. There remain several unknowns concerning Krematorium IV and V. The lack of a Topf drawing of the 8-muffle furnace means that we do not know its internal arrangement; whether there was a space between the two 4-muffle half furnaces; the precise location of its firing hearths (on the same faces as the muffle doors or in the possible space between the two furnaces which would then form a «Heizgymbe»). In the gas chambers in the western part, the gas-tight door found in Krematorium V has no peephole, whereas Sonderkommando members describe the doors as having them. The form of the grids inside the Zyclon-B introduction openings through which the gas was diffused and the way in which the pellets were recovered for re-use have never been described. The number of victims killed in Krematorium IV and V depends on the length of time the Krematorium were used, and our knowledge is very uncertain here. What is more, it is absolutely impossible to calculate the cremation capacity of the ditches dug near Kr V. On the basis of the data available, it can be said that Krematorium IV [Document 15] could theoretically have «treated» 20,000 people in 40 to 50 days, a figure to be reduced in view of the repairs carried out before its final breakdown and which is likely to be closer to 6,000. In its initial period of operation in 1943, Krematorium V could have eliminated 30,000 in 2 months, but the true figure is probably no more than 15,000. In the summer of 1944, the number of victims cremated in the ditches was probably 50,000 or more. The great majority of deaths occurred then, the number «treated» in 1943 being much smaller. The total number of victims for Krematorium IV and V in 1943 was probably about 20,000. The number of victims for Krematorium V in the summer of 1944 cannot be calculated and is certainly under-estimated. Completed on 28th June 1988 ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) Document 12a Sketch by D. Othre, 1945. 390 ===== PDF PAGE 0383 | page-383.md ===== ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) # Document 13 Fragment of an aerial photograph of Krematorien IV and V (left) taken on 21st December 1944. To the north and west of Krematorium V, a white patch compared with the grey of the ground, is the emplacement of the cremation ditches, filled in as at this date, dug almost side by side. The 8-muffle furnace of Krematorium V was not in operation that day, and the only rooms occupied (snow melted on the roof) were the coal store (now used as accommodation for the remaining 30 members of the Sonderkommando) and the doctor's room (now a kitchen). Below this, the concrete foundation slab of the demolished Krematorium IV is completely covered by snow. The location of a watchtower to the north of Krematorium V is unfortunately covered by the inscription «Gas chamber V». # Translation of the inscriptions: - (peu visible.../ Scarcely visible, the wall having been rebuilt over it) - Emplacement des charges.../ Location of the explosive charges laid in Birkenau Krematorium V by the SS at the end of January 1945. - La mise à feu.../ All these charges were detonated simultaneously according to the testimony of Dr Wolken. - (la charge 9.../ (charge 9 was a very large one) - plaque de béton.../ concrete slab with coke ![img-1.jpeg](img-1.jpeg) # Document 15 The western end and south side of Krematorium IV. (Sketch by the author) Document # Document 14 Survey by the author of the traces left by the explosions that demolished Krematorium V. ![img-2.jpeg](img-2.jpeg) 391 ===== PDF PAGE 0384 | page-384.md ===== # Bauleitung drawing 1678 of 14.8.42 The first drawing 1678(p) [Polish] is from PMO file BW 30b-30c/22, neg. no. 20946/6. The second drawing 1678(r) [Russian] is from the «October Revolution» Central State Archives. Einäscherungsanlage im KGL/Cremation installation in the POW camp Maßstab/Scale 1:100 Drawn by prisoner 538 on 14th August 1942, checked by SS Second Lieutenant Dejaco and approved by SS Captain Bischoff on 15th September 1942 Drawing 1678, the first one of the future Krematorium IV, two copies of which were to be built (the second being Krematorium V), was drawn in haste in order to try to deal with the catastrophic situation in which the camp found itself in August 1942. A typhus epidemic was raging and Bunkers 1 and 2 were regularly turning out batches of gassed bodies to be buried in the Birch Wood, a procedure that constituted a major health hazard at the height of summer. The urgency with which the drawing was produced can be seen in its unfinished appearance and by comparing the date on which it was checked and approved (15th September 1942) with the date on which the chimneys were ordered (20th August 1942), the former being much later than the latter. The fact is that the building was merely the frame in which an eight-muffle cremation furnace was to be housed, the drawings of this already having been supplied by Prüfer, the chief engineer of Messrs Topf. The title «Einäscherungsanlage/Cremation installation», rather than «Krematorium» indicates that it was the act of incineration that had priority and that the planned facility would be of more summary design than Krematorien II and III. Despite its apparent innocence as a sanitary instrument, there is a criminal element, linked with homicidal gassings, in the drawing. The essential parts of a crematorium are its furnace(s) and its morgue(s). Other ancillary rooms may go to complete this basic unit, such as coke store, laying out room, dissecting room and various others. In the arrangement of the premises, the only two rooms that are to be found in the immediate vicinity of the furnace room are those containing what is essential for its operation: coke from the coke store and corpses from the morgue. On drawing 1678, the coke store is shown, but the morgue is not. The only room big enough to serve this purpose is the uncompleted room on the left, beyond the air lock. The complementary drawing 2036, despite the absence of a specific label, makes it clear that this is the only room that could fulfil this function. This room, a morgue by virtue of its position, has by definition to be cool, but the SS planned it to be fitted with a stove [symbol #], which would be absurd. The arrangement of the premises in a homicidal crematorium (one with a gas chamber) was in accordance with an inescapable logical sequence. For example, in the new crematorium at Dachau, there follow the undressing room, the gas chamber (labelled «Brauschad/ Shower baths»), the morgue and the furnace room. In Auschwitz Krematorium I, the room that served first as a morgue and then as a gas chamber was next to the furnace room. The most noticeable difference between the two types of use is the air temperature: a morgue needs to be cool or cold, while a gas chamber using Zyclon-B needs to be heated to 26° or 27° C to facilitate the diffusion of the hydrocyanic gas. The presence of a stove in the uncompleted room of drawing 1678 is a formal indication that it was used for gassing. The weakness of this criminal trace is that it stands alone. Its strength is that it exists: this symbol of a stove cannot be «rubbed out» or forgotten. Drawing 1678 is connected with Bunkers 1 and 2. Instead of locating furnaces at the exits of their gas chambers as Prüfer had suggested in order to solve the problem of the mass graves, the SS preferred to bring the two functions (gassing and cremating) under the same roof. As evidence of this «affiliation», the method of introducing Zyclon-B into the gas chambers in Krematorien IV and V was directly inspired by that used in Bunkers 1 and 2, the pellets containing the poison being poured through openings covered by wooden shutters, set high in the walls of the gas chamber and accessible only by means of a ladder. Since Bunkers 1 and 2 were the only gas chambers in continuous operation in July-August 1942, the SS were willing to abandon them only in favour of two installations that could perform the same «work» much «better»: cremation installations IV and V, subsequently known as Krematorien IV and V. # Translation of inscriptions (from top to bottom and left to right): Giebelansicht/Gable end [east elevation of Krematorium IV] Ansicht/Elevation [south elevation of Krematorium IV] Erdgeschoß-Grundriß/Ground floor plan - Entlüftung/Air extraction - Binder/Pillar - Zwischen Schornstein und Innenwand Dehnungsfuge vorsehen/Allow for expansion joint between chimney and internal wall - Schleuse u. Geräte/Air lock and tools - Schleuse/Air lock - Verbrennungsraum/Cremation room [furnace room] - Generator/Firebox - Achtmuffel Einäscherungsofen/Eight-muffle cremation furnace - Siehe bet. Zeichnung/See the drawing concerned - Entlüftung/Air extraction - Aufenthaltsraum/[Prisoners'] rest room - W.F./Wind break - Eingang/Entrance - WC - Kohlen/Coal [in fact coke] store Schnitt A-B/Section A-B - Entlüftung/Air extraction - Schornsteinhöhe/Chimney height - Nagelbinder/Nailed truss - Einäscherungsofen/Cremation furnace - OK Gelände/Ground level - Schornsteinfundament/Chimney foundations Ansicht/Elevation [north elevation of Krematorium IV] Fundamentplan/Plan of foundations - Schornsteinfundament/Chimney foundations - Ofenfundament/Furnace foundations - Siehe bet. Zeichnung/See the drawing concerned 392 ===== PDF PAGE 0385 | page-385.md ===== drawing 1678(p) ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) 393 ===== PDF PAGE 0386 | page-386.md ===== drawing 1678(r) # Πνάμνηπροσάμιας μ. ο. γ. ε. Σαββαί 1000 ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) 394 ===== PDF PAGE 0387 | page-387.md ===== ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) 395 ===== PDF PAGE 0388 | page-388.md ===== **Konrad Segnitz drawing 1361 of 14/10/42** [PMO file 30b-30c/23, neg. no. 20946/7] Einäscherungsanlage im KGL Auschwitz/ Cremation installation in Auschwitz POW camp Mas. 1:100 u 1:20/Scale 1:100 and 1:20 Drawn on 14th October 1942 by the building firm Konrad Segnitz of Beuthen for the Auschwitz Bauleitung. Attached to it were two timber lists (Holzliste 659 and 660) detailing materials required for the roof frames and covering. This drawing was received by the Bauleitung on 7th December 1942. **Translation of inscriptions** (from top to bottom and left to right): - Binder Querschnitt/Cross section through truss - Stosslasche innen/Splicing plate on the inside - Futterhölzer/Supporting plates - Lamellendach über Schleuse bzw. Aufenthaltsraum/ Lamellate roof over air lock and rest room - Draufsicht/Plan view - Binderschnitt A-B/Truss section A-B - Schnitt C-D/Section C-D This first «complete» drawing of the future Krematorium IV is from a civilian source. Although its final length (67.50 m) was marked on drawing 1678 (67.65 m), the Bauleitung had not drawn the left hand section, 48 m long by 12 m wide. It now has six ventilation chimneys emerging from an unbroken expanse of roof, the westernmost part not being lower as in the following drawing, 2036. The function of this huge room of 576 m² is not indicated. Although Messrs Konrad Segnitz produced both the drawing and the timber lists, the roof was built by Industrie-Bau AG. 396 ===== PDF PAGE 0389 | page-389.md ===== Konrad Segnitz drawing 1361 of 14/10/42 [PMO file 30b-30c/23, neg. no. 20946/7] ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) 397 ===== PDF PAGE 0390 | page-390.md ===== # Bauleitung drawing 2036 of 11.1.43 The first version, 2036(p) [Polish], is from PMO file BW 30b-30c/23, neg. nos 2634 and 20818/10. The second and third versions, 2036(r.a) and 2036(r.b) [Russian], are from the «October Revolution» Central State Archives. The six photos forming 2036(r.a) are to be found in PMO file BW 30/43, pages 3 to 8. Einäscherungsanlage für das KGL/Cremation installation for the POW camp [Also added in the identification block: Krem IV u. V/Krematorien IV and V] Deckblatt für die Zeichnung Nr 1678/Correction sheet to drawing 1678 Maßstab/Scale 1:100 Drawn by prisoner 127, checked by SS Second Lieutenant Dejaco and approved by SS Captain Bischoff on 11th January 1943 2036(p) is the definitive drawing for what was to be Krematorium IV insofar as the external aspect and interior arrangement are now fixed and are to change but little despite some modifications made both during construction and afterwards. The orientation is not shown on the drawing, but reference to the actual building shows that it is «north up». The elevation is the north elevation of the future Krematorium IV. The two chimneys are thicker than on drawing 1678. The orientation of the ground floor plan is north up, west to the left, east to the right and south down. Section A-B is a cross-section of the western part and C-D one of the eastern part, through the 8-muffle furnace. The main difference between this and the Karl Segnitz drawing concerns the roof height, which is has been made lower over the western part, above the two westernmost rooms and the corridor serving them. A striking feature of drawing 2036(p) is that four of the rooms are not labelled: the two westernmost rooms and their corridor (with a total floor area of 240 m²) and the large room (245 m²) in the centre of the building. The stove for heating this room, present on drawing 1678, has disappeared, but each of the two westernmost rooms has a stove, the hearths being fired from the corridor, outside the rooms (using coal from the store next to the doctor's room). Despite the absence of some of the function labels on the ground floor plan of 2036(p), useful indications are nevertheless present. It can be seen that each of the two westernmost rooms has a door direct to the exterior as well as to the corridor. Their ceilings are low (2.20 m). They are heated by stoves and there is a drain in the centre of each. They communicate with the centre of the building via the corridor and the vestibule. Next to the coal store for the stoves in these westernmost rooms, the presence of a doctor's room implies that the function of these rooms requires his presence. The large central room with three ventilation chimneys and no stove could be a morgue providing corpses for the 8-muffle furnace, as this is the room closest to the furnace room and no other room is labelled as being for this purpose. Various Bauleitung orders sent to the Auschwitz DAW workshops and two timesheets covering work done by Riedel & Son prove that the westernmost rooms were fitting with gas-tight doors and windows, and must therefore have been gas-chambers. According to various testimonies they were homicidal gas chambers. In that case, drawing 2036(p) can be read in terms of an industrial production line: two production units (gas chambers requiring the presence of a doctor to certify death) operate alternately; the «products» obtained are evacuated via the corridor and vestibule and stored in the morgue (in the centre of the building), which can also receive others coming from external sources; finally, the products are consumed (cremation). In this sequence the undressing room is missing. It could have been provided in the form of a hut erected outside but very close to the Krematorium, as was done in the case of Krematorium II in the second half of March 1943 (a wooden hut was erected in the yard to serve as a temporary undressing room while Messing was completing the installation of the air extraction system in Leichenkeller 2). In order to explain the lack of an undressing room in Krematorien IV and V, it must be borne in mind that they were originally conceived simply as additional cremation installations, dependent on Bunkers 1 and 2, and not as fully fledged complexes like Krematorien II and III. Bringing the means of extermination under the same roof led the SS to supplement the first drawing, 1678, by a second, 2036, which is in fact labelled a «correction sheet» to drawing 1678. There would have been a third drawing with further modifications to the ground floor plan in order to provide the missing undressing room had the SS not decided to resolve the problem by making the large central room play a double role: that of morgue and/or undressing room (an arrangement inspired by what was done in Krematorium I in the Stammlager). This double role made it possible for the Bauleitung to use drawing 2036(p) as it stood, but for minor modifications. # Translation of inscriptions (from top to bottom and left to right): Ansicht/Elevation [north elevation of Krematorium IV] Querschnitt A-B/Cross-section A-B - Heraklith 3 cm/3 cm heraklith - Nagelbinder/Nailed truss - OK Gelände/Ground level Querschnitt C-D/Cross-section C-D - OK Gelände/Ground level - Nagelbinder/Nailed truss Erdgeschoß-Grundriß/Ground floor plan - Binder/Pillar - Lichte höhe 2.20 m/Clearance height 2.20 m - Kohle/Coal store - Vorraum/Vestibule - Arztzimmer/Doctor's room - Entlüftung/Air extraction - Schleuse u. Geräte/Air lock and tools - Schleuse/Air lock - Verbrennungsraum/Cremation room [furnace room] - Achtmuffel Einäscherungsofen/Eight-muffle cremation furnace - Verbrennungsraum/Cremation room [furnace room] - Aufenthaltsraum/[Prisoners'] rest room - Kohlen/Coal [in fact coke] store Kanalisation/Sewer pipes 398 ===== PDF PAGE 0391 | page-391.md ===== Bauleitung drawing 2036(p) of 11th January 1943 ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) 399 ===== PDF PAGE 0392 | page-392.md ===== # Translation of the additional inscriptions on drawing 2036(r.a): [in the room with »Lichte Höhe«] - Kavernischen/Set in [lamps] (see enlargement of this section) [in the Aufenthaltsraum/Rest room] - Brunnenkessel/Well [water] tank [above this room, by the shaded disc] - Brunnen/Well [also in this room, but very difficult to distinguish there is diagram of a pump with valve and electric motor] [the key below the inscription »Erdgewohlgrundriß«] - Elektr. Installation/Electrical installation - Kanalisation/Sewer pipes - Wasserleitung/Water pipes In addition to the drains and sewer pipes already shown on drawing 2036(p), this version also shows the position of the electric lamps lighting the building and the water supply system. The two westernmost rooms served by the corridor were each fitted with 4 lamps set into the walls (»Wand-Lampen Versenckt«, also indicated on the drawing as »Kavernischen«). The corridor had two lamps protected by grids. The other rooms were lit by ordinary lamps with shades: 1 in the vestibule; 1 in the coal store; 2 in the doctor's room; 6 in the large room; 2 in the air lock; 6 in the furnace room; 1 in the coke store; 1 in the WC; 1 in the entrance on the right; 1 in the rest room. In this last there was also a water supply tank with a pump and its electric motor. The water was pumped from the well outside the building into the tank and gravity fed throughout the building. On the drawing, the water supply pipe runs from the rest room, along the bottom of the furnace room, air lock and large room, up the left hand wall of this last and along the bottom wall of the vestibule and ends in the corridor serving the two westernmost rooms. There are three taps for the washbasins, three in the large room, one with a washbasin in the doctor's room and two in the corridor, one outside the door of each of the two rooms. This drawing, completing 2036(p), shows that the two westernmost rooms were not only equipped with stoves and drains, but also that the lamps were set into the walls (as was the case with one lighting the washbasins on the extreme right of the building). The two lamps in the corridor serving these rooms were protected by grids. It might be thought that in such rooms the SS intended to install showers supplied with hot water heated by the big 8-muffle furnace, but no showerheads are shown and there is no deviation of the water supply pipe leading through a heating coil in the furnace. What is more, the water supply does not go into the two westernmost rooms but only as far as two taps in the corridor outside their doors. Summarizing, drawing 2036(r.a) shows that the two westernmost rooms were heated by stoves and water from the taps in the corridor was to be used in them, for the lamps were set into the walls and thus waterproofed and there were drains in the centre of the rooms. Bauleitung drawing 2036(r.a) (1) of 11th January 1943 ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) Enlargement of part of drawing 2036(r.a) showing part of the two westernmost rooms. The symbol for an electric lamp [ ⊗ ] can be seen against the dividing wall, with the label »Kavernischen/Set in«. 400 ===== PDF PAGE 0393 | page-393.md ===== Bauleitung drawing 2036(r.a) (2) of 11th January 1943 ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) 401 ===== PDF PAGE 0394 | page-394.md ===== ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) Bauleitung drawing 2036(r.b) (A and B) ![img-1.jpeg](img-1.jpeg) Bauleitung drawing 2036(r.b) of 11th January 1943 This drawing was communicated by the Soviets in three parts. The two right hand parts match up perfectly, but it is impossible to join the whole, for the left hand part was reproduced on a different scale. Photographic reduction was tried, but this resulted in the loss of certain details (the handwritten inscriptions), so the author preferred to present the photographs of this version of 2036 as he received them. 402 ===== PDF PAGE 0395 | page-395.md ===== # Comments on drawing 2036(r.b) 2036(r.b) was found by the Russians in 1945 in the files of the camp administration (manuscript note «Verwaltung/administration» upper left). As the figures in the identification block were difficult to read, somebody inked them over and made two mistakes: 2030 instead of 2036 for the drawing number and 11.4.43 instead of 11.1.43 for the date. This is the simplest known version of 2036. It does not show the sewer pipes, water supply system or electric lighting. However, it seems to have been used during the construction of Krematorium V, for there is a pencil line extending the right hand side of the roof on Section C-D, representing the roof over the coke store, an arrangement applying to Krematorium V only. Despite the apparently good quality of the photograph, it is too light, which makes it only just possible to see that two inscriptions have been scratched out and replaced by hand written ones. There are also two additional hand written inscriptions. These four changes are to be found: above and below «Kohle»; below «Arztzimmer»; beside the westernmost window of the north elevation. Who made these changes: the Germans in 1943 or the Russians after the Liberation? The only one legible, above «Kohle» reads «Haarstuber», meaning «hair tab». In the author's opinion, this should be «Haarstube/Hair room», i.e. the place where the hair shorn from the gassed victims was stored. That under «Arztzimmer» is scarcely perceptible. The corrections in «Kohle» and «Arztzimmer» would appear to have been made after the war by a member of the Soviet Commission or a Sonderkommando survivor. The other two additions, which cannot be deciphered, are in gothic script, unlike the first two. The corrections correspond to a modification in the function of the rooms, pointed out by somebody who had lived in the Krematorium when it was in service. These additions concern changes made in the building after completion and confirmed by contemporary photographs. The window was filled in; two openings were made in the end of the coke store through which new deliveries were poured. Historically, the two corrections cannot be exploited and the two additions are already known through SS photos of the Krematorium. The interest of this drawing lies in the modification in the number of openings illuminating the western corridor. There were two initially, then a third was added (visible on the ground floor plan). Then they were all filled in, as can be seen on the north elevation. Of the seven small external windows visible on drawing 2036(g), there remain only five. However, if they are considered to be not windows to illuminate the interior but openings for the introduction of Zyclon-B (the two rooms in this western part being gas chambers), it appears that each of the two rooms had THREE such openings (three opening on the exterior in the westernmost room, two on the exterior and one on the corridor in the other room). Drawing 2036(r.b) shows that Krematorium IV (and hence V) underwent several modifications, especially in the western part. Drawing 2036 was not immutable and the different prints, all bearing the same number, are proof that there was some evolution. After undergoing changes, the total number of openings in the western part was SIX, and the initial orders were for SIX gas-tight windows, thus proving that ONLY THE TWO WESTERNMOST ROOMS (without the corridor) were intended to be used as gas chambers, at least at this stage of the project. 403 ===== PDF PAGE 0396 | page-396.md ===== ## The civilian firms who participated in the construction of Krematorien IV and V ### 1. The shells of the buildings HUTA of Kattowitz RIEDEL & SON of Bielitz It must be pointed out that in the Huta files the Krematorien are sometimes given the «usual» designation and sometimes the official Bauleitung designation, which can lead to confusion and gives rise to some doubt concerning the dates taken from the timesheets of their site foreman Kolbe, who generally used the «usual» designation. It would appear that the «usual» numbering [I, II, III, IV] was prevalent until early 1943 and that the Bauleitung numbering [II, III, IV, V] was not generally accepted until right at the end of the construction phase. To further complicate the issue, the Bauleitung wanted contractors to use the worksite numbers [BW 30, 30a, 30b and 30c]. Certain differences of one or two days in the dates of starting and finishing and the duration of some jobs are due to the counting of Sundays in weekly and monthly reports as against the daily timesheets. Huta produced the static calculations and drawings for the four chimneys of the two Krematorien [Photos A, B and C]. The firm began work on Krematorium IV [worksite BW 30b] on 23rd September 1942 [Photo D] and continued, apart from the Christmas holiday period, until 23rd January 1943, when Riedel & Son took over responsibility for this worksite and continued [Photo E] until 18th-20th March. Huta nevertheless continued to do some work on the site from 25th January to 23rd February. Krematorium IV was officially handed over to the camp administration on 22nd March 1943. Huta fitted the window bars between 24th April and 8th May 1943. Huta started work on Krematorium V on 15th-16th November 1942 [Photo F] and continued, apart from the Christmas holiday period, until 23rd January 1943. Riedel & Son took over this worksite, BW 30c, on 7th February and continued working there until 17th April, though Krematorium V was officially handed over to the camp administration on 4th April 1943. Huta finished off the job, fitting the «gas-tight doors» and window bars between 12th and 22nd April 1943 [Photo G]. The Bauleitung orders for materials sent to its materials administration [PMO file BW 30/35, containing the orders from 16th October 1942 to 13th January 1943] confirm the starting date for the construction of Krematorium V and show the number of bricks used. Order 9626 of 29th October 1942 states that the materials are for the [foundations of] the Krematorium IV chimneys. Order 9650 of 18th November 1942 is again for the [foundations of] the chimneys of Krematorium IV and V, commenced on 15th-16th of this month. The walls of Krematorien IV and V were built in mid-december 1942, following orders for bricks placed on 9th December: - Order 9680 for 70,000 bricks for Krematorium IV; - Order 9681 for 120,000 bricks for Krematorium V; - Order 9682 for 100,000 additional bricks for Krematorium IV; making a total of 290,000 bricks for the two Krematorien. ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) Photo A [PMO file BW 30/40, page 53] First page of the 12 pages of static calculations for the chimneys of Krematorium IV, here marked III according to the «usual» numbering. The worksite was BW 30b, not 30. 404 ===== PDF PAGE 0397 | page-397.md ===== -2- 59 ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) Photo B [PMO file BW 30/40, page 54] Second page of the static calculations for the chimneys of Krematorium IV, with sectional views of one of them. Photo C [PMO file BW 30/40, page 59] Seventh page of the static calculations for the chimneys of Krematorium IV, with a plan view of the base showing the moment of inertia (Fräghettmoment). -7- 59 Fräghettmoment ![img-1.jpeg](img-1.jpeg) 405 ===== PDF PAGE 0398 | page-398.md ===== ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) Photo D [PMO file BW 30/36, page 31] Invoice of 31st December 1942 sent to the Auschwitz Bauleitung by the Kattowitz branch of Huta, concerning the hours of work to be paid for foremen, bricklayers and labourers employed at worksite 30b, Krematorium IV, for the period 23rd September to 23rd December 1942. 23rd September was the date on which work on Krematorium IV began. ![img-1.jpeg](img-1.jpeg) 406 ===== PDF PAGE 0399 | page-399.md ===== ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) Photo F [PMO file BW 30/36, page 34] Invoice of 31st December 1942 sent to the Auschwitz Bauleitung by the Kattowitz branch of Huta, concerning the hours of work to be paid for foremen and bricklayers employed at worksite 30c, Krematorium V, for the period 15th November to 22nd December 1942. 15th November was the date on which work on Krematorium V began. ![img-1.jpeg](img-1.jpeg) 407 ===== PDF PAGE 0400 | page-400.md ===== # 2. The roofs of the buildings KONRAD SEGNITZ of Beuthen INDUSTRIE-BAU AG of Bielitz The roof of Krematorium IV was designed by Konrad Segnitz (drawing 1361), who also drew up timber lists for the materials required [Photo H] and performed certain static calculations [Photos I and J]. The roof frame was built, covered and finished with bituminous felt by Industrie-Bau AG [Photos K and L] between 4th January and 8th March 1943. The roof of Krematorium V was a mirror image of that of Krematorium IV, so all that was needed was to inverse Segnitz drawing 1361. This roof was probably also built by Industrie-Bau AG, but we have no documents to prove it. # 3. The eight-muffle furnaces TOPF & SONS of Erfurt JOSEF KLUGE of Alt-Gleiwitz (RIEDEL & SON of Bielitz) The two eight-muffle furnaces were built under the supervision of a Topf & Sons foreman, Willi KOCH, who carried out the final adjustments. For a financial consideration, he wrote and sent orders to the Auschwitz DAW metalworking shop for Krematorium IV (on 23rd and 27th February and 8th April 1943) and for Krematorium V (on 9th and 10th March and 8th April 1943). However, the details of the work carried out by Willi Koch and his weekly summaries of work done on the furnaces of Krematorium IV and V have not been found. Messrs Josef Kluge appear to have been responsible for most of the work of building the furnaces: from 1st February to 10th March 1943 for that of Kr IV and from 30th January to 25th May 1943 for that of Kr V [Photo M]. During the building of the Krematorium V furnace, Kluge received the assistance of 3 or 4 bricklayers from Riedel & Son from 19th March to 10th April 1943. # 4. The chimneys ROBERT KOEHLER [also sometimes spelt Köhler] of Myslowitz The foundations for the chimneys were probably built by Huta at the end of October 1942 for Krematorium IV and the end of November 1942 for Krematorium V. The four chimneys proper were then built by Robert Koehler according to the drawings and calculations made by Huta. Koehler worked on the chimneys of Krematorium IV from 31st January to 27th February 1943 [Photo N]. There are no documents to indicate the dates for the chimneys of Krematorium V. ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) Photo H [PMO file BW 30/26, page 59] Letter of 24th December 1942 from Konrad Segnitz to the Bauleitung concerning the part of the roof over the furnace room and its analysis of the future Krematorium IV. 408 ===== PDF PAGE 0401 | page-401.md ===== ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) Photo I [PMO file BW 30/40, page 51] First page of a supplementary static calculation made by Konrad Segnitz for the roof of Krematorium IV, dated 23rd December 1942. Photo J [PMO file BW 30/40, page 52] Second page of the supplementary static calculation of 23rd December 1942. ![img-1.jpeg](img-1.jpeg) 409 ===== PDF PAGE 0402 | page-402.md ===== # 5. The drainage # KARL FALCK of Gleiwitz «TRITON» of Kattowitz Some drainage work was done by Messrs Karl Falck outside Krematorium IV from 26th to 31st May 1943 [Photo O] and by «Triton» from 2nd to 9th June 1943 [Photo P]. Nothing is known about the drainage work for Krematorium V. In the deed of transfer by which Krematorium IV was handed over to the camp administration [Photo Q] (that for Krematorium V has not been found) the Bauleitung mention only FIVE firms as having participated in its construction: Industrie-Bau AG, Riedel & Son, Topf & Sons, Josef Kluge and Robert Koehler. The contribution of Konrad Segnitz is not mentioned, as it was too theoretical and the participation of Karl Falck and «Triton» was too insignificant. On the other hand, the omission of Huta is doubly incomprehensible. First, it is difficult to understand why the Bauleitung did not mention the Huta participation, which was as great as that of Riedel & Son. Second, the explanatory report that formed part of the handover documents for Krematorium IV [Photo R] states that work started in November 1942, whereas according to a Huta invoice [Photo D] work was started by them on 23rd September 1942, MORE THAN A MONTH EARLIER. At present neither the omission nor the discrepancy in the dates can be explained. ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) Photo K [PMO file BW 30/36, page 91] The Industrie-Bau AG timesheet for work done on Krematorium IV on 18th January 1943. A note has been added by Teichmann, a Bauleitung civilian employee, concerning the proper designation of the worksite: «Die Bezeichnung für obiges Bauwerk ist BW 30b KGL und nicht anders/The designation of the above worksite is BW 30b POW camp and nothing else». The Bauleitung were struggling to get their official worksite designations and Krematorium numbering accepted, while the civilians working on the four Krematories found it more logical to simply number them one to four rather than two to five. 410 ===== PDF PAGE 0403 | page-403.md ===== ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) Photo L [PMO file BW 30/36, page 80] The last page of the Industrie-Bau AG weekly timesheet no. 5 for the week of list to 7th February 1943, covering work done by about thirty men on BW 30b KGL (Krematorium IV). Teichmann's note has been followed to the letter. ![img-1.jpeg](img-1.jpeg) Photo M [PMO file BW 30/28, page 8] Josef Kluge timesheet for 31st March 1943 covering work done by three bricklayers on constructing the eight-muffle furnace of Krematorium V (the worksite number «BW 30c» has been added by the Bauleitung). 411 ===== PDF PAGE 0404 | page-404.md ===== ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) Photo N [PMO file BW 30/28, page 88] Robert Koehler timesheet for 19th February 1943 for work done on constructing one of the chimneys of Krematorium IV (or possibly V, there is doubt as to the numbering system used). The chimney had been built up 1.50 m. The composition of the gang employed is typical, with 12 civilians and 20 prisoners working as bricklayer's labourers. Two were in fact detached to Krematorium III (or IV) and four went to help Riedel & Son. Koehler was by no means the only firm to use prisoners from the camp. Huta also did so and indeed the combination of this work forces was essential in the construction of the four Krematorien. Without them the work progressed very little if it was not stopped altogether. Photo O [PMO file BW 30/39, page 2] Karl Falck timesheet for drainage work outside Krematorium IV (BW 30b) done by four men on 29th May 1943. The signature on the right is that of Janisch, a Bauleitung SS Second Lieutenant. Photo P [PMO file BW 30/33, page 3] »Triton« timesheet for drainage work outside Krematorium IV (BW 30b) done by four men on 3rd June 1943. The timesheet has been countersigned by SS Second Lieutenant Janisch. ![img-1.jpeg](img-1.jpeg) ![img-2.jpeg](img-2.jpeg) 412 ===== PDF PAGE 0405 | page-405.md ===== Zentralbauleitung der Waffen-S und Polizei Auschwitz - 0/S Auschwitz, den 19. März 1943 Übergabeverhandlung. Zentralbauleitung der Waffen-S und Polizei Auschwitz: Vertreten durch: Das von der Zentralbauleitung der Waffen-S und Polizei Auschwitz errichtete - Instandgesetzte - Auschwitz - Bauwerk "r. K.G.L.-30 b-Kromatorium 4 wurde heute an die Kommandantur (Unterkunftsverwaltung) des K.L. Auschwitz übergeben. Beschreibung: siehe Rückseite Unstehend aufgeführte Bäume und die in der Anlage 1 gesondert aufgeführten Einrichtungsgegenstände sind ordnungsgemäß von der Zentralbauleitung der Waffen-S und Polizei Auschwitz übergeben und von der Kommandantur (Unterkunftsverwaltung) des K.L. Auschwitz übernommen worden. Die Unterkunftsverwaltung hat nachfolgende Wünsche geäußert: Diese Arbeiten werden auf dem schnellsten Wege fertiggestellt. Übergabeverhandlungen geschlossen und gefertigt: Auschwitz, den 11. März 1943 Der Übergehende: Konz.-Inger. Reichstift Übernommende: Zentralbauleitung der Waffen-S und Kommandantur K.-L. Auschwitz 0/S K. Polizei ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) Bauheterische Bauheterische ![img-1.jpeg](img-1.jpeg) Unterkauf Unterkauf Anlage: 1 Verzeichnis der Einrichtungsgegenstände 1 Satz Baupläne (Tadotab 1:100) 1 Verzeichnis über baupläne in den eingesetzten Firmen mit Angaben der Haft und Garantienzeiten. 1 Bestätigung über Schornsteinabnahme Bei Ausführung der Arbeiten in Eichenregie mit Häftlingen kommt eine Haft - und Garantienzeit nicht zur Anwendung. Die Arbeiten wurden teils von Firmen und zwar: Pa. Industrie-Bau-1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67, 68, 69, 70, 71, 72, 73, 74, 75, 76, 77, 78, 79, 80, 81, 82, 83, 84, 85, 86, 87, 88, 89, 90, 91, 92, 93, 94, 95, 96, 97, 98, 99, 100 wenden Pa. Industrie-Bau-1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67, 68, 69, 70, 71, 72, 73, 74, 75, 76, 77, 78, 79, 80, 81, 82, 83, 84, 85, 86, 87, 88, 89, 90, 91, 92, 93, 94, 95, 96, 97, 98, 99, 100 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. 23. 24. 25. 26. 27. 28. 29. 30. 31. 32. 33. 34. 35. 36. 37. 38. 39. 40. 41. 42. 43. 44. 45. 46. 47. 48. 49. 50. 51. 52. 53. 54. 55. 56. 57. 58. 59. 60. 61. 62. 63. 64. 65. 66. 67. 68. 69. 70. 71. 72. 73. 74. 75. 76. 77. 78. 79. 80. 81. 82. 83. 84. 85. 86. 87. 88. 89. 90. 91. 92. 93. 94. 95. 96. 97. 98. 99. • 1.1. 2.0. 3.0. 4.0. 5.0. 6.0. 7.0. 8.0. 9.0. 10.0. 11.0. 12.0. 13.0. 14.0. 15.0. 16.0. 17.0. 18.0. 19.0. 20.0. 21.0. 22.0. 23.0. 24.0. 25.0. 26.0. 27.0. 28.0. 29.0. 30.0. 31.0. 32.0. 33.0. 34.0. 35.0. 36.0. 37.0. 38.0. 39.0. 40.0. 41.0. 42.0. 43.0. 44.0. 45.0. 46.0. 47.0. 48.0. 49.0. 50.0. 51.0. 52.0. 53.0. 54.0. 55.0. 56.0. 57.0. 58.0. 59.0. 60.0. 61.0. 62.0. 63.0. 64.0. 65.0. 66.0. 67.0. 68.0. 69.0. 70.0. 71.0. 72.0. 73.0. 74.0. 75.0. 76.0. 77.0. 78.0. 79.0. 80.0. 81.0. 82.0. 83.0. 84.0. 85.0. 86.0. 87.0. 88.0. 89.0. 90.0. • Josef Min, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67, 68, 69, 70, 71, 72, 73, 74, 75, 76, 77, 78, 79, 80, 81, 82, 83, 84, 85, 86, 87, 88, 89, 90, 91, 92, 93, 94, 95, 96, 97, 98, 99, 100 • 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. 23. 24. 25. 26. 27. 28. 29. 30. 31. 32. 33. 34. 35. 36. 37. 38. 39. 40. 41. 42. 43. 44. 45. 46. 47. 48. 49. 50. 51. 52. 53. 54. 55. 56. 57. 58. 59. 60. 61. 62. 63. 64. 65. 66. 67. 68. 69. 70. 71. 72. 73. 74. 75. 76. 77. 78. 79. 80. 81. 82. 83. 84. 85. 86. 87. 88. 89. 90. 91. 92. 93. 94. 95. 96. 97. 98. 99. und teils in Eigenregie ausgedrückt. wenden 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. 23. 24. 25. 26. 27. 28. 29. 30. 31. 32. 33. 34. 35. 36. 37. 38. 39. 40. 41. 42. 43. 44. 45. 46. 47. 48. 49. 50. 51. 52. 53. 54. 55. 56. 57. 58. 59. 60. 61. 62. 63. 64. 65. 66. 67. 68. 69. 70. 71. 72. 73. 74. 75. 76. 77. 78. 79. 80. 81. 82. 83. 84. 85. 86. 87. 88. 89. 90. 91. 92. 93. 94. 95. 96. 97. 98. 99. Ufenbau Schornsteinbau Photo Q (FM0 file BW 30/43, page 1) The deed of transfer dated 19th March 1943 by which Krematorium IV was handed over to the camp administration with effect from 22nd March. The signature on the left is that of the head of the Baubetung, SS Major Bischoff. At the bottom of the page is the list of the five firms that had participated in the construction. The Baubetung also specifically stated that where work had been carried out on own account using prisoner labour there was no guarantee. This point was vital and meant that the civilian firms were not liable if problems should arise. This is indeed what happened and Krematorium IV was soon shut down for good. ![img-2.jpeg](img-2.jpeg) 413 ===== PDF PAGE 0406 | page-406.md ===== # The SS photographs of KGL Birkenau Krematorien IV and V The photographs that follow come from three different sources, but all were produced in one of the two photographic laboratories in KL Auschwitz. These sources are: 1. The fifty or so photos «organized» by the former prisoner Lawin LUDWIK and conserved in the Auschwitz State Museum; 2. The Bauleitung Album conserved by the Yad Vashem; 3. The Auschwitz Album found by Serge Klarsfeld and also conserved in the Yad Vashem. The photos from the first two sources, of common origin, were taken in 1942 and 1943 by SS Sergeant Kamann for the Bauleitung, for whom he worked, being in charge of the «Gardening» and «Photography» sections. Those from the third source were taken in May-June 1944 by SS Master-Sergeant Bernhard WALTER, responsible for the Identification Service located in Block 17 of the Stammlager, and his assistant, SS Sergeant Ernst HOFMANN. Photo 1 Photo 2 ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) ![img-1.jpeg](img-1.jpeg) ![img-2.jpeg](img-2.jpeg) Photo 1 [PMO neg. no. 308, Ludwik series] First photo of the site of Krematorien IV and V. The stone bed of the «Ringstraße/Ring road» is being laid by a kommando of women prisoners in the summer of 1942. The photo was taken on an east/west line and shows the western end of the Ringstraße, just before it turns south towards the Zentral Sauna. The section under construction here runs between the future Krematorien IV (on the left) and V (on the right). The temporary watchtower in the centre background serves as a landmark for situating this photo and the next. Photo 2 [PMO neg. no. 309, Ludwik series] Photo taken on the same day and on the same line as Photo 1 showing the laying of the stone bed of the Ringstraße between Krematorien IV and V in the summer of 1942. In the right foreground are two Bauleitung officers consulting a drawing, probably that of the road. They are SS Captain Karl BISCHOFF, head of the Bauleitung, and SS Second Lieutenant Walter DEJACO, head of the Drawing Office. Behind Bischoff, on his right, is a civilian, probably an employee of Lenz & Co, one of the civilian firms working at Birkenau on the construction of the POW camp. Lenz & Co specialized mainly in site levelling, work that proceeded the building of the successive construction stages (Baudschicht) of Birkenau. Another photograph [PMO neg. no. 313] taken on the same day as Photos 1 and 2 shows the two SS officers again on the Ringstraße, but the photographer is facing northwest (see Part II, Chapter 5, «Krematorien II and III» Photo 3 [PMO neg. no. 20095/499 (source Yad Vashem) and PMO neg. no. 288, Ludwik series] The very first photograph of the construction of Krematorium IV, taken between 1st and 15th January 1943, showing the east end (right foreground) and south side (left). Work on the shell of the building was begun on Wednesday 23rd September 1942 by HUTA of Kotswole, not by Rudel & Son of Birkle in indicated on the deed of transfer of Krematorium IV, dated 19th March 1943. Messrs Robert Koehler of Gleiwitz built the chimneys. A total of about 80 men worked on worksite 30b, 60 or 70 of them prisoners, 20 of whom worked for Koehler on building the chimneys. The shell and chimneys of Krematorium IV were completed on 23rd January 1943 and Huta's subsequent contribution on this site was greatly reduced. Riedel & Son took over on 25th January 1943 and completed the work on the transfer of Krematorium IV and also took over the construction of the shell of Krematorium V, worksite 30c, also begun by Huta but left unfinished. On this photograph the arrangement of the windows in the east end of Krematorium IV still corresponds to drawing 1678, which meant that at a later date some had to be filled in and other openings had to be made. The walls of the coke tower (new end), already built, were too high and part had to be demolished to fit the roof. The western part of the building was not shown on Bauleitung drawing 1678 but did appear on the Konrad Segnitz drawing. The photograph is not very clear, but it would appear that only the foundations of the western end have been laid. The site foreman was perhaps waiting for the next stage in the programme, which was drawing 2036. Photo 3 414 ===== PDF PAGE 0407 | page-407.md ===== ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) Photo 4 [PMO neg. no. 20995/502 (source Yad Vashem) and PMO neg. no. 295, Ludwik series] Photos 4, 5 and 6 were taken on the same day, virtually one after the other, during the first half of February 1943. Photo 4 shows the east end (right) and the south side (left) of Krematorium IV. The building has now taken its final form in accordance with Bauleitung drawing 2036 of 11th January 1943, except for the east end, which is still in accordance with 1678. It was now Riedel & Son working on the brickwork, assisted by Industrie-Bau AG for the roof, whose nailed trusses are almost all in place. The western part, defined by drawing 2036, has now been completed. There was apparently nothing to show its future homicidal role, but the civilian employees of Riedel & Son had so few illnesses on the matter that they did not hesitate to designate the westernest rooms as «gaz chambers» on 2nd March 1943. ![img-1.jpeg](img-1.jpeg) Photo 6 [PMO neg. no. 20995/500 (source Yad Vashem)] East end (left) and north side (right) of Krematorium IV, seen from the Ringstraße, on which two young SS men engrossed in the delicate problem of keeping a motorcycle upright on the snow are impertinely unaware of the disquieting architectural beauty of the Krematorium. ![img-2.jpeg](img-2.jpeg) Photo 5 [PMO neg. no. 20995/501 (source Yad Vashem) and PMO neg. no. 289, Ludwik series] The openings to be seen in the near end are from left to right: in the south wall, two openings for pouring coke deliveries into the coke store; in the east wall, two windows lighting the coke store; a small window for the WC; the eastern access door, one of the two windows in the rest room. From the slope of the rafter visible by the eastern chimney, it can be seen that part of the upper corner of walls of the coke store will have to be removed if the roof is to be level with that of the rest of the southeast end of Krematorium IV. 415 ===== PDF PAGE 0408 | page-408.md ===== ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) Photo 7a ![img-1.jpeg](img-1.jpeg) Photo 7 # Photos 7 and 7a [PMO neg. no. 297, Ludwik series] Until 1980, this was the only known photograph showing virtually the whole of the south side of Krematorium IV. Experimenting with photographic papers of different sensitivities and different exposure times scarcely improve the poor quality of the original at all, mainly due to the fact that the original was simply a contact print. Just to the left of the building is the temporary watchtower located at the turn in the Ringstraße. The building itself is very nearly finished, which means that the photo can be dated as being taken in mid-March 1943. The windows have only just been installed, as those of the furnace room still have on them the criss-crosses of paper that protected them during transport. From right to left on the south side we can see: part of the extended wing of the coke store; the double door and three windows of the furnace room containing the eight muffle furnace; the large central room lit by four small, high windows; the two windows of the doctor's room; the window of the coal store; lastly, in the western part, with a lower roof, a door and three small, high windows in accordance with Bauleitung drawing 2036. The chimneys of the stoves in these westernmost rooms can just about be distinguished. Between the two big chimneys, which have not yet been used too scot marts at the tops it is possible to see a geodesic reference tower which is still there today. The fact that the south side of the western part of the building exactly matches drawing 2036 led people to believe that the northern side of the building also matched 2036(p), but this was mistaken. # Photo 8 [Enlargement of part of PMO neg. no. 2/095/465] The western parts of Krematorion IV and V photographed from the Zentral Sauna, then under construction. The photo was taken at the beginning of April 1943, between 1st and 7th, by SS Sergeant Kemann, who was photographing the excavations for the foundations of the Zentral Sauna, looking north. He later took another photo from the same spot when the excavations were completed, but this time his camera was tilted at a greater angle and the two Krematorion did not appear in the picture, only part of the grounds of Kr IV, enclosed by barbed wire. This barbed wire fence was being erected at the beginning of April, as mentioned in a letter from Huta to the Bauleitung, dated 5th April (BW 30/30, page 5). The visible parts of Krematorion IV and V are labelled on the second photo. This photo shows that the western end and southern side of Krematorium IV was in accordance with drawing 2036(p), and proves that the gas-tight shutters ordered by the Bauleitung from the DAW workshops on 13th February 1943 had indeed been fitted on 28th as noted by the Riedel & Son site foreman. The photo also confirms that the stoves were installed in the two westernmost rooms, for their chimneys are clearly visible. Finally, although the picture is somewhat blurred, it is possible to distinguish a door in the south side of Krematorium V (to the left of the coal store window), giving onto the corridor and not shown on drawing 2036. Without this new door absolutely essential for proper ventilation, operation of the gas chambers of Krematorion IV and V would have been hampered by lack of adequate ventilation and the armistice risk of contamination of the rest of the building. 416 ===== PDF PAGE 0409 | page-409.md ===== ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) Photo 8 # Translation of inscriptions (from left to right): Photo 8 (a) ![img-1.jpeg](img-1.jpeg) Les chambres à gaz des Krematorien IV et V/ The gas chambers of Krematorien IV and V - Façades sud et ouest, début avril 1943/ South sides and west ends, beginning of April 1943 - Bloc des 3 puis 4 chambres à gaz du Kr V/ Block of 3, then 4, gas chambers of Krematorium V - Bloc des 3 chambres à gaz du Kr IV/ Block of 3 gas chambers of Krematorium IV - Portes étanches au gaz/ Gas-tight doors - Cheminée de poèle/ Stove chimney - Les 2 cheminées du Kr V/ The two chimneys of Krematorium V - Clapets de versement du Zyclon-B/ Zyclon-B introduction shutters - Cheminée de poèle/ Stove chimney - Réserve de charbon/ Coal store - Pièce du «médecin»/ «Doctor's» room - Aérations du vestiaire/morgue Ventilation for undressing room/morgue - 1 des 2 cheminées du Kr V/ One of the two chimneys of Krematorium IV 417 ===== PDF PAGE 0410 | page-410.md ===== ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) Photo 9 [PMO neg. no. 20995/509] The south side and east end of Krematorium IV in mid April 1943, shortly after it was officially handed over on 22nd March. The soot on the south face of the chimneys shows that the two 4-muffle half furnaces had already been operating and that the prevailing wind blew from the north. The openings in the east end have been modified to conform to drawing 2036 and the tops of the coke store walls have been modified to fit the slope of the roof. There should be some additions to the labels on the photograph: On the east end: - the access door, blocked by a metal bar; On the south side: - at the end of the coke store: the two openings for coke deliveries; - between the doctor's room and the western part: window of the coal store for the stoves. ![img-1.jpeg](img-1.jpeg) # Translation of inscriptions (from left to right): | - Le Krematorium IV ou BW 30b/ Krematorium IV or BW 30b - Façades est et sud, avril 1943/ South side and east end, April 1943 - (livre par la Bauleitung en état de marche le 22 mars 1943)/ (handed over by the Bauleitung in working order on 22nd March 1943) - Chambées à gaz/ Gas chambers - Porte étanche au gaz/ Gas-tight door - Pièce du «médecin»/ «Doctor's» room | - Lucarnes éclairant le vestiaire/morgue Small windows lighting the undressing room/morgue - Sas/ Air lock - Cokerie/ Coke store - Salle du four à 8-creusets d'incinération/ Furnace room with its 8 cremation muffles - WC et lavabo/ WC and washroom - Pièce des SS/ SS room | | --- | --- | 418 ===== PDF PAGE 0411 | page-411.md ===== ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) Photo 10 [PMO neg. no. 20995/508] The south side and east end of Krematorium V, partly hidden by black trees. Because of their location on the edge of the Birch Wood, Krematorium IV and V were called «the forest Krematorien». The trees limit the possibilities for historical exploitation of this photograph, probably taken in May-June 1943. The traces of soot on the chimneys are not so pronounced as on Krematorium IV. The place marked on the labelled photograph by a black dot is where the four Hungarian Jews of Photo 14 were standing in May-June 1944. ![img-1.jpeg](img-1.jpeg) # Translation of inscriptions: - Le Krematorium V ou BW 30c/Krematorium V or BW 30c - Façades sud et est, mai-juin 1943/South side and east end, May-June 1943 - (livré par la Bauleitung en état de marche le 4 avril 1943)/(handed over by the Bauleitung in working order on 4th April 1943) - Chambres à gaz/Gas chambers - Entrée des inaptes/Entrance for the «unfit for work» - Vestibule - Endroit présumé où se tenaient les 4 inaptes hongrois devant le Kr V/ Presumed spot where the 4 Hungarian victims were standing in front of Krematorium V - Chiménées/Chimneys - Porte d'accès et fenêtres de la salle du four à 8-creusets/Entrance door and windows of the furnace room with its 8 muffles - Pièce des SS/SS room - Entrée/Entrance - Cokerie/Coke store 419 ===== PDF PAGE 0412 | page-412.md ===== ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) ![img-1.jpeg](img-1.jpeg) Photo 11 [Photo 153 of «L'Album d'Auschwitz» by Serge Klarsfeld] Contrary to what the author stated in «L'Album d'Auschwitz» (Seuil), photos 97, 98 and 99 of that work were not set in B.III along the effects huts, but on the Ringstraße, between the three administration huts of Kanada II and the Zentral Sauna. In May-June 1944, this column of Hungarian Jewish women selected as fit for work was marching north and was going to pass between Krematorium IV and V in the direction of the entrance to B.III. (Hungarian women's camp), their probable destination. The position of these women is shown as point 9 on the plan of Birkenau (next Sheet). Photo 11, looking northeast, was taken by an SS photographer standing with his back to the Zentral Sauna while the column of prisoners was passing the entrance to the northern Effektenlagerstraße (Effects camp road) of Kanada II. The error in pinpointing this photo and the two others in the series was due to the form of the huts in the background. This type of hut was to be found only in B.II and B.III, while B.II and Kanada II were equipped almost exclusively with «stable» huts. On the basis of this difference, the author had concluded that the three photos must have been taken in B.III. However, Photo 12 shows that the three huts of the westernmost row of Kanada II were of a different model from the «stable» huts of the rest of Kanada. Furthermore, in the original attempt to situate the photograph, the position of the sun had not been taken into account in determining the orientation. While it is difficult to assess on this particular photo, the lighting on the two others leaves no room for doubt. Above the roof of the hut on the left are the two chimneys of Krematorium IV, with soot on their southern faces, no smoke emerging because the furnace had been out of some since May 1943. More than a year after Krematorium IV entered service, the size of the soot stains on its chimneys was still the same as on the photo taken in April 1943, another indication that the Krematorium cannot have worked for very long. Photo 12 [PMO neg. no. 20995/445] Birkenau sewage treatment plant II (Kilientlage II) was between Krematorium III (to the south) and Kanada II (to the north). It comprised in particular five sedimentation basins numbered 1 to V from east to west. This photo was taken during the construction of heart IV, looking north, no doubt in summer 1943. It shows the first four rows of huts of Kanada II, the first row being different from the others, which are all «stable» type, a fact that is not very evident from the Basildring plans of Birkenau. In the background, between the second and third rows, part of the south wall of Krematorium IV, the section housing the undressing room/stranger, can be seen. Between its two chimneys appears one of Krematorium V. The distance between SS Sergeant Kottam and Krematorium IV and V was 320 m and 440 m respectively. As usual, neither Krematorium IV nor V was working, for not the slightest whisp of smoke can be seen escaping from their chimneys, which confirms that Krematorium IV was no longer used after May 1943 because it had suffered serious damage, and that Krematorium V was used very little if at all between the middle of 1943 and May-June 1944. ![img-2.jpeg](img-2.jpeg) Photo 13 [Photo 184 of «L'Album d'Auschwitz» by Serge Klarsfeld] Photograph of the storage of victims' shoes taken in the middle of Kanada II in May-June 1944. The SS photographer had left the north Effektenlagerstraße and advanced a few metres between two of the «stable» huts of the north row (probably between 6 and 7, the huts being numbered 1 to 10 from west to east) and taken the photo looking northwest. The point where he was standing is point 13 on the plan of Birkenau (next Sheet). Above the ridge of the «stable» hut it is possible to see the tops of the two chimneys of Krematorium IV (on the left) and one of Krematorium V (on the right). There is no smoke coming from any of them, of course. However, the background is full of smoke, especially on the right, to the extent that the outlines of the chimneys are somewhat indistinct. The absence of smoke from the chimneys is easily explicable. Krematorium IV had been shut down since May 1943, despite an unsuccessful attempt to repair it in April 1944. The furnace of Krematorium V, also repaired in April 1944, had proved so unsatisfactory that upon air cremation ditches had been dug not far from its northwest corner. The smoke on the photo comes from bodies being cremation in one or more of these ditches. The prevailing wind being from the north, the smoke blow towards Kanada II, as corroborated by this photo. In the author's opinion, this photograph is one more piece of incriminating evidence regarding the extermination of the Hungarian Jews in May-June 1944, for it contains two criminal elements: the direct evidence of the mountain of shoes that cannot be minimally explained without extermination, and the indirect evidence of the smoke coming from the bodies of Jews found unfit for work being cremated in the ditches behind Krematorium V. 420 ===== PDF PAGE 0413 | page-413.md ===== # Translation of inscriptions: ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) - Zentral Sauna [boths and disinfestation] - Kliranlage I/Sewage treatment plant I - Pumpenanlage/Pumping station - Crématoire II/Krematorium II - Voie 2/Truck 2 - Kliranlage II/Sewage treatment plant II - Effektenlagerstraße/Effects camp road - Crématoire IV/Krematorium IV - Rospatrale/Ring road - Crématoire V/Krematorium V - Réserve d'eau/Réservoir - Fosses de décantation provisoires/Provisional decantation basins - Canada II/Kanada II - Camp des femmes/Women's camp - Entrée/Entrance - Voie 1/Truck 1 - Hauptstalle a/Main road a - Hauptstalle b/Main road b - Quai a/Platform a - Quai central/Central platform - Quai b/Platform b - Secteur Hôpital/Hospital Sector - Camp des Tziganes/Gypsy camp - Camp des hommes/Men's camp - Industriestraße/Industry road - Camp des Hongroises/Hungarian women's camp - Camp de Theresiensstadt/Theresiensstadt camp - Lagerstraße/Camp road 1 Quai a/Platform a 2 Quai b/Platform b 3 Quai central/Central platform (selection) 4 Entrée de la Lagerstraße A/Entrance from Lagerstrasse A 5 Lagerstrasse A 6 Hauptstrasse a 7 B.II.c camp des Trajanes/Gypsy camp 8 B.II.f Secteur Hôpital/Hospital sector 9 Ringstrasse, opposite Kanada II 10 Effektenlagerstrasse A Kanada II 11 Entrée du B.I/Entrance to B.I 12 Place d'appel du B.II.c camp des Hongroises/ Assembly ground for B.II.c Hungarian women's camp 13 Kanada II 14 Hauptstrasse b 15 Entrée du Crématoire II/Entrance to Krematorium II 16 Le Békonnouff/De Biech wood 17 Face au Crématoire V/Facing Krematorium IV ![img-1.jpeg](img-1.jpeg) Photo 14 Plan of Birkenau published on page 42 of «L'Album d'Auschwitz» (Seuil, november 1983), showing the position of the SS photographer for the different pictures. Photos 97, 98 and 99 of «L'Album» were taken from point 9, on the Ringstraße. The drawing on which this plan is based is Bauleitung drawing 3764, drawn by prisoner 63003 on 23rd March 1944, checked by Teichmann (civilian employee) and approved by Jothann (head of the Bauleitung in 1944) on 24th March 1944. Drawing 3764 was already used as a general purpose plan at the time and several different prints were made with different additions according to the specific purpose of the version concerned. Photo 14 [Photo 12 of «L'Album d'Auschwitz» by Serge Klarsfeld] During the extermination of the Hungarian Jews found unfit for work in May-June 1944, this is the only photo we have of some of them between Krematorien IV and V. This woman and the three men are about to enter the vestibule of Krematorium V. They have less than an hour still to live. In the background is the north side of Krematorium IV, on which it is possible to identify, despite the trees, the following openings (left to right): the double door and two of the windows of the furnace room with its 8 muffles; the four small, high windows lighting the undressing room/morgue; the first and second (half bricked-up) windows of the vestibule, its door being masked by a tree; in the western, lower, part is the door opening on the corridor serving the two westernmost rooms. The creation of an access door in the north wall of the western part of the building, not shown on drawing 2036, and the partial blocking of the second window of the vestibule were to remedy problems found in the course of the first homicidal gassings in the building at the end of March 1943, improvements made in the light of experience. The gas chambers in this western part had only natural ventilation. This was achieved either by opening the three doors external doors of the western part (i.e. the doors to the two gas chambers and the vestibule), with the attendant risk that a sudden gust of wind could send poisoned air through the door between the corridor and the vestibule and contaminate the rooms opening onto the vestibule, or, if the door between the corridor and the vestibule were kept closed, then according to drawing 2036(r.b) the fresh air could enter through virtually only one opening of 30 by 40 cm (in the corridor), thus considerably extending the time required for ventilation. In order to make the operation of the gas chambers more rational and less dangerous (ventilation through the vestibule), **a door was made in the north wall in order to cause a north-south draught**, the prevailing winds being northerly. It was thus possible to rapidly clear the poisoned air while keeping the door between the corridor and the vestibule was kept closed. The partial blocking of the second window of the vestibule was also a practical necessity. After undressing in the undressing room/morgue, the naked victims were directed through the vestibule to the gas chambers. Sometimes the first to reach these bizarre shower rooms with low ceilings and no showerheads visible must have panicked and tried to back out towards the undressing room, from which other victims were still emerging, pushed by the SS. The resultant crowding and struggles must have damaged the western window of the vestibule (broken glass or even burst frame under the pressure of the human mass). In order to prevent the recurrence of such damage the SS had the window bricked in up to head height. At the date of this photograph, Krematorium IV was no longer used and was soon to become accommodation for 500 to 700 Sonderkommando men, who occupied the whole of the building, including the gas chambers. Krematorium V was still used, however, as shown by these four Jews directed towards the entrance to its vestibule. Their bodies were no doubt not to be cremated in the furnace, but in the open-air ditches dug parallel to the north wall and thus hidden from view by the building. A three metre high hedge was later erected to hide activities completely. This very important photograph was «analysed» (or «conjured away») by Robert Faurisson on pages 8 and 9 of a pamphlet of 17 pages dated 9th December 1983 and entitled «Les Tricheries de l'Album d'Auschwitz» [The tricks of the Auschwitz Album] distributed to the media following publication of the Album. The author will not repeat Faurisson's entire argument here, but the gist of it was: Pressac was half intoxicated - by his drugs - when he tried, floundering and in vain, to «pathose» (verb coined from «pathos») this photograph, which clearly has nothing tragic about it for it is obvious that the woman is tightly clasping the hand of the man on the right. Such reasoning on the part of a man still a university professor leaves one flabbergasted if not stunned. His inability to prove that these four Hungarian Jews were anywhere else than at four or five metres from the entrance to the vestibule of Krematorium V does not embarrass him in the least. There is none so blind as he who will not see. As for the woman's attitude, it could simply be that she, with no illusions about what is to happen and having seen the SS photographer, suddenly turned away, saying in effect: «I don't want that [bastard of an] SS to photograph me!» Such a reaction would not be surprising, for some of the Jewish children, less polite and more spontaneous than their parents, instinctively feeling that the SS wished them no good, pulled faces at the photographers. 421 ===== PDF PAGE 0414 | page-414.md ===== ## The «Polish Resistance» photographs Presented in 1945 as the only photographs of the extermination of the Jews, taken in August 1944, they were attributed by Judge Jan Sehn in the initial publications of the Central Commission for the investigation of Hitlerian crimes in Poland and the Auschwitz Museum to the former prisoner David Szmulewski. Four photographs were taken with a camera smuggled into Krematorium V. Two were of reasonable quality (Photos 15 and 16 [PMO neg. nos 280 and 281]), one just about usable (Photo 17 [PMO neg. nos. 282]) and the last one useless (Photo 18 [PMO neg. nos. 283]). The clandestine photographer had taken two pictures of corpses being burnt in the open air [Photos 15 and 16], one of naked women [Photo 17] and one of tree branches [Photo 18]. As a rule, the three usable photographs are not published complete, but just the «interesting» part is enlarged and printed with a general caption: - Photos 15 and 16: «Cremation of gassed bodies in open ditches» [PMO enlargements: neg. nos 277 and 278]; - Photo 17: «Prisoners being led to the gas chamber» [PMO enlargement: neg. no. 279]; Schéma de reconstitution des emplacements occupés par le membre du Sonderkommando qui effectue en août 1944 les deux clichés P.M.O. nég. n° 280 (position 1) et nég. n° 281 (position 2). ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) ![img-1.jpeg](img-1.jpeg) Photofiketch map showing the position of the Sonderkommando man who took the photographs from inside Krematorium V in August 1944. PMO neg. nos 280 (position 1) and 281 (position 2). ### Translation of inscriptions: - Nord/ North - Partie ouest du crématoire V/ Western part of Krematorium V - Ch. à gaz/ Gas chamber - Chambre à gaz nord/ Northern gas chamber - Positions du membre du Sonderkommando lors des prises de photos/ Positions of the Sonderkommando man when he took the photos - Emplacement présumé d'une des fosses d'incinération/ Presumed location of one of the cremation ditches - Fossé de drainage et d'évacuation des eaux/ Drainage ditch and sewer - Clôture barbelée/ Barbed wire fence - Le Birkenwald/ The Birch Wood ![img-2.jpeg](img-2.jpeg) Photo 15 Photo 16 ![img-3.jpeg](img-3.jpeg) ![img-4.jpeg](img-4.jpeg) Attempted photographic reconstitution for Photos 15 and 16 made by the author in 1984, operating inside the northern gas chamber of Krematorium V and looking northwest. The birch trees visible just behind the barbed wire fence should be ignored, but they were not there in 1944 and have grown since. The dark line of the Birch Wood can still be seen through them, in particular on the right. The rubble from the cleared foundations of Krematorium V was simply placed around the perimeter, so that here the overgrown rubble hides the presumed site of the cremation ditch, which was filled in by the SS before the Liberation of the camp. 422 ===== PDF PAGE 0415 | page-415.md ===== The first two photographs (Photos 15 and 16) were never retouched, unlike the third (Photo 17), three different versions of which are known to the author: 1. The original (PMO reg. no. 282 and its enlargement; reg. no. 279); 2. First retouched version (minor retouches only; reference not known); 3. Second retouched version, the «exhibition photograph» hung on the first floor of Block 4 («Extermination»), opposite the cutaway plaster model of Krematorium II (Photo 17a (PMO reg. no. 282a)). The major changes made to Photo 17 are to be found on Photo 17a: - The attribution of faces to the three naked women, whereas they are totally indistinguishable on the original, each of the three bodies received a distinct face, with the lighting matching that of the rest of the picture; - Transformation of their bodies, those of OLD women (thus unfit for work and destined for gassing and cremation) into those of YOUNG women (thus fit for work, so they should not be there, an embarrassing contradiction which escaped the «retoucher»), their breasts, fallen on the original, being lifted and redrawn. What is more, contrary to popular belief, the women are not «running towards the gas chambers», but are waiting to enter them. The two on the left are taking a few steps and the one on the right is walking normally. The location of the scene makes it possible to state that the western part of Krematorium V, containing the gas chambers, is BEHIND them, not in front. This «enhanced» photograph has caused considerable emotional havoc, the results of which can be judged from three extracts from «Excursion: Auschwitz-Birkenau» by Andrzej BRYCHT (NRF Gallimard, Paris 1980, pages 37, 54 and 79). They show the extraordinary intellectual confusion of an intelligent man, certainly far more lucid than most visitors to the camp. First of all, he evokes the history of the photograph: «One day they [the Germans] undressed three hundred girls came from France or I don't know where exactly, they gave them a piece of soap each and one towel for ten girls and chased them between pyres soaked with petrol as high as houses, telling them that that was the way to the showers. But this wooden name had no exit and when the naked girls got to the end of the defile, well-hidden Germans caught them with flame-throwers and everything was burnt.» Then, seeing the famous photo (17a) on the wall, he described it: «On the walls of other rooms there were huge enlargements; they had thus immortalized these three hundred girls burnt alive at the very moment when the fire was about to devour them. Tall, white girls, three or four in the front rank, gracious, they had clearly standing out against the grey streaks of the flame-throwers.» ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) Photo 17 ![img-1.jpeg](img-1.jpeg) Photo 17a ![img-2.jpeg](img-2.jpeg) Photo 18 ![img-3.jpeg](img-3.jpeg) Photo 18a Attempt to reconstitute the route taken by the Sonderkommando man who took photos 17 and 18 outside Krematorium V, after having taken the first two inside the building. - O/West - route circulaire/Ringstraße - Birkenwald/Birch Wood 423 ===== PDF PAGE 0416 | page-416.md ===== Finally, a common psychological mechanism, he assimilates the girl he loves, Jola and/or Jolka to one of these girls (who were in fact old women whom he would never have wanted in exchange for his Jola-Jolka): «...If the photo that fills the whole wall against which so many people perished isn't that of Jolka, Jolka in the first row of girls running to their deaths in waves of fear, half flying in the wind, a bit of soap in their hands, rustling towards the execution pyre, encircled on all sides by flames.» Thanks to this photo-montage we pass from reasonable history to irrational legend. The tendency to turn the history of the camp into legend was very strong indeed in the 50s, but has since been abandoned. Thus one of the last photographic publications of the Auschwitz Museum, dating from 1980, entitled «KI, Auschwitz. Photographic documents», simply reproduces the three famous Polish Resistance photographs, enlarged but printed from the original negatives (pages 184 and 185, photos 183 [17], 184 [15] and 185 [16]). Having the original photographs makes it possible to identify and precisely locate the scenes and the position of the photographer. Photos 15 and 16 were taken from the inside of a building, through an open door. The only Birkenau Krematorium possessing the three elements to be found on the two photos, a door giving onto a barbed wire fence with the birch wood in the background, was Krematorium V. In the western section there was the door of the western gas chamber meeting these conditions and two doors in the north side, that of the northern gas chamber and the double door of the furnace room. A beam, the end of which is visible on the photos, supported the porch roofs over these doors (not shown on drawing 2036, but visible on photo PMO reg. nr. 2095/509). The porch roof outside the furnace room was about a metre higher than the door and was not visible from the interior, but those of the gas chambers, where the roof of the building was lower, were only just above the doors and could be seen from the interior. The line of the crowns of the trees in the Birch Wood diminish from left to right, while it would have been horizontal had the picture been taken from the west end of the building. This clue together with the orientation of the shadows indicates that the pictures were taken looking northwest, the photographer being in the northern gas chamber of Krematorium V [see sketch map]. The wind, normally from the north, was blowing from the west, or more likely, northwest. As regards Photo 17, possession of the original is essential. It shows that the women are concentrated in the bottom left corner, while on the right it is possible to see the top of a Krematorium chimney which does not have the shape of those of Krematorien II and III, but those of Krematorien IV and V. The scene cannot have been located at Krematorium IV, with no trees in the immediate vicinity. Krematorium V was surrounded by birch trees. The photo was taken against the light, the south being in front of the photographer and the north behind him, with one of the two chimneys of a type IV/V Krematorium visible on the right. Given this orientation and these clues, the scene could be nowhere other than at the eastern end of an area between the south wall of Krematorium V and the line of trees bordering the Ringstraße. The photographer was to the east of Krematorium V and the three naked women were moving with their backs to the gas chambers in its western part. They were not running, but walking, awaiting their «turn». The chimney of Krematorium V, as we might expect, is not smoking. We know from David Szmulewski that the four pictures were taken virtually one after the other, with only about fifteen minutes between the first and the last. One of the open-air cremation ditches was therefore operating quite close to the north side of Krematorium V while its furnace was not working, so that contrary to the testimony of Sonderkommando men, the ditches were not in addition to the furnace but were dug to replace it, as it was out of service. The author, having determined the location of the three photographs and of the Sonderkommando man who took them, had a conversation with Mr David Szmulewski at the end of 1987, and established just how the episode took place: In the summer of 1944, the Sonderkommando men asked the camp resistance for a small camera so that they could record the criminal tasks they were forced to carry out: emptying of the gas chambers and incineration of the bodies. The Sonderkommando organized some damage to the roof of the gas chambers of Krematorium V and requested repairs. The internal camp resistance then came into action. A «flying squad» to which Szmulewski, a member of this organization, belonged came to repair the damage. Szmulewski was carrying a dixie can with a false bottom in which the camera was hidden. Once the prisoner-repairmen were on the roof, Szmulewski passed the camera to a Sonderkommando man working at the cremation ditch who had placed himself against the north wall of the gas chambers, under the roof overhang which was 2.45 from the ground. This prisoner then quickly entered the north gas chamber whose door was open for ventilation purposes. There he was safe, as the room had already been emptied of corpses. From the centre of this room he took two photographs of his comrades feeding bodies into the cremation ditch. Then, hiding the camera in his right hand, he emerged from the building and went along the north wall to the eastern end of the building then about 30 metres into the wood, moving parallel to the eastern end of the building, under the cover of the trees. In front of the Krematorium, to the south, a group of women considered unfit for work, the next «batch», was undressing. Some of them were already naked, a little way away from the others, taking a few steps while waiting. The sun was shining right in his face, through the trees lining the Ringstraße, so there could be no question of using the camera normally, using the viewfinder as he had done in the gas chamber. From rather far away, so as not to be noticed, he took a first picture of the women by guesswork, holding his right arm against his side with the camera in his palm. Hidden behind a tree, he wound on the film, emerged and took another picture in the same way as before. The direction the lens was pointing in was difficult to judge under these conditions and he pointed the camera too high, photographing the tops of the trees instead of the women [Photo 18]. Retracing his steps, he returned to the comparative safety of the Krematorium, moving along the north wall to the gas chambers. Szmulewski was watching out for him. A quick look round, to SS. The Sonderkommando man held up the camera which rapidly changed hands again [see the photograph showing the assumed path of the photographer]. Szmulewski replaced the camera in the bottom of the dixie, the repair was completed and the flying squad departed. The whole process had taken only fifteen to thirty minutes. The photos were taken out of the camp and handed over to the Polish resistance in Cracow. After the Liberation, the prisoner who took the photographs did not come forward, probably having been liquidated after the Sonderkommando revolt on 7th October 1944, so David Szmulewski became the sole survivor of this operation. The honour came to him and he was declared the author of the photographs, though honestly enough he always stated that he had been on the roof of Krematorium V throughout the whole episode. His friendship with Judge Dan Sehn probably counted for much in this designation. After the war, David Szmulewski remained in Poland and was employed in an important post, but in 1968, one of the periodic waves of anti-Semitism swept through the Polish government and he lost his job because he was a Jew. He emigrated to France and has lived there ever since. Photo 19 ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) Photo 20 ![img-1.jpeg](img-1.jpeg) Photo 21 ![img-2.jpeg](img-2.jpeg) 424 ===== PDF PAGE 0417 | page-417.md ===== ## Krematorium V in early 1945, after the Liberation ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) Photo 22 ![img-1.jpeg](img-1.jpeg) Photo 23 ![img-2.jpeg](img-2.jpeg) Photo 25 ![img-3.jpeg](img-3.jpeg) Photo 24 ![img-4.jpeg](img-4.jpeg) Photo 26 ![img-5.jpeg](img-5.jpeg) Photo 27 Photo 19 [PMO neg. no. 4707] Photo taken at the end of January 1945 looking southeast from a temporary watchtower (visible on **Photo 21 and 23**) over the shapeless ruins of Krematorium V as they were left by the SS and found by the Russians. There is a light covering of snow. In the foreground is a stack of logs, furloused for «normal» cremations. Work on clearing the ruins was to begin shortly after this picture was taken. Photo 20 [PMO neg. no. 908] Photograph of the cleared foundations of Krematorium V in February-March 1945, looking southwest from a second temporary watchtower erected to the northwest of the Krematorium and now dismantled. The rubble from the ruins has been thrown aside to form a continuous mound around the foundations of the building. In the middle ground, a few metres from the drainage ditch, are excavations concerned with the cremation ditches. Photo 21 [PMO neg. no. 909] View looking in the same direction as the previous one, but taken from the foot of the watchtower. In the foreground is drainage ditch «Graben L1» and the barbed wire fence «Zaun 35». On the extreme right in the background is the temporary watchtower from which **Photo 19** was taken. Photo 22 [PMO neg. no. 938] View of the ruins of Krematorium V, looking west, after clearance of the rubble in March 1945. Despite the heap of rubble, parts of the iron frame of the 8-muffle furnace, twisted by the dynamiting of the building, and a barrow used used for clearing the foundations can be seen in the centre. Photo 23 [Warsaw Central Commission Archives, sygn. 15492] View of the ruins of Krematorium V in March 1945, looking northwest from beside the Ringsindle. On the left are the nailed roof trusses, designed by Konrad Segnitz and installed by Industrie-Bau AG. In the right background is the first temporary watchtower, from which **Photo 19** was taken. The second is not visible, being further to the right. This photo-demonstrates the intention of the Soviet and Polish authorities at that time to reconstruct Krematorium V, for all the recoverable components of the building were stored. In the end only Krematorium I of the Stammlager was fully reinterrupted. Photo 24 [PMO neg. no. 12684] The remains of the two northwest muffles of the 8-muffle furnace, with a «Leichenbein/corpse stanche», used for charging the corpses, bearing against them. At the foot of the man on the right is the stoking pit where coke was fed to the hearths. Worthy of note at the beginning of 1945 is the diversity of the clothing of the Polish and Soviet visitors, a mixture of recuperated German civilian and military dress. Photo 25 [PMO neg. no. 12704] Photo of the twisted frame of the 8-muffle furnace of Krematorium V, belonging to the same series as **Photo 24**. Looking west. Photo 26 [PMO neg. no. 12683] An almost intact gas-tight door found in the ruins of the western part of Krematorium V and presented by the man in short sleeves from **Photo 24** (with the shaved neck). **This door has no peephole** even though it was used for homicidal gassings. It is at present conserved in Krematorium I of the Stammlager, in the stoking pit of the third furnace. Photo 27 [PMO neg. no. 3626] View of the foundations of Krematorium V, looking west, taken between 1945 and 1950, before the partial rebuilding of the walls. In the foreground is the eastern entrance, with on the right the WC/washroom and the coke stem. In the centre are the twisted remains of the iron frame of the 8-muffle furnace. Bottom right is a concrete sewer manhole cover with a steel handle. A similar cover has been mistakenly placed beside one of the Zyclon-B introduction openings in the roof of the Krematorium II gas chamber. 425 ===== PDF PAGE 0418 | page-418.md ===== ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) ### The gas-tight shutters for the Zyclon-B introduction openings of Krematorien IV and V In 1982, the author found and photographed in the former coke store of Krematorium I in the Stammlager three gas-tight shutters from Krematorien IV and V. ![img-1.jpeg](img-1.jpeg) Photo 28: Presentation of the three shutters, referenced from left to right: Photo 31: Verso of the order of 13th February showing that the metalworking shop completed its work on 24th February and the woodworking shop on 25th and that the twelve «shows» were ready on 26th. On 26th February, six of them were installed in the western rooms of Krematorium IV under the designation «gas-tight windows». On 2nd March, the place where these «windows» had been fitted was referred to by a Riedel & Son employee as a «gas chamber». PMO II - 5 - 64/1 PMO II - 5 - 64/2 PMO II - 5 - 64/3 426 ===== PDF PAGE 0419 | page-419.md ===== Interior and ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) ![img-1.jpeg](img-1.jpeg) Photo 30: exterior of PMO II 5-64/1, produced by the Auschwitz DAW workshops in accordance with the Bauleitung order of 13th February 1943 for 12 gas-tight «doors» 30 by 40 cm, these being the dimensions of the shutter itself, not frame. In order to open the «door», TWO operations are necessary; after unscrewing the wing nut and pivoting the bolt to the right, the metal locking bar has to be swung to the left, THEN the «door» can be opened. Photo 32: Interior and ![img-2.jpeg](img-2.jpeg) ![img-3.jpeg](img-3.jpeg) Photo 33: exterior of PMO II-5-64/3, of a pattern different from the first, with a larger «door» of 43 by 52 cm. This new «improved» model could be opened or closed in a single movement, the door being fixed to the locking bar. It must be recalled that the SS man who introduced the Zyclon-B into the glass chambers of Kermatoriet IV and V had to balance on a short ladder in order to reach the opening, with a can of Zyclon-B in one hand and thus having only one hand free. This is why the manocorting of the «door» was simplified. PMO II-5-64/3 is in very poor condition. On the right is the locking bolt and wingnut in the open position, the bar free to move. The heads of the bolts on Photo 32 are smooth and on the inside, while the nuts are on the outside, a significant fact when the purpose of these shutters is known. 427 ===== PDF PAGE 0420 | page-420.md ===== Photo 34: Outside of PMO II-5-64/2, of the second pattern, door 40 by 50 cm, in excellent condition. ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) ![img-1.jpeg](img-1.jpeg) Photo 35: and ![img-2.jpeg](img-2.jpeg) Photo 36: PMO II-5-64/2 with its «door» open. In order to make it gas-tight, two bands of felt were nailed to the door and the frame (strips of felt can still be seen on the frame). 428 ===== PDF PAGE 0421 | page-421.md ===== PART TWO CHAPTER 8 # «ONE PROOF... ONE SINGLE PROOF»: # THIRTY-NINE CRIMINAL TRACES A complete list of the «criminal traces» or «slips» found in the archives of the Auschwitz State Museum and the Warsaw Central Commission concerning the homicidal gas chambers in Birkenau Krematorien II, III, IV and V, presented together with original documents and two recapitulatory drawings by the author. # «ONE PROOF... ONE SINGLE PROOF» [Request formulated by Robert Faurisson in an article on page 13 of the newspaper «Le Monde» of 16th January 1979, then used as a title for his letter of 20th February 1979 addressed in right of reply to the same newspaper, which refused to publish it, and which in author nevertheless published in his «Mémoire en défense» (statement for the defense), La Vieille Tappe, 1980, pages 96 to 100.] Faurisson asked for «one proof... one single proof» of the existence of homicidal gas chambers. The «traditional» historians provided him with an «abundance of proofs» which were virtually all based on human testimony, from SS and surviving former prisoners and Sonderkommando men. But human testimony is fallible. It is unreliable and Faurisson wanted a CONCRETE historical proof, that is proof based on incontestable and irrefutable documents. Four types of historical document would meet these stringent criteria: photographs and films made between 1942 and the end of 1944 in KL Auschwitz, German letters and documents, original drawings concerned with the camp. So far as we know at present, no film was made recording the extermination of a transport. On the other hand, there is no lack of photographs of Krematorien under construction or completed (in the «Bautichung albums», not yet published) and of the arrival of four convoys of Hungarian Jews and selections of two of them (in «L'Album d'Auschwitz» by S. Klarsfeld and Seuil). The main obstacle to using these last photographs as evidence is that, except for three of them, they present only views of «peaceful country scenes» against a background of barbed wire. The SS photographers did actually go inside some of the Krematorien, but they did not record the final act, extermination in gas chambers. Some members of the Sonderkommando, according to the deposition by one of them, Henryk Tauber, took photographs showing corpses in the gas chambers, but after being buried near Krematorien II and III, these vital photographs have never been found, and if by chance they should be discovered now, they will be irretrievably damaged after over 40 years in the ground. We also have the three photographs known as the «Polish Resistance» photographs recording the incineration of bodies in a ditch behind Krematorium V in the summer of 1944 and of naked women with their backs to this same Krematorium. They are certainly of exemplary value, but are difficult to use in view of their small number and, like those of the «Album d'Auschwitz», cannot be presented as definitive proof. As for the technical drawings of the Krematorien, cited in legal actions and described as proving that they were planned for large scale assiduation by gas (which is in fact incorrect), NOT ONE explicitly mentions in so many words anything like: Blamstine [prussic acid] Vergasungs- or Gaskammer or -keller [gassing or gas chamber or cellar]. This is not because the drawings were «camouflaged» as any way, but is simply because the buildings concerned were converted from their original function, cremation pure and simple, and transformed for criminal use, so that the compromising words could not have been written on the original drawings of Krematorien II and III, and were probably left out on those of IV and V. In the final analysis, there remain only the various items of correspondence and official documents of German origin. Through the «slips» that can be found in them, they form a convincing body of presumptive evidence and clearly indicate the presence in the four Birkenau Krematorien (II, III, IV and V) of gas chambers using a prussic acid disinfestation agent sold under the name of «Zyclon-B». In 1979-80, it was impossible to go any further than this, i.e. to demonstrate with the aid of «concrete» documents that these gas chambers had been used to execute human beings. At the end of the «Faurisson trial», nobody had yet managed to produce «one proof... one single proof» of the existence of «homicidal gas chambers» in Auschwitz-Birkenau. In the absence of any «direct», i.e. palpable, indisputable and evident proof (lacking so far as we know at present) such as a photograph of people killed by a toxic gas in an enclosed space that can be perfectly located and identified, or of a label on a Krematorium drawing of a «Gaskammer am Juden zu vergifnis/garz chamber for poisoning Jews» an «indirect» proof may suffice and be valid. By «indirect» proof, I mean a German document that does not state in black and white that a gas chamber is for HOMICIDAL purposes, but one containing evidence that logically it is impossible for it to be anything else. The first document [Document A] presented here is an inventory of equipment installed in Krematorium III and formed part of the file of documents compiled for the official handover of the new building to the camp administration. [Auschwitz State Museum Archives reference BW 30/43, page 24. This document, held in the «October Revolution» Central State Archives in Moscow was sent by this body in 1964-65 to the Warsaw Central Commission for the investigation of Hitlerite crimes in Poland, which sent it under a covering letter of 30th October 1980 to the Vienna assize court to be part of the evidence in the trial of the Auschwitz Krematorium «architects», former SS officers Walter DEJACO and Fritz ERTL. This trial was held from 18th January to 10th March 1972 and ended with the acquittal of the accused. The documents sent by the Poles to the Austrians were scarcely used by the «experts», which explains the astonishing verdict of not guilty, in particular for Dejaco.] This inventory indicates that the equipment installed for «Leichenkeller I/Corpus cellar [morgue] 1» included: - «1 gasdichte Tizr1 gas-tight door» AND - «14 Brausen/14 showers». two items that are strictly INCOMPATIBLE with one another. This incompatibility constitutes the fundamental proof, for it is clear that: Proposition A: A gas-tight door can be intended only for a gas chamber. Question A: Why does a gas chamber have showers in it? Reply A: Incomprehensible. Proposition A must be formulated differently for a logical reply. Proposition B: A room fitted with showers is a place where people wash themselves. Question B: Why does the only entrance to the shower room have a gas-tight door? Reply B: Incomprehensible. Proposition B must be formulated differently for a logical reply. Which sends us back to proposition A, question A, reply A, proposition B, etc. The reasoning is in a vicious circle which cannot be broken. The only way to escape the illogicality is to bring complementary proof demonstrating that one of the propositions IS INCORRECT. This can be done by means of the following arguments: The average area covered by a shower head, calculated on the basis of the drawings for the two shower installations at the Stammlager, the reception building (BW 160) and Block 26, and for those at Birkenau, BW 5a, 5b, and the Zentral Sauna (BW 32), works out at 1.83m². On this basis, Leichenkeller I of Krematorium III, with a floor area of 210m², should have 115 shower heads. In fact only 14 were planned and we know that they were FITTED, because seven wooden bases to which similar shower heads were fitted are still visible in the ruins of the ceiling of L-keller I of Krema II. On one of the copies of the Krematorium II/III inventory drawing 2197, that from the Soviet «October Revolution» central state archives, water pipes are shown supplying the 3 taps of Leichenkeller I and the 5 of Leichenkeller 2, but none are connected to the «showers». This is paradoxical because on this version of drawing 2197 even the lamps are drawn and on various other drawings showing shower installations the shower heads are necessarily shown and the associated pipework usually appears also. It can only concluded that these are DUMMY SHOWERS, made of wood or other materials and painted, as stated by several former members of the Sonderkommando. This inventory is absolute and irrefutable proof of the existence of a gas chamber fitted with dummy showers in Krematorium III. These dummy showers were not placed there by chance, or for purposes of decoration, but with a very precise purpose: to mislead the people entering Leichenkeller I/gas chamber I, a misrepresentation implying the deliberate intention to cause them to die by inhaling a deadly gas. These Krematorium inventories, drawn up when the buildings were completed, also provide an almost incredible supplementary proof; mention of the device for introducing Zyclon-B into a Leichenkeller. The second document [Documents B and B] [Auschwitz State Museum Archive reference BW 30/43, page 12, also from a Soviet source] contains a flagrant error on the part of the SS man who filled in the form. The first line indicates that in the basement of Krematorium II, «Raum I, Leichenkeller/Room I, corpus cellar» was fitted with: - «16 Lamp o. Kug. u. Tel. Feuchtsicher/16 lamps other than globes, waterproof» and - «5 Zapfahlbze/5 taps». The second line shows that «Raum 2/room 2», idem. [Leichenkeller] was fitted with: - «10 Lamp o. Kug. u. Tel. Feuchtsicher/10 lamps other than globes, waterproof» - «3 Zapfahlbze/3 taps» - «4 Drahmetein/schleivorrichtung/4 wire mesh introduction devices» and - «4 Holzblenden/4 wooden covers». 429 ===== PDF PAGE 0422 | page-422.md ===== ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) Document A However, drawing 2197 from the »October Revolution« archives indicates that Leichenkeller 1 had 16 lamps and 3 taps and Leichenkeller 2, 10 lamps and 5 taps. There has been inversion of the lines on the inventory as from the number of lamps. The document should read: 1st line: Room 1 - Leichenkeller [1]: 16 lamps, 3 taps, 4 introduction devices, 4 covers. 2nd line: Room 2 - Leichenkeller [2]: 10 lamps, 5 taps. The aerial photograph of 24th August 1944 taken by the Americans shows that the 4 introduction devices were indeed installed in Leichenkeller 1/gas chamber 1 of Krematorium II, and not in Leichenkeller 2/undressing room. Thus, Leichenkeller 1 of Krematorium II, named in fact in a letter of 29th January 1943 as »Vergasungskeller/gassing cellar« and fitted with a »Gasdichtetür/gas-tight door« [PMO, BW 30/43, page 34], has 4 wire mesh introduction devices, closed by wooden covers [or flaps]. It would be too much to expect the SS to have formally written that Zyclon-B was poured into these introduction devices. As this product was composed of small pellets of silica, an absorbant substrate for prussic acid, it is obvious that a wire mesh column with a cover COULD SERVE ONLY for pouring the pellets into the interior. The mesh retained the solid pellets and allowed the gas to diffuse. The fundamental, complementary, and supplementary proofs described above establish beyond any shadow of a doubt that in Krematorien II and III, their Leichenkeller 1: 1. Were no longer »typical morgues«; 2. Were fitted with gas-tight doors (Leichenkeller of Krematorium II also being designated as a »Vergasungskeller«); 3. Had dummy showers (14 in Krematorium III and something over twenty in Krematorium II); 4. Included four devices for introducing Zyclon-B (with supporting concrete evidence of this in the case of Krematorium II), that have been perfectly described by former prisoners who were employed in the DAW metalworking shop because it was they who made them. DOCUMENT PMO BW 30/43, PAGE 24 IS DEFINITIVE PROOF OF THE PRESENCE OF A HOMICIDAL GAS CHAMBER IN LEICHENKELLER 1 OF KREMATORIUM III. ![img-1.jpeg](img-1.jpeg) Document B ![img-2.jpeg](img-2.jpeg) Document B' Translation of the inscriptions on the enlargement of the last three lines of the second document (4) Drahtnetzeinschiebvorrichtung/4 wire mesh introduction devices (4) Holzblenden/4 wooden covers. 430 ===== PDF PAGE 0423 | page-423.md ===== ## THIRTY-NINE CRIMINAL TRACES At the beginning of the «Faurisson trial», Father G. Wellers had only TWO German documents as material proof of the existence of gas chambers in the Birkenau crematoriums: a letter of 29th January 1943 containing the word «Vergasungskeller» and another of 31st March 1943 concerning the delivery of «drei gasdichte Türe» for Krematorien IV and V and mention of an order for Krematorium III of one 100/192 identical to the one already installed in Krematorium II, referred to as «Kellertür... mit Guckloch aus doppelten 8 mm Glass mit Gummidichtung und Beschlag». As a result of the research triggered by the denial of the existence of homicidal gas chambers, further material evidence was found in the archives of the Auschwitz State Museum and the Warsaw Central for the investigation of Hitlerian crimes in Poland. The evidence found in the Bauleitung order book for work to be done by the DAW (German Equipment Works) and mentioning work completed in the metal king shop («Schlosserei») had already been produced at the Faurisson trial, but without being exploited in any way. All the other evidence was hitherto unknown in France. ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) ## RECAPITULATORY DRAWING FOR KREMATORIEN II & III Part of an overall plan of the POW camp, Bauleitung drawing 2216 of 20th March 1943 [PMO neg. no. 20583] - 1 Stck. Handgriff für Gastür D 12 [mm] [ORDER] - 1 Gasdichtetür [DESIGNATION] - Eine Gastür 100/192 [cm] (Kellertür mit Guckloch aus doppelten 8 mm Glass mit Gummidichtung und Beschlag) [REMINDER OF ORDER] - 10 Gasprüfer [ORDER] - Vergasungskeller [DESIGNATION] - Krematorium II: livré le.../officially handed over on 31st March 1943 - 4 Drahtnetzeinschiebvorrichtung - 4 Holzblenden [DESIGNATIONS] - Auskleidekeller (II) [5 DESIGNATIONS] - Auskleideraum [DESIGNATION] - Auskleidekeller [2 DESIGNATIONS] - Auskleideraum [DESIGNATION] - Flacheisen für (1)/5 Stück Gastürbeschläge [ORDER] - Beschläge für 1 Stück Gastür [ORDER] - 1 Gasdichtetür [DESIGNATION] - 14 Brausen (dummy) [DESIGNATION] - Eine Gastür 100/192 [cm] [REMINDER OF ORDER] - Krematorium III: livré le.../officially handed over on 25th June 1943 431 ===== PDF PAGE 0424 | page-424.md ===== ## CRIMINAL TRACES FOR KREMATORIUM II 1. «Vergasungskeller/gassing cellar» [Photo 1] [PMO file BW 30/40, page 100] Letter of 29th January 1943, from SS Captain Bischoff, head of the Bauleitung (Auschwitz Waffen SS and Police Central Construction Management), registered by SS Second Lieutenant Pollok (Buildings Section) and addressed to SS Major-General Kammler in Berlin, concerning the progress of work at Krematorium II, in which the word «Vergasungskeller» is used. The inspection report enclosed with the letter makes it possible, through a process of elimination, to establish that Bischoff uses «Vergasungskeller» to designate «Leichenkeller 1» of Krematorium II. 2. «10 Gasprüfer/gas detectors» [Photo 2] [PMO file BW 30/40, page 48] Telegram sent on 26th February 1943 at 1820 hours by SS Second Lieutenant Pollok, signed by SS Second Lieutenant Kirschneck (Buildings Section specialist and technician) and by Jährling (civilian employee, heating technician), to the firm Topf & Sons of Erfurt, requesting immediate despatch of «10 gas detectors» for BW 30 (Krematorium II) [in order to check the efficacy of the ventilation system in the gas chamber]. In the week of 1st to 7th March 1943, the Topf filter Messing started up the ventilation and air extraction systems of Leichenkeller 1 of Krematorium II and tested them the following week, 8th to 14th, just before the first homicidal gassing in this room, that of 1500 Cracow Jews on 14th March. Messrs Topf, manufacturer of metal parts for incineration furnaces and grain silos, was unable to produce this type of equipment and must have sub-contracted. 3. «1 Stck Handgriff für Gastür D 12/handle for gas(tight) door, 12 (2) diameter» [Photo 3] [Volume 11 of the Hoess trial, Annex 15 concerning the book known as «Schlosserei WL/metalworking shop WL». The original is no longer in the possession of the Auschwitz State Museum, and is probably conserved in the «October Revolution» Central State Archives in Moscow. This book contains records of the work carried out by the metalworking shop for the construction and maintenance of the Birkenau Krematorion in accordance with orders issued by the Bauleitung. Some of these orders have survived and are conserved in the PMO Archives in a black file entitled «Zentral Bauleitung der Waffen-SS und Polizei, Auschwitz OS (Bestellscheine für) Deutsche Ausrüstungswerke, Auschwitz OS, 1943-1944/Waffen-SS und Police Central Construction Management, Auschwitz, Upper Silesia (order forms for) German Equipment Works, Auschwitz Upper Silesia, 1943-1944», now classified as File BW 30/31, comprising 416 pages, microfilm No 1258. Certain extracts form Annex 14 of volume 11 of the Hoess trial, a report of 22nd October 1945 indicating the discovery of the file on the Bauleitung premises. File BW 30/31 is incorrectly referred to as simply the «Schlosserei» file to distinguish it from the «Schlosserei WL» file.] 6.3.43, Nr 162. KGL Krematorium II BW 30. Order issued by the Bauleitung on 5th March 1943 under the number 64, received on 6th March by the DAW metalworking shop under number 162, requesting the making of «1 handle for gas(tight) door, 12 (mm) diameter» for Birkenau Krematorium II. It was completed on 10th March. 4. «Auskleideraum/undressing room» [Photo 4] [PMO file BW 30/25, page 7] Letter of 6th March 1943 from the civilian employee Jährling, signed by the head of the Bauleitung (now Major) Bischoff, addressed to Messrs Topf, regarding the possibility of preheating Leichenkeller 1 of Krematorium II and III (BW 30 and 30a) with air coming from the three forced draughts section installations [next to the collective chimney]. The preheating of the Leichenkeller completely demolishes the revisionist argument according to which the Leichenkeller 1 were not gas chambers but «typical underground morgues». Why would anyone want to heat rooms that by definition ought to remain cool? This idea would be absurd if there had not been a change of function, transforming these rooms from morgues into gas chambers, where the temperature had to be high enough for the product introduced to vapourize rapidly. This project could be realized only in Krematorium II, where three «Saugzuganlagen» were actually installed. Because of overheating problems with the three electric motors in these forced draughts installations, and a fire caused by one of them [see the account by Henryk Tauber in Part II Chapter 3], the «Saugzuganlagen» were dismantled and this forced draught system, also planned for Krematorium III, was abandoned, thus also putting an end to this suggested method of preheating Leichenkeller 1. The letter also mentions a modification in the air extraction system of the «Auskleideraum/undressing room» [or Leichenkeller 2] without the Krematorium concerned being specified. Although the term could apply to either II or III, the date of the letter in relation to the stage of construction of the two buildings makes it most likely that it refers to Leichenkeller 2 of Krematorium II, whose function, like that of Leichenkeller 1, had now changed. Abschrift 29. Januar 1943 Bftgb.Nr.: 22250/43/Bi/L. Betr.: Krematorium II, Baunustand. Bezug: Fernschreiben des H-WVHA Nr. 2648 vom 28.1.43. Anlg.: 1 Prüfbericht An Antagruppenchef C, H-Erzadeführer und Generalmajor der Waffen-SS Dr. Ing. Kammler, Berlin-Lichterfelder-West Unter den Eichen 126-135 Das Krematorium II wurde unter Einsatz aller verfügbaren Kräfte trotz unsagbarer Schwierigkeiten und Frostwetter bei Tag- und Dachbetrieb bis auf bauliche Kleinigkeiten fertiggestellt. Die Öfen wurden im Beisein des Herrn Oberingenieur Prüfer der ausführenden Firma, Firma Topf u. Söhne, Erfurt, angefeuert und funtionieren tadellos. Die Eisenbetondecke des Leichenkellers konnte infolge Prosteinwirkung noch nicht ausgeschält werden. Die ist jedoch unbedeutend, da der Vergasungskeller hierfür benützt werden kann. Die Firma Topf u. Söhne konnte infolge Waggonsperre die Be- und Entlüftungsanlage nicht wie von der Zentralbauleitung gefordert rechtzeitig anliefern. Nach Eintreffen der Be- und Entlüftungsanlage wird jedoch mit dem Einbau sofort begonnen, sodass voraussichtlich am 20.2.43 die Anlage vollständig betriebsfertig ist. Ein Bericht des Prüfingenieurs der Firma Topf u. Söhne, Erfurt, wird beigelegt. Der Leiter der Zentralbauleitung der Waffen-SS und Polizei Auschwitz Verteiler: 1 H-Usuf Janisch u. Kirschneck 1 Registratur (Akt Krematorium) H-R-Auptsturmführer V.d.R.d.A.: [Signature] H-R-Auptsturmführer 432 ===== PDF PAGE 0425 | page-425.md ===== Telegram Anschr.: Pepfnerke Erfurt Denn: Abwandet sofort 10 Geprüfer wie besprochen. Kostenangebot später nachreichen. Zentralbesleitung Auschwitz 28.2.43 18.00 FAKTORFHEIM WIRTSCHAFT AROHIWUM BH 30/54 Photo 2 Photo 2 4 Pfeileracker aus flischgehäuserten Rindeisen p 30 mit Bestands- Mutter und dem lockten Ameisen. Stitz.- 4 Pfeileracker wie vor statt 19 cm breit 16 cm. 4 Pfeileracker wie vor, statt 19 cm breit 14 cm. Lieferzeit: sofort. Beileitigssauftrag Nr. 56 von 2.3.43. Sphannow: real, Volzschl. Wulzenau: 26.3.43. - - - - - - - - 6.3.43. Nr. 160. E.G.I. Freistorien 11.7.4.30. Prädukt: 4 Stck. Stie- belverlägerungsstangen für Rückstauklappen ca 2.30 a lang p 18. 1 Stck. Fennelgitter 12/17, 1 Stck. endgriff für Stitz p 12. 6 Stck. Hallebügel für 3 Schranken aus Flischeisen. Lieferzeit: sofort. Be- leits. Auftrag. Nr. 64 von 5.3.43. Sphannow: Kostb. 11. Wulzenau: 10.3.43. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Photo 3 Fremd. 8. 11. Auschwitz, an 6.3.1943 FAKTORFHEIM WIRTSCHAFT AROHIWUM BH 30/25 Betr.: Via Auschwitz, Freu. II und III KOL, Bf 30 u. 30 a Bezug: Dort. Schreiben vom 28.2.43 D.IV. Prf. Anlg.: - - - Firma Topf und Söhne Erfurt Auf Grund Ihres Vorschlages erklärt sich die Dienst- stelle einverstanden, dass der Keller 1 mit der Abluft aus den Räumen der 3 Baugungsanlagen vorgewürzt wird. Die An- lieferung und der Einbau der hierfür benötigten Sohle- tungen und der Druckluftgebläse muss schmellstens erfolgen. Wie Sie in o.a. Schreiben angeben, sollte die Ausführung noch in dieser Woche geschehen. Um Vergabe eines spezifi- zierten Kostenangebotes 3-fach für Lieferung und Einbau wird gebeten. Dengleichen wird um Einwendung eines Nachtragmenge- botes für die Umänderung der Entlüftungsanlage für den Aus- kleideraum gebeten. Nach Eingang dieser Angebote wird Ihnen schriftlich Auftrag erteilt. Der Leiter der Zentralbesleitung der Waffen- und Polizei Auschwitz D. Turnbaumführer Verteiler: 1 Beult, KL u. Landw. 2 Hagler, KOL Bf 30 u. 30 a 1 Sachbearb. Photo 4 433 ===== PDF PAGE 0426 | page-426.md ===== 5. Auskleidekeller [4 mentions] [Photos 5, 6, 7] Auskleidekeller II [1 mention] undressing cellar [PMO file BW 3044, pages 25, 26 and 28, dated 8th to 14th March and 22nd to 31st March 1943] These «Arbeitszeit-Bescheinigungen/timesheets» concern the installation of the ventilation systems of Krematorien II and III by MESSING, a fitter employed by Topf & Sons of Erfurt, between 5th January and 9th June 1943. [This «diary» of the installation is reproduced in full and translated in Part II Chapter 6 «The ventilation systems of Krematorien II and III»] A civilian employed by an outside firm worked for six months in Birkenau Krematorien II and III, in their Leichenkeller 1, Leichenkeller 2 and Ofenraum, or in other words in the gas chambers, undressing rooms and furnace rooms. The term «Auskleidekeller» to designate Leichenkeller 2 appears in the week 8th to 14th March. Working on the ventilation of the «underground morgues», it seems very surprising that, two months after his arrival in Birkenau, he should be calling them «undressing cellars». Although we have no proof of this, it seems practically certain that Messing filled in his work sheets at the end of each week. As the first homicidal gassing took place in the evening of Sunday 14th March, and as Messing had been working all day in Leichenkeller 2, which was not yet used as an undressing room (the victims undressed in a hut temporarily erected in the north yard of Krematorium II), it is obvious that, though he did not witness this gassing, certain preparations and stories going around were difficult to hide, so that Messing was led to give Leichenkeller 2 the name of its true function. Unfortunately, he did not have the courage, or perhaps the desire or the occasion to write that Leichenkeller 1 was a gas chamber. The entry for 8th to 14th March cannot be contested. The work site is indicated, BW 30 (or Krematorium II) and the room where he was working, cellar II is localised and referred to as «undressing» cellar. In the other entries, the word «Auskleidekeller», even without the «II», always refers directly to the same room and these mentions constitute so much additional evidence that Leichenkeller 2 had become an undressing room. 6. Gastür 100/192 für Leichenkeller 1/ gas(tight) door 100x192 for underground morgue 1: «... Auftrag vom 6.3.43 über Lieferung einer Gastür 100/192 für Leichenkeller 1... die genau nach Art und Mass der Kellertür des gegenüberliegenden Krematorium II mit Guckloch aus doppelten 8 - mm - Glas mit Gummidichtung und Beschlag auszuführen (es) ...order of 6/3/43 concerning the delivery of a gas(tight) door 100x192 for underground morgue 1... to be produced to the identical pattern and dimensions as the cellar door of Krematorium II situated opposite [to Krematorium III] with peephole of double 8 mm glass, with rubber sealing strip and frame» [File BW 30/34, pages 49 (first original with «Türme/towers») and 50 (second original with one of the two «Türme» corrected to «Türen/doors»). Annex 3 of volume 11 of the Hoess trial (copy authenticated by the Polish examining judge Jan Sehn with the two «Türme» replaced by «Türen/doors»)] The second paragraph of a letter of 31st March 1943 by Kirschneck [Photo 4], signed by SS Major Bischoff and initialed by its author, speaks of an order of 6th March 1943 for a gas(tight) door, 100 cm wide by 192 cm high, destined for Leichenkeller 1 of Krematorium III to be constructed exactly like the cellar door [Leichenkeller 1] of Krematorium II. This is a vital paragraph as regards Krematorien II and III, since it indicates that their Leichenkeller 1 were each fitted with «gas doors» with a rubberized sealing strip and inspection peephole, a type of door used in the disinfestation gas chambers. Considered until 1979-80 as a document which, associated with «Vergasungskeller», proved the existence of homicidal gas chambers in Krematorien II and III, it now remains a highly compromising piece of evidence, but no more than that. If we assume that Leichenkeller 1 are disinfestation gas chambers, fitting them with «Gastür» is normal and logical. On the other hand, they can no longer be called «typical morgues». Although the revisionists, pulling out all the stops, first claimed that morgues had to have such doors to contain the smell and infectious germs, then, in response to toxicological analyses carried out on the upper ventilation hole covers that showed the presence of cyanides, explained that this was no cause for concern, because these «typical morgues» with gas-tight doors were disinfected using Zyclon-B (an INSECTICIDE), the fact remains that drawing 932 showing the Krematorium II basement formally shows that the underground rooms were designated «Leichenkeller/corpse cellars» [or morgues], access to which was through DOUBLE DOORS, 100/190, not a single door 100/192. The morgues were converted into gas chambers, and there are documents to prove it, but this modification should be perfectly acceptable to the revisionists, since their version of «disinfected [with Zyclon-B] morgues» still remains valid. It simply remains for them to integrate in their «explanation» the presence of «14 Brausen/14 [DUMMY] showers» in the «disinfected morgue» of Krematorium III. This letter reveals the astonishing concordance between the order dates for «Gas» components. On 5th March, a handle was ordered for a «Gastür» in Krematorium II, a door that must have already installed. On the 6th, there was an order for another «Gastür» for Krematorium III and mention in an other letter of an «undressing room», probably in Krematorium II. On the 14th a week later, a group of 1500 Cracow Jews inaugurated the «Vergasungskeller (1)» of Krematorium II. [Additional note: It is regrettable that the original of the «Schlosserei WL» file can no longer be consulted at the PMO Archives, for the making of a «Gastür» for Krematorium III should be recorded in it. The mention of that of Krematorium II is more doubtful, because since the first order in the file is dated 5th February 1943, it is possible that the door was made earlier than that. Second, it is certain that the sealing strips of the «Gastüre», planned to be of rubber, were actually made of felt.] ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) Photo 5 434 ===== PDF PAGE 0427 | page-427.md ===== ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) Photo 6 ![img-1.jpeg](img-1.jpeg) Photo 7 435 ===== PDF PAGE 0428 | page-428.md ===== 7. «1 Gasdichtetür/1 gas-tight door» [File BW 30/43, page 34, verso of the Krematorium II handover document dated 31st March 1943, the recto being BW 30/43, page 9] [Photos 9 and 10] This document, considered promising, was thought to prove the material reality of homicidal gas chambers. Officially revealed for the first time in the afternoon of 30th June 1980 at the École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales during the Colloquium on «NAZI GERMANY AND THE JEWISH GENOCIDE» held at the Sorbonne, it was one of the high points if not the high point of the paper, announced as most important, on «Die Gaskammern/the gas chambers» by Professor Dr Wolfgang SCHEFFLER of West Berlin. After recalling the main «abnormal» functions of Krematorien II and III, followed by mention of the possible preheating of Leichenkeller 1 (cf the letter of 6/3/43, file BW 30/25, page 7, [Part II, chapter 6,]), a sign of its use as its gas chamber since a temperature of 26°C is necessary for the hydrocyanic acid to evaporate, Schaeffer cited a description of the building on its official handover, mentioning «1 gas-tight door». The Colloquium was shown only an extract of five lines (lines 4 to 8 on Photo 10), without mention of the source, or presentation of a reproduction of the original document. Questioned on its origin, he said that he had obtained it in Moscow. Later on, he told me that it could not be communicated as it could not be either photographed or photocopied, which is difficult to believe. This unknown extract, presented totally without context, brought nothing new or «definitive», other than confirmation that the entrance to one of the Leichenkeller 1 was fitted with a gas-tight door, which was already explicitly stated in the letter of 31st March 1943 [Photo 8]. The traditional nature, not to say the mediocrity, of his paper was such that it was not reproduced in the published proceedings of the Colloquium and was replaced by one by Uwe Dietrich ADAM (University of Tübingen), a recognized specialist in the «gassing trucks» rather than the problems raised by the gas chambers proper. The fact is that this document came from the «OCTOBER REVOLUTION» Central State Archives in Moscow. Transmitted to the Warsaw Central Commission, then sent to Vienna, where it was produced at the beginning of 1972, with others of the same type, at the trial of the «crematorium architects», former SS officers Walter Dejaco and Fritz Ertl, it formally indicates that the entrance door to Leichenkeller 1 of KREMATORIUM II was gas-tight. It forms part of a series of «criminal traces» demonstrating that certain rooms in Krematorien II, III, IV and V were made gas-tight. It would appear that W. Scheffler had a copy of only about 8 pages concerning the acceptance of the Birkenau Krematorien. The total would be greater than this. Photo 9 is page 9 of BW 30/43, recto of the handover document for Krematorium II, stating that the building was constructed in a workman like manner, using both prisoners and outside civilians. Only the main firms involved are mentioned, though there were others. Photo 10 is page 34 of BW 30/43, verso of the handover document for Krematorium II. The only real significance of this document is that, while it may have been possible to quibble about the meaning of «Gastür», this is no longer the case with «Gasdichtetür». 8. 4 Drahtnetzeinschiebvorrichtung/ 4 wire mesh introduction devices [Photo 11] 9. 4 Holzblenden/4 wooden covers [File BW 30/43, page 12 for both] Inventory annexed to the Krematorium II handover document of 31st March 1943 [Photo 9] concerning the basement. The clerk who filled in the form made a mistake, putting some of the entries on the wrong lines: the «4 wire mesh introduction devices» and the «4 wooden covers» were installed in Leichenkeller 1 of Krematorium II, not in Leichenkeller 2 as indicated (for the demonstration of this inversion see the end of «One proof, one single proof»). The four devices and their covers were used to introduce Zyclon-B into Leichenkeller 1/ the gas chamber of Krematorium II. According to the American aerial photograph of 24th August 1944, the four introduction points were located along a line running the length of the room in the EASTERN half. In the present ruins, two of these openings are still visible at the southern end but in the WESTERN half. Nobody up to now seems to have been concerned by this contradiction, nor to have explained it. This document is important evidence of the use of Leichenkeller 1 of Krematorium II as a homicidal gas chamber. ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) 436 Photo 8 ===== PDF PAGE 0429 | page-429.md ===== Photo 9 33. Zentralbauleitung der Waffen-H und Polizei Auschwitz - O/S Auschwitz, den 31. März 1943 Übergabeverhandlung. Zentralbauleitung der Waffen-H und Polizei Auschwitz: Vertreten durch: Das von der Zentralbauleitung der Waffen-H und Polizei Auschwitz errichtete - instandgesetzte - ausgutsamte - Bauwerk Dr. K.G.L. in Krematorium II wurde heute an die Kommandantur (Unterkunftsverwaltung) des K.L. Auschwitz übergeben. Beschreibung: siehe Rückseite Unstehend aufgeführte Bäume und die in der Anlage 1 gesondert aufgeführten Hinrichtungsgegenstände sind ordnungsgemäß von der Zentralbauleitung der Waffen-H und Polizei Auschwitz übergeben und von der Kommandantur (Unterkunftsverwaltung) des K.L. Auschwitz übernehmen werden. Die Unterkunftsverwaltung hat nachfolgende Wünsche geäußert: Diese Arbeiten werden auf dem schnellsten Wege fertiggestellt. Übergabeverhandlungen geschlossen und gefertigt: Auschwitz, den 31. März 1943 Der Übergabende: Dereihend der Übernehmende: Zentralbauleitung der Waffen-H und Kommandantur K.-L. Auschwitz O/S Polizei Auschwitz O/S H. Unterkauf H. Unterkauf Anlagen: 1 Verzeichnis der Hinrichtungsgegenstände 1 Satz Baupläne (Cadstab 1:200) 1 Verzeichnis über sämtliche an Bau eingesetzten Pireen mit Angaben der Haft- und Garantizeiten. 1 Bestätigung über Schornsteinabnahme Bei Ausführung der Arbeiten in Eigenregie mit Häftlingen kommt eine Haft- und Garantizeite nicht zur Anwendung. Die Arbeiten wurden teils von Fa.A.G. "HUTA", teils von Häftlinge ausgef. Dachstuhl v.Industriebau A.G.Bielitz,Kaschinsh u. wende Ofenanlagen v.Fa.Topf u.Söhne,Erfurt. 2 Jahre Garantizeite. Photo n° 9 Gebäude - beidens. Allgemein: Gebäude 1-geschossig, teilw. Unterk. 1 und besteht Kellergeschoss: Leichenkeller 20,0 x 7,00 mit 8- und 1 Stangskameln, 1 Gschichtbär, 1 Leichenkeller 20,0 x 7,25 Z.P. u.Vorlatz, 1 Golbenergebungsraum 1 Stro. 1 T. T. T. T. T. T. T. T. T. T. T. T. T. T. T. T. T. T. T. T. T. T. T. T. T. T. T. T. T. T. T. T. T. T. T. T. T. T. T. T. T. T. T. T. T. T. T. T. T. Erd. geschoss: 1 Ainsfang, 1 Flur, 1 Se-zierr. un mit Seziertisel 1 Laboratorien, 1 Toilette, 1 Elosett, 1 Ausch. 1 Verbrennungsraum 1 5 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. 23. 24. 25. 26. 27. 28. 29. 30. 31. 32. 33. 34. 35. 36. 37. 38. 39. 40. 41. 42. 43. 44. 45. 46. 47. 48. 49. 50. 51. 52. 53. 54. 55. 56. 57. 58. 59. 60. 61. 62. 63. 64. 65. 66. 67. 68. 69. 70. 71. 72. 73. 74. 75. 76. 77. 78. 79. 80. 81. 82. 83. 84. 85. 86. 87. 88. 89. 90. 91. 92. 93. 94. 95. 96. 97. 98. 99. 100. Erd. geschoss: 1 Ainsfang, 1 Flur, 1 Se-zierr. un mit Seziertisel 1 Laboratorien, 1 Toilette, 1 Elosett, 1 Ausch. 1 Verbrennungsraum 1 5 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. 23. 24. 25. 26. 27. 28. 29. 30. 31. 32. 33. 34. 35. 36. 37. 38. 39. 40. 41. 42. 43. 44. 45. 46. 47. 48. 49. 50. 51. 52. 53. 54. 55. 56. 57. 58. 59. 60. 61. 62. 63. 64. 65. 66. 67. 68. 69. 70. 71. 72. 73. 74. 75. 76. 77. 78. 79. 80. 81. 82. 83. 84. 85. 86. 87. 88. 89. 90. 91. 92. 93. 94. 95. 96. 97. 98. 99. 100. Aussenwies: Ziegel, ein aus 1,4, ein Aussa, sta. Ingenwies: Ziegel, ein aus 1,4, ein Aussa, sta. Dach: Acker, ansehe - 1,4,4,4,4,4,4,4,4,4,4,4,4,4,4,4,4,4,4,4,4,4,4,4,4,4,4,4,4,4,4,4,4,4,4,4,4,4,4,4,4,4,4,4,4,4,4,4,4,4 Passch: Tetrafus, 1,4,4,4,4,4,4,4,4,4,4,4,4,4,4,4,4,4,4,4,4,4,4,4,4,4,4,4,4,4,4,4,4,4,4,4,4,4,4,4,4,4,4,4,4,4,4,4 Tres: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. 23. 24. 25. 26. 27. 28. 29. 30. 31. 32. 33. 34. 35. 36. 37. 38. 39. 40. 41. 42. 43. 44. 45. 46. 47. 48. 49. 50. 51. 52. 53. 54. 55. 56. 57. 58. 59. 60. 61. 62. 63. 64. 65. 66. 67. 68. 69. 70. 71. 72. 73. 74. 75. 76. 77. 78. 79. 80. 81. 82. 83. 84. 85. 86. 87. 88. 89. 90. 91. 92. 93. 94. 95. 96. 97. 98. 99. Tres: Glebebach mit Aufschleimlingen, F lzzigeleckung Fenster: Einfach, als 1.4.4.4.4.4.4.4.4.4.4.4.4.4.4.4.4.4.4.4.4.4.4.4.4.4.4.4.4.4.4.4.4.4.4.4.4.4.4.4.4.4.4.4.4.4.4.4.4. B- und Ant- F. 11- und 12- und ■ 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. 23. 24. 25. 26. 27. 28. 29. 30. 31. 32. 33. 34. 35. 36. 37. 38. 39. 40. 41. 42. 43. 44. 45. 46. 47. 48. 49. 50. 51. 52. 53. 54. 55. 56. 57. 58. 59. 60. 61. 62. 63. 64. 65. 66. 67. 68. 69. 70. 71. 72. 73. 74. 75. 76. 77. 78. 79. 80. 81. 82. 83. 84. 85. 86. 87. 88. 89. 90. 91. 92. 93. 94. 95. 96. 97. 98. 99. Belauchtang: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. 23. 24. 25. 26. 27. 28. 29. 30. 31. 32. 33. 34. 35. 36. 37. 38. 39. 40. 41. 42. 43. 44. 45. 46. 47. 48. 49. 50. 51. 52. 53. 54. 55. 56. 57. 58. 59. 60. 61. 62. 63. 64. 65. 66. 67. 68. 69. 70. 71. 72. 73. 74. 75. 76. 77. 78. 79. 80. 81. 82. 83. 84. 85. 86. 87. 88. 89. 90. 91. 92. 93. 94. 95. 96. 97. 98. 99. Heizung: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. 23. 24. 25. 26. 27. 28. 29. 30. 31. 32. 33. 34. 35. 36. 37. 38. 39. 40. 41. 42. 43. 44. 45. 46. 47. 48. 49. 50. 51. 52. 53. 54. 55. 56. 57. 58. 59. 60. 61. 62. 63. 64. 65. 66. 67. 68. 69. 70. 71. 72. 73. 74. 75. 76. 77. 78. 79. 80. 81. 82. 83. 84. 85. 86. 87. 88. 89. 90. 91. 92. 93. 94. 95. 96. 97. 98. 99. Photo n° 10 Photo 10 437 ===== PDF PAGE 0430 | page-430.md ===== # CRIMINAL TRACES FOR KREMATORIUM III: 10. Auskleideraum/undressing room [Photo 4] [File BW 30/25, page 7] Cited for memory, this term is more likely to refer to Krematorium II than to III in view of the date of the document. It is nevertheless necessary to mention it in respect of Krematorium III as the letter of 6th March 1943 is concerned with both «Krem. II und III KGL, BW 30 u. 30a». 11. Gastür/gas [tight] door 100 x 192 [Photo 8] «Auftrag vom 6.3.43 über Lieferung einer Gastür 100/192 für Leichenkeller 1 des Krematoriums III, BW 30a.../order of 6/3/43 concerning the delivery of a gas(tight) door 100 x 192 for corpse cellar 1 of Krematorium III, worksite 30a...» [File 30/34, pages 49 and 50, and Annex 3 to Volume 11 of the Hoess trial] Letter of 31st March 1943, (already cited for Krematorium II under point 6) indicating clearly that Leichenkeller 1 of Krematorium III was fitted with a «gas door». While it may conceivably be possible to contest the validity of the word «Gastür» in this document, an inventory annexed to the handover document of Krematorium III dated 24th June 1943 formally states that its Leichenkeller 1 had a «Gastüchterlir/gas tight door, thus again confirming beyond doubt the meaning of «Gastür». 12. Auskleidekeller [two mentions]/ undressing cellar [Photos 12 and 13] [File BW 30/41, pages 10 and 11] In his timesheets (already cited for Krematorium II under point 5), MESSING, a fitter employed by Topf & Sons, noted that in the week 13th to 22nd April 1943 he worked on «Bauwerk 30a», Krematorium III, installing the air extraction system in the «undressing cellar» or, according to other entries he made, in Leichenkeller 2. He indicates that «corpse cellar» 2 of Krematorium III had become an undressing cellar, as was the case in Krematorium II. 13. Flachsisen für (1)/5 Stück Gastürbeschläge/ flat iron bar for (1)/5 sets of fittings for gas [tight] doors [Photos 14 and 15] [File BW 30/31, incorrectly called «Schlosserei», order of 16th April 1943. The original document is no longer in the «metalworking» file. It would appear that this is the only document missing, and that it has not been deliberately «mislaid» but, having been issued to a member of the Auschwitz Museum for study, has not yet been returned to the Archives. Photos 14 and 15 are those of Annex 14 of Volume 11 of the Hoess trial, giving a number of extracts from the black file containing orders from the «Zentralbauleitung» to the «Schlosserei» or issued by the latter.] Metalworking shop order of 16th April 1943 for the iron required for the fittings for 5 gas [tight] doors for worksites BW 30a and 30b [Krematorien III and IV] One order having been issued for the two Krematorien, it looks at first sight as if the number of doors destined for each cannot be established, but order 322 of the same date in the «Schlosserei WL» file makes it possible to allocate the 5 «Gastüre»: 1 for Krematorium III, the 4 others for Krematorium IV. ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) Photo 11 ![img-1.jpeg](img-1.jpeg) Photo 18 438 ===== PDF PAGE 0431 | page-431.md ===== 14. Beschläge für 1 Stück Gastür/ fittings for 1 gas[tight] door [Photo 16] [Volume 11 of the Hoess trial, Annex 15, known as «Schlosserei WL», order No 322 of 16th April 1943] 16/4/43 order 322. Krematorium III worksite 30a: supplementary order to 1242. Subject: Fittings for 1 gas door as per Order 957 and as already delivered. Operative: Mirek. Completed: 20/4/43. Orders 957 and 1242 correspond to another register, preceding that of «Schlosserei WL», which was not found by the Polish or Soviet investigation commissions. Resulting from the «Schlosserei» order of 16th April 1943 for the iron required for fittings of 5 «Gastüre», orders 322 and 323 are for the fittings for 5 gas doors: 1 for Krematorium III (322) and 4 for IV (323). 15. 1 Gasdichtetür/1 gas-tight door» [Photos 17 and 18] 16. 14 Brausen/14 [DUMMY] showers [File BW 30/43, page 24] Inventory [Photo 18] annexed to the handover document for Krematorium III dated 24th June 1943 [Photo 17], signed by the head of the Bauleitung, Bischoff, and one of his officers, Kirschneck [File BW 30/43, page 20]. As the verso of this document is not known at present, it is not known whether the presence of a «Gasdichtetür» in the basement is noted there, as on the verso of the handover document for Krematorium II. The mention of a «2 year guarantee» is incorrect, two firms having refused to give such a guarantee to the Bauleitung. Messrs Topf, who built the furnaces, considered that such a period was incompatible with the planned incineration rates and the reservations expressed by the Topf engineers, who were perfectly aware of the «abnormal» functions of the Krematorium, are quite understandable. Vedag, a subcontractor for the Huta firm, responsible for the damp-proofing of the basements and «cellars» of Krematorium II and III refused for technical reasons to give a guarantee of two years for the watertightness of these premises. This document [Photo 18] is the only one known at present that proves, indirectly, the existence of a HOMICIDAL GAS CHAMBER in Leichenkeller 1 of Krematorium III. For the full explanation of this point, see «One proof, one single proof». ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) Photo 12 ![img-1.jpeg](img-1.jpeg) Photo 13 439 ===== PDF PAGE 0432 | page-432.md ===== Photo 14 Załącznik Nr 14 Odpis. # Protokół. Dnia 27 października 1945 r. w Krakowie. Sędzia Okręgowy Śledowy Jan Sehn, Członek Głównej Komisji Badania Zbrodni Niesiecznych w Polsce, na wniosek i w obecności Członka tejże Komisji Prokuratora Edwarda Pęchalskiego, domował w trybie art. 254 w związku z art. 123, 152 Kodeksu Postępowania Karnego oglądów in segregatora, znalezionego przez tychże Członków Komisji podczas oglądów in obozu koncentracyjnego w Oświęcimiu, w biurze centralnej dyrekcji budowy. - - - Oglądziny wskazały co następuje: - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Photo n° 14 -2- Photo 15 Zamówienie Centralnej dyrekcji budowy z dnia 6.3.1943 r. Nr. 67, na wykonanie 64 sztuk śrub dla budowy Bw 30 b.o. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Czechosłowia Komisji: Prokurator: Sędzia Okręgowy Śledowy: /Edward Pęchalski/ /Jan Sehn/ Protokołowała: /Krzyżyna Szymarska/ Z oryginałem zgodny: Sędzia Okręgowy Śledowy. All Rights Reserved Nr mikrofilmu 205 NIP 8520/2011/10 Photo n° 15 440 ===== PDF PAGE 0433 | page-433.md ===== - 12 - 99 10.4.43. Nr. 322. Krematorium III. Bf. 30 a /: Zusatzauftrag Com. Nr. 1242.1/ Przedmiot: Beschläge für 1 Stück Gestär wie Com. Nr. 957 und sie bereits geliefert. Wykonawcy: Lirek. Ukończono: 20.4.43.- 20.4.43. Nr. 322. K.G.L. Bf. 30 b. Przedmiot: VL - Schlosserei lie- fert für 4 gaslichte Türen: Die Beschläge wie bereits schon ein- mal geliefert. - Die Türen werden in Halle II angefertigt und die Beschläge sind dahin zu liefern. Wykonawcy: Lirek. Ukończono: 20.4.43. 20.4.43. Nr. 341. Zentralbauleitung K.G.L. Krematorium III. Bf. 30 a. Przedmiot: 2 Stück Riegel, 1 Stück Vorlegesien f. Türbeschläge für Milleimwurf. 2 Stück Riegel - 1 Stück Vorlegesien f. Brettträre aus Untergeschoss. 7 Stück Riegel mit je 2 Dottern u. Untergeschw- sen. 1 Stück Kanalgitter 20/20/ iFlächeisenrahmen 2 cm. breit./ Lieferzeit: bis 25.4.43. Baulge. Auftrag. Nr. 196 vom 21.4.43.- Wykonawcy: Walczyński. Ukończono: 29.4.43.- 20.4.43. Nr. 351. Zentral - Bauleitung Neue Lagerleitung Bz 49.- Przedmiot: 16 St. Befestigungsschleifen lt. Skizze 1, - 8 St. Befes- tigungsschrauben lt. Skizze 2. - Baulge. Auftrag. Nr. 201 v. 25.4.43. Wykonawcy: Walczyński. Ukończono: 3.5.43.- 27.4.43. Nr. 353. Zentralbauleitung K.G.L. Krematorium 4 u. 5 Bf. 30 b und c. Przedmiot: 12 Stück Fenstergitter 50 x 70 cm. - 4 Stück Fen- stergitter 50 x 100 cm, - 6 Stück Oberlichte von 100 x 60 cm. - 2 Stück Oberlichte von 110 x 60 cm. Lieferzeit: 4.5.43. Bauleitungs. Auftrag Nr. 202 vom 27.4.43. Wykonawcy: Rygasik. Ukończono: 30.4.43.- 30.4.43. Nr. 363. Verwaltung des K.L. Auschwitz. Schuppen neben Kre- matorium I. Przedmiot: 4 Stück Bänder mit Stützkloben und 1 Überwurf. 22 Stück Schrauben /: Befestigen der Bänder u. Kloben./. Wykonawcy: Basel. Ukończono: 27.4.43. Auftrag der Verwaltung Nr. 2888.- 2.5.43. Nr. 376. K.G.L. Krematorium III. Bf. 30 a. Przedmiot: 2 Stück Treppengeländer à 7.70 m lang. 1 m hoch /: Siehe Skizze 1 m. 2:/ 1 Stück Treppengeländer à 12.20 lang. 1 m. hoch /: Skizze 3:/ für die sten Kellertreppen. 2 Stück Kaminbüchsen 125 mm für Hüftl. Unterkauf Photo n° 16 All Rights Reserved Nr. 1000 2000 Photo 16 Zentralbauleitung der Waffen-II und Polizei Auschwitz O/S Auschwitz, dem 24 Juni 1943 Übergabeverhandlung. Zentralbauleitung der Waffen-II und Polizei Auschwitz: Vertreten durch: Das von der Zentralbauleitung der Waffen-II und Polizei Auschwitz er- richtete - Immendgenutzte - umgebte - Bauwerk Nr. 30a KGL, Krematorium wurde heute an die Kommandantur (Unterkunftsverwaltung) des K.L. Auschwitz übergeben. Beschreibung: siehe Rückseite Umstehend aufgeführte Räume und die in der Anlage 1 gesondert auf- geführten Einrichtungsgegenstände sind ordnungsgemäß von der Zentral- bauleitung der Waffen-II und Polizei Auschwitz übergeben und von der Kommandantur (Unterkunftsverwaltung) des K.L. Auschwitz übernommen worden. Die Unterkunftsverwaltung hat nachfolgende Wünsche geäußert: Diese Arbeiten werden auf dem schnellsten Wege fertiggestellt. Übergabeverhandlungen geschlossen und gefertigt: Auschwitz, den 24 Juni 1943 Der Übergebende: Der Übernehmende: Zentralbauleitung der Waffen-II und Kommandantur (Unterkunftsverwaltung) O/S. Auschwitz O/S. SS-Sturmbannführer: Anlagen: 1. Verzeichnis der Einrichtungsgegenstände 1. Auto-Paupläne (Haßstab 1:200) 1. Verzeichnis über sämtliche am Bau eingesetzten Firmen mit Angaben der Haft und Garantizeiten. 1. Bestätigung über Schornsteinabnahme Bei Ausführung der Arbeiten in Eigenregie mit Häftlingen kommt eine Haft- und Garantiezeit nicht zur Anwendung. Die Maurerarbeiten wurden teils von Firma A.G. Huta teils von Häftlingen, Dachstuhl von Industriebau-Bünden A.G. Bielitz, Maschinen und Ofenanlage Firma Topf u. Söhne, Erfurt, Schornsteinanlage Firma Köhler - Myslowitz. 2 Jahre Garantiezeit. Photo n° 17 Photo 17 441 ===== PDF PAGE 0434 | page-434.md ===== ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) # **RECAPITULATORY DRAWING FOR KREMATORIEN IV AND V** Part of an overall plan of the POW camp, drawing 2216 of 20th March 1943 [PMO neg. no. 20583] - 12 Stück gasdichten Türen ca 30/40 cm [4 MENTIONS AND 1 ORDER] - Gasdichten Fenster versetzen [2 MENTIONS] - Fußboden betonieren im Gasskammer 2 MENTIONS - Gastürenverankerungen [ORDER] - 4 dichte Türen mit Türfutter [MENTION OF ORDER AND NEW ORDER] - Livré leiefficially handed over on 22nd March 1943 - Livré leiefficially handed over on 4th April 1943 - Gastüren einsetzen [2 MENTIONS] - 24 Stück Ankerschrauben für gasdichte Türen lt Skizze [ORDER] - Drei gasdichte Türe (Türen, Türme) [MENTION AND REMINDER OF ORDER] - (4)5 Stück Gastürbeschläge [ORDER] - WL-Schlosserei liefert für 4 gasdichte Türen: Die Beschläge wie bereits schon einmal geliefert [ORDER] 442 ===== PDF PAGE 0435 | page-435.md ===== ## CRIMINAL TRACES FOR KREMATORIEN IV AND V (The criminal traces found in files BW (worksite) 30b and 30c, Krematorien IV and V respectively, are discussed together because the orders were as a rule issued for both buildings together.) 17. 12 Stück gasdichten Türen ca 30/40 cm [Photo 19] 12 gas-tight doors approx 30 x 40 [4 mentions] [File BW 30/31, incorrectly known as «Schlosserei» (Bestellscheine des Zentral-Bauleitung, 1943), page 385] Order of 13/2/43 for Krematorien IV and V of the KZL issued by the Central Construction Management to the woodworking shop of the Auschwitz Deutsche Ausstetungs-Werke, to be delivered on 20/2/43: «Anfertigung von: 12 Stück gasdichten Türen ca 30/40 cm genau wie bereits angefertigte in der Häftlingstischlerei mit Riegel u. Verschluss.» «Production of: 12 gas-tight doors approximately 30 x 40 cm exactly as already made in the prisoners' woodworking shop, with bolt and catch.» Signed by the civilian employee Teichmann and countersigned by Bischoff. Received by the DAW on 15th February 1943. Although the word «Türen/doors» is hardly suitable for openings of 30 by 40 cm, more the size of small windows, it was nevertheless used 4 times before the civilian workers of Riedel & Sohn, who had to fit some of them in the gas chambers of Krematorium IV, began to call them more correctly «gas-tight windows». Each of the Krematorien had 6 such windows, while their gas chambers had 7 Zyclon-B introduction openings to be fitted. This discrepancy can be explained now (see point 22). It is apparent from the three windows remaining after the dismantling of Krematorium IV and the destruction of Krematorium V, that two types of «gasdichte Fenster» were made. The first, made in accordance with the order of 13th February 1943, required TWO operations for opening or closing, while the second required only ONE. This order is the first link in a chronological chain proving the existence of gas chambers in Krematorium IV, their rooms on the west side being fitted with gas-tight doors and windows. 17a. 12 Stück gasdichte Türen ca 30/40 cm [Photo 20] [File BW 30/31, page 385a] Verso of the order of 13th February 1943 a) Production of door fittings by the DAW WL metalworking shop of 24th February 1943 with a description of the iron used to make them. [Photo 20, upper] b) Production and assembly of the «doors» by the woodworking shop on 25th February 1943. Gas-tightness was obtained through strips of felt [Filtz] on both door and frame, some of this material being found on the three still remaining. [Photo 20, lower] The 12 «doors» were delivered on 26th February 1943. 17b. Delivery note for the door fittings of 24th February 1943 [Photo 21] [File BW 30/31, page 386] Filled in by the DAW administrative office, this note covered the transfer of the door fittings completed by the metalworking shop to the woodworking shop where the doors were made and assembled. ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) Photo 21 443 ===== PDF PAGE 0436 | page-436.md ===== ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) Photo 19 ![img-1.jpeg](img-1.jpeg) Photo 20 444 ===== PDF PAGE 0437 | page-437.md ===== 18. Gas(s)dichtenfenster versetzen/- fit gas-tight windows [1st mention] [File BW 30/28, page 73] [Photos 22 and 23] The civilian firm Riedel & Son of Bielitz participated in the construction of Krematorien IV and V. One of its foremen, in his timesheet for Sunday 28th February 1943, concerning «Einäscherungsanlage 4» [«cremation installation» or Krematorium IV], indicates under «work done», point 5, «Gas-dichtenfenster versetzen/fit gas-tight windows». The lack of labels for certain rooms on the definitive plan of Krematorium IV meant that the Riedel foreman had to use general terms for the places where his men were working. For example, on 25th, 26th and 27th February, the future morgue/undressing room, nearing completion, was referred to as «die grosse Raum/the big room». On 28th, the work was in the eastern part of the building (explicitly mentioned) and in the western part (as can be deduced from the work carried out on succeeding days). | Tagesleistungen | | | --- | --- | | Position | Art und Menge der geleisteten Arbeiten | | 1. | Weitere Fortsetzung mit Deben und Hohnen verpußen, dochstufen, auschlagen | | 2. | Nach Rinden über d. Ofen vermicern | | 3. | Zementfußboden im Hohlenraum neben | | 4. | Deshplotterfügen verzementieren | | 5. | Zasachthuffelster versetzen | | 6. | Fußboden im neben Germain fetoceren | | 7. | Grohmingsdienst Zinterkauft | | Blk 30/28 | | --- | | 6. 4. 1982 |Photo n° 23 Photo 23 | Arbeiten- und Standenzahl | | Verarbeitete Baustoffe | | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Nr. vertr. Arbeiten | Nr. ordnertr. Arbeiten | Nr. vertr. Arbeiten | Nr. ordnertr. Arbeiten | | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | | Tagesleistungen | | | --- | --- | | Position | Art und Menge der geleisteten Arbeiten | | 1. | Weitere Fortsetzung mit Deben und Hohnen verpußen, dochstufen, auschlagen | | 2. | Nach Rinden über d. Ofen vermicern | | 3. | Zementfußboden im Hohlenraum neben | | 4. | Deshplotterfügen verzementieren | | 5. | Zasachthuffelster versetzen | | 6. | Fußboden im neben Germain fetoceren | | 7. | Grohmingsdienst Zinterkauft | | Blk 30/28 | | --- | | 6. 4. 1982 | | Bemerkungen: | | | --- | --- | | Wegestellt: | J. K. [Signature] | | man: | A. Riedel & Son Riedel & Son Bielitz |"s auf dem 1.000m²"/s Arbeiten bedürfen rufertiger arbeiteten Vermicern. Photo 22 Photo 22 445 ===== PDF PAGE 0438 | page-438.md ===== 19. betonieren im Gas[skammer] [1st mention] concrete in gas chamber [Photos 24 and 25] [File BW 30/28, page 68] On Tuesday 2nd March 1943, the Riedel foreman who, two days earlier had fitted the gas-tight windows in rooms whose function was unspecified, was again working there, and sensibly deduced that he was in a gas chamber. His daily report mentions under point 5 (in the room with the windows): «Fußboden Aufschüttung auffüllen, stampfen und Fußboden betonieren im Gaskammer/ground covered with hard fill, tamped down and floor concreted in gas chamber». Of all the timesheets and reports filled in during the construction of Krematorien IV and V, this is the only one containing this term. On following days, only general terms were used, such as: «in beiden Kammern» or «in Zweiten Kammern» [in both chambers], «in the second chamber». According to the timesheets of 3rd, 4th and 5th March 1943, these two rooms were located in the western part of Krematorium IV. Until 1982, we had no material evidence of the location of gas chambers in Krematorien IV and V. This «civilian slip», went unnoticed for 37 years and then, when it had at last been found in the PMO Archives, it was revealed for the first time in July 1982 at the Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales during the Colloquium on «NAZI GERMANY AND THE JEWISH GENOCIDE» [whose proceedings were not published until November 1985] then published in my article «LES KREMATORIES IV et V de BIRKENAU» in the journal of the Centre de Documentation Juive Contemporaine («Le Monde Juif») No 107 of July-September 1982. I then ensured that this document again appeared in «L'ALBUM D' MUSCHWITZ» published by Riedel in November 1983, page 218 and it was recently taken up again by G. Welfers in his chapter on Auschwitz in «Les chambres à gaz, Secret d'Etat» published by Editions de Minuit in September 1984, page 200 and page XI of the illustrations and facsimiles. The high initial value of the word «Gas[skammer]», which had not been found before, and that others besides myself considered decisive, is now reduced to being simply one more piece of historical evidence, document 19 in the recapitalatory list of known «criminal traces» for the four Birkenau Krematorien. Photo 25 | Position | Art und Menge der geleisteten Arbeiten | | --- | --- | | 1. | Weitere Fortsetzung und Decken und Hämcken verpacken | | 2. | Nachhämcken über d. Ofen vermicron und Gasketteln ausgenommen | | 3. | Endbeifungsscheibe und Thirstöcke verlocken in verpacken | | 4. | Thirstöcke in Pannierrammen und Knorlat ausrechen | | 5. | Fußboden Aufschüttung auffüllen, stampfen und Fußboden betonen in Gaskammer | | 6. | In Mauver bei Oberbau Kremat 3 | | 7. | Ordningsscheibst Zusterkauft | | BW 30/28 | | | 6.4.1987 | | 446 Photo 24 | Tagesbericht | | Temperatur | Wirkung | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Von: 1.5 | | 1.5 | | | N. von: | | | | | Arbeiter und Standenzahl | | Verarbeitete Baustoffe | | | Nr. undsp. Stellen | Nr. oderemp. Stellen | Nr. undsp. Stellen | Nr. oderemp. Stellen | | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | | **Tagesleistungen** | | | | | Art und Menge der geleisteten Arbeiten | | | | | 1. | Weitere Fortsetzung und Decken und Hämcken verpacken | | | | 2. | Nachhämcken über d. Ofen vermicron und Gasketteln ausgenommen | | | | 3. | Endbeifungsscheibe und Thirstöcke verlocken in verpacken | | | | 4. | Thirstöcke in Pannierrammen und Knorlat ausrechen | | | | 5. | Fußboden Aufschüttung auffüllen, stampfen und Fußboden betonen in Gaskammer | | | | 6. | In Mauver bei Oberbau Kremat 3 | | | | 7. | Ordningsscheibst Zusterkauft | | | | BW 30/28 | | | | | 6.4.1987 | | | | | By verkungen: | | Friedel der Comptabilitäts- und M. Riedel & Son Comptabilitäts- und M. Riedel & Son Comptabilitäts- und M. Riedel & Son | | | 1) außerverträgliche Arbeiten bedürfen vorheriger schriftlicher Vereinbarung | | BELITZ | | ===== PDF PAGE 0439 | page-439.md ===== 20. Gas[s]dichtenfenster versetzen [2nd mention] fit gas-tight windows (File BW 30/38, page 61) [Photos 26, 27, 28] File BW 30/38 contains 81 pages that can be separated into two parts. The first, pages 1 to 42, contains the timesheets of the HUTA foreman Kolbe for the construction of the shells of Krematorium III[IV] and IV[VI] from 9th November 1942 to 23rd January 1943, then Krematorium III[III] from 25th January to 21st February 1943. The second, pages 43 to 81, summarizes the continuation of this work until completion of Krematorium IV and V, from 23rd January to 10 April 1943. The initial timesheets show work carried out by Huta and are signed by foreman Kolbe and countersigned by the SS in charge of the worksite. The recapitulatory part, however, is in the form of a book of handwritten sheets, written in green ink (pages 44 to 75), and does not contain the name of either the firm or the author. Its text reproduces exactly that of the RIEDEL & SON «Tagesberichten», supplemented by progress reports on the construction of the chimneys by Messrs KOEHLER (established by comparison with file BW 30/28). This notebook, of unknown origin and authorship, has to be authenticated, as it could have been written after the liberation of the camp. It is necessary to prove that the notebook itself is of the period, and that the text is not simply a straight copy of known documents. The paper itself was printed in 1935, as at the foot of one page in four there is the inscription «G.4 Waisenhaus-Buchdruckerei Kassel (1935) Din A 4 doppelt» [Photo 29]. This type of sheet may have been common and used by anybody. In 1945, the French military legal service were trying to prove the existence of a gas chamber in KL Natzweiler (the concentration camp at Struthof), and found a construction diary for the period 20th May to 28th August 1943 [Photo 30] containing a page [Photo 27], dated 3rd August and signed by SS Second Lieutenant Heider, head of the camp Bauleitung, recording work carried out in a gas chamber and mentioning «Gasraum» three times and «Gaskammer» once. A photographic reproduction of this page, undoubtedly damning evidence, was presented in the album «CAMP DE CONCENTRATION STRUTHOF», published by the office of Captain Jedin, examining judge to the Military Tribunal of the 30th Region at Strasbourg. The greater part of this work, which is no longer obtainable, was republished with the addition of documents and comments in March 1985 in order to remove any ambiguity concerning the operation of this gas chamber («L'ALBUM DU STRUTHOF», Introduction and notes by Jean-Claude Pressac, The Beata Klayfeld Foundation). This page has at the bottom the same inscription as is found on these of the recapitulatory notebook of file BW 30/38, which indicates that the «Construction Management» of concentration camps such as Auschwitz and Natzweiler used this type of paper. As for the text of BW 30/38, there are differences as compared with BW 30/28. In addition to the work carried out by Riedel, there is that done by Koehler, and on the days when the latter is at work, the labour figures are higher than those shown on the Riedel timesheets and correspond to the total persons employed by the two firms. However, as file BW 30/28 also contains the «Tagefohn Zettel/daily timesheets» for Messrs Koehler, showing the number of people engaged and the work carried out, written in exactly the same way as those mentioned in the notebook of BW 30/38, it might be thought that we simply have a copy with no original value. This assumption is not so justified as it appears, however, for the author of the notebook had to add up the labour figures, and recorded only the major details of the work carried out by Koehler. There is a clear difference in the case of the electrical work, for which there are no other descriptions in any of the files BW 30/25 to 30/43 conserved in the PMO Archives (compare Photos 22 and 28, where on the latter the labour figures have been increased and the following additional text appears [lines 18-20]: «Stemmen und putzen bei Elektric[ker und bei Ofen Pflaster legen/chase and plaster for the electricians and lay files by the furnaces»). This establishes the authenticity of the notebook. The timesheet for 28th February 1943 reads [lines 14 and 15 of Photo 28] «Gas[s]dichtenfenster versetzen/fit gas-tight windows». It should be noted that even the spelling mistake, «Gass» instead of «Gas-», has been copied. 21. betonieren im Gas[s]kammer [2nd mention] (File BW 30/38, pages 62 and 63) [Photos 29 and 30] The daily report for 2nd March 1943 reads [Photo 29 line 28 and photo 30 line 1] «und Fußboden betonieren im Gas[s]kammer/and concrete floor in gas chambers». The same mistake is again copied. 22. 4 gasdichte Türe/4 gas-tight doors [Order No 2261/80/17 of 18th January 1943 for Krematorium IV - NOT FOUND] That there was an order of 18th January 1943 for 4 gas-tight doors for Krematorium IV is established by two documents that mention it: Order 109 [Photo 32] of 19th February 1943 of the «Schlosserei WL» file and the letter of 31st March 1943 [Photos 33 and 34] of Annex 3 to Volume 11 of the Hoess trial. The original has not yet been found. This «phantom» document is not «conclusive» proof of the existence of homicidal gas chambers in Krematorium IV, but it helps us to understand and establish how they were planned, built and used. Contrary to what I said in my article on «Les Krematorien IV et V de Birkenau» in «Le Monde Juif», the three documents cited above [Photos 31, 32 and 33] together with Krematorium IV drawings 1678 of 14th August 1942 and 2036 of 11th January 1943 enable us to state that KREMATORIEN IV AND V WERE DESIGNED AS CRIMINAL INSTRUMENTS, though modifications introduced in the course of their construction and operation made their operating sequence absurd. Krematorium II was used criminally with two different operating sequences. For one or two weeks (in March 1943 according to Henryk Tauber), victims took the following route: external undressing hut [in the north yard], underground gas chamber [Leichenkeller 1], ground floor furnace room. No room had been planned for the storage of corpses (though the «Waschraum» on the ground floor was used for this purpose as a stop gap measure). The gas chamber itself assumed this function, which was that for which it was originally planned. Subsequently, after the temporary hut had been dismantled, the victims took the route that was to become «conventional» for Krematorium II and III: underground undressing room [Leichenkeller 2], underground gas chamber [Leichenkeller 1] and the ground floor furnace room. The Bauleitung produced only two drawings for Krematorium IV, valid also for Krematorium V. Comparing these drawings with the «Schlosserei WL» orders reveals the following evolution: Preliminary project based on drawing 1678 of 14th August 1942, showing only the furnace room with two twinned 4-muffle incineration furnaces and its associated rooms on the eastern side, connected through a safety air lock to a large gas chamber of undetermined length. I state that this incomplete room is a gas chamber (and not a morgue, which by definition has to be kept cool) in order to explain the presence of a stove and a buffer air lock between this room and the furnace room. The flow from the stove runs underground to the chimney of one of the twin 4-muffle furnaces. This incomplete preliminary project could have been completed by an undressing room in the western part, so that its functioning would have been in a straight line running west to east. It was abandoned for unknown reasons that I would assume were connected with the risk of accidental poisoning in the furnace room during natural ventilation of the gas chamber. First design: based on drawing 2036 of 11th January 1943, the orders of 18th January and 19th March 1943 for FOUR gas-tight doors and that of 13th February 1943 for 12 gas-tight windows for BOTH Krematorium IV and V (SIX per building). The drawing shows that the two rooms on the west side are gas chambers, for they each have a stove and require, to be made gas-tight, 4 doors (two per room) and 6 windows (3 per room), one being INSIDE the corridor giving access to the chambers, unlike the five others that are on the outside). The victims would take the route: gas chamber 1 OR gas chamber 2, corridor, vestibule, morgue [central room] and furnace room. This sequence is linear, thus LOGICAL. In industrial terms, 2 manufacturing units [gas chambers 1 and 2] alternately supply a product [corpses] to be held in a store [morgue] while waiting to be consumed [in the cremation furnaces]. In human terms, people walk in on their own two feet at the western end of Krematorium IV and go out in the form of smoke from the chimneys at the eastern end. The position of the two gas chambers and their corridor, at the western end, permits natural ventilation without danger to the people working in the morgue or the furnace room. But the building has no undressing room. The victims have to get undressed outside. The Bauleitung could alleviate this problem by erecting a «stable type» hut for this purpose on the other side of the «Ringstraße/ring road», just opposite Kr IV. Second design: based on the letter of 31st March 1943 and the testimony of S. Dragan with the creation of a gas-tight unit comprising the two gas chambers AND the corridor. Three doors and six or seven windows are required to make it gas-tight. By adding the possibility of using the morgue as an undressing room, the following sequence is obtained: entry through the vestibule, undressing room [central room], vestibule, western unit of the two gas chambers and corridor, vestibule, morgue [central room] and furnace room. The route is no longer linear and the operating sequence has become totally illogical, the argument I maintained in my article. 447 ===== PDF PAGE 0440 | page-440.md ===== According to a photograph of Krematorium IV in the «Auschwitz Album», a gas-tight door was fitted in the corridor to give direct access from the outside, without having to pass through the vestibule. This additional door, visible on a photograph taken in May or June 1944 must be connected with the third design proposed for Krematorien IV and V. Third design: based on the testimony and drawing of S Dragan and the ruins of Krematorium V. This design was adopted for Krematorium V and perhaps also for Krematorium IV. It was imposed by the need to be able to gas small groups of victims and by inadequate Zyclon-B supplies. A fourth gas chamber was created in the western unit by dividing the corridor in two in the proportion 1:2 [visible in the ruins of Krematorium V]. Four gas chambers, each of which had to be gas-tight, required six doors (or seven including the external door of the corridor) with seven openings for pouring Zyclon-B. The ruins of Krematorium IV give no indication as to whether a fourth gas chamber was installed there. My initial explanation was mistaken because I tried to explain the design of Krematorien IV and V on the basis of their final status and the modifications that had taken place in the basements of Krematorien II and III, modifications that were clearly apparent from a comparison of contemporary drawings and photographs and the existing ruins. Other facts demonstrate the great variations in the internal arrangement of the Krematorien: - the gas chamber [Leichenkeller 1] of Krematorium II was divided in two in order to be able to «treat» small groups of people unfit for work (in 1944, according to Henryk Tauber). It is not known whether Krematorium III was also modified in this way; - in the summer of 1944, [five] cremation ditches were dug in the precincts of Krematorium V because the furnaces were out of use. This resulted in the operating sequence being reversed with respect to the original design and running from east to west: vestibule, undressing room [central room], gas chambers, incineration ditches. In good weather, the victims undressed outside before entering the gas chambers, in line with the initial design (photographic evidence: the three «Polish resistance» photos). There remain a number of unclear points regarding the orders for gas-tight doors for Krematorien IV and V. While it would appear that the last «gas doors» were fitted in Krematorium V on 16th and 17th April 1943, i.e. twelve and thirteen days AFTER official acceptance of the building, the orders of 16th June 1943 for iron for fittings for Krematorien IV and V and for fittings for 4 gas-tight doors for Krematorium IV, then on 17th April the order from the Krematorium maintenance service for 4 new doors, again for Krematorium IV cannot be explained in the light of present knowledge. It could be that the first type of door proved unsatisfactory and the SS wanted to make them easier to handle, or stronger, or make other modifications, as had already been done with the gas-tight windows, where two different models were produced. 23. Gastüren verankerungen 210 Stk/ 210 anchors for gas-tight doors [File BW 30/20, page 68, line 8] [Photo 31] Order for Krematorium IV, issued during the interior fitting out by Riedel & Son, dated 15th February 1943 [and not 1942 as seems to be written] requesting among other things 210 anchors for fixing the gas-tight doors. Issued one month after the order for four gas-tight doors, two days after that for <12 gasdichten Türen ca 30/40 cm> and thirteen days before these «doors» [windows] were fitted, this note is directly connected with those orders and is good additional evidence in «Gas» for Krematorium IV. # Registre des constructions pour les nouvelles constructions Camp de concentration à Natzwiller, Alsace du: 20 mai 1943 au: 28 août 1943 ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) TAGESBERICHT ÜBER DEN BAUBETRIEB/ RAPPORT JOURNALIER SUR L'AVANCEMENT DES CONSTRUCTIONS - [4ème ligne:] Magon: 10(h). Administr.: Struthof - Travaux dans chambre à gaz ["Gasraum"] (a-a n° 187). - [16ème ligne:] Couvreur: 5(h). Administr.: Struthof - Chambre à gaz ["Gaskammer"]; prolonger tégua d'évacuation, placer 1 collier d'attache (a-a n° 187). - [20ème ligne:] Manoeuvre. - [21ème ligne:] Feintre: 60(h). Administr.: Travaux dans bâtiment de l'administration (a-a n° 137) et chambre à gaz ["Gasraum"] - [22ème ligne:] Magon: 40(h). Administr.: Struthof - Travaux dans chambre à gaz ["Gasraum"] (a-a n° 187) Photo 26 448 ===== PDF PAGE 0441 | page-441.md ===== Photo n° 27 | Datum | Zugehberigt über den Baubetrieb | Bemerkungen | | --- | --- | --- | | Schmiedel 7. | Nov 54: Preisträgerin, die sich in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. | | | 11. | Nov 54: Preisträgerin, die sich in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. | | | 20. | Nov 54: Preisträgerin, die sich in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. | | | 30. | Nov 54: Preisträgerin, die sich in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. | | | 40. | Nov 54: Preisträgerin, die sich in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. | | | 50. | Nov 54: Preisträgerin, die sich in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. | | | 60. | Nov 54: Preisträgerin, die sich in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. | | | 70. | Nov 54: Preisträgerin, die sich in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. | | | Datum | Zugehberigt über den Baubetrieb | Bemerkungen | | --- | --- | --- | | 11. | Nov 54: Preisträgerin, die sich in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. | | | 20. | Nov 54: Preisträgerin, die sich in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. | | | Datum | Zugehberigt über den Baubetrieb | Bemerkungen | | --- | --- | --- | | 11. | Nov 54: Preisträgerin, die sich in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. | | | Datum | Zugehberigt über den Baubetrieb | Bemerkungen | | --- | --- | --- | | 20. | Nov 54: Preisträgerin, die sich in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. | | | Datum | Zugehberigt über den Baubetrieb | Bemerkungen | | --- | --- | --- | | 11. | Nov 54: Preisträgerin, die sich in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. | | | Datum | Zugehberigt über den Baubetrieb | Bemerkungen | | --- | --- | --- | | 20. | Nov 54: Preisträgerin, die sich in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. | | | Datum | Zugehberigt über den Baubetrieb | Bemerkungen | | --- | --- | --- | | 11. | Nov 54: Preisträgerin, die sich in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. | | | Datum | Zugehberigt über den Baubetrieb | Bemerkungen | | --- | --- | --- | | 20. | Nov 54: Preisträgerin, die sich in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. | | | Datum | Zugehberigt über den Baubetrieb | Bemerkungen | | --- | --- | --- | | 11. | Nov 54: Preisträgerin, die sich in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. | | | Datum | Zugehberigt über den Baubetrieb | Bemerkungen | | --- | --- | --- | | 20. | Nov 54: Preisträgerin, die sich in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. | | | Datum | Zugehberigt über den Baubetrieb | Bemerkungen | | --- | --- | --- | | 11. | Nov 54: Preisträgerin, die sich in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. | | | Datum | Zugehberigt über den Baubetrieb | Bemerkungen | | --- | --- | --- | | 20. | Nov 54: Preisträgerin, die sich in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. | | | Datum | Zugehberigt über den Baubetrieb | Bemerkungen | | --- | --- | --- | | 11. | Nov 54: Preisträgerin, die sich in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. | | | Datum | Zugehberigt über den Baubetrieb | Bemerkungen | | --- | --- | --- | | 20. | Nov 54: Preisträgerin, die sich in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. | | | Datum | Zugehberigt über den Baubetrieb | Bemerkungen | | --- | --- | --- | | 11. | Nov 54: Preisträgerin, die sich in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. | | | Datum | Zugehberigt über den Baubetrieb | Bemerkungen | | --- | --- | --- | | 20. | Nov 54: Preisträgerin, die sich in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. | | | Datum | Zugehberigt über den Baubetrieb | Bemerkungen | | --- | --- | --- | | 11. | Nov 54: Preisträgerin, die sich in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. | | | Datum | Zugehberigt über den Baubetrieb | Bemerkungen | | --- | --- | --- | | 20. | Nov 54: Preisträgerin, die sich in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. | | | Datum | Zugehberigt über den Baubetrieb | Bemerkungen | | --- | --- | --- | | 11. | Nov 54: Preisträgerin, die sich in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. | | | Datum | Zugehberigt über den Baubetrieb | Bemerkungen | | --- | --- | --- | | 20. | Nov 54: Preisträgerin, die sich in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. | | | Datum | Zugehberigt über den Baubetrieb | Bemerkungen | | --- | --- | --- | | 11. | Nov 54: Preisträgerin, die sich in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. | | | Datum | Zugehberigt über den Baubetrieb | Bemerkungen | | --- | --- | --- | | 20. | Nov 54: Preisträgerin, die sich in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. | | | Datum | Zugehberigt über den Baubetrieb | Bemerkungen | | --- | --- | --- | | 11. | Nov 54: Preisträgerin, die sich in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. | | | Datum | Zugehberigt über den Baubetrieb | Bemerkungen | | --- | --- | --- | | 20. | Nov 54: Preisträgerin, die sich in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. | | | Datum | Zugehberigt über den Baubetrieb | Bemerkungen | | --- | --- | --- | | 11. | Nov 54: Preisträgerin, die sich in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. | | | Datum | Zugehberigt über den Baubetrieb | Bemerkungen | | --- | --- | --- | | 20. | Nov 54: Preisträgerin, die sich in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. | | | Datum | Zugehberigt über den Baubetrieb | Bemerkungen | | --- | --- | --- | | 11. | Nov 54: Preisträgerin, die sich in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. | | | Datum | Zugehberigt über den Baubetrieb | Bemerkungen | | --- | --- | --- | | 20. | Nov 54: Preisträgerin, die sich in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. | | | Datum | Zugehberigt über den Baubetrieb | Bemerkungen | | --- | --- | --- | | 11. | Nov 54: Preisträgerin, die sich in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. | | | Datum | Zugehberigt über den Baubetrieb | Bemerkungen | | --- | --- | --- | | 20. | Nov 54: Preisträgerin, die sich in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. | | | Datum | Zugehberigt über den Baubetrieb | Bemerkungen | | --- | --- | --- | | 11. | Nov 54: Preisträgerin, die sich in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. | | | Datum | Zugehberigt über den Baubetrieb | Bemerkungen | | --- | --- | --- | | 20. | Nov 54: Preisträgerin, die sich in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. | | | Datum | Zugehberigt über den Baubetrieb | Bemerkungen | | --- | --- | --- | | 11. | Nov 54: Preisträgerin, die sich in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. | | | Datum | Zugehberigt über den Baubetrieb | Bemerkungen | | --- | --- | --- | | 20. | Nov 54: Preisträgerin, die sich in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. | | | Datum | Zugehberigt über den Baubetrieb | Bemerkungen | | --- | --- | --- | | 11. | Nov 54: Preisträgerin, die sich in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. | | | Datum | Zugehberigt über den Baubetrieb | Bemerkungen | | --- | --- | --- | | 20. | Nov 54: Preisträgerin, die sich in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. | | | Datum | Zugehberigt über den Baubetrieb | Bemerkungen | | --- | --- | --- | | 11. | Nov 54: Preisträgerin, die sich in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. | | | Datum | Zugehberigt über den Baubetrieb | Bemerkungen | | --- | --- | --- | | 20. | Nov 54: Preisträgerin, die sich in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. | | | Datum | Zugehberigt über den Baubetrieb | Bemerkungen | | --- | --- | --- | | 11. | Nov 54: Preisträgerin, die sich in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. | | | Datum | Zugehberigt über den Baubetrieb | Bemerkungen | | --- | --- | --- | | 20. | Nov 54: Preisträgerin, die sich in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. | | | Datum | Zugehberigt über den Baubetrieb | Bemerkungen | | --- | --- | --- | | 11. | Nov 54: Preisträgerin, die sich in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. | | | Datum | Zugehberigt über den Baubetrieb | Bemerkungen | | --- | --- | --- | | 20. | Nov 54: Preisträgerin, die sich in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. | | | Datum | Zugehberigt über den Baubetrieb | Bemerkungen | | --- | --- | --- | | 11. | Nov 54: Preisträgerin, die sich in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. | | | Datum | Zugehberigt über den Baubetrieb | Bemerkungen | | --- | --- | --- | | 20. | Nov 54: Preisträgerin, die sich in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. | | | Datum | Zugehberigt über den Baubetrieb | Bemerkungen | | --- | --- | --- | | 11. | Nov 54: Preisträgerin, die sich in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. | | | Datum | Zugehberigt über den Baubetrieb | Bemerkungen | | --- | --- | --- | | 20. | Nov 54: Preisträgerin, die sich in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. | | | Datum | Zugehberigt über den Baubetrieb | Bemerkungen | | --- | --- | --- | | 11. | Nov 54: Preisträgerin, die sich in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. | | | Datum | Zugehberigt über den Baubetrieb | Bemerkungen | | --- | --- | --- | | 20. | Nov 54: Preisträgerin, die sich in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. | | | Datum | Zugehberigt über den Baubetrieb | Bemerkungen | | --- | --- | --- | | 11. | Nov 54: Preisträgerin, die sich in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. | | | Datum | Zugehberigt über den Baubetrieb | Bemerkungen | | --- | --- | --- | | 20. | Nov 54: Preisträgerin, die sich in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. | | | Datum | Zugehberigt über den Baubetrieb | Bemerkungen | | --- | --- | --- | | 11. | Nov 54: Preisträgerin, die sich in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. | | | Datum | Zugehberigt über den Baubetrieb | Bemerkungen | | --- | --- | --- | | 20. | Nov 54: Preisträgerin, die sich in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. | | | Datum | Zugehberigt über den Baubetrieb | Bemerkungen | | --- | --- | --- | | 11. | Nov 54: Preisträgerin, die sich in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. | | | Datum | Zugehberigt über den Baubetrieb | Bemerkungen | | --- | --- | --- | | 20. | Nov 54: Preisträgerin, die sich in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. | | | Datum | Zugehberigt über den Baubetrieb | Bemerkungen | | --- | --- | --- | | 11. | Nov 54: Preisträgerin, die sich in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. | | | Datum | Zugehberigt über den Baubetrieb | Bemerkungen | | --- | --- | --- | | 20. | Nov 54: Preisträgerin, die sich in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. | | | Datum | Zugehberigt über den Baubetrieb | Bemerkungen | | --- | --- | --- | | 11. | Nov 54: Preisträgerin, die sich in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. | | | Datum | Zugehberigt über den Baubetrieb | Bemerkungen | | --- | --- | --- | | 20. | Nov 54: Preisträgerin, die sich in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. | | | Datum | Zugehberigt über den Baubetrieb | Bemerkungen | | --- | --- | --- | | 11. | Nov 54: Preisträgerin, die sich in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. | | | Datum | Zugehberigt über den Baubetrieb | Bemerkungen | | --- | --- | --- | | 20. | Nov 54: Preisträgerin, die sich in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. | | | Datum | Zugehberigt über den Baubetrieb | Bemerkungen | | --- | --- | --- | | 11. | Nov 54: Preisträgerin, die sich in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. | | | Datum | Zugehberigt über den Baubetrieb | Bemerkungen | | --- | --- | --- | | 20. | Nov 54: Preisträgerin, die sich in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. | | | Datum | Zugehberigt über den Baubetrieb | Bemerkungen | | --- | --- | --- | | 11. | Nov 54: Preisträgerin, die sich in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. | | | Datum | Zugehberigt über den Baubetrieb | Bemerkungen | | --- | --- | --- | | 20. | Nov 54: Preisträgerin, die sich in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. | | | Datum | Zugehberigt über den Baubetrieb | Bemerkungen | | --- | --- | --- | | 11. | Nov 54: Preisträgerin, die sich in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. | | | Datum | Zugehberigt über den Baubetrieb | Bemerkungen | | --- | --- | --- | | 20. | Nov 54: Preisträgerin, die sich in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. | | | Datum | Zugehberigt über den Baubetrieb | Bemerkungen | | --- | --- | --- | | 11. | Nov 54: Preisträgerin, die sich in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. | | | Datum | Zugehberigt über den Baubetrieb | Bemerkungen | | --- | --- | --- | | 20. | Nov 54: Preisträgerin, die sich in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. | | | Datum | Zugehberigt über den Baubetrieb | Bemerkungen | | --- | --- | --- | | 11. | Nov 54: Preisträgerin, die sich in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. | | | Datum | Zugehberigt über den Baubetrieb | Bemerkungen | | --- | --- | --- | | 20. | Nov 54: Preisträgerin, die sich in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. | | | Datum | Zugehberigt über den Baubetrieb | Bemerkungen | | --- | --- | --- | | 11. | Nov 54: Preisträgerin, die sich in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. | | | Datum | Zugehberigt über den Baubetrieb | Bemerkungen | | --- | --- | --- | | 20. | Nov 54: Preisträgerin, die sich in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. | | | Datum | Zugehberigt über den Baubetrieb | Bemerkungen | | --- | --- | --- | | 11. | Nov 54: Preisträgerin, die sich in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. | | | Datum | Zugehberigt über den Baubetrieb | Bemerkungen | | --- | --- | --- | | 20. | Nov 54: Preisträgerin, die sich in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. | | | Datum | Zugehberigt über den Baubetrieb | Bemerkungen | | --- | --- | --- | | 11. | Nov 54: Preisträgerin, die sich in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. | | | Datum | Zugehberigt über den Baubetrieb | Bemerkungen | | --- | --- | --- | | 20. | Nov 54: Preisträgerin, die sich in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. | | | Datum | Zugehberigt über den Baubetrieb | Bemerkungen | | --- | --- | --- | | 11. | Nov 54: Preisträgerin, die sich in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. | | | Datum | Zugehberigt über den Baubetrieb | Bemerkungen | | --- | --- | --- | | 20. | Nov 54: Preisträgerin, die sich in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. | | | Datum | Zugehberigt über den Baubetrieb | Bemerkungen | | --- | --- | --- | | 11. | Nov 54: Preisträgerin, die sich in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. | | | Datum | Zugehberigt über den Baubetrieb | Bemerkungen | | --- | --- | --- | | 20. | Nov 54: Preisträgerin, die sich in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. und 2. Jahren in den 1. | | | Datum | Zugehberigt über den Baubetrieb | Bemerkungen | | --- | --- | --- | Photo 27 BEMERK DAILY REPORT ON BUILDING WORK DAILY REPORT ON BUILDING WORK DAILY REPORT ON BUILDING WORK DAILY REPORT ON BUILDING WORK DAILY REPORT ON BUILDING WORK DAILY REPORT ON BUILDING WORK DAILY REPORT ON BUILDING WORK DAILY REPORT ON BUILDING WORK DAILY REPORT ON BUILDING WORK DAILY REPORT ON BUILDING WORK DAILY REPORT ON BUILDING WORK DAILY REPORT ON BUILDING WORK DAILY REPORT ON BUILDING WORK DAILY REPORT ON BUILDING WORK DAILY REPORT ON BUILDING WORK DAILY REPORT ON BUILDING WORK[{"box_2d ===== PDF PAGE 0442 | page-442.md ===== | Datum | Zugehbertật über den Baustein | Versuchungen | | --- | --- | --- | | | Flammen und Püften bei Elektrischer, betrieb glätten. | | | 28.2. 43 Hamburg | 3. Schiene 19. Chiner 1. Zimmerleuch 54. Schieffer Weitere Fortsetzung mit Rechen und Künchen verputzen, Loch- streifen anschlagen. Nach- bisher über d. Ofen vermainen Einen färbchen in Kollernain- proben. Nachplatten fingen ver- meinerten. Gassdichten- fenster verneten. Färbchen im rechen. Ofen an den Körner. Ordnungsdienst Unterschrift. Flammen mit Püften bei Elektrischer und bei Ofen Pflaster legen. | | | 1.2. 43 Hamburg Dunkel | 3 Schiene 49. Chiner 0. Zimmerleuch 62. Schieffer 1. Bauschreiter Weitere Fortsetzung mit Rechen und Künchen verputzen | | Platte 28 | Datum | Zugehbertật über den Baustein | Versuchungen | | --- | --- | --- | | | Nachbisher über d. Ofen vermainen Eichlopfengfenster und Körtchen verneten. Stiftsporten mit Tunstel anerhoben. Färbchen im rechen. Ofen an den Körner. Der Ofen bei Kremst 42 Schwingschw. Unterschrift Gericht. Bogen. Färbchen Aufschaff für die Kammer anfahren und stumpfen. Die Elektrische Flammen. Elektrische periten und verputzen. | | | 2.3. 44 Hamburg Dunkel | 3 Schiene 46. Chiner 0. Zimmerleuch 65. Schieffer 1. Bauschreiter Weitere Fortsetzung mit Rechen und Künchen verputzen. Nachbisher über d. Ofen vermainen und Nachplatten, gemmeinerten Eichlopfengfenster und Körtchen verneten u. verputzen. Körtchen u. Finsterinnen mit Tunstel anerhoben. Färbchen auf- schüttig. Stiftet. Stumpfen und Färbchen betrieben. | | Platte 29 | Datum | Zugehbertật über den Baustein | Versuchungen | | --- | --- | --- | | | im Gaschrenner 4. Chiner bei Ofen bei Kremst 6. 3. Schwingschw. Unterschrift | | | 3.3. 43 Dunkel Dunkel | 3. Schiene 26. Chiner 2. Zimmerleuch 69. Schieffer 1. Bauschreiter Weitere Fäuten und Rechen ver- putzen. Die Fäuten. Färbchen u. Finsterinnen mit Schwingschw. der Körtchen legen. Betrieben. D. Färbchen Juni färbchen anfahren Püften bei Kremst 3. Schw. Mauer gleich mit d. Lötter püften an. Nachplatten, im gemeinerten 4. Chiner bei Ofen Kremst 3. Sch. in der Körner. Unterschrift. Die Elektrische Flammen und Färbchen aufschaff mit den Gaschrennen. Meinen Körner. Püften an den Körner. Unterschrift. | | Platte 30 450 ===== PDF PAGE 0443 | page-443.md ===== Photo 31 28 Anforderung F. W. 30t K. G. L. km 15/5-3 2000 kg K. 5/5 1000 K. 5/5 2 Hk. Leusterrahmen 75/75 im Zuhlen für Koffensraum aus Krettern nach einem Gastinenverankerungen 30/30 Leusterrahmen Bankleisen 300/30 16 Hk. Kl. feuerter 30/40 mm Koffens 16 " " " " 45/60 mm 4 " " " " 45/30 14 Hk. Leusterbretter 2 m Aufzummer mit 30/40 Räume 125 m kg Waschraumbicken u. Hbrt anlage kampf. 3.0 Gf. 1/2 Eingang kettigfilter 2 Hk. 1/2 Photo n° 32 -4- S1 18.2.43. Dr. 94. Wasserversorgung K.S.L.- B.4.19 Rohrstrang aus Krematorium II. Przedsiot: 1 Stück Stopfen für 100 g Koffensrohr lt. Skizze Pos.1. - 1 Stück Blindfleisch für 100 g Fleischehr lt. Skizze Pos.2. - 2 Stück Passfäße 100 g x 300 mm lg. aus Siederohr 100, 5/10 g mit je 2 Fleischen /Kasse wie oben/. 20 Stück Schrauben 3/4 Zoll, 60 mm lg. Auftrag Dr.22 von 16.2.43 der Zentralbeuleitung benauer Materialbedarf ist sofort einzutellen. Wykonawy: Zalewski. Tko: 22.2.43. 18.2.43. Dr. 96. Krematorium B.4.50 b x c. Przedsiot: 50 Stück Anker- schrauben für die Innenstüren lt. Skizze aus Fundelzen g 16 mm, 25 cm Gesamtlänge. Auftrag Dr. 2274/172 von 1.2.43 des Zentralbeultg. Von der ehem. Wäfl. Schlosserei übernommener Auftrag.-Tko: 15.2.43. - 12.2.43. Dr. 102. Krematorium B.4.50. Przedsiot: Schutzleiter vor die Abluftlöcher aus 10 mm g Eisen lt. beigefügter Skizze. Auftrag Dr. 2575 von 3.2.43. der Zentralbeultg. Von der ehem. Wäfl. Schlosserei übernommener Auftrag. Tko: 15.2.43. 12.2.43. Dr. 102. K.S.L. B.4.50 b. Przedsiot: 4 dichte Türen, mit Tür- futter - lt. Angabe der Beuleitung aus 100 x 205 cm i.l. Auftrag Dr.2261 /180/171/ von 18.1.43 der Zentralbeuleitung. Von der ehem.Wäfl. Kochlerei übernommener Auftrag. - 12.2.43. Dr. 111. Zentralbeuleitung K.S.L. B.4.50 b. Przedsiot: 2 Stück Lager 2600 mm. lg. 8 Stück Bürochen g 45 mm. nach Angabe des Auffüh- zers Koch der Pa Topf u. Sähne. Gegen Verrechnung der Pa.Topf. u. Sähne Sofort. Auftrag der Beuleitung Dr. 33 von 22.2.43. Wilt: mod- szone: 27.2.43. 12.2.43. Dr. 120. K.S.L. Krematorium II.-B.4.50 Zentr. Beultg. Przed- siot: 1 Türbeschlag komplett: 2 Länder 40 cm lg. Fleicheisen mit Öse und Stückkloben u. eine Menge als Verschluss für Vorhängeschluss. /Fleicheisen 40x4 mm/ - Dieser Beschlag ist für die Einwurfblende des Hilfverbrennungsraumes vorgesehen. Auftrag der Beuleitung Dr. 39 von 24.2.43. Lieferzeit: sofort. Wykonawy: Kretkowski. Umd: 25.2.43. All Rights Reserved Photo 32 451 ===== PDF PAGE 0444 | page-444.md ===== 24. 4 dichte Türen, mit Türfutter/ 4 tight doors, with lining [Photo 32] [Annex 15 to Volume 11 of the Hoess trial, concerning «Schlosserei WL», Order No 109 of 19th February 1943] # Translation: 19/2/43 No 109 POW camp worksite 30b [Krematorium IV] Subject: 4 tight doors, with lining - in accordance with Construction Management instructions. Dimensions 100 x 205 cm as per Order 2261/80/17 of 18th January 1943 issued by the Construction Management. Order transferred from the former prisoners' metalworking shop. This order might be thought perfectly normal, since it is simply for «tight doors», but is in fact criminal and requests «4 [gas]dichte Türen». The letter of 31st March 1943 [Photo 33] is mainly concerned with the non-execution of this order, originally classified 2261/80/17 of 18th January 1943 and recalls that they are gas-tight doors. The number of doors has been reduced to three, a change explained by the envisaged method of using Krematorium IV. While fifteen days elapsed between the gas-tight windows being ordered and their being fitted in Krematorium IV, the order for the doors, issued a month earlier, was still not executed. Furthermore, the letter of 31st March 1943 proves that almost another month and a half had passed and the situation remained unchanged. It must be observed that the transfer of orders from the former prisoners' metalworking shop to that of the DAW was slow. As Krematorium IV was handed over on 22nd March and on the 31st March its gas-tight doors were still not ready, it can be concluded that it was not yet operational when it was accepted and only became so much later. It may be that the doors fitted in Krematorium V on 16th and 17th April were those ordered for Krematorium IV, which would explain the new orders for Krematorium IV issued on 16th April. 25. drei gasdichte Türe (Türme, Türen)/ three gas-tight doors (towers, doors) [Photos 33, 34, 35] [Türe: Annex 3 (page 61) of Volume 11 (microfilm 205) of the Hoess trial certified an authentic copy by the Polish examining judge Jan Sehn: Türme: File BW 30/34, page 49. First carbon copy of the letter of 31st March 1943, No 26171/43, containing the word «Türme/towers» twice: Türen: File BW 30/34, page 50. Second «corrected» carbon copy, with one of the two «Türme» changed to «Türen». Letter of 31st March 1943, signed by SS Major Bischoff, daughted and countersigned by SS Second Lieutenant Kirschneck, addressed to the DAW and referring to Order 2261/80/17 of 18th January 1943 for BW 30b [Krematorium IV]. Only the first paragraph concerns this order. # Translation: In reply to the above letter [of 24th March 1943], it is confirmed that three gas-tight doors are to be made for worksites 30b [Krematorium IV] and 30c [Krematorium V] in accordance with the order of 18th January 1943, exactly of the same dimensions and pattern as the doors supplied previously. The subject of the letter is an order for Krematorium IV, while the first paragraph attributes it to Krematorien IV AND V. The singular article «das/the» used to cover buildings 30b and 30c demonstrates the habit of those involved in the building of Krematorien IV and V referring to them as a single job or worksite to be distinguished from that of Krematorien II and III, again generally regarded as a unit. This practice arose because of the different natures of the two pairs of buildings. The three gas-tight doors were to make gas-tight the entire unit comprising the two rooms and corridor in the western part of Krematorium IV. Certain revisionists rushed to explain this order for «drei gasdichte Türe» (for the premises called «Gas[skammer» and fitted with «Gas[sdichterfenster» as being connected with the installation of DISINFECTION [sic] gas chambers in Krematorium IV, supposedly to treat the clothing of the dead lying in the morgue (central room of the building). We may then ask what was the purpose of the three disinfestation autoclaves and the four Topf hot air disinfestation chambers or ovens in the Zentral Sauna, located only 110 meters away. Some of those who refuse to admit the existence of homicidal gas chambers for large-scale operation, unable to provide any reasonable explanation for this avalanche of prefixes in «Gas» in the western part of Krematorium IV, admitted the possibility of «sniffings» (small-scale, isolated gassings), but as this suggestion was contrary to the dogma of the non-existence of homicidal gas chambers and to the doctrine of the high priest of France, they subsequently rallied to the «disinfection» version. Photo n° 33 Zeigernik N° 3 0 d p i s. 61 31. März 1943. 26171/43/31./schul. Zertifik: Auftrag 2261/80/17 von 18.1.43 Bw 30 b Verzug: Dort. Schreiben von 24.3.43, Nr. 6056 - 43 - Anlagen: keine. a. utsche Ausrüstungsworte i.e.b.H. ort. Ausg. w. 1. 2. 3/2 Es wird auf o.w. Schreiben mitgeteilt, dass drei gasdichte Türe genau den Auftrages von 18.1.43 für das Bw 30 b und 30 c auszuführen sind, genau nach den Ausweisen und der Art der bisher angelieferten Türe. Bei dieser Gelegenheit wird an einen weiteren Auftrag von 6.3.43 über Lieferung einer Bestür 100/192 für Leichenkeller I des Krematoriums III, Bw 30 a, erinnert, die genau nach Art und aus der Kellertür des gegenüberliegenden Krematoriums II mit Sockloch aus doppelten 9 - an - 3 ins mit Sussidichtung und Beaching auszuführen ist. Dieser Auftrag ist als besonders dringend anzusehen. Die mit Auftrag von 23.1.43 für Bw 30 bestellte Bodenseechnikamte, sowie 1 Stück Kleindrahmentür braucht nicht ausgeführt worden, dieser Auftrag ist einfällig. Die vorbereiteten 10 cbs Drennholz werden bei nächster Gelegenheit abgeholt. Der Leiter der Zentralbearbeitung der Auffen-Su und Polizei Auschwitz /-/ Bischoff SU- Sturmbannführer. Verteiler: Recht stur, Art Bf 30 z.a. Zeichnann multg. z.l. - SU - Detlef. Kirschneck Verkaufsbearbeitung SU-Buche All Rights Reserved Joelum PARIS TWELVE HILFE Österreich Nr mikrofilm 205 Photo 33 452 ===== PDF PAGE 0445 | page-445.md ===== Photo 34 PRODUCTION ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) Betrifft: Auftrag 2061/06/17 von 18.1.45 Be 30 b Bodnr: Dort, Schreiben vom 24.3.45, Br.6056 - 45 - Anlagen: Beine. Fa. Deutsche Ausrüstungsworte G.m.b.H. Herk. A. G. H. W. I. S. / G. B. Es wird auf e.m. Schreiben mitgeteilt, dass drei geschickte Türme gemäss des Auftrages vom 18.1.45 für das Be 30 b und 30 c auszuführen sind, genau nach den Aussehen und der Art der bisher angelieferten Türme. Bei dieser Gelegenheit wird an einem weiteren Auftrag vom 6.3.45 über Lieferung einer Gestür 100/152 für Leichenheller I des Kremstoriums III, Be 30 a, er- innert, die genau nach Art und und der Kellertür des ge- genüberliegenden Kremstoriums II mit Gemisch aus doppelte B - m - Glas mit Gummidichtung und Beschlag auszu- führen ist. Dieser Auftrag ist als besonders dringend auszuüben. Die mit Auftrag von 25.1.45 für Be 30 bestellte Bodenbeschlussstür, sowie 1 Stück Blöddrahmertür braucht nicht ausgeführt werden, dieser Auftrag ist hinfällig. Die vorbereiteten 10 c/m Brenshals werden bei nächster Gelegenheit abgeholt. Der Leiter der Zentralbeulassung der Waffen - 45 und Polizei Auschwitz B - Sturmbannführer. Verteiler: Registretur, Akt Be 30 S.A. Teichmann Beultg. K.L. - 3 - Ustuf. Kirchbeck Verteiler: ![img-1.jpeg](img-1.jpeg) Photo 35 453 ===== PDF PAGE 0446 | page-446.md ===== The only criticism that can be levelled at this evidence is the fact that it was disseminated after the war in the form of a copy authenticated by the examining judge Jan Sehn. He is responsible for having certified as conforming with the original a text that was not an exact copy, or to put it more crudely, to having given legal status to an untrue copy. But what could «three gas-tight TOWERS» mean? Apparently nothing in the context of either the normal or the criminal use of Krematorien IV and V. In the known Bauleitung correspondence about these Krematorien the word «Turm» is never used. In relation to the existing documents concerning Krematorium IV it does not fit in with any aspect of the shell or of the roofing or of the internal arrangements. Furthermore, the person who typed this letter was not in author. The error results from the copying of a written draught or dictation notes. There was a lapsus calami. Jan Sehn was quite right to replace «Türme» by «Türe[n]», particularly as Order 109 of 18th January 1943 fully confirms this correction. Without wishing to criticize Jan Sehn in any way, I consider that, though he could perhaps not have foreseen the importance that this document would one day have as «material evidence», he should have indicated the reasons for making the change before signing at the bottom of the copy. However, in the years 1945-47 during which evidence was collected for the Hoess trial, all the witnesses, SS and prisoners, were still alive, their memories intact and the facts so obvious that Jan Sehn would not be able to understand my remarks about these two pieces of evidence. Lastly, we do not know who corrected «Türme» to «Türen». If the document was found thus corrected, this should have been explicitly stated and legally noted, since otherwise doubt inevitably remains regarding this hand-written change. These two «original documents» are in fact but carbon copies of the real original which has not been found. This may explain why only one of the four occurrences of «Türme» has been corrected, the carbons being kept simply for the files. 26. Flacheisen für (4)/5 Stück Gastürbeschläge iron bar for (4)/5 sets of gas[tight] door fittings [Photos 14 and 15] [File BW 30/31, «Schlosserei» order of 16th April 1943] Mention of the order of 16th April 1943 (see point 13), requesting the iron bar needed to produce the fittings for 5 gas[tight] doors for worksites 30a and 30b [Krematorien II and IV]. Four of these doors were for Krematorium IV. The discrepancy between the 3 doors of the order of 18th January 1943 and the 4 of 16th April 1943 is only apparent and is explained according to the premises to be made gas-tight: i.e. the entire western part of Krematorium IV (3 doors), or the two main rooms, excluding the corridor (4 doors) or the entire western part with an additional door giving direct access to the corridor from outside [photographic evidence: page 205 of «L'Albain d'Auschwitz» published by Seuil] (4 doors). The following order is the logical counterpart of this one for it concerns the gas-tight door fittings to be made with this iron. 27. für 4 gasdichte Türen/for 4 gas-tight doors/WL Schlosserei liefert für 4 gasdichte Türen: [Photo 16] Die beschläge vie bereits schon einmal geliefert/ WL metalworking shop to supply for 4 gas-tight doors: fittings as already once supplied [Annex 15 to Volume 11 of the Hoess trial, or report of 24th July 1945 on the «Schlosserei WL», Order 323 of 16th April 1943] # Translation: 16/4/43 No 323 KGL BW 30b [POW camp (Birkenau) Krematorium IV] Subject: The WL metalworking shop to supply for 4 gas-tight doors: fittings as already once supplied. The doors will be made in Hall II and the fittings are to be delivered there. Operative: Mirek. Completed: 20/4/43. Krematorium IV having been officially handed over on 22nd March 1944, it would appear that the gas chamber doors were delivered and no doubt fitted almost a month after acceptance. Similarly, the gas-tight doors for Krematorium V were fitted twelve days after official completion. 28. 24 Ankerschrauben für gasdu[i]chte Türen lt. Skizze/ 24 anchor bolts for gas tight doors as per sketch [Photo 36] [Annex 15 to Volume 11 of the Hoess trial, «Schlosserei WL» Order 280 of 6th April 1943] # Translation: 6/4/43 No 280. Central Construction Management, POW camp Krematorium 4 [IV] and 5 [V] BW 30b and 30c. Subject: 24 anchor bolts for gas-tight doors as per sketch. On order. Manufacture and delivery. Delivery date: 10/4/43. Construction Management Order No 149 of 3rd April 1943. Operative: Wrobel. Completed: 9/4/43. As the file for this order cannot be consulted, we do not know the location of the anchoring points or the number per door. It is in fact doubtful whether this would be shown on the sketch, which is more likely to show a single fixing bolt. 29. Gastüren einsetzen/ fit gas[tight] doors [2 mentions] [Photo 37] [File BW 30/26, page 27] On Friday 16th and Saturday 17th April 1943, foreman Zettelmann, employed by the civilian firm HUTA of Kattowitz, entered on his timesheets/daily reports 167 and 168 the fitting of «Gastüren/gas doors» in Krematorium V, although the latter had been officially accepted on 4th April. The precise text describing the work done by six men (including SS sergeant Lugert, in charge of the worksite) during the two days was: «Fenstergittern einsetzen, Entwässerung(sarbeiten) und Gastüren einsetzen/Fit window bars, drainage (work) and fit gas doors.» These handwritten daily reports, despite their brevity, constitute the only material evidence of the installation of gas chambers in Krematorium V and give an exact date for the beginning of their existence: 18th April 1943. # [Supplementary traces (Krematorien II and III)]: 30. Der [Leichen]Keller 1 mit der Abluft aus den Räumen der 3 Saugzuganlagen vorgewärmt wird/ [Photo 4] The [corpse] celler 1 will be preheated with the exhaust air from the room with the 3 forced draft installations [File BW 30/25, page 7] 31. Die Warnluftzuführungsanlage für den Leichenkeller 1/ The hot air supply installation for Leichenkeller 1 [File BW 30/25, page 8: for Photo see Document 39 Part II, Chapter 5] Heating a mortuary is nonsensical. The extracts from these two letters are criminal traces of capital importance. 454 ===== PDF PAGE 0447 | page-447.md ===== Photo n° 36 -10- 90 dringend. Baulgs. Auftrag Nr. 133 von 30.3.43. Wykonawy: Zalewski. Ukośczone. 3.4.43. 1.4.43. Nr. 264. Elektrokolonne der Zentral-Baulgs. K.G.L. Zaunbau- Bausbechnitt II und K.G.L. Krematorium SW 24. Przedsiot: różnego ro- dzaju druhy, matry, szajki, sztyce według zezwolenia Baulgs. Auf- trag Nr. 138 von 29.3.43.- Wykonawy: Herold, Wróbel. Ukośczone: 25.5.43. 1.4.43. Nr. 265. Elektrokolonne Der Zentralbauleitung K.G.L. Leitungs- stützen für Krematorium Euleitung SW. 30. Przedsiot: 39 Stück Quar- träger zum V-Eisen Nr. 9 ist je 4 geradem Isolatorenstützen und je einer Befestigungsquelle nach beiliegender Skizze. Lieferzeit: 14 Zuge. Baulgs. Auftrag. Nr. 139. von 29.3.43.- Wykonawy: Zalewski. Ukośczone: 21.4.43. 1.4.43. Nr. 266. Zentralbauleitung K.G.L. Krematorium III SW. 30 c. Przedsiot: 2 Stück Rohrborger /:Durchmesser 40 mm u. 30 cm lg./ Lieferzeit: dringend. Baulgs. Auftrag Nr. 140 von 31.3.43.- Wyko- naway: Real. Ukośczone: 1.4.43. 2.4.43. Nr. 269. Zentralbauleitung K.G.L. Krematorium 5 SW. 30 c. Przedsiot: Anfertigung und Lieferung von 2 Stück eisernen Steiglei- tor für die Aachengrubegenau wie bereits angefertigte für Krematorium 4. Lieferzeit: 5.4.43. Baulgs. Auftrag Nr. 143 von 1.4.43. Wykonaw- y: Kostkowski. Ukośczone: 5.4.43. 2.4.43. Nr. 280. Zentral-Bauleitung K.G.L. Krematorium 4 u. 5 SW. 30 b.c. Przedsiot: 24 Stück Ankerschrauben für gemächte Zären lt. Skizze. An Auftrag. Anfertigung und Lieferung. Lieferzeit: 10.4.43. Baulgs. Auftrag Nr. 149 von 3.4.43. Wykonawy: Wróbel. Ukośczone: 3.4.43. 2.4.43. Nr. 286. K.G.L. Krematorium 4. u. 5. SW 30.b und 30 c. /:Pa. Kopf u. Söhne, Erfurt/ Przedsiot: 4 Stück Rauchkanalschieberskelette n/Skizze anfertigen.- Falls kein Quadrateisen 30/30 auf Lager, dann 25/25-er Quadrateisen verwenden. Falls kein U-Eisen Nr. 10 vorhanden All Rights Reserved PANSTWOWE MUSEUM Oberherrnts Nr mikrofilm 205 Photo 36 Photo n° 37 ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) Photo 37 455 ===== PDF PAGE 0448 | page-448.md ===== [Anothers Traces :] 32. Beschläge für gasdichte Tür/ fittings for gas-tight door [Photo 30] [Annex 15 to Volume 11 of the Hoess trial, «Schlosserei WL» Order 516 of 17th June 1943] # Translation 17/6/43 No 516 Administration V 4 [Birkenau Krematorien]. Metalworking shop producing fittings for gas-tight door as per Orders 1893 and 2085. Hall II has the main order. If necessary, consult foreman Mallebach. Administration V 4 Order No 148 of 7th May 1943. Operative: Mirek. Completed: 10/6/43. This order was issued by the Birkenau Krematorium maintenance service, but does not mention the destination of the fittings. In view of the date, a new door was probably being fitted to replace a faulty or damaged one. 33. 1 Schlüssel für Gaskammer/ 1 key for gas chamber [Photo 30] [Annex 15 to Volume 11 of the Hoess trial, «Schlosserei WL», Order 600 of 12th July 1943] # Translation: 12/7/43 No 600. Krematorium-Administration. Subject: 1 key for gas chamber. Report to SS captain of the SS hospital pharmacy. BBD administration Order No 87 Block of 9th July 1943. Operative: Goderski. Completed 13/7/43. This order can be regarded as the very model of a dubious «trace». Issued by the Krematorium maintenance service, this request for the production of a key for a gas chamber might be understandable, but the destination Krematorium is not known. The order to report to the pharmacist of the SS hospital and the mention of a «Block» make the order incomprehensible with our present state of knowledge. There was, and perhaps still is, exhibited on the first floor of Block 14 (Soviet Pavilion), a key used for a Zyclon-B store, but the doors to the homicidal gas chambers of the crematoriums were not fitted with locks. 34. Die Beschläge zu 1 Tür mit Rahmen, luftdicht mit Spion für Gaskammer/ The fittings for 1 door with frame, air-tight with peephole for gas chamber [Annex 15 to Volume 11 of the Hoess trial, «Schlosserei WL» Order 459 of 28th May 1943] [Photo 30] # Translation 28/5/43 No 459. Disinfestation Chamber Auschwitz concentration camp [i.e. main camp, NOT Birkenau] Subject: 1. Fittings for one door and frame, air-tight with peephole for gas chamber. 2. Lath door. Capo Kühne knows about this. Administration V 4 Order No 158/2 and 2a of 25th January 1943. Operative: Mirek. Completed: 10/6/43. This order has nothing to do with the Birkenau Krematorien, but was destined for one of the disinfestation gas chambers of the main camp, probably the one in Block 1. The text of this order was used by R Faurisson in his little work «Réponse à Pierre Vidal-Naquet» [page 80, Second (enlarged) Edition, La Vieille Taupe, 1982] in his argument aimed at demonstrating that the «Gas[s]kammer of Krematorium IV were nothing but ordinary «disinfection (sic) gas chambers». This document is not part of the incriminating evidence, but is presented simply to show the care that must be taken in using the original documents. # CONCLUSION Summarizing, a study of the files concerning the construction of the four Birkenau Krematorien reveals 39 (THIRTY NINE) «slips» or «criminal traces» of different sorts, the majority of which constitute material proof of the intention to make certain rooms IN THE FOUR KREMATORIEN «Gasdichte» or gas-tight. The incompatibility between a gas-tight door and 14 shower heads indirectly proves the use of one of these rooms as a HOMICIDAL GAS CHAMBER. There can no longer be any contestation or denial of the existence of homicidal gas chambers at Birkenau in view of such an accumulation of written indiscretions on a subject that was supposed to remain secret but became an open secret throughout all of what was then Upper Silesia. 456 ===== PDF PAGE 0449 | page-449.md ===== Photo n° 38 - 14 - 94 5.6.43. - 17.6.43. Nr. 516. Verwaltung V 4. Schlosserei - Werkstätten fertigen an Beschläge für gasdichte Tür wie unter Com. Nr.1893 und 2085 geliefert Hauptauftrag hat Halle II. /Notfälle Rücksprache mit Meister Mallebach/. Bestellschein Nr. 148 der Verwaltung V 4 vom 7.5.43. Wykonawcy: Mirek. Ukończono: 10.6.43. - 23.6.43. Nr. 542. Elektrokolonne der Zentralbauleitung.- Zaun um das Krematorium III im K.G.L. Bf. 24-K.G.L. 2 Stück Kabelendverschlüsse aus Eisenblech lt. Skizze Nr. 1.-2 Stück Kabelendverschlüsse wie oben aber mit einer Befestigungskiste auf der Rückwand. Lieferzeit: 10.7.43. Baultsge.Auftrag Nr. 342 vom 24.6.43. Wykonawcy: Dyntar. Ukończono: 1.7.43. - 12.7.43. Nr. 600. Krematorium-Verwaltung. Przedmiot: 1 Schlüssel. für Gaskammer /Mellem bei L.auf der Apotheke im 44-Review/. Bestellschein der Verwaltung BED Nr. 87 Block vom 9.7.43. Wykonawcy: Soderski. Ukończono: 13.7.43. - 27.7.43. Nr. 654. Krematorium III.Bf.K.G.L. 30 a. Przedmiot: 2 Schlosser ausstellen, welche im Krematorium III Bf 30 a die Eisenteile an Hällverbrennungsofen montieren sollen. Lieferzeit: sofort 28.7.43. Baultsge. Auftrag Nr.411 vom 26.7.43. Wykonawcy: Kostkowski. Ukończono: 6.8.43. - 11.8.43. Nr. 708. Zaun um die Effektenkammer u.Krematorium 4 u.5 im K.G.L. B.A.II - Bf.24 - K.G.L. Przedmiot: wykonanie różnego rodzaju przedmiotów żelaznych i międzynarodowych. 30 Stück Befestigungskonstruktionen für Kotlichtlungen - lt. Muster.Lieferzeit: Laufend nach der Fortstellung.- Baultsge.Auftrag. Nr.449 vom 10.8.43. Wykonawcy: Walczyński, Woboda, Durski, Dynter, Wróbel, Real, Ukończono: 8.11.43. - 1.9.43. Nr. 776. Hällverbrennungsofen im Kremat. 2 K.G.L. Bf.30 a. Przedmiot: 1 Stück Bügel mit Platte und Muttern. Lieferzeit: 2.9.43. Baultsge.Auftrag Nr.491 vom 30.8.43. Wykonawcy: Kostkowski.Ukończono: 2.9.43 All Rights Reserved Nr mikrofilm 205 Photo 38 Photo n° 39 - 15 - 93 an Backboden.- 1 Stück Blechsieb 26/24 on. /i Seziertisch/.-Masse sind an Ort und Stelle zu nehmen. Lieferzeit: 14.5.1945. Baultsge. Auftrag Nr.223 vom 4.5.43. Wykonawcy: Kostkowski. Ukończono: 25.5.43. 5.5.43. Nr. 386. K.G.L. Krematorium III Bf.30 a. Przedmiot: 1 Stück zweifig. Zaun-Einfahrtstor /cos 2.40 m x 2.60 m/ genau nach Muster wie Zeuneinfahrtstore im Baumbschnitt II. 2 Stück Pratzen für Geländer-Aufzug, wie Auftrag Nr. 64.- Masse sind an Ort u.Stelle zu nehmen. Lieferzeit: 16.5.43. Baultsge. Auftrag Nr. 232 vom 6.5.43. Wykonawcy: Mirek. Ukończono: 14.5.43. - 14.5.43. Nr. 415. K.G.L. Krematorium III. Bf. 30 a. /Fa Topf u.Sönne - Erfurt/. Przedmiot: wykonanie różnych części żelaznych według wskazówek polskich przez montera firmy Topf. u.Sönne, Erfurt, a między innymi: 10 Stück Schaulockklappen nach erhaltenen Muster.Lieferzeit: sofort anfertigen und Poller Koch ausliefern Baultsge.Auftrag Nr. 254 vom 15.5.43. Wykonawcy: Real. Ukończono: 25.5.43. - 19.5.43. Nr. 427. Krematorium III Bf.30 a. Przedmiot: 2 Stück Bügel git je 2 Muttern u. Unterlegscheiben. Lieferzeit: 22.5.43. Baultsge. Auftrag Nr. 266 vom 18.5.43. Wykonawcy: Puzyger. Ukończono: 21.5.43. 24.5.43. Nr. 446. Krematorium III. K.G.L. Bf.30 a. Przedmiot: wykonanie różnych przedmiotów żelaznych. Lieferzeit bis 28.5.43. Baultsge. Auftrag Nr.281 vom 25.5.43. Wykonawcy: Durski, Dyntar, Kula, Walczyński. Ukończono: 26.7.43. - 28.5.43. Nr. 459. Entwesungskammer K.L.Juschwitz. Przedmiot: 1/Die Beschläge zu 1 Tür mit Rahmen, luftdicht mit Spion für Gaskammer, 2/1 Latentür.- Capo Kühne weiss bescheid. Bestellschein Nr. 158/2 u. 2 a der Verwaltung V. 4 vom 25.1.43. Wykonawcy: Mirek. Ukończono: 10.6.43. - 31.5.43. Nr. 468. Krematorium III.Bf. 30 A. Przedmiot: Umben eines alten Kollwagenuntergestelltes von 70-ger Spur in einen Kohlenzufahrtswegen mit 60-ger Spur./Siehe Krematorium II/.Lieferzeit:4.6.43. Baultsge.Auftrag Nr. 297 vom 29.5.43. Wykonawcy: Real. Ukończono: All Rights Reserved Nr mikrofilm 205 Photo 39 457 ===== PDF PAGE 0450 | page-450.md ===== PART THREE CHAPTER 1 # Critical study of the # «WAR REFUGEE BOARD» # report of November 1944 on K L Auschwitz-Birkenau # THE «WAR REFUGEE BOARD» REPORT OF NOVEMBER 1944 (A collective report based on the testimonies of Alfred WETZLER and Walter ROSENBERG (Rudolf Vrbaj, Czeslaw MORDOWICZ and Arwosi ROSIN, and a Polish major.) Large extracts of this report were published in the «New York Times» on 26th November 1944, the day when Himmler, it is thought, ordered the dismantling of the three remaining Birkenau Krematorien. The concordance of dates, though perhaps due to chance, amply justifies the action of these five witnesses whose accounts formed the basis for the report. My aim is to demonstrate the authenticity of the Rosenberg/Wetzler testimonies regarding Krematorien of type II/III, even though their accuracy is not great in the light of what we know now, because this report was the first on the subject and was regarded as authoritative for many years, despite errors on certain points. I have used three sources for the descriptions of the Krematorien and how they operated: Version 1: «L'extermination des Juifs en Pologne: Depositions de témoins oculaires. Troisième série: LES CAMPS D'EXTERMINATION» published in Geneva in 1944 by Dr A Silverschein; Version 2: «Souvenirs de la maison des morts». Le massacre des Juifs. Unpublished documents on the extermination camps. Brochure of 76 pages with no publication date, doubtless of Swiss origin; Version 3: «GERMAN EXTERMINATION CAMPS. AUSCHWITZ AND BIRKENAU», Published by the Executive Office of the President, WAR REFUGEE BOARD, Washington DC, November 1944. Of the three versions of the report, I consider the American one to be the best. I have underlined in red the phrases that I consider important and on which I shall comment in detail. In the second underlined phrase in versions 1 and 2, there is an error in 1, while in 2 the translator has added something, inspired by the sketch plan. Unlike versions 2 and 3, version 1 does not contain a ground plan of a Krematorium of type II/III. I do not know who drew this plan, which fits the text and is referred to by it, but in the light of our present knowledge we must say it is inaccurate. I mention simply for memory a translation that does not take account of the context of the premises, published by O'Wellers in his «Les chambres à gaz ont existé», taken from «Auschwitz et Birkenau», 1945, pages 17 and 18. Here, between the gas chamber and the furnaces there is a «path» where «lorries» transport the corpses. There is no mention of [rail] tracks or [narrow-gauge railway] tracks, the translator having opted for an inappropriate interpretation of both «track» and «truck». In order to properly situate the report with respect to the reality of the premises, it should be read in conjunction with Document 4 ("schéma 1"), a simplified plan of Krematorien of type II/III, based on German sources reproduced below, i.e.: Bauleitung drawing 2216 [Documents 5, 6, 7 and 7a], a general plan of KGL Birkenau, drawn by prisoner 538, checked by Dejaco and Janisch on 20/3/43, countersigned by an unidentified person [PMO neg. no. 20583] and three photographic PMO neg. nos 286, 287 and 290, [Documents 11, 12 and 13]. In this arrangement, however, the rails do not go from the gas chamber to the furnaces, but PASS IN FRONT. I shall explain this. # COMMENTS AND EXPLANATIONS The report describes the Krematorium as being made up of three parts, A, B and C. The furnace room (A) and the undressing room (B) are on the ground floor and the gas chamber (C) is at basement level [Document 4]. The proposed layout, while recalling that of Krematorium IV and V, applies to Krematorien of type II/III, as stated. Lastly, the underground location of the gas chamber (C) and a preparation room (B') is characteristic of Krematorien II and III [Document 8 ("schéma 2")]. The number of furnaces cited per Krematorium is wrong. Those of type II/III had only 15 cremation muffles, not the 36 announced. This error is understandable if we assume that the witnesses had themselves never entered a Krematorium and all their observations were from the exterior or based on the accounts of other prisoners, in particular, though we cannot prove it. Sonderkommando members working in December 1942 at Bankers 1 and 2 who would have been able to watch the building of what they believed would be their future place of work. Document 9 enables us to understand the assumed disposition of the furnaces around the chimney, and with this arrangement the number of furnaces would be a multiple of three. In the report the throughput of the four Krematorien per 24 hours is fairly reasonably estimated at 6000, though this is one third higher than the 4416 units a day reported in a letter of 28th June 1943 from the Bauleitung to the SS Economic and Administrative Head Office in Berlin. Even this I consider to be a purely administrative document, calculated on the basis of the original estimated throughput of the furnaces, the true daily rate for the four cremation installations being no more than 3000. If we take the rate of incineration given by the witnesses - three corpses per muffle in one and a half hours - and apply this to the true number of furnaces, the daily figure for the four Krematorien is about 2200. In light of the drawings of type II/III Krematorien now known, it might be thought that there was no undressing room at ground level, but drawing 2216 of 20/3/43 [Documents 5 and 6], a plan of the entire POW camp, confirms the reality. As at this date, only Krematorium II AND its gas chamber were completed. Its future underground undressing room is shown only as «planned». It had in fact already been built, but was not yet operational. Krematorium III was under construction. Its undressing room and gas chamber were also shown as «planned», which is not quite true - they were almost complete, but not yet usable. A «Pferdestallbaracke OKH Typ 260/9», a «stable-type» but, was erected as a provisional undressing room in the north yard of Krematorium II. Two reasons may be advanced for this. First, the SS intended to use both Leichenkeller (basement morgues) of Krematorium II as gas chambers, operating them alternately, which would have been possible after making only minor modifications to Leichenkeller 2 (the undressing room) as it was already ventilated. Second - and this is more likely - a temporary undressing room was required because the access stairway to the basement undressing room was not yet built and work was still going on in this room, making it unavailable for «special treatment» operations. It is difficult to accept at face value the descriptions of the interiors of the undressing rooms and gas chambers, for the installations varied over time. Those of summer 1944 are well-known, for they have been described or sketched many times by former members of the Sonderkommando. On the other hand, those of the early days have virtually not been described at all. The witnesses may have described the strict truth - which already fluctuated according to the version - but I doubt this, since they never entered Krematorium II themselves, or they lied, which is also most unlikely in view of the exact details given elsewhere, or - and this is far more probable - they invented a little to fill in the gaps in a story whose ending they knew only too well. 459 ===== PDF PAGE 0451 | page-451.md ===== ### LE CRÉMATOIRE MODERNE A fin février 1943, on inaugure à Birkenau le nouvel établissement de gazage et son crématoire moderne, dont la construction vient d'être terminée. On cesse le gazage et l'incinération à Birkenwald et dorénavant on procède à ces opérations dans les 4 nouveaux crématoires construits à cet effet à Birkenau. Le grand fœt de Birkenwald fut comblé, le terrain éplani, les cendres étaient utilisées auparavant déjà comme engrais dans les travaux agricoles au camp de Harmonie, de telle sorte qu'aujourd'hui on peut à peine déceler une trace des effroyables massacres qui furent perpétrés à cet endroit. Actuellement, 4 fours crématoires fonctionnent à Birkenau: deux grands, Nos. 1 et 2, et deux de plus petites dimensions, Nos. 3 et 4. Les crématoires du calibre 1 et 2 se composent de 3 parties: - A) la chambre des fours - B) la grande halle - C) la chambre des gaz. Du milieu de la chambre des fours s'élève une gigantesque cheminée. Tout autour sont disposés 9 fours, possédant chacun 4 bouches. Chaque ouverture permet l'enfournement de 3 cadavres à la fois, qui sont complètement incinérés en l'espace de l'heure et demie. Ce qui correspond à une capacité quotidienne de 2000 cadavres. A proximité se trouve la grande halle de préparation, dont l'agonnement permettrait de se croire dans le hall d'attente d'un établissement de bains. Elle peut contenir 2000 personnes. La dessous d'elle fait se trouver probablement une halle d'attente de même dimensions. De là, une porte et quelques marches conduisent à la chambre des gaz, étroitement très longue, située un peu en centre-bas. Les murs de cette chambre sont masqués de tentures donnant l'illusion d'une immense salle de bains. Dans le toit plat s'ouvrent 3 fenêtres, qu'on peut former hermétiquement du dehors. Des rails courent à travers-le halle, menant à la chambre des fours. Voici le déroulement des "opérations": Les malheureux sont emmés dans le halle B; on leur déclare qu'ils doivent prendre un bain et se déshabiller dans ce local. Pour les persuader qu'on les conduit vraiment au bain, deux hommes vêtus de blanc leur remontent à chacun un linge de toilette et un morceau de savon. Puis on les pousse dans la chambre des gaz. 2000 personnes peuvent y rentrer, mais chacune se dispose strictement une de la place pour se tenir debout. Pour parvenir à personne cette année dans le salle, on tire des coups de feu répétés afin d'utiliser les gens qui y ont déjà pénétré de se serrer. Quand tout le monde est à l'intérieur, on verrouille la lourde porte. On attend quelques minutes, probable- ment pour que la température dans la chambre puisse atteindre un certain degré, puis des 55. revêtus des masques à gaz montent sur le toit, ouvrent les fenêtres et lancent à l'intérieur le contenu de quelques boîtes de ferblanc; une préparation en forme de poudre. Les boîtes portent l'inscription "Cyclon" (insectide), elles sont fabriquées à Bamberg. Il s'agit probablement d'un composé de cyanure, qui devient gazeux à une certaine température. En 3 minutes, tous les occupants de la salle sont tués. Jusqu'à présent, on m'a jamais trouvé, à l'ouverture de la chambre des gaz, un seul corps qui donnait un signe quelconque de vie, ce qui se produisait au contraire fréquemment à Birkenwald, à cause des moyens primitif qu'on y employait. On ouvre donc la salle, on l'aère, et la Sonderkommando commence à transporter les cadavres, sur des magonnets plats, vers les fours d'incinération, où ils sont brûlés. Les deux autres crématoires, Nr. 3 et 4, ne diffèrent pas de celui qui vient d'être décrit; seule leur capacité est moitié plus petite. La capacité totale des 4 crématoires de Birkenau atteint donc 6000 gazages et incinérations par jour. Dans la règle, on ne gaze que les Juifs. Les Aryens subissent ce sort tout à fait exceptionnellement, la "Sonderbehandlung" (traitement spécial) étant pour eux la fusillade; elle avait lieu, avant la mise en "exploitation" des crématoires, à Birkenwald, où les corps étaient ensuite brûlés dans la fosse; par la suite, les exécutions se déroulèrent dans la grande halle du crématoire, qui possédait des installations spéciales à cet effet. Le crématoire No. 1 fut mis en marche au début de mars 1943. 8000 Juifs de Cracovie furent les premières victimes. Des hôtes éminents officiers supérieurs et civils vinrent tout exprès de Berlin pour assister à cette inauguration. Ils se montrèrent enchantés du fonctionnement de l'usine de mort et suivirent avec intérêt les "opérations" dans la chambre des gaz, à travers de petits juges aménagés à leur intention. Ils s'exprimèrent en termes très élogieux au sujet de cette nouvelle construction. * Ralle d'attente souterraine nommée B' sur les schémas 1 et 2. ** Probable erreur de traduction. Il faudrait lire: "Des rails courent à travers la chambre à gaz. ..." Note: Les crématoires I et II sont en réalité les II et III. Version 1 460 ===== PDF PAGE 0452 | page-452.md ===== A la fin de février 1942, le cremanière et l'installation de garage furent inaugurés à Birkenau. Les garages et incitaraitons des cadavres dans la forêt de bouhaurs couvrent, pour faire place aux opérations qu'on associait dans les quatre crématoires nerfs, spécialement centréalis à cet effet. La grande fosse fut tombée, le tornais aplant. Les centres ayant depuis longtemps servi comme engrais pour l'exploitation agricole du camp à Harmesne, il s'est guère possible de découvrir aujourd'hui une trace des hôtelières massacres en masses qui ont eu lieu là-bas. ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) Pour intensifier des cressettes Ne 1 et 2 à Mèzeau A l'heure actuelle, quatre crematoires fonctionnent à Birkenau, deux plus grands, les N° I et II, et deux plus petit, les N° III et IV. Les crematoires du type I et II se composent de trois parties: a) la salle des fours; b) le grand hall; c) la chambre à gaz. Une cheminée gigantesque active du milieu de la salle des fours; d) y a là fond fours, ayant quatre cerîtres chacits. Chaque cerître peut recevoir à la fois trois cadavres de taille normale; ceux-ci sont totalement brûlés en une heure et demi; cela donne une capacité quotidienne d'environ 2.000 cadavres. A créé se trouve un grand hall de préparation, aménagé de façon à faire croire qu'on se trouve dans le hall d'une installation de haine. Il peut contenir 2.000 personnes et on dit qu'on donnera au moins une suite d'attente de la même dimension. Derrière une petite, quelques maxettes conduisent dans la chambre à gaz, étroite et très longue, qui est située un peu plus bas. Des installations de douche sont petites sur le mur, de manière à créer l'apparente d'une immense salle de haine. Le toit plat porte trois brûlées qu'on peut fermer harnétiquement de l'extérieur, au moyen de solets. Une paire de rails vu de la chambre à gaz à la salle des fours, en passant par le grand hall. L'apparition de garage se déroule de la manière suivante : les windows sont conduites dans le hall B, où on leur dit qu'on les mittera aux bains. On les oblige à se déstabiliser et, afin de renforcer leur conviction qu'on effet en les conduit aux bains, des hommes en hosses blanches renaient à chaque personne une serviette et un petit morceau de savon. Ensuite, on les presse dans la chambre à gaz C. 2.000 personnes s'y remanent de telle façon que, par la force des choses, tout le monde reste debout. Il n'est pas facile de faire entrer une telle foule dans la chambre et pour attester ceux qui s'y trouvent déjà à se servir davantage, en tire des concepts des fréquents. Quand tout le monde est utile entre dans la chambre, on forme la lourde perle. Puis on attend un peu, probablement pour faire monter la température à l'intérieur de la chambre à un certain degré. Ensuite, des S.S. monts de manques à gaz et portant des felles en fer blanc montent sur le toit, souvent les volets et versent le contenu des belles, un produit poussiéreux, dans la chambre. Ces belles portent l'inscription « Oykins : insecticide »; elles proviennent d'une saine de Hambourg. Il est à supposer qu'il s'agit d'un produit de cyanogène qui se gardifie à une certaine température. Au bout de 3 minutes, toute vie dans la chambre a causé. Jusqu'ici, on n'a jamais trouvé qu'après qui, au moment de l'ouverture de la chambre, ait encore donné signe de vie, contrairement à ce qui s'est passé assez fréquemment au cours de la procédure plus primitive qu'on avait employée dans la forêt de bouhaurs. Puis on ouvre la chambre, on l'aîné et, sur des wagonnets plats, le commande spécial transporte les corps à la salle des fours, où un procédé à l'institération. Les deux autres crématoires, N° III et IV, fonctionnent, dans l'ensemble, d'après de même système. Mais leur capacité est deux fois plus petite. La capacité totale des quatre crématoires à Birkenau est donc de 0.000 garages et crémations par jour. En principe, seuls les Juifs sont garés, les « Aryans » uniquement dans des cas exceptionnels. Ces derniers sont d'habitude « acochechaudé » (traités spécialement), c'est à dire funèrie. Avant la mise en service des crématoires, cela se passait dans la forêt de bouhaurs, où on brûlait les corps dans la fosse, et plus tend dans le grand hall du cremanière, qui prouvent une installation spéciale à cet effet. C'est au début du mois de mars 1943 opteant lieu l'inauguration du premier cremanière, avec le garage et la crémation de 8.000 Juifs de Cracovin. Des hôtes de marque, des officiers supérieurs et des civils, étaient venus de fâches pour y amener. Ils se montèrent très satisfaits de l'exploit, aménagé et utilitaient avec empressement le jardin aménagé dans la porte de la chambre à gaz. Toute la nouvelle installation remporte le plus vif succès auprès d'eux. Version 2 Version 3 at the end of February, 1943 a new square cremation and passing plant was inaugurated at BERKMAN. The passing and burning of the bodies in the North Forest was disobedient, the whole job being taken over by the four specially built crematoria. The large ditch was filled in, the ground brushed, and the amber used as before for fertilizer at the farm labour only at AMERICA, so that today it is almost impossible to find traces of the dreadful mass survey which took place here. "...at present there are four crematoria in operation at BERKMAN, ten large ones, I and II, and ten smaller ones, III and IV. These of type I and II consist of 3 parts, i.e., (a) the furnace room; (b) the large hall; and (c) the gas chamber. A large drainage plant from the furnace room around which are grouped like furnaces, each latter four openings. Each opening can take three more; torpedo at once and after an hour and a half the bodies are completely covered. This corresponds to a daily capacity of about 3,000 bed-bars. Next to this is a large 'reception hall' which is arranged so as to give the impression of the act-chamber of a heating condition, and, it is also 2,000 people and apparently there is a similar ![img-1.jpeg](img-1.jpeg) # ! ROUGH GROUND PLAN OF CREMATORIA TYPES I & II IN BIRKENAU waiting room on the floor below." Even there a door and a fan stage leaf does into the very long and narrow gas chamber. The walls of this chamber are also camouflaged with similar entries to shower rooms in order to mislead the victims. The roof is fitted with three traps which can be harmatically closed from the outside. A truck made from the gas chamber towards the furnace room. The gassing tubes place on follows: the McKreeman's "Pitline" are brought into hall (B) where they are told to address. To complete the fittings that they are going to bathe, each person receives a towhead a small piece of soap issued by the man tied to white coats. Then they are created into the gas chamber (C) to make members that there is, of course, only standing room. To complete this crowd into the narrow space, shots are often fired to induce those already at the far and to battle still slower together. Then everybody is inside, the heavy doors are closed. Then there is a short pause, presumably to allow the room temperature to rise to a certain level, after which (D) and (E) and (F) can make the room on the roof, open the traps, and shake down a preparation to power farm out of tin cans labelled "CULLOP." For the against vermin," which is manufactured by a Hamburg concern. It is presumed that this is a "CULLOP" picture of some sort which turns into one at a certain temperature. After three minutes everyone in the chamber is dead. So one is known to have survived this ordeal, although it was not necessary to discover signs of life after the primitive measures employed in the Birch Road. The chamber is then opened, aired, and the "special squad" onto the bodies on flat tracks to the furnace rooms where the burning tubes place. Crematoria III and IV work on nearly the same principle, but their capacity is only half as large. Then the total capacity of the four cremation and gassing plants at BIRKENAU amounts to about 6,000 daily. On principle only does are gassed; Aryans vary midies, as they are usually given "special treatment" by shouting. Before the crematoria were put into service, the shouting took place in the Birch Road and the bodies were turned in the long trench; later, however, executions took place in the large hall of one of the crematoria which has been provided with a special installation for this purpose. Prominent guests from BERLIN were present at the inauguration of the first crematories in March, 1943. The "program" consisted of the gassing and burning of 8,000 Square Jews. The gassing took officers and civilians, were seriously satisfied with the results and the special pamphlets fitted into the door of the gas chamber was in constant use. They were lavish in their praise of this overly erected installation. 461 ===== PDF PAGE 0453 | page-453.md ===== Document 5 ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) ![img-1.jpeg](img-1.jpeg) Document 6 Documents 5,6 and 7: Details from the 1:2000 General Plan of KGL Birkenau, Bauleitung drawing 2216 of 20/3/43 [PMO reg. no. 20583]. The drawing confirms the erection of a hut of the stable type in the north yard of Krematorium II in March 1943. We know little about this hut, except that after serving as an undressing room for the first batch of Jews to be passed in this Krematorium, it was quickly dismantled - only a week later according to the Sonderkommando witness Henryk Tauber. The first mention of no access stairway through Leichenkeller 2 found in the PMO archives, BW 30/40, page 68e, is dated 26/2/43 [Document 7a]. As soon as this entrance was operational, the undressing hut was no longer required. Document 7 Key to Document 7: Bâtiments permanents en dur/Permanent brick-built buildings achevé/Completed en construction/ Under construction projeté/Planned Bâtiments provisoires (baraques)/ Temporary buildings (huts) ![img-2.jpeg](img-2.jpeg) ![img-3.jpeg](img-3.jpeg) Document 7a Document 7a: PMO file BW 30/34, page 68e (facsimile) Dated 26th February 1943, mention of a stairway giving access to «Keller 2» or the undressing room, signed by SS Ustuf Kirschneck: - 1. Direct access to the basement of Krematorium II; - 2. Entrance to the undressing room; - 3. Stairs and chute for delivering corpses to the basement. 462 ===== PDF PAGE 0454 | page-454.md ===== ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) Document 4: Arrangement proposed for Krematorium of type II/III, explaining the WAR REFUGEE BOARD report and based on an Auschwitz Bauleitung drawing and contemporary photographs. The rails are in blue and the route taken by the victims in red. KEY: A: Furnace room; B: Ground floor waiting room; B': Basement waiting room; C: Gas chamber; E: The «few steps». cheminée/chimney ![img-1.jpeg](img-1.jpeg) Document 8: Krematorium II with the stable-type hut erected in the yard to serve as a provisional undressing room, as per drawing 2216 of 20.03.43. In blue: the narrow-gauge rails running from Leichenkeller 2 in front of the furnaces. In red: the path taken by the victims from the external undressing room to the gas chamber. KEY: A: Furnace room; B: Hut/temporary undressing room; B': Leichenkeller 2/permanent undressing room; C: Leichenkeller 1/gas chamber with three introduction devices. e: Future location for access stairs to the basement undressing room E: Access stairway to basement R: Narrow-gauge rails 463 ===== PDF PAGE 0455 | page-455.md ===== The gas chamber of Krematorium II was fitted with four openings for pouring Zyclon-B. The witnesses state that there were only three, and a photograph of January 1943 does indeed show this gas chamber as having only three devices for introducing the toxic product at that time. There remains the problem of the rails. According to the witnesses, they ran from C (the gas chamber) to A (the furnace room), connecting two different levels, the basement and the ground floor. This can be done only if there is a shallow slope between the two levels. This is the most dubious part of the testimony, for the corpses in Krematorien II/III, were in fact brought up from the underground gas chamber to the ground floor furnace room by means of a goods lift. There were no rails or wagons involved in this process. Three Bauleitung photographs [Documents 11, 12 and 13] confirm that in late 1942 and early 1943 there were narrow-gauge rails running between the furnace room and the future undressing room, Leichenkeller 2, apparently to facilitate the transport of building materials between these two places [Document 10 ("Schloss 3")]. This railway was visible from outside the two Krematorien. However, it did not run between the gas chamber and the furnace room. The witnesses' confusion between C and B' is all the more understandable in that they could see only the outside of Krematorien II and III. To show just how easy it is to be mistaken, I would simply refer to the book «KL Auschwitz: Documents photographiques», published by the Warsaw national publishing agency in 1980, where, 35 years after the event, Photo 61, identical to PMO neg. no. 286, is captioned «Construction of the gas chamber of Krematorium IV or V» and Photo 62, showing concrete being poured for the roof of the undressing room of Krematorium II, is captioned «Prisoners concreting the ceiling above the gas chamber of Krematorium II or III». The presence of rails during the construction of Krematorien II and III, easily visible to witnesses outside, first led the witnesses into error because they thought they were a permanent feature and found them difficult to explain, then subsequently confused the translators, who had just as much trouble in inserting them logically in the text. Some - the version in G' Wellers' book - got round the problem by talking of «path» and «lorries» for track and tracks, without bearing in mind that they were describing a building, the Krematorium, that they had never seen and whose overall dimensions did not exceed 50 by 100 metres. The same type of «vagueness» can be seen in all versions on the subject of the interior of the gas chamber, an indirect proof that the witnesses had never seen it. Version 1 describes it as «masked by hangings», Version 2 has «shower installations... painted on the wall», and Version 3 «the walls... are also camouflaged with simulated entrances to shower rooms». The details that were clear and well-established in the report were well-understood and rendered by the translators. Those that were less clear gave rise to different interpretations and hence to the different «versions». The gassing of the 8000 Cracow jews described by the witnesses corresponds fairly closely in date with the known history of the month of March 1943. The first tests of the Krematorium II furnaces took place on 4th March according to the deposition of former Sonderkommando member Henryk TAUBER, a day on which 45 «well-fleshed» bodies, specially selected from a batch gassed at Bunker 2, were cremated. The furnaces were subsequently kept going for another ten days without any further cremations. On 13th March, Messing, the Topf fitter who installed the ventilation systems, announced that he had finished that of Leichenkeller 1, which meant that the gas chamber was now operational. And on the 14th, apparently in the evening, about 1500 jews from the Cracow ghetto - rather than the 8000 of the report - were led to the undressing but erected perpendicular to Krematorium II in its north yard. Preparation and gassing lasted two hours. Cremation proceeded at full pace for 48 hours. On 20th March, six days later, 2200 more victims, this time from Salonika, arrived to join the remains of the first 1500 victims of Krematorium II [Documents 14 and 15]. As there was no kind of camouflage around any of the Krematorien for virtually the whole period of their activity, witnesses could observe them directly, especially Krematorien II and III, but probably only very briefly. Most of their observations date from late 1942 and early 1943. They were also for a long time in contact with members of the Sonderkommando of Bunkers 1 and 2, who supplied them with food and money, and perhaps also with information. This barter relationship is explained by the fact that despite the repugnance that the members of the Sonderkommando inspired, they and the witnesses were compatriots. This relationship was broken off on 17th December 1942, with the «preventive» elimination of the Sonderkommando. This seems to dry up the source of information, but it is difficult to confirm this even though the concordance of dates seems to point to this conclusion. The photographs of the rails date from late 1942. The break between the witnesses and the Sonderkommando also. ## WHAT DID THE WITNESSES ACTUALLY SEE? Their observations may be summarized as follows: A. What they could see and hear from the outside: 1. Without being able to interpret the significance immediately (during construction): a) The excavation for and building of two underground rooms. From one of these (Leichenkeller 2 or the future undressing room) narrow-gauge rails ran up to the furnace room. In December 1942 it was impossible to know which basement the SS would use for gassing, or whether they would use both. b) The installation of 3 (later 4) introduction traps in the roof of one of the basements (Leichenkeller 1). 2. With a little interpretation: a) The erection in the yard of Krematorium II of a stable-type hut, where people entered clothed at one end and emerged shortly afterwards naked at the other end, then disappeared into a stairway near the main entrance of the Krematorium, never to be seen again. b) Shots that could be heard coming from the basement access stairway, fired a few metres from the gas chamber entrance door. c) SS-men, wearing gas masks, on the roof of the gas chamber, handling cans of Zyclon-B and pouring the contents into small chimneys sticking out of the roof. d) The starting of the extractor fan motor in the roof space of the Krematorium and that of the furnace pulsed air blowers on the ground floor. e) The smoke billowing from the chimney one or two hours after the SS had poured in the Zyclon-B. B. What they did not see, but heard in the accounts of other prisoners: 1. The internal arrangements of the Krematorium and of its gas chamber, which would explain the discrepancies in the number of furnaces and the varying descriptions of the gas chamber. 2. The cremation statistics. 3. The attitude of the SS officers and civilian officials during the gassing and cremation of the «8000» Cracow jews. In fact, direct witnessing of the «Final Solution» shocked even the most rabid anti-semites so much that they were virtually struck dumb (cf. Rudolf Hoess: «Commandant of Auschwitz», page 173). C. What they could only imagine: 1. The function of the rails seen during construction. 2. The transport of the gassed victims on flat wagons pushed from the basement to the furnace room, as was done between Bunkers 1 and 2 and their mass graves. In Krematorien II and III, this job was actually done using first a temporary goods hoist and subsequently an electric lift. In conclusion, this early testimony, somewhat unreliable and even quite wrong on some points, has the merit of describing exactly the gassing process in type II/III Krematorien as from mid-March 1943. It made the mistake of generalizing internal and external descriptions and the operating method to Krematorien IV and V. Far from invalidating it, the discrepancies confirm its authenticity, as the descriptions are clearly based on what the witnesses could actually have seen and heard. To conclude this chapter, I quote an extract from the book by Hanna Reitsch, «The sky my kingdom» [Document 16] in order to show that external alarm bells - such as the War Refugee Board report - were not the only ones ringing in the office of the Reichsführer, for whom things were getting hot. I draw no conclusions on the attitude of Hanna Reitsch or Peter Riedel with regard to the date of the episode and the disastrous turn the war was taking for them, but simply observe that it was high time for Himmler to order the destruction of the instruments of the «Final Solution», in view of the increasingly widespread reprobation. 464 ===== PDF PAGE 0456 | page-456.md ===== ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) Document 9: [PMO photo neg. no. 293] The north side and west end of Krematorium II nearing completion in December 1942 or January 1943. The Krematorium proper, containing principally the five 3-muffle furnaces, is located in A. At the end of the Krematorium and extending the building line to the west is one end of Leichenkeller 2, the future underground undressing room, indicated as B'. The small hut B in the centre of the picture was to be replaced by one of the stable type, running north-south, to be used as a temporary undressing room. At the southern exit of the hut is the Krematorium basement access stairway E, leading to the gas chamber, overlooked by the two north side windows on the right. Above, on the roof, are the Krematorium ventilation outlets and fresh air intake V, whose chimneys were later to be raised higher. This photo shows that anyone never having seen a plan of the building and not knowing of the underground flues leading from the furnaces to the collective chimney, would logically tend to assume that the furnaces were arranged around the chimney. ![img-1.jpeg](img-1.jpeg) Document 10: # RECONSTITUTION OF THE ROUTE OF THE RAILS IN KREMATORIUM II (south side) # KEY: - Entrée d'air frais pour la chambre à gaz/Fresh air intake for gas chamber - Désaération du vestiaire/Undressing room (Leichenkeller 2) air outlet - Désaération des pièces de lavage, d'autopsie et de mise en bière/ Washing, dissection and laying out rooms air outlet - Sortie de l'air chaud de la salle des fours/Furnace room (Ofenraum) hot air outlet - Sortie de l'air vicié de la chambre à gaz/Gas chamber (Leichenkeller 1) noxious air outlet - Cheminée collective des crématoires de type II-III/Collective chimney of Krematorien of type II/III - Wagonnet plat/Flat wagon - Talus provisoire/Temporary earth bank - Porte étanche au gaz à un seul battant/Single gas-tight door approximately 1 metre by 2 - Cage de l'ascenseur/Lift shaft - FOURS/FURNACES («OFEN») To understand how the rails seem to pass through the west wall, reference must be made to the building technique employed for type II/III Krematorien, as it can be observed on a series of Bauleitung photographs showing the construction of Krematorium III. The longitudinal walls were built first, with recesses where the ends of the transverse walls would subsequently fit. Thus the main construction may appear from certain angles to be almost complete, whereas in fact all the transverse walls are still to be built. The provisional earth bank on which the narrow gauge rails were laid made it easier to transport building materials between the surface and basement levels. However, this arrangement prevented any passage between the furnace room and the gas chamber, because the entrance to the latter was beneath the rails and the bank. As this arrangement is confirmed by contemporary photographs, it is obvious that members of the Sonderkommando would not have been able to bring corpses from the gas chamber to the furnace room on flat wagons, since the rails started in the future undressing room (Leichenkeller 2) and as long as they remained in place the gas chamber (Leichenkeller 1) could not function because its entrance was blocked. 465 ===== PDF PAGE 0457 | page-457.md ===== # REALITY: PHOTOGRAPHIC EVIDENCE ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) Document 11 ![img-1.jpeg](img-1.jpeg) Document 11a ![img-2.jpeg](img-2.jpeg) Document 12 ![img-3.jpeg](img-3.jpeg) Document 13 # Document 11: [PMO photo neg. no. 286] Leichenkeller 2 or undressing room (B') of Krematorium III, under construction, with part of the damp-proofing applied, east-west view. No direct access stairway «c» has been provided for. Lower right, the narrow-gauge rails R laid to transport building materials between ground level and Leichenkeller 2. The photograph probably dates from October or November 1942, as the basements of the TWO Krematorien were dug and built at the same time, very early with respect to the completion of Krematorium III in June 1943. # Document 11a: [PMO photo neg, no. 299] Leichenkeller 2 (undressing room) of Krematorium III in December 1942 or January 1943, looking east-west, as in Photo 11. Dug too early and not completed because of a lack of damp-proofing material, it was covered with a temporary roof B'. At «e» we can see part of the west wall, still with no access stairway. In the foreground, two pillars and their foundations for the future furnace room A. Right and centre is the completed north wall of the Krematorium. With the building technique used, the transverse walls were to be built later. # Document 12: [PMO photo neg, no. 287] Completion of the furnace room of Krematorium II in December 1942 or January 1943, looking east-west. Clearly visible are the rails R descending on a shallow slope towards Leichenkeller 2. The gradient can be judged by the low protective walls built in front of the 3 muffle furnaces, which are not yet fitted with their lateral pulsed-air blowers installed in late January or early February 1943. # Document 13: [PMO photo neg, no. 290] Completion of the furnace room of Krematorium II in December 1942 or January 1943, looking west-east and taken on the same day as Photo 12. The rails R are visible in the bottom right hand corner. 466 ===== PDF PAGE 0458 | page-458.md ===== Document 14 "Les cahiers d'Auschwitz", numéro 4, 1960. Version polonaise. 84 Datura Czech 12. 3. wieczorem uciekło z obozu 2 więźniów: Sarapata Jan nr 300 i Martyniec Aleksander nr 644*. 13. 3. przeniesiono z obozu koncentracyjnego w Oświęcimiu do obozu koncentracyjnego w Suchanäsasen 1 000 więźniów-Polsków. 13. 3. przywiesziono transportem zbiorowym 25 więźniów (107559—107583) oraz 17 więźniarek (38143—38159). 13. 3. przywiesziono z Mińska 187 więźniów (107585—107771). W tym samym dniu zmarło z pośród przywieszionych 2 więźniów: nr 107627 i nr 107759. 13. 3. przywiesziono transportem RSHA z Berlina 344 mężczym oraz 620 kobiet i dzieci — Żydów. Po selekcji skierowano do obozu jako więźniów: 218 mężczyzn (107772—107989) oraz 147 kobiet (38160—38306). Pozostałych 126 mężczyzn i 473 kobiety i dzieci zabito w komorach gazowych. 13. 3. przywiesziono z Niemiec 1 353 Cyganów, w tym 640 mężczym i chłopców (Z-2200—Z-2839) oraz 713 kobiet i dziewcząt (Z-2480—Z-3192). 14. 3. przywiesziono transportem RSHA z getta B w Krakowie około 2 000 Żydów. Po selekcji skierowano do obozu jako więźniów: 484 mężczyzn (107990—108409, 108467—108530) oraz 24 kobiety (38307—38330). Pozostałych zabito w komorach gazowych. 14. 3. przywiesziono transportem zbiorowym 3 więźniów (108410—108412) oraz 16 więźniarek (38331—38346). 14. 3. przywiesziono z obozu koncentracyjnego w Ravensbrücku 42 więźniów chorych na gruźlicę (108433—108454). 14. 3. przywiesziono transportem zbiorowym 4 więźniów (108455—108458). 14. 3. przywiesziono z Niemiec 966 Cyganów, w tym 461 mężczyzn i chłopców (Z-2840—Z-3300) oraz 505 kobiet i dziewcząt (Z-3193—Z-3697). 14. 3. wieczorem uciekł z komanda pracującego poza obozem więźniów Piutowski Stanisław. 15. 3. przywiesziono z Katowic 5 więźniów (108459—108463). 15. 3. przywiesziono z Opola 1 więźnia (108531). 15. 3. przywiesziono transportem zbiorowym 9 więźniarek (38347—38355). 15. 3. przywiesziono z Niemiec 459 Cyganów, w tym 215 mężczyzn i chłopców (Z-3301—Z-3515) oraz 244 kobiety i dziewcząta (Z-3698—Z-3941). 15. 3. numer Z-3942 otrzymała Ružička Justina, która urodziła się w obozie cygańskim w Brzezince. 15. 3. obozowa organizacja Ruchu Oporu zasedlowała, że w terminie od 15 stycznia do 15 marca 1943 r. stwierdza się oficjalnie liczbę zmarłych, zagazowanych i zaszpilowanych na 20 tysięcy więźniów zarówno w Ruchu Oporu. 16. 3. przywiesziono z Katowic 43 więźniów (108532—108574) oraz 3 więźniarki (38356—38358). 16. 3. przywiesziono z Krakowa 51 więźniów (108575—108605) oraz 55 więźniarek (38359—38413). * W telegramie zawiadamiającym o uderze więźniów wyciecznym przez komendanturę obozu do zainteresowanych placówek niemieckich podano, na zostali osadzeni w obozie w dniu 14. 6. 40 r. na czymś udział w Ruchu Oporu. ** Materiały obozowego Ruchu Oporu, t. VII, str. 485. 86 Datura Czech 19. 3. przywiesziono z Niemiec 100 Cyganów, w tym 31 mężczyzn i chłopców (Z-4865—Z-4895) oraz 69 kobiet i dziewcząt (Z-5377—Z-5445). 19. 3. numery Z-4896—Z-4900 otrzymało 5 chłopców, którzy urodzili się w obozie cygańskim w Brzezince. 19. 3. numery Z-5446—Z-5448 otrzymały 2 dziewczynki, które urodziły się w obozie cygańskim w Brzezince. 20. 3. przywiesziono z obozu koncentracyjnego w Dachau 1 więźnia (109298). 20. 3. przywiesziono transportem zbiorowym 72 więźniów (109299—109370) oraz 76 więźniarek (38645—38720). 20. 3. przywiesziono transportem RSHA z getta w Salonikach (Grecie) około 2 800 Żydów. Po selekcji skierowano do obozu jako więźniów: 417 mężczyzn (108371—108787) oraz 192 kobiety (38721—38912). Pozostałych zabito w komorach gazowych. 21. 3. numery Z-4901, Z-4902 otrzymało 2 chłopców, którzy urodzili się w obozie cygańskim w Brzezince. 21. 3. przywiesziono z Niemiec 64 Cyganów, w tym 29 mężczyzn i chłopców (Z-4903—Z-4931) oraz 35 kobiet i dziewcząt (Z-5449—Z-5483). 22. 3. przywiesziono z Katowic 83 więźniów (109788—109870). 22. 3. przywiesziono transportem zbiorowym 24 więźniów (109872—109895) oraz 48 więźniarek (38913—38960). 22. 3. przywiesziono z Niemiec 60 Cyganów, w tym 23 mężczyzn i chłopców (Z-4932—Z-4956) oraz 35 kobiet i dziewcząt (Z-5464—Z-5518). 22. 3. Bauleitung der Waffen-SS u. Polizei KGL — Auschwitz ukończyło budowę komór gazowych i krematorium IV w Brzezince i przekazało je do użytku komendanturze obozu koncentracyjnego w Oświęcimiu. 23. 3. przeniesiono z obozu koncentracyjnego w Oświęcimiu do obozu koncentracyjnego w Rydze 2 więźniów-lekarzy: Gajewskiego Tomira nr 18848 i Łuczaka Bolesława nr 97451. 23. 3. przywiesziono z Katowic 2 więźniów (110490, 110481) oraz 1 więźniarkę (38961). 23. 3. wieczorem w obozie cygańskim w Brzezince zarządzono „Lagerspierre", podczas której wyprowadzono z bloków 20 i 22 ok. 1 700 mężczyzn, kobiet i dzieci — Cyganów polskich. Zapędzono ich do komór gazowych i tam zabito gazem. Cyganów tych przywiesziono z Białegostoku i jako zarążonych tyfusem izolowano w bloku 20 i 22. Nie wpisano ich do ewidencji obozowej i nie wydano im numerów. W obozie przebywali kilka dni. 24. 3. przywiesziono transportem RSHA z getta w Salonikach około 2 800 Żydów. Po selekcji skierowano do obozu jako więźniów: 584 mężczyzn (108896—110479) oraz 230 kobiet (38962—38191). Pozostałych zabito w komorach gazowych. 24. 3. przywiesziono z Katowic 1 więźniarkę (38192). 24. 3. przywiesziono z Niemiec 261 Cyganów, w tym 133 mężczyzn i chłopców (Z-4857—Z-5089) oraz 128 kobiet i dziewcząt (Z-5519—Z-5646). 25. 3. numer Z-5090 otrzymał Weiss Rudolf, który urodził się w dniu 22 marca 1943 r. w obozie cygańskim w Brzezince. 25. 3. przywiesziono z Katowic 4 więźniów (107584, 108464—108466). 25. 3. przywiesziono 1 więźnia-Żyża (110462). 25. 3. przywiesziono transportem RSHA z getta w Salonikach 1 901 Żydów. Po selekcji skierowano do obozu jako więźniów: 459 męż- Document 15 Documents 14 and 15: «Auschwitz Nucleonics», No 4, 1960, Polish version. Translation of the underlined entries: [Document 14] 14.3 Arrival of an RSHA transport of about 2000 jews from Cracow Ghetto B. At the selection, 484 men and 24 women were directed to the camp as prisoners. The remainder were killed in the gas chambers. [Document 15] 20.3 Arrival of an RSHA transport of about 2800 jews from Salonika Ghetto (Greece). At the selection, 417 men and 192 women were directed to the camp as prisoners. The remainder were killed in the gas chambers. 467 ===== PDF PAGE 0459 | page-459.md ===== Document 16: The following extract from «The sky my kingdom», by Hanna Reitsch, confirms the very long time that it took for nations outside the Third Reich not so much to know of, as to fully realize what was implied by, the «Final Solution» to the «Jewish Problem» in occupied Europe, and the means by which it was implemented. In October 1944, my old flying comrade Peter Riedel, who was now in the German Embassy in Sweden, called on me at the Flying Club in Berlin. In a state of considerable agitation, he threw a booklet down on the table. «If you want to know what's going on in Germany, look at this! This is what we find on our desks at the Embassy!» I glanced through the booklet, which concerned the gas chambers. I was beside myself: «And you believe this?» I asked, furious. «In the First World War enemy propaganda smeared the German soldier with every imaginable barbarity - now it has come to gas chambers.» My emotion strongly impressed my friend: «I'll believe that from you,» he said, but he asked me to inform Himmler about it immediately. I telephoned Himmler, obtaining permission to visit him at his headquarters in the field. Arrived there, I placed the booklet before him. «What do you say to this, Reichsführer?» He picked it up and flicked over the pages. Then, without a change of expression, he looked up, eyeing me quietly. «And you believe this, Frau Hanna?» «No, of course not. But you must do something to counter it. You can't let them shoulder this onto Germany.» Himmler laid the booklet on the table, then looked at me once more. «You are right,» he said. [In the English version, the chapter ends there, but the French version contains two additional paragraphs: A few days later the information was denied in one of the main German newspapers. I learned from Peter Riedel that the same denial had appeared in a Swedish newspaper. It was only after 1945 that I found out, and with what horror, that Himmler had lied to me, and that the awful news was true.] 468 ===== PDF PAGE 0460 | page-460.md ===== PART THREE CHAPTER 2 ## Critical study of the testimonies of doctors BENDEL and NYISZLI ### concerning the Birkenau Krematorien and the homicide gassings The testimonies of Doctors Miklos NYISZLI and Charles Sigismund or Paul BENDEL or A demonstration of the impossibility of relying on raw testimony Account by Doctor Paul BENDEL taken from «TEMOIGNAGES SUR AUSCHWITZ», Editions de l'Amicale des déportés d'Auschwitz, 10 rue Leroux, Paris 16, 1946. Extracts from pages 159 to 164. Translation : THE KREMATORIEN «The Sonderkommando» Each concentration camp had a crematorium for «local» needs. While some of them, such as Mauthausen and Dachau, had gas chambers [1], none of them had Krematorien to match those of Auschwitz-Birkenau in terms either of size or number of victims. German technical and organizational abilities were here given full play, and in fact they surpassed themselves. For long months [2], I had the doubtful privilege of being attached as doctor to the four Krematorien [3] of Auschwitz-Birkenau that were ceaselessly working to exterminate all those whom the Master Race considered unworthy to live. These Krematorien were tended by nine hundred deportees who formed what was called the Sonderkommando. This kommando formed a world apart, separated from the other prisoners (living first in closed barracks and later in the Krematorien themselves) and directly under the control of the Political Section. If one of its members fell ill, it was absolutely forbidden to take him to the camp hospital and he had to be treated on site. We were three doctors assigned to this task. The Sonderkommando has often been called «the death squad», and nothing could be more true. Those selected for it could under no circumstances avoid it. Their death sentence had just been pronounced and, except in the case of a miracle, would be carried out sooner or later. Of the nine hundred members of the Sonderkommando, two hundred were gassed on 7th September 1944 and five hundred shot before my eyes on 7th October 1944 during a revolt that was unique in the annals of the camps, and one hundred left on 27th November 1944 for an unknown destination: no trace of them has ever been found. Just a few isolated individuals managed to survive this massacre after countless adventures. The Sonderkommando to which I belonged was the third one, the previous two having been exterminated at intervals of a few months. Such eyewitnesses could not and should not be left alive. Parallel to the prisoner Sonderkommando, there was also an SS Sonderkommando, three men per Krematorium (not counting the guards). They enjoyed special privileges in terms of money, alcohol, etc. There were four Krematorien, a fifth, known as the Bunker, being nothing but a farmhouse transformed into a gas chamber «to serve the cause». Separated from one another by a few hundred metres, they were camouflaged [4] in what was known as Birkenau. If you look for this name on the map you will not find it. And yet it was the tomb of hundreds of thousands of victims, from all over Europe. A double track railway brought the deportees right to the gates of the twin Krematorien 1 and 2 [ii and iii]. With their spacious rooms, fitted with telephone and radio, the ultra-modern dissecting room and their museum [5] of anatomical exhibits, they constituted, as an SS-man unabrummely told me, «the best ever done in this line». The foundations of these imposing red-brick buildings were laid in March 1942 [6]. Thousands of prisoners [7] worked on them and died during their construction. Completed in January 1943 [8], their inauguration was honoured by the presence of Himmler [9] in person, an indication of the importance attached to this «work» by the Nazi leadership. The convoy of the condemned entered via a wide stone stairway into a big underground room that served as an undressing room. The order was given that everyone had to bathe and then go for disinfestation. Each person attached his things together and, supreme illusion, placed them on a numbered hanger. From there, completely naked, he went through a narrow corridor into the gas chambers proper (there were two). Built of reinforced concrete, they had such low ceilings that they gave the impression on entering that they were falling on you. In the middle of these chambers, descending from the ceiling, were two mesh tubes with external valves through which the gas was introduced. Through a small peep hole in the double door of solid oak, the SS could observe the horrible agony of all these unfortunates [10]. The bodies were subsequently removed by the Sonderkommando men and placed in a lift that took them up to the ground floor, where there were sixteen furnaces [11]. Their total capacity was in the order of two thousand bodies in 24 hours [12]. The twin Krematorien 3 and 4 [IV and V], more commonly known as the «forest Krema» (they were located in a pleasant clearing) were of more modest dimensions, and their eight furnaces could handle one thousand bodies a day [13]. At the time I entered the Sonderkommando, the throughput of these furnaces had been deemed insufficient [14] and they were replaced by three cremation pits, each 12 metres long, 6 wide and 1.5 deep. The capacity of these pits was enormous: one thousand [15] persons an hour. This was further increased by installing a conduit to channel human fat to a recovery pit [16]. It was in Krematorium 4 [V] that I had my first sight of what the Sonderkommando men were forced to do. One day in June 1944 [17], at 6 o'clock in the morning, I joined the day shift (150 men) of Krematorium 4. It was a fine day. The men watched for my reactions. A childlike shyness prevented them from encouraging me. I tried to hide my apprehension as much as I could. At last I was going to see what the new men on the Krematorium had been telling me about for days. The guards were waiting. And then we were off. About a hundred metres from the Krematorium we could see white smoke rising into the air [18]. The men were silent. I dared not ask any questions. Finally we arrived and the men were detailed off to their tasks. There as a spectator, I wanted to satisfy my curiosity. I wanted to know the origin of that smoke. And so, behind the Krematorium, I saw the pits where the remains of the previous evening's convoy were in the first stages of being consumed. A few metres away, men were at work around heaps of ashes, reducing into a very fine powder what remained of the three thousand people [19] who had passed this way on the previous day. At 11 o'clock, one of the members of the Political Section arrived by motorcycle to announce that another convoy was on the way. The head of the Krematorium appeared and gave orders. The pits were to be cleared out and logs were to be put in place and looked with fuel. It was midday when the long column of women, children and old men came into the yard of the Krematorium. They were from the Lodz ghetto. We could sense that they were overwhelmed, exhausted and frightened. The supreme head of the Krematorien, Herr Hauptscharführer Mohl, a big brute with a face like Eifel Cadum, climbed on a bench to tell them that they were going to take a bath and then hot coffee would be waiting for them. They applauded: the poor people already felt reassured. A few children cried that 469 ===== PDF PAGE 0461 | page-461.md ===== they were thirsty, and the magnanimous SS ordered water to be brought for them. The fiction had to be maintained right to the end, so that order could be kept. Everybody undressed in the yard. The doors of the Krematorium opened and they entered the big room which served as an undressing room in winter. Squashed together like sardines, they realized that they had entered a trap from which they could no longer escape. They still had some hope. However, for a normal brain could not imagine the terrible death awaiting them. The red cross ambulance arrived. Dr Klein, Obersturmführer, got out, bringing the cans of gas. A supreme result to a profession and an emblem that certain international bodies today went to use to cover up the accomplices of similar crimes. At last everything was ready. The doors of the undressing room opened and an indescribable classic commenced. The first to enter the gas chamber (20) recoiled from it, sensing the death that awaited them. With their rifle butts, smashing the heads of distraught women convulsery clutching their children in their arms, the SS stopped this human ebb and flow. The solid oak double doors (21) were closed. For two intractable minutes we could hear banging on the walls and cries that no longer had anything human about them. And then nothing. My head was spinning and I thought I had gone mad. What abominable crimes could these women and children have committed to deserve such a cruel death? Five minutes later, the doors were opened. Like an avalanche, the bodies, heaped together and entwined, fell out. Some were so entangled with others that they were very difficult to extract. Covered with blood, they gave the impression of having fought desperately against death. Anyone who has once seen a gas chamber can never forget it. The still warm bodies passed through the hands of the barber, who shaved off the hair, and the dentist who torn out the gold teeth. Systematic recovery of anything of use by a band of assassins who felt nothing to chance. And now an unbelievably hellish scene commenced. These Sonderkommando man, like the learned lawyer from Salonika or the Budapest engineer that I knew so well, became completely inhuman, veritable devils. Under blows from the SS rifles and whips, they ran as if possessed, trying to rid themselves as quickly as possible of the load attached to their wrists (22). A thick, black smoke (23) rose from the ditches. Everything happened so quickly and seemed so unbelievable that I thought I was dreaming. Dante’s Inferno appeared to me then to be just an old and simple allegory. An hour later, everything was calm, and the men were removing and piling up ashes from the pits. Another convoy had just passed through Krematorium 4. And that continued day and night. For all the Krematorium and cremation pits together, the horrendous figure of twenty-five thousand bodies burned in 24 hours (24) was once reached. At the time of the mass deportation of Jews from Hungary, in the space of two and a half months (May-June) four hundred thousand (25) met this late. The Nazis often, both in propaganda and in official speeches, expressed their contempt for gold, but this did not prevent them from recovering from their victims, between the coming into service of the Krematorium and the month of November 1944 (26), the month in which they ceased to operate, seventeen tons of the precious yellow metal (27). A shameful rape by a regime that so well lived up to its aspiration to be the «Master Race». Dr Paul (28) BENDEL, 167.465 ### Comments on Doctor Bendel's account (1) The Matthaeum and Dachau gas chambers: There was a 13.3 m³ gas chamber at Matthaeum, operated by prebating the chamber before introducing Zyclon-B, which thus expanded as it vaporized. While 3455 victims were killed here according to the tribunals, it has been impossible to prove historically that what is thought to have been a gas chamber in the Dachau crematorium was ever actually brought into service. [Ref.: «Les chambers à gaz, Secret d'Etat», Les Editions de Minuit, Paris, 1984] (2) Long murder: About a year according to another deposition by Dr Bendel. (3) Four Krematorien: This witness has used the «normal» numbering. The official equivalents are as follows: Krematorium 1 = Krematorium II Krematorium 2 = Krematorium III Krematorium 3 = Krematorium IV Krematorium 4 = Krematorium V The Bunker = Bunker 2/V (4) Camouflaged: The Krematorium were never camouflaged, except numbers IV and V as from numbers 1944, because of the proximity of Kanada II in the case of Krematorium IV and to prevent people seeing the incineration pits dug alongside Krematorium V, a palliative measure when its 8-muffle furnace was put out of service. (5) Museum: Certain anatomical specimens may have been kept in the dissecting room, but there was no room set aside in a museum. (6) March 1942: Incorrect. Work began at the end of August 1942 on Krematorium II and III. Krematorium IV was actually started in November 1942, but real work began at the same time as that on Krematorium V, in early January 1943. (7) Thousands of prisoners: Pure invention. On each of the four Krematorium or «BW 30» work sites (30, 30a, 30b and 30c) there was a group of only about one hundred prisoners helping civilian bricklayers and other building tradesmen. (8) January 1943: This date is too early. The five 3-muffle furnaces of Krematorium II were tested at the end of January 1943 and its gas chamber began operations in mid-March 1943. The official completion dates are as follows: Krematorium II [1] : 31st March 1943 Krematorium III [2] : 24th or 25th June 1943 Krematorium IV [3] : 22nd March 1943 Krematorium V [4] : 4th April 1943 (9) Himmler: The presence of high-ranking SS is certain. That of Himmler is imaginary and dreamt-up. (10) The convoy... these unfortunates: The route followed by the victims is correct, from the stairs giving access to the undressing room, to the TWO gas chambers. Why two, when Krematorium II was built with only ONE. This detail always appeared unlikely, but it is now confirmed as true. TWO gas chambers were obtained by subdividing Leichenkeller 1, considered by the SS to be of too large an area, and so that they could gas small groups of «unfit for work» in the second chamber. According to the testimony of 24th May 1945 by Henryk Tauber, this transformation was carried out at the end of 1943, BEFORE Dr Bendel's visit to Krematorium II. The «two main tubes with external valves» were in fact hollow square columns of heavy wire grid with a trap above through which the Zyclon-B was poured. The gas chamber had four such columns before being divided in two. Once the dividing wall was built, only two remained visible. On the other hand, there were no double doors of solid oak at the entrance to the gas chamber. The witness must have confused the gas chamber door with that opening from the undressing room to the corridor leading to the gas chamber. In the furnace room of the «Old Krematorium» [Kr I] it is still possible to see a real gas-tight door from a desinfestation or homicidal gas chamber. It is made of rough planks of inferior timber. (11) Section furnaces: Fifteen in fact. Krematorium II and III each had five 3-muffle furnaces, or a total of fifteen incineration muffles. (12) 2000 bodies in 24 hours: 1440 for Krematorium II according to a letter of 28th June 1943 (correspondence register no. 31550Ta Ne) signed by Jährling (PMO file BW 30/42, page 2), a purely calculated figure, the practical «throughput» being closer to 1000. (13) The twin Krematorien 1 and 4...in a day: According to the above-mentioned letter, the throughput of a type IV/V Krematorium was 768, a figure derived mathematically, by dividing the theoretical throughput of Krematorium II, 1440, by 15 to obtain the throughput per muffle, then multiplying by 8, the number of muffles in Krematorium of type IV/V: 1440/15 × 8 = 768 The true capacity was about 500 in 24 hours. (14) Deemed insufficient: Not the true reason. The pits were dug to compensate for the closing down of the big furnace of Krematorium V that of Krematorium IV already being out of service. (15) One thousand: Materially impossible to verify. (16) Conduit...recovery pit: Technique described and confirmed by Filip Müller in «Trois ans...» (17) One day in June 1944: Bendel states that he worked at Birkenau from 1st January 1944 to 18th January 1945, and was the Sonderkommando doctor. He was in fact Doctor Epstein's assistant, and they both carried out medical experiments in participation with and under the direct control of Dr Mengele in a research laboratory installed in one of the hats of the Gypsy Camp (B.IIe). Such was Such was his situation at the end of May and beginning of June 1944, according to Dr Nyiszli («Auschwitz: a doctor's eye-witness account», page 35), who himself also claims to have been the doctor for the whole of the Krematorium personnel, in addition to his functions as pathologist. It would appear that Nyiszli really did occupy this post. Bendel's account is a series of «snapshots» and his lack of overall knowledge of the Krematorien is then understandable, for he never actually lived there. A further possible explanation for Bendel's late initiation into the gassings is put forward by Paul Rassinier in «Le véritable procès Eichmann» [The true Eichmann trial] (La Vieille Taupe, 1983) in a passage from the Kasztner document (page 234), where he states that the Birkenau gas chambers and Krematorien had been out of use from Autumn 1943 to May 1944. (18) White smoke: Correct observation, proven by photograph 184 in «L'Album d'Auschwitz» by Serge Klarsfeld and by two of the «Polish Resistance» photographs (PMO neg. nos 280 and 281). (19) Three thousand: Probably an exaggerated figure, although identical to that given by Dr Nyiszli. Impossible to verify without a precise date. (20) The gas chamber: In Krematorium V, there were three, later four, gas chambers with a total area of 240 m². (21) The double doors: Incorrect. The passage had only ONE gas-tight door. Assimilation with the description already given of the entrance to the gas chamber of Krematorium II. (22) The still warm bodies...load attached to their wrist: The gas chambers of Krematorium V were emptied towards the north and west where the cremation pits were. Two photographs (PMO neg. nos 280 and 281) taken from the northern gas chamber of Krematorium V and known as the «Polish Resistance» photographs, have recorded a similar scene. The technique of transporting the corpses by dragging them along by means of a thong around the wrist had spread to all the Birkenau Krematorium. (23) Thick black smoke: Incorrect and smacking of literary effect. See earlier comment. (24) 25,000...in 24 hours: Incorrect. On one occasion when delays had caused several convoys to arrive together, a little over 8,000 people were cremated in 24 hours. (25) 400,000: Exaggerated figure. In fact closer to 200,000. (26) The month of November 1944: The 20th to be precise. (27) 17 issues of the precious yellow metal: Manifestly false figure. See Bendel's deposition before the Court for the trial of Bruno Tesch (below). (28) Paul: Paul OR Charles Sigismund? Which is or are the real name(s)? What are we to think of the variation in the given name in the light of his account and deposition? 470 ===== PDF PAGE 0462 | page-462.md ===== # **EXTRACT FROM DOCUMENT NO. NI-11953** **OFFICE OF CHIEF OF COUNSEL FOR WAR CRIMES (pages 27-31)** (Page 27) **MAJOR DRAPER:** My next witness is Dr Bendel, who will give his evidence in French, which Major Forrest will interpret. (Page 28) DR C S BENDEL is called in and having been duly sworn in is examined by MAJOR DRAPER as follows:- Q. What is your full name? A. Charles Sigismund Bendel. Q. What are you by profession? A. A doctor. Q. Are you at present living in Paris? A. Yes. Q. When did you first enter a concentration camp? A. 10th December 1943. Q. When did you leave the concentration camp for the last time? A. 8th May 1945. Q. Over that period what camps were you in? A. Bursk-Worowitz, Auschwitz, Birkenau, Mauthausen. Q. Why were you originally interned? A. For political and racial reasons. Q. Were there any gas chambers at Auschwitz as opposed to Birkenau? A. There was one gas chamber in Auschwitz. In fact there were 24 known gas chambers, but only one was homicidal, that in Krematorium II. Q. How many gas chambers were there at Birkenau? A. Four crematoria and one Bunker. The witness indicates the places in which there were gas chambers, the number of which he did not know, as a more precise question could have revealed. Q. For how long did you work at Birkenau? A. From 1st January 1944 to 18th January 1945. Q. What was your employment at Birkenau? A. I was a doctor. Q. Who were you attending as a doctor? A. The inmates. Q. What special work were the internees of Birkenau doing? A. The normal inmate worked in the camp on whatever work could be found to give some sort of illusion of work. Q. Who looked after the crematoria in Birkenau? A. The so-called Sonderkommando, a special task force. The witness is talking about the Sonderkommando-SS, made up of 3 SS NCOs per Krematorium. Q. How many men were there in all working on the Sonderkommando at Birkenau? A. 900 men. Q. Were they all Häftlinge [prisoners]? A. Yes. Q. While you were at Birkenau, how many human beings were gassed in the crematoria? A. In Birkenau or in the crematoria during the time I was in the crematoria? Q. During the whole time you were at Birkenau. A. About one million. Getting on for 300,000 would be more accurate. Q. That was from February 1944 to January 1945? A. Yes, one million. Q. In that time a million? A. Yes. Q. How were they killed? A. They were gassed. Q. What sort of gas? A. Prussic acid. Q. Did it have a name? A. Zyclon-B. Q. Do you know the total number of people exterminated at Auschwitz during the whole period of the camp's existence? A. More than four millions. The witness could not possibly have known the number of victims. He is repeating the figure generally accepted at the time, but which has now been determined more precisely, in particular by Georges Wellers and Raul Hilberg (one million for this latter historian). Q. What was the greatest number of people ever gassed at Birkenau in one day while you were there? A. During the month of June the number of gassed was 25,000 every day. Or in other words 750,000 dead in the 30 days. The former camp commandant, Hoess, reports that the maximum figure reached was a little over 9,000 in 24 hours as the result of delays having caused five convoys to arrive on the same day. The witness is inventing things. Q. With gas? A. With prussic acid. (Page 29) Q. Did you ever see this prussic acid gas that was being used? A. I have seen the tins. I have opened some of the bodies of those people who had been gassed. Q. Would you indicate to the court whether any of those tins in front of the court are of a similar type to those to which you are referring? A. Yes. (Witness indicates Exhibit 4 and the smaller tin of Exhibit 2). We have no description of these exhibits. They were Zyclon-B cans of different sizes. The product came in cans of 200g, 500g, 1kg and 1.5kg. Further on in the interrogation, the term «medium» is applied to Exhibit 4 and «small» to Exhibit 2. Thus 2 would be 200 or 500g and 4 would be 500g or 1kg. Q. Are the labels on these tins the same as the labels on the tins you have been telling us about? A. I remember «Zyclon-B». Q. Have you yourself ever watched this gassing process? A. Yes. Q. How many people could be put into one crematorium at a time? [Confusion between «Krematorium» and its gas chamber[s]] A. In Crematoria 1 [II] and 2 [III], 2,000 into each; Crematoria 3 [IV] and 4 [V], 1,000 each; and into the Bunker [XVI], 1,000. Q. How were they put in - tightly packed or not? A. In the beginning they started gassing incoming groups above the number of 300; up to the number of 300 they were shot, above the number they were gassed. Q. Later how was it done? A. There were two [basement] rooms in each crematorium. In Crematoria 1 and 2 [II and III] one put 1,000 people into one room, so it was 2,000 at a time in both gas chambers. Q. What size were the chambers? A. Each chamber was 10 metres long and 4 metres wide. The people were herded in so tightly that there was no possibility even to put in one more. It was a great amusement for the SS to throw in children above the heads of those who were packed tightly into these rooms. The Leichenkeller 1 (gas chambers) of Krematorium II and III were 30 m long, 7 m wide and 2.41 m high, and the Leichenkeller 2 (undressing rooms) were 50 m long, 7.93 m wide and 2.44 m high, according to surviving Bauleitung drawings 932 and 933. Taking into account the division of Leichenkeller 1 into two, we obtain two chambers 15 m long, 7 m wide and 2.41 m high. In the witness's memory, the size of the gas chambers has diminished by one third to one half. The concentration of people per square metre is increased accordingly. Q. Were the people dressed or undressed at the time? A. They were naked. Q. How high was the room in relation to an ordinary person? A. You had the impression that the roof was falling in on your head; it was about 5ft tins. [Subjective estimate - see previous comment] Q. After the people had been pushed inside, what happened next? A. When the people were there inside, one locked the doors. For about two minutes you heard shoutings and screams. Q. How was the gas inserted? A. There were two methods of infiltrating the gas. In Crematoria 1 and 2 [II and III], it came from the roof and it came straight down until it touched the floor. [Correct. The poison, fixed on silicon pellets, was poured into mesh columns, from which it diffused] Q. How many tins of gas did it need to exterminate a thousand people in a gas chamber? A. I have the impression that two tins were sufficient for one thousand people. Q. Which size, the middle size, the large size or the small size? A. The medium size. (Witness indicates Exhibit 4) Two cans of 500g or 1kg to kill 1,000 people piled up on 105m² corresponds to the introduction of 1 or 2 kg HCN in a volume of 250m³. Before the Nuremberg Tribunal, Hoess had stated that it took 6 cans of 1kg (6kg) to gas 1,500. Only the Leichenkeller 1 of crematorium II and III, with 210m² of area and 500m² of cubic volume, was actually able to contain that human mass. So gas, was used according to Bendel at a concentration of HCN from 4 to 8g/m³ and, according to Hoess, one to 10g/m³. A concentration of 0.3g/m³ being enough to kill a man instantly. The quantity indicated by Bendel was 13 to 27 times the lethal dose, the one given by Hoess 40 times. These high percentages brought on an «overkill» ensuring a «flash» death. Q. How many were gassed in May and June 1944? A. About 400,000. [200,000 would be more accurate] Q. In August of 1944? A. From the 15th July to 1st September, 80,000. The Lodz ghetto, the last in Poland, contained 70,000 Jews who were «resettled» in Auschwitz between 15th August and 18th September. Q. What was the big period of the exterminations? A. It was May, June or July. Q. What did they do with the clothing of the prisoners who had been gassed? A. There was a special working party and their duty was to collect those clothes. The clothes were sent to Auschwitz to be disinfected. [Not to the main camp, but to Kanada I situated between the main camp and the station] Q. Can you give any idea of the quantity of such clothing which would be available? A. I do not know about the quantity, but I know about the disinfectant room where these clothes have been disinfected. (Page 30) Q. How large was the room and how much clothing was in it? A. It was a very little room. I know it because 200 men of my own Kommando were gassed in that room. The witness is speaking of the gas chamber or perhaps one of the two disinfestation gas chambers of Kanada I. There is no relation between the smallness of the room and the 200 men gassed, an incident that is not confirmed. See Part I, Chapter 4 «Kanade I». Q. What quantity of clothing was stored there? A. Clothing belonging to about five to six hundred people. Q. When was disinfection of barracks and clothing carried out in that camp? A. During the whole period from 10th December 1943 until the 18th January 1945 I remember only one disinfection of barracks. Q. What method was used? A. This time when I saw it - I repeat once - it was done by gas. Q. Did they ever do disinfection of clothes or of barracks by any other method than that gas at Auschwitz and Birkenau? 471 ===== PDF PAGE 0463 | page-463.md ===== A. It was done mainly by Lisoform. [Incomplete and incorrect reply, because disinfestation of clothing was mainly by hot air in sealed chambers or by high pressure steam in autoclaves. Lisoform is the German trade name of a 21.5% solution of formic aldehyde or formalin a powerful and not very toxic antiseptic used for disinfecting premises and bedding, and for sterilizing surgical instruments. Sick rooms that have been inhabited by patients with infectious germs, can be disinfected by gaseous formaldehyde produced by a special device] Q. It was done more with that than it was done with gas, is that correct? A. Mainly by Lisoform. I remember only once having seen it done by gas. [Prepared and loaded reply, a consequence of the previous one, designed to show that the prisoners' barracks were disinfected mainly with Lisoform, a formalin solution, hence liquid. Unfortunately for the witness, the only possible disinfestation method for the barracks was GASSING, using Zyclon-B. At first the disinfestation of effects was also done with Zyclon-B. Hot air and pressurized steam, which can disinfest and disinfect at the same time, require much more complex installations and only gradually came to replace hydrocyanic acid disinfestation, a very effective procedure but one requiring care. These questions and answers are aimed at proving that virtually ALL the Zyclon-B delivered by Tesch and Stabow was used in homicidal gassings, which is wrong as we now know. The trials of the leading figures of TESCH u. STABENOW (Testa), distributor for the East, and DEGESCH, the firm that produced Zyclon-B have NO historical justification. The Managing Director of Degesch, Dr Peters, knew that Zyclon-B was used in about twenty gas chambers of about 10m³ unit volume installed by Messrs BOOS, FOR DISINFESTATION PURPOSES. While he suspected that some of his product may have been used criminally now and again for «euthanasia» in the case of the seriously physically or mentally handicapped and incurably sick, it was not until the summer or autumn of 1944 that he is thought to have learned of the mass murders by Zyclon-B at Birkenau, and this through the loose talk of an SS sergeant. In any event, there was nothing he could do, and he certainly could not refuse to deliver Zyclon-B to the SS. The stultified and restrictive atmosphere of the regime, imposed by the war and the SS, curbed any desire for dangerous curiosity. Under a totalitarian dictatorship, this is a basic rule of survival. While the Testa and Degesch trials were of doubtful validity, this is not the case with TOPF & SONS, the manufacturers of the cremation furnaces, who despite their apparent innocence were compromised up to the neck in the installation of the homicidal gas chambers. This is clearly shown by documents of the period. And yet there was never a «Topf trial». Q. In the months of May and June 1944 how many tins of Zyclon-B do you estimate were used for exterminating people? A. That stands in relation to the number of people who have been killed. Q. What is the relationship approximately? A. Two tins for one thousand persons; 25,000 per day; then we may say 50 tins per day. [It goes without saying that this calculation is pure imagination, the figure of 25,000 never having been approached on any day, and certainly not maintained over one or two months] Q. What happened to the bodies of the gassed people? A. The bodies were thrown into mass graves, but, before they were thrown into those graves their hair was cut and their teeth were pulled out; I have seen it. [The witness is here speaking of practices used at Krematorium V and Bunker 2/V. He forgets the cremation furnaces of Krematorien II and III. The gaps in his memory regarding these Krematorien, which he seems to have visited only rarely, despite his claim to have been the Sonderkommando doctor, are worrying. They reveal his reluctance to speak about his own activities in his normal place of work, which was the experimental barracks in the Gypsy Camp. It is rare to find a Sonderkommando survivor who is willing to talk about the whole of the period without self censorship of some sort. Filip Müller in his «Trois ans dans une chambre à gaz d'Auschwitz» forgets to say that he survived the selections because he was «protected» by a Sudeten SS man. David Olère states that he worked ONLY on the waste incinerator. Their behaviour during their period in the Sonderkommando cannot and should not be judged. They experienced something beyond the limits of horror and for this reason are untouchable. But there is no reason why they should not tell the exact truth instead of trying to pretty things up.] Q. Was the gold preserved from the teeth or all the teeth? A. The National Socialist government said they did not care about gold; still they managed to get 17 tons of gold out of the four million bodies. [Dr Miklos Nyiszli also stresses the contrast between the official «disinterest» of the Third Reich and this abject recovery of gold from corpses. Though they did not live together, Nyiszli and Bendel operated in the same milieu, which explains their identical reactions. In announcing the collection of 17 tons of gold in reply to a question about teeth, the witness commits a stupid error. He states under oath that on average the victims had 4.25 grammes of gold in their mouths. This is beyond the bounds of credibility. Dr Nyiszli states that the «gold foundry» Krematorium III produced 30 to 35 kg of gold per day, from teeth AND other objects. This figure, certainly inflated, gives an average of 7 grammes or so of gold per person for a daily inflow of 4000 people. The 17 tons of gold mentioned by Bendel is a figure calculated on the basis of the incorrect number of victims, 4 million, multiplied by the true weight of a wedding ring, 3 to 5g. Gold teeth really accounted for only a small part of the total, but the rings and jewelry have been conjured away to leave teeth as the principal source of the gold obtained. The counsel for the defence could not let such an outrageous claim pass.] Q. How long, as a doctor, do you think it took these people to die with Blausäuregas [prussic acid gas]? A. I should think about two minutes. Q. Who were the actual men who put the gas into the gas chambers? A. The SS. Q. Were they specially trained men or any men? A. No; these gentlemen were all volunteers. [Wrong. They were NCO medical orderlies, «Sanitätsdienstgrade» or «SDG» who had been trained by Tesch und Stabenow in the handling of Zyclon-B for disinfestation purposes.] Q. What happened to the Sonderkommandos who worked the crematoria? A. 200 of them were gassed on the 27th September 1944; 500 were shot during a disturbance which was unique in the history of a concentration camp. [In the calendar of events in the camp compiled by Danuta Czech, a PMO official, this first episode is noted as taking place about 25th. They are supposed to have been gassed in Kanada I. See Part I, Chapter 4] Q. Was it the policy to exterminate the Sonderkommando, or did it just so happen that way? A. The witnesses who have experienced such atrocities could not and were not allowed to leave. [I believe, like the SS judge Konrad Morgan, that the situation was just as desperate for the SS employed in the Krematorien and they would have been quietly got rid of once the extermination was over, being posted to units to be sacrificed at the front.] Q. After the bodies had been thrown into the pits, what happened to the bodies? A. They simply disappeared. They became ashes. It was a fact that one thousand bodies having been thrown into such a pit disappeared in one hour; they became ashes. # Cross-examined by Dr ZIPPEL: Q. You have said that the gas chambers were ten metres by four metres by one metre sixty centimetres [the witness had in fact said something more like 1.73m]; is that correct? A. Yes. Q. Is it right that they are 64 cubic metres? A. I am not very certain. This is not my strong side. (Page 31) Q. How is it possible to get a thousand people into a room of 64 cubic metres? A. This one must ask oneself. It can only be done by the German technique. [But the laws of physics are universal] Q. Are you seriously suggesting that in a space of half a cubic metre you could put ten men [in fact a little less than 8]? A. The four million people who were gassed in Auschwitz are the witnesses. Q. Is it not possible that you are in error concerning the figures you have given? A. It is possible that the details are incorrect as one could not bother about ten or fifty or even a thousand in these figures, but anyway, the main facts remain. [An argument used over and over again over the last 40 years, aimed at blocking any detailed research into the gas chamber exterminations. On 21st February 1979, on page 23 of the French newspaper «Le Monde», 34 French historians signed a declaration on the «Faurisson Affair», concluding in these terms:] «One should not ask how, technically, such a mass murder was possible. It was technically possible because it happened. This is the obligatory point of departure for any historical research on this subject. It was our duty simply to recall this truth: there is not and cannot be any argument about the existence of the gas chambers.» On the contrary: WE MUST ASK HOW SUCH A MASS MURDER WAS TECHNICALLY POSSIBLE. My work is the result of such research. This has enabled me to demolish certain absurd theories, expose certain lies and correct certain errors. But over the ruins of the old cob walls, the documents found in Poland and the Soviet Union have laid the new concrete foundations that will withstand the test of time.] Q. Who were these four million people who were being killed? A. There were men, women, children and old people. Q. Were these people who were gassed rich people or poor people? A. It was difficult to tell from the clothing whether they were rich or poor, but they were certainly belonging to all classes of society. Q. When you say that 17 tons of gold were collected from these corpses, do you then count a ton as having 1000 kgs? A. Yes. Q. Then you would say that per person, man, woman, child or baby, they had on average four grammes of gold in their mouths? A. It must have been that some had more and some had less or nothing; it depended on the state of their teeth or their dentures. Q. Was the disinfection being carried out by special squads of the SS? A. The disinfection of the camp, yes. Q. Is it right that the gas was being delivered to the camp by the Red Cross? A. No; it was not being delivered by the Red Cross; it was brought in Red Cross vans. There is quite a difference between the two. Q. Is it known to you that Lisoform is a disinfectant only against germs, but not against insects in clothing? [Formalin is an antiseptic, effective against microbes, but is not an insecticide and is useless against lice, for example.] A. There was no disinfection intended, as these people brought into concentration camps were not brought there to be disinfected or kept clean or kept healthy, but to be disposed of. [In 1944, there were two categories of Jewish deportees: those unfit for work, who were destined for the gas chambers, and those fit for work, who received some very limited care from the impoverished Reich of the period. For those selected for work, the first thing on entering the camp was disinfestation treatment. The witness gives a deformed version of the facts.] DR ZIPPEL. We have no further questions. MAJOR DRAPER: No re-examination. (The witness withdraws) # CERTIFICATE I, Alfred H ELBAU, US civilian, AGO No A-1655313, US Department of the Army, OCCWC, Nurnberg, herewith certify that the above copy is a true and correct copy of excerpt from the official transcript of the 2nd day of a trial by Military Court of Bruno TESCH, Joachim DROSIHN and Karl WEINBACHER which took place from 1 to 8 March 1946 at The War Crimes Court, Curiohaus, Hamburg. Document received on 15th September 1947 by OCCWC from War Crimes Group (North West Europe) at HQ, BAOR. (Signature) Alfred H Elbau Alfred H ELBAU «A CERTIFIED TRUE COPY» 472 ===== PDF PAGE 0464 | page-464.md ===== # «AUSCHWITZ: A DOCTOR'S EYEWITNESS ACCOUNT» by Dr MIKLOS NYISZLI # Introduction I have taken from Dr Nyiszli's book only Chapter Seven, describing the gassing of a convoy at Krematorium II, this being one of the best-known accounts. Many details can easily be verified using contemporary documents. The description is entirely accurate, EXCEPT for certain FIGURES which are very WRONG indeed. I must admit that the stark contrast between the general precision of the account and enormous errors that it contains led me to think at first that the translator [into French], Mr Tibère KREMER, must be at fault. Through the intermediary of Serge Klarsfeld, the Yad Vashem provided me with a photocopy of the first Hungarian edition of 1946, apparently published by the author. I checked in the original text to make sure the figures were correct. This enabled me to see that the translator was definitely not at fault. The fact remains, however, that certain figures in the original are quite wrong. Unless and until any further information comes to light, we can but attribute these errors to Dr Nyiszli. Extract from Dr Miklos Nyiszli's book: «Auschwitz: a Doctor's eyewitness account», Translated by Tibère Kremer and Richard Seaver, London: Granada Books, 1973. # CHAPTER SEVEN The strident whistle of a train was heard coming from the direction of the unloading platform. It was still very early. I approached my window¹,² from which I had a direct view onto the tracks, and saw a very long train. A few seconds later the doors slid open and the box cars spilled out thousands upon thousands of the chosen people of Israel. Line up and selection took scarcely half an hour³,⁴. The left-hand⁵ column moved slowly away. Orders rang out, and the sound of rapid footsteps reached my room. The sounds came from the furnace rooms of the crematorium: they were preparing to welcome the new convoy. The throb of motors began. They had just set the enormous ventilators going to fan the flames, in order to obtain the desired degree of heat in the ovens. Fifteen ventilators were going simultaneously, one beside each oven⁶,⁷. The incineration room was about 500 feet long⁸,⁹ it was a bright, whitewashed room with a concrete floor and barred windows. Each of these fifteen ovens was housed in a red brick structure¹⁰. Immense iron doors, well-polished and gleaming, ominously lined the length of the wall. In five or six minutes the convoy reached the gate, whose swing-doors¹¹ opened inwards. Five abreast¹², the group entered the courtyard; it was the moment about which the outside world knew nothing, for anyone who might have known something about it, after having travelled the path of his destiny—the 300 yards¹³ separating that spot from the ramp had never returned to tell the tale. It was one of the crematoriums which awaited those who had been selected for the left-hand column. And not, as the German lie had made the right hand column suppose in order to allay their anxiety, a camp for the sick and children, where the infirm cared for the little ones. They advanced with slow, weary steps. The children's eyes were heavy with sleep and they clung to their mothers' clothes. For the most part the babies were carried in their fathers' arms, or else wheeled in their carriages. The SS guards remained before the crematorium doors, where a poster announced: «Entrance is strictly forbidden to all who have no business here, including the SS». The deportees were quick to notice the water faucets¹⁴, used for sprinkling the grass, that were arranged about the courtyard. They began to take pots and pans from their luggage, and broke ranks, pushing and shoving in an effort to get near the faucets and fill their containers. That they were impatient was not astonishing: for the past five days they had had nothing to drink. If ever they had found a little water, it had been stagnant and had not quenched their thirst. The SS guards who received the convoys were used to the scene. They waited patiently till each had quenched his thirst and filled his container. In any case, the guards knew that as long as they had not drunk there would be no getting them back into line. Slowly they began to re-form their ranks. Then they advanced for about 100 yards¹⁵,⁶ along a cinder path edged with green grass¹⁶ to an iron ramp¹⁷ from which 10 or 12 concrete steps¹⁸ led underground to an enormous room dominated by a large sign in German, French, Greek and Hungarian: «Baths and Disinfecting Room». The sign was reassuring, and allayed the misgivings or fears of even the most suspicious among them. They went down the stairs almost gaily. The room into which the convoy proceeded was about 200 yards long¹⁹. Its walls were whitewashed and it was brightly lit. In the middle of the room, rows of columns²⁰. Around the columns, as well as along the walls, benches. Above the benches, numbered coat hangers. Numerous signs in several languages drew everyone's attention to the necessity of tying his clothes and shoes together. Especially that he not forget the number of his coat hanger, in order to avoid all useless confusion upon his return from the bath. «That's a really German order,» commented those who had long been inclined to admire the Germans. They were right. As a matter of fact, it was for the sake of order that these measures had been taken, so that the thousands of pairs of good shoes surely needed by the Third Reich would not get mixed up. The same for the clothes, so that the population of bombed cities could easily make use of them. There were 3,000 people²⁰ in the room: men, women and children. Some of the soldiers arrived and announced that everyone must be completely undressed within ten minutes¹⁰. The aged, grandfathers and grandmothers; the children; wives and husbands; all were struck dumb with surprise. Modest women and girls looked at each other questioningly. Perhaps they had not exactly understood the German words. They did not have long to think about it, however, for the order resounded again, this time in a louder, more menacing tone. They were uneasy; their dignity rebelled; but, with the resignation peculiar to their race, having learned that anything went as far as they were concerned, they slowly began to undress. The aged, the paralyzed, the mad were helped by a Sonderkommando squad sent for that purpose. In ten minutes all were completely naked, their clothes hung on the pegs, their shoes attached together by the laces. As for the number on each clothes hanger, it had been carefully noted. Making his way through the crowd, an SS opened the swing-doors of the large oaken gate at the end of the room¹¹. The crowd flowed through it, into another¹², equally well-lighted room. This second room was the same size as the first¹³, but neither benches nor pegs were to be seen. In the centre of the room, at thirty-yard intervals¹⁴, columns rose from the concrete floor to the ceiling. They were not supporting columns, but square sheet-iron pipes¹⁵, the sides of which contained numerous perforations, like a wire lattice. Everyone was inside. A hoarse command rang out: «SS and Sonderkommando leave the room.» They obeyed and counted off. The doors swung shut and from without the lights were switched off. At that very instant the sound of a car was heard: a deluxe model¹⁶, furnished by the International Red Cross. An SS officer and a SDG (Sanitätsdienstgefreiter¹⁷): Deputy Health Service Officer) stepped out of the car. The Deputy Health Officer held four¹⁸ green sheet-iron cannisters. He advanced across the grass¹⁹, where, every thirty yards²⁰, short concrete pipes²¹, jutted up from the ground. Having donned his gas mask, he lifted the lid of the pipe, which was also made of concrete²². He opened one of the cans and poured the contents—a mauve granulated material²³ into the opening. (The following sentence, present in the Hungarian and French, is missing from the English translation: «The substance poured in is Zyclon-B or Chlorine²³: In granulated form, which gives off a gas immediately on contact with air ».) The granulated substance fell in a lump to the bottom. The gas it produced escaped through the perforations, and within a few seconds filled the room in which the deportees were stacked. Within five minutes everybody was dead. For every convoy it was the same story. Red Cross cars brought the gas from the outside. There was never a stock²⁴ or a fire in the crematorium. The precaution was scandalous, but still more scandalous was the fact that the gas was brought in a car bearing the insignia of the International Red Cross. In order to be certain of their business, the two gas-butchers waited another five minutes. Then they lighted cigarettes and drove off in their car. They had just killed 3,000 innocents²⁵. Twenty minutes later, the electric ventilators were set going²⁶ in order to evacuate the gas. The doors opened, the trucks arrived, and a Sonderkommando squad loaded the clothing and the shoes separately. They were going to disinfect²⁷ them. This time it was a case of real disinfection. Later they would transport them by rail to various parts of the country. The ventilators, patented—'Exhator'²⁸,³⁹ system quickly evacuated the gas from the room, but in the crannies between the dead and the cracks of the doors small pockets of it always remained. Even two hours later it caused a suffocating cough. For that reason the Sonderkommando squad which first moved into the room was equipped with gas masks²⁹. Once again the room was powerfully lighted, revealing a horrible spectacle. The bodies were not lying here and there throughout the room, but piled in a mass to the ceiling. The reason for this was that the gas first inundated the lower layers of air and rose but slowly towards the ceiling. This forced the victims to trample one another in a frantic effort to escape the gas. Yet a few feet higher up the gas reached them. What a struggle for life there must have been! Nevertheless it was merely a matter of two or three minutes' respite. If they had been able to think about what they were doing, they would have realized they were trampling their own children, their wives, their relatives. But they couldn't think. Their gestures were no more than the reflexes of the instinct of self-preservation. I noticed that the bodies of the women, the children and the aged were at the bottom of the pile, at the top, the strongest. Their bodies, which were covered with scratches and bruises from the struggle which had set them against each other, were often interlaced. Blood oozed from their noses and mouths, their faces, bloated and blue, were so deformed as to be almost unrecognizable. Nevertheless, some of the Sonderkommando often still recognize their kin. The encounter was not easy, and I dreaded for myself. I had no reason to be here, and yet I had come down among the dead. I felt it my duty to my people and to the entire world to be able to give an accurate account of what I had seen if ever, by some miraculous whim of fate, I should escape. The Sonderkommando squad, outfitted with large rubber boots, lined up round the hill of bodies and flooded it with powerful jets of water²⁸. This was necessary because the final act of those who die by drowning or by gas is an involuntary defecation. Each body was befouled and had to be washed. Once the bathing of the dead was finished—a job the Sonderkommando carried out by a voluntary act of impersonalization and in a state of profound distress. The separation of the welter of bodies began. It was a difficult job. They knotted thongs around the wrists²⁹, which were clenched in a vice-like grip, and with these thongs they dragged the slippery bodies to the elevators³⁰. In the next room, four³¹ good-sized elevators were functioning. They loaded twenty to twenty-five corpses to an elevator³². The ring of a bell was the signal that the load was ready to ascend. The elevator stopped at the crematorium's incineration room³³, where large sliding doors opened automatically³⁴. The kommando who operated the trailers [The French translation is better here—the towing squad] was ready and waiting. Again straps were fixed to the wrists of the dead, and they were dragged out onto specially constructed chutes which unloaded them in front of the furnace³⁵. The bodies lay in close ranks: the old, the young, the children. Blood oozed from their noses and mouths, as well as from their skin—abraded by the rubbing—and mixed with the water running in the gutters set in the concrete floor. Then a new phase of the exploitation and utilization of Jewish bodies took place. The Third Reich had already taken their clothes and shoes. Hair¹⁴,⁵ was also a precious material, due to the fact that it expands and contracts uniformly, no matter what the humidity of the air. Human hair was often used in delayed action bombs¹⁶,⁷ where its particular qualities made it highly useful for detonating purposes. So they shaved the dead. But that was not all. According to the slogans¹⁷ the Germans paraded and shouted to everyone at home and abroad, the Third Reich was not based on the «gold standard», but on the «work standard». (The following sentence appears to be in the English version only). Maybe they meant they had to work harder for their gold than most countries did. At any rate, the dead were next sent to the «tooth-pulling» kommando, which was stationed in front of the ovens¹⁸. Consisting of eight men, this kommando equipped its members with two tools, or, if you like, two instruments, in one hand a lever, and in the other a pair of pliers for extracting the teeth. The dead lay on their backs; the kommando pried open the contracted jaw with his lever; then, with his pliers, he extracted, or broke off, all gold teeth, as well as any gold bridgework and fillings. All members of the kommando were fine stomatologists and dental surgeons. When Dr Mengele had called for candidates capable of performing the delicate work of stomatology and dental surgery, they had volunteered in good faith, firmly believing they would be allowed to exercise their profession in the camp. Exactly as I had done. The gold teeth were collected in buckets filled with an acid which burned off 473 ===== PDF PAGE 0465 | page-465.md ===== all pieces of bone and flesh. Other valuables worn by the dead, such as necklaces, pearls, wedding bands and rings [33], were taken and dropped through a slot in the lid of a strongbox. Gold is a heavy metal, and I would judge that from 18 to 20 pounds [34] of it were collected daily in each crematorium. It varied, to be sure, from one convoy to the next, for some convoys were comparatively wealthy, while others, from rural districts, were naturally poorer. The Hungarian convoys arrived already stripped. But the Dutch, Czech, and Polish convoys, even after several years in the ghettos, had managed to keep and bring their jewelry, their gold and their dollars with them. In this way the Germans amassed considerable measures. When the last gold tooth had been removed, the bodies went to the incineration kommando. There they were laid by threes on a kind of pudoced made of sheet metal [35]. The heavy doors of the ovens opened automatically [36]; the pushcart moved into a furnace heated to incandescence. The bodies were cremated in twenty minutes [37]. Each crematorium worked with fifteen ovens, and there were four crematoriums. This meant that several thousand people could be cremated in a single day [38]. [The Hungarian and French versions give the figure of 20,000 rather than «several thousand»]. Thus for weeks and months - even years - several thousand people passed each day through the gas chambers and from there to the incineration ovens. Nothing but a pile of ashes remained in the crematory ovens. Trucks took the ashes to the Vistula, a mile away, and dumped them into the raging waters of the river. After so much suffering and horror there was still no peace, even for the dead. *** # Comments on Doctor Miklos Nyiszli's account [1] Window: Although from Nyiszli's book it is difficult to establish where he was housed, it is certain that he slept in the «Aufenthaltsraum[prisoners'] rest room» on the ground floor of Krematorium II. From its double window he would indeed have had a direct view of the «ramp». [2] Half an hour: Often longer, an hour. [3] Left-hand: This does not correspond to the position of the observer. These people were on the «Hauptstrasse/main road», leading to Krematorien II and III. To see them «on the left» it was necessary to be in the middle of the ramp and looking west. But they could also go «to the right» and take the «Lagerstrasse A/camp road A, which led them via the «Ringstrasse/ring road» to Krematorien IV and V. [4] Fifteen ventilators were going simultaneously, one beside each oven: WRONG. There were in fact five, one fan being mounted on the right hand side of each of the five 3-muffle furnaces, which Nyiszli implicitly admits. [Ref BW 30/41, page 33. The five fans were installed by Messing, a civilian employee of Messrs Topf & Sens, on 1st February 1943]. (multiplier to be applied to the facts to reach what is written: 5) [5] 500 feet long: WRONG. Drawing 933, confirmed by the ruins, indicates a length of 30 metres, or roughly 100 feet. (Multiplier: 5) [6] Each of these fifteen ovens was housed in a red brick structure: Poorly observed. The fifteen cremation ovens were in fact made up of five 3-muffle furnaces. [7] swing-doors: Perhaps not swing-doors, but certainly double doors, still in place today. [8] five abreast: The photographs in the Album d'Auschwitz confirm that they were in a column five abreast, at least the men, as this rule did not apply to women with children. [9] 300 yards: FAIRLY PRECISE. There were 420 metres between Nyiszli's window and the centre of the ramp where the selection was made. Taking into account that the head of the «left hand» column advanced about a hundred metres down the main road to make room for those following, before turning towards Krematorien II and III, the distance is accurately estimated. [10] Water faucets: Confirmed by all the overall plans of the Birkenau POW camp. There was a tap 10 metres to the east of the waste incinerator wing. [11] 100 yards: CORRECT. The path from the entrance to the Krematorium yard to the steps leading down to the undressing room may vary a little, but it is almost exactly 100 metres. From the water tap to the undressing room steps is also a little under 100 metres. [12] a cinder path edged with green grass: The aerial photographs of Krematorium II taken by the Americans clearly show its underground undressing room, bordered by a path - of cinders according to Nyiszli - with a grass-covered space between it and the northern barbedwire fence. [13] iron ramp: Correct. These iron railings were found in the «Bauhof» (yard for building materials) when the camp was liberated [PMO neg. no. 897]. The holes where they fitted on the right and left hand sides of the access stairway are still visible in the ruins. [14] 10 or 12 concrete steps: Correct. Ten in fact. [15] 200 yards long: WRONG. The length of Leichenkeller 2 according to drawing 932 and the ruins is 50 metres. (Multiplier: 4) [16] rows of columns: Wrong. ONE row of eleven supporting pillars down the centre of the room. [17] 3,000 people: Exaggerated figure. The true figure was certainly lower, probably 1000 to 1500 [see my comments on Dr Bendel's testimony concerning this subject]. (Multiplier: 2.5) [18] within ten minutes: Much longer. During an interview with David Olère, he told me that filling the gas chamber [of Krematorium III], including the time taken to undress, «took hours». [19] swing doors of the large nokes gate at the end of the room: Perhaps not swing doors, but broad double doors confirmed by the drawings. [20] The crowd flowed through it, into another: Not directly. The people passed through a «Vorraum/vestibule» before entering the gas chamber. [21] This second room was the same size as the first: WRONG. Drawing 932 and the ruins prove that Leichenkeller 1, the gas chamber, was 30 metres long. (Multiplier: 6.7) [22] Thirty yard intervals/supporting columns/square sheet-iron pipes: This passage as Dr Nyiszli SHOULD HAVE WRITTEN IT is as follows: Down the centre of the room, about every 3 or 4 metres [distance between centres 3.80mm, space between pillars 3.40m according to drawing 932] seven [central] pillars rose from the concrete floor to the ceiling. These were the supporting pillars. But on the left, between these pillars and the east wall, four others could be seen, 7 or 8 metres apart, also of square section, the corners being angle iron and the faces of wire grid. (Multiplier for distance between gas introduction columns: 4. Furthermore, 4 pillars separated by 30 metres gives a total length of 120 to 150 m, or 50 to 80 metres less that Nyiszli's earlier estimate) [23] a deluxe model: Subjective remark. David Olère has drawn a Red Cross van bringing the Zyclon-B. [24] SDG/Sanitätsdienstgefreier: Incorrect. SDG is an abbreviation for Sanitätsdienstgrade or SS medical orderly NCO. Gefreier was the equivalent of corporal in the Wehrmacht, not in the SS where this rank was Sturmmann. Hoess refers to these men as «trained disinfectors» [«Commandant of Anesthetists», page 211]. 474 ===== PDF PAGE 0466 | page-466.md ===== (25) *Four:* probably correct, if they are 1.5 kg cans, as this corresponds to the figure of 6 kg cited by Hoess. (26) *Grass:* Correct. Visible on PMO photo neg. no. 20995/460. (27) *thirty yards:* WRONG. Every 7 or 8 metres. Repetition of an error already pointed out. (Multiplier: 4) (28) *short concrete pipes:* Correct. Though perhaps «chimneys» gives a better picture. They were about 40-50 cm high and three of the four are clearly visible under construction on PMO photo neg. no. 20995/504. (29) *concrete:* Henryk Tauber confirms that the covers were of concrete with two handles, but an inventory drawn up when Krematorium II was handed over to the camp administration on 31st March 1943 indicates «4 Holzblenden/4 WOODEN covers». (30) *A mauve granular substance:* Actually pale blue-green. (31) *Chlorine [not in the English version of the book]:* WRONG. The poison was hydrocyanic (prussic) acid. (32) *never a stock:* Questionable. Henryk Tauber relates that the Zyclon-B was stored in a small basement room. (33) *3,000 innocents:* See the comment on «3,000 people» above. (34) *Twenty minutes later, the electric ventilators were set going:* Correct. The sequence of operations is well-described. Twenty minutes after the introduction of the gas the extraction fans were switched on and then the door was opened afterwards. In the description by Hoess, this order is reversed: «The door was opened half an hour after the introduction of the gas, and the ventilation switched on. Work was immediately begun on removing the corpses.» [«Commandant of Auschwitz», page 224] This inversion by Hoess is of little importance and no consequence. He was first and foremost the Camp Commandant and he had other things to worry about than the precise sequence of events during a gassing operation in an unidentified gas chamber, one of the seven locations where homicidal gassings were carried out, a sequence that any SS NCO in Krematorium I, II, or III would know perfectly well. I would point out that the first «shock» argument used by R Faurisson in his «Mémoire en Défense», La Vieille Taupe, pages 158 and 159 on «The material impossibility of the Auschwitz gas chambers (documents)» is based on this «contradiction». A true indication of the trivial nature of his argument! (35) *disinfect:* More accurately disinfect. This was done in a gas chamber, again using Zyclon-B, in Kanada I. (36) *«Exhator» [«exhauster» in the Hungarian and French versions]:* Dr Nyiszli is the only one to give this name. It is not confirmed in any surviving document. (37) *it caused a suffocating cough... gas masks:* This cough was provoked by the warning agent in the Zyclon-B, a lacrymeogenic and inflammatory «Bromessigenter/fromacetic ester». This observation by Nyiszli means that the Zyclon-B WITHOUT A WARNING AGENT delivered and invoiced by Degesch in March 1944 to the SS Ustuf Kurt Gerstein was not generally used in Auschwitz, otherwise the Sonderkommando members would not have coughed. (38) *powerful jets of water:* The tap or taps were outside the gas chamber according to the testimony of survivors, but the inventory drawings of Krematorien II and III show three taps inside. Even if their initial location was inside they would soon have been damaged by the desperate victims, which explains their new location. (39) *things around the wrists:* A technique for transporting bodies that had spread to all the extermination points. (40) *elevators:* There was ONE lift. A 300 kg goods hoist was provisionally installed in Krematorium II on 13th March 1943, and was later replaced by a 1500 kg DEMAG electric lift [BW 30/34, pages 69 and 70, letter of 28th February 1943] (41) *Four:* WRONG AND DELIBERATELY MISLEADING. All the Bauleitung drawings and the ruins prove that there was only ONE lift in the type II/III Krematorium. Whom is Dr Miklos Nyiszli trying to mislead and why? (Multiplier: 4) (42) *Twenty to twenty-five corpses to an elevator:* With the «to an», Nyiszli confirms his claim that there was more than one lift. 20 to 25 corpses is reasonable, as with an average of 60 kg this would give a load of 1200 to 1500 kg, the latter being the maximum capacity of the Demag lift. (43) *at the crematorium's incineration room:* More correctly «at one end of». There is no indication here of more than one lift. (44) *large sliding doors opened automatically:* We have no details on these doors apart from the sketch of the furnace room by David Olère. (45) *chutes which unloaded them in front of the furnaces:* No doubt a mistranslation due to lack of familiarity with the premises. There were no chutes here and only way the bodies were made to «slide» to a position before the furnaces was to drag them along a broad trough in the floor that was kept full of water. (46) *Hair:* This was collected throughout Europe during the war. This practice had nothing macabre about it except in Auschwitz, where people were killed before being shorn. (47) *delayed action bombs:* More commonly known as time bombs: a «war story» pure and simple. The hair was transformed into industrial felt and even into cloth to make slippers for submarine crews and felt stockings for Reichsbahn railwaymen. [Letter of 6th August 1942. Doc. URSS-511, in: «Le IIIème Reich et les Juifs» by L Poliakov and J Wulf, NRF Gallimard, 1959, pages 67 and 68] (48) *slogans:* Quite correct. The proclamations about the value of work in the Third Reich and the morbid pillage of gold in the Krematorien make a sickening contrast. (49) *the «tooth-pulling kommando, which was stationed in front of the events:* A sketch by David Olère shows the «dentists» and «barbers» at work IN THE GAS CHAMBER of Krematorium III. Both methods of working were no doubt used. (50) *necklaces, pearls, wedding bands and rings:* Gold teeth and fillings were not the main source of gold, but rather rings, as Dr Nyiszli honestly says, unlike others who keep silent on this point. (51) *from 18 to 20 pounds:* Impossible to verify at present, without the consignment notes or Reichsbank receipts. (52) *laid by threes on a kind of pushcart made of sheet metal:* For charging the bodies into the furnace there was in front of each muffle a set of rails for a charging trolley of the type now visible in the «Old Krematorium» [Krematorium I] of the main camp. This technique, considered too complicated, was abandoned in favour of charging by means of a metal stretcher whose two edges fitted on to a pair of rollers located in front of the furnace door. There was just one pair of rollers for a 3-muffle furnace. They slid along and could be placed before each of the three openings. A David Olère's sketch shows charging by this method. (53) *Automatically:* Pure invention. The were operated by hand. (54) *Twenty minutes:* Rather short - more like half an hour. (55) *several thousand people could be cremated in a single day:* Even assuming that 3 corpses per muffle could be incinerated in 20 minutes, the 15 muffles of Krematorium II could take only 3240 corpses in 24 hours. If all the Krematorien were identical, this would give a total for the 4 Krematorien of 12,960 rather than the 20,000 claimed in the Hungarian and French versions. These results obtained on the basis of Nyiszli's data are first of all inconsistent with his own figures and in any event exaggerated, since the «throughput» of a type II/III Krematorium was between 1000 and 1500 in 24 hours and of type IV/V 500 in 24 hours. The legend of 20,000 to 25,000 victims a day was transmitted by the members of the Sonderkommando. (Multiplier for Krematorium II: 2 to 3) ## THE MULTIPLIER The average of the different multipliers almost exactly 4. If we apply this to the official total of 4 million victims we arrive at a figure much closer to reality: 1 million. This calculation is by no means scientific or rigorous, but it shows that DOCTOR NYISZLI, a respectable ACADEMIC, TRAINED IN GERMANY, multiplied the figures by FOUR when describing the interior of Krematorium II and when speaking of the number of persons or victims. 475 ===== PDF PAGE 0467 | page-467.md ===== ## PAUL RASSINIER'S four criticisms of Dr Miklos Nyiszli's book «Médecin à Auschwitz» [Published in English as: «Auschwitz: a Doctor's eyewitness account»] «ULYSSE TRAHI PAR LES SIENS » [Ulysses betrayed by his own people] by Paul RASSINIER Documents et Témoignages Henry Coston, Paris, 1961, pages 22 and 23 [1] My opinion gradually becoming accepted, they started to produce deportees on the other side of the iron curtain, with whom confrontation was naturally impossible, and who, claiming to have witnessed the agony, described it in detail. The first was the Hungarian communist doctor Miklos, former prisoner at Auschwitz-Birkenau, where he looked after, he says, the Kommando of the cremation furnaces and the gas chambers. He no doubt thought he would throw me into confusion by speaking of Auschwitz, a camp where I had never been interned and on which I was morally unauthorised to testify. But he did not know that since I was something of a historian by profession I could be familiar enough with historical documents to be able to accept or refuse their authenticity after a reading. In his case, it was the figures he produced that revealed the imposture: 25,000 persons a day for almost five years. I had no difficulty in demonstrating that that amounted to 45 million, and that 4 crematoriums, each with 15 muffles, even with 3 bodies per muffle, would need over 10 years to burn all that. He agreed and wrote to me that he would be satisfied with 2,500,000 corpses, not all of them Jews and not all killed in gas chambers. But he maintained all the rest. I considered it futile to continue the argument with such an individual. LE MENSONGE D'ULYSSE [Ulysses' lying tale] by Paul RASSINIER (Sixth edition) La Vieille Taupe, Paris 1979, pages 236 to 240. [Reprint of the Fifth edition of 1961] [2] And now here is the basis of the debate, which an example will make more understandable... A new testimony on the German concentration camps has just appeared in Hungary and is being published by Les Temps Modernes in France: «SS Obersturmführer, Docteur Mengele» by Dr NYISZLI MIKLOS. It concerns the Auschwitz-Birkenau camp. The first thought that comes to mind is that this testimony has been able to appear in Hungary only with the consent of Stalin, through the intermediary of the Martin-Chaullier of the country, whose powers, as chairmen of what corresponds to our CNE, are extensive enough to prevent any Mensongé d'Ulysses appearing there. It would therefore be suspect for this reason alone. But that is not the question. Among other things, Dr Nyiszli Miklos claims that in the Auschwitz-Birkenau camp, four gas chambers [The footnote made in Le Monde of 9th January 1952, The Procurator Général André Boissart translates forty-six] 200 metres long (no width specified), together with four other rooms of the same dimension to prepare the victims for the sacrifice, asphyxiated 20,000 people a day, and that four crematoriums, each with 15 muffles with 3 places, incinerated them as work proceeded. He also adds that in addition 5,000 other people were also killed each day using less modern methods and burnt in huge open air pits. He also adds that he personally witnessed these systematic massacres for a year. I submit that all this is manifestly false, and without having been a prisoner oneself, a little common sense suffices to prove it. The Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp having in fact been built as from the end of 1939 and evacuated in January 1945, then accepting Dr Nyiszli-Miklos figure of 25,000 a day, we would have to admit that about 45 million people died there, 36 million of whom were incinerated in the four crematoriums after being asphyxiated, and 9 million in the two open air cremation ditches. While it is perfectly possible that the four gas chambers would have been able to asphyxiate 20,000 people a day (in batches of 3,000 at a time according to the witness), it would have been absolutely impossible for the four crematoriums to keep up with this rate. Even if they had fifteen muffles with three places. And even if the operation took only 20 minutes, as claimed by Dr Nyiszli Miklos, which is again false. Taking these figures as a basis, the total capacity of all the furnaces operating at the same time would still have been only 540 an hour or 12,960 per 24-hour day. And at this rate it would not have been possible to extinguish the fires until several years after the Liberation. Provided, of course, that not a minute was wasted over almost ten years. If now we make enquiries at the Père Lachaise cemetery about the cremation time required for three bodies in one muffle, we discover that the Auschwitz furnaces would still be burning today and would not be extinguished for some time to come! I say nothing about the two open air pyres (which according to our author were 50 metres long, 6 wide and 3 deep) by means of which it is supposed to have been possible to burn 9 million bodies in 5 years... There is also another impossibility, at least as concerns extermination using gas: all those who have studied the problem are agreed that «in the rare camps where they existed» (E'Kogon died the gas chambers were not finally operational until March 1942 and from September 1944 orders were given, though these have not been found, any more than those they cancelled, that they were no longer to be used to asphyxiate. At the rate put forward by Dr Nyiszli Miklos, we then arrive at a figure of 18 million corpses for these two and a half years. A figure that his translator into French, Mr Tibor KREMER, by what virtue of mathematics we do not know, summarily reduces to 6 million? [Footnote: I wrote to Dr Nyiszli Miklos to point out all these impossibilities. Here is what he replied: 2,500,000 victims! Without any other comment. This figure, which is closer to the truth and for which the gas chambers are certainly not solely responsible, already constitutes a considerable sum of abominations!]. And I would ask this new and twofold question: what possible point was there is thus exaggerating the degree of the horror and what was the result of this way of proceeding, which was widespread? I have already received the reply that is bringing things back to their true proportions in a universal theory of repression, I had no other objective than to minimize the crimes of Nazism. I personally have another reply entirely ready, and which I no longer have any reason not to make public. But before giving this reply, I should like to submit for the reader's appreciation an incident significant of the state of mind of the age in which we live. As a reader of Temps Modernes, I naturally informed this review of my reflections regarding the publicity it gave to Dr Nyiszli Miklos. Here is the reply I received from Mr MERLEAU-PONTY: «Historians will have to consider these questions. But in dealing with current news, this method of examining testimony results in throwing suspicion on what one is entitled to expect of it. And since at the present time the tendency is rather to forget the German camps, this requirement of rigorous historical truth encourages a falsification, of enormous proportion, which is tantamount to admitting that Nazism is a fable.» I found this reply most instructive and did not bother to reply to Mr MERLEAU-PONTY that he for his part forgot the Russian, and even French, camps! For if we have to accept this doctrine that the requirement of rigorous historical truth already encourages massive falsification in the treatment of news, one asks with some apprehension what monstrosity the large-scale falsification of news is likely to lead to on the historical level. We only have to imagine what historians of the future will think of the abominable Nuremberg Trial, which already is suspected of putting the culture of Humanity back two thousand years, that is: condemnation presented as a crime in all the history books, that of Vercingétorix by Julius Caesar for example. The relationship that Mr MERLEAU-PONTY, professor of philosophy, establishes between causes and effects does not seem to be of exceptional rigour, thus proving that with everyone doing his job, in philosophy as elsewhere, our sacred cows are well protected! 476 ===== PDF PAGE 0468 | page-468.md ===== «LE VERITABLE PROCES EICHMANN ou les vainqueurs incorrigibles» (The real Eichmann trial or the incorrigible victory) by Paul RASSINIER Les Sept couleurs, Paris 1962, pages 245 to 249. [3] # MEDECIN A AUSCHWITZ Concerning «Médecin à Auschwitz» published by the Munich magazine Quick, in January 1961 [as «Auschwitz: Das Tagebuch eines Lagerarztes - The diary of a camp-doctor] and now just republished in France by Julliard, who had already published it in 1951 in Mr Jean-Paul Sartre's review Les Temps Modernes. I wrote to the publisher, Julliard. My letter and the reply are given below. 16th November 1961 Mr René Julliard, Directeur des Editions Julliard 30 rue de l'Université - PARIS (3e) Sir, I have just finished reading «Médecin à Auschwitz» by Dr Miklos Nyiszli, published by you last month, and of which I had already read large extracts under the title «SS Dr Obersturmführer Mengele» in the March and April 1951 issues of the Review «Les Temps Modernes». At the time, in my double role of historian and deportee, thinking that publishing accounts that were manifestly in contradiction with material facts as regards the political behaviour of Nazism, one could not do other, if caught several times in flagrant debt, than to sow doubt in public opinion and gradually convince people that Nazism was a fable. I rose up against the tendency of publishers to print accounts of concentration camps by all and sundry. His account being, according to the extracts published in «Les Temps Modernes», full of impossibilities and contradictions, and the introduction by Mr Tibère Kremer adding even more, I therefore wrote to Dr Nyiszli, care of «Temps Modernes». Through Mr Tibère Kremer, 11 rue des Modins, Toulouse, I received a letter, that I hold at your disposal and which is in contradiction with the text you have just published. For example, Mr Tibère Kremer, in his 1951 introduction, spoke of 6,000,000 Jews in such a way that this was taken up by the entire press and attributed to the Auschwitz gas chambers. Dr Nyiszli himself says 2,500,000, and this was the figure accepted by the Cracow Court that condemned Hoess, the camp commandant, to be hung, on 4th April 1947. Another example: arriving in Auschwitz at the end of May and speaking of 20,000 Jews being exterminated every day in the gas chambers, plus 5,000 in the open air pyres, Nyiszli states that that had been going on for FOUR years, and this is again found on page 50 of your book. Now, if there were gas chambers at Auschwitz, the documents produced at Nuremberg establish: That they were ordered from Messrs Topf of Erfurt on 8th August 1942, but under the designation «Leichenkeller» and «Budeanstalt»; Set up in the camp in February-March 1943. And the report by Dr Kautner establishes for its part - and this report was accepted at Nuremberg - that they did not operate from «autumn 1943 to May 1944». Etc... I could add to the list, but in view of the time that that would take me, I shall do so only if you are interested. However, what I would draw your attention to is the German version of «Médecin à Auschwitz», published in installments in the Munich illustrated weekly «Quick», starting on 15th January 1961. This version is in formal contradiction with Mr Tibère Kremer's translation on virtually everything. I have noted 31 contradictions, not counting those due to faulty syntax nor those found in the text itself. An example of absolute contradiction: in the German text, the crematoriums handled 10,000 persons a day and in the French text 20,000. An example of contradiction by the author: the dead are shown on one page, and then twenty pages further on it is said that the hair was collected before sending people to the gas chamber. Furthermore, there are corrections that Mr Kremer has made with respect to his first version. A pistol marksman who hits his target at 40-50 metres in the first version succeeds only at 20 to 30 metres in the second; an institute that is the most famous in the Third Reich in the first is the most famous in the world in the second, etc... It all boils down to one thing; either it is a document that is being made public and it should be the same in 1961 as in 1951, and in its German and French versions, or it is an apocryphal document. How are we historians supposed to emerge honourably from this affair if we are called upon to talk about it? People are automatically going to say that it is an apocryphal document. And, since the description of the premises agrees neither in German nor in French with the official description taken from the documents produced at Nuremberg, if we are told that this Nyiszli never set foot in Auschwitz, there will be no lack of reasons for so claiming. Example: the gas chambers, Miklos Nyiszli tells us, are 200 metres long, and the document produced at Nuremberg tells us that they have a floor area of 210 m², 400 m² or 580 m², giving widths of 1.05 m, 2 m and 2.90 m respectively, which is not reasonable. It is all the less likely in that 3,000 people are supposed to be able to enter and move around easily, there are pillars down the centre and benches on each side. Another example, in the French version two places are 500 m apart, in the German version 3 km, or vice-versa. Etc... When this German version was published by «Quick», I wrote to Mr Tibère Kremer, but the letter was returned «no longer at this address». I wrote to «Quick», and was told that they could not send the letter on to Dr Nyiszli because he was dead (!) Perhaps you could pass these remarks on to Mr Tibère Kremer, whose address you must have because the translation you published was obtained from him. It remains only for me to ask you kindly not to misunderstand the purpose of the remarks I have taken the liberty of addressing to you. Historical documents should be respected and versions whose accuracy cannot be guaranteed should not be published without due consideration. As it happens, my studies requiring it, I have been looking for the original for fifteen years and nobody has ever been able to tell me where I could consult it. The best qualified historians in the world know nothing about it. The versions that have been made public are divergent and contradict one another from one page to the next. The author speaks of places he obviously never visited, otherwise he would not attribute a length of 200 metres to a room that would be only 1.05 m wide if it were true, or at most 2.90 m, etc... Such things lead to the conclusion that it must indeed be an apocryphal document. If, therefore, you were able to provide me with enough certainties to enable me to write «authentic document» against the name of Dr Nyiszli in the references in my works, I should be particularly grateful. Yours etc., Paul RASSINIER # THE REPLY FROM JULLIARD 8th December 1961 Mr Paul RASSINIER 36 rue Bapet, ASNIERES (Seine) Sir, Thank you indeed for having sent me the typed copy of your letter of 16th November. I am forwarding it this very day to Mr Tibère Kremer, translator of the book by Doctor Miklos Nyiszli, «Médecin à Auschwitz», so that he can reply to you. I can however tell you that it is true that Doctor Nyiszli is dead, but his wife is still living. I have also shown his book to several deportees, who have confirmed its authenticity. Yours etc., Pierre JAVET I am still awaiting the reply from Mr Tibère Kremer. It is likely that I shall never receive it. First, on 24th October 1951, Mr Tibère Kremer sent me a reply from Dr Nyiszli to the letter I referred to when I wrote to Mr Julliard. Second, the research I have continued to carry out regarding this singular witness has resulted in my receiving information from New York, (where the book translated by Mr Richard Seaver was published in 1951 with a preface by Professor Bruno Bettelheim), that Dr Nyiszli was dead long before his testimony was published for the first time. If this is true, then this dead witness - yet another - would have the distinction of having written to me after his death. And the silence of Mr Tibère Kremer would then be understandable. No further comment. 477 ===== PDF PAGE 0469 | page-469.md ===== LE DRAME DES JUIFS EUROPEENS [The Tragedy of the European Jews] by Paul RASSINIER Les Sept couleurs, Paris 1964, pages 52 to 58. [4] ### III - THE WITNESS MIKLOS NYISZLI (Médecin à Auschwitz) In March 1951, in Les Temps Modernes, a monthly review run by Jean-Paul Sartre, a certain Tibère Kremer presented under the title SS Obersturmführer Docteur Mengele and the sub-title Journal d'un médecin déporté au crematorium d'Auschwitz (Diary of a doctor deported to the Auschwitz crematorium) a false testimony on this camp which will remain one of the most abominable unscrupulous actions of all time. The author was, he said, a Hungarian Jew by the name of Miklos Nyiszli, a doctor by profession, as stated in the sub-title. There followed 27 pages (1655-1672) of selected extracts. The April issue of the review published a further 31 pages (1855-1886). This false testimony had just been presented to American public opinion by Mr Richard Seaver with a preface by Professor Bruno Bettelheim. It was not until 1961 that it was published in its entirety, in German, in five issues of the Illustrated Munich weekly Quick (January-February) with the title Auschwitz, and in French in a volume of 256 pages by the Julliard press under the title Médecin à Auschwitz and the sub-title Souvenirs d'un médecin déporté. In 1951, it was a sensation in France: we were in the middle of the Mensonge d'Ulysse trial, and my soul appeared all the more blackened in the eyes of the public. In 1961, it was again a sensation, throughout the world this time: we were in the middle of the Eichmann trial... For he certainly had things to say, this Dr Miklos Nyiszli! And what is more, he produced the first detailed account of virtually all the horrors of which the Auschwitz camp had been the theatre, and in particular the exterminations in gas chambers. Among other things, he claimed that in this camp there were four gas chambers 200 m long (without specifying the width) together with four other rooms of the same dimension to prepare the victims for the sacrifice, asphyxiated 20,000 people a day, and that four crematoriums, each with 15 muffles with 3 places, incinerated them as work proceeded. He also added that in addition 5,000 other people were also killed each day using less modern methods and burnt in huge open air pits. He also added that he personally witnessed these systematic massacres for eight months. Lastly (on page 50 of the volume published by Julliard), he stated that when he arrived in the camp (end of May 1944 at the earliest), extermination by gas had been going on at the above rate for four years. First observation: this gentleman did not know that, if there were gas chambers at Auschwitz, they were not finally installed and operational until 20th February 1943 (Document NO 4463, already cited). Second observation: he did not know either that the gas chambers had officially and respectively a floor area of 210 m² for the first (precisely that of which he spoke), 400 m² for the second, and 380 m² for the last two. In other words, the gas chamber he saw and minutely described the operation of was 1.05 m wide. A long corridor, in other words. And as he states that down the centre was a row of columns with holes through which the gas escaped (these led to holes in the roof, where medical orderlies wearing Red Cross armbands threw in the tablets of Zyclon-B) and that on each side, along the walls, there were benches where people could sit (certainly not very wide, these benches) and that 3,000 people could circulate easily (they proceeded by batches of 3,000). I submit that either Dr Miklos Nyiszli never existed, or if he did exist he never set foot in the places he describes. Third observation: if the Auschwitz gas chambers and the open air pyre exterminated 25,000 persons a day for four and a half years (for according to this «witness» they were on exterminating for six months after his arrival at the camp) that makes a total of: 365 x 4,5 = 1,642 days and in terms of corpses: 25,000 x 1,642 = 41 million people, of whom a little over 32 million were killed in the gas chambers and a little less than 9 million in the open air pyres. I would add that, while it might have been possible for the four gas chambers to asphyxiate 20,000 persons a day (in batches of 3,000, says the witness) it would have been absolutely impossible for the four crematoriums to incinerate them at the same rate. Even if the furnaces had 15 muffles with three places. And even if the operation took only 20 minutes, as Dr Miklos Nyiszli claims, and which is again false. On the basis of these figures, the total capacity of all the furnaces working in parallel would still only have been 540 an hour, or 12,960 per 24 hour day. And at this rate, it would not have been possible to extinguish the furnaces until some years after the Liberation. Provided, of course, that not a minute was wasted over almost ten years. If now we make enquiries at the Père Lachaise cemetery about the cremation time for three bodies in one muffle; we discover that the Auschwitz furnaces would still be burning today and would not be extinguished for some time to come! I say nothing about the two open air pyres (which according to our author were 50 metres long, 6 wide and 3 deep) by means of which it is supposed to have been possible to burn 9 million bodies in the four and a half years. There is also another impossibility, at least as regards extermination using gas, since if there were gas chambers in Auschwitz, they were officially operational only from 20th February 1943 until 17th November 1944, or for 17 or 18 months. At the rate and rate of 20,000 by Nyiszli Miklos, we then arrive at a figure of 11 million corpses and if if we add the 9 million from the open air pyres, about twenty million which, by what virtue of mathematics we do not know, Mr Tibor KREMER, in his introduction to this «testimony», summarily reduces to 6 million. This is worrying. Especially if, as claimed by Dr Kasztner, they were not functioning for 8 or 9 of these 17 or 18 months. But that is not all. In contradiction with all who have given evidence on Auschwitz both before and after him, this Dr Miklos Nyiszli also contradicts himself. With the others, it is he who says (p. 56) that the gas is given off from the Zyclon-B tablets «on contact with air». Hoess having told us that it was «on contact with water vapour»; it is he who tells us (p. 56) that «in five minutes» everybody is dead, Hoess' Zyclon-B requiring «half an hour»; it is again he who tells us (p. 56) that the Hungarian Jews were transported to Auschwitz at the rate of «four or five trains a day», each of forty wagons, each containing ninety people (p. 15), or 3,600 in all, but (p. 18) «about five thousand people». This last claim cannot fail to surprise if one knows that the deportation of Hungarian Jews lasted 52 days (16th May to 7th July 1944) according to the Kasztner Report and «Histoire de Joël Brand», in agreement on this point, while Hoess said at Nuremberg «a period of four to six weeks» (T.XI, p. 412). Let us calculate on the basis of the four possible hypotheses: 1. 4 trains of 3,600 persons = 14,400 people per day or 748,800 in 52 days; 2. 4 trains of 5,000 persons = 20,000 people per day or 1,040,000 in 52 days; 3. 5 trains of 3,600 persons = 18,000 people per day or 936,000 in 52 days; 4. 5 trains of 5,000 persons = 25,000 people per day or 1,300,000 in 52 days; However, in statistics of Jewish origin themselves, the highest figure given for the Hungarian Jews is 437,000 people. I leave the reader to draw his own conclusions on the figures given by this singular witness. I would add that the Kasztner Report tells us that on 19th March 1944, Eichmann arrived in Budapest with a commando of 150 men and that 1,000 wagons were at his disposal for the operation of transporting the Jews. If, as Dr Miklos Nyiszli tells us, the trip took four days - which is likely, as the convoy in which I was transported from Compiègne to Buchenwald took that long - then as from the sixth day there would have been no wagons left in Budapest station and the operation would have been suspended until the ninth day. That is so, even without taking account of the number of wagons necessary for bringing all the Jews from all parts of Hungary to the assembly points. The Judgement of the Jerusalem Court that condemned Eichmann to death in fact completely demolished this testimony by declaring (point 112) that, «in less than two months, 434,351 persons were deported in 147 goods trains, at a rate of 3,000 per train, men, women and children, or 2 to 3 trains a day on average», and as we shall see below, this new version is no more valid. There are countless passages in Dr Miklos Nyiszli's testimony where he contradicts himself: the crematorium being in action, his nose and throat are assailed by «the smell of burning flesh and hair» (p. 19) but «the dead are shorn» (p. 60) after their removal from the gas chamber and before cremating them, then, «rough hands cut off the tresses of their well-groomed hair» (p. 168) before they were sent to the bath and on to the gas chamber. And many other examples. But, what is the most significant is what one discovers in comparing this French version of the so-called testimony with the German version published in Installments in the Munich Illustrated weekly «Quick», starting on 15th January 1961. In this version, the crematoriums incinerated a total of only 10,000 persons a day instead of 20,000. A pistol marksman who hits his target at 40-50 metres in French succeeds only at 20 to 30 metres in German. An institute that is the most famous in the Third Reich in the first is the most famous in the world in the second. «Beautiful nape become «Persian nape». The Auschwitz camp, which could contain «up to 500,000 people» is now only «huge», the figure having disappeared because between 1951 and 1961 the author - who had in fact been dead for a long time as we shall see below - found out through an intermediary that at Nuremberg Höss had stated that «it had contained up to 140,000 people» (T.XI, p.149). A distance of 3 km was reduced to 500 m, etc., etc. It all boils down to one thing: either it is an authentic document and it should be the same in 1961 as in 1951, and in in German and French versions, or it is an apocryphal document. The fact that these two versions agree on virtually nothing, and neither of them with far example, the description of the premises derived from the documents produced at Nuremberg, authorises us to claim at least that this Miklos Nyiszli never set foot in Auschwitz. I insist, at least, I should have suspected as much from the very first page of his testimony: does he not say there of the convoy in which he is transported, «leaving the Tatra behind us, we passed through the stations of Lublin and Cracow» (to go to Auschwitz from the Hungary-Romanian border), which proves that not only did he not know the Auschwitz camp, and never saw it, but did not even know the route that led there. And in Paris he managed to find a publishing house willing to put this imbecility in circulation among the public! In April 1951, when extracts from his testimony were published by Les Temps Modernes, I wrote to him. On 24th October of the same year he replied to me through Mr Tibère Kremer that in reality there were «2,500,000 people exterminated in the gas chambers of Auschwitz»... 478 ===== PDF PAGE 0470 | page-470.md ===== In February 1961, after having read the complete text in Quick, I wrote to Mr Tibère Kremer, but the letter was returned «no longer at this address». I wrote to «Quick», and was told that they could not send the letter on to Dr Nyiszli because he was dead (!) In November 1961, having read the complete text in the French version, I wrote to the publisher Julliard asking him to be kind enough to pass on the above observations, at least to Mr Tibère Kremer, whose address he must have had, since he had just published his translation. I added: «Historical documents should be respected and versions whose accuracy cannot be guaranteed should not be published without due consideration. As it happens, my studies requiring it, I have been looking for the original for fifteen years and nobody has ever been able to tell me where I could consult it. The best qualified historians in the world know nothing about it. The versions that have been made public are divergent and contradict one another from one page to the next. The author speaks of places he obviously never visited, etc... If, therefore, you were able to provide me with enough certainties to enable me to write «authentic document» against the name of Dr Nyiszli in the references in my works, I should be particularly grateful.» On 8th December, in the name of the Julliard publishing house, of which he is one of the literary directors, Mr Pierre Javet wrote to me in reply: «Thank you indeed for having sent me the typed copy of your letter of 16th November. I am forwarding it this very day to Mr Tibère Kremer, translator of the book by Doctor Miklós Nyiszli. «Médecin à Auschwitz», so that he can reply to you. I can however tell you that it is true that Doctor Nyiszli is dead, but his wife is still living. I have also shown his book to several deportees, who have confirmed its authenticity. (Signed) Pierre JAVET» I am still awaiting the reply from Mr Tibère Kremer. It is likely that I shall never receive it. First, on 24th October 1951, Mr Tibère Kremer sent me a reply from Dr Nyiszli to the letter I referred to when I wrote to Mr Julliard. Second, the research I have continued to carry out into this singular witness has resulted in my receiving the information from New York, where the book was published in 1951, that Dr Nyiszli was dead long before his testimony was published for the first time. If this is true, then this dead witness - yet another - would have the distinction of having written to me after his death. And the silence of Mr Tibère Kremer would then be understandable. No further comment. ### Comments on Paul Rassinier's texts I have presented above the four successive texts written by Paul Rassinier to demolish «Médecin à Auschwitz» by Dr Miklos Nyiszli, translated into French from the Hungarian by Mr Tibère Kremer. The reasoning is valid, but the references are archaic and superficial. Paul Rassinier could not or would not visit Auschwitz in «communist» Poland, the main reason being perhaps his ill-health. All his criticisms are tainted by this deficiency, though it must be pointed out that in the course of time his attacks became more precise and detailed. From a refusal to argue «with such an individual», written in 1961, he comes round three years later to throwing the blame - as I did at first - on Tibère Kremer, who is not at fault, and thinking that the account was not by an authentic former prisoner of Birkenau. Although some of his criticisms remain valid, Rassinier's rancorous verbiage no longer has any place. Dr Miklos Nyiszli was an authentic witness, which can easily be proved. But the mystery of the «multiplier» still remains complete. ### Conclusions The testimonies of doctors BENDEL and NYISZLI are, of course, precious. Certain events or details that they describe cannot have been invented. They must have been there, in Birkenau and in 1944. Bendel asserts, contrary to all that we knew, that there were two gas chambers in the basement of Krematorium II, and he turns out to be right. Each had two columns for the introduction of Zyclon-B, and he gives the approximate dimensions in his deposition. I believed for a long time - and I was not the only one - that he was assimilating Leichenkeller 2, the undressing room, to a gas chamber, an opinion reinforced by the description of the entrance as being a «double door of solid oak», a description applying above all to the double door for access to the undressing room from inside the building. Henryk TAUBER, the only witness to make a 95% reliable declaration, confirms the division of Leichenkeller I, the gas chamber, into two in order to be able to «treat» small groups, which implies that in the light of experience, the 210m² of Leichenkeller I were found to be too big for the number of victims received. In the case of a normal convoy, and depending on the selection, 600 to 1,200 people were destined to be exterminated by gas. Mixing up the undressing room and the gas chamber would be a serious blunder for somebody who claimed to have been an authentic deportee attached as doctor to the Sonderkommando, and could have completely discredited his testimony and writings. His credibility, established through cross-checking with Tauber for the arrangement of the premises of Krematorium II, which he seems to have visited but rarely, is not valid for the other Krematorien and is no longer acceptable as regards the figures. Here the exaggeration is manifest and sounds like the rehashing of stories developed in their own closed world by members of the Sonderkommando. Dr Bendel, prisoner number 167,460, was wrong not to have better described his experiences after the war. I reproach him for having used his medical qualifications and his status as one who had miraculously escaped from the Auschwitz death camp in order to have his statements accepted as the absolute truth and to declare himself infallible. His motives are to be found in the pride of his personality, his intransigent attitude and a desire for vengeance without pity for all SS men - and who could blame him for that? But not all were criminals. And another reason for being so categorical was surely the desire not to dwell on his past as a medical experimenter in the laboratory hut of the Gypsy camp. This attitude led him to put forward and maintain statements that I now consider, with present knowledge and in the light of contemporary documents, to be untrue. The case of Dr Miklós NYISZLI's book is baffling. In my opinion, it contains the most impressive evocation of the «demential nightmare» experienced by the thousand men of the Sonderkommando. Located at the very centre of the madness of the Krematorien, Nyiszli plunged into it even more than his companions as one of the pathologists working for Dr Mengele. It was inevitable that some mad medical man should «take advantage» of the unprecedented opportunities opened up by the death camps. Mengele was the man who thrived in this criminal environment. Nyiszli, badly shaken after the Sonderkommando revolt of 6th October 1944, suggested to Mengele: «Herr Obersturmführer, this environment is unsuitable for scientific research. Wouldn't it be possible to transfer the dissecting room to a better place?» Mengele's only reply was «What's wrong? Getting sentimental?» Nyiszli had not understood anything. Mengele, notorious for his crimes against humanity, has now become the symbol of the unscrupulous medical man. Nyiszli has a disdainful appreciation of the SS «pseudo-science» and of the «research into the causes of the phenomenon of twin births» undertaken by Mengele, studies associated with the race war that most people reject with horror and disgust. However, politicians can sometimes overcome this feeling when they are interested in this work for some reason. At the other end of the world, up to 1945, others were using the same corrupt practices as Mengele, but in a specific field: biological warfare. Those of «Unit 731» succeeded. The Japanese military surgeon Shiro ISHII was able to negotiate with the Americans over the only known results «concerning experiments carried out under scientific control demonstrating the direct effects of agents of biological warfare on human beings». [«La Guerre chimique et biologique» by Daniel Riche, Editions Pierre Bellond, Paris 1982, pages 153 to 162]. Mengele's «research» has never been of interest to anybody and it is now easy to obtain the results (multiple births) he wanted to achieve. Nyiszli follows traditional morality in judging Mengele, which is all the easier for him in that he received a traditional German university training from 1927 to 1930 in the Forensic Institute of Breslau [Wrocław since 1945], ending with an «Inaugural Dissertation» thesis entitled «Selbstmordarten auf Grund des Sektionsmaterials des Breslauer Gerichtsärztlichen Instituts von Juni 1927 - Mai 1930» (Categories of suicide according to the dissection material of the Breslau Forensic Institute from June 1927 to May 1930). Undoubtedly a scientist, having also spent time in America, Dr Miklos Nyiszli was in the habit of writing PRECISE reports where errors had to be avoided. However, in reporting the history of the Krematorien he is mistaken, though of good faith, when he reports what he has been told without being able to verify the facts [pages 44 and 45]. «From the conversation I learned the history of the crematoriums. Tens of thousands of prisoners had built them of stone and concrete, finishing them in the middle of an extremely rigorous winter. Every stone was stained with their blood. They had worked day and night, often without food or drink, dressed in mere tatters, so that these infernal death factories, whose first victims they became, might be finished in time. Since then four years had passed. Countless thousands had since climbed down from the box cars and crossed the thresholds of the Krematoriums.» Bendel repeats the legend in a similar fashion. But when Nyiszli writes [p. 84]: «Glancing upward, I noticed that the four lightning rods placed at the corners of the crematorium chimney were twisted and bent, the result of the previous night's high temperatures.» It suffices to compare this with David Olère's sketch [see Document 89, Part II, Chapter 5] of Krematorium III to see a faithful illustration of the text. But both commit a slight error. Photograph PMO neg. no. 20995/507 shows the south side and west end of Krematorium III with, rising 2 metres above the chimney, four lightning conductors that are not - at the four corners- but in the centre of each of the four sides of the chimney. Scarcely visible at a distance of 100 metres - the distance at which the photograph was taken - they become totally invisible beyond 200 metres. Only prisoners working within the precincts of Krematorien II and III could see and remember them. This, admittedly minor, detail could not be dreamed up. Nyiszli described the Sonderkommando revolt rather poorly, because he did not participate in it. His account is second hand: he is repeating the words of an SS man. When he claims to have seen (page 116): «the red-tiled roof and supporting beams of number three crematorium [Kr IV] blow off, followed by an immense spiral of flame and black smoke». he is inventing, not having been able to directly see the start of the fire because there was a distance of 700 metres between Krematorium II and IV and he could not see through Krematorium III, a wood, and sewage treatment station II. What is more, the roof of Krematorium IV was not of RED TILES, like those of Krematorien II and III, but of BLACK ROOFING FELT, which explains how it caught fire so easily [photographic proof: PMO neg. nos 20995/509 and /465]. The problem of the completely false figures in Chapter Seven still remains, however. An author such as Rassinier can easily, without knowing Birkenau, see that the text contains errors and contradictions, and with the aid of his documentation see that the figures are incompatible with reality. The not very serious criticisms by Rassinier, who was short of reference material, are now obsolete. Thanks to the original Bauleitung drawings and the remaining ruins, a more detailed analysis reveals that on average the figures have been multiplied by FOUR. But not ALL the figures. The distances outside Krematorium II are correct, well estimated, but as soon as Nyiszli enters the Krematorium building and starts talking about the «cellars», everything goes wrong. I consider it to be quite impossible that these wrong figures could simply be «careless», since they are in such stark contrast to the precision and truth of other passages in the book. As far as our information goes at present, responsibility for these data remains with Dr Nyiszli, who does not appear to be an irresponsible man, but on the contrary an authentic, lucid and intelligent witness, in possession of all his faculties. I judge both these men severely, because I have a university training myself and exercise a profession where I have to be precise and avoid error at all costs. It is impardonable that they should have «spoilt» their testimonies, which ought to have been of the very best in view of their training, unpardonable that through their accounts doubts were raised that led to the creation of revisionism, whose very existence - and this is perfectly understandable - shocks surviving deportees who are unable to understand how it is that certain people can cast doubt on the reality of their sufferings and the loss of their loved ones through denying the existence of homicidal gas chambers and presenting the concentration camps as «Club Méditerranée» holiday villages. The historical methodology that consists of relying on raw testimony, considered to be «sacrosanct», such as the accounts of Bendel and Nyiszli, lopping off the parts that seem «dubious» or that «don't fit», is a faulty methodology that necessarily leads to imprecision [for example, in «Les chambres à gaz ont existé» by G. Wellers, p. 113, Bendel's account is cut without any indication that this has been done (lines 9 and 10) and in «Les chambres à gaz, Secret d'Etat», p. 205, the phrase concerning the presence of Himmler, considered unlikely, disappears]. Not authenticated by original documents, these early, precious, indispensable testimonies are full of imprecisions, errors and non sequiturs, even though on some points they correspond. They can be used only after historical verification and with explanations. This is how the historians of the Oswiecim Museum proceeded in producing their book «Auschwitz vu par les SS». Those who use raw testimony without taking such precautions cause the careful and logical reader to spontaneously reject the material. The «shaky» parts of the accounts, of low or zero credibility, often systematically «forgotten» are put forward BEFORE ANYTHING ELSE by the revisionist authors. *** 479 ===== PDF PAGE 0471 | page-471.md ===== PART THREE CHAPTER 3 # DEPOSITION OF 24th MAY 1945 BY HENRYK TAUBER former member of the Sonderkommando of Krematorien I, II, IV and V # Introduction The testimony by Henryk TAUBER [Documents 1,2,3 and 4] is the best that exists on the Birkenau Krematorien. Being 95% historically reliable, it stands head and shoulders above the rest. Though without the benefit of higher education, Henryk Tauber, a modest man with no desire to seek the limelight, remembers perfectly. He was the only one to give a precise and detailed description of the equipment and working of the Krematorien. His extremely accurate account has been used little if at all by the historians, quite simply because they could not understand it. Tauber's name was not as much as mentioned during the «Faurisson trial». The reason for this is that in order to be able to understand and above all to appreciate the quality of Tauber's account, one must have firmly in mind the arrangement of the premises. ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) ![img-1.jpeg](img-1.jpeg) When Mrs Dorota Ryszka, a PMO interpreter, translated it orally for me, I closed my eyes and was able to follow Tauber, despite the deadpan style of his deposition, as he guided me through the different parts of Krematorium II. Of the many accounts, testimonies and confessions with which I was familiar, none had the accuracy of Tauber's account. I felt that it should be presented in its entirety and in a form as close as possible to the original. I used two translations of the Polish text, one by Mrs Dorota Ryszka and the other by Mr Adam Rutkowski, translations that I have adapted by including my own remarks and references so that the reader, too, can let himself be guided by Henryk Tauber. Some people may reproach him for his attitude, accuse him of having taken his work as a «stoker» too much to heart, and to have masked the sordid reality of the cremations by speaking in such a technical fashion. For my part, I refuse to level the slightest criticism at this exceptional witness. His neutral tone, free from grandiloquent opprobrium or political references, is at the limit of the bearable and is exactly suited to the historical detachment necessary for a factual and dispassionate study of the «murder weapon». Henryk Tauber's deposition enabled me at the last moment to authenticate the testimony of Dr Paul Bendel that I was on the point of invalidating. Document 1 ![img-2.jpeg](img-2.jpeg) Document 2 Document 3 Document 4 Documents 1 and 2: PMO photos, neg. nos 21334/64 and /65 Henryk TAUBER in civilian clothes in May or June 1945 at the time of his testimony to the Polish judge Jan Sehn. His face gives us a subjective idea of the value of his testimony, which was for Jan Sehn, a vital element in his research into the crimes perpetrated in the former KL Auschwitz-Birkenau. Documents 3 and 4: PMO photos neg Nos 21334/123 and /122 Henryk TAUBER in May or June 1945 having put on his old zebra suit over his new civilian clothes for the benefit of the photographers. On his chest is his prison number 90142, with the red triangle of the political prisoner surrounded by a yellow but indicating that he is a Jew. It appears that Tauber probably owed his survival to his very specialized function of «stoker», which made him too indispensable and precious for the SS to be able to liquidate him before January 1945. 481 ===== PDF PAGE 0472 | page-472.md ===== [Annex 18 to Volume XI of the Hoess trial] ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) # DEPOSITION In Auschwitz, on 24th May 1945, Jan Sehn, examining judge in Cracow, member of the Central Commission for the Investigation of Hitherto Crimes in Poland, at the request of, in the presence of and with the participation of the vice-prosecutor of the Cracow Regional Court, Edward Pechalski, pursuant to Article 254 and in connection with Articles 107 and 115 of the Criminal Code, interrogated former Auschwitz concentration camp prisoner 90124, who testified as follows: My name is HENRYK TAUBER, I was born on 8th July 1917 in Chrzanow, son of Abraham Tauber and Minda née Szapowic, unmarried, of the Jewish faith, of Polish nationality and citizenship, shoemaker by trade, domiciled at 1 Grunwaldzka Street, Chrzanow, with no police record. Until the war broke out in 1939, I lived with my immediate family of 12 persons in Chrzanow. Of this family, one of my brothers-in-law and myself are the only ones to have survived the war. Up to now I have had no news of the fate of one of my brothers who went to Russia. After many expropriations and displacements, my family and I were separated and I found myself in the Cracow ghetto. There, I was arrested in November 1942 and incarcerated in the Jewish police prison at 31 Jozefinska Street. On 19th January 1943, I was transferred to Auschwitz with 400 Jews from the Cracow ghetto and 800 Aryans from Monteluppich [Cracow prison]. This transport consisted of about 800 men and 400 women. On our arrival at Auschwitz station, the women were separated from the men and installed in the women's camp in Birkenau. Included in a group of 250 Jewish prisoners and about 550 Aryans, I was assigned to block 27, sector B.Ib. This block was unfinished, without windows, doors or banks. Later on, I went to blocks 22 and 20 in the same sector of the camp. I spent a few days at Buna [Monowitz] from where, because of typhus detected in my group, I was transferred back to Birkenau and put in block 21 of sector B.Ib. In the meantime, there were the formalities of registration, during which I stated that I was a qualified fitter-mechanic by trade. ![img-1.jpeg](img-1.jpeg) At the beginning of February 1943, Unterscharführer [sergeant] Groll of the Arbeitsdienst [labour service] and prisoner Mikosz of the Arbeitsdienst [labour deployment] came to our block and selected from among the prisoners living there some specialties for what was supposed to be work in the Auschwitz workshops. Twenty young Jews were picked out. We were then taken to block IV [main camp] where we were examined by a doctor who declared us all fit. The same day we sent taken by truck, under SS guard, to Auschwitz and installed in Bunker 7 [basement cell] in block XI [main camp]. The next day we, the twenty prisoners, were taken under a stronger SS guard, to the bunker in which, as we learned later, Krematorium I was installed. There we met seven Jews, among them Jankowski and three Poles. The Capo was Mietek Morawa from Cracow. He was a tall, blond, slim man about 24 years old. One of his brothers was a boxer in Cracow. I heard that Morawa's family lived in Debnikach [a district of Cracow]. From the very beginning of his activity in the first crematorium [Kr I], he was a very strict Capo who carried out the work ordered by the Germans in conformity with the regulations. Later on, he was promoted to Obercapo [principal Capo] of Birkenau Krematorien II and III. There, he tried to live on good terms with us, for there were then about 400 of us and we had been working there long enough to be ready for anything and to let nobody spit in our plate [Polish expression: «not let anyone walk over us»]. The day after our arrival at the crematorium [Kr I] [Document 5], an SS Unterscharführer [sergeant] whose name I forget gave us a pep talk [this scene took place in the northwest yard of Krematorium I, which was at that time enclosed by a fence]. He warned us that we were going to have to do unpleasant work to which we would have to accustom ourselves, and which after a certain time would present no more difficulty. He spoke in Polish the whole time. Never during all his speech did he once mention the fact that we would have to burn the bodies of human beings. As soon as he finished the speech, he ordered «Los, an die Arbeit!» [OK, get to work!] and started beating our heads with a bludgeon. With Mietek Morawa, he drove us towards the bunker [Leichenhalle, or morgue] of Krematorium I, where we discovered some hundreds of corpses. They were in heaps, one on top of the other, dirty and frozen. Many of them were covered in blood, their skulls crushed, others had their stomachs open, probably as the result of autopsy. All were frozen and we had to separate them from one another with axes. Beaten, and harassed by the Unterscharführer and Capo Morawa, we dragged these corpses to the «hajcowitas» [German-Polish term meaning «boiler room»], where there were three furnaces, each with two muffles [Document 6]. I designate as «muffle», in conformity with the nomenclature used by the Soviet Commission, the corpse incineration hearths [A - see document 5]. Document 5: Drawing of Krematorium I [PMO neg. no. 20858/1] Drawing No D.59042 by J A Topf & Söhne of Erfurt, dated 25/9/41. Einbau einer Einäscherungsanlage für KL Auschwitz Installation of a cremation facility for Auschwitz Concentration Camp». [This drawing concerns the installation of the third furnace, «Neuer Ofen/new furnace», fitted with a «Druckluftgebläse/pulsed air blower».] # Document 6: [Photo on page 65 of «KL AUSCHWITZ», published by the Auschwitz International Committee, undated] Present state of the eastern corner of the Krematorium I furnace room. Two of the three corpse charging trolleys found after the liberation of the camp have been put back in place before the cremation muffles. They are incomplete: the one on the left lacks a wheel and the one in the foreground lacks the nonrequiring handle. This photograph enables anybody who has not actually visited Auschwitz to form an opinion on the value of one testimony that claimed it was possible to introduce TWELVE corpses into a single muffle. This photo-makes its clear that even the figure of five «monohanes» put forward by Henryk Tauber is at the limit of the possible. 482 ===== PDF PAGE 0473 | page-473.md ===== In the «boiler room» [B, Ofenraum/furnace room, also known as Heizraum/hajcownia], we put the corpses on a trolley with a high platform that ran on rails installed between the furnaces. This trolley went from the door [D] of the bunker [E, Leichenhalle/morgue], where the corpses were, on a turntable [F, Drehscheibe/szajba] that crossed the «boiler room», on broad rails [C]. From these there ran narrower rails [G] on which the trolley itself fitted, leading to each muffle. The trolley ran on four metal wheels. Its strong frame was in the form of a box, and to make it heavier we weighted it with stones and scrap metal. The upper part was extended by a metal slide over two metres long. We put five corpses on this: first we put two with the legs towards the furnace and the belly upwards, then two more the other way round but still with the belly upwards, and finally we put the fifth one with the legs towards the furnace and the back upwards. The arms of this last one hung down and seemed to embrace the other bodies below. [This number is possible only with skeletal corpses, as Henryk Tauber formally states below. With «normal» adult bodies, it would be difficult to charge more than two or three at a time. But, when a witness such as Alter Fajnzylberg, alias Stanislas Jankowski, states in a deposition of April 1945 concerning his stay in Krematorium I: «In one of these openings (muffles) there was room for TWELVE corpses, but we put no more than five because that way they burned more rapidly!», one is justified in denouncing a figure that is pure propaganda. Whoever has visited Auschwitz as an ordinary tourist and, after a silent prayer, has seen or examined the four gaping mouths of the two reconstructed furnaces of Krematorium I will understand me without any further explanation. We find here the famous multiplying factor of four used by Dr Miklos Nyiszli (a normal cremation capacity of three corpses multiplied by four comes to twelve)] The weight of such a load sometimes exceeded that of the ballast, and in order to prevent the trolley from tipping up and spilling the corpses we had to support the slide by slipping a plank underneath it. Once the slide was loaded, we pushed it into the muffle. Once the corpses were introduced into the furnace, we held them there by means of a metal box that slid on top of the charging slide, while other prisoners pulled the trolley back, leaving the corpses behind. There was a handle at the end of the slide for gripping and pulling back the sliding box. Then we closed the door [of the muffle]. In Krematorium I, there were three, two-muffle furnaces, as I have already mentioned. Each muffle could incinerate five human bodies. Thirty corpses could be incinerated at the same time in this crematorium. At the time when I was working there, the incineration of such a charge [5 corpses in one muffle] took up to an hour and a half, because they were the bodies of very thin people, real skeletons, which burned very slowly. I know from the experience gained by observing cremation in Krematorien II and III that the bodies of fat people burn very much faster. The process of incineration is accelerated by the combustion of human fat which thus produces additional heat. All these furnaces were located in a hall that I have called the «boiler room». Near the entrance to this hall, there was one furnace [H] with its hearth [I, firebox] facing the entrance door [M] and the muffles towards the interior of the hall. The two others faced in the opposite direction, muffles towards the entrance door and hearths towards the back of the hall. They were at the other end of the room. These furnaces were coke-fired. They were built, as could be seen by the inscriptions on the doors of the furnaces, by the firm «Topf & Söhne» of Erfurt. The trolley for transporting the corpses was also supplied by this firm. [These precise details may appear superfluous to a current visitor to Krematorium I, for he will see exactly what Henryk Tauber described, but at the end of May 1945, the date of this deposition, the interior of Krematorium I was still arranged as an air raid shelter. The initial state of the premises had to be established with the help of prisoners' memories. This made it possible to reconstitute the interior, two of the furnaces being rebuilt using the metal parts still remaining and a chimney being erected.] Behind the «boiler room» there was a small coke store [J] with a little office beside it [K, Schreibstube/szreibsztuba] and then on the right the store for the urns [L] containing human ashes. The entrance door [M] which now leads to the hall that I call the «boiler room» was put in later [Document 7]. When I was working in Krematorium I, that door did not exist. We used to enter through the corridor [Vorraum] to the «boiler room» through the door [N] to the left of the entrance [O]. There were two [other] doors of this type [on the right of the entrance]. The first door [P], on the right of the corridor, opened on an auxiliary store [Q, room originally designated «Aufbahrungsraum/laying out room»] where the spare fire bars were kept. The men from small transports, brought by truck, used to undress there. When I was working at Krematorium I, they were shot in the bunker [E] of the crematorium (the part of the building where they gassed people was known as the «bunker»). Such transports arrived once or twice a week and comprised 30 to 40 people. They were of different nationalities. During the executions, we, the members of the Sonderkommando, were shut up in the coke store. Then we would find the bodies of the shot people in the bunker. All the corpses had a firearm wound in the neck (Genickschuss). The executions were always carried out by the same SS man from the Political Section [Politische Abteilung], accompanied by another SS from the same Section who made out the death certificates for those shot. Capo Morawa was not with us in the coke store during the shootings. I don't know what he did during this time. We carried the still warm and bloody bodies of the shot people from the bunker to the «boiler room». The second door [R] on the right of the corridor led to a small room [S, initially designated Waschraum/(corpse) washing room] where the human ashes were put. We passed through this room to reach the bunker [E] proper, used during my time there for shooting the victims and which previously had been used for gassing people. In December 1942, 400 prisoners of the Sonderkommando were gassed there. The prisoners who worked before me in Krematorium I, where I had met them, told me that. I worked in Krematorium I from the beginning of February 1943 to 4th March 1943, or just over one month. During all this time, we were put in bunker [cell] 7 of block XI. We were in fact 22 Jews there, because at the beginning of February, two dentists, Czech Jews, were sent to join us, coming from Birkenau. The seven Jews I had met working in Krematorium I were also locked in block XI, but in another cell. Capo Morawa and the Poles Jozek and Wacek who worked with him, lived in block XV, which was open [block XI was a prison, unlike block 15, where entry, exit and movement inside were unrestricted]. Besides the two Czech Jews, four Poles came to join our group during that month: Staszek and Wladek, whose family names I have forgotten, and Władysław Biskup from Cracow and Jan Agrestowski from the commune of Pas in the Warsaw region. I remember their names well, because I wrote letters to their families in German for them. These last four Poles were [also] housed in block XV. When we left for work, the old Kommando that had preceded us at Krematorium I was called «Kommando Krematorium I». Our group, that is the 22 Jews from block XI and the four Poles who were detailed to it, was called «Kommando Krematorium II». We did not understand why there was this separate designation. Later on, we understood that we had been sent there for one month's practical training in Krematorium I in order to prepare us for working in Krematorium II. I would emphasize that the crematoriums and the Kommandos who worked in them came under the Political Section. The personal records of the prisoners working in these Kommandos were kept in the Political Section. Our sick were not sent to the [camp] hospital, but to an infirmary set up for us in a closed block. The block we occupied was isolated. In Auschwitz [the main camp], this was closed block XI. Authorization to leave the Kommando and transfer into another did not depend on the Arbeitsdienst [labour service], but on the Political Section. Our doctor was Pach, a French Jew. He was a good specialist who also looked after the SS, which enabled him, thanks to them, to get out of the Sonderkommando block and install himself in another. When the Political Section heard of this, he was sent back to our infirmary, even though he had lived for some months in an open block. During my training in Krematorium I, Untersturmführer [SS Second Lieutenant] Grabner and Oberscharführer [senior staff-sergeant] Kwakernak were the overseers for the Political Section. I remember Morawa having to ask Grabner to give him another prisoner because one of our group had died. Grabner replied that he could not give him one «Zugang» [new arrival], but if he [Morawa] killed four more Jews, he would supply five «arrivals». He also asked Mietek [Morawa] what he beat us with. Mietek showed him a stick. Grabner took hold of an iron fire bar and said he should hit us with that. At the end of the first day's work in Krematorium I, five of my group declared they were sick and stayed in the block. The next day, pulling the bodies out of the bunker of Krematorium I, we found their naked corpses without any traces of bullet wounds. I suppose they must have been given jabs [intra-cardiac injection of a 30% solution of phenol]. A month later, of 22 Jews, there remained only 12. On 4th March 1943, my group, including one Władysław Tomiczek of Cieszyn and the four Poles I have already mentioned (Biskup and the others), was transferred to Birkenau and installed in closed block II of sector BIb. I learned later that Tomiczek had already worked in the crematorium [Kr I] in 1941. He was an old hand, with a prison number of 1400 and something, and before being detailed to our group in March 1943, he worked for a while in the mill and the abattoir [or butchery, the Polish «rzeznia» having both meanings], where, with 49 other people, he was arrested on suspicion of engaging in clandestine activities. All were incarcerated in Auschwitz block XI and condemned to death by the SS tribunal. Untersturmführer Grabner recognized Tomiczek just before the execution and transferred him to our group. In Birkenau, Tomiczek worked as Capo of the Kommando employed in Krematorium II, and later on in Krematorium IV. In the month of August 1943, I think it was, Tomiczek was summoned to the Political Section, from where that very day Oberscharführer Kwakernak brought his corpse that we incinerated in Krematorium V. Although Tomiczek's head was wrapped in a sack, we identified him by his large size. Kwakernak personally supervised the introduction of his body into the furnace, then went off. We then opened the door of the furnace, unwound the sack and recognized his face very well. He was a good man, hard working, decent with us, and we had told him about our clandestine activities. On 4th March 1943, we were taken under SS guard to Krematorium II. The construction of this crematorium was explained to us by Capo [Julius] August [Brück. See Document 8], who had just arrived from Buchenwald where he had also been working in the crematorium. Krematorium II had a basement where there was an undressing room (Auskleideraum) [2 - see Document 9] and a bunker, or in other words a gas chamber (Leichenkeller/corpse cellar) [1]. To go from one cellar to the other, there was a corridor [3] in which there came from the exterior a [double] stairway [4, 4′] and a slide for throwing the bodies [corpse chute, 5] that were brought to the camp to be incinerated in the crematorium. People went through the door of the undressing room [2a] into the corridor [3], then from there through a door on the right [1a] into the gas chamber [1]. A second stairway [6] running from the grounds [north yard] of the crematorium gave access to the corridor [3]. To the left of this stairway, in the corner [of the corridor], there was a little room [7] where hair, spectacles and other effects were stored. On the right there was another small room [8] used as a store for cans of Zyclon-B [here, the description could lead to confusion. It should be borne in mind that Tauber is describing the disposition of rooms 7 and 8 as they appear to somebody in the basement]. In the right corner of the corridor, on the wall facing the door from the undressing room, there was a lift [9] to transport the corpses [to the furnace room on the ground floor]. People went from the crematorium yard to the undressing room via a stairway [10], surrounded by iron rails. Over the [entrance] door there was a sign with the inscription «Zum Baden und Desinfektion» (to bath and disinfection), written in several languages. In the undressing room [2], there were wooden benches and numbered clothes hooks along the walls [Document 10]. There were no windows and the lights were on all the time. The undressing room also had water taps [5] and drains for the waste water. From the undressing room people went into the corridor through a door [2a] above which was hung a sign marked «Zum Bade» [to the bath], repeated in several languages. I remember the word «banya» [Russian for «steam baths»] was there too. From the corridor they went through the door on the right [1a] into the gas chamber. It was a wooden door, made of two layers of short pieces of wood arranged like parquet. Between these layers there was a single sheet of material sealing the edges of the door [3] and the rabbets of the frame were also fitted with sealing strips of felt. At about head height for an average man this door had a round glass peephole [see Document 11]. On the other side of the door, i.e. on the gas chamber side, this opening was protected by a hemispherical grid [see Document 12 and 13]. This grid was fitted because the people in the gas chamber, feeling they were going to die, used to break the glass of the peep-hole. But the grid still did not provide sufficient protection and similar incidents recurred. The opening was blocked with a piece of metal or wood. The people going to be gassed and those in the gas chamber damaged the electrical installations, tearing the cables out and damaging the ventilation equipment. The door was closed hermetically from the corridor side by means of [two] iron bars [see Document 11] which were screwed tight [by means of two angled bolts which screwed through the catches onto the bars, which were themselves fitted with handles]. The roof of the gas chamber was supported by concrete pillars running down the 483 ===== PDF PAGE 0474 | page-474.md ===== middle of its length [1/1 to 1/7]. On either side of these pillars there were four others [C1 to C4], two on each side. [Here Tauber is mistaken. This arrangement is found only in the gas chamber of Krematorium III. In Kr II, they were in a row down the east side of the room]. The sides of these pillars, which went up through the roof, were of heavy wire mesh. Inside this grid, there was another of finer mesh and inside that a third of very fine mesh. Inside this last mesh cage there was a removable can that was pulled out with a wire to recover the [inert] pellets from which the gas had evaporated. [see Document 14, based on Michal Kula's description of the Zyclon-B (hydrocyanic acid fixed on small pellets of silicon) introduction columns. Tauber made a very slight mistake in saying that there was a third FIXED cage in the column.] Besides that, in the gas chamber there were electric wires running along the two sides of the main beam supported by the central concrete pillars [to supply 16 sealed lamps, observation confirmed by a Bauleitung drawing]. The ventilation was installed in the walls of the gas chamber. Communication between the room and the ventilation installation proper was through small holes along the top and bottom of the side walls. The lower openings were protected by a kind of muzzle, the upper ones by whitewashed perforated metal plates. [See Documents 15, 16 and 17. Some of these upper ventilation hole covers from Leichenkeller I of Krematorium II, made of zinc sheet covered with a white layer, were submitted to toxicological analysis in December 1945. After appropriate chemical treatment, scrapings from this white layer gave Prussian blue or ferric ferrocyanide, or ferric thiocyanate, dyes indicating, specifically, but not very precisely, the presence of hydrocyanic compounds.] The ventilation system of the gas chamber was coupled to the ventilation ducts installed in the undressing room. This ventilation system, which also served the dissection room [11], was driven by electric motors in the roof space of the crematorium [12]. [Tauber was the ONLY witness to formally indicate that the undressing room and the dissecting room. WERE ALSO VENTILATED. Thirty-five years later, nobody had yet noticed! But in order to know that the ventilation systems were separate, contrary to what he thought, he would either have had to be present during their installation or to have climbed on the roof and found the four separate air extraction outlets inside a single chimney.] The gas chamber had no water supply of its own. [A Bauleitung inventory drawing indicates that three taps were in fact installed IN the gas chamber. But they were destroyed in the first gassings and it was decided not to replace them.] The water tap was in the corridor and a rubber hose was run from it to wash the floor of the gas chamber. At the end of 1943, the gas chamber was divided in two by a brick wall to make it possible to gas smaller transports. In the dividing wall there was a door identical to that between the corridor and the original gas chamber. Small transports were gassed in the chamber furthest from the entrance from the corridor. [One of the very few contestable points in the deposition. It would seem more logical to gas in the gas chamber CLOSEST to the entrance, as this meant less distance to transport the corpses and the ventilation system at the far end of the gas chamber must have been inefficient because it was poorly designed.] The undressing room and the gas chamber were covered first with a concrete slab [the ceiling] then with a layer of soil sewn with grass. There were four small chimneys, the openings through which the gas was thrown in, that rose above the gas chamber. These openings were closed by concrete covers with two handles. [An inventory in the Krematorium II handover document indicates «4 Holzblenden/4 wooden covers» (page 12 of PMO file BW 30/43). Mistake on Tauber's part, or were the covers changed in the light of experience?] Over the undressing room, the ground was higher than the level of the yard and perfectly flat. The ventilation ducts led to the [air extraction] pipes and the chimneys located in the part of the building above the corridor and undressing room [13, 17]. I would point out that at first the undressing room had neither benches nor clothes hooks and there were no showers in the gas chamber. These fittings were not installed until autumn 1943 in order to camouflage the undressing room and gas chamber as a bathing and disinfestation facility. The showers [24 dummy wooden shower heads] were fitted to small blocks of wood sealed into the [plain] concrete roof of the gas chamber [see Documents 18 and 19]. There were no pipes connected to these showers, from which no water ever flowed. As I have already said, there was a lift [9] in the corridor [3] or rather a goods hoist [see Document 20. A temporary hoist was installed pending delivery of the electric lift] to carry the corpses to the ground floor. At this level [Document 21], on emerging from the lift, there was a door [14a] leading to the «boiler room» [14] where the cremation furnaces [01 to 05] were, and the other door [15a], on the opposite side led to a store room were the corpses were put [temporarily]. In addition, there was a vestibule [16] there, which was reached through an entrance [16a, Document 22] facing the access door to the crematorium. From this vestibule, one entered through the right hand door [16b] into the dissecting room [11]. Between this room and the corpse store, there was a WC [17] reached through a door [11a] from the dissecting room. The left hand door [16c, coming from the vestibule] led to the «boiler room» on the firebox side of the cremation furnaces. They were in a row, equally spaced. There were five furnaces, each fired by two hearths [G1 and G2]. On the other side, where the exit from the lift was [14a], were the muffles [M1 to M3] (or cremation ovens), three per furnace. It was possible to put five human corpses in each muffle, which was closed by an iron door bearing the inscription «Topf». Beneath each muffle, there was a space for a bin to collect the ashes, also closed by an iron door made by the same firm. Behind the furnaces, on the left, on the side of the access door from the crematorium yard, was the coke store [18]. Going to the end of the yard [slip of the tongue. Tauber means «at the end of the furnace room»] was a narrow corridor [19] from which a door [20a] led to a small room [20] reserved for the SS [see Document 23]. One of the windows [20b] of this room looked onto the «boiler room» on the muffle side, and the second [20c] onto the yard behind the crematorium. This room was next to that of the head of the Kommando (Kommandoführer) [21], which had a window [21a] looking out on the back yard. ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) Document 7. [Archives of the Central Commission for the investigation of Hitlerite crimes in Poland, ref 5150 B] Northwest side of Krematorium I, taken in 1943 during its reconstruction. Above M, is the access door to the former «boiler room». This door was converted back into a window, as it was originally. Above O, is the real entrance door to the crematorium, fitted with a gas-tight door with a peep-hole. I do not know whether this is how it was found when the camp was liberated. ![img-1.jpeg](img-1.jpeg) Document 8. Indian ink sketch by David Olère, drawn in 1947, drawing himself in the company of the Capo Julius August Brück. 484 ===== PDF PAGE 0475 | page-475.md ===== ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) Document 9: Bauleitung drawing 2197 of 19/3/1943 [neg No 20946/1] Part of the inventory drawing of Krematorium II, showing: - basement plan - section C-D (furnace room, waste incinerator wing and main chimney) - section E-F (end of the undressing room and the corpse chute flanked by two stairways, corridor, corpse lift and end of the furnace room) The photograph is of a blueprint in PMO file BW 30/34A, copy No 8. 485 ===== PDF PAGE 0476 | page-476.md ===== ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) Document 11: Photograph of the exterior of a gas-tight door [Warsaw Central Commission Archives, ref 23] ![img-1.jpeg](img-1.jpeg) Document 12: Photograph of the interior of a gas-tight door [Warsaw Central Commission Archives, ref 17] Warsaw Central Commission Archives photographs refs 17 and 23 were taken at the Auschwitz-Bauhof («builder's yards» for new and recuperated building materials) and show recto and verso of a gas-tight door which certainly belonged to a homicidal gas chamber in one of the four Birkenau Krematorien. The proof of its criminal use is the presence of a heavy hemispherical grid PROTECTING THE PEEPHOLE ON THE INSIDE. ![img-2.jpeg](img-2.jpeg) Document 13: Detail of the interior of the gas-tight door found in the Bauhof in 1945: the hemispherical grid protecting the inspection peep-hole. [Warsaw Central Commission Archives, ref 40] ![img-3.jpeg](img-3.jpeg) Document 10: Photograph [PMO microfilm No 205/44], taken in the Auschwitz Bauhof in 1945, showing clothes hooks and wooden benches taken from the undressing rooms of Krematorien II and III. The bench in the foreground came from round one of the concrete central supporting pillars and the one behind was from one of the side walls. In the background on the right, a stack of benches from the side walls. 486 ===== PDF PAGE 0477 | page-477.md ===== ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) Document 14 # SCHEMATIC DIAGRAM OF A ZYCLON-B INTRODUCTION COLUMN Based on the deposition of 11th June 1945 made by Michal KULA, former prisoner 2718 who worked in the metal working shop where these columns were made. # Translation of inscriptions: # PARTIE MOBILE/MOVABLE PART - Coiffe en tôle/Metal cap - Intervalle séparant le tube en tôle du 3ème tamis: 25 mm Space between the metal tube and the third lattice: 25 mm. - Troisième tamis intérieur à maille de 1 mm de côté Third, innermost, lattice of 1 mm mesh. - Tube en fine tôle zinguée de 15 cm de côté Thin galvanized metal tube, 15 cm square. # PARTIE FIXE/FIXED PART - Pièce de métal reliant les 1er et 2ème tamis Metal strip joining the first and second lattices. - Premier tamis extérieur en fil de 3 mm de diamètre et de maille de 45 mm de côté First, external, lattice of 3 mm diameter wire, 45 mm mesh. - Deuxième tamis intérieur à maille de 25 mm de côté Second, interior, lattice of 25 mm mesh. 3 m environ/Approximately 3 m - Cornières de 50 x 50 x 10 mm/Angle irons ![img-1.jpeg](img-1.jpeg) Document 15. Perforated galvanized sheet covering one of the upper (fresh air inlet) ventilation holes of Leichenkeller I of Krematorium II or III, dimensions: 7 x 13 cm. Leichenkeller I of Kr II had 50 of these (metalworking shop order no. 83 of 18/2/43, completed on 15/3/43), and that of Kr III 95 (metalworking shop order no. 192 of 15/3/43, completed on 22/3/43). They were simply fitted by four nails across the rectangular openings cut in the wooden corkhole through which fresh air arrived. Kept in the PMO «Reserve Stock» in block 25. (Photo by the author) ![img-2.jpeg](img-2.jpeg) Document 16. Rear view of the same object. (Photo by the author) ![img-3.jpeg](img-3.jpeg) Document 17. Remains of an upper ventilation hole cover, classified PMO II 5-73/2, kept in the PMO «Reserve Stock» in block 25. Its «home made» nature is very evident. (Photo by the author) 487 ===== PDF PAGE 0478 | page-478.md ===== Just beyond this room, there was a WC and a small washroom [22, with a shower], and then the [prisoner] doctors' room [23] with windows [23a] looking out on the women's camp [Bib]. From the corridor, a stairway [24] led up to the roof space, where there was a dormitory [25] for the men working in the Sonderkommando and, at the end, the electric motors [12] for the lift and the ventilation system. [Four motors, installed round the common chimney for the ventilation systems, extracted the air from the undressing room (13), the gas chamber (13), the furnace room and, together, the dissecting and washing rooms. Another duct (26) brought fresh air to the gas chamber. There were also one or two other motors for the lift. See Document 24]. A prisoner mechanic worked on their maintenance. Facing the entrance gate to the crematorium grounds, in the centre of the building, was a wing [27] in which rubbish was burnt in an incinerator [U]. It was called «Müllverbrennung[sofen]» (waste incinerator). It was separate, reached by going down a stairway [28, still visible in the ruins]. It was surrounded by an iron platform and was coal fired. The entrance [27a] to the waste incinerator wing faced the crematorium access gate. [The façade of] this wing had, in addition to its entrance door with a transom window over it, two windows, one on the right [27b] and one on the left [27c] of the entrance. In the left corner of the entrance, there was an opening [27d] through which, from a walled-off area on the outside [29], the objects to be burned were passed inside. The incineration hearth[or hearths?] [M] for these things was/were? to the left of the entrance and the firebox [G] on the right. I would point out that it was in this particular furnace that the documents of the Political Section of the camp were always burned. From time to time, the SS would bring whole trackloads of papers, documents and files that had to be burned under their control. During the incineration of these papers, I noticed great stacks of records of dead people and death notices [«Totenmeldung»]. We were not able to take any of these documents because we were operating under the close and direct surveillance of the SS. Behind the waste incinerator, at the end of the wing, was a chimney for all the cremation furnaces and the incinerator. At first, there were around this chimney three electric motors used for the draught [«Saugzuganlage/suction type] forced draught installation»]. Because of the heat given off and the proximity of the incinerator, these motors often broke down. There was even a fire on one occasion. Because of these problems, they were later removed and the [underfloor] smoke lines of the cremation furnaces were connected directly to the chimney. A door [27e] allowed passage between the waste incinerator wing and the part where the chimney was. This part being slightly higher, it was reached by a few steps [28]. After the motors were removed, some wash basins for the Sonderkommando were installed next to the chimney [30]. [Dr Miklos Nyiszli speaks of «a beautiful ten-man shower, made of gleaming tile» (page 60), which was certainly supplied with water heated by the incinerator], and in the other part on the opposite side looking towards the undressing room, there was a room [31] where Obercapo [chief Capo] August sometimes slept. Normally he slept in the Reich Germans' [«Reichsdeutsche»] block, which was first in Sector Bib, then in Bild. In the roof space above the waste incinerator wing, the hair cut from the victims was dried, tossed [An early Indian ink sketch by David Olère shows prisoners «working the hair». This is one of the sketches conserved by Myriam Novitch] and put in sacks [of about twenty kilogrammes] which were subsequently taken away by truck. ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) Documents 18 (south/north view) and 19 (north/south view): Two photographs of the accessible part of the ruins of the east side of the ceiling of Leichenkeller I of Krematorium II in the region of supporting pillar 1/6. Access is at point «A» on drawing 2197. Only the wooden blocks are still visible, each lying at the intersection of a line running longitudinally between the central pillars and the east wall and a perpendicular running between two central pillars. 24 dummy shower heads were fitted. (Photos by the author) # Translation of inscriptions: - RESTES DE L'AERATION SUPERIEURE/REMAINS OF UPPER VENTILATION DUCT - BASE EN BOIS SUPPORT D'UNE FAUSSE DOUCHE/WOODEN BASE FOR DUMMY SHOWER HEAD. ![img-1.jpeg](img-1.jpeg) Document 19 ![img-2.jpeg](img-2.jpeg) Document 20 Photograph [PMO neg No 205/37] of a provisional 300 kg capacity goods hoist used in Krematorium II [9], found in the Bauhof in 1945. The order for its construction is to be found in the «Metal working» file. Annex 15 of Volume 11 of the Höss trial: «Order No 61 of 15/2/43 - POW camp Krematorium III[1] BW 30. Subject: 1 goods lift with a minimum payload of 300 kg, including the firing of suitable winches, cable and motor and the guide rail. Order No 2563/346/ of 26/1/43 from the Bauleitung. Order taken over from the former prisoners' metalworking shop. Completed on 13/3/43.» It was subsequently replaced by a 1500 kg capacity Demag goods lift. ![img-3.jpeg](img-3.jpeg) Document 23 Indian ink sketch by David Olère, dating from 1947, showing three SS men enjoying the «left overs» of a French convoy, in what was known as the Capo's room of Krematorium III [20], while at the same time keeping an eye on the work of the Sonderkommando through the internal window [20b] looking out on the furnace room. If this scene had taken place in Krematorium III, the furnace doors would have faced left and would have been visible through the right hand side of the window. 488 ===== PDF PAGE 0479 | page-479.md ===== As I have already said, there were five furnaces in Krematorium II, each with three muffles for cremating the corpses and heated by two coke-fired hearths. The fire flues of these hearths came out above the ash [collection] boxes of the two side muffles. Thus the flames went first round the two side muffles then heated the centre one, from where the combustion gases were led out below the furnace, between the two firing hearths. Thanks to this arrangement, the incineration process for the corpses in the side muffles differed from that of the centre muffle. The corpses of «musulmans» or of wasted people with no fat burned rapidly in the side muffles and slowly in the centre one. Conversely, the corpses of people gassed directly on arrival, not being wasted, burned better in the centre muffle [see Document 25]. During the incineration of such corpses, we used the coke only to light the fire of the furnace initially, for fatty corpses burned of their own accord thanks to the combustion of the body fat. On occasion, when coke was in short supply, we would put some straw and wood in the ash lines [see Document 26] under the muffles, and once the fat of the corpse began to burn the other corpses would catch light themselves. There were no iron components inside the muffle. The bars were of chamotte [refractory material], for men would have melted in the furnace, which reached 1000 to 1200°C. These chamotte bars were arranged crosswise. The dimensions of the door and the opening of the muffles were smaller than the inside of the muffle itself, which was 2 meters long, 80 cm wide and about 1 metre high. Generally speaking, we burned 4 or 5 corpses at a time in one muffle, but sometimes we charged a greater number of corpses. It was possible to charge up to 8 «musulmans». Such big charges were incinerated without the knowledge of the head of the crematorium during air raid warnings in order to arrest the attention of airmen by having a bigger fire emerging from the chimney. We imagined that in that way it might be possible to change our fate. The iron components, in particular fire bars, still to be found in the camp [in the «Bauhof»], were from the fireboxes. Krematorium II had fire bars of heavy angle iron. Krematorien IV and V were fitted with fire bars in the form of a lance, or rather were like swords with handles [see Document 27]. [Henryk Tauber does not mention the pulsed air blowers fitted on the furnaces and designed to accelerate the initial heating of the furnaces and the incineration of the corpses. Dr Miklos Nykels mentions them operating in the summer of 1944 in Krematorium II. David Olfre depicted them perfectly on a longitudinal section of Krematorium III that he drew in 1945 or 46.] On 4th March [1943], we were ordered to fire the hearths. We worked there until 4 o'clock in the afternoon. It was then that a commission formed of members of the Political Section and senior SS officers from Berlin arrived at the crematorium [Kr II]. There were also some civilians and engineers of the firm «Topf». I remember that among them was Hauptsturmführer [captain] Schwarz, Lagerkommando [camp commandant] Aumeyer and Oberscharführer [senior staff-sergeant] Kwakernek. After the arrival of this commission, we were ordered to take the corpses out of the store room [15] and throw them in the muffles. In this room we found about 45 bodies of men only, very well fed and fat. I did not know when they were put there or where they came from. Later on, I learned that they had been selected from the persons gassed in Bunker II [2] situated in the forest [300 metres west of the Zentral Sauna]. An SS officer of the Political Section had got to there and ordered prisoners to pick out big and well-fleshed bodies that he made them load on vehicles and remove from the Bunker [2]. At that time, the Sonderkommando prisoners did not know where these corpses came from. It turned out they were to be used to test and demonstrate to this big commission the operation and capacity of Krematorium II, which was going to be started up. Via the lift [9] and the door [14a] leading to the «boiler room», we took out the bodies and placed them two or three at a time on trolleys of the type I described for Krematorium I and charged them into the different muffles. As soon as all the muffles of the five furnaces had been charged [with three corpses per muffle: 3 x 5 = 45], the members of the commission began to observe the operation, watch in hand. They opened the muffle doors, locked at their watches, expressed surprise at the slowness of the remission process. In view of the fact that the furnaces were not yet hot enough, even though we had been firing them since the morning, and because they were brand new, the incineration of this charge took about 40 minutes. [Later on] in continuous operation, we could burn two charges per hour. According to the regulations, we were supposed to charge the muffles every half hour. Ober Capo August explained to us that, according to the calculations and plans for this crematorium, 5 to 7 minutes was allowed to burn one corpse in a muffle. In principle, he did not let us put more than three corpses in one muffle. Because with that quantity we were obliged to work without interruption, for as soon as the last muffle was charged, the contents of the first had been consumed [Tauber describes his work as being to look after ONE furnace, charging the three muffles, the first, second and third, or last, in turn]. In order to be able to take a pause during the work, we would charge 4 or 5 corpses in each muffle. The incineration of such a charge took longer, and after charging the last muffle, we had a few minutes' break until the first one was again available. We took advantage of this free time to wash the floor of the «boiler room» [5], as a result of which the air became a little cooler. Once the incineration of the first test charge was finished, the commission left. We tidied up the crematorium, washed it, and were taken back to block 2 in Secker Blh. During the next ten days, we went back, under SS guard, to fire the furnaces. No convoys arrived during these ten days. We did not burn any corpses, simply keeping the fires going in order to keep the furnaces hot. About mid-March 1943, [on 14th, when out of an RSHA transport of 2000 Jews from the Cracow ghetto, 484 were selected for work in the camp and the others were gassed] one evening after work, Hauptscharführer [Master-Sergeant] Hirsch, in charge of the Krematorium at that time, came and ordered us to stay in the crematorium because there was some work for us. At nightfall, trucks arrived carrying people of both sexes and all ages. Among them there were old men, women, and many children. The trucks ran back and forth for an hour between the station [Auschwitz station, where there was a «Jewish platform», used before the construction of a rail siding running to between Krematorien II and III] and the camp, bringing more and more people. As soon as the trucks began to arrive, we, the Sonderkommando, were shut up in a room located at the back [23] where, as I said in my description of the crematorium, the doctors who carried out the campsites were to be housed. From this room, we could hear the people emerging from the trucks weeping and shouting. They were herded towards a hut [B] erected perpendicular to the crematorium building, [and directed] towards the entrance gate [P] of Krematorium II [see Document 28, extract of drawing 2216]. The people entered through the door facing the gate [P] and went down [to the basement of Krematorium II to enter Leichenkeller 1 (the gas chamber) (1)] by the stairway [8] to the right of the waste incinerator wing. At that time, this hut served as an undressing room. It was used for this purpose only for a week or so, then it was dismantled. After this hut was removed, the people were herded towards the basement area of the crematorium via a stairway [10] leading to the underground undressing room [11] already described. After we had waited for two hours [see Document 29, a David Olère's sketch of a scene that the temporarily imprisoned Sonderkommando could not set in the pathologists' room, we were let out and ordered to go to the gas chamber. We found heaps of naked bodies, doubled up. They were pinkish, and in places not. Some were covered with greenish marks and saliva ran from their mouths. Others were bleeding from the nose. There was excrement on many of them. I remember that a great number had their eyes open and were hanging on to one another. The bodies were most crushed together round the door. By contrast, there were less around the wire mesh columns. The location of the bodies indicated that the people had tried to get away from the columns and get to the door. It was very hot in the gas chamber and so suffocating as to be unbearable. Later on, we became convinced that many people died of suffocation, due to lack of it, just before the gassing. They fell to the floor and were trampled on by the others. They were not sitting, like the majority, but stretched out on the floor, under the others. It was obvious that they had succumbed first and that they had been trampled on. Once the people were in the gas chamber, the door was closed and the air was pumped out. The gas chamber ventilation could work in this way, thanks to a system that could both extract and blow. [Henryk Tauber is mistaken here, and contradicts himself. Is there any point in extracting the air from the gas chamber? The only technical justification would be to promote the diffusion of the hydrocyanic gas by creating a partial vacuum. It suffices to close off the fresh air inlet and switch on the extractor fans. Even if it were possible to create a slight vacuum, this would immediately be broken as soon as the medical orderlies responsible for gassing opened the covers of the wire mesh columns to pour in the Zyclon-B. This method of operation would be absurd, especially with an installation for both extracting AND blowing. A blower ventilation system, bringing fresh air in, cannot be used for extracting air. The truth is that Tauber misunderstood the functioning of the ventilation system (understandably enough, because he could not demolish the walls to check the exact arrangement of the ventilation ducts of the gas chamber, even though he had correctly identified [without realizing their role]) the two distinct parts: a NATURAL air intake comprising a simple duct running from the roof ridge to the gas chamber, which was the upper ventilation system, and an air extraction system driven by an electric motor, with fans drawing out the foul air, the lower ventilation system. When the air extractor fans were switched on, fresh air naturally flowed in to replace the polluted air extracted. The levels of the air inlets (above) and extraction holes (below) prove that the system was designed for an under- ground morgue and not for a gas chamber, where the extraction of the WARM noxious air should be in the UPPER part. On the possible blocking of the lower air extraction holes by corpses, see my solution in Part II Chapter 6.] Only the undressing room had a blower-assisted air intake system. [The difference in design between the two installations fulfilling the same function is explained by the fact that one, that of Leichenkeller 1, was designed and installed by the Bauleitung, while the other, that of Leichenkeller 2, was designed and installed by the civilian firm Topf & Sons of Erfurt, a firm producing metal tubes of different section and therefore interested in «placing» a maximum of its products, as can be clearly seen in the ventilation systems of the Krematorien II and III undressing rooms.] Despite the fact that the ventilation remained on for some time after the opening of the gas chamber, we were gas masks to work there. Our job was to remove the bodies, but we did not do this for the first convoy in mid-March because we had to go back to work in the furnace room. To do the job, seventy prisoners were brought from block II, also members of the Sonderkommando and working at the incineration pits of the Bankers [1 and 2]. This group took the corpses from the gas chamber [see Document 30 and 30a] into the corridor [3] near the lift. There, a barber cut off the women's hair, then the bodies were taken on the lift to the «boiler room» level. On this floor they were put in the store room or taken directly to the «boiler room», where they were heaped in front of the furnaces. Then, two dentists, under the surveillance of the SS, pulled out metal fillings and false teeth. [David Olère placed the «barbers» and «dentists» directly IN the gas chamber, precisely indicated by a wire mesh column [Document 31]. But he worked in Krematorium III. There was perhaps a different operating sequence in each Krematorium.] They also removed the rings and earrings. The teeth were thrown into a box marked «Zahnartstation» [dental centre]. As for the jewels, they were put into another box with no label other than a number. The dentists, recruited from among the prisoners, looked into all the mouths except those of the children. When the jaws were too tightly clamped, they pulled them apart with the pincers used to extract the teeth. The SS carefully checked the worked of the dentists, always being present. From time to time they would stop a load of corpses ready for charging into the furnace and already operated on by the dentists, in order to check the mouths. They occasionally found a forgotten gold tooth. Such carelessness was considered to be sabotage, and the culprit was burned alive in the furnace. I witnessed such a thing myself. A dentist, a French Jew, was burned in this way in Krematorium V. He fought and cried, but there were several SS and they threw themselves on him, overpowered him and put him in the furnace alive. This punishment was often inflicted on members of the Sonderkommando, but it was not the only one. There were many others, such as immediate shooting, being thrown into water, physical torture, beating, being rolled naked on gravel, and other punishments. Such things were done in the presence of all the members of the Sonderkommando in order to intimidate them. I remember another case that took place in August 1944 in Krematorium V. When the shifts were changing over, they had found a gold watch and wedding ring on one of the labourers, a man 489 ===== PDF PAGE 0480 | page-480.md ===== ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) Document 22 Bauleitung drawing 937 of 15/1/42 [PMO file BW 30/05 and neg. no. 20818/7] The EAST elevation of the projected new crematorium for the main camp. After the decision was taken to install the building at Birkenau rather than the main camp, the Bauleitung used this drawing as the NORTH elevation of the future Krematorium II. Document 24 Bauleitung drawing 1173 of 15/1/42 [PMO file BW 30/08 and neg. no. 20818/9] Longitudinal section of the basemented part of the «projected crematorium» that was to become Birkenau Krematorium II. ![img-1.jpeg](img-1.jpeg) ![img-2.jpeg](img-2.jpeg) 490 ===== PDF PAGE 0481 | page-481.md ===== ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) Document 21 Ground floor plan of Krematorium II [PMO neg No 20957] Bauleitung drawing 933 of 19th January 1942 drawn by SS sergeant Ulmer on 19/1/42 checked by SS Second Lieutenant Dejaco and approved by SS Captain Bischoff on 28/1/42 «Entwurf für das Krematorium/projected crematorium» This drawing is part of drawing 933(1), comprising 933 (ground floor) and 934 (sections). [At that date it was planned to install a new «normal» crematorium in the main camp behind Krematorium I. It was not until the end of August 1942 that, now classified as worksite BW 30, Krematorium II, work began on it at Birkenau, where a mirror image was also to be built: BW 30a, Kr III] 491 ===== PDF PAGE 0482 | page-482.md ===== Document 25: Schematic diagram of the operation of a three-muffle furnace, a total of ten of which were installed in Krematorien II and III Translation of inscriptions (from top to bottom and left to right): - Incinération facilitée (+) ou non (-) - Incineration facilitated (+) or otherwise (-) - Cadavres normaux/Normal corpses - Cadavres amaigris/Wasted corpses L: Side muffle M: Centre muffle - Bac de recueil des cendres/Ash collection bin - Générateur ou foyer d'alimentation/Firebox or coke-burning hearth - Conduit souterrain d'évacuation des fumées/Underfloor smoke flue | | Incinération facilitée (+) ou non (-) | | | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Cadavres normaux | - | + | - | | Cadavres amaigris | + | - | + | L: Moufle latérale M: Moufle médiane ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) Bac de recueil des cendres Générateur ou foyer d'alimentation Conduit souterrain d'évacuation des fumées ![img-1.jpeg](img-1.jpeg) Schéma de fonctionnement d'un four à trois moufles Topf qui fut construit en dix exemplaires dans les crématoires II et III. Document 28: Bauleitung drawing 2216. [PMO neg. no. 20583] Kriegsgefangenenlager Lageplan/Plan of the prisoner of war camp Scale 1:2000 Drawn by prisoner 538 and checked by SS Second Lieutenants Dejaco and Janisch on 20/3/43 This Bauleitung source confirms the erection in mid-March 1943 of a hut [B] running south-north in the north yard of Krematorium II, which was used, according to Henryk Tauber, as an undressing room, apparently because the access stairway to the underground undressing room [Leichenkeller 2] was not yet completed. ![img-2.jpeg](img-2.jpeg) ![img-3.jpeg](img-3.jpeg) Document 26: [PMO neg. no. 892] Ash collection bins from the cremation furnaces of the Birkenau Krematorien found in the Bauhof in 1945. It is impossible to say whether they came from Krematorien II/III or IV/V and not very important if the bins were similar for the two types of furnace. ![img-4.jpeg](img-4.jpeg) Document 27: [PMO neg. no. 890] 492 ===== PDF PAGE 0483 | page-483.md ===== Document 29: Indian ink sketch by David Olère, dated 1950, showing women and children just before their extermination in the gas chamber of Krematorium III. Leaving aside the emotive aspect, this sketch is TOO LATE to be historically acceptable. It has become allegorical and contains obvious errors that can be identified by comparison with «The extraction of the gassed», dating from 1946. The gas chamber door is shown opening inwards, whereas in fact it opened outwards. Even the position of the door is incorrect. The lamps are incorrectly placed—they were actually located on either side of the central supporting beam, which is not even shown. No pillars are visible, either structural or latched. The faces of the SS man, with their shaved socks, are caricatures as compared with the young-upon bird-SS man with wavy hair shown on the 1946 drawing, and contrast with the angelic faces of the women, the majority of whom are of «Aryan» appearance, according to the criteria of the Third Reich. I present this scene to show how the visual memories of a survivor deteriorate with time. Only Olère's early pictures, from 1945 to 1947, are historically valid, having the truth of photographs, even if not their absolute precision. Olère's paintings of Birkenau, produced much later, reflect this deterioration of the visual memory. Document 31: Sketch by David Olère, dating from 1946, showing a «barber» (in the foreground) and «dentists» (in the middle ground) at work on bodies INSIDE the Krematorium III gas chamber, as shown by a wire mesh Zyclon-B introduction column (C) in the background. It should be noted that the SS probably considered that the extraction of gold teeth should be done immediately on opening the gas chamber in order to avoid the «organized losses» that could occur over the short distance from the basement to the ground floor. ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) ![img-1.jpeg](img-1.jpeg) Document 30 Document 31 ![img-2.jpeg](img-2.jpeg) ![img-3.jpeg](img-3.jpeg) Document 30 (sketch) and 30a (photo): Sketch by David Olère, dating from 1946, showing bodies being removed from the Krematorium III gas chamber. As confirmed by known photographs, the door is correctly hung and located. The fragment of furnace shown on the left, beyond the two arrows, is purely symbolic (there was no furnace in the basement) and spoils a scene which would have been irreproachable without this addition «to make it better». Between the door and the prisoner in the foreground there was a wall of planking blocking off the corpus chute (still visible in the ruins of Krematorium III, the photo by the author, below the sketch, shows its upper extremity), not used because it was built to serve real energies, not what had become an undressing room and gas chamber. The total absence of this chute even in David Olère's early memories confirms that it was never used. Document 30a 493 ===== PDF PAGE 0484 | page-484.md ===== from Wolbron called Lejb. This Jew, aged about twenty, was dark and had a number of one hundred thousand and something. All the Sonderkommando working in the crematorium [Kr V] were assembled, and before their eyes he was hung, with his hands tied behind his back, from an iron bar above the firing hearths. He remained in this position for about one hour, then after untying his hands and feet, they threw him in a cold crematorium furnace. Gasoline was poured into the lower ash bin [that of the firebox at the back of the furnace] and lit. The flames reached the muffle where this Lejb was imprisoned. A few minutes later, they opened the door and the condemned man emerged and ran off, covered in burns. He was ordered to run round the yard shouting that he was a thief. Finally, he had to climb the barbed wire, which was not electrified during the day, and when he was at the top, the head of the crematoriums, Moll, first name Otto [Hauptscharführer/Master sergeant], killed him with a shot. Another time, the SS chased a prisoner who was not working fast enough into a pit near the crematorium [V] that was full of boiling human fat. At that time [summer 1944], the corpses were incinerated in open air pits, from which the fat flowed in to a separate reservoir, dug in the ground. This fat was poured over the corpses to accelerate their combustion. This poor devil was pulled out of the fat still alive and then shot. To satisfy the formalities, his body was carried to the block where the death certificates (a Totenchein) were issued. The next day, the corpse was brought back to the crematorium [Kr V], where it was incinerated in a pit [!]. During the cremation of this first transport in mid-March 1943, we worked without interruption for 48 hours, but did not succeed in burning all the bodies, because in the meantime a Greek convoy that had just arrived was also gassed. [On 20th March, an RSHA convoy of 2800 Jews from Salonika (Greece) arrived. At the selection, 609 were picked out to work in the camp and the others were killed in the gas chambers. However, the interval of 48 hours between the two convoys indicated by Henryk Tauber is surely a mistake. Admittedly, there was also on 16th March, a convoy of Jews from the Cracow ghetto, some of whom were gassed, but the number of arrivals is not known, but as we know that about forty were registered in the camp, the total cannot have been more than about 200. Taking account of these impressions, it would appear that it took 4 to 6 days to incinerate about 1500 corpses in the five three-muffle furnaces of Krematorium II, which is very much at odds with the throughput figures previously put forward by Henryk Tauber and even by the SS OFFICIALLY (i.e. increased by one third) estimating it at 1440 per 24 hours in a letter of 28th June 1943 (PMO file BW 30/43, page 2). It is reasonable to consider that the initial throughput of Krematorium II reached a ceiling at 700 to 750 incinerations a day. Then, with experience, this was raised to about 1000. Any higher figure is unrealistic, and in certain cases a downright lie.] We were overworked and completely exhausted. We were then taken back to the block and the work continued, thanks to a relief Sonderkommando that also worked at the two Bunkers and comprised about 400 prisoners. I worked in Krematorium II until about mid-April. During my stay, convoys arrived from Greece, France and Holland. In addition, we also burned the corpses of people designated for gassing at selections within the camp. I cannot say how many people were gassed during this period. We worked in two shifts, a day shift and a night shift. On average, we incinerated 2500 corpses a day. [This figure is unrealistic (and is connected with the propaganda of the immediate post-war period), taking into account the previous declarations of Tauber himself. It would imply that between 14th March and 15th April 1943, 70,000 to 75,000 victims could have been reduced to ashes in Krematorium II. According by Danuta Czech's calendar of events in the camp, which despite its imperfections is an essential research tool, about 20,000 people were gassed during this period. Here we find almost the famous multiplication factor of four, of which Dr Miklos Nyiszli made such abundant and lamentable use in his book that his credibility was long contested. Henryk Tauber is far from being the only witness to say in substance «I don't know the number of dead» or «I think it was so many» and then coolly say one or two sentences later, that after due consideration, we do arrive at the (standard) figure of 4 million victims in all. This type of imposed falsehood has to be excused, I would stress, because of the political climate of the period 1945-50]. At this time I was never able to see how the people were herded into the undressing room, then from there into the gas chamber, for when the convoys arrived we were locked up in the coke store. Only the two members of the Sonderkommando who were required to keep the fires going were allowed to remain in the «boiler room». I came to be detailed to this job myself. Through the window of the «boiler room», I observed how the «Cyklon» [Zyclon-B] was poured into the gas chamber. Each transport was followed by a vehicle with Red Cross markings which entered the yard of the crematorium, carrying the camp doctor, Mengele, accompanied by Rottenführer [corporal] Scheimetz. They took the cans of «Cyklon» from the car and put them beside the small chimneys used to introduce the «Cyklon» into the gas chamber. There, Scheimetz opened them with a special cold chisel [with a ring of teeth at its head] and a hammer, then poured the contents into the gas chamber. Then he closed the orifice with a concrete [or wooden] cover. As there were four similar chimneys, Scheimetz poured into each the contents of one of the smallest cans of «Cyklon», which had yellow labels pasted right round them [see Documents 32, 33 and 34]. Before opening the cans, Scheimetz put on a gasmask [see Document 35] which he wore while opening the cans and pouring in the product. There were also other SS who performed this operation, but I have forgotten their names. They were specially designated for it and belonged to the «Gesundheitswesen» [health service]. A camp doctor [SS] was present at each gassing. If I have mentioned Mengele, that is because I met him very often during my work. In addition to him, there were other doctors present during the gassings, like König, Thilo and a young, tall, slight doctor whose name I do not recall. During the selections, this last one sent everybody to be gassed. I remember that on one occasion, Mengele told Scheimetz to hurry up and «feed» the victims in the gas chamber. His actual words were: «Scheimetz, gib ihnen das Fressen, sie [!] sollen direkt nach Kattowitz fahren». That meant that Scheimetz was to get a move on with throwing in the «Cyklon». I also noticed during my work that the SS who escorted the convoys and came into the crematorium yards were accompanied by dogs and held truncheons in their hands. ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) Documents 32 ![img-1.jpeg](img-1.jpeg) Documents 33 Documents 32 and 33 Two photographs of the same can of Zyclon-B, kept in the PMO «Reserve stocks» in block 25, with a content of 1600 g, corrected to 1500 g of hydrocyanic acid, delivered by Tesch & Stabenow, main distributor for the East Reich. Four of these cans, or 6 kilogrammes of HCN, were used to kill 1000 to 1500 people in the Leichenkeller 1/gas chambers of Krematorium II and III). (Photos by the author) ![img-2.jpeg](img-2.jpeg) Document 34 Photograph of two Zyclon-B can labels, kept in the PMO «Reserve stocks» in block 25. Above: 1200 gramme can supplied by the distributor for the East Reich, Tesch & Stabenow. Below: 1600 grammes, corrected to 1500 grammes supplied by the manufacturer, Degesch. (Photo by the author) 494 ===== PDF PAGE 0485 | page-485.md ===== The trolley for transporting the corpses was little used in Krematorium II. It was replaced by a metal stretcher (in German «Leichenbrett», corpse board) that was pushed to the back of the muffle with the aid of iron rollers located below the bottom edge of the muffle door. This new device was invented, it appears, by Obercapo August. It was later used in all the crematoriums. On the furnaces of Krematorien II and III, there was a single pair of rollers for three muffles which could be moved along an iron bar fixed in front of the muffle doors. In Krematorien IV and V, each muffle had two rollers of its own permanently installed before the door [see Document 36 with a «Leichenbrett»]. Each crematorium [furnace] had two rollers for charging the corpses. This «stretcher» was placed before the muffle. Two prisoners loaded it with corpses. The procedure was to put the first corpse with the feet towards the muffle, back down and face up. Then, a second corpse was placed on top, again face up, but head towards the muffle. This method was used so that the legs of the upper corpse blocked that below and did not get in the way when the corpses were introduced into the furnace. Two prisoners loaded the stretchers. One end of the stretcher was put in front of the muffle, below the bar, alongside which stood two prisoners. While the corpses were being loaded on the stretcher, one of these opened the door of the muffle and the other positioned the rollers. Then, they lifted the stretcher and put it on the rollers, while a fifth prisoner, positioned at the handles at the other end of the stretcher, lifted it at the same time as them and pushed it into the muffle. As soon as the corpses were inside, a sixth prisoner held them there with a fire iron [Document 37] while the fifth withdrew the stretcher. The sixth man also had to cool the stretcher as it came out of the furnace by pouring over it water in which soap had been dissolved so that the next load of corpses would slide easily on the metal of the stretcher without sticking to it [see David Olère's sketch of the Krematorium III furnace room, Document 38, showing a team of three prisoners (the third, fourth and fifth in Tauber's description) charging corpses into the furnace my means of a «Leichenbrett»]. The same procedure was used for the following charge destined to be incinerated in the same muffle. We had to work fast, for the corpses put in first soon started to burn, and their arms and legs rose up. If we were slow, it was difficult to charge the second pair of corpses. During the introduction of these other two corpses, I was able to observe the cremation process. It appeared that the trunk of the body rose and the arms stretched towards the sky before contracting. The same thing happened with the legs. The bodies became covered in blisters. Gassed bodies that had remained in the store room for two days were swollen, and in the fire their diaphragm burst and their intestines poured out. I was also able to observe how cremation proceeded while I was moving the corpses in the furnace with a fire iron, to accelerate the combustion. After each charging, the SS head of the Kommando (SS- Kommandoführer) checked to make sure that the furnaces were properly filled. We had to open each muffle for him and at that moment we could see what was happening inside. We burned the bodies of children with those of adults. First we put in two adults, then as many children as the muffle could contain. It was sometimes as many as 5 or 6. We used this procedure so that the bodies of children would not be placed directly on the grid bars, which were relatively far apart. In this way we prevented the children from falling through into the ash bin. Women's bodies burned much better and more quickly than those of men. For this reason, when a charge was burning badly, we would introduce a woman's body to accelerate the combustion. At the beginning of the cremation process, the furnaces were heated only by their fireboxes and the charges burned slowly. Later on, as cremations succeeded one another, the furnaces burned thanks to the embers produced by the combustion of the corpses. So, during the incineration of fat bodies, the fires were generally extinguished. When this type of body was charged into a hot furnace, fat immediately began to flow into the ash bin, where it caught fire and started the combustion of the body. When «musulmans» were being cremated, it was necessary to constantly refuel the fireboxes. The shift boss (Vorarbeiter) wrote in a notebook the number of corpses incinerated per charge and the head of the Kommando (Kommandoführer), an SS man, checked these entries. After an entire transport had been cremated, he took away the notebook. Each time the Sonderkommando was relieved, various SS guards and heads of Kommando were present. Among these last I remember Georges, Knaus, Kurschuss, Schultz, Köln and Kellers. Scheimetz, whom I have already mentioned, was Kommandoführer for a while in Krematorium IV. [In the Birkenau Krematorien there was an SS hierarchy most probably composed of a few SS guarding the building and grounds, two or three SS Kommandoführer, each in charge of the work of one Sonderkommando shift for a given period, and a Krematorium head, whose authority, depending on the evolution of the «tasks» to be accomplished, covered one, two or four Krematorien. The Sonderkommando members had their own hierarchy, modelled on that of the SS. The Sonderkommando seems to have been split into shifts of 30 to 50 men, each with one or more shift bosses/Vorarbeiter assisting a Capo. At their head was a chief Capo/Obercapo appointed to one or two Krematorien.] All the Kommandoführer ill-treated the Sonderkommando prisoners working in the Krematorien. Sometimes their cruelty was such that on one occasion Voss, one of the heads of crematorium who was later transferred to another post, [openly] criticized Kommandoführer Georges who was hounding us for the simple reason that no convoys were arriving and there was a lack of work, saying to him: «Wenn du hast nicht was zu umlegen, dann bist du wild. Ich habe das schon genug.» [meaning roughly «Whenever you have nothing to wipe out, you go mad. I've had enough of it.»] Apart from this Voss, the heads of this crematorium during its activity were: Unterscharführer [sergeant] Steinberg, Hauptscharführer [master sergeant] Hirsch and [Otto] Moll, Scharführer [staff sergeant] Puch [actually Buch] and Oberscharführer [senior staff sergeant, Erich] Mussfeld who came from Lublin [Maidanek] after the liquidation of his crematorium. Hauptscharführer Moll was the most degenerate of the lot. Before my arrival at the camp, he was in charge of the work at the Bankers, where [not far away] they incinerated the gassed victims in pits. Then he was transferred for a while to another section. In view of the preparation necessary for the «reception» of convoys from Hungary in 1944, he was put in charge of all the Krematorien. It is he who organized the large-scale extermination of the people arriving in ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) Document 35 (Photograph by Pierre BESSON) Regulation Wehrmacht gasmask type GM for Gm 30, size 2 [ref TM E 30-451, «L'armée allemande» of 1st September 1941 and «Handbook on German military forces» of 15th March 1945, technical manuals published by the United States War Department) manufactured in December 1940 and fitted with a «D» filter cartridge. For use with Zyclon, tested in December 1943. The main absorbent chemicals used for fixing hydrocyanic acid are charcoal impregnated with hexamethylenetetramine (or isopropyl), caustic purine and sodium lime. 495 ===== PDF PAGE 0486 | page-486.md ===== ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) ![img-1.jpeg](img-1.jpeg) Document 37: [PMO neg. no. 891] Krematorium equipment found in the Auschwitz Bauhof in 1945. Centre: Five fire irons Above: Three bins for receiving human or coke ashes (neg. no. 892) Upper left: Metal parts or fire bars (neg. no. 890) from the four fire-boxes of the 8-muffle furnace of Krematorium IV Bottom right: Two pairs of rollers for supporting the metal stretchers used to charge the corpses Document 36: [PMO neg. no. 859] Ruins of the 8-muffle furnace of Krematorium V, northwest corner photographed in 1945-46, with a «Leichenbrett» (metal corpse charging stretcher) issuing on its rollers. At ground level, two lower openings where the [human] ash bins were placed. In the background, the debris of the building, carefully heaped up. these convoys. Just before the arrival of the Hungarian transports, he ordered pits to be dug alongside Krematorium V [Document 39] and restarted the activity of Bunker 2, which had been lying idle, and its pits. In the yard of the Krematorium, there were notices on posts, with inscriptions telling the new arrivals from the transports that they were to go to the camp where work was waiting for them, but that first they had to take a bath and undergo disinfestation. For that, it was necessary for them to undress and put all their valuables in baskets specially placed for this purpose in the yard. Moll repeated the same thing in his speeches to the new arrivals. There were so many convoys that sometimes it happened that the gas chambers were incapable of containing all the new arrivals. The excess people were generally shot, one at a time. On several occasions, Moll threw people into the flaming pits alive. He also practised shooting people from a distance [see David Olère's sketch; Document 40, associating these two practices]. He ill-treated and beat the Sonderkommando prisoners, treating them like animals. Those who were in his personal service told us that he used a piece of wire to fish out gold objects from the box containing the jewels taken from new arrivals, and took them off in a briefcase. Among the objects left by the people who came to be gassed, he took furs and different types of food, in particular fat. When he took food, he said smilingly to the SS around him that one had to take advantage before the lean years came. Under his direction, the Sonderkommando was strengthened and increased to about 1000 prisoners. When I arrived in the Sonderkommando, it comprised only about 400 men, a number that was maintained until January or February 1944. It was at this time that a convoy of about 300 of its members was sent to Lublin [Maidanek]. Before I arrived in the Sonderkommando, about 50 prisoners a week were regularly added to it. Despite these constant additions, many died and there were no more than 400 prisoners in it when I started to work there. After the convoy departed for Lublin, there were one hundred of us left. They then sent us 20 Russians and a German, called Karol, as Capo. The Sonderkommando also received several dozen prisoners, among others gold founders [Goldgiesser] and the «stokers» of Auschwitz Krematorium I, so that in April 1944, the Sonderkommando comprised about 160 prisoners. At the end of the ![img-2.jpeg](img-2.jpeg) Document 38: Sketch by David Olère, dating from 1945, showing the furnace room of Krematorium III, with three prisoners charging corpses loaded on a stretcher, using a technique slightly different from that described by Henryk Tauber. The pair of movable rollers visible on the end furnace is unused and replaced by an iron bar or piece of wood to guide and take the weight of the stretcher. Note the faithful representation of the fire irons used. 496 ===== PDF PAGE 0487 | page-487.md ===== ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) Photo P.M.O. n° 280 prise clandestinement par un nombre du Sonderkommando en août 1944. L'auteur présumé en fut David Szmalewski - vivant actuellement à Paris - formellement désigné ainsi dans les publications officielles polonaises de 1945 à 1968, année approximative où son témoignage fut réfuté par le Musée d'Auschwitz. L'étude sur place pousse une cette photo fut prise de la chambre à gaz nord du crématoire V (pièce symétrique à la 14 du Kr.IV sur le plan 2036) selon un jour sud-est nord-ouest en direction d'une des cinq petites fosces d'incinération, creusée dans la cour nord du crématoire V entre ses chambres à gaz et la clôture 35 du KGL, visible à l'arrière plan. # Document 39: [PMO neg. no 280] Photo taken clandestinely by a member of the Sonderkommando in August 1944. The photographer was long thought to be David Szmulewski, now living in Paris, and he was officially designated as such in Polish publications from 1945 to 1968, about which time the record was put straight by the Auschwitz Museum. Study on the site proves that this photograph was taken from the north gas chamber of Krematorium V (a room symmetrical with room 14 of Krematorium IV on drawing 2036) along a southeast-northwest line in the direction of one of the five small cremation pits dug in the north yard of Krematorium V between the gas chambers and fence 35 of the POW camp, visible in the background. ![img-1.jpeg](img-1.jpeg) # Document 40: Sketch by David Olère, dating from 1945, showing Hauptscharführer Moll exercising two of his favourite pastimes: pistol shooting and throwing people alive (or half alive) into the flames. Filip Müller describes the scene perfectly in «Sonderbehandlung» [Special treatment] [Verlag Steinhausen GmbH, Munich 1979]: «[Moll] would then rapidly go through the undressing room. like a health inspector, looking for a few young naked women, whom he pushed into the back yard of the crematorium [V] to an incineration pit. When the poor victims saw that spectacle they were so horror stricken that they no longer knew what was happening to them. Last, glued to the spot, they instinctively turned their eyes from the tearful night. Moll, who was carefully watching their reactions, seemed to take deep pleasure in their anguish and terror, then he coldly shot them from behind, making them fell into that awful bubbling pit.» Despite the overly academic pose of the figures, this drawing gives a faithful picture of Krematorium V on a west-east line, apart from the absence of the coke store on its left and the fact that the chimneys WOULD NOT HAVE BEEN SMOKING, for the furnace was out of service and the cremation pits had been dug to compensate for this. The screen of trees on the right of the Krematorium is still there today. ![img-2.jpeg](img-2.jpeg) # Document 41: Bauleitung drawing 2036 of 11/1/43 [PMO file BW 30b-30c/23 and neg. nos 6234 and 20818/10] Einäscherungsanlage für das KGL/Cremation installation for the POW camp Deckblatt für die Zeichnung Nr 1678/Correction sheet for drawing 1678 This drawing shows the future Krematorium IV, of which Krematorium V was a mirror image. 497 ===== PDF PAGE 0488 | page-488.md ===== month, it was increased to 1000 because of the Hungarian transports. Moll and his men plunged us into despair and distress through their behaviour and the way they treated us during the whole period of the mass cremations of the Hungarian transports. As soon as contact was established between the camp and the outside world, we decided to organize an insurrection that would enable us to find a way to freedom or die in the attempt. The uprising was fixed for June 1944, but I no longer remember the exact date. However, it never took place even though everything was ready, to the point that we had revealed the secret to some people who had previously suspected nothing. This affair caused us a great deal of trouble, and when it was discovered there were many victims. The first to be shot, shortly after the date planned for the beginning of the insurrection, was our Capo, Kaminski. Then, in order to make it impossible for us to have any contact with the outside world, we were transferred to Krematorium IV. Two hundred prisoners from the Sonderkommando installed there were selected and sent to be gassed. They were gassed in the delousing chamber of Auschwitz «Kanada» [1] and were incinerated in Krematorium II by the SS themselves. [Henryk Tauber is here reporting a dubious episode that he did not personally witness. The fact is that it is most unlikely that 200 members of the Sonderkommando would allow themselves to be shot in a gas chamber, even though it appeared «normal» because it was used for disinfestation purposes. Since it was fitted, like the homicidal gas chambers, with the same type of gas-tight door visible at the entrance, it is impossible that 200 men who knew all about the business, who had been opening and closing such doors for months, would have entered such a room without staging a revolt. This execution by gassing still remains to be proved.] As our situation was becoming more and more painful, we decided to escape from the camp, even though we were closely guarded and rigorously controlled. Once preparations were complete, the revolt came in September 1944 [incorrect date, it actually began at noon on Saturday 7th October 1944, with the burning of Krematorium IV]. It also spread to Krematorium II. During the revolt in Krematorium IV, we killed 25 to 30 SS [incorrect figure. Only three SS were killed], then we scattered. Before fleeing, we set Krematorium IV on fire and blew it up [the explosion is not certain]. The alarm was given in the camp, and the SS surrounded all the Krematorien, capturing virtually all the escaping prisoners. When the insurrection was over, of the 1000 men of the Sonderkommando, only about 190 remained alive [of the 212 surviving on 9th October, 14 were arrested and imprisoned on 10th and 198 were temporarily saved]. We were all housed first of all in Krematorium III, then some were transferred to block 11 of Sector Bild [barracks of the punishment commando, a prison in the men's camp]. Then, a convoy of 100 prisoners left there [their intended destination was KL Gross-Rosen. It is not known what became of them] and a further group of 30 was detailed to the incineration of corpses at Krematorium V. Sixty remained in block 11 and worked in the demolition commando (Abbruchkommando) dismantling Krematorien II and III, which were to be transported to Gross-Rosen. [Project mentioned by the «Unknown Author» in a note of 26th November 1944. See the text in Part II Chapter 6 on the ventilation systems of Krematorien II and III. This is a story that probably grew up among the members of the Abbruchkom- mando themselves, and is a pure myth concerning the installation of gas chambers at KL Gross-Rosen and Mauthausen using the air extraction equipment of the undressing rooms.] Later on, the 30 «stokers» of Krematorium V came back to block 11, which housed about 90 Sonderkommando members when the camp was liquidated. On 18th January 1945, we were assembled, together with the prisoners from the other Auschwitz blocks and herded in the direction of the Reich. After about 20 kilometers, I escaped, and so I was able to save my life. I have already mentioned that there were four pathologists belonging to the Sonderkommando. At first, they lived with us in the block, but later they installed themselves in the room [23] next to the coke store [18] of Krematorium II. These doctors carried out autopsies in a room [11] on the ground floor of Krematorien II and III, on big stone tables [that of Krematorium III was installed on 17th and 19th April 1943 and polished on 20th, 21st and 23rd by the firm Josef Kluge of Gleiwitz (file BW 30/34, pages 1 to 5)]. There they dissected the corpses of prisoners who had died in the hospital, sometimes those of certain persons shot in the corridor [3] between the undressing room [2] and the gas chamber [1]. More often that not, Moll shot them himself. They shot prisoners coming from the bunkers [cells] of block 11 [in the main camp] or from outside the camp. As soon as prisoners were brought to be shot, an Unterschuifflitter [sergeant], whose name I do not know, often came to the crematorium to cut the meaty parts from the bodies of these prisoners when they had been shot. The pieces of the body cut off from the buttocks and thighs were put in boxes and buckets by this SS man, who took them away in a car. I do not know why he did this. [This fact, which is not specific to the «crematorium» environment, is confirmed by an early sketch and later painting by David Olère, that I deliberately abstain from presenting here, considering that if was a criminal act practiced in secret by certain SS, and that there are limits to everything, even horror.] These pathologists had to produce a report on each autopsy, which was subsequently taken away by an SS doctor. In mid-April 1943, I was transferred to Krematorium IV which had just come into service [Officially handed over by the Bauleitung to the SS administration of the camp on 22nd March 1943], the second to come into service. Then, still in the first half of 1943, came Krematorium V. [which came into service on 4th April 1943, but the employees of Riedel & Son of Bielitz went on working there until 17th (file BW 30/28, page 121), the day on which the fitting of the «Gauferien/gas-tight» doors», started the previous day, was completed by six civilians employed by Huta of Kattowitz (file BW 30/36, page 27).] and finally Krematorium III [handed over on 25th June 1943]. Krematorium III was identical in construction to II, except for the internal difference that the trolleys for charging the corpses were never used there. In the room beside the coke store where, in Krematorium II, the doctors were housed, in Kr III it was the gold workers (Goldarbeiter) who poured the gold teeth into ingots. Krematorien IV and V were built on the same plan [Document 41] and situated symmetrically on either side of the road [Ringstrahlering road] running between construction stage Bill and «Mexico» [BIII] in the direction of the new sauna [Zentral Sauna]. These Krematorien were each fitted with two four-muffle furnaces. [Unit designated on the drawings as «eight-muffle cremation furnace», and composed of two four-muffle furnaces built as a unit. This model was designed at the beginning of December 1941 by Kurt Prüfer, chief engineer of the firm Topf & Sons, a job that he did at home and in his spare time! (Staatsarchiv Weimar, Bestand 2/5556, letter of 6th December 1941). According to a Topf letter of 7th July 1943, this type of furnace had been ordered from Berlin by the Reichsführer-SS on 4th December 1941 (file BW 30/27, page 24)]. The muffles [on drawing 2036, art and m2] were in pairs on each side. One firebox [a] heated two muffles [m1 and m2], which together made up half of a furnace. Each furnace had its own chimney [c1 and c2]. The undressing room [9] and the gas chambers [13, 14, 15 and 17] were installed on the ground floor, and the part of the building where they were located was not so high as the «boiler room» so that [to an observer outside the building] it had the appearance of an annex to the crematorium. The boiler room [5] was separated from the undressing room [9] by a narrow corridor [7, 8] with four internal doors, allowing passage between the two rooms. The undressing room [9] was illuminated by four small barred windows giving on the exterior [in fact, 4 in the northern wall and 4 in the southern, not appearing on the original drawings, but visible on contemporary photographs]. Another door [the third] led to a [mother] corridor [10] whose entrance door [16] opened onto the yard of the Krematorium. This entrance was flanked by two windows [f and f]. [The «Album d'Auschwitz» published by Seuil shows that the lower half of window f, but not f, was bricked up to head height. This was because of the damage incurred. The fully clothed victims entered calmly through the door (16) of the corridor (10) and were directed to the undressing room (9). Once they were naked, vulnerable and anxious, they were sent back into the corridor (10) and pushed into the gas chambers (13, 14, 15 and 17). The sight of the interior of the first one, with no showers visible, or of its heavy entrance door with the scaling steps, sometimes caused the victims to recoil, which, combined with the pressure of those arriving from the undressing room created a crowd of panic-stricken people at this point. Since the only exit, the entrance door (16) was closed, there only remained the window f, which suffered accordingly.] Opposite the entrance door [16] in the corridor [10], there was a door that opened on a room with a window [incorrect two windows] which was the kitchen for the SS working in the crematorium [room designated on drawing 2036 as «Arztzimmer/doctors' (pathologists) room», but it is not known whether the room was in fact ever used by a doctor, a kitchen where the dishes were prepared by members of the Sonderkommando. This room was next to that of the Sonderkommando prisoners [12]. In Krematorium V, it was in the corresponding room that the Sonderkommando hostmakers, tailors and carpenters worked. There were similar workshops in Krematorium II [in the roof space] where in addition there were heaps of hair shorn from the gassed people [dried in the roof space above the waste incinerator]. The third door in the corridor [10] led to a corridor [13] with a barred window and a door [18] leading to the crematorium yard. [This door of Krematorium IV is visible, in the background and on the right, on photo 19th of the Seuil «Album d'Auschwitz», but does not appear on the original drawings.] From this corridor [13], the door on the right gave access to the first [14] of the gas chambers and that opposite to the smallest [17] of the chambers, communicating by another door with the biggest [15]. [This arrangement is valid ONLY FOR Krematorium V, where the traces of the door between 13 and 17 are still visible. In fact, this complex of rooms, initially planned to have two gas chambers (14 and 15) served by a corridor (13 + 17), actually had three (14, 15 and 13 + 17) and this was the arrangement in both Krematorien IV and V for a while. Kr V only was subsequently equipped with four by dividing the corridor (13 + 17) in the proportion 2/5(13):1/3(17). Henryk Tauber's description tends to float between the two Krematorien, since the above sentence applies to Kr V, whereas he appeared to be talking about Kr IV]. This corridor, and the three following rooms were used as chambers for gassing people. All had gas-tight doors, and also windows that had bars on the inside [due to a lack of documents or testimonies the form of the bars or grid is not known] and were closed by gas-tight shutters on the outside [see Documents 42, 43, 44 and 45]. [The shutters of Kr IV, designated «Gasdichtenfenster/gas-tight windows», were installed by civilian employees of Riedel & Son on Sunday 28th February 1943 in the rooms that their fountain designated as «Gauferien/gas chambers» on the following Tuesday (file BW 30/28, pages 73 and 68). The doors of Kr V, called «Gauferien/gas doors», were installed by civilian employees of Huta on 16th and 17th April 1943 (file BW 30/36, page 27)]. These small windows, which could be reached by the hand of a man standing outside, were used for throwing the contents of cans of Zyclon-B into the gas chambers [all of people [as a rule, the SS used a short ladder to reach them]. The gas chambers were about 2 metres high and had an electric lighting installation on the walls. [actually SET IN the walls. «Chambers» 14 and 15 each had 4 «Wand-Lampen versenkt/bet-in wall lamps» (file BW 30/43, page 33), designated on another drawing, 2036, as «kavernischen» (file BW 30/43, page 6)] but they had no ventilation system, which obliged the Sonderkommando who were removing the bodies to wear gasmasks. The corpses were 498 ===== PDF PAGE 0489 | page-489.md ===== ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) Document 42: Riedel & Son timesheets [PMO file BW 30/28] This file is entitled «Tagesbericht, Einäscherungsanlage 5 (Krematorium 4)/Daily report, Cremation installation 5 (Krematorium 4)» Page 73: Under «Tagesleistungen/Work done this day» for Sunday, 28th February 1943, concerning Krematorium IV, a civilian foreman has written in entry 5: Gasdichtenfenster versetzen/Fit gas-tight windows (Photo by the author) ![img-1.jpeg](img-1.jpeg) Document 43: Idem, page 68: For Tuesday, 2nd March 1943, the same civilian foreman has written in entry 5: - Fussboden Aufschüttung auffühlen, stampfen und Fussboden betonieren im Gasskammer - Floor to be covered with hard fill, tamped down and floor to be concreted in the gas chamber 499 ===== PDF PAGE 0490 | page-490.md ===== dragged along the floor into the access corridor [10], where the barbers cut off the hair and then into the undressing room, which also served, in this kind of crematorium, as a store room for the corpses. It was a big hall [and so designated by the civilian employees of Riedel & Son] where the bodies were put while the gas chambers were being cleaned up. Then they were taken through the narrow corridor [7, 8] between the undressing room and the «boiler room», where at each end [located at 7 and 8], a dentist tore out the gold teeth. In the «boiler room» [5], the introduction of the corpses into the muffles was by means of metal stretchers, as I have described. Beyond the «boiler room» [5], there was the room of the head of the commando (Kommandoführer) and beside it another one for the rest of the SS [1]. [Designated «Aufenthaltsraum/rest room» and intended for the prisoners, this room was annexed by the SS and divided in two. As a third of its surface was occupied by a water pumping installation for hosing out the gas chambers, there remained only enough space for two tiny cells] This was followed by a narrow corridor [2, which originally led to the east yard of Krematorium IV, but later had an entrance door bricked up], the SS washroom and WC [3] and the coke store [4]. The building was entirely brick-built, with a wooden roof, covered with asbestos sheets and roofing felt [which helped the fire during the Sonderkommando revolt at the beginning of October 1944]. The yards of all the crematoriums were separated from the outside world by a thick enclosure of wicker and a hedge to which straw handles were attached. [see Document 46 of the hedge surrounding the south yard of Krematorium V, found intact at the liberation. These «camouflage» hedges were installed very late, in July-August 1944, and this was done for the purpose, around Krematorien IV and V, and in particular the latter, of hiding the cremation pits. On the other hand, despite a letter from Bischoff of 6th November 1943 (volume 11 of the Hoess trial, Annex 7) requesting, «a ring of greenery» around Krematorien I(II) and II(III), in line with the order of camp commandant Hoess, the implementation of this order remains extremely doubtful.] In the yard [of Kr V], there were watchtowers, where SS armed with machine guns kept guard. [They no longer exist, but were still in place at the Liberation. A photo from the Archives of the Warsaw High Commission, ref. 15492 (Luczko series), shows one near the ruins of Krematorium V]. Furthermore, the whole area [of the Krematorien] was surrounded by electrified barbed wire and the yards were lit by powerful lamps. In May 1944, the SS ordered us to dig five pits in the yard of Krematorium V, between the building itself [north wall] and the drainage ditch [«Graben L1»], five pits which were used later for incinerating the corpses of gassed people from the Hungarian transports. Although a track for the trolleys was laid between the building and the pits, we never used it because the SS considered it to be inconvenient, so we had to drag the corpses straight from the gas chambers to the pits [see Document 39]. At the same time, the old Bunker 2, with its incineration pits, was also made ready for re-use. I never worked there. It was realized that the pits burned the corpses better [than the furnaces], so the Krematorien closed down ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) ![img-1.jpeg](img-1.jpeg) Document 44: These gas-tight shutters kept in the coke store of Krematorium I, classified from left to right: PMO II 5-64/1, -64/3 and -64/2. They are of two different types: - -64/1 operated as follows: the butterfly nut is unscrewed enough to enable the bolt to be turned to the right, the fixing bar can then be moved and finally the shutter can be opened. The sequence is reversed to close it. - -64/2 and -64/3 are easier to open and close, the fixing bar being attached to the shutter by two nuts and bolts, so that bar and shutter open together. The bolt HEADS ARE ON THE INSIDE and the NUTS ARE ON THE OUTSIDE, an arrangement that calls for no further comment. (Photo by the author) Document 45: A shutter for introducing Zyclon-B, PMO II 5-64/2, second model, open. The remains of the two strips of sealing felt can be seen on the shutter (outer rubber) and the frame (inner rubber). The presence of a grill behind these shutters was reported by Henryk Tauber and confirmed to me verbally by David Olère, but neither of them described in form. It is commonly thought that the Zyclon B pellets were thrown on the victims and scattered, but the Zyclon B introduction columns in Krematorien II and III disprove this and in fact the absorbent substrate was always recovered for re-use. The front of the diffusion and recuperation mesh or gold that must have been just inside the shutters of the gas chambers of Krematorien IV and V remains unknown. (Photo by the author) 500 ===== PDF PAGE 0491 | page-491.md ===== one after the other after the pits came into operation. The first to be stopped was Krematorium IV, apparently in June 1944 [this date may seem early, but reference to other accounts where this type of information is given indirectly rather than explicitly], then, in October 1944. I think, Krematorien II and III. Krematorium V kept going until the Germans fled. Towards the end, it was used to incinerate the bodies of prisoners who died naturally or were executed. Gassing ceased in October 1944 [on 26th November, Himmler ordered the Krematorien to be dismantled, thus making the end of the gassings official]. At present, I am incapable of giving the exact number of all the people gassed and incinerated in the Krematorien and the pits. Some of the men working in the Krematorium noted individually and in secret the figures and the most dramatic events concerning the gassed persons. These notes were buried in different places close to the Krematorien. Some were dug up during the stay of the Soviet Commission [February-March 1945] and the Soviets took them away. Most of the notes must still be buried and it should be possible to retrieve them. There were, among other things, photographs of people gassed in the gas chamber and others of convoys arriving at the Krematorium to be gassed [never found]. I imagine that during the period in which I worked in the Krematorien as a member of the Sonderkommando, a total of about 2 million people were gassed. During my time in Auschwitz, I was able to talk to various prisoners who had worked in the Krematorien and the Bunkers before my arrival. They told me that I was not among the first to do this work, and that before I came another 2 million people had already been gassed in Bunkers 1 and 2 and Krematorium I. Adding up, the total number of people gassed in Auschwitz amounted to about 4 million. [A propaganda figure, become symbolic. We find the same type of response in the deposition by Selama Dragan on 17th May 1945, where he says in similar terms: -I am unable to say the ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) Document 46: [PMO reg. no. 860] Remains of a hedge hiding the south yard of Krematorium V and bordering the Ringstraße [ring road] of the camp, as found at the liberation. The hedge has since been removed. It was said to be 3 metres high, but this figure seems to be exaggerated in view of the position of the carriers, quite close to the ground. In the background are some of the trees hiding the south side of Krematorium V. ![img-1.jpeg](img-1.jpeg) Document 47 [PMO reg. no. 888] The metal frame of the Krematorium IV 8-muffle furnace, mixed up with zinc covers from the upper ventilation holes of Leichenkeller I of Krematorien II and III, lower right. Upper left, half hidden by the frame components, are protective grids from the Krematorium windows. Photograph taken in the Bauhof (building materials yard) in 1945. ![img-2.jpeg](img-2.jpeg) Document 48 [PMO reg. no. 887] Doors of the Krematorium IV furnace. They are vertically sliding, «guillotine», doors with inspection peep-holes from the muffles of Krematorium IV cremation furnaces (those of Kr V were identical), photographed at the Bauhof in 1945. The Auschwitz Bauleitung requests to foreman Koch of Topf & Sons to make 8 counterweights and modify several pulleys for the Krematorien IV and V furnaces («metalworking shop» file of volume 11 of the Hoess trial, order nos 137 and 175) indicate that of the 10 «Handwinden/hand winches» fitted - without any indication of their location or function - in the furnace room of Krematorium IV (PMO file BW 30/43, page 33), 8 were destined for the double 4-muffle furnace, known as the 8-muffle furnace, and 2 for the smoke flue dampers. Topf drawing D.58173 for a single-muffle furnace for Mauthausen concentration camp (Bundesarchiv Koblenz, NS 4 Mauthausen/54) clearly shows the opening and closing technique for an incineration muffle in Krematorien IV and V as being by an «Absperrschieber[tür]/sliding shut-off door», with a housing projecting from the upper part of the furnace (visible on the cross-section of the furnace on drawings 1638 and 2896 of Krematorium IV) to hold the door when in the upper position, i.e. when the muffle was open. Thus the muffle doors of Krematorien IV and V opened vertically, while those of II and III were ordinary hinged doors. Three winches, counterweights and doors are now stored in the former coke store of Krematorium I in the main camp. Document 49 [PMO reg. no. 889] Protective grids from the Krematorium windows, photographed in the Bauhof in 1945. ![img-3.jpeg](img-3.jpeg) 501 ===== PDF PAGE 0492 | page-492.md ===== exact number of Jews of other origin gassed at Auschwitz (except for 70,000 Greek Jews burned in 1943). I think the total number gassed in the two Bunkers and the four Krematorien exceeded 4 million. The American historian Raul Hilberg, one of the rare true specialists of «The Destruction of the European Jews» (Quadrangle Books, Chicago 1961), estimates, on the basis of the number of trains arriving at Auschwitz, that there were ONE million Jewish victims.] This figure includes various transports from different European countries, both Jews and Aryans, as well as prisoners registered in the camp and sent for gassing after selection. The dismantling of the Auschwitz Krematorien began in autumn 1944 [in October for Kr IV and at the end of November for Kr II and III]. The parts were taken to the goods platform and loaded onto trains. Part of the material was left in Auschwitz, where it is still to be found [in 1945] in the place where building materials were stored, known as the «Bauhof» (builder's yard) in Auschwitz I [about 1 km northwest of the main camp]. The Germans did not succeed in shipping everything, being in such a hurry to flee. To be found there are the trolley I have already described, the components of the ventilation system [of the undressing rooms of Krematorien II and III : PMO reg. nos 893, 894, 895 and 896], the frames of the cremation furnaces of Krematorien IV and V [see Document 47]. [In fact these parts are from Kr IV, those from V having remained in its ruins, twisted by the explosions that destroyed it at the end of January 1945. In the centre of the shadow of a observer on the right, it is possible to see a dozen or so covers from the upper ventilation holes of the gas chambers of Krematorium II or III, on which subsequent toxicological analysis was to find traces of cyanides] the doors of these same furnaces [see Document 48], the ash bins [Document 26], fire bars [Document 27], the iron grids from the windows [Document 40]. Despite the context, they are indeed grids for protecting the windows, not grills for roasting corpses out of doors, the fire irons from the furnaces [Document 37], a gas-tight door from a gas chamber [Documents 11, 12 and 13], clothes hooks and benches from the undressing rooms [of Krematorien II and III, Document 10] and other metal and wooden items. With this, the deposition being completed, the hearing was closed. Henryk Tauber public prosecutor Edward Pechalski examining judge Jan Sehn clerk of the court Stefania Setmajer Round stamp of the «Cracow Regional Commission for the investigation of German Crimes», with in manuscript «Certified a true copy», signed by Jan Sehn. \*\*\* ## Conclusion In 1985, Henryk Tauber's deposition brings nothing new regarding the existence of homicidal gas chambers at Birkenau, a historic fact known to all except those who refuse to accept it. The proof of the exceptional validity of his testimony is how well it corresponds with the historical material available now that was not available in May 1945. The main criticism that can be made of his account is the relative weakness of his descriptions of Krematorien IV and V. Just as his accounts of Krematorien II and III are so detailed as to be almost tedious at times, though they are necessary, he becomes almost vague on Krematorien IV and V. But the fault hardly lies with Tauber, who must have been exhausted by the end of his deposition. It is unfortunate that Judge Jan Sehn did not call him back for a second hearing to deal more specifically with Krematorien IV and V. After a few days' break, many details that escaped him would have returned to his memory. This is a serious omission, because, for example, neither Tauber nor Dragan, both members of the Sonderkommando and «stokers» in Krematorien IV and V describe the way in which the doors of the 8-muffle furnace, which they handled every day, were opened and closed. In so doing, they would have been led to describe the appearance of the furnace, which can now be reconstituted, due the lack of contemporary photographs, only by means of a laborious process of comparison and cross-checking. Obviously the discovery of more Bauleitung photographs showing the internal installations of Krematorien IV and V, or of Topf drawings of these furnaces would make this criticism irrelevant. \*\*\* 502 ===== PDF PAGE 0493 | page-493.md ===== PART FOUR CHAPTER 1 # AUSCHWITZ EXPLAINED BY THE REVISIONISTS # «Vergasungskeller»: gassing cellar or gas-generating cellar ? Reply to the affirmations by A R Butz and R Faurisson concerning Leichenkeller 1 or «corpse cellar 1» of Birkenau Krematorium II The article by Robert Faurisson that appeared in «Le Monde» of 29th December 1978 on «The problem of the gas chambers» or «The Auschwitz rumours», triggered a response by G Wellers, entitled «An abundance of proofs». This was followed by the publication of «A letter from Mr Faurisson» in right of reply, and by virtue of this same right, G Wellers replied with a text entitled «An inspired novel». Still not admitting defeat, Faurisson sent yet another reply to the newspaper, requesting «One proof... one single proof», which the editors of «Le Monde» refused to publish. This epistolatory duel in the press was the start of «The Faurisson Affair» in that it brought the question to the attention of the general public. Keeping strictly to German source documents, Georges Wellers counter-attacked using only ONE LETTER, that of 29th January 1943 [Document 1]. Not reasoning like a revisionist, it seemed to him that this document, backed up and authenticated by the testimony of survivors and of the SS themselves, would suffice. It was in fact the only material «criminal proof» that he had available. It was effective, and Faurisson was never able to produce a valid counter-explanation, only very weak arguments bordering on the foolish. Neither Wellers nor, fortunately, Faurisson, were aware that the «slip» contained in this letter, as it was presented in 1978, was historically unusable because incomplete. It lacked Kurt Prüfer's clarifying report, unknown in France at the time, but found subsequently in the Auschwitz Museum Archives [Documents 2 and 3a]. To affirm, SOLELY on the basis of the letter of 29th January 1943 that the term «Vergassungskeller» designated a homicidal gas cham- ber installed in Leichenkeller 1/corpse cellar 1 of Krematorium II was irresponsible, for though «gas chamber» was correct, there was no proof that it was «homicidal», for to be able to demonstrate this, the following factors must all be taken into account and a number of steps must necessarily be followed: a) The letter of 29th January 1943 DOES NOT STATE which of the Leichenkeller of Krematorium II the SS are referring to. Dra- wing 932 shows that THREE Leichenkeller were planned, numbers 1, 2 and 3 [Documents 3 and 4]; b) Two other Bauleitung drawings of Krematorium II, numbers 1311 and 2003, show that Leichenkeller 3 was converted for other functions nothing to do with its original purpose; c) The report by the engineer responsible for the installations, Kurt Prüfer, clearly states that it is Leichenkeller 2 from which the shuttering could not yet be removed; d) The only remaining Leichenkeller, designated by Bischoff as the Vergassungskeller, is therefore Leichenkeller 1. His letter means above all that it is to not be used for the moment as a «gassing cellar», but as a «corpse cellar», i.e. a «morgue»; e) The letter shows that the SS called Leichenkeller 1 of Krematorium II the Vergassungskeller/gassing cellar. The existence of a gas chamber in the basement of Krematorium II is thus proven, BUT THAT IS ALL. It is not until this «slip» is compared with and united with others, that the evidence that this was in fact a homicidal gas chamber becomes overwhelming. To date, no valid argument to refute this interpretation has been found by the revisionists. The American Arthur R Butz in his book «The hoax of the twentieth century» (Historical Review Press, Brighton 1977) writes in Chapter IV on Auschwitz: «Now the word «Vergasung» has two meanings. The primary meaning (and the only one is a technical context in application, carburetion or suporcia- tion... In any case it is obvious that the crematoria at Auschwitz, required equipment for «Vergasung» in order injects itself air mixture into the cross and thus the translation of NO-4473 (the letter of 29th January 1943), should be revised, possibly to «gas generation cellar». I have confirmed this interpretation of the «Vergasungskeller» with technically competent sources [!] in Germany» (page 121). When R Faurisson, somewhat surprised (to say the least), it would appear, by NO-4473, had to find an answer quickly, be purely and simply in his second article in «Le Monde» and then in his «Statement for the defence», page 85, copied Butz argument, foolishly ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) Translation of the passage underlined: It has not yet been possible to remove the shuttering from the reinforced concrete ceiling of the corpse cellar because of the frost. However, this does not matter because the gassing cellar can be used for the purpose. Document 1: Letter of 29th January 1943 from SS- Hauptsturmführer Bischoff, head of the Auschwitz Bauleitung, to his superior, SS General Kammler. [PMO microfilm No 205, volume 11 of the Hoess trial. Annex 5, certified by Judge Jan Sehn as being a true copy. Original in the PMO Archives, file BW 39/34, microfilm 1060, page 390] 503 ===== PDF PAGE 0494 | page-494.md ===== 44-Kr. 1/4 (H) Janisch 1948 Abschrift 25. Januar 1943. Betrifft: Prüfbericht des Ing. Prüfer. An die Kapitalbauleitung der Waffen-S und Polizei Anschraub 6/8 Abt. K.G. 1. BW 30 Auf Grund der heute vormittags stattgefundenen Besprechung mit der Bauleitung und der darauf folgenden Besichtigung der Krem- terien II, III, IV und V habe ich folgendes festgestellt. Krematorium II Dieser Gebäudekomplex ist beilich bis auf kleinere Nebenarbeiten fertiggestellt (Becke des Leichenkellers 2 kann wegen Frost noch nicht ausgeschaltet werden). Die 5 Stück Dreisuffel-Einäscherungsöfen sind fertig und werden z.Zt. trockengeheizt. Die Anlieferung der De- und Entlüftungs- anlage für die Leichenkeller verzögerte sich in Folge der Tag- gensperre, sodass der Einbau verwasichtlich erst in 10 Tagen erfolgen kann. Damit ist die Inbetriebnahme des Krematoriums II bestimmt am 15.2.43 möglich. Krematorium III Die Ausserneuern des Ofengebäudes sowie der Schornstein sind fer- tig. Mit dem Einbau der Beschkanäle für die Einäscherungsöfen wird in 6 Tagen begonnen. Der Einbau der 5 Stück Dreisuffel-Ein- äscherungsöfen kann in ca 5 Wochen erfolgen. Die Inbetriebnahme dieser Einäscherungsöfen ist frühestens zum 17.4.43 möglich. Krematorium IV Der Babben sowie die Fundamente sind fertiggestellt. Mit dem Aufbau des Achtsuffel-Einäscherungsofens wird am Montag, den 1.2.43 begonnen. Die Arbeiten werden zum 20.2.43 beendet sein. Krematorium V Die Fundamente der Ausserneuern sowie eines Schornsteins sind in Bau. Die Fertigstellung dieses Krematoriums wird in Gesamt- lichen von der Witterung abhängen. - 2 - Document 2 - 2 - Die Besichtigung der vorstehend aufgeführten Krematorien samt Inneneinrichtungen hat gezeigt, dass trotz der grossen Bauaufgaben und der Witterungs- sowie Materialbeschaffungs- Schwierigkeiten die Arbeiten flott vorangegangen sind. gez. I.A. Topf u. Söhne I.A. Obering, Prüfer P. v. c. d. a. [Signature] Untersturmführer (" Document 2a Document 2 and 2a: Report by the engineer Kurt Prüfer of Messrs Topf & Sons, dated 29th January 1943, concerning progress on the construction of Krematorien II, III, IV and V [PMO file BW 30/27, microfilm 130, pages 22 and 23, of Soviet source. Original in the PMO Archives, file BW 30/34, microfilm 1060, pages 161 and 192] Translation of the passage underlined: It is not yet possible to remove the shuttering from the ceiling of corpse cellar 2 because of the frosts. 504 ===== PDF PAGE 0495 | page-495.md ===== adding a sentence assimilating the ventilation and air extraction system of Leichenkeller I with the air supply to the furnaces: «For example in the letter of 29th January 1943 quoted at me (a letter not even carrying the usual indication «secret»). Vergasung does not mean «gassing», but «carburetion» [though Butz had in fact suggested «gas generation»]. Vergasungskeller designates the basement room where the «gaseous» mixture to fuel the crematorium furnace was prepared. These furnaces, with their air supply and extraction systems, came from Messrs Topf & Sons of Erfurt (NO-4473).» Having realized the inconsistency of his argument, a rather more realistic Faurisson, in his «Reply to Pierre Vidal-Naquet», gave a second version under point 16: «What V-N calls or baptizes the «gas chamber» of crematorium no 2 was a «Leichenkeller», i.e. a typical cool room... «A cool room has to be disinfected. For this they used Zyclon-B, an insecticide invented in 1917 and still used today all over the world»! [words underlined by the present author]. And so Faurisson, so pernickety about words, became the first person in the history of bacteriology to DESTROY PATHOGENIC GERMS WITH AN INSECTICIDE, forgetting the most common of effective disinfectants, BLEACH. This needs no comment. Lastly, following my discovery of a «Tagesbericht/timesheet», in which a civilian worker had written that a room in the western part of Krematorium IV was a «Gasskammer/gas chamber», Faurisson, now with his back to the wall, suggested, a third desperate version in the second edition of the «Reply to Pierre Vidal-Naquet», page 78: «It is likely that the two rooms found suspect by J-C Pressac in crematoriums IV and V were disinfection gas chambers» [underlined by J-C. P.]. From the translation of «Vergasungskeller» in Krematorium II by «gas generation cellar», to that of «Gasskammer» in Krematorium IV by «disinfection gas chamber», there is quite a climb-down. And yet, the sacred axiom still remains unchanged: «homicidal gas chambers never existed». From the technical standpoint, a brief examination of the different types of cremation furnaces designed and installed by Topf & Sons [see Part II, Chapter I] in the Buchenwald, Mauthausen and Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camps, all of which operated without any kind of gas generation or carburetion [in fact they were coke-fired!], makes it possible to assess at their true value the theories put forward by Butz (a graduate of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology) regarding «gas generation» and Faurisson (literary man and textual critic), with his first legend of «carburetion», second of «disinfected morgue» [using Zyclon-B!] and the final attempt at evasion, «disinfection gas chamber» [which should in any case be «disinfestation» to make sense]. The credit for highlighting this letter of 29th January 1943 and using it against the revisionists unquestionably goes to Father G. Wellers. This letter, TAKEN TOGETHER WITH the Prüfer report, provides very important evidence, but does not in itself constitute absolute proof of the existence of a HOMICIDAL gas chamber in the basement of Birkenau Krematorium II. Document 3: Drawing 932 of 23rd January 1942 (BW 30/01 E903 reg. nos 17079 and 20818/3) Entwurf für das Krematorium - Grundriß von Untergeschoß Projected crematorium - basement plan Originally planned as a new crematorium for the main camp, this building was to become Birkenau Krematorium II. Document 4: Basement part of drawing 932 (above) depicting: «Leichenkeller 1, 2 u. Morgue cellars 1, 2 and 3» and the installations connected with them # Translation of inscriptions: - voir feuille rectificative - plan no 1311!! - see correction sheet - drawing 1311 !! - LEICHENKELLER 2/CORPSE CELLAR 2 - LEICHENKELLER 3 - Gang/corridor - Rutsche/[corpse] chute - Vorraum/vestibule - Aufzug/[corpse] lift LEICHENKELLER 1 = VERGASSUNGSKELLER CORPSE CELLAR 1 = GASSING CELLAR ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) ![img-1.jpeg](img-1.jpeg) * 505 ===== PDF PAGE 0496 | page-496.md ===== ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) Photo 1: [June 1944, revisionist source] General view [of part of] the «Buna» at Monowitz, an I.G. Farbenindustrie coal hydrogenation complex built to produce synthetic rubber using the Buna process and 778,000 tonnes a month of synfuel (methanol) using the Bergius process. ![img-1.jpeg](img-1.jpeg) Photo 3: [1942, revisionist source] Refectory. Location unknown. ![img-2.jpeg](img-2.jpeg) Photo 2: [1942, revisionist source] Clinic X-ray division. Location unknown. ![img-3.jpeg](img-3.jpeg) Photo 4: [1943, revisionist source] Ukrainian women's choir. Location: the refectory in Photo 3. 506 ===== PDF PAGE 0497 | page-497.md ===== ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) ![img-1.jpeg](img-1.jpeg) Photo 5: [1942, revisionist source] Apprentices at the workbench. Impossible to locate. Photo 6: [1942, revisionist source] Sport - Fencing. «Betriebssportgemeinschaft J.G. Auschwitz/ Auschwitz enterprise youth group [?] sports association» PART FOUR CHAPTER 2 # AUSCHWITZ ACCORDING TO THE REVISIONISTS ## Photographic exhibition of the famous ## holiday camp ## KL AUSCHWITZ Introduction to the revisionist world «K L Auschwitz-Birkenau an extermination camp? A myth! The photographs on this and following sheets show that it was nothing of the sort. Auschwitz was simply a labour camp like so many others. The prisoners, Jews or otherwise, were above all employed on building the huge BUNA complex at Monowitz [Photo 1 shows a small part of the whole]. If they fell ill, they received appropriate treatment [Photo 2: a prisoner in striped uniform being X-rayed]. Their refectory was extremely spacious [Photo 3], and on the stage at the end, different artists regularly came to perform [Photo 4, a Ukrainian women's choir]. Young people, instead of living as parasites, were taught useful trades in model German enterprises [Photo 5]. During their leisure time they participated in such things as sports events [Photo 6: a fencing competition]. This, as proved by photographic evidence, was the true face of Auschwitz.» The above faithfully sums up the thoughts of many revisionists, and above all, I am sure it does not betray the spirit. Photo 1 is certainly a view of part of the Buna complex. Prisoners worked there, with a supplementary ration of «Buna Suppe», half a litre to a litre of coloured liquid served at midday. The patient undergoing X-ray examination in Photo 2 is not a prisoner, but is wearing ordinary pyjamas. If such an installation existed, it was reserved for the SS and their families. The refectory and its musical evenings was not for the ordinary prisoners, except those employed on cleaning or maintenance. It was a refectory for SS troops. The prisoner apprentices on Photo 3 are too Aryan, too neat, with their straight partings and the lack of any «zebra» suits to be true. Are these Jewish adolescents? Half of them are of the blond so dear to the racial theorists of the Third Reich. As for the fencing competition, the swastika on the flag and the badge worn by the fencer on the right, the presence among the spectators of SS and SA officers, members of the party in uniform and of policemen, show that this is a meeting for «Reichsdentschen», exclusively for «sound» elements and no others. I do not know the precise origin of these photographs from revisionist sources. They were certainly taken at Auschwitz during the year indicated, but they cannot have anything to do with the Auschwitz concentration camp and its prisoners, and still less Birkenau and its Krematorien. 507 ===== PDF PAGE 0498 | page-498.md ===== There are other equally idyllic «accounts» of the life of Auschwitz prisoners. For example, that of a «green» [common criminal] Capo chosen at random. His clothes were of good quality: civilian trousers, zebra jacket made to measure by the camp tailors, «Mütze» [beret] the same. He wore good boots made to his size by the shoemakers. An exemplary «organization» of food supplies gave him 3000 to 4000 calories a day, keeping him in perfect form so that he was able to participate actively in the leisure activities of the camp. Concerts of light or military music, film shows in the Zentral Sauna or elsewhere, Sunday football matches organized on the Birkenau sports ground near Krematorium III, boxing matches at Monowitz, bathing in fine weather in the swimming pool at the main camp [Photos 8 to 12], where he had learned to swim, and lastly, on certain nights, to use up some of the spare energy that he had in abundance because of his light work, the brothel of Block 24 would open its welcoming doors to him. Well-qualified dentists filled the caries caused by the sweetmeats of Auschwitz. He even had an unsightly and bothersome cyst removed, the operation being carried out by a prisoner surgeon that he knew [Photo 7, upper centre and right hand photographs]. He left this favoured place with regret in January 1945. After the war, in a weak and drained Germany, whenever he ran into one of the former SS guards of the camp they would exchange memories and he could not but hanker after the «good old days». Questioned a few decades later by a historian about the Auschwitz gas chambers, he replied that he had indeed heard rumours on the subject, but he had never actually seen one himself. This story of a Capo living in clover is based on true and verifiable facts, and is real to that extent. But there were very few Capos living like this, and their «luxury» food was taken from the rations of the average prisoner, who got only 800 to 1000 calories a day maximum, enough to keep him barely alive for three months. The «fashionable Capo» was not averse to asserting his authority by beating some of the starving sheep he was in charge of, just for the pleasure and with perfect impunity. Some of the victims died, but so long as the bodies were there to be counted at roll call it did not matter. The revisionist tactic here is to present such an authentic but exceptional case as the general situation. Photo 7: Page 8 of the «Bauleitung Album», conserved by Yad Vashem and PMO neg. no. 20095/39. Presented on page 6, [PMO neg. no. 20095/27] under the title: «Ausbau des Schutzhaftlagers/completion of the protective custody camp» Location: Stammlager/main camp. # Ausbau des Schutzhaftlagers ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) ![img-1.jpeg](img-1.jpeg) ![img-2.jpeg](img-2.jpeg) ![img-3.jpeg](img-3.jpeg) ![img-4.jpeg](img-4.jpeg) ![img-5.jpeg](img-5.jpeg) 508 ===== PDF PAGE 0499 | page-499.md ===== # THE CENTRAL CAMP «SWIMMING POOL» This empty basin, once filled with water, is of incalculable value to the revisionists, being clear proof of the existence of a SWIMMING POOL at Auschwitz concentration camp. There is no need to dwell on its importance. The presence of this installation is considered to be incompatible with the so-called «extermination». This basin was actually built as a reservoir for firefighting purposes, but was clearly adapted so that it could also be used as a swimming pool. The revisionists claim that the prisoners swam in it in summer. I ask them for photographic proof of this practice, for I am convinced that it was reserved for the SS. The presence of a swimming pool has no value as negative evidence against the gassings at Birkenau. In the yard behind Krematorium II there were football matches between the Sonderkommando and the SS. On the east side of Krematorium III there was a sports ground that enabled the Capos and Vorarbeiter to work off the excess calories they stole from the vast majority of prisoners who were constantly starved. Photo 8 ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) ![img-1.jpeg](img-1.jpeg) Photo 9 # Photo 8: Northeast end of the «firefighting reservoir/swimming pool» located between Block 6 and the southeastern barbed wire enclosure of the Stammlager (main camp). View of the low diving board. # Photo 9: Overall view of the reservoir/swimming pool, looking east. # Photo 10: The reservoir/swimming pool, looking southwest, with the high diving board at the far end. # Photo 11: The high diving board, north-south view. # Photo 12: The high diving board, north-south view. The take-off board itself is missing. ![img-2.jpeg](img-2.jpeg) ![img-3.jpeg](img-3.jpeg) Photo 11 Photo 10 Photo 12 ![img-4.jpeg](img-4.jpeg) 509 ===== PDF PAGE 0500 | page-500.md ===== # **KL AUSCHWITZ-BIRKENAU** **AS PRESENTED BY THE BAULEITUNG** The three photographs at the top of page 8 of the Bauleitung Album [photo 7] show authentic and real installations at the central camp, and they must have functioned according to the human and material possibilities. The validity of these photographs must be admitted and they cannot be dismissed as pure propaganda. Their purpose was not to mislead humanitarian organizations like the Red Cross, but simply to give a favourable image of the activity of the Auschwitz Bauleitung to ranking SS who visited the camp, to whom such albums of photographs were frequently presented. Photos 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18 and 19 concern the second stage of construction of Birkenau [KGL Bauabschnitt II]. They are presented on page 73 of the Bauleitung Album and concern in particular the organization of the health and sanitation service [PMO neg. no. 20995/420 of the disinfestation installation in the Gypsy camp, which appears on this page is reproduced in Part I, Chapter 6, «The disinfestation installation in the Gypsy camp»]. Apart from the pine branches, mats and cloths introduced to «pretty up» the scene, this was in fact the living environment, somewhat stark of SOME of the prisoners in BA II. The floors shown are concrete, purquet or brick. In other barracks they were of bare earth. The WC bowls [photo 19] were a rarity, unlike the wash troughs [photo 18] that were a standard model installed all over the camp. Photos 17, 18 and 19 reflect a reality from which the great majority of prisoners were excluded. The question of the NUMBER of prisoners with respect to the health installations of Photos 13, 14, 15 and 16 arises, and reveals the pitiful inadequacy of the facilities. How many patients could be treated with the products contained in the pharmacy cupboards? Certainly the few people shown in the half-empty sick room [Photo 16]. The two pictures are in harmony. But on Photo 17 of the large ward, one may well ask where the temperature charts are that are so well in evidence in Photo 18, and whether the small pharmacy Photo 14 was adequate for such a large number of people. The sordid reality of a prisoner with diarrhoea lying on the upper bunk, unable to move and soiled by his own excrement, suffering from fever and whose treatment consisted of one suck, not two, at an aspirine attached by a string, whose drinking water was barely filtered and worsened his condition, proves that at Birkenau, these photographs with their functional titles are tragically cynical in their insignificance. ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) Photo 13: PMO neg No 20995/414 «Operating theatre» Photo 16: [PMO neg No 20995/416] «Prisoners' sick room» ![img-1.jpeg](img-1.jpeg) ![img-2.jpeg](img-2.jpeg) Photo 17: [PMO neg No 20995/419] «Prisoners' sick room» 510 ===== PDF PAGE 0501 | page-501.md ===== Photo 14: [PMO neg No 20995/417] «Laboratory» ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) Laborraum Photo 14: P.M.O. neg. n° 20995/417. "Laboratoire". ![img-1.jpeg](img-1.jpeg) Apotheke Photo 15: P.M.O. neg. n° 20995/418. "Pharmacie". Photo 15: [PMO neg No 20995/418] «Pharmacy» Photo 18: [PMO neg No 20995/421] «Washroom» ![img-2.jpeg](img-2.jpeg) Washraum Photo 18: P.M.O. neg. n° 20995/421. "Lavabos". ![img-3.jpeg](img-3.jpeg) Abortraum Photo 19: P.M.O. neg. n° 20995/422. "Cabinets". Photo 19: [PMO neg No 20995/422] «Toilets» 511 ===== PDF PAGE 0502 | page-502.md ===== The drawing on Photo 20 is a real godsend for the revisionists. Concerning the initial arrangement for the third construction stage at Birkenau [KGL Bauabschnitt III], it formally states that this was to serve only as a mixed quarantine and hospital camp. There is INCOMPATIBILITY in the creation of a health camp a few hundred yards from four Krematorien where, according to official history, people were exterminated on a large scale. Drawing 2471 of a barracks for sick prisoners planned for BA.III [Photo 21] showing in detail the arrangement of the banks, supports this demonstration. The two drawings date from June 1943, when the Bauleitung was completing the construction of the four new Krematorien, and it is obvious that KGL Birkenau cannot have had at one and the same time two opposing functions: health care and extermination. The plan for building a very large hospital section in BA.III thus shows that the Krematorien were built purely for incineration, without any homicidal gassings, because the SS wanted to «maintain» its concentration camp labour force. This argument seems logical and is not easy to counter. The drawings exist, and what is more they come from the SS Economic Administration Head Office in Berlin, so it was no local humanitarian initiative. One remark, however, and above all another Bauleitung drawing [Photo 22], contradict this plausible, but theoretical, reasoning. Life and death were such close neighbours in Birkenau that the only functioning hospital sector, B.III, was right next to Krematorien III and IV. The sick prisoners placed in the front row of this demential theatre knew that if there was a selection, or if they died, they would be reduced to ashes in these buildings. It may appear paradoxical that prisoners should have received even a semblance of medical care just outside the Krematorien which had unhilated their relatives and could do the same to them at any moment, but this would be to disregard the capacity for «doublethink» [to use the term coined by George Orwell in «1984»] of the SS hierarchy, who blindly executed orders even when they were totally contradictory. The decisive argument proving that drawing 2521 was only a PROJECT, is to compare it with an overall plan of Birkenau, drawing 3764 of 23/3/44 [Photo 22], where BA.III no longer has 16,600 occupants as planned, but 60,000, i.e. the occupancy rate of the barracks has increased fourfold, the degree of crowding now being comparable to that of BA.II. Under these circumstances it becomes nonsense to talk of «hospital barracks». The third construction stage at Birkenau, «Mexico» in camp parlance, was on the one hand never completed, which brought about apalling sanitary conditions, and on the other hand the part that did exist became a transit camp in May-June 1944 for the Hungarian transports when the Krematorien could not keep up with the influx. The barracks erected in BA.III, which were scarcely half the number originally planned, were dismantled in November-December 1944 and their components apparently transported to Gross Rosen. The majority of these of BA.II and all those of Monowitz, were dismantled after the liberation of the camp and taken to the outskirts of Warsaw, to serve as emergency housing for the surviving inhabitants who returned to this city, and pending the painful rebuilding process that has continued until today. A comparison of these drawings (the project of 30/6/43 and the actual situation as at 23/3/44) shows that planned construction was not necessarily carried out and that plans EVOLVED according to needs. This process was virtually systematic, and can be seen in the overall planning of Birkenau, in the modifications in BW 5a and 5b to create disinfestation gas chambers and in the adaptation of the Krematorien to carry out mass murders. The fact that some drawings for Auschwitz were produced in Berlin, an unusual procedure, was used after the war, for example, by Untersturmführer Walter Dejaco, one of the principal «architects» of the Krematorien to exculpate himself and claim that the design of these criminal installations came from the SS Main Office in Berlin [trial of Dr Georg Meyer and others at Reutte, hearing of 3/4/62]. WHICH WAS NOT THE CASE, as can be seen by studying and comparing the majority of the remaining drawings of these buildings. Photo 20: Bauleitung drawing 2521 (1980) aug. no. 2004 (19) Auschwitz concentration camp Third construction stage Quarantine section and prisoners' hospital Drawn in Berlin on 4/6/43 Received by Auschwitz Bauleitung on 30/6/43 Classified as drawing No 2521 Countersigned by Bischoff Capacity for housing 14,596 prisoners. 512 ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) ===== PDF PAGE 0503 | page-503.md ===== ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) Photo 21: Bauleitung drawing 2471 (?) Source: CD(C) Auschwitz concentration camp - Barracks for sick prisoners Drawn in Berlin on 5/6/43 Classified by Auschwitz Bauleitung as drawing 2471 (?) Capacity to house 144 prisoners. [Forms part of the same series of drawings as 2521] 513 ===== PDF PAGE 0504 | page-504.md ===== ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) Photo 22: Bauleitung drawing 3764 [PMO file BW 2/33] Location drawing of the POW camp. (Work site) 2 POW camp Scale 1:5000. Drawing 3764. Drawn by prisoner 63003 on 23/3/44. Checked by civilian worker Teichmann and approved by SS Lieutenant Werner Jothann on 24/3/44. ![img-1.jpeg](img-1.jpeg) Photo 23: 514 ===== PDF PAGE 0505 | page-505.md ===== # Translation of the inscriptions of the sheet from Faurisson's tract: # PLAN DE BIRKENAU/PLAN OF BIRKENAU [Typed in the margin of the upper drawing]: plan réel d'après toutes publications antérieures ici, publication du musée d'Auschwitz true plan, according to all previous publications. Here, as published by the Auschwitz Museum. [Source of upper drawing] KL Auschwitz, Photographic documents, Krajawa Agencja Wydawnicza, Warsaw 1980. [Typed in the margin of the lower drawing]: d'après l'Album d'Auschwitz/according to the Auschwitz Album [Source of lower drawing] L'Album d'Auschwitz, page 42, Editions du Seuil, Paris 1983 Handwritten additions by Faurisson: # COUPURES/CUTS # ARTIFICE/TRICK The existence of the prisoners' football pitch next to Krematorium III is masked by the mention «Secteur Hôpital/ Hospital Sector» # Original inscriptions from the Album d'Auschwitz Nord/North Zentral Sauna [baths and disinfestation] Kläranlage I/Sewage treatment station I Pumpenanlage/Pumping station Crématoire II/Krematorium II Voie 2/Track 2 Kläranlage II/Sewage treatment station II Effektenlagerstraße/Effects camp road Crématoire IV/Krematorium IV Ringstraße/Ring road Crématoire V/Krematorium V Réserve d'eau/Reservoir Fosses de décantation provisoires/Provisional decantation basins Canada II/Kanada II Camp des femmes/Women's camp Entrée/Entrance Voie 1/Track 1 Hauptstraße a/Main road a Hauptstraße b/Main road b Quai a/Platform a Quai central/Central platform Quai b/Platform b Secteur Hôpital/Hospital Sector Camp des Tziganes/Gypsy camp Camp des hommes/Men's camp Industriestraße/Industry road Camp des Hongroises/Hungarian women's camp Camp de Theresienstadt/Theresienstadt camp # Lagerstraße/Camp road 1 Quai a/Platform a 2 Quai b/Platform b 3 Quai central/Central platform (selection) 4 Entrée de la Lagerstraße A/Entrance from Lagerstrasse A 5 Lagerstrasse A 6 Hauptstrasse a 7 B.II.e camp des Tziganes/Gypsy camp 8 B.II.f Secteur Hôpital/Hospital sector 9 B.III les barrages des effets/Effects barracks 10 Effektenlagerstrasse A Kanada II 11 Entrée du B.I/Entrance to B.I 12 Place d'appel du B.II.e camp des Hongroises/ Assembly ground for B.II.e Hungarian women's camp 13 Kanada II 14 Hauptstrasse b 15 Entrée du Crématoire II/Entrance to Krematorium II 16 Le Birkenwald/The Birch Wood 17 Face au Crématoire V/Facing Krematorium V Les numéros en chiffres arabes gras correspondent aux zones de prises des photographies par les SS, classées dans l'ordre de l'Album The bold arabic numbers correspond to the areas where the photographs were taken by the SS, classified in the order of the Album. Drawing 3764 [Photo 22], an overall plan of the Bauleitung camp was used as a basis for positioning the photographs in the «Album d'Auschwitz» published by Seuil in November 1983, for which I created the French version by adding historical details to the original English text, rearranging the order of the photographs and adding an annex on the four Birkenau Krematorien. As soon as the «Album d'Auschwitz» was published, a tract signed R Faurisson and dated 9th December 1983 was received by different media representatives, accusing me of betraying the «cause of the victims of the deportation...by a number of little tricks, of which here is an example: in order to make us think that the path taken by the deportees finished up at Krematorien II and III, [this author has] truncated the plan of Auschwitz-Birkenau. In reality, the road continued to the big shower and disinfection [sic] centre, the «Zentral Sauna». As will be seen below, we have marked with arrows the two cuts unjustifiably made and we present the true plan of the camp, as it appears in all the standard works.» The verso of this text was the page reproduced here [Photo 23], which was but the preamble to ten pages of venomous criticism, which I was easily able to counter in an article whose publication was not deemed necessary. R. Faurisson, the «professor», who, far from being newcomer to the negation of the existence of homicidal gas chambers, has already devoted 20 years of his life to it, is capable of original thought, but is not above appropriating the work of others, in well-tried academic fashion. He hates the emergence of «new historical facts», already being exhausted by the specious intellectual efforts he had to make, at least at the beginning of his «Affair» to try to refute the rare (two) convincing documents known in France proving the reality of the Birkenau gas chambers. Since then, he has been living on his «legal reputation» acquired thanks to a decision of the Paris court of appeal, 1st chamber, section A, of 26th April 1983, to the effect that «it must be observed that the accusations of superficiality levelled against him [R. Faurisson] lack pertinence and are not satisfactorily established», and at present «nobody can establish proof of falsehood.» His method of historical investigation being thus «recognized», which would only be fair if he is indeed the author, which still remains to be demonstrated, the fact remains that he never pressed research to the limit for fear of finding the strict truth. Furthermore, by virtue of this decision he is able to drag before the courts anybody who accuses him of being a «falsifier», which is a strange state of affairs. Comparing the original Bauleitung drawing with the Seuil drawing reveals the low tricks to which I stooped. If Faurisson does not like the plan of the POW camp, let him apply to the ex-Auschwitz Bauleitung, who will be happy to show him about forty others, all different. Unfortunately for Faurisson, these drawings are in Eastern Europe, in Oswiecim, in the hands of the «Polono-Stalinist» falsifiers he has so often denounced. As for the «standard works» he mentions, it should be pointed out that the FIRST concrete evidence was published in Poland in 1946, «Biuletyn I. Głownej Komisji Badania Zbrodni Niemieckich w Polsce» [Bulletin I of the Central Commission for the investigation of German crimes in Poland], and includes a chapter on Auschwitz, certainly written by Judge Jan Sehn, who selected precisely Bauleitung drawing 3764 of 23/3/44 to represent the Birkenau camp [page 64, illustration 7]. I think it was a good choice, because the drawing is clear. 515 ===== PDF PAGE 0506 | page-506.md ===== PART FIVE ## The unrealized future of the ## Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp ### The unrealised future of K L Auschwitz-Birkenau What the possible future of the Auschwitz-Birkenau complex could have been is a topic that has not been researched and never discussed in the literature. As far as the archivist of the Auschwitz Museum can recall, only two people have ever taken an interest in this now fictional evolution: a former prisoner and the present author. There were three main stages in the development of KL Auschwitz: 1. Creation of the Stammlager or main camp (Auschwitz I) in July 1940; 2. Creation of a prisoner of war camp at Birkenau (Auschwitz II) in October 1941; 3. Construction of a labour camp by IG Farbenindustrie at Monowitz (Auschwitz III) in late October 1943. The main camp was opened as a «protective custody» [Schutzhaft] camp and was intended to receive Polish prisoners from Silesia. Its rapid development was slowed somewhat by two successive directives: the decision to build a POW camp (for Soviet prisoners) and the decision to exterminate the Jews. The result was KGL [«POW camp» - the name was not changed] Birkenau, with its four Krematorien and its numerous gas chambers. The criminal conversion of the POW camp was to be pushed even further according to 1944 plans, but these could not be implemented for lack of material resources. This last stage of homicidal activity was thus aborted and the construction of the required facilities never completed, but the instruments of extermination, absolute errors on the political and human planes, were in any case destined for demolition, whatever the outcome of the war for Germany and her satellites. [The probable evolution of these two programmes, the extension of the main camp and reinforcement of the criminal structure of the POW camp, interrupted before they were completed, are investigated in the light of the remaining evidence from two standpoints: a future without extermination and one with extermination.] The Monowitz camp, directly linked with German industry, represented the future «solution» for the concentration camp system: slavery in the service of a «thousand year Reich», triumphant or in its death throes. The development of Monowitz, abandoned on 18th January 1945, prefigured the way in which post-war societies, in the West as well as in the East, would gradually come to be organized, with the labour force dependent on the factories and the prison huts or barracks being replaced by public housing. The improvement on the «Monowitz principle» was to be more perceptible in the West, where fairly complete freedom has replaced barbed wire and armed guards. As for the food and the three-tier wooden bunks, the «liberal» and «socialist» regimes have succeeded to differing extents in obtaining sufficient of the former and replacing the later by decent flats or comfortable houses. 516 ===== PDF PAGE 0507 | page-507.md ===== CHAPTER ONE # THE ABORTED FUTURE OF THE STAMMLAGER ## WITHOUT EXTERMINATION Attempt to investigate the future of KL Auschwitz (the Stammlager) as it was being planned in 1941 and 1942 The protective custody camp, later concentration camp at Oswiecim (Auschwitz) was to be part of the development of a German settlement or colony [Siedlung] in this region that the Nazis considered to be too Polish. Before the order to exterminate the Jews arrived and radically changed the face of the camp, the Bauleitung was asked to draw up development plans which were intended to be an «SS model» for the Eastern Marches. This project was considered so important that architects came from Berlin to work on the spot. The style, quality and power of the buildings envisaged are perfectly reflected in the artist's impression of the «Ceremonial Hall» of the New Headquarters [Kommandantur] at Auschwitz [Document 1]. The grandiose structures of the SS builders were intended to last a thousand years. The development plan for the town of Auschwitz had three main components: 1. Extension and reorganization of the concentration camp, a pool of labour, based on the old Polish barracks and the creation of a monumental SS complex with adjoining family quarters to the north. An industrial zone was to flank the camp on the west. [Document 3 is the overall plan of the project, Documents 1 and 2 are artists' impressions of the interior of the New Garrison Headquarters and Documents 4 to 10 are elevations and plan drawings of the SS accommodation in the northern part of the garrison area]. 2. Reorganization of the town of Auschwitz and of its centre, designed as a military and industrial city. To the east is the vital link between the city and the outside world, the railway station. The concentration camp, is located in the Zasole district, between the station, the river Sola and the old town, but for the SS it was not to belong to the city of Auschwitz, being territorially, administratively and legally distinct from it. It was simply to be a «highly concentrated» working class suburb. There were to be three German residential districts centred on the old town: Blenie (to the east), Dwory (to the west) and Osiedle (to the south). The number of bridges across the Sola (to the east) and the Vistula (to the north) was to be eight times the prewar figure [Document 11, development plan for the Auschwitz region; Document 12, development plan for the town of Auschwitz; Document 13, Nazi Party community centre, its precise location not known, but somewhere near the IG Farbenindustrie zone; Document 14, plan of the forum of the new city, eastern district; Document 15, model of the proposed redevelopment of the old town; Document 16, partial view of a model of a housing estate, probably in the southern district of the city]. Paradoxically enough, the development plans for the town of Auschwitz produced in September-October 1942 were considered «secret», whereas the project for a crematorium in January 1942 was not. The January drawings, however, concerned a perfectly normal cremation installation whose existence could be revealed, though when its conversion to a criminal instrument was envisaged the situation changed. On the other hand, the development plans, and hence the drawings, for the town of Auschwitz were directly connected with the German war effort and the presence of a vital component: a synthetic fuel plant. From the standpoint of the conflict in progress, knowledge by the Allies of German industrial projects in the Auschwitz area would have been more valuable than the plans of buildings that resembled bakeries. 3. Installation at Monowitz of a huge industrial complex by IG Farbenindustrie, producing synthetic fuel (methanol) and synthetic rubber (the Buna plant). This industrial centre was located on the Silesian coal basin and used coal as its raw material. The engineers and technicians were to be Germans or nationals of other Axis countries, semi-skilled workers would be supplied by compulsory labour schemes in the occupied countries and unskilled workers would be prisoners of war and internees from the camp. Other industrial zones were to be established around the giant IG Farben complex: two south of the camp; one northwest of the station and one north of Dwory. The industrial strip to the south of the camp and the Monowitz complex were the only ones actually built. ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) Document 1: [PMO Reg. no. 20944/2] Skizze z. Kommandantur «Feierhalle» Sketch for the «Ceremonial Hall» of the garrison headquarters The sketch is dated 1942, but the artist's initials are not known. The sketch shows the interior of the hall in the main building of the new headquarters, but it cannot be located exactly because we have no detailed drawing of BW/Worksite 173, of which Documents 1 and 2 are the only known illustrations of the interior arrangements. 517 ===== PDF PAGE 0508 | page-508.md ===== ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) Document 2 [PMO Neg. no. 20944/1] Undated sketch by an unknown author. The handwritten inscription in the top righthand corner «hol z kommandanture/hall in the garrison headquarters» appears to be of Polish origin. This sketch is of the interior of the same building as Document 1, BW 173, whose precise location is not known. It appears to show the first floor, at the top of a monumental staircase. Document 3 - Translation of inscriptions (from left to right, by district): # Sundry: - Nach Raisko/To Raisko - Sola/[River] Sola - Pferdeställe/Stables - Reit- und Turnierplatz/Riding and competition ground - Deutsche Ausrüstungswerken/German Equipment Works (DAW, an SS enterprise) - Erweiterungsgelände für die Ausrüstungswerken/Land for the extension of the DAW # New Garrison Headquarters: - Garagenhof/Vehicle depot - Parkplätze/Parking area - Einfahrt KL/[Vehicle] entrance to the camp - Kommandantur/Headquarters - Kasino/Mess - Ausstellungspavillon/Exhibition hall - Truppenunterkünfte/Troop accommodation - Wirtschaftsbaracke/Services building - Wasserturm/Water tower - Fernheizwerk/District heating plant - Neue Brücke/New bridge # Concentration camp: - Wäscherei-Gebäude/Laundry building - Schutzhaftlager/Protective custody camp - Krankenhaus/Hospital - Gefängnis/Prison - Geplante Erweiterung des Schutzhaftlagers/Planned extension of the protective custody camp - Wache/Guards # Concentration camp SS - Kasernenbereich/Barrack area - Garagenhof/Vehicle depot - Exerzierplatz/Parade ground - Einfahrt Kasernen/[Vehicle] entrance to barrack area # SS family quarters - Gasthaus/Guesthouse - Hauptzufahrt [o. Einfahrt] zur Siedlung/Main access (and entrance) to family quarters - Rathausverwaltung/Municipal offices - Stadtturm/Clock tower - Hotel - Kaffee/Café - Läden/Shops - Arkaden/Arcades - Brunnen/Fountain - Garagen/Garages - Kindergarten - Schule/School - Volkshalle HJ-Heim-Kino/Community hall, Hitler Youth home and cinema - Bahnhofplatz/Railway square - Nach Auschwitz/To Auschwitz # Sports stadium - Stadium/Stadium - Parkplätze/Car park - Haupteingang zum Stadion/Main entrance to stadium - WC - Läden/Shops - Gaststätte/Restaurant - Tennisplätze/Tennis courts - für Turniere/for competitions - Klubhaus/Clubhouse - Tribüne/Stands - Tribüne für Veranstaltungen auf den Wasser/Stands for events held on the water - Umkleideräume/Changing rooms # Old bridge area - Alte Brücke/Old bridge - Nach Auschwitz/To Auschwitz - Bebauungszone der Stadt Auschwitz/Auschwitz town building zone - Bootshäuser/Boathouses 518 ===== PDF PAGE 0509 | page-509.md ===== ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) Document 3 [PMO Neg. no. 20931/3] KONZENTRATIONSLAGER AUSCHWITZ Generalbebauungsplan - KL und Siedlung im Maßstab 1:20.000 AUSCHWITZ CONCENTRATION CAMP General development plan - concentration camp and housing Scale 1:20.000 The original is a very large drawing in colour, beautifully executed by a real professional, showing the projected development from the main camp to the old Auschwitz bridge. There is no date, number or draughtsman's name, but it probably dates from 1941 or 1942. ![img-1.jpeg](img-1.jpeg) Document 3a: Detail of the plan of the New Garrison Headquarters, BW 173, divided into four sections - VII, VIII, IX and X - as on the existing drawings. The small sketch below the development plan shows the layout of the SS accommodation in the north wing of the New Garrison Headquarters, BW/Worksite 173, as represented on seven existing drawings, all dated 14th December 1942: 56A, 57A, 58A (Trakt/section VII), 61A (section VIII), 64A (section IX), 62A (section IX-X) and 65A (section X), produced under the direction of one Werkmann, an architect sent from Berlin, who worked in the Auschwitz Bauleitung only until 31st December 1942. These seven drawings give an idea of the scale of the planned development. 519 ===== PDF PAGE 0510 | page-510.md ===== ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) Document 4: [PMO Neg. no. 21136/7] Kommandantur-Unterkünfte/Garrison HQ accommodation Drawing 56A of 14th December 1942 Scale 1:100 Südansicht/South elevation Nordansicht u. Schnitt A-B/North elevation and section A-B Views of the south and north sides of section VII 520 ===== PDF PAGE 0511 | page-511.md ===== ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) Document 5: [PMO Neg. no. 21136/5] Kommandantur-Unterkünfte/Garrison HQ accommodation Drawing 57A of 14th December 1942 Scale 1:100 Dachgeschoß/Roofspace Obergeschoß/Upper storey Plans of the roofspace and upper storey with a situation drawing on a scale of 1:2000 showing the location of section VII This building was to house 104 SS Oberscharführer (senior NCOs) 521 ===== PDF PAGE 0512 | page-512.md ===== ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) Document 6: [PMO Neg. no. 21136/4] Kommandantur-Unterkünfte/Garrison HQ accommodation Drawing 56A of 14th December 1942 Scale 1:100 - Kellergeschoß/Basement - Erdgeschoß/Ground floor - Oberscharführer/Senior staff - sergeant - Durchfahrt/Passage Plans of the basement area and ground floor with a situation drawing on a scale of 1:2000 showing the location of section VII The ground floor was to house 42 SS NCOs 522 ===== PDF PAGE 0513 | page-513.md ===== ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) Document 7: [PMO Neg. no. 21136/6] Kommandantur-Unterkünfte/Garrison HQ accommodation Drawing 61A of 14th December 1942 Scale 1:100 Westansicht/West elevation Ostansicht u. Schnitt C-D/East elevation and section C-D Views of the west and east sides of section VIII The building was to house about one hundred SS NCOs 523 ===== PDF PAGE 0514 | page-514.md ===== ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) Document 8: [PMO Neg. no. 21136/2] Kommandantur-Unterkünfte/Garrison HQ accommodation Drawing 64A of 14th December 1942 Scale 1:100 Westansicht/West elevation Ostansicht/East elevation Views of the west and east sides of section IX, extending section VIII Section IX was to house 94 SS NCOs and men 524 ===== PDF PAGE 0515 | page-515.md ===== ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) Document 9: [PMO Neg. no. 21136/3] Kommandantur-Unterkünfte/Garrison HQ accommodation Drawing 62A of 14th December 1942 Scale 1:100 - Kellergeschoß/Basement - Erdgeschoß/Ground floor - Hauptscharführer, Oberscharführer/Master-sergeants and senior staff-sergeants - Durchfahrt/Passage Plans of the basement area of section IX and the ground floor of sections IX and X, with 525 ===== PDF PAGE 0516 | page-516.md ===== ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) Document 10: [PMO Neg. no. 21136/1] Kommandantur-Unterkünfte/Garrison HQ accommodation Drawing 65A of 14th December 1942 Scale 1:100 Kellergeschoß/Basement Dachgeschoß/Roof space Ostansicht/East elevation Westansicht u. Schnitt E-F/West elevation and section E-F Plans of the basement area and roof space and views of the west and east sides of section X Section X was to house 52 SS men The total capacity of the north wing of the New Garrison Headquarters was planned to be about 350 men. The war was to reduce these medieval SS dreams to nothing, however. At Birkenau, for example, their castles became wooden bars, like those of the prisoners, though there was a world of difference in that their living conditions were nevertheless decent whereas those of the prisoners were indescribably bad. 526 ===== PDF PAGE 0517 | page-517.md ===== Document 11: [PMO Neg. nos 10265 and 20588] Verkehrsplan und Struktur-Skizze zum Bebauungsplan für die Stadt Auschwitz Traffic plan and land use sketch for the Auschwitz urban development plan Scale 1:25000 Drawn in October 1942 # Translation of inscriptions (from top to bottom and left to right): # Erläuterung/Key - Reichsbahn/Reich state railway - Reichsstraße/Trunk road - Landstraße I. Ordnung/Main road - Landstraße II. Ordnung/Secondary road - Wasserstraße/Waterway - Vorhandene Bebauung/Existing built-up areas - Altstadt/Old town centre - Siedlungsgelände/Smallholdings - Heimsiedlung/Residential area - Gewerbe und Industrie/Trade and industry - Wald/Woods - Teich/Pond - Freiflächen/Open spaces - Stadtgrenze/Town boundary - Nach Kattowitz/To Kattowitz - Nach Dzieditz/To Dzieditz - Weichsel/Vistula - KZ Lager/Concentration camp - SS Kaserne/SS barracks - IG Werk/IG Farbenindustrie complex Blatt Nr. II/Sheet No. II GEHEIM/SECRET Breslau/Auschwitz im Oktober 1942/Breslau-Auschwitz, October 1942 [unknown signature] Sonderbeauftragter für den Bebauungsplan der Stadt Auschwitz Specially commissioned for the Auschwitz urban development plan ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) 527 ===== PDF PAGE 0518 | page-518.md ===== Document 12: [PMO Neg. no. 20587] Wirtschaftsplan für den Bebauungsplan der Stadt Auschwitz Economic activity map for the Auschwitz urban development plan Maßstab/Scale 1:10000 Drawn in September 1942 Translation of inscriptions (from top to bottom and left to right): GEHEIM/SECRET - KZ Lager/Concentration camp - SS Kaserne/SS barracks - Blatt Nr. III/Sheet No. III Erläuterung/Key - Ackerflächen/Arable areas - Wiesen/Meadows - Gärten/Market gardens - Dauerkleingärten/Small orchards - Friedhof/Cemetery - Forsten/Forests - Offentl. Erhoblungsflächen/Public recreation areas - Wasserläufe u. Flächen/Watercourses and pools - Landwirtschaft. Siedlungsflächen/Farming settlements - Kleinstedlungsflächen/Smallholdings - Wohnflächen/Residential area - Gewerbeflächen/Trading area - Industrie/Industry - Eisenbahnen/Railways - Reichstraßen/Trunk roads - Straße 1 Ordnung/Main road - Andere Verkehrsstraßen/Other roads - Radwege/Cycle tracks Geplante Stadtgrenze/Planned town boundary - Vorschlag des Regierung/Suggestion by the government - Vorschlag des Planverfahren/Suggestion by the planner - Amtsbezirk KL (Vorschlag SS)/Area of jurisdiction of the concentration camp (SS suggestion) - Umgrenzung des Plangebietes/delimitation of the planning area - Deiche/Dykes - Hochspannungsleitung/High tension lines - Drahtseilbahn/Cable railway - Graten nach der Verhandlung 23/9/42/Boundary after the hearing of 23/9/42 Breslau/Auschwitz im Sept 1942/Breslau-Auschwitz, September 1942 [unknown signature] Sonderbeauftragter für den Bebauungsplan der Stadt Auschwitz Specially commissioned for the Auschwitz urban development plan ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) 528 ===== PDF PAGE 0519 | page-519.md ===== A considerable part of the industrial programme for the Auschwitz region was actually implemented, because this was essential to the war effort. On the other hand, the more «esthetic» development of the concentration camp and the SS colony was not realized, halted by the extermination of the Jews and relegated to the lowest of the economic priorities of the moment. Despite the lack of written documents, the overall picture of the SS colonisation of Oswiecim can be clearly seen thanks to the remaining drawings [see documents]. In order to translate their view of the world, the SS in fact preferred plans and drawings to written documents. The size and importance of the «Baudrungen» and their drawing offices is eloquent in this regard. Drawings made it possible to represent their ideas in concrete form, providing precise representations comprehensible to all, whereas written documents, even very detailed, still leave room for personal interpretation and a certain fuzziness and can never produce results as clear and reproducible as drawings. Knowing what the SS planned for the Auschwitz region, one may ask: 1. Whether it would have been materially possible to realize the projects, in particular the buildings for the SS and the organization of the whole town on the lines of a luxurious barracks. If the war had turned in favour of the Axis powers in 1942 and been won quickly, the buildings could have been constructed and finished at the price of stepping up the concentration camp system, but using the prison labour more «sparingly», which would have meant the end of the earlier system of «three months of slave labour and afterwards the chimney!» Initially, Hoess, the first Camp Commandant of Auschwitz was very much in favour of this solution (no doubt mainly on the grounds of efficiency), but his efforts were in vain first of all because the other SS did not see it his way, having instituted a system of ill-treating the prisoners, and then because it became impracticable because of the senseless orders he received and the pressure of the general situation. 2. What social progress did the SS offer with their model colony? The answer is disquieting: a return to the social order of a thousand years ago, through the establishment of a neo-fraud society with an SS aristocracy, new knights in shining (motorized) armour, reigning over their serfs: prisoners and others of lowly status. The stresses engendered by such a society would be so strong that they would sooner or later have become explosive. Modern day-«peasant revolts» would have broken out, and the system, always in a state of latent crisis, would have broken down, undermined from within. The SS vision of the future was simply utopian. Other attempts have been made to analyze what would have happened to a Germany that had won the Second World War, and in these the position of the SS would have been dominant. Albert Speer outlines the prospects in his «Der Sklavenstaat» [The slave state]. The «colonization» of the east, defined essentially as a programme of major works and huge constructions, would have cost the lives, according to Speer's calculations, of 29 million prisoners, being literally worked to death in «SS construction brigades», each made up of 4,800 men in 24 companies. These men would have been supplied by the concentration camps. The «Ostraum/Eastern area» would have become a colonization area, criss-crossed by motorways, with towns of 15 to 20,000 people located at the major intersections, surrounded by a purely ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) Document 13: [PMO Neg. no. 20589] Gemeinschaftshaus der NSDAP Auschwitz für die Bereitschafts-Siedlung der IG Farbenind. Auschwitz NSDAP [Nazi Party] community centre for the IG Farbenindustrie workers' district Blatt Nr VI J/Sheet No VI J Auschwitz 4/10/41 The Architect [unknown signature] 529 ===== PDF PAGE 0520 | page-520.md ===== Germanic rural population [note of 17th August 1942 from the SS Head Office, 6 Berger, to Himmler (Ba NS 19/new 1704)]. The importance of European communications had already been stressed in article in the review «Signal» [No. 20, 2nd issue of October 1941, pages 41 to 45] describing «International traffic in a Europe without frontiers». Elsewhere, a former Waffen-SS general, the Belgian Léon Degrelle, head of the Rex, in «Hitler pour 1000 ans» [Hitler for 1000 years] (Editions de la Table Ronde, Paris 1969) enthusiastically describes the East as Hitler saw it (pages 212 and 213): «Giant canals would unite all the great rivers of Europe, open to the boats of all, from the Seine to the Volga, from the Vistula to the Danube. Double decker trains - goods below, passengers above - running on raised tracks of 4 meter gauge, would easily cover the huge territories of the East, where the former soldiers [the Waffen-SS] would have built the world's most modern terms and industries.» But who would not ask: «And what would be the attitude of the Germans towards the Slavs?» Degrelle has the answer [pages 217 and 218]: «Nazi theoreticism professed violently anti-slavic theories. They would not have resisted any years of Russo-Germanic intergeneration. Russians of both sexes would very quickly have learned German. They often knew it already. [During the Russian campaign of 1941-42] we found German textbooks in all the schools. The language link would have been established more quickly in Russia than anywhere else in Europe. The German has admirable qualities as a technician and organizer. But the Russian, a dreamer, is more imaginative and has a quicker mind. The one would have complemented the other. And blood ties would have done the rest. The young Germans, naturally enough and whatever their propaganda machine may have done to oppose it, would have married Russian girls in their hundreds of thousands. They liked them, and the creation of the Europe of the East would have been completed in the most peasant fashion. The Germans-Russian union would have been a great success. Yes, the problem was enormous: to unite live hundred million Europeans.» On the basis of Speer's «forecasts» or Degrelle's «vision», everyone is free, according to his personal philosophy, to appreciate or otherwise the proposed developments and the price to be paid. Paradoxically, Degrelle's dreams seem more tangible than Speer's sinister calculations. This is was due to their different personalities. Speer, while being an unrivalled bureaucrat and a remarkable organizer whose work extended the armed resistance of the Reich for at least a year, did not have the stuff of a «leader of the people» like Degrelle. Already before the war, the Belgian dealt with Hitler as man to man, for both were of the same stamp, visionaries imposing their view of the future on crowds that they were able to subjugate, control and manipulate by their oratory alone. They had such powers of persuasion that they could annihilate individualities, a kind of power that makes this type of man, though captivating and able to command unshakeable devotion, dangerous for democracies. In a triumphant Document 14: [PMO Neg. no 20586] Zum Bebauungsplan für die Stadt Auschwitz Gestaltung des Parteiforums in der Neustadt-Ost For the Auschwitz urban development plan Configuration of the Party forum in the new town, eastern district Scale 1:500 Drawn in December 1942 # Translation of inscriptions: - Südseite/South elevation - Nordseite/North elevation - Ostseite/East elevation - Westseite/West elevation Blatt Nr VI F/Sheet No VI F Breslau/Auschwitz December 1942/Breslau-Auschwitz, December 1942 The Architect [unknown signature] Sonderbeauftragter für den Bebauungsplan der Stadt Auschwitz Specially commissioned for the Auschwitz urban development plan Germany, in total control of Europe, Degrelle would have had a good chance of succeeding Hitler - who had designated him his spiritual son in 1944 - at the head of a totalitarian SS empire stretching from the Atlantic seaboard to the Urals. He would have continued his predecessor's work in the East. Although ill-adapted to contemporary civilization, for example not even being able to drive a car, Degrelle, not concerned by this type of petty detail, conceived his role as being both the driving force controlling the will of millions of Europeans and as a guide leading them in the direction he saw for the future. He was not concerned with the organization of the work, the material and human resources that had to be harnessed, the programmes to be drawn up. That was the job of others, of high-level technicians just like Speer. But Degrelle, a convinced Catholic, would not have allowed nor been able to accept the colonization of the Eastern regions at a cost of 29 million victims, an exorbitant cost and a procedure contrary to his religious convictions. The millions of Jews exterminated during the Second World War raised such a furore that 29 million more deaths would not have been ignored and would have raised an even greater storm of protest. Speer's estimates, even though they are based on genuine SS documents, are unrealistic. A Degrelle would have found, or have had others find, some other way, though still no doubt involving compulsion, to implement his «civilizing mission» in the East. The fate of arms decided otherwise. *** ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) 530 ===== PDF PAGE 0521 | page-521.md ===== ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) Document 15 [PMO Neg. no. 10266] Model made by the SS during the war showing the planned redevelopment of the old town of Auschwitz. The main street in this model is the present «Jaroslava Dabrowskiego», which leads from the only existing bridge over the Sola (left foreground). The old town (center) undergoes no great changes, retaining the same configuration as before the war. The castle remains on its mound (left foreground). On the other hand, the «Radiant Holy Virgin Mary» church, about fifty meters from the castle, on the same side of the road, was to be demolished. The Party forum (Document 14) is just beyond the town centre on the right of the main street. The components on the model are simplified and incomplete as compared with the drawings on Sheet VI F. ![img-1.jpeg](img-1.jpeg) Document 16: [PMO Neg. no. 10267] Partial view of another model built by the SS during the war showing the redevelopment of one of the districts of the town of Auschwitz. Judging by the contours on the model, this district was probably to the south of the city. 531 ===== PDF PAGE 0522 | page-522.md ===== CHAPTER TWO # The unrealized future of the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp # BIRKENAU 1945: # THE EXTERMINATION STATION # BIRKENAU 1945 or THE UNREALIZED FUTURE: # PROJECT FOR AN EXTERMINATION STATION Drawing 4054 [Document 1], which in the light of present knowledge might be called the «extermination station», is something of an enigma. It depicts the very first stage of the definitive arrangement of the «special» part of Birkenau. In «Commandant of Auschwitz» (Pan Books, London 1961), Rudolf Hoess says on page 217: «The three railway tracks between building sectors I and II [B.a.I and II] in Birkenau camp were as be reconstructed as a station and rolled in and the lines were to be extended to crematoria III [IV] and IV [V] so that the unloading could also be hidden from the eyes of unauthorised people. Once again shortage of materials prevented this plan from being carried out.» In fact, linking Krematories II and III with Krematories IV and V by rail would appear to be rather difficult because of the proximity of the second sewage treatment plant [Kläranlage II] and the sewer evacuation channels crossing the area where the trains would have to pass. No drawing for this project is known. However, drawing 4054 confirms the intention of the SS to convert the notorious Birkenau «ramp» into a true «reception station». Krematories II and III are precisely shown on the drawing, exactly as captured on the photographs in the «Auschwitz Album», taken in May-June 1944 and the aerial photograph of 25th August 1944 [Document 2], with the additional installations not shown on the initial drawings; in the case of Kr II, a lean-to shed extending eastwards the roof over the waste incineration furnace, in which goods with no market value (personal papers and prayer books taken from new arrivals) were stored awaiting destruction; in the case of Kr III, a smaller construction having the same function built onto the east wall of the waste incinerator wing. The access stairways to the Leichenkeller 2 (undressing rooms) are drawn and clearly visible. The ambiguity of this drawing lies in the term «Gemischehalle/vegetable hall». If each of the six buildings alongside the railway had been labelled «Effektenhalle/hall for effects», the drawing would have become an extremely incriminating piece of evidence against the SS, and I believe in fact it still is. This camouflage of a drawing of installations whose purpose - a posteriori, I hasten to add - leaves no doubt, would appear to be the only example of such camouflage, for the Bauleitung NEVER DISSIMULATED ANYTHING on its drawings of the Krematories. The only device used by the Bauleitung was to avoid indicating the true function of some rooms (for example, the case, which is in fact somewhat dubious, of drawing No 2036 of Krematorium IV, of Soviet sources). The only camouflage was by omission. Workers employed by outside civilian contractors were in no way misled, which explains their numerous incriminating «slips». It might be claimed that the six «Gemischehalfen» were indeed stores for market garden products generously sent by the WVHA [SS Economic Administration Head Office] in order to supplement the rations of the Auschwitz prisoners employed in various factories and mines that had sprung up in the area. Three factors render this affirmation null and void. In June 1944, the Reich was already too weak and drained to be able to divert for the benefit of prisoners sufficient quantities of fresh vegetables as to regularly fill SIX stores of 930m². These Birkenau halls were no Covent Garden. What do the two Krematories at the end of the platform symbolize? It would have been better, if the SS had been trying to prove their humanitarian aims, not to show them on the drawing. The silhouettes of the three lorries ON THE OTHER SIDE of the hall and for which a road had to be built, call for no special comment, in view of the contemporary photographs that show them on the camp roads loaded with personal effects and heading for the two «Kanadas». Two documents in file BW 30/32, conserved by the PMO, are connected with drawing 4054. The Bauleitung contracted out the design and building of the roof of the «Abfertigungsshalle/clearance hall» to the civilian firm Konrad Segnitz of Beuthen. With a covering letter of 8th June 1944 [Document 4], Segnitz sent the Bauleitung the drawing of the roof frame [Document 3] and the list of timber and other materials required. Taking account of the delays in transmission, the construction of this hall/warehouse must have been decided in the first half of May, just before the «resettlement» of the Hungarian Jews. Although chronologically associated with this «Action», the title given to this building by Messrs Segnitz, «ABFERTIGUNGSHALLE FÜR TRANSPORTE/clearance hall for transports, is vague. Who or what is supposed to depart from this hall, Hungarians fit for work leaving for the Reich or effects taken from those declared until for work and destined to be gassed? Only a member of the Bauleitung confronted with these drawings could tell us, but this is no longer possible. The fact remains that, despite its uncertain function, this building, even in the design stage, is linked with the Hungarian action through its presence on drawing 4054 and the use of the word «Transporte». The drawing of this «station» raises the question of what its future was to be. Looking at these projects, Polish historians reply that after the Jews it would have been the turn of other peoples considered to be racially «inferior». The gassing of humans is a plague that developed and reached its height at Auschwitz, even though it did not originate there. This plague infected other camps before or at the same time, but never reached the same virulence as at Auschwitz-Birkenau. At the time of the withdrawal in January 1945, it affected the refuge camps, where centres were set up and tests were carried out by former Birkenau «technicians». Whether the Third Reich had emerged victor or defeated from the Second World War, this vile epidemic was in decline by 1945. The Gaussian curve can apply to many different types of event or phenomenon and depict them satisfactorily. The horror had gone too far by May-June 1944. The highest point on the curve had been reached. Escaped prisoners had testified and, above all, made their stories public. Publicity is incompatible with an essentially secret practice. Himmler was aware of this and on 26th November 1944 he ordered the gassings to cease. Whatever the situation had been at the end of the war, the «Mills of Auschwitz» would never have been able to continue turning. There are limits to everything, and even the darkest periods come to an end. Unlike the Poles, I do not believe that the Krematories and their gas chambers would have gone on working very long. These complexes were destined to be dismantled. I shall end by quoting Victor Méric, the author of the celebrated novel about the next war [that of 39-45], «La Der des Der» [The war to end all wars], written in 1930. Although this convinced pacifist was completely wrong about the use of gas in 39-45, and overestimated the role of bombers in the early years of the war, on page 39 of a pamphlet published in 1932 by Editions Sirius, «La guerre qui revient: FRAICHE und GAZEUSE», he gives a quotation from General von Altrich, who had written in a «Militär Wochenblatt» [Military Weekly]: «THE NEXT WAR WILL BE MUCH MORE A MASS EXTERMINATION OF THE CIVILIAN POPULATION THAN A FIGHT BETWEEN TWO ARMIES». Méric claims on page 178 that: «The next war, the war on civilians, is upon us. A vile butchery. The Massacre of the Innocents.» These extracts have a premonitory note, of which Victor Méric could have justly been proud after the war, while at the same time being thoroughly disgusted by the human race. Two common gasses, he would never have dared think of, carbon monoxide produced by internal combustion engines, and hydrocyanic acid used to combat lies, had killed at least a million people. He could not foresee that most of the victims would be Jews. *** 533 ===== PDF PAGE 0523 | page-523.md ===== ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) Document 1: Drawing 4054 drawn by prisoner 471 and checked by Janisch (?) on 21/6/44, countersigned by Jothann Lage- und Absteckungsplan über Bebauung des Geländes zwischen Bauabschnitt 1 und 2 in KL II Birkenau Maßstab 1:1000 Location and development plan for the land between construction stages 1 and 2 in KL II Birkenau Scale 1:1000 Translation of inscriptions: (from left to right and top to bottom) Querschnitt a-b, Maßstab 1:100/section a-b, scale 1:100 - Bauabschnitt 1/construction stage 1 - Graben/ditch - Breite d. besteh. Strasse 6m/width of cutting road - 6m - Hauptstraße/main road - Gleitstrauch - Rampe/platform - GEMUSCHALLE/vegetable hall [numbered 1 to 6 on plan drawing] - zum Aufschlitten/to be raised - jetziges Terrain/present ground - proj. Straße/planned road - Rabatte/burder - Sicherungsdicht/protective wire - Betonpfeller, elektr. Drahtraum/ - concrete post, electrified barbed wire - Bauabschnitt 2/construction stage 2 Location plan, scale 1:1000 - Königsgraben/King's ditch [name of a major drainage ditch] - Kiesplatz/gravel square - Abfertigungshalle/clearance hall - Graben/ditch - FLT [Feserlitschrank]/firefighting reservoir - Zaun/enclosure - Kiesfläche/gravelled area - Rampe 10m (o. 2m) breit/platform 10m (or 2 m) wide - Bauabschnitt 2/construction stage 2 - Straße/road - Bauabschnitt 1/construction stage 1 - Hauptstraße/main road - Netz/ummaggregat/electricity substation - Rampe/platform - Eingangsgebald[e]/entrance building - Turm/sauwer - Trafonation/transformer station - nach Birkenau/towards Birkenau - nach Auschwitz/towards Auschwitz - von Harmense/from Harmense - Anschlängszeit zur Reichsbahn/Reich railway siding ![img-1.jpeg](img-1.jpeg) Document 2: Fragment of an aerial photograph taken by the Americans on 25th August 1944, from «Le Monde Juf» No 97, January-March1980, photo 4. 534 ===== PDF PAGE 0524 | page-524.md ===== ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) Document 3. [PMO file BW 30/32, page 29] Drawing 1820, drawn on 1st June 1944 by the civilian firm Konrad SEGNITZ, for the roof of a large building designated «ABFERTIGUNGSHALLE FUR TRANSPORTE»/Clearance hall for transports, 50.00 meters long and 18.00 wide. Five copies of this drawing were sent to the Ruzitzburg on 8th June. On drawing 4054, it is at the western end of the platform, between Krematorien II and III. 535 ===== PDF PAGE 0525 | page-525.md ===== # Abschrift 1 Konrad Segnitz, Baugeschäft Beuthen O/S, den 8.6.44. Lindenstr. 38 7 Betrifft: Abfertigungshalle für Transporte im KGL, Auschwitz. An die Zentralbauleitung der Waffen- u. Polizei Auschwitz 18 Anlagen Auf Grund des 23.5.44. bei einem dortigen Bauschwellen Auftrag übergaben Sie mir den Plan Nr. 1504 für den 1.500.000. eine holzsparende Vollmarachkonstruktion entgegen. Ihre Plan ist einer Durchfahrt von 3,50 m und Doppelsäulen ausarbeitete. An dem Schornstein werden die Lamellen wie üblich ausgewechselt. Ich übersende Ihnen in der Anlage in 5-facher Ausfertigung Zeich- nung Blatt Nr. 1820, Holzlisten Blatt Nr. 959 und 960, kontingentierte Baustoffe auf der Liste Nr. 960, ferner statische Berechnung 8 Seiten stark, einschl. der erforderlichen Kontingente und nähere Skizzen. Die erforderlichen 3.500 Vollmarplatten werde ich Ihnen liefern zum Preise von RM. 0,42 ab Waggon hier. Die 1.800 Stk. Spreizbohlen- 4,482 m³ werde ich ebenfalls sofort anfertigen lassen. Auch bitte ich mir die Schmiegenschablone sofort zuzustellen. Desgleichen bitte ich um Überweisung von 16 to. Zement. b/w Document 4: [PMO file BW 30/32, page 7] Copy of a letter of 8th June 1944 from the building firm Konrad SEGNITZ of 38 Lindenstrasse, Beuthen, Upper Silesia (specialists in roof frames and roofing, who had designed and built the roofs of the four Birkenau Krematorien) to the Auschwitz Waffen SS and Police Bauleitung. Subject: Clearance hall for transports at KGL Auschwitz. Translation of the second paragraph: I enclose 5 copies drawing No 1820, timber lists nos 959 and 960, rationed materials on list no. 960, and 8 pages of static calculations, including those for the required rationed materials and detailed sketches. 536 ===== PDF PAGE 0526 | page-526.md ===== # POSTFACE by the author # His position with respect to the extermination of the Jews at Birkenau and the personal experiences that led him to undertake this study I am not a Jew and I was at one time a «revisionist». After reading this book, some will no doubt think that I still am one. This is quite possible and I bear them no grudge. The distinction between these two fiercely opposed schools, the «exterminationists» and the «revisionists», becomes meaningless once a certain threshold of knowledge about the former Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp has been reached. I have passed this point of no return. Any normal human being, visiting the Auschwitz camp for the first time, feels a deep emotional shock. The weight of history allows off no other response. An ordinary but motivated tourist, I nearly did away with myself one evening in October 1979 in the main camp, the Stammlager, overwhelmed by the evidence and by despair. I have often wondered how I would have been able to perform this act of self-destruction. Since that lugubrious evening, I have spent a total of almost three months, spread over ten visits between 1979 and 1984, studying the German archives in the Auschwitz State Museum, examining the ruins of Birkenau, trying to understand and put into place the pieces of this gigantic and incredible puzzle. After the first few visits, I no longer saw the barbed wire fences surrounding the camp, directly visible from the windows of the first floor of Block 24 which houses the Archives. They had become invisible to me, as I was myself, melted into the town of Oswiecim, where it was impossible to identify in my Polish silhouette, hidden among so many others, the Frenchman in his tie and three piece suit who had disembarked from the «LOT» twin engined aircraft at Balice the day before. As the years passed, I experienced the fever that overcame the country, sweeping aside all in its path, saw the birth of Hope, the first inscriptions under the mantle of «Solidarnosc», patriotic songs sung by the family, almost open listening to western radio broadcasts, the explosion of red and white arm bands, strikes and sit-ins where production continued 24 hours a day, the waiting, in anguish but holding firm, for the armoured divisions massed to the east, but which never came. I experienced the carfew, totally deserted shops, meadows days, coffee rationed to 100 grammes for two months and whose coupons enabled one only to obtain a bottle of vodka. I experienced the return to normal. In other words, I shared in the ordinary and difficult everyday life of a town in the south of Poland called Oswiecim, once known as Auschwitz. I have brought back some bad habits, such as drinking tea, knocking myself out with hard liquor when things are going badly and all looks grey, skipping meals, fiddling on the gasoline, knowing the value of the dollar, understanding the meaning of the verb «no ergator». I have also fallen under the spell of the «Lady in Ermine» by Leonardo da Vinci, jewel of the Czarnowski collection, learned to be satisfied with little and to be patient, and finally, I came away with a great love for Poland and its people. I emerged proud, not of being a Frenchman from France, but of having a French mind and living in France. And I am now inoculated for life against any form of totalitarian system. I became a historian of the Auschwitz Krematorion purely by accident for I am a pharmacist by profession. Looking for the origins of my interest in a past that does not appear to have much to do with my own, and in such an uninviting subject, means delving right back to my early childhood. My family came from Poitou. My parents moved to the Paris region before the war, attracted by the capital not taking advantage of an offer made by the government. They were caught there by the war. My father, who was a captain in the reserve, fought a «splendid» campaign in the north, culminating in Dunkirk and its Stakes, and a Channel crossing in which he had to change boats half way across, the first having been too badly damaged to continue. After three days' well-earned rest in England, he was sent back to the continent to participate in the Battle of France, from which he emerged unscathed, just avoiding capture by the Germans, and anticipating the Armistice by a few days. Demobilized in the free zone, he returned to his civilian functions. He was not contacted by the Resistance for the simple reason that his local chief, being a doctor and thus being entitled at that time to the military rank of warrant officer, did not want to recruit a clandestine fighter of higher rank than himself. Although a christian, my father did have a scare one day in the street, when a German police control found that his nose had a semitic look about it. It was not really possible for him to trace his family tree back far enough to show that the Arabs had reached Poitiers before being defeated there by Charles Martel in 732. But his genes could remember this. Born early in 1944, I was six months old when the Germans departed. My knowledge of the war is limited to my impressions as a foetus and young baby. Our family was relatively little affected by the war except, according to my parents, for some disagreeable periods as from 1944, when the food supply became homoepathic and barely edible. The allied bombing forced my mother to take refuge in the cellar and her enlarged belly bounced at each step. As we were living in Villepinte, famous before the war for its sanatorium, we had to put up with the fighting between the Americans and the Germans at the Liberation. I took all this with Olympian calm, sleeping like a log in the midst of the shooting, even though it appears that some shots passed through the house. Despite the proximity of Drancy, nobody suggested to me, as a purely Catholic baby, that I should take a trip to the disquieting land of «Pitchipol», unlike some other dear little angels, some of whom had a first name not unlike my own. They had this trip imposed upon them and were deported some 1700 kilometres to the east, to the void of «Pitchipol». The hundreds of thousands of visitors to the remarkable and famous exhibition held in the Berlitz Palace from 7th September to 14th December 1941** had learned to distinguish at a glance between them and me. Visual acuity has never been the same since August 1944. On the paternal side, all I had left was my grandmother, who lived not far from Civray. She was a solitary peasant woman whose husband had been killed in the «race for the sea» in 1915. Then the Normandy landings came at last, and four days later, on 10th June 1944, 75 kilometres from where she lived, there was an event that has marked the region for ever, the tragedy of Oradour-sur-Glane [Photo 1]. All the surrounding populations were greatly affected, even distant families such as ours, so strong were the bonds of kinship and that time. My earliest memories were marked by the end of the world war and by this tragedy. A tank of the 2nd Armoured Division, a jeep and some soldiers made up a substantial proportion of my favourite toys, a faithful reflection of the era. I rediscovered the Liberation, with Leclerc, Juin, Tassigny and de Gaulle, in the magazines my father had bought, as soon as I was old enough to be able to leaf through them. The silhouettes of Sherman tanks and half tracks were more familiar to me than that of the Renault car. The irruption of the military universe into my existence is explained by the fact that we had moved. As from the 50s, my parents were working at La Boissière Ecole. La Boissière, «a smiling little village in the outer suburbs of Paris», received its scholastic suffix only long after the opening, on 4th November 1886, of «L'Ecole Militaire Enfortine Héroite», taking children from 5 to 13 years old to be reared by the army and «brought up in the cult of Honour and the Fatherland». The proximity - I only had to cross the road - of the military college meant that my horizon was veiled in dark blue, the colour of the college uniform. It was not until very much later that I realized this. My grandmother came to stay with us and enjoy the company of her grandson from time to time. On Thursdays, when my parents went to Paris, she looked after me. She would read me G Bruno's «Le tour de la France par deux enfants», a classic work found in all our schools, recounting the joys and sorrows of two young children from Lorraine. An extraordinary tool of revanchiste propaganda, it served on our side as an unconscious alibi for the generations of simple peasants who massacred one another in the stupid butchery of 1914-18. It remains famous for is caption on page 188, under the heads of four men: «THE FOUR RACES OF MAN - The white race, the most perfect of the human races...». Grandmother's reading was just a pretext, or rather an introduction, for her own anecdotes and tales. Oradour, destroyed by the SS, could not fail to be one of them. During our visits «to see the family», it was not unusual for me to come across a pamphlet or illustrated book dealing with this massacre. The photographic montages with a dark SS shadow falling across the white ruins and the red sky made a very strong impression on a young mind. I think I visited the actual ruins of Oradour several times during this period, but I remember very little of it. When I was twenty I went back there in the height of summer. Life was everywhere, with grass and other plants reclaiming their rights. The contrast between my memories and the present reality seemed to me to be ridiculous and irreconcilable. These thoughts within the the ruined walls overgrown by vegetation no longer mean anything now that Franco-German reconciliation and friendship are the main pillars of Europe. I have never understood, and still do not understand, why the village of Oradour, except for the church, has not been rebuilt, and by the Germans. The human experience of Oradour should be enshrined in itself, in its flesh and in its spirit, not symbolized by paltry ruins At the age of ten, completely conditioned by the military entourage of La Boissière, I had to take the military schools entrance examination in order to be able to continue my schooling at the La Flèche Military Academy. I passed in spite of myself and put on the uniform of the Bratons. Despite appearances, I was never actually an army pupil - my parents paid a fee, admittedly very modest, but in return for this I was free to leave the school if I so desired, and the school administration was free to throw me out if my school details were not up to scratch. It was an excellent arrangement which, while it filled me with fear in the lower classes, appeared highly profitable at the end of my schooling, by giving me the opportunity of leaving free of all obligations towards the army apart from the normal military service. So many pupils took advantage of this possibility that the only ones left in the classes preparing for entry to the army, many and air force officers' colleges were real «army boys» trying desperately to rise above the mediocre career of non-commissioned officer imposed as «psymism» for their free schooling. During the eight years I passed within these «ancient» walls, I only once heard a far-sighted officer deplore this state of affairs. This was in a speech before my company one day when the results were being announced. The lower classes of the academy were of no use to the military and virtually invariably turned the boys against the army. In a «Journal des Voyages» of 30th October 1904, I found an article on the Academy by Major Annet, in which he wrote: «The fact is that the pupils are subjected to a barracks regime too early, and this sometimes turns them against the army, so that the results obtained are perhaps not always in line with the sacrifice made by the State». The situation still remained unchanged half a century later. The transition from family to military life was difficult. A solitary and individualistic boy, I was plunged into a collective and prison-like milieu. I had to resign myself to this as best I could. The intellectual and moral training I received was of great value, but was suited to the years 1940-50 and totally inappropriate for the years to follow. My only means of escape from the austere way of life was to read and to dream. A book is freedom. In a life based on discipline and school work, the good or bad results of which directly influenced friendships, only # Translator's notes: - Pitchipol: Name given by the Jewish children interned in Drancy to the unknown place in the East where the Jews were go (Auschwitz-Birkenau). - Exhibition entitled «Le Juif et la France» [The Jew and France]. 537 ===== PDF PAGE 0527 | page-527.md ===== Photo 1: (Personal archives) Photograph of page 39 of the picture book «LA BÊTE EST MORTE!... La Guerre Mondiale chez les Animaux» [The beast is dead... the World War in the animal world]. Second Volume entitled «Quand la bête est terrassée» [When the beast is down]. Illustrated by CALVO and written by Victor DANCETTE, «printing completed in June 1945, in the hope that the Beast is well and truly dead», and distributed as from 22nd September 1945, Editions GP, 80 rue Saint-Lazare, Paris IX. The text by Dancette is very much the reflection of his time and now appears terribly dated, but CALVO's drawings are quite remarkable and their style remains unique. Fortunately the majority of children who opened these two albums never read a single line of them, preferring simply to look at the pictures, which is less boring, and to dream with their eyes open. Republished in a single volume in the second quarter of 1977 by Futuropolis, 130 rue du Théâtre, 75015, Paris. 1. «Mais c'est encore dans notre pauvre page si comme par les Barbarians donnant faire ronder les limites de la ferentie. D'une ferentie calme, foudre, enfourne. Ils amenaient aussi deux aveux, un jour, dans un petit village qu'ils conviennent en communant vers le centre les lapins transcritant à leurs lardins et ceux qui libérèrent au soleil. Ils mêlissent toutes les maintes, tous les terriers, tous les barbarons, fusillèrent les arcons pour être crevées qu'aucun animal possible s'achènpant au racombliment. Ils parmentent les mâles dans les granges, les femelles et leurs petits dans le bon océan que même les plus sauvages étaient longs les suspects. Tout cela se fit dans l'ordre méthodique dont ce peuple ne peut se départir, même dans l'accomplissement des plus hautes brocages. Outre plus d'une heure après l'amitié des Barbarians, les victimes étaient élançées, disparées et rentes en place. Alors, sur un cadre public, l'amitié massacre des521, il est un «Des népiles de failles concluront dans la petite conséquente les malheurs parqués dans les granges. Après l'équipe des terriers, les bœuflores achèvèrent l'œuvre de mort. Car le massacre ne saffrait pas. Il fallait le fucher, l'incendie. Dans chaque grange, la fermette en glisheuse, de poivres leptins719, mais amours, craignèrent de se dégager des culars, sans cause que l'empêche ne fume son œuvre, avant que le feu se désire en verser. Mais les flammes apquaient de perche en perche, les persévassèrent, les enveloppèrent, les terrassèrent impinçablement. Et les veres évêtrèrent les pures, les vœux de ces celers furent aussitôt ébranles par les Lamps à l'effet d'un glisheus, et l'inconsiste était paniant. Dans les rues, dans les matures, dans les champs, le courage faisait rage. Le sang galant sur les façades, scallant dans les ruminans, mais cela s'était fait encore saffrant. Et l'en grand crime restait à cennettre. Des Lamps à la grande hispanne, au regard fumerelle où se lisait de leur courage d'une maquette, cruellement préparée, le communant sans hésiter. «Oui, mes enfants, ils étaient profusés le caractère que les plus barbares de leurs anciens amions respectent. Ils étaient soulevés et lieu où risquent la mécénarité et la charité... Ils étaient transformés en charmer ce barre de pain où ils avaient vuient les mousses et leurs petits. En main ne manquent qu'une main être, mes enfants, ce que durant tous les années souffrances de ces paniens animants sans défense que les Barbares emphysènent d'abord pour les fumer comme. Dans ce cas j'ai le caractère, on ne se sentait rien que des culars, en m'enant, des petits crimes, comme des fumeurs, des fures belges, des cendres et des cercles. Aunt, tous les animaux de ce prix charmant amours pris. 592 mœurs, étaient recapités à mort. La nature s'ignait devant une belle alimentation. L'enquivalent demande grâce durant la saffronie du village. C'est le plus d'une bien cénère qu'un nuit fourrente. ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) # Translation of Dancette's text: 1. «But it was again in our poor tortured country that the Barbarians were to push back the frontiers of ferocity. A calm, cold, ordered ferocity. They thus arrived one day, two hundred strong, in a little village that they surrounded, driving towards the centre the rabbits they found working in their gardens or strolling in the sun. They emptied all the cottages, all the burrows, all the cradles, searched in all the nooks and crannies to make sure that no peaceful animal escaped this assembly. They put the males in the barns, the females and their little ones in the holy place that even the most savage had respected up to then. All that was done with the method and order that these people cannot do without, even when accomplishing the most vile tasks. Scarcely an hour after the arrival of the Barbarians, the victims had been duly classified, labelled and put in their place. Then, on a precise order, the atrocious massacre of the innocents began. Bursts of bullets laid low in the bloody straw the unfortunates shut in the barns. After the killing squad, the arsonists completed the work of death. For the massacre was not enough. There had to be the fire, the pyre. In every barn transformed into Gehenna, poor rabbits, wounded but alive, tried to extract themselves from the corpses before asphyxia should do its work, before the fire should devour its prey. But the flames got closer and closer, pursued them, enveloped them and pitilessly brought them down. And those rare victims who managed to get out of this hell were immediately slaughtered by the Wolves lying in wait for an innocent prey. Horror was everywhere. In the streets, in the houses, in the fields, carnage raged. Blood trickled down the facades, ran down the gutters, but that was still not enough. The greatest crime was still to be committed. Wolves with fearsome muzzles, with a ferocious look that betrayed the savage joy of a cruelly prepared vengeance, took it without hesitating. Yes, children, they dared desecrate the sanctuary that even the most barbarous of their ancestors had respected. They dared to sully this place where mercy and charity reigned, they dared to turn into a charnel-house this haven of peace where they had crowded in the mothers and their little ones. I lack the words to tell you, children, what the atrocious suffering must have been of these poor defenceless animals that the Barbarians first asphyxiated then burned. In what had been a sanctuary, nothing was found but carbonised corpses, little blackened skulls, shreds of charred flesh, bones and ashes. All the animals of this charming place perished in this way. 892 innocents met their death. The mind boggles before such an abomination. The imagination begs for mercy before the diabolical sadism of a people where one can only believe that each is born an executioner. 2. My dear little children, never forget this: these Wolves who perpetrated these horrors were ordinary Wolves; I mean Wolves like the others. They were not in the heat of battle, excited by the smell of powder. They were not tormented by hunger. They did not have to defend themselves, nor to take vengeance for a victim of their own. They had simply received the order to kill. Do not believe those who will tell you that they were Wolves of a special sect. That's not true! Believe me, children, and I will go on repeating it until my dying breath, there are no good and bad Wolves, there is Barbarism, which is a whole and has only one race, that of monsters, executioners, sadists and killers. We sometimes have animals who are born without legs or without ears, and we find them abnormal. But that race is normally born without a heart. The gentlest of them is capable of ripping your stomach open with a smile. From that moment a wave of terror broke over our poor country. Not being able to confront us everywhere at once, the Wolves thought that they could paralyze us with fear through a demonstration of diabolical ferocity. There were mass arrests, deportations, shootings. It seemed that the Barbarians themselves were carried away by a wave of devilish madness. But they were simply obeying the orders of the raging Beast, who had had difficulty in restraining the bloodthirsty instincts of his hordes of wild animals for four years. At last! The Wolves could now cast off the mantle of correctness in which the Masters of Barbarism had dressed them up in order to mislead us the better! At last! They would be able to tear off the mask and show their true features of bloodthirsty wolves. 538 ===== PDF PAGE 0528 | page-528.md ===== particularly important news from outside was able to reach us. In May 1958, the putsch by Salan and Massu in Algeria shook the school to its foundations. In 1961, there was the generals' revolt and then the Eichmann affair. All I knew about the trial was that it was held in Jerusalem. My understanding of the genocide was very poor. I was vaguely aware of the extermination of the Jews, but the causes escaped me completely. This ignorance was reinforced by the collective life of the school, where I was in constant contact, day and night, with Vietnamese and North African comrades, the consequence of the different colonial policies of the State that was educating me. I do not understand racial discrimination. The older I grow, the more I realize that while I was in uniform I acquired a tolerance and understanding of the different races far superior to the crude reflexes of the vast majority of people - as I began to realize once I was returned to civilian life. For my eighteenth birthday I received a book from outside, «La mort est mon métier» by Robert Merle [translated into English as «Death is my trade»]. It contained all the explanations I could wish about the «mills of Auschwitz» and the founding «miller». I was greatly influenced by it, and my interest in this aspect of history dates from there - I wanted to be able to understand why and how men can become so inhuman. Robert Merle, who had been a prisoner of war, did not learn about the concentration camps until his return from captivity. His curiosity was triggered by a report of ten pages or so on Rudolf Hoess [photo 2] drawn up by Dr Guilbert, an American psychoanalyst at the Nuremberg trial. Merle wrote to Guilbert for more details and was sent about five more unpublished pages. Realizing that even this expanded report was too limited a basis for telling Hoess' story, Merle turned to the Centre de Documentation Juive Contemporaine in Paris and read there the testimonies of people deported to Auschwitz. He was subsequently able to read the manuscript of the French version of Dr Miklos Nyiszli's account, very well translated from the Hungarian by Tibere Kremer, before parts of it were published in «Les Temps Modernes» under the title «SS-Obersturmführer Doctor Mengele, Journal d'un médecin déporté au crématoire d'Auschwitz» [Diary of a doctor deported to the Auschwitz crematorium]. A synthesis of these different sources led to a historical novel –I insist on the word «novel» – written between 1949 and 1951 and published by Gallimard in 1952 under the title «La mort est mon métier». The critics were very muted because the work appeared just as West Germany was beginning to rearm. It was not until later that the book became famous. Merle admits that his relations with Kremer turned sour, because the latter reproached him for «borrowing» a lot of material from Nyiszli's text and then not giving his support to its publication. It was published in full by Julliard in 1961 under the title «Médecin à Auschwitz» [and also appeared in the US and the UK as «Auschwitz: a doctor's eyewitness account]. As Merle had based his account on Nyiszli, his descriptions of the premises, and in particular of the Birkenau Krematorien and the chronology of their genesis are unfortunately inaccurate. Nyiszli had so exaggerated the dimensions and capacities of the «murder weapons» that Merle, in all good faith, presented as huge cathedrals of death what were actually only big cremation installations that had been diverted from their original purpose, or at least the first three of them. Having passed my final examinations and resolved to break with the army, I thought I would be able to go back to civilian life and cram for a chemical engineering school in Paris. I was free to go and I owed nothing. But there was after all a price to pay for seven years of excellent schooling at low cost. I was so imbued with the military life that I was able to hold out for only three days in a civilian environment other than that of my family. I dropped everything and high-tailed it back to La Flèche to prepare for entering the Saint-Cyr Military College. I played the game for three months. Then an effort was made to inspire us by organizing a visit to our future home, the Coëtquidan Military College. I still do not know what happened within me, but on my return I was sure I would never again set foot there. The school year was thus transformed into a sabbatical, mainly of disindoctrination. I regularly repeated to myself that this year was the last that I would spend within those walls, and my school results, which had been brilliant in the first term, were abysmal by the third. I tried absolutely everything: parachuting, a trip to Germany at the school's expense, a new sketch for the end of year celebrations, everything, that is, except serious work. I tried to scuttle myself in the entrance examination for Coëtquidan, trembling lest I should pass, a success that would have presented me with a terrible problem of conscience. To my cowardly relief I did not pass and was able to leave slamming the door behind me. ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) Photo 2: [PMO neg. no. 382] Sturmbannführer or SS Major Rudolf Hoess, camp commandant of Auschwitz-Birkenau, between Reichsführer HIMMLER and Max FAUST, assistant to chief engineer Dürrfeld, responsible for the construction of I G Buna-Werk, during a visit on 17th July 1942 to part of the construction site of the huge Monowitz industrial complex, built to produce methanol and synthetic rubber. Following his two day (16th and 17th July) inspection of Auschwitz, Birkenau and Monowitz, Himmler promoted Hoess to Obersturmbannführer or SS Lieutenant Colonel. In «La mort est mon métier» [Death is my trade], Robert Merle gave the pseudonym of «Lang» to Hoess. not pass and was able to leave slamming the door behind me. I have never been back to La Flèche. I had finished with the military academy, but it had not finished with me. The very intense military conditioning through eight years of physical and mental impregnation had been such that it took me fifteen years to get rid of most of it. Such a training cannot be shed overnight. Marching in step and «driving the heel into the ground» does not equip one for walking normally. Having worn navy blue and seen all one's comrades dressed the same does not favour subsequent vestimentary freedom. We always addressed one another by our surnames, the use of the first name being somewhat effeminate in our opinion. The day boys that we received had this unfortunate habit that we took upon ourselves to cure rapidly by means of appropriate sarcasms. The external marks of this sort took ten years to fade away, but there were also the internal marks, an intimate domain about which I reflected long, trying to determine whether the essential core of my personality was still subject to or was now free from what had been inculcated in me. My training as an adolescent is indelible and was intended to produce an officer. Despite my revolts against the system and an undeniable nihilism proper to former Brutions, I have remained for twenty years a «latent» officer, with the attitudes, modes of thought and centres of interest proper to that status. I studied and became familiar with everything concerning military questions, past, present and forecast. But this does not prevent me from being convinced that all these stockpiles of arms, ever more sophisticated and destructive, are an extraordinary waste of human effort and energy, eating away at our world like a cancer. I know how to give orders, but I have never wanted to exercise this power considering that as I have to take orders from nobody I should not give them. It is easy to become a perfect «marine» or «para» or «Waffen-SS». Their training and conditioning are similar. I know exactly the type of psychological behaviour and mental obliteration required. If I was tempted to join an «elite unit», like many of my comrades who were candidates for Saint-Cyr, cold logic dissuaded me, for enthusiasm, even suicidal, can no longer do anything against the atomic reality. On the advice of my parents, I studied pharmacy, because it involved a large dose of chemistry and I would be able to make a good living. One has to eat after all. I qualified in 1971. After a year of military service spent at the Inter-Services Sports School at Fontainebleau, where I spent my time fitting out an analytical laboratory, shooting, scuba diving and improving my German with the soldiers of a liaison post next to the school, I had another moment of indecision, then set up on my own account. During my pharmaceutical studies, using the earnings of my first locum jobs, and just after the appearance of «Treblinka» by Jean-François Steiner (Editions Fayard), I decided in August 1966, accompanied by my future wife, to go to see for myself the remains of the famous «Konzentrationslager» the media were so full of. We spent seventeen days in Poland, our first direct contact with the «East». Our tour began on the cold Baltic beaches, which the sun vainly tried to warm. We could only admire the sunsets. Then it really shone after Slupsk, and accompanied us to Leba, famous for its quicksands and incidentally for the concrete remains [Photo 3] of the launching ramp of the Fi-103 flying bomb, more commonly known as the V1. We settled temporarily in the Gdynia-Sopot-Gdansk conurbation. We had rented a room with a family in Gdynia. The apartment of our host family of six, not counting the baby on the way, consisted of an entrance, kitchen, WC-bathroom, bedroom and dining-room/dormitory. With the bedroom let to us, the whole family had to squeeze into the dining room to sleep. There was just one picture on the wall of our room: Mary and the infant Jesus. The mistress of the house explained in German that whenever they let the room to a member of the Party, she covered the picture with a piece of cloth. Talking to and living with this woman taught me far more about living in communist Poland than any journalist staying at a hotel «for foreigners» could have done. A country can be discovered only by living with a family. At Gdynia, we visited the Naval Museum and the «Blyskawica», a ship that took part in many naval engagements in 1939-45, now at anchor and converted into a museum. In Gdansk, formerly Danzig, we visited the traditional sites and the ruins of «Westerplatte», where the Polish garrison commanded by H Sucharski suffered and contained for seven days the first German assaults of the Second World War. A trip to Malbork revealed to us the esthetic inconsistency created by erecting modern buildings near the imposing medieval complex of Marienburg, a visit to which warrants at least three hours. There is a valuable collection of amber, a fossilized vegetable resin. Through the explanations of a member of the staff we discovered the fierce nationalism of the Poles. One might almost have thought it was their own ancestors who designed the great fortress of the Teutonic Order. Lastly, we embarked on a tour of the camps. The first was Stutthof/Sztutowo, 35 km east of Gdansk, destined at first for Polish civilians and designated as a «civilian internees camp». There remain only the enclosure of the «old camp» with its entrance and a row of huts [Photo 4], two single-muffle cremation furnaces [Photo 5] housed in a building that was reconstructed after the war, and a small, partly restored gas chamber [Photo 6]. It is not known when this gas chamber for delousing prisoners' effects was installed. Its dimensions (8 metres long, 3 wide and 2.30 high, giving a volume of approximately 55 m³) are close to the standard dimensions of those erected by BOOS or DEGESCH. There are two gas-tight doors, one in the southern end and the other in the northern end. The doors do not seem to be original, since they were missing at the Liberation and there has been modification of the brickwork to adjust to the curved top of the frame, as can be seen by comparison with a photograph of this chamber published on pages 108 and 109 of «1939-45. We have not forgotten», Polonia, Warsaw 1962. The agent used is not known precisely, but given the presence of the external stove (to the left of the door on Photo 6), it must have been either dry heat or hydrocyanic acid [Zyclon-B] used in a heated room. In this case it was not essential to pour the product in through an external opening, as an operator wearing a gas mask could distribute the pellets or porous discs on the floor, then go out and close the door. At the end of the cycle, opening the two doors allowed efficient natural ventilation. From 22nd June to the beginning of November 1944, it was used as a homicidal gas chamber for groups of about 100 people. Zyclon-B being poured in through a small opening of 15 cm diameter in the roof, a system apparently introduced on the advice of SS Lieutenant Colonel Rudolf Hoess, former commandant of Auschwitz-Birkenau and at that time head of Department D1 of the WVHA-SS (SS Economic Administration Head Office). While the history of this gas 539 ===== PDF PAGE 0529 | page-529.md ===== chamber is known from testimonies reported by Father Krzysztof Dunin-Wassowicz, there has been no scientific examination of the «murder weapon» since 1945, which means that we do not know how the chamber functioned as a delousing installation and are unable to provide material proof of its criminal use. The number of victims is estimated at one or two thousand. The visit did not greatly impress us. We were young and in love, and our car, a Renault 4L, was in a hurry to get to Grycko, formerly Lötzen, on the shores of lake Niegocin in Mazuria. Our canoe expeditions, which led us to deserted islands surrounded by protective reeds, have left indelible memories. Love is an agreeable pastime for two students of opposite sex but it is not very enriching for the intellect. In order to meet this latter need we devoted one day to visiting, near the village of Gierker, the Rastenburg Führer Headquarters known as «Wolfschanze» or «Wolf's Lair». Hitler's advance command post for the operations in Russia. These colossal bunkers are now the dislocated ruins [Photo 7] of totalitarian pride, but though they are choked by trees and other vegetation, they still exhale a disquieting power, and are still dangerous because the area is full of mines, only a small proportion of which have been neutralized. One of the concrete roads leads to a clearing where Hitler enjoyed presentations of different prototype tanks, such as the «mouse», a tank of 189 tonnes, proudly carrying at 20 km/h one 150 mm gun and one 75 mm. The Reichskanzler combined the mentality of a mule with a taste for heavy objects. The bunker walls, of staggering thickness, had been fitted with explosives, so that in January 1945 the Germans set off an enormous explosion that destroyed the bunker-city and caused many of the lower levels to be flooded by the waters of the surrounding lakes. After our self-indulgent lateness on the shores of the lakes, spoils only by atrocious food, we headed south towards the second camp, Treblinka, the one that had inspired our trip to Poland. It was difficult to find, the rare signposts being silent as to its location. At Stutthof I had bought a guide to the «Places of struggle and martyrdom». Reckoning that we must be very close, I saw an isolated house and, armed with my guide book and a photograph, went to ask where the former extermination camp was located. I was told they did not know. Disappointed, I continued along the road and a few hundred metres farther on, beyond a screen of trees, saw the mushroom-like Treblinka II monument-manusoleum [Photo 8], surrounded by a symbolic cemetery of, apparently, 17000 standing stones. The three Polish artists who collaborated on the monument must have been inspired by unconscious cynical humour. Their bedtime reading apparently did not include the book of the «Stürmer» (Julius Storocher's anti-semitic journal), addressed no young and olds entitled «Der Udspitz», in which the Jews are assimilated to poisonous toadstools. At the entrance to the camp, the former railway was represented by cement shoppers that suddenly stopped. Not a soul to be seen. Completely deserted. If I had become aware of Polish nationalism at Malbrock, I began to see at Treblinka at attitude towards the Jews that I had not previously suspected. There was NOTHING left of the former camp. There were absolutely no facilities whatever for visitors: no entrance, no guard, no guide, not even a kiosk selling postcards, books or pamphlets in memory of the 800,000 (official figure) Jewish victims who had gone up in smoke. This abundance of «Nie ma» did not keep us long and we reached Warsaw at dusk. In the middle of August, the capital was dead after 9 o'clock. The night life that we were seeking outside the hotel ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) Photo n° 13: Aux alentours de Leba, une guérite hétonnée en bordure de plage appartenant au site d'une ancienne rance de lancement de bombes scientes V.I. (Photo de l'auteur) Photo 3: (Photo by the author) In the region of Leba, a concrete guard post near the beach belonging to a former V1 flying bomb launching site. was actually IN the hotel and we had not even noticed it. How sad it must have been to be young in Warsaw in August 1964, in a city only half rebuilt and dominated by the towering 234 meters of the Palace of Culture and Science donated by Stalin, «the little father of the people». Such was our impression as French students discovering heroic «Warzawa». We could not imagine what Warsaw must have been like after its Liberation on 17th January 1945. Trying to imagine TWO THOUSAND Oradours all merged into one is beyond the powers of a Frenchman. Visually materializing this tragic annihilation would have meant going through all the streets of Oradour 2000 times the in winter of 1944. Only an album published in 1985 by the State Scientific Publishing House gives a glimpse of «WARSAWA 1945». These photographs of a city devastated, sacked, pillaged, dynamited and burned, taken under conditions so difficult that there was even a lack of water for developing the films, represent the despairing observation of their author, Leonard Sempolinski. We wanted to visit the National Museum with its paintings and collections of ancient art, but it was closed. I pleaded and stressed our student status all in vain - all I got was a «Nie» after having stated, in response to a direct question, that we were students of pharmacy. We turned instead to the Polish Army Museum next door. Its façade was lined with a row of guns of different calibre, whose barrels were by pure chance pointing towards the east. In the museum we saw in particular the famous armour of the 17th century Polish Hussars. In view of my special tastes I was particularly interested in the open-air exhibition of aircraft, tanks and artillery. But we did not visit many of the places of interest, for Warsaw was only a stopover on our way to Cracow. In Cracow we stayed in the French («Francuski») Hotel, near to the Barbacane and the Florianska Tower that dominates the street of the same name. For a whole day our activities were limited to wandering around the centre, taking in the main square (Bynek Główny) and the stands of the cloth market (Sukiennice), following the traditional path of tourists in Cracow. Incapable of staying in one place, we left the next day for the salt mines of Wieliczka and, the day after that, Oświecim. Signposts being rare in Poland, and often located in the least visible places, reaching Auschwitz turned into an exhausting and hazardous pathfinding exercise. Finally having arrived at our destination, we had a whole afternoon to visit the most «famous» KZ of all. We raced through the main camp, or «Stammlager» [Photo 9], and all that remains in my memory is the vision of thousands of identity photographs of prisoners along the walls of certain Blocks and of visitors searching among them for members of their families. As for the «old» krematorium or Krematorium I, it was conspicuous by its absence from the itinerary. There were many visitors in the main camp, not real crowds but there were plenty of people. Then came the turn of Birkenau, site of the mass extermination of the Jews. Here, WE WERE ALONE. The guard who lived in the entrance building spoke perfect French. He told us what we ought to see, and informed us that in BA III (the third construction stage at Birkenau), the SS had planned to build an electric krematorium, where people would have been electrocuted in series and incinerated by electricity too. I took what he said for gospel, not knowing at the time that the poor man was only repeating the claims made by the Soviet journalist Boris Polevoi in «Pravda» in February 1945, announcing that mass murders were committed using an «electric production line where hundreds of people were killed simultaneously by an electric current; the bodies fell onto a slowly moving conveyor driven by a chain and advanced towards a kind of blast-firmacre. Thirty years later, the legend still persisted, but had become a project, not an accomplished fact. In our car, we had scarcely begun to explore the women’s camp with its brick barracks, when a storm that had begun to threaten suddenly burst with exceptional violence. The sight of the multitude of long, dark wooden huts, crammed between barbed wire barriers and overlooked by black watchtowers in the midst of this violence of the elements gave us the impression of having gone back in time to the period just after the SS had evacuated the camp. The storm quickly abated and we continued towards the Krematorium. The final monument-manusoleum as it exists today was under construction and was completed for General de Gaulle's arrival in Poland. We passed before the ruins of Krematorium II with scarcely a glance. How could we imagine, without any explanations or drawings or photographs, what had gone on in these buildings whose internal layout we did not know. When we came to the second sewage treatment plant [Photo 10], we were overcome by a ridiculous sense of horror when we read a sign [Photo 11] stating that the Germans had tried to produce a vehicle fuel from human excrement. This was in fact untrue as I was later to establish in the Museum Archives, for «Kläranlage II» [Drawing 12] had no such thing as a digester where the anaerobic fermentation of the slurry would have formed a gas rich in methane that could have been stored in an associated gasometer. Our own purification plants have used and still use this technique without anyone finding it repugnant or immoral. Further on, the only building still intact in the area of Krematorium IV and V was the «Zentral Sauna». I entered through a half open window at the back and went through the building without understanding its function, wondering what on earth such an installation could be used for. Finally, we looked for the two «forces» Krematorium, numbers IV and V. We looked in vain, finding only the remains of the concrete floors of huts. That is all that remains of Krematorium IV and V, but I did not find that out until 1980. Many visitors must have had the same experience as us at Birkenau, finding it impossible to imagine the atrocities carried out there over a period of four years, because of the lack of valid explanations. 540 ===== PDF PAGE 0530 | page-530.md ===== Photo 4: (Personal archives) Entrance to the STUTTHOF concentration camp, or rather the «old» or initial camp. At the end of the path running from the gate is the crematorium with its high chimney, a building reconstructed after the war. ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) ![img-1.jpeg](img-1.jpeg) Photo 5: (Personal archives) The two single-muffle incineration furnaces of the STUTTHOF crematorium, found almost intact at the Liberation, together with the metal stretchers for charging the corpses, a technique developed on the basis of experience in the Birkens Kemmungen. We crossed the Polish-Czech border at Cieszyn, before heading for Vienna and returning to the western world that we were beginning to miss terribly. We had came to several conclusions by the time we left Poland: - we had discovered Polish anti-semitism through seeing the total indifference accorded to the places where the extermination of the Jews had taken place; - we deduced that there was nothing surprising about the massacre having taken place on Polish soil, given the ambient atmosphere; - more generally, we had come to the conclusion that in the East, everything was GREY. Although I had realized that a half-day visit was not enough to cover the whole of the Auschwitz-Birkenau complex and that two or three days were really needed, I was one of the very few young French people to have actually visited the site and to have acquired some slight knowledge of the place, something that many western historians singularly lacked. Nevertheless, my knowledge was inadequate and in 1978-79 my topographical ignorance was to prove a handicap. One cannot go on enjoying the irresponsibility of youth for ever. As a newly qualified pharmacist I had to make a niche for myself and I had other things to worry about than concentration camps. I continued to read a great deal, mainly contemporary history and science fiction, but about the age of thirty I began to think that I had taken in enough - receiving and understanding the thoughts of others is a praiseworthy and necessary pastime, but in the final analysis it becomes egotistical. It was time for me to give something in my turn, to build something out of the knowledge I had acquired. The synthesis of my reading and my interests was to be found in parallel history and/or political fiction. I considered the models of the ![img-2.jpeg](img-2.jpeg) Photo 6: (Photo of Polish origin taken from a work by K Dunin-Wasowicz) The restored gas chamber at STUTTHOF. View of the southern end and western side. In the foreground is the heating stove, with its chimney emerging from the roof at the far end. This chamber, originally used for delousing effects, was later used as a homicidal gas chamber. This mixed use is an extreme example of the confusion created over a period of thirty years and more by the difficulty of distinguishing between, or the deliberate refusal to distinguish between, disinfestation and homicidal gas chambers. genre to be «Ce n'est pas pour cette année» by C.M. Kornbluth (in Satellite, special issue 40 bis of January 1962) dealing with the invasion of the United States by the Soviet Union with all its consequences, and the film «L'Angleterre occupée» showing the misadventures of a young nurse who joins a British fascist movement and discovers the «final solution» at the beginning of the reconquest of Britain by the Allies. Made on a ridiculously low budget, (10 million old francs or a few tens of thousands of dollars) this film achieved the distinction of being a commercial failure and a total success in terms of the authenticity of the setting, the uniforms, the military equipment which corresponded exactly with the year of its introduction, and the presentation of a small gas chamber in an establishment where euthanasia was practised humanely but on a large scale - a «clinic» where two methods of killing coexisted: lethal injections and gas. I defy anybody to distinguish between extracts from this film and actual sequences taken during the second world war. After much hesitation I came to my decision. I would describe a universe resulting from a German victory in 1945 or 1946. I cannot claim that this was an original idea, but I wanted to see where it would lead. In this politico-military chronicle of a different future, I renewed the framework for my characters with each chapter, each of which dealt with a particular question or a specific period; unlike many novelists who set the scene once and for all at the beginning of the book. I eventually came to a point where the logical continuation of my novel was via Peenemünde and the Mazurian Lakes (literary exploitation of my holidays in Poland), then the Balkans, in Croatia and Serbia. I wanted to go to Zagreb, but in 1979 I was unable to manage it, despite two attempts, so I decided to turn around to a chapter for which I already had documentation and personal impressions, that on Auschwitz-Birkenau. * 541 ===== PDF PAGE 0531 | page-531.md ===== ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) Photo 7: (Photo by the author, August 1964) ![img-1.jpeg](img-1.jpeg) Photo 8 (Photo by the author) The mausoleum-monument of the Treblinka II extermination camp. ![img-2.jpeg](img-2.jpeg) Photo 10: (Photo by the author) View of the southern perimeter of Kläranlage/sewage treatment station II from the path coming from Krematorien II and III and leading, at the next intersection, on the right to the Zentral Sauna, Kanada II and Krematorien IV and V, and straight on to Bunker 2. In the middle ground, there right to left, biological purification basins I, II and III, which were never finished and remain as they were. The watchtower on the left was built after the sewage treatment plant. Hitler's bunker at the his Rastenburg Headquarters. The sign reads: «Former war quarters of Hitler. The Wolf's lair.» ![img-3.jpeg](img-3.jpeg) Photo 9 (Personal archives) KL Auschwitz. Entrance to the main camp, where the majority of prisoners were Polish, with its slogan «Work brings freedom» ![img-4.jpeg](img-4.jpeg) ![img-5.jpeg](img-5.jpeg) Photo 11: (Photo by the author) The notice on the north wall of the watchtower on photo 10 and concerning sewage treatment plant II. Photo 12a: (PMO neg. no. 20995/449) From right to left, purification tanks II, III and IV of «Kläranlage II». Planned for the oxygenation of organic compounds in solution by aeration through streaming dirty water through a rotary distributor or in a bacterial bed of graded stones (5 to 80 cm diameter), these tanks never come into service and were left as they appear on the photograph of winter 1942-43. Even if they had been completed, it would still have been several months before the bacterial beds developed. Of the eleven workers on the photograph, only two are wearing the prisoners' zebra suits. The others are outside civilian workers. 542 ===== PDF PAGE 0532 | page-532.md ===== ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) Drawing 12: [PMO neg. no. 20943/8] Bauleitung drawing 1855 Site plan of sewage treatment plant II of the Auschwitz POW camp, construction stage II, worksite 18, scale 1:500. Drawn by prisoner 68297 and checked on 24/11/42. approved by Bischoff, head of the SS Bauleitung on 25/11/42 Checked by the civilian firm Südd[eutschlands] Abwasserreinigungs GmbH (South German Waste Water Purification Co Ltd) of Ulm on 10/12/42. The positions of the photographer for photos 10 and 12a are indicated on the drawing [34 and 36a]. # TRANSLATION OF INSCRIPTIONS # Zeichenerklärung/Key ungereinigtes Schmutzwasser/untreated dirty water mechanisch gereinigtes Abwasser/mechanically purified waste water mechanisch und biologisch gereinigtes Abwasser/mechanically und biologically purified waste water Fauschlamm/Sludge - Zum des KGL/POW camp enclosure - Vorflut KGL/POW camp drainage channel - Schmutzwasserkanal/dirty water channel - Grob(h)bechen/primary screening - Sandfang/sand trap - Faufgruben/decomposition beds - Rohwasser ungereinigt/untreated dirty water - Verdünnungsleitung/dilution channel - Graben A/drainage ditch A - Entwässerungsleitung/drainage channel - Schlammleitung/sludge channel - Feldbahn/narrow gauge railway - Biological Tropfkörper/biological purification basins (with rotary sprays) - Nachklärbecken/final decantation basin - Pumpenhaus/pump house - Verteilschacht für Verdünnung/dilution distribution well - Schlamm-Faulbecken/sludge digestion basin (open-air) - Schwimmschlammbecken/floating sludge basin mechanisch, gerein. Abwasser/mechanically purified waste water - Hochwasserdruckleitung/high water pressure conduit gereinigtes Abwasser/purified waste water - Schlammleitung zum Trockenplatz/sludge channel to drying bed - Hochwasserschutzdamm/high water protection dam - Königsgraben/„King's ditch“ (main drainage ditch) - Zur Weichsel/to the Vistula Drawing 1855 is not the final plan for Kläranlage II, but does show the actual locations of the main components of the station. The final decantation basin was to be transferred to the south of the station and replaced by a fourth biological purification basin. These 4 basins were never completed and remained as they are to be seen today (photographs in the Bauleitung Album: PMO neg. nos 20995/449 [Photo 12], /450 and /452). The primary screening was modified and strengthened. The floating sludge basin was never dug. The purification station was coupled with 4 «provisional» earth decantation or sedimentation basins to the west of the station (where the Ulm company's stamp is on the drawing). Only the decomposition beds were ever brought into operation. 543 ===== PDF PAGE 0533 | page-533.md ===== [The following account is based on notes written in May 1980 and annotated during the first half of 1981, adapted by removing certain outrageous remarks and irrelevant parts and supplemented as required for this postface] I started on the action in Birkenau. A great deal of work and reflection. Chapter well under way, almost finished. My only possibility as regards parallel history was to increase the magnitude of the massacre, the Germans being victorious, and find another extermination mechanism. Resolved [I had taken over and «improved» the claims of the civilian guard I had not at the entrance to Birkenau, which as I have said were only the imaginings of the Soviet journalist Boris Polevoi in Pravda in February 1945]. And then... and then I began to have doubts. My trip dated from thirteen years back. The atmosphere I had felt turned out to be excellent, but the paucity of the historical material available to me and the fact that it ranged from the inconsistent to the vague, and even contradicted itself, fed me suddenly to doubt the very existence of the Krematorium (and not the gas chambers!). A regrettable lack of detailed information about this subject, which had meanwhile come back into the news with the broadcasting of the mediocre telefilm «Holocaust», was blocking my progress. Obsessed by this question, my back to the wall, I decided to make a flying visit of five days to Poland at the end of October 1979 to remove this barrier that was preventing me from writing, from finishing. I arrived at Auschwitz at 10 a.m. My memories were of no use to me. Everything had to be rediscovered. By 11 o'clock I had made my inquiries and presented myself at the Museum Archives. To work. Straightaway I ran into a sizeable barrier. «Take your own photographs 3 Prohibited,» they told me at the outset. «The museum will photograph the documents you want and send the prints on to you.» Disappointed, with the camera and all those films ready and waiting in my bag [I should have made inquiries beforehand. This is the rule in many museums in the West as well as in the East. What had misled me was that I had been allowed to photograph - the formalities being reduced to the minimum - twenty or so posters dating from 1940-44 in the Vincennes War Museum]. To bad. The main thing was to get down to work. I would worry about the rest later. I had no idea what the Auschwitz State Museum (PANSTWOWE MUZEUM OSWIECIM or PMO) might contain. I wanted to have a clear understanding of the layout of buildings and the fittings in the premises where the extermination was carried out. Having the impression, from what I had read, that the Polish resistance had succeeded in providing a great deal of information, I asked to see the photographs. They were pointed out to me on a table. THREE PHOTOGRAPHS. Just three! I had expected at very least no times as many. But no, three of undoubted authenticity, two of them taken through a door showing men dragging corpses before a pall of smoke, and the third showing naked women apparently running in a forest [at the end of 1983, the archivist lent me the originals, a great concession, so that I could find the position of the clarion/one photographer in the ruins of Krematorium V. The first two were taken from the north gas chamber of Kr V on a soakless/ton/twest line, looking towards a cremation pit dug between the northern barbed wire fence and the Krematorium. The third was taken outdoors, with the photographer about twenty meters from the east wall of the Krematorium, holding the camera in his hand with his arm by his side, shooting blind on a northeast/southwest line in the direction of the naked women moving from west to east along the south wall of the crematorium, paradoxically with their backs to it. This was a considerable embarrassment to me. Going all that way to study three photographs was absolute madness. They reassured me and brought some other photographs, of German origin this time [subsequently published in the «Album of Auschwitz»]. At least some certain facts began to emerge. The Krematories were clearly visible. I went back thirty-five years and immersed myself in the atmosphere of the time. Having looked through these albums, three others were given to me. In fact three were stills from the Soviet film «Chronicles of the Liberation of the Camp, 1945» shown over and over again in the cinema at the entrance to the Museum, and a faithful reflection of it as I realized afterwards. Among the stills was a situation drawing with an enlargement of Krematorien II and III [Photo 13] and a detailed drawing of one of them [Bauleitung drawing 932 of the basement of Krematorium III]. At 1 p.m. I had to pack up as the Archives closed for the day. Then off to Birkenau, a distance of about two kilometers. A survey of the site, camera round my neck ready to shoot anything in this place of criminal time. But the shooting was limited to two rounds, sorry, photos. What weather? In France I had thought we were still in fact summer, but here it was raining. What the camera could not record, my eyes could still see. I visited everything, on foot. A fine but soaking rain was falling. At the second sewage treatment station I felt the same stupid aversion as thirteen years earlier on rereading the notice on the watchtower. Arriving at the «Zentral Sauna», a guard almost slammed the door in my face as he entered. But I hammered on the door in vain, no response. I was beginning to feel cold. I went on to Krematorium V, which I had great difficulty in finding as it was overgrown with tall weeds. It gave the impression of a miserable little hut like so many others. A concrete floor enclosed by walls 50 to 100 cm high. I finished up at the lake of ashes [this lake, marked on the drawings of Birkenau as a fire-fighting reservoir, is east of Krematorium IV, not beyond V as I simply here. I had backnacked]. A completely abandoned sight. The ashes had long since been absorbed into the bed. Return through an uncrisming, driving rain. Half way back I took shelter in a watchtower for a while, I was so wet, Everything inside was damaged, but I could still see that the workmaniality was very good. The work of a master. Beams and planking dowelled, and the wood treated, hence the black colour. The interior was insulated with glass wool, still visible here and there. A hazardous construction, but then concentration camp labour was so cheap. I ran back to the car with me teeth chattering and got back to the main camp as fast as I could. I continued by visiting Auschwitz I. Virtually alone. My footsteps echoed on the concrete floors of the blocks. The electric lighting was sparse. A thick mist was rising. By five o'clock it was dark. A real nightmare atmosphere. Later, alone in my cell, I was seized with panic. This visible, palpable confirmation had been a profound shock. Krematorien there were, yes. Five in fact, numbered one to five in roman numerals. Kr I a converted powder magazine [or dry goods store]. II and III, mirror image texts, visible in contemporary photographs and confirmed by their name. The same with IV and V, except that the ruins of IV were reduced to a heap of stones of one or two cubic metres [I was mistaken here, as the weeds had hidden from me the walls barely 20 cm high marking the outline of Krematorium IV. All I had seen was a pile of unused bricks, a vestige of the partial reconstruction after the war]. The ambient conditions were extremely depressing. A drastic change in temperature: [Cdegrees in Paris, 2 in Warsaw, below freezing in Cracow. Auschwitz with its lugabeuses landscape of barbed wire made worse by a thick fog, dark, dissolving, miserable, cut through by a cold, penetrating rain, and on top of all this my cold room, the radiator scarcely luke warm. I was chilled to the bone. The idea of death came to me, inexorably growing stronger as the evening went on. I began to understand those who had chosen the electrified barbed wire. The next morning, the crisis of that night was gone. I had a shock as I looked towards the window. There was a light coating of white on the frame. It had snowed during the night. Back to the Archives. There just remained one simple question of detail: how did these installations work? Feeling I knew just about everything there was to know on the subject, I enthusiastically asked for the plans of the Krematorien to confirm what I learned from my reading [based virtually exclusively on the information provided by Robert Merle in «Larmorest man métier», which was in turn based on the account by Dr Miklos Nyiszli]. I started directly with the main one, Krematorium II. The fact is that I was given no choice, as this is the one that was brought me. [A psychological and methodological error on the part of the archivist, who produced the drawings one at a time, in chronological order. But since a western researcher, usually there only for a brief stay, does not know how many drawings exist and has but little time, his ever arriving at the final drawings becomes uncertain, if not impossible. This «presentation» may explain certain «reservations» about the gassings at Auschwitz. The projects are only projects. The archivist should have started with the final inventory drawings. My doubts stemmed from there.] The first one I saw was Bauleitung drawing 932 of 231/142, «Entwurf für das Krematorium. Grundriß vom Untergeschoß/Project for the Krematorium. Plan of basement». Unbearthing my magnifying glass (made necessary by the writing used), I here over it. And my doubts returned with a vengeance. The premises seemed too small, in particular the junction between Leichenkeller 1 (corpse cellar 1, later gas chamber) and Leichenkeller 2 (corpse cellar 2, later undressing room). This passage was encumbered by a ramp in the form of a chute in the middle of a stairway coming down from the outside [The «Rutschocorpse chute» is visible [photo 14] in the ruins of Krematorium III. In the case of II, to presence in doubtful [photo 15]. It has disappeared in drawing 2003, but this is contradicted by an order on the DAW metalworking shop for a palissade to hide it. Shifting the rubble that has accumulated over the place where it should be would resolve the question once and for all]. So, was it really possible for 2000 people to pass rapidly from the undressing room (Leichenkeller 2) to the gas chamber (Leichenkeller 1), undergo the appropriate «treatment», emerge dead, evacuated by the Sonderkommando, he placed on one goods lift of modest size [in «Auschwitz: A doctor's eyewitness account», Dr Miklos Nyiszli, after having lived for six months in Krematorium II and claims that his account is «without the slightest exaggeration», says that there were «four good-sized elevators» (page 49). The reason why this authentic witness should have accumulated so many gross exaggerations is not yet known] to be carried up to the furnace room and burned very rapidly to achieve the enormous throughput [5000 cremations a day] attributed to this installation? A death route that may be considered «industrially» linear, but in which the corpses have to pass back over the path of the living, Leichenkeller 1 is a technical cul-de-sac. And then the role of the Sonderkommando, who need room to move, also has to be taken into account. Fortunately, the doors were large. Double doors about 2 metres wide. What? DOUBLE DOORS? A ZYCLON-B GAS CHAMBER WITH DOUBLE DOORS? I do not know whether I was technically justified, but I was greatly shocked by this detail, and my surprised reaction was noticed. The young woman who was watching me study the drawing, shiveringly squeezed against a radiator no warmer than that in my hotel, went off to find the archivist [Tadeusz Iwaszko] who was looking after me. He said nothing, but disappeared briefly and brought back another drawing. On drawing 934 of 27/1/42, entitled «Entwurf für das Krematorium. Schnitte/Project for the Krematorium. Sections», the sixteen metre crematorium chimney with the forced-draught fans at its base, loomed very large. Then came the cross-sections of Leichenkeller 1 and 2. Nothing special about 2, but L-K 1 was fitted with a splendid ventilation system, with upper and lower ducts, «Belüftung, Entlüftung/Ventilation. Air extraction.» «Why air extraction if not to remove air poisoned by prussic acid gas given off by Zyclon-B crystals?» demanded the archivist. I wavered before this argument. It was obvious. My expression of discomfiture must have touched Iwaszko, for from that moment on he brought up the big guns and showed me everything unbidden. Aerial views of Birkenau. Magnificently drawn plans for the expansion of the main camp. A joy for anyone interested in architectural drawing. Fine work and in colour. These SS certainly saw «kolossal». For the greater glory of the thousand year Reich there was an official architecture, rigid and majestic, and a private architecture, intimate and delicate. And on the side they built death factories to burn all the «labouring and hard-working» Slav populations. Iwaszko's leitmotif was: «Why such big installations for such a small camp?» But unfortunately, on the drawings of these «big cremation installations» there was nothing to indicate the presence of gas chambers. This lack could but engender doubt. Against this disturbing doubt: belief. This is what the archivist said to me in so many words. [In France before 1980, there was a complete absence of concrete proof despite the apparent «mass» of «document» on the gassings. The history of these gassings was based virtually exclusively on human testimony, and Faurisson lost no time in pulling some of these testimonies to pieces. This situation enabled him to score some fine successes at the beginning of his «affair», because the traditional historians had almost no evidence with which to oppose him. Faurisson's mistake was to underestimate the importance of the Auschwitz Museum Archives, which contained many documents not yet studied because nobody had felt the need to do so.] Unthinkable. The global, supreme explanation of the extermination of the Jews cannot be reduced to the acceptance of or refusal to believe what happened in Birkenau on twice 210 m² of Polish soil, the area of the Leichenkeller 1 of Krematorien II and III. Other project drawings of Krematorium II were brought to me one at a time, parsimoniously. Each time I got back a drawing I was handed another and left to study it, with the young woman behind me. But my concentration was no longer so great and what I saw merely confirmed what the archivist had said. 544 ===== PDF PAGE 0534 | page-534.md ===== But I still wanted to see everything. The plan of Krematorium IV (drawing 2036 of 11/1/43, correction sheet to 1678) arrived before me. Again I felt slight doubts about the logical sequence of operations (justified doubts, for Krematorium IV and V underwent so many modifications that their functioning became an «industrial» farce). I called Iwaszko, who reassured me. Rapidly. And being too much of a neophyte to stand up to a «specialist» (for that is what he was in my eyes), I accepted his explanation. Meekly enough, but still with inner reservations about the destructive capacity of the four installations. [Which is perfectly acceptable as far as the curator of the Museum, Kasimierz Smolen is concerned, or so he told me later, provided, of course, that proof can be produced. On the other hand, the existence of the gas chambers cannot be called into question. I listened to this and said nothing. Despite this dangerous lack of psychology, no doubt involuntary on the part of a former prisoner, my opinion came to be established otherwise, freely, partly thanks to the understanding of Tadeusz Iwaszko who, during my later visits, refused me nothing, acceding to my requests whether they were justified or not]. The number of victims destroyed by the «mills» of Auschwitz, originally stated to be 4 million, is now considered to be between 1 and 1.5 million. [Raul Hilberg, Professor in the Political Science Department of the University of Vermont, calculated the number of Jews sent to Auschwitz from the number of trains heading there, cross-checking with the count of the number of wagons arriving as recorded by the resistance organizations. The number of Jews arriving amounted to between 1.05 and 1.1 million. Georges Wellers, in his study published in «Le Monde Juif» No. 112 (1983) entitled «Essai de détermination du nombre de morts du camp d'Auschwitz» arrives at a total of 1,471,595 dead, of whom 1,334,000 gassed. For my part, I obtained a result close to Hilberg's using a subjective method based on a comparison between the claimed and actual throughputs of the Krematorium furnaces and the statements of witnesses again compared with factual evidence.] Since I was getting on good terms with Tadeuszko Iwaszko, I suggested that excavations in the area of Leichenkeller I of Krematorium II and III should solve some of the problems. He replied that now they would be of no value because, whatever the result, the Poles would be accused of having had 35 years to «arrange» the site. I went on to ask: «Why not publish all the drawings of the Krematorium without superfluous comment?» Sceptical and evasive answer. [In November 1979, this idea did not appeal to Iwaszko. But later on, he and Smolen encouraged me to do so: «Do it yourself and in a neutral spirit». It was in fact exactly the same idea that was put forward at the same time by Faurisson, but for a different reason, that of gathering a maximum of information to support his nihilist thesis]. The exchange of confidences continued. Iwaszko told me about one of my compatriots who had preceded me by a few years (early March 1976). ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) ![img-1.jpeg](img-1.jpeg) Photo 14 (Photo by the author) Part view, looking north-south, of the «Rutsche» or corpse chute in the ruins of Krematorium III. Photo 13 Enlargement (3x) of Krematorien II and III, part of an overall plan of Birkenau, extract from the Soviet film «Chronicles of the liberation of the camp, 1945». ![img-2.jpeg](img-2.jpeg) Photo 15 (Photograph and inscription by the author) KREMATORIUM II RUINS, LOOKING EAST-WEST # Translation of inscriptions: - Leichenkeller 1 - [gas chamber] - Salle des fours/ Furnace room - Emplacement de la glissoire/Location of the corpse chute - Monte-charge/Corpse lift - Leichenkeller 2 - [undressing room] - Escalier d'accès/Access stairway - Plafond de la salle des fours/Furnace room roof 545 ===== PDF PAGE 0535 | page-535.md ===== This particular Frenchman had left an impression. A most unpleasant individual. This awful man had like me come to the Archives and also discovered the plans of the Krematorien. [Drawings 932 and 934 (Krematorium II), 2136 (Kr III), one or two of Kr I and an overall plan of the Birkenau camp, drawing 2503 of 18/6/43. Early in 1977 he received copies of the drawings of Krematorien II and III he had consulted and at the end of 1977 the Museum sent him reproductions of the Kr I drawing of 25/9/41 and Krematorien IV and V drawing 2036 of 11/1/43.] But after two days he packed up and went home because he had caught a cold. Once back home, this hypocrite to whom everything had been generously shown wrote articles [«Le Matin» of 16/11/78, «Le Monde» of 29/12/78 and 16/1/79] claiming that hydrocyanic acid homicidal gas chambers would never have been able to function physically and hence that the extermination of the Jews was a legend. Trying to maintain that the homicidal gas chambers at Auschwitz-Birkenau never existed amounted to historical trickery and downright lying. It appeared that a certain Professor «Laurisson» was the author of these absurdities. [Iwaszko had learned about the «Faurisson affair» thanks to a visit to the PMO Archives by Maître Bernard Jouanneau, as lawyer for the LICRA, on 12th June 1979, five months before my own visit]. Though I was sure I would eventually be able to get at the truth, I was hampered by the terrible weather conditions and completed only half of my programme of producing slides of the camp, the gaps being filled by 50 photographs sent to me by the Museum. I would say in passing that while Iwaszko was always helpful and friendly, even managing to save a film that had broken in my camera, the attitude of two Polish policemen was quite different and I underwent a most unpleasant grilling and had twelve negatives of a newly-began film confiscated, simply because I had the misfortune to photograph the bridge over the Auschwitz railway [the famous bridge where, on 1st March 1941, Himmler, accompanied by his retinue, had indicated with a wave of the hand, that the Birkenau area should be the site for the construction of a new camp for 100,000 prisoners of war (Kriegsgefangenenlager or KGL)], the siding going towards Birkenau and the nearest factory (of the period) surrounded by barbed wire, which was apparently producing equipment for the police. For a whole hour I was able to savour the uncomfortable position of a «western spy», for this is what I was considered to be. Nonetheless, I had come to find answers to my questions, and I had them, even if I still had no absolute certainty. Just as I was setting off, I came upon a group of French former prisoners, come specially for All Saints Day. They congratulated me, complimenting my fine historical curiosity, calling me a «relay» or «transmitter» of the good word. A radiant woman former prisoner, a blond lady doctor, tried to find out if I could bear witness in some way or other in the media [it was only later on that I understood the motives of this woman. There are so few real specialists of the problem in the west that she considered it highly desirable to «co-opt» me]. But I politely declined and did not reveal my identity, declaring myself to be an insignificant nobody. At that time I could not understand this former prisoner's request, not knowing that some people did not believe or no longer believed in this horror. People like Andrzej Brycht, a Polish writer born in 1935 who left his country in 1970 to settle in Canada, who writes in his «Excursion Auschwitz-Birkenau» (1966 and January 1980, NRF, Editions Gallimard, for the French version): «I observed these ruins [those of Krematorium II] incapable of believing that so many people could have been burned in such a miserable building», and says, «Who could know what really happened here [in Birkenau] and even whether all that existed». During the conversation with the former prisoners, the name of Laurisson had come up again. This thoroughly aroused my curiosity and I decided to contact him and find out what his views were. Five months passed. After two preliminary telephone conversations I met the gentleman concerned, Professor Faurisson (to give his correct spelling). He appeared to look normal. About fifty, very much the academic. Apart from a somewhat acid voice on the phone he seemed quite correct. The first meeting lasted four or five hours. I emerged with my head bursting. A splitting headache. We had both approached the problem in the same way. Through drawings. Something tangible, concrete. Not on the basis of vague testimonies, always true in the eyes of their authors, but without great historical value because frequently deformed by different factors. The floodgates of our mutual stores of information very quickly opened. I knew a fair bit, but he seemed to know a hundred times more, and in depth, supported by serious and unimpeachable references. [End of the text extracted from the notes] I worked with Robert Faurisson from the end of March 1980 to December 1980. Then, as all serious historical research became impossible, his dogma being paramount, our meetings became less frequent, though we remained in touch, then the final break came in April 1981. Before being able to realize that the force of his argument rested purely and simply on the lead he held in the knowledge of the facts, I had to catch up with him. Only then was I able to judge impartially the value of his arguments. What first made me think deeply, helped me and, I admit, disturbed me, was Pierre Vidal-Naquet's article of September 1980, «La mémoire d'Auschwitz». The second factor was my own research at the PMO Archives and the documents I found there in three stays (25th-30th August, 4th-17th October and 11th-21st November 1980). Third was the pleading of Maître Bernard Jouanneau at the hearing of 1st June 1981 at the High Court of Paris during the «Faurisson trial». But as early as the end of August 1980, Faurisson, who was not at that time aware of it, could no longer count me among his unconditional supporters. His theory stood up for only TWO DAYS to a direct historical confrontation with the Museum documents and the Birkenau ruins, the just result of over-hasty research that, irony of fate, had also lasted two days. I met a twosome, Robert Faurisson and Pierre Guillaume. The first called himself a historian and an «anarchist of the right». The second supported the first, published him, and considered himself to be an «anarchist of the left». They formed a most disparate couple. The meetings took place at the home of Pierre Guillaume, who put Faurisson up during his visits to Paris. I never understood why Guillaume supported Faurisson. Guillaume already publishing Paul Rassinier's works, it seemed logical that he should be interested in the works of another revisionist, Faurisson, textual and documentary critic, Professor in the Classical and Modern Letters and Civilization Faculty at the University of Lyon 2. Why did I work with them? Because they brought precise answers in response to my doubts. People born after the Second World War no longer believe in anything very much. The hypocrisy of human behaviour, the systematic falsification of information and deliberate deformation of the facts have made them more than suspicious of any official sources, «authorized beliefs» and «expert opinions». This attitude implies that before accepting anything, one has to check for oneself its truth and significance. The necessary openness to all that stems from this causes «permeability», which in turn leads to a certain «fragility». In the case of Auschwitz, this means listening to both parties (there are only two), judging the validity of their arguments and where necessary going further into their theses, while maintaining one's own liberty. Thus one gentleman, a university professor, told me: «You have doubts about the functioning of the Birkenau crematoriums? Of course you have, because they never served to exterminate people and they did not contain gas chambers». On the other side, shortly afterwards, a member of a Jewish organization inopportunely advised me «to stop tormenting myself with the study of this problem», clearly indicating that I should abandon any work on this subject, which should remain «private property». When I first made contact with Faurisson, the position of his studies was summed up in his interview in «Storia Illustrata» number 261 of August 1979, by Antonio Pitamitz (published after having been revised, corrected and commented by Faurisson in «Vérité Historique ou Vérité Politique» by Serge Thion, La Vieille Taupe, April 1980). The gas chambers at Auschwitz, Maidenek and Struthof were his current targets. Those of Maidenek looked so ridiculous to him that he had not developed his refutation very far. According to him, the confession by the former commandant of Struthof, Josef Kramer, established the irreality of the homicidal gassings, because of sheer chemical impossibility. As for Auschwitz, the comparison of two plans of Krematorium I (Topf & Sons drawing D.59042 of 25/9/41 and Bauleitung drawing 4287 of 21/9/44) supplied by the Museum enabled him to conjure away the gas chamber by demonstrating a «rearrangement» of the premises that corresponded to no original drawing. Fired by this success, he extended his argument to Birkenau Krematorien II, III, IV and V, mainly using «internal criticisms» of the autobiography of the first commandant of the camp, Rudolf Höss [who was actually relating an episode that took place at Bunkers 1 and 2!]. He went on to attack even more fiercely the gas chambers at Buchenwald [where there really were none], Dachau, Mauthausen [the work by Pierre Serge Choumoff proves their existence]. Orienburg [one seems to have worked, using liquid hydrocyanic acid, but its mode of employment seems to me imprecise and to require more explanation] and Ravensbrück [where small-scale gassings using Zyclon-B in a roughly converted barracks were carried out at the end of the war]. Using a method dear to him, Faurisson sheltered behind the writings of traditional authors to confirm his negations. Doctor Martin Broszat's famous letter (published in «Die Zeit» of 19th August 1960) entitled «No gassing at Dachau», which established the non-existence of gas chambers at Dachau, Bergen-Belsen and Buchenwald, generalizing this to the whole territory of the former Reich facilitated his «liquidation» of Dachau and Buchenwald. Olga Wormser-Migot with «Le Système concentrationnaire nazi, 1933-45» (PUF 1968) helped him to declare the gas chambers of Mauthausen and Hartheim to be mythical. He adopted the principle of taking the enemy's arms and turning them against him. What is more, the publication of «Vérité historique...» by Serge Thion provided him with a «moral guarantee» against the «persecution» to which he was subject and, above all, a spectacular tactical victory in revealing that the «DIARY OF ANNE FRANK is nothing but a literary hoax». Those who read his demonstration considered it to be valid [even Pierre Vidal-Naquet, who was to become the first man to stop Faurisson in his tracks]. It was not until 1986 that doubts arose: Harry Paape (Director of the Netherlands Institute for War Documentation [RIOD] and Secretary-General of the International Committee for the History of the Second World War) and his team published in Amsterdam «De dagboeken van Anne Frank», a book demonstrating the authenticity of the different versions of the «Diary» by means of a strictly material study. It will be possible for us here in France to make our final decision once this is available in French. However, it proves already that the scouring of texts as recommended by Faurisson has its limits and becomes worthless in the face of a materialistic approach using original documents. For those not thoroughly versed in the finer technical points of gas chambers, and this means 99.999% of the population, Faurisson's claims were a revelation. A true masterpiece, finely polished and unassailable. Nobody sitting down opposite Faurisson and listening to him for one or two hours could fail to emerge from the conversation shaken or completely converted to his cause. He was steeped in his subject, backed up by 200 kg of documents, 200 photographs, 10 years of reading and 4 years of intensive work. What could one say when he started off: «What I say is that the famous gas chambers were just another fabrication of the war. This propaganda invention is to be compared with the legends spread during the First World War about «Teutonic» barbarity». At that time already the Germans were being accused of perfectly imaginary crimes. Belgian children with their hands cut off, Canadians crucified, corpses transformed into soap, etc.» One could but nod one's head and listen in wonder. This extract shows one of the tricks used to get the message across: putting forward a lie (the gas chambers are only war propaganda) then covering it immediately with a well-known truth (the German crimes invented) by the British in 1914-18 [Photo 16], brought out to protect the false initial postulate. This process was pushed to the absolute limits of its possibilities in an 80 page pamphlet published by Guillaume in 1982. «L'incroyable "Affaire Faurisson"» [The incredible Faurisson Affair], containing the conclusions lodged by the LICRA and Faurisson's responses to them in the Court of Appeal. This mixture of truths, lies and unjustifiable interpretations reached such a level of subterfuge that it is virtually impossible to unravel. Even a «specialist» such as I had myself become quite by accident, had difficulty in separating the grain from the chaff. This is one of the finest examples of the Faurisson style. The Appeal Court judges allowed themselves to be influenced by this insidious rhetoric and their judgement of 26th April 1983 confirmed that: «at present nobody can convict him [Faurisson] of lying...», a ridiculous conclusion when one knows the man. But alas, how can one suppress an ironic smile when he speaks of the «gassings» in Dachau: 546 ===== PDF PAGE 0536 | page-536.md ===== ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) Photo 16 (Personal archives) The dust jacket of an anti-English propaganda booklet published in Berlin in 1941 and denouncing the «horrible German crimes» invented and published by the English in 1914-18. Title: «ENGLISH LIES in the World Wars», by Werner Schaeffer, cover illustration by Palo. # Translation of the inscriptions: - The despicable little army... - The crucified Canadian... - The hands cut off children... - The corpse factory... - German atrocities in Belgium... Photo 17a (left) (Communicated by Serge Klarsfeld. Source unknown) View of the Dachau crematorium at the Liberation of the camp. American soldiers are partly hiding the heaps of bodies awaiting cremation outside the building. ![img-1.jpeg](img-1.jpeg) Photo 17 (Source: Express Newspapers) The door of the first of the four disinfestation gas chambers in the Dachau crematorium building, early May 1945. # Translation of the inscriptions: - Gassing hours: 7.30 to 10.30 am - Attention! Gas! Danger! Do not open! The Dachau crematorium [Photo 17a] comprised a morgue, a furnace room [Photo 17b] with four cremation furnaces, the supposed gas chamber with the inscription «Brausen/showers» and four disinfestation chambers numbered 1 to 4. The confusion between these last and the «throncided» gas chambers still remains, for as late as 1982, this type of photograph was presented in the «Dachau gas chamber» at the «Exhibition of the deportation, 1933-45» on the Trocaille espionade in Paris. The nature of the disinfestation gas is not known, but the cycle lasted 3 hours. ![img-2.jpeg](img-2.jpeg) ![img-3.jpeg](img-3.jpeg) Photo 17b (right) Inside the room housing the four furnaces, with former prisoners handling a corpse for the benefit of the war correspondents. 547 ===== PDF PAGE 0537 | page-537.md ===== «...they still have the effrontery to show us the photograph [Photo 17] of one of these autoclaves at Dachau, with before it an American soldier in uniform deciphering... the gassing timetable!» It is quite obvious that, in 1945, American war correspondents could easily be misled because of their lack of information. But Faurisson, who does not lack information (200 kg), he who was so quick to denounce the errors of others, was also led astray. What he took to be autoclaves, were in fact simple disinfestation gas chambers - they had neither temperature nor pressure gauges, essential instruments for the proper operation of an autoclave. And when he did come across real autoclaves, he thought they were disinfestation gas chambers (for example the three autoclaves in the Birkenau Zentral Sauna). Faurisson is a literary man, not a scientist. What is so sad about this story is the correspondence exchanged between him and the authorities of the Dachau Museum and the Dachau International Committee in Bruxelles, in which he forces them to admit that they have failed in their historical duty by not being able to counter his arguments. Without a true technical analysis, going as far as partial demolition of the walls, no version is acceptable at present. Faurisson's method of working is based on textual analysis and involves the detailed criticism of documents concerned with the question studied. He is the proponent of a rather special approach. In his view, it is necessary to intervene rapidly and hit hard. A kind of «commando» technique. As regards Auschwitz, where he had made only one or two brief visits, he «understood» everything very rapidly. To support this «new understanding» he had brought back from Poland an abundant documentation to support his thesis, and in the eyes of the uninitiated this appears true and convincing. My own method of working is different. I worm my way into the subject tenaciously, so my results in terms of «picking up» documents were slow and not very fruitful in the short term. In the medium term my tenacity began to pay off. And in the long term it has led to unhoped-for results. Taking photographs alone, Faurisson probably has about 200, most of which I am acquainted with. As regards Auschwitz, 7 photographs and 3 drawings (from the PMO) were published in «Vérité historique...», by Serge Thion. Of the 16 published in «Le mythe d'Auschwitz» by Wilhelm Stäglich (La Vieille Taupe 1986) under the title «Illustrations (comments by Faurisson). Le mythe d'Auschwitz en images. Une extermination... improbable... invraisemblable... impossible... fictive», FIVE had already appeared in «Thion». For my part, considering only the contemporary photographs concerning the camp and the life of the prisoners and SS, Serge Klarsfeld [and the PMO] provided me with 189 for the publication of «L'Album d'Auschwitz» (Seuil 1983), and this does not include 63 unpublished photographs from the original Album that did not concern the extermination of the Hungarian Jews. The PMO gave me copies of the 52 photographs taken clandestinely and buried by the former prisoner Lawin Ludwik and found after the Liberation. Then the Museum sent me the 397 photographs of the «Bauleitung Album» (unpublished: the original is held by the Yad Vashem) some of which are identical with those «organized» by Ludwik. Then there are the 4 Polish resistance photographs, only 3 of which are usable, 3 from the SS garrison and 30 concerning Himmler's visit to Buna-Monowitz on 17th July 1942. Regarding the state of the camp at the Liberation, several hundred stills have been taken from the Soviet film «Chronicles...1945». Of Polish source in the period 1945-46, an unknown number (several dozen?) were taken by Stanislaw Luczko. The Warsaw Central Commission for the investigation of Hitlerite crimes in Poland sent me 5 of the Luczko series and 5 others from about thirty of unknown origin. On these last there appears a Polish military cameraman filming the ruins of Krematorium V in the process of being cleared, which implies that a film (newsreel?) other than the 1945 Soviet film was shot at Birkenau just after the Liberation. And there is no need to mention the innumerable «modern» photographs of Auschwitz. The difference between the results of Faurisson's commando raids and my own slow and patient research in Poland speak for themselves. Let there be no misunderstanding about one of us wanting to possess more than the other - this is no schoolboy game of marbles. These photographs are important historical material and some of them are vital for our understanding. Sometimes a testimony can be confirmed or rejected thanks to one or more photographs [the War Refugee Board report of November 1944 was authenticated in this way, despite some bizarre features in it]. It may be thought that there must be many other photographs taken at Auschwitz between 1940 and 1946. This is no doubt true, but those listed are the only ones we know about. I know ALL of them [about 700 contemporary pictures, or a thousand or more including the Liberation] and I am able to situate most of them on the ground and date many of them more or less accurately. One day at the PMO in the service responsible for the «reserve stocks» [various objects found in the camp]. I came upon a photograph of an SS man, in regulation uniform and wearing a gas mask, pouring a can of Zyclon-B into a kind of chimney about 40 cm high. He appeared to be on the roof of a Krematorium II or III gas chamber, but the arrangement of the panes of one of the windows of the crematorium visible behind him did not correspond to any of the drawings or photographs. I kept on questioning the person in charge of this service until he told me the truth: it was a still taken from the film «La Passagère» by Andrzej Munk, a work that remained unfinished because of the death of its maker in a car accident on 20th September 1961. I had seen it in France when I was very young and did not remember all the sequences, but the study of this photograph in comparison with others had proved to me that it was not authentic, despite its appearance and the fact that it was presented as such Faurisson was, and still is, incapable of carrying out this kind of study. Furthermore he is totally incapable of reading a drawing. It was fortunate for him that he came across an amateur like me. After our first contact in February 1980, there followed a long series of joint working sessions where I learned all the bases of the revisionist argument beginning, of course, with the compulsory reading of Paul Rassinier’s books. This author had doubts, but they were relatively slight because he lacked the documentation now available. His timid remarks were those of a student compared with the «ex cathedra» demonstrations of Professor Doctor Robert Faurisson. The latter DENIES ONLY THE HOMICIDAL GAS CHAMBERS, not the rest: the deportation, concentration camps, suffering, malnutrition, slave labour, ill-treatment, sickness, epidemics, crematoriums. NO, THE GAS CHAMBERS ONLY. The stratagem is that if the gas chambers are demolished, all the rest will follow and be denounced. He very quickly saw that I had a gift for reading and explaining drawings. To obtain «positive» results, those to help his cause, he was obliged to open his files to me and have me work on them. And that is what I did. My collaboration with Faurisson involved only the documents he had collected. His surprising hypothesis had literally seduced me. But stimulating as the idea was, it turned out to be negative. I tested it on out on my entourage. Those who were not Jews saw it as just one more bluff in the daily flood of them. Those who were Jews did not even react violently. They were disarming and made me understand that there were limits that could not be transgressed. My arguments were taken into account, my good faith recognized, but that did not restore their father, mother, brother and sisters, the entire families annihilated. Faurisson has in fact never given a real answer on this point, never explained what happened to a million people, whom, according to him, it was technically impossible to have exterminated. Guillaume declared, acting as his master's voice, that «they were transferred at Kosel station, 120 km from Auschwitz». [This indication of the distance is typical of the «Faurisson method», a mixture of truth and lies, in order to be always right. Saying that Kosel or Kozle is 120 km from Auschwitz is true and false AT THE SAME TIME. Kosel is 82 km from Auschwitz as the crow flies, 97 km by the northern route passing through Gliwice, Mikolow and Tychy, and 120 km by the southern route via Raciborz, Rybnik, Zory, Pszczyna and Brzeszcze. Faurisson omits to say that this miraculous station lies to the west of Auschwitz. Any reasonable motorist wishing to go from Kozle to Oswiecim would take the northern route, but he would be wrong. The shortest route is not the best one, and the only true route is the southern one, indicated by the master. ALL Faurisson's references, remarks, explanations and arguments are «loaded» in this way. His truth is the plausible interpretation of facts that have never existed.] In the gospel according to Saint Faurisson, 950,000 people vanished into the countryside from Kozle station and spread to the four corners of the earth. Nobody has since been able to find them. I did not know that on 15th February 1979 Faurisson had received a summons to appear before the court to answer charges brought by the LICRA [Ligue Internationale Contre le Racisme et l'Antisémitisme]. Other organizations had joined the plaintiff, such as ANFROMF, UNADIF, FNDIR, CAR, l'Amicale des déportés d'Auschwitz et des camps en Haute Silésie, MRAP, les Fils et Filles des Déportés Juifs de France, and the UNDIVG was also to appear. I only gradually discovered the legal shackles that hampered him. His immediate concern was to defend himself. As regards his trial, the immediate problem was that of the Struthof gas chamber. I was given a crash course, and accompanied him to consult the archives of the Struthof trial at the Palais de Justice in Paris. This led to an episode that made me see the «honest and meticulous» professor in a more worrying light. 86 Jewish victims met their death in the Struthof gas chamber (of 30 women and 57 men sent from Auschwitz, one was shot and the rest were gassed). They had left administrative traces. The weekly report on the numbers of prisoners indicates the presence on 14th August 1943 of 90 Jews, of whom 30 «left» deceased, and on 21st August 1943, among the 60 remaining, there were 57 further deaths. The cause of death (even if uncertain) was normally entered on the reverse side of the reports. But the backs of the reports on these 87 Jews were blank. What is more, each death in the camp was reported to and noted in the Natzweiler town hall. No mention of these dead Jews. These two documents are damning evidence. Faurisson, after checking all the weekly reports still conserved, put forward the explanation that those of the 14th and 21st August 1943 were printed in gothic script while previous ones had been in roman script. Confused by this change in the forms, the SS made a mistake with the line and instead of inscribing the 87 on the line «Entlausung/liberation», mistakenly entered them on the line marked «Todesfälle/deaths». His poor argument rang in my ears like a warning bell. The first warning sound had come when I read the following passage in «Vérité historique...» by Thion, page 314: «I made one of the Auschwitz Museum officials, Mr Jan Machkel, come to the place [in Krematorium I]. I showed him the furnaces. I asked him: «Are they authentic?» He replied «Of course!» I then passed my finger across the mouth of one of the furnaces. I showed him that there was no soot (undefined by J-C Pressac. Fancy expecting to find soot 35 years afterwards!). With an embarrassed air [why?], he told me that these furnaces were a "reconstitution"» [the Museum's own photographs prove it]. A professor's reputation fades after such a remark. Faurisson becoming more and more preoccupied by his trial, it fell to me to continue the study of the «so-called» gas chambers at Auschwitz. I accepted on condition that I would be able to remain anonymous. And indeed I was, right to the end. When I am able to refute a historical inaccuracy, with certainty and the support of solid proof, then I do not hesitate to do so if this correction does not harm individual persons. If it does, then I seek advice first or I abstain. In order to be able to work properly, I needed peace and quiet, which was impossible in the atmosphere of the trials. During April and May, I thoroughly studied my photographic evidence. In the following months, working from the fragments provided, I produced seventeen bound drawings, most of them in colour [3 of Krematorium I at Auschwitz, 4 of Krematorium IV at Birkenau (and the Natzweiler crematorium), 2 of Krematorium III and 8 of Krematorium II] in order to make it easier for him to read the drawings and understand the architecture and arrangement of these crematoriums. At the revisionist congress in Washington on 11th August he wrote to me: «The few people to whom I have been able to show your material were most impressed. They find it outstanding». Without false modesty, I had worked like a Trojan. As a «reward» I was able to take with me to Ireland, where I was spending my holidays, a photocopy of his manuscript «Vous avez dit Kremer?» [Did you say Kremer?], which was later to become «Mémoire en défense» [Statement for the defence], which enabled me to follow the genesis and development of the «Faurisson Affair» as well as his own explanations. I carefully went through it all with a fine-tooth comb. It very quickly became apparent to me that his interpretation of «Vergasungskeller/gassing cellar» as «gas-generating cellar», though perfect in its literary form, was technically worthless [I later found that he had taken it from the work by Arthur R Butz, «The hoax of the twentieth century». Butz, though a product of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, is as hopeless as Faurisson on technical matters]. As regards the criticism of the diary of Johann Paul Kremer [reserve SS doctor posted in KL Auschwitz from 30th August to 18th November 1942] I had my doubts (again!) about the explanation of the word «Sonderaktion/special action» and the expression «der Bunker», Faurisson's arguments not being very convincing. Despite these few clouds I was finding in the clear sky of the revisionists, I began to sincerely believe that this «crazy hypothesis» had a very good chance of turning out to be correct. As 548 ===== PDF PAGE 0538 | page-538.md ===== Faurisson's documentation was beginning to show gaps as work proceeded, I was asked to go to the Museum to find more material. I was free to do as I thought fit, but specific tasks were to check in situ the «reconstitution» of Krematorium I and carefully check the references in the Polish book by Judge Jan Sehn, «Les crimes allemands en Pologne» (German crimes in Poland), published in Warsaw in 1948. Then came the final instructions from Washington: «enter the ruins of Krematorien II and III» and visit the «disinfection» barracks in «Bauabschnitt/construction stage» I of Birkenau. In July, Faurisson had warned me against the tendency to see «falsehoods» everywhere like the Swedish revisionist Felderer: «There really are no falsehoods, but simply false interpretations of things that really existed». I was by now well-prepared to «revise» the «official» history of Auschwitz-Birkenau. [Part of the preceding section and what follows is a short summary of my visit of 25th to 30th August 1980, entitled «AUSCHWITZ QUINTET»] # First day: 26th August 1980 At eight o'clock sharp I presented myself at the Auschwitz Archives. I gave Thion's book to Tadeusz Iwaszko, telling him that the situation was serious. Auschwitz, «Hoax of the twentieth century», etc. Iwaszko didn't turn a hair, simply asking the purpose of my visit. I said that Faurisson, supported by certain elements of the French extreme left, was becoming a threat. He had to be fought, and on his own ground. It was necessary to study the technology and rationally explain the Zyclon-B gassings and back this up with irrefutable historical material. Iwaszko understood my point of view, but would never subscribe to it, being convinced that no discussion with the revisionists was possible, whatever the documents produced [and he is right]. He considered Thion's work to be simply a pamphlet. And then he had doubts about my sincerity. Either I was telling the truth, or I was an emissary sent by Faurisson. But whatever his personal opinion, he could not officially accuse me and had to provide me with the documents I requested. This conversation took place in a somewhat tense atmosphere. My approach work is tricky because I was not fully acquainted with what I knew to exist. The Museum had sent me only 59 negatives of the 150 I had ordered and I had returned them because they were not up to standard. He brought out the same drawings as in November 1979, ones I knew by heart through having recopied them. Finally I went back to first principles and requested the volumes of the Hoess trial. At last I was able to make some progress, finding there the references I required. At 1 p.m. the Archives closed and I had to pack up. Not very fruitful, this first contact, but I had found the right road. In the afternoon, investigations at Birkenau. The cloudy weather of the morning had given way to sunshine. Destination: the disinfestation barracks, Bauwerken/worksites BW 5a and 5b, 5b (women) was open, but 5a (men) was closed. Rapid visit of 5b, taking many photographs. Inside, three rooms with thick doors fitted with felt sealing strips. Gas chambers? [No, I was mistaken. These were hot air disinfestation chambers. I had passed through the «real» gas chamber that used Zyclon-B as disinfestation agent, without even realizing it]. Then I went on to the BA I sewage treatment station next to Krematorium II. More photographs. I came to Leichenkeller I of Krematorium II, one of the «supposed» homicidal gas chambers. I wandered round these 210 m² surrounded by such mystery. The sky was clear and the sun pleasantly warm. The weeds growing over the ruins were healthy. Their shade of green proclaiming summer. A stark contrast with this Leichenkeller I, its roof broken into huge slabs. Two of the slabs formed a kind of roof [on the extreme left on Photo 15]. Stupefaction: it was possible to slip inside through the ridge of this «roof» and there was enough light to take photographs. An archeological dream. I could not believe my eyes, spellbound by what I discovered. And certain confirmations were already evident. I had been right in June, when I was studying poor photographs of the construction drawings. The upper ventilation duct of «corpse cellar» I was a very primitive arrangement made of wood. There remained only a few bits of battens stapled to the concrete ceiling, but that sufficed. In the center of the accessible section there was a pillar, almost intact, which was what still supported part of the ceiling. At the foot of this pillar, under 50 cm of water, I was able to see one of the waste water drains as on drawing 932 of the Krematorium basement. I was jubilant because the presence of this drain connected directly with Krematorium II corroborated what I had observed on the drawing: it was not possible to gas people in Leichenkeller I because the hydrocyanic acid gas could escape through the drains into the building and poison the air in parts of it. In the ceiling, a piece of planking recalled the Bauleitung letter of 29th January 1943, stating that because of the frost the removal of the formwork had been delayed [mistaken interpretation. It was the emplacement of one of the 24 dummy showers fitted in the gas chamber]. Scarcely had I emerged from this rather special place, when I encountered further surprises. Manholes hidden in the vegetation led me to discover shafts leading to the very foundations of Leichenkeller 1. I descended into one of them, using the metal rungs set into the brick wall. This «gas chamber» had more holes in it than a sieve. Gassing would obviously be impossible, for the building above and its surroundings would have been subjected to the toxic and deadly effects of prussic acid. I ran to Krematorium III. Identical findings, except that I could not descend into the manholes because they were of different design, concrete pipes with no ladder built in. I disappeared into the forest because a group of tourists was approaching. I went through «Kläranlage/sewage treatment station» II and arrived at the Zentral Sauna. It was closed as usual and I went behind the building to look for an open window. I was soon able to jump inside. I took some photographs of the clothing disinfestation autoclaves, the only authentic «gas chambers» according to Faurisson. Lastly, I went to Krematorium V, completely choked by vegetation. Not much use taking photographs. The ground floor was as shown on the Bauleitung drawing. About turn. And on the way back I finally found the ruins of Krematorium IV. There remained nothing but the concrete floor and the outline of the different rooms. I began to feel I'd had enough. «Morgen ist auch ein Tag/Tomorrow is another day». # Second day: 27th August Nine o'clock. Archives. I asked Iwaszko to help me find the document(s) containing the term «Badanstalten für Sonderaktionen/Baths for special actions», a term designating the gas chambers of Krematorium IV and V [wrong]. In the note of 21st August 1942, this expression refers to Bunkers I and 2, not to the Krematorien, which were not yet built]. He is not familiar with the expression, even though it is one of the favourite themes of many authors. Where does it come from? Not very pleased, I didn't insist. My discoveries of the previous day kept coming into my mind. To such an extent that I was unable to stop myself telling him about the «holes» around the «komora gazowa». Not at all disconcerted, he asked what I thought about them. On the spur of the moment I replied: «Because of the constantly wet ground, water infiltrated the lower ventilation ducts. This system would have served to evacuate this water.» He disappeared, leaving me to study volume 11 of the Hoess trial. Then he came back and unfolded yet another plan, Bauleitung drawing 1300 of 18/6/42, «Krematorium-Entwässerung/Krematorium drainage». A real slap in the face. Demolition of my hypothesis that gassing was impossible because of the arrangement of the drainage system. What is more, the shafts discovered in the ruins were not connected with the ventilation system, but with the drainage. Drawing 1300 corresponds exactly with the ruins. Unlike on drawing 932, the drainage system of Leichenkeller I is now AUTONOMOUS, quite separate from that of the rest of the building. It no longer joins the rest, but goes off at right angles to drain into the main external sewer coming from the Krematorium. This separate drainage would make it possible to carry out any number of gassings with no danger of dangerous contamination. There had clearly been a MODIFICATION of the Leichenkeller I drainage. In volume 11 I found a trace of the phantom Krematorium VI, based on incineration in open-air pits; plans of the red and white «farmhouses», Bunkers I and 2, extracts from the correspondence and orders concerning the construction of the Krematorien, divided into four groups: the Schlosserei/metalworking shop file; the correspondence between the firm responsible for the cremation furnaces, Topf & Sons, and the Auschwitz «Zentralbauleitung/central construction management»; the Huta file, this being the firm that built the shells of the four Krematorien; and the Tageslohnliste/daily timesheets (a and b). Being unable to translate all this material immediately, I asked Iwaszko for photocopies [I was dreaming!] to be made in time for me to be able to take them home with me. He promised to let me have an answer the next day, although he thought my request would be difficult to meet because of the deteriorating situation in Poland at that time. The north was affected by a strike that was spreading to the whole country. In the afternoon I returned to Birkenau and mobilized an attendant. Another examination of Krematorium IV: in line with the drawings, as was the drainage system. The attendant gave me to understand that there was something else worth seeing, behind Krematorium V. After a few minutes' walk in the woods, we came to a small hollow. He bent and started to knead the soil. In a flash I understood: pieces of human bone. Buckets full. He took me into the Birkenwald. And again, half-filled trenches whose content spoke volumes. Crushed bones. It affected me greatly, turned me over in spite of myself. We turned back and he headed for «Kanada» [huts where the goods and chattels of new arrivals were kept]. He took a path flanked by tall grass that led to a square meter of ground where there was a mass of knives, forks, spoons, scissors and clippers inextricably entangled, charred, rusted: an unbearable, shapeless mass. I wanted to see the Zentral Sauna again. He had no key, so we got in through a window at the back, now a tradition. Before the three autoclaves, I asked him: «Komora gazowa?» «Nie! Nie! Para!» Steam. Faurisson was mistaken. The clothing disinfestation autoclaves that he presented as authentic «gas chambers», turned out to use steam, not gas. Beyond them were four brick disinfestation chambers (known as «Topf disinfestation ovens»). I wanted to know what disinfestation agent was used, and went down into the «Heizgruben/stoking pits» flanking them. Everything was flooded, but despite this the hearths were still visible. These were hot air chambers. No gas, be it T, Zyclon-B, Tritox or Ventox. Bad news for Faurisson! That was the end of work for the 27th. # Third day: 28th August Gloomy weather. Bewölkt/overcast. Nine o'clock. Archives. Iwaszko had prepared the drawings requested the previous day. That of the «Luftschutzbunker für SS Revier mit einem Operationsraum/Air raid shelter for the SS hospital with operating theatre», resulting from the conversion of Kr I, the «old» Krematorium was unfolded on a table. I note the details that I had not been able to decipher in June on the photo in Faurisson's files. But I have the impression that it is not exactly the same drawing and give way to a moment of panic. If the Museum keeps bringing out different drawings of a given building, this seems a poor basis for my putting forward any theory whatever. This drawing, 4287, is dated 21/9/44. Faurisson believed it to date from July 1943. Since the references were illegible on the photograph, he had worked out the date from a letter from the Museum. Worrying. And yet everything fitted. It was certainly the drawing of which he had published a photograph in «Thion» (page 317, photo 8) [during my next trip I realized that there were two identical drawings with different inscriptions. Printed from a tracing of the first drawing, the second (Faurisson's) was concerned with the water pipes and fittings. The additional information was added to the original drawing in Indian ink]. Worried by this unsuspected problem, I confronted Iwaszko: «Is it really in its original state, this Krematorium I, with its rebuilt chimney, two badly rebuilt furnaces, the door between the furnace room and the morgue reinstalled a metre from its original position, the gas-tight door imitated, an external door converted into a window, the windows remade, the partition walls in the morgue/gas chamber demolished, the Zyclon-B introduction orifices installed after the war?». He confirmed the reconstruction and explained his view. What mattered was not the internal and external aspect of the building itself, but the «image» they wanted to recreate of a homicidal gas chamber, a place where many people had actually asphyxiated with Zyclon-B. I accepted this, rejoicing at his confirmation regarding Krematorium I, and went on to study the disinfestation barracks, BW 5a, drawing 801 of 8/11/41. I was astonished to read «Wasch- und Brauseraum/Wash and shower room» and, just above this, «GASKAMMER». The association of showers and gas chambers could have become «showers are gas chambers» in the minds of prisoners. Possible. The drawing did not correspond to what now remained. There followed a series of drawings of BW 5a and 5b showing the gradual evolution of the premises, with the creation of new rooms, with a sauna [a real one!], a technical installation connected to a disinfestation chamber. The term «Gaskammer» still appeared, but on the final drawing, 2540 of 5/7/43, the gas chamber had been replaced by a chamber connected to a hot air generator. [BW 5a was in fact fitted with a delousing chamber using Zyclon-B, then the equipment required for gas operation was removed and two hot air-disinfestation chambers were installed IN that room. In BW 5b another Zyclon-B delousing chamber was installed. This was not subsequently converted, but remains as it was, with two extractor fans visible in its east wall. That these two gas chambers, installed in a most primitive fashion, actually functioned with Zyclon-B, is attested by the fact that their walls have turned blue (both outside and inside). This utilization led to two conclusions. First, that Faurisson's thesis that using gas chambers was a complex business was wrong: after studying the ultra-sophisticated American execution gas chambers, he had come to the conclusion that because of their very simplicity, the Auschwitz-«homicidal installations» were technically incapable of functioning. Second, the use of Zyclon-B as a disinfestation agent at Auschwitz was clearly established, so that it was no longer possible to maintain, as did 549 ===== PDF PAGE 0539 | page-539.md ===== the traditional historians, that ALL the Zyclon-B was used for extermination. There were in fact about 25 Zyclon-B delousing chambers of different sizes operating in the camp]. I then began to study the «Zentral Sauna» file. This sanitary complex was a sauna only in name. It contained 4 «Entwesungskammer/disinfestation chambers» installed by Messrs Topf & Sons and using hot air produced by hearths located in pits alongside them. The 3 autoclaves were shown on the drawings, but without any details (the discovery of the Bauleitung album made it possible to identify them positively as autoclaves in the strict sense because of the presence of pressure gauges). At the end of this session, with the threat of the strike very much in the air, Iwaszko told me that the next day he would do his best to get to work, but that with no bus service he was unlikely to be present. My work in the Archives virtually came to an end there. # Fourth day: 29th August At nine o'clock the next morning I appeared before the locked door of the PMO Archives. I rang. An official I knew vaguely by sight opened the door. «Pan Iwaszko?» I asked. «Nie! Strajk!/No! Strike!» I suspected as much. The man's tone sounded somewhat surly. I stopped the flow of words with a gesture, smiled at him, and wished him a good strike. That changed everything. His surliness disappeared and we parted on friendly terms... I still had to fill the afternoon. The sun was slowly emerging. I decided to go to Birkenau, but as a tourist, not as a researcher. When I arrived at speed at the road leading to the KGL watchtower, I had a shock! A smoking locomotive was pushing four wagons along. It stopped before the camp. Silhouettes in all too familiar verdigris uniforms were restraining aggressive Alsatians. Police of the Feldgendarmerie. Some SS in their distinctive caps were gallivanting about. In the wagons, a consignment of people dressed in dark clothes, with white armbands bearing the bluish star of David were waiting. I had arrived at the beginning of the shooting of a film about Birkenau, «Mur», a Polish-American coproduction. The Feldgendarmes were Polish militia, the SS young soldiers. The uniforms and equipment were impeccable and guaranteed authentic. A grey Kübelwagen was parked in front of the entrance building, a dashing SS Hauptsturmführer/captain and his driver standing beside it. I struck up an acquaintance. The actor, from Katowice, spoke good German. He immediately recognized my line of business: «Arzt/doctor?» «Nein, Apotheker.» While I was enthusing over the car engine, the original, a tall civilian, a well-fleshed forty-year old with blondish thinning hair, arrived on the scene and started to bug me. He gave me to understand that, Frenchman or no Frenchman, I was not allowed to take photographs. What the hell... For eight years, at the military school, I had been forbidden to read certain books, see certain films, to do this, to do that. Once the «actions» began, I started my illicit photographing, often under difficult conditions, but nothing escaped me and nothing stopped me. A succession of pictures. The doors of the wagons were thrown open and the Jews jumped down to the ballast with their suitcases, they were despoiled and harassed unmercifully by the raging SS, all this accompanied by the wild barking of the dogs that the Feldgendarmes had more and more difficulty in controlling as the takes succeeded one another, being repeated until the scene reached the required degree of ferocity. The result was achieved with difficulty. For the first «Aktion», preceded by an incident where a sliding door, stuck in the rust, refused to open, provoking the rage of the director and the hilarity of everybody else, proceeded much too calmly. The Jews descended quietly from the train and moved off towards the camp gates in silence, ignoring the row of SS backed up by a second line of six Feldgendarmes with their dogs lying at their feet, indifferent and silent. A historically authentic reaction at the opposite pole from what is generally believed. It took a whole afternoon of repeats, of takes, for the SS to learn how to «unload» a convoy in one or two minutes. Which shows that ferocity, even in Polish militia and soldiers is not a gift of nature, but has to be learned. By the evening, they had perfected the technique. I saw incredible scenes of pure violence on the part of young soldiers who really got into the part and thumped away at the Jewish extras, Poles like themselves. As for the dogs, excited beyond endurance by the ambiance, they twice rolled their masters, no longer able to control them, in the dust. Lunacy... but the conditioning had been successful. As time went on, I became intoxicated by this induced brutality. Then the shooting of more intimate scenes, involving selected actors and actresses, began. At the beginning I had noticed four young «Jewesses» dressed all in black, leaning against a truck. But they were by no means commonplace or ordinary. Very luxurious models. Got up like queens dressed in tramps' clothing designed to emphasize the high quality chassis. Alas this game - Americans for sure - seemed to be reserved and was jealously «protected» from nasty but enterprising poachers. These charming decorations entered the scene under floodlights in the early evening. There were tear-jerking contrasts between their candid, suffering little faces and the wild SS raining blows on them. I eventually headed for the Krematorien to watch the sunset over the ruins. Coming back towards the gate down the central path, I saw a whisp of smoke on my left, then suddenly a tall chimney belched a thick, dark cloud of smoke. The Jews. They were being burned... fictionally. As the chimneyless Krematorien were behind me, I was intrigued by this chimney from beyond the tomb. Built for the purposes of the film, it rose in the center of the only remaining row of intact stable-type huts in Birkenau [B.IIa, the quarantine sector]. I had not noticed that the «Schwerpunkt» (centre of gravity) of «Mur» had shifted and that they were now shooting before and inside the huts of B.IIa. After dinner, I returned to Birkenau and made a rendez-vous for 7 o'clock the next morning with the civilian guard to photograph the chimney and the vehicles that been left on the site. # Fifth day: 30th March 1980 7.30 a.m. in the persistent dawn mist of Birkenau. The guard was waiting with no sign of impatience. Since I had met him, I had always heard him speak correct French, but I had the impression that sometimes he was unable to understand it any more. But no matter, at least in his presence I could speak my native language. I started taking pictures. One entire film was devoted to the vehicles. Then I went on to the chimney that had been smoking. A few approach shots to integrate it in the context of the huts [Photo 18], then rounding one of them I was able to see its construction. At the base the supporting frame of four heavy beams was visible [Photo 19]. It was a fair replica of the chimney of Krematorium I: a square section extended rhomboid covered with plastic moulded and coloured to represent brickwork, the top being soot-blackened to complete the illusion. Inside there was a ladder going up to near the top where the smoke producing device had been placed. It was lucky that I hadn't wasted any time, for by ten o'clock everything had been dismantled and removed. [It is worth noting that shooting took place without any problems IN THE MIDDLE OF A GENERAL STRIKE. What power the dollar had!] Then back to the Stammlager and the Archives. There was no time left to undertake any new research. I confirmed to Iwaszko the references of the drawings and texts for which I wanted «photocopies» and filled in my official request to the Museum under his watchful eye. The documents included some drawings of the Krematorien, virtually all those of BW 5a and 5b and of the Zentral Sauna and several other documents (legal exhibits) from volume II of the Hoess trial. Even as I was writing, I was thinking I would never see a single one of these documents, since I had been disappointed with my previous experience. [Which turned out to be wrong. The Museum perfectly and scrupulously fulfilled my order, BUT I had to take delivery personally, on my next visit.] Iwaszko had spoken to me of a fine book that I was to take back to a former prisoner in France, but he had not brought it. Some trouble due to the strike? [On my return from my next trip, I delivered the book to Mr Jacques Zylbermine, deported to Auschwitz then sent to Buna-Monowitz at the age of 14. This man was to play a discreet but considerable role in my subsequent work]. It goes without saying that as a result of this trip my revisionist «belief» had been severely shaken. The «damage» turned out to be serious. Faurisson's theories had been swept away like wisps of straw. I was not yet entirely convinced of the reality of the gassings, because some of my questions had still received no answer [I would find them for myself], but I had doubts about denying their existence. Oswiecim and Poland had neutralized me. [End of the summary of «OSWIECIM QUINTET» or «NEUTRALIZATION»] In September 1980, Faurisson and Guillaume came to my place to assess the value of what I had been able to pick up in the Auschwitz Museum. I had admittedly been able to take many photographs, which I thought would help Faurisson form a more concrete picture of the site, but I had not been able to bring back any documents. In fact it was they who brought documents, sent to them by the opposing party, [Maître Jouanneau, acting for the LICRA]. The material thus transmitted in September represented a somewhat daunting mass of documents (in terms of volume). As if by coincidence, as we sifted these documents, the same pieces of evidence that I had found in the PMO kept appearing. Faurisson did not see the funny side of this similarity. Maître Jouanneau and myself had totally separately, but on the indications of Iwaszko, selected the same type of «exhibits», these being the kind of document that Faurisson detested because he was scarcely capable of countering them. An involuntary kindness on the part of our adversary was that they had translated the documents, whereas when I had them they were in German or Polish and still had to be translated. These legal translations, despite their imperfections, were a great help to me. When a translation appeared strange to me, I took it to the Museum and, with Iwaszko's help, compared it with the original text [especially where the original was in Polish]. I was always right to check them, because that way the meaning became clear. But this verification meant trips to Poland and therefore extended over a period of months, so that Faurisson was not able to «benefit» from it. Moreover, when an obscure passage became comprehensible, it frequently provided further evidence AGAINST Faurisson. The September meeting at least showed us the extent of the evidence, a complete surprise to Faurisson himself. The vast majority of the charges were based on testimony and these were systematically rejected as dubious. But the most dangerous archive documents, and I could confirm this, came from the Auschwitz Museum. It was therefore decided to devote all efforts to demolishing the Auschwitz gas chambers. If we succeeded in removing this cornerstone of the Birkenau edifice, the rest would collapse with it. It was a desperate solution, but the only logical one compatible with our resources. Faurisson was forced to stake everything on it. I was to redouble my efforts studying the documents concerning the construction of the Krematorien in the hope of finding evidence that homicidal gas chambers had never been installed in these buildings. In addition, the study of disinfestation in the camp, which looked promising, was to be continued. I made two visits to Auschwitz that were as long as I could make them in view of my professional activities. Fourteen days from 4th to 17th October and eleven days from 11th to 21st November 1980. Just before the first of these trips, I read the article by Pierre Vidal-Naquet, «Un Eichmann de papier» [A paper Eichmann] and the preface by Paul Thibaud, «La mémoire d'Auschwitz» in the journal «Esprit» (9th issue, September 1980). The article troubled me, but no more than that. The few PMO documents I had studied and my good knowledge of the revisionist case enabled me to reply to and criticize this article in all honesty, sure of my ground. I retained two phrases by P. Thibaud: «let us recreate a memory», and «how could that have come about?» [technically, I added]. And the following statement by Pierre Vidal-Naquet: That the war should have ended, that the tragedy should, in a sense, have become secularized, this has to be accepted, even if that means for us, I mean for us Jews, the loss of the kind of privileged right of speech that we used to have to a large extent, now that Europe has discovered the great massacre. opened the door to non-Jewish researchers who wished to establish a second «memory of Auschwitz». I was later to seize this outstretched hand, to Vidal-Naquet's great surprise. In the Archives, I started studying the drawings of Krematorien II and III, of IV and V and of the documents concerning their construction. There are 26 drawings of the four Krematorien, stored in files BW 30/1 to 30/24 [plus 30/19a, 30/20 contains two drawings]. The documents are in files BW 30/25 to 30/31. They are so designated because the Krematorium worksites (Bauwerk) were numbered by the Bauleitung as follows: BW 30 [Kr II], BW 30a [Kr III], BW 30b [Kr IV], BW 30c [Kr V]. This classification is easy enough to use when one knows the numbers attributed by the Bauleitung to worksites on completed buildings [for example: Krematorium I is designated BW 11, then BW 14 when it was converted to an air raid shelter; all the sewage treatment stations are referred to as BW 18; the Zentral Sauna is BW 32], but is somewhat confusing for the uninitiated. In 1980, the BW 30 files only went as far as 30/31, but in 1986 the last file recorded in the Archives was BW 30/46. In other words, historical research is not static, but progresses as more documents are found. File BW 30/43 was created as a result of my own study visits to Warsaw, and 30/ 550 ===== PDF PAGE 0540 | page-540.md ===== Photo 18: (Photo by the author) Dummy Krematorium chimney rising above a row of huts in B.Ia. ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) 45 and 46 my visit to East Berlin. It may appear foolish, but I am proud of this. All these trips were made at my own expense. I owed nothing to Faurisson, not being a robot for his exclusive use. I had undertaken the work in order to complete documentation I required for my novel and there was no question of my giving this up in favour of a «crazy hypothesis» that was turning out to look increasingly unlikely and indefensible as I delved further into the drawings and files. His battle was not mine. I first continued my own research concerning the founder and former commandant of the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp, SS Lieutenant-Colonel Rudolf Hoess. The manuscript of his «Autobiography» was long declared to be «mythical» by the French extreme right. Faurisson claimed it had emerged directly from the headquarters of falsifying Soviet-Polish-Stalinist communists. When I asked Iwaszko for this manuscript, he brought it to me [Photo 20] without any hesitation and I was able to consult it at my leisure. The thing that struck me the most was that Hoess had written several hundred pages without any crossings out. At first I thought that this could not be his first version, but the resultant of previous draughts. I was no doubt wrong, for many people, very self-controlled, write in this fashion [which is far from being my own]. I discovered, but I was not the first to do so, that only the autobiographical part [about half the pages] had been published at that time, and that virtually all the notes Hoess had written about the officials with whom he had been in contact and about various institutions of the Third Reich that he knew, remained unknown. I would add that Hoess' manuscript was written in pencil [a normal constraint in the case of prisoners, but of capital importance in the eyes of the revisionists because it facilitated falsification by the Polish-Stalinist employees of the Auschwitz Museum]. I was also able to see that the French translation by Constantin de Grunwald, published by René Juillard in 1959, was of mediocre quality. The only valid and usable French version is that by Jerzy Brablec in «Auschwitz vs par les SS» Auschwitz State Museum, 1974. Unfortunately, this edition presents only that part of the memoirs concerned with Auschwitz. What is more, the preface of this book written by Jerzy Rawicz is somewhat excessive. It is difficult to follow him in his presentation of a Hoess [commandant of the camp] who slipped [and the guards?] at night [like a robber] into the basement [what comfort] of Block 11 [known as the «Death Block»] to join a prisoner, Eleonora Hodys, and succeeded in making her pregnant [whereas Dr Guilbert, American psychoanalyst at Nuremberg maintained that Hoess was not much inclined to philandering]. Rawicz also claims that Judge Jan Sehn, who led the interrogation of Hoess for his trial [Photo 21 to 25], who won his confidence and succeeded in making him talk completely frankly, despite the few illusions that Hoess could have had about the fate awaiting him, was mistaken in his assessment of the truth of what his «client» had to say. Who knew Hoess better, Jerzy Rawicz or Jan Sehn [Photo 26], who had countless interviews with Hoess? ![img-1.jpeg](img-1.jpeg) Photo 19: (Photo by the author) The dummy Krematorium chimney for the film «MUR». 551 ===== PDF PAGE 0541 | page-541.md ===== ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) Photo 21: (PMO neg. no. 1255) SS Lieutenant Colonel Rudolf Hoess, former commandant of Auschwitz and then head of Department D1 of the SS-WVHA Concentration Camp Inspectorate, arrested by the British on 11 February [March in the published version] 1944 in Flensburg in the north of Schleswig-Holstein under the pseudonym of Franz Lang, after his appearance before the Nuremberg Tribunal on 5th April as a witness for the defence of Kaltenbrunner. Handed over by the Americans to the Polish authorities on 25th May 1944. ![img-1.jpeg](img-1.jpeg) Photo 22: (PMO neg. no. 1251) Ex commandant of Auschwitz, Rudolf Franz Ferdinand Hoess at the opening of his trial before the Polish Supreme Court in Warsaw on 11th March 1947. ![img-2.jpeg](img-2.jpeg) Photo 23: (PMO neg. no. 1256) The accused, Hoess, founder of the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp, during his trial in Warsaw, held from 11th to 29th March 1947. ![img-3.jpeg](img-3.jpeg) Photo 20: (Photo by the author) The «mythical» manuscript and/or «notorious forgery» of Rudolf Hoess' memoirs, entitled: «Mein Psyche, Werden, Leben und Erleben» [My Psyche, Development, Life and Experience] conserved in the PMO archives. Published in England by Pan Books under the title «Commandant of Auschwitz» ![img-4.jpeg](img-4.jpeg) Photo 24: (PMO neg. no. 1257) Hoess, the technician of planned death, during the reading of the charges drawn up by Judge Jan Sehn. ![img-5.jpeg](img-5.jpeg) Photo 25: (PMO neg. no. 1259) Hoess, condemned to death by a sentence passed in the name of the Polish Republic on 2nd April 1947, shortly before his being hanged on 16th April 1947 behind Krematorium I in the Auschwitz main camp. 552 ===== PDF PAGE 0542 | page-542.md ===== We can no longer consider Hoess to be a common criminal or assassin. He had admittedly participated in the night of 31st May 1923, on the orders of Martin Bormann and with five companions from the «Freikorps Rossbach» (Bernard Jurisch, Georg Pfeiffer, Emil Wiemeyer, Karl Zabel, and Robert Zenz), in administering a thrashing to a former schoolteacher, Walter Kadow, suspected [without proof] of having delivered Albert Leo Schlageter, one of Hoess' old comrades, to the French, who shot him. The punishment degenerated into an execution. Jurisch denounced the collective murder and Hoess, who had nevertheless returned to the scene of the crime with Zabel to give the body a summary burial, was condemned to ten years' imprisonment. This crime «frais et joyeux»* [«Les crimes politiques en Allemagne» E-J Gumbel, NRF, Paris 1931 page 149] found its raison d'être in the exacerbated patriotism of the time. Hoess' function at Auschwitz was that of an executioner in the legal sense of the term, performing the most sordid job in a racist totalitarian regime. He did the dirty work for high-ups incapable of contemplating the actual materialization of their mad orders. In «Commandant of Auschwitz», pages 173-4, Hoess writes: The Reichsführer SS sent various high-ranking Party leaders and SS officers to Auschwitz so that they might see for themselves the process of extermination of the Jews. They were all deeply impressed by what they saw. Some who had previously spoken most loudly about the necessity for this extermination fell silent once they had actually seen the «final solution of the Jewish problem». I was repeatedly asked how I and my men could go on watching these operations, and how we were able to stand it... This was one job that nobody envied me. Hoess was fully responsible for what he did. In 1945, the majority of people thought that a man who had committed such acts was a monster. But since 1974 it is has been scientifically proved that over half of the human race is capable of doing the same. The American social psychologist Stanley Milgram has demonstrated by experiment, as related in his book «Submission to Authority» that 60% of normal individuals are potential Hoesses or Eichmanns and the percentage increases when they live in an «authoritarian» environment. The only significant exception to this «submission» was a young woman of 31 who refused to continue the experiment as soon as she felt that the guinea-pig was endangered by her acts, this despite the organizer's emphatic orders to her to continue the experiment. Her refusal was explained by the fact that she was of German origin, and had spent her youth under the Hitler regime and considered that she had seen «too many atrocities». She was in fact «vaccinated» and very sensitive to the limits of what constituted a reasonable order. The Nazi regime was a totalitarian regime based on racism. The victim, the Jew, was so reviled as from 1933, that his extermination, the logical consequence of this denigration, was only natural, and could be actually carried out in a country made propitious for this action. The other Europeans were vaguely aware of the fate awaiting the Jews, but for their own intellectual comfort they refrained from asking themselves the simple question of what was the real fate implied by the complete «rejection» of the Jews. This book should enable them, forty years after the event, to visualize the environment and way in which the Translator's note: * «frais et joyeux» - fresh and joyous, crime committed with a good conscience by several people in a joyous atmosphere. ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) Photo 26: (PMO neg. no. 21023/1) The Polish judge Jan SEHN [1] showing a British delegation round Birkenau in May 1945. The visitors included the Dean of Canterbury, Dr H Johnson [2], and Father J D Eye of Oxford [3] (Source: «Auschwitz. Hitlerite extermination camp», Interpress, Warsaw 1978). The photograph was taken in one of the two «climid» yards between bats 11 and 13 which contained a wash but in B. Did or «Mattertagierment» camp. Jan Sehn is explaining the punishment of beating, administered on a specially constructed horse. The «legal minimum» was 10 strokes on the bare buttocks. Hat 11 was enclosed because it loused the prisoners of the punishment lommando. extermination process worked, hitherto known only to a few «initiated» officials of the Third Reich. Hoess was hanged because he organized and actively participated in countless gassings that had killed between 1 million and 1.5 million people. He claimed that he wanted by using this method to avoid unnecessary suffering of people that he considered, because of the conditions brought about by the war, were doomed in advance. He stated as much in «Commandant of Auschwitz», page 178: Tens of thousands of Jews were moved from Auschwitz... but this was only a question of out of the frying-pan and into the fire... there was the heavy work to which the prisoners were unaccustomed and the ever diminishing scale of rations. The prisoners would have been spared a great deal of misery if they had been taken straight into the gas-chambers at Auschwitz. In Hoess' mind, gassing was a gentle and humane death. [Photographs 21 to 25 show Rudolf Hoess during the last year of his life. They meet our need to know what the «technician of gentle death by gassing» looked like. Apart from the people directly concerned, former deportees, Jews or otherwise, their families and certain historians, few people know his face. Just before his execution [Photo 25], Hoess seems to have reached a state of total inner peace. He appeared calm. This surprising result is to be attributed, in my opinion, to Hoess religious inclination and the intelligent attitude of the Polish judge Jan Sehn.] ![img-1.jpeg](img-1.jpeg) Photo 27: [PMO file BW 30/28, page 73] (PMO microfilm 1256) Tagesbericht. Einäscherungsanlage [EAA] 4 [Krematorium IV]. [In their daily work reports and time sheets the employees of Riedel & Son mixed up the «usual» designations, the official ones and their own when referring to Krematorien IV and V, so that the former may be alternatively referred to as EAA 3 or EAA 4 or Kr 3, and the latter as EAA 5 or Kr 4 or Kr 5!] In this report for 28th February 1943 concerning Krematorium IV, item 5 reads: Gas(s)dichtenfenster versetzen/fit gas-tight shutters.» 553 ===== PDF PAGE 0543 | page-543.md ===== While I was studying the BW 30/31 file, known as the DAW (Deutsche Ausrüstungs-Werke/German equipment works) »Schlosserei/metalworking shop« file containing the »Bestellscheine/orders« issued in 1943 by the »Zentral Bauleitung der Waffen-SS und Polizei, Auschwitz OS/Waffen SS and Police Central Construction Management, Auschwitz, Upper Silesia«, for »Bauwerken/work sites« 5a, 5b, 30, 30a, 30b, 30c and 32 (respectively the B.I. delousing installations, the four Birkenau Krematorien and the Zentral Sauna), I discovered an order of 13/2/43 to make for KGL Krematorien IV and V »12 Stück gasdichten Türen« ca 30/40 cm/12 gas-tight doors approx 30 x 40 cms, signed by the site overseer Teichmann and countersigned by the head of the Bauleitung, SS Major Bischoff. While the three known drawings of Krematorien IV and V did not mention any gas-tight openings, I had proof that shutters, rather than doors in view of their size, of this type had been ordered on 13th February 1943, made on 24th and 25th, and completed on 26th, this being inscribed on the back of the order. Then, in file BW 30/28, concerning work in Krematorien IV and V carried out by the civilian firm Riedel & Son of Bielitz, I found in their »Tagesleistungen/Daily timesheets«, two reports, one of 28th February 1943 mentioning: »Gassdichtenfenster versetzen/Fit gas-tight shutters« [Photo 27] and the other of 2nd March 1943, containing the entry: »Fußboden betonieren im Gasskammer/Concrete floor in gas chamber« [Photo 28]. Thus, on 2nd March 1943, civilian workers formally designated a room [in the western part of] »Einäscherungsanlage 4/ Cremation installation 4« [Krematorium IV] by the term »gas chamber«, BECAUSE two days earlier they had installed »gas-tight shutters« in it [three of these are now kept in the former coke store of the »Old Krematorium«]. I did not immediately make the connection between the two files, and even less did I realize the value of my »find«. Faurisson had just published his »Mémoire en défense. Contre ceux qui m'accuse de falsifier l'Histoire. La question des chambres à gaz« [Statement for the defence. Against those who accuse me of falsifying history. The question of the gas chambers] (La Vieille Taupe, 1980). All the discussion was concerned with the famous preface by Noam Chomsky. That Faurisson should have scored a victory in having his book prefaced, in the name of sacrosanct freedom of expression, by a most celebrated American Jew, who in fact knew nothing about the demolition work the «professor» was involved in, was the least of my worries. Only Auschwitz mattered, and in particular the documents that I had found but of which I did not have copies. I returned to France on 21st November and met Faurisson at Guillaume's home on 27th. I confronted him in the midst of members of La Vieille Taupe who were coming and going and occasionally gathered round us. I told him that there were far too many traces of »Gas« in the Museum Archives for me to be able to go on believing in the validity of his hypothesis. He asked me to change my mind, but since I had myself found unpublished »criminal traces«, I could not possibly turn back. He asked me to remain »neutral« until the trial. I promised that, and he then inscribed a copy of »Mémoire en défense« with the following text: «To Jean-Claude PRESSAC whom we call SCHLIEMANN because he is one of that rare breed of seekers who actually find, I dedicate this copy of my Mémoire, begging him to maintain the attitude he has adopted hitherto, which consists of not taking sides between exterminationists and revisionists in order to determine coolly and impartially, what was the material and materialist reality of Auschwitz. With all my esteem R. Faurisson 27th November 1980, at the home of Pierre Guillaume» His dedication left me free to continue my research provided I did nothing to prejudice his legal defence. Confronted with the new evidence, Faurisson and Guillaume had a moment of indecision, seeing the possibility of throwing in the sponge and officially declaring that it did appear that some homicidal gassings had taken place at Birkenau. But they were too committed to negation pure and simple to backtrack now, and the opposing party was hard on their heels. Being given a free rein by Faurisson meant I was now on my own, somewhat perplexed and only half-way through my quest. The documents proved to me that gas chambers had been installed in the Krematorien, but this conviction in no way solved the problem of how these installations actually worked. My meetings with the others became less frequent and contact was virtually broken off. I had to reconstitute for myself the documentation that Faurisson had and that I had been working on. The Museum filled the gaps easily, for in fact Faurisson possessed relatively little valuable material on Auschwitz. In order to make some use of the work I had done on the delousing installations, which totally negated Faurisson's affirmations that using hydrocyanic acid was a complex business requiring sophisticated gas chambers, I decided to write a paper on these Auschwitz-Birkenau disinfestation installations. And Faurisson lent a hand during our last few meetings, partly to keep my attention away from his »supposedly homicidal« gas chambers and also in the hope that he would be able to confuse the issue in the unlikely event that an unexpected »negativist« result should be discovered by a »neutral« third party. The same procedure was to be found in the work of Henri Roques »Les confessions de Kurt Gerstein. Etudes comparatives des différentes versions«, June 1985. Faced with a fire coming head on, one method of combatting it is to light independent lateral fires. Faurisson was and still is behind Roques. I systematically studied the sanitary installations of Birkenau, comprising sewage treatment stations I and II, and the projected III, the numerous provisional decantation basins, the Zentral Sauna, Blocks BW 5a and 5b, and all the disinfestation gas chambers that had existed in the camp. Some of the results obtained are presented at the beginning of this book, in particular everything relating to the gas chambers. On the other hand, the material collected on the sewage treatment stations has been little exploited. My regular visits to Oswiecim led to Iwaszko's gradually coming to have confidence in me, even though he was aware of my reticence regarding the »official« genesis of the Krematorien. In return, I offered to act as postman between France and Poland for anything concerning the PMO Archives. That was how I came to meet Jacques Zylbermine, one of the youngest surviving French deportees to Auschwitz. Of his family of six people, the only survivors in 1945 were himself and his elder brother. His father, mother and two sisters had perished at Auschwitz. He received me very courteously when I announced that I was sent by Iwaszko, whom he knew. But he soon saw that the young man sitting opposite him held not very orthodox opinions and seemed to him disorientated. He could have thrown me out, considering what I had to say and in view of his own past, but he did not do so, believing it to be better psychology to leave me free to act as I wished, and going so far as to offer his aid. As he told me later, he wanted to know to whom he and his comrades could entrust the »key of their memory« when they died. He taught me the bare essentials required for understanding the Jewish community. Then we became friends. It was impossible for me to be his friend and at the same time to maintain contact, even sporadic, with Faurisson, for whom Zylbermine's family had merely been »scattered«, I broke completely with Faurisson in March or April 1981. During the period during which he honoured me with his friendship while knowing that I had worked for Faurisson, Mr Zylbermine did not mention me to any of his entourage, which he might well have done. I also learned that he knew Georges Wellers and a former member of the Sonderkommando, Alter Fajnzylberg, whom I was unfortunately never able to meet. In June, he went with me to various sessions of the Faurisson trial. Among these sessions, I must mention the afternoon of 1st June 1981, for it was exceptional. Maître Bernard Jouanneau was speaking. At that time I was unaware that he had personally been to Poland to find documents on the gas chambers, as counsel for the LICRA, honestly asking himself whether the »...genocide took place as it has been described and on the scale that has been claimed». I listened to a great advocate pleading admirably for three or four hours, bringing to life before the Court the demential picture of one of the most sombre periods in man's history. Absolutely rigorous, the content of his pleading prefigured the book »Les chambres à gaz, secret d'Etat« published by Editions de Minuit in 1984. The implacable enumeration of testimonies and known documents proving the existence of homicidal gas chambers, literally floored me. Faurisson was not present, of course. Listening to Maître Jouanneau, he would perhaps have realized that one cannot trample with impunity on the memory of millions of victims. Despite the rigid framework of the court, Maître Jouanneau made me live an afternoon of poignant reflection, because for the first time he presented an overall picture of the question. I reacted so strongly to his words because, as I realized afterwards, I was still very much impregnated with Faurisson's ideas. But the emotion that I felt did not prevent me from noticing certain inexactitudes in Maître Jouanneau's implacable indictment of Faurisson's fallacious arguments. His case was based mainly upon testimonies, but also presented some important »material traces«. Practically ALL known witnesses were cited, except for Henryk Tauber, who is now the best one after comparing his deposition with the available historical material. Admittedly the testimonies cited were and remain authentic, but the precision of the accounts and the date when the authors wrote them or had them recorded considerably influence their degree of veracity. What are we to say of Filip Müller, who in »Trois ans dans une chambre à gaz à Auschwitz« (Pygmalion, Gérard Watelet, 1980) [Published in the United States in 1979 under the title »Eyewitness Auschwitz«] on page 15 of his account describes the »round red-brick chimney« of Krematorium I, which he can never have seen in this state because he arrived in the camp in May 1942, whereas the chimney was already of square section as shown by a drawing of Krematorium I dated September 1941. What can we say other than that the book should have been annotated by a competent historian [this error was pointed out to me by the Auschwitz Museum. I had myself noticed others, but not this]. What can we say of the declaration by Pery Broad, with its tone of outrageous Polish nationalism and in which he places side by side Bunkers I and 2 which were actually several hundred metres apart, other than that his testimony will not be really exploitable until we know under what conditions and in whose company it was written. What can we say of the book by Dr Miklos Nyiszli, »Auschwitz: a doctor's eyewitness account«, in which he multiplies on average by a factor of four all the figures concerning Krematorium II, where he lived for six months, except that I shall not rest until I find the original manuscript and can understand what made the author exaggerate so much. What can we say about Dr Bendel's allegations about Birkenau, in which the only acceptable truth is his own, except that he was a poor witness. What can we say of the multiple versions of the Belzec gassings by Kurt Gerstein except that he was a polyglot, what to say of the figures he puts forward, except that they reflect the excessive emotionalism of an unstable man who had witnessed unbearable scenes. What can we say about the deposition by Alter Fajnzylberg of 13th April 1945, in which he states that twelve corpses at a time were charged in a single cremation muffle in Krematorium I, except that it was physically impossible. What can we say of his declarations of 29th September 1980 before Maître Pierre Attal, a Paris notary, other than that, because of his age and what he had suffered there remained only vague pictures in his mind, difficult to describe. What can we say of David Szmulewski who was attributed the merit of having clandestinely photographed in August 1944, gassings and incinerations in Krematorium V, and who, having claimed that he had climbed on the roof of the Krematorium to operate, was deprived during the 60s of the paternity of these photographs taken on the ground, except that he was the sole survivor of this exploit. What can we say about former Krematorium III Sonderkommando member David Olère coolly telling me in 1981 that the SS made sausages of human flesh («Kremawurst»), except that he was still living in the nightmare that had been imposed on him and recounted anything that came into his head, whereas I held in my hands his own drawings of 1945-47 which are masterpieces of authenticity. What can we say about so many singular or fanciful testimonies, other than that we must not act like Henri Roques [read Faurisson] with the confessions of Kurt Gerstein and conclude that the witness is not a true witness. Instead we must try, as Georges Wellers did in his refutation of Roques' »thesis«, to assess the value of the testimony in the light of known documents and try to explain any oddities, errors and even lies it might contain as a function of the individual's nature, what he has suffered, what he has seen or not been able to see, the exact place where he was, the date of his deportation and of his deposition or his account. All this is important and should be given due consideration in validating, confirming or rejecting a testimony that can rightly be criticized. A good Auschwitz historian should now be able, when confronted with a former prisoner or SS man, or when reading the memoirs of one or the other, to detect immediately whether he is an authentic witness and what are the strong and weak points of his testimony [A few years ago, »Paris-Match« almost published the »Memoirs of Dr Mengele«, I read only one paragraph of the last page, not even concerned with Auschwitz, and could see it was an obvious fake.] Maître Jouanneau, without necessarily adopting the reserved attitude of the historian, was right to mention these essential witnesses, even though their testimony should be qualified. It was obvious to Maître Jouanneau that since the extermination had taken place in Poland it was necessary to go there to find the »material proofs« that were lacking in France. He formed his »intimate conviction« on the basis of a physical trace in the Maidanek camp [Photo 29]. There is one sign that for me personally appeared particularly revealing. Here, and I wish to make no use of trickery, here is a photograph of the gas chamber at Maidanek [Photo 30], where I went. Look at this closed door, with its metal bars, with its peep-hole. Do you think this peep-hole was used to inspect hair as it was being disinfected? Look at the bricks at the base of this wall, these red bricks have become bluish because they breathed hydrocyanic acid. 554 ===== PDF PAGE 0544 | page-544.md ===== ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) Photo 28: [PMO file BW 30/28, page 68] (PMO microfilm 1256) Tagesbericht. Einäscherungsanlage 4 [Krematorium IV]. In this daily report for 2nd March 1943, again under item 5, we read: Fussboden Auffühlen, Stampfen und Fussboden betonieren im Gas[s]kammer Cover floor with hard fill, tamp down and concrete floor in gas chamber ![img-1.jpeg](img-1.jpeg) Photo 29: (Personal archives) Polish postage stamp depicting Death in SS uniform pouring Zyclon-B over the Maidenek concentration camp, issued on 29th April 1946 and valid until 1st July 1946. 218,000 stamps were printed. Designed by J Wilczyk, photoengraised by the Cracow People's Press. Perforation 10 3/4. [Source: «Michel» stamp catalogue, Schwaneberger Verlag GmbH, München] # Translation: - MAJDANEK DEATH CAMP 1941-44 - BATHS AND GAS CHAMBERS - POLAND This is the only stamp ever issued to commemorate homicidal gassings using Zyclon-B. He returned to this theme at the end of his speech: Hydrocyanic acid does not leave such deep, such indelible traces unless it has been used for months and months so that it penetrates deep into the walls. The red-ochre bricks stained with dark blue were for him material and visible proof of the existence of homicidal gas chambers. The problem, for there is one, is that the gas chamber presented has all the characteristics of a DELOUSING installation. I am not saying that it was never used to kill people, for that is still possible, but the traces of Prussian blue are an absolutely certain indication of use for delousing purposes. At Birkenau the west wing of BW 5a is a typical example: the bricks of the walls are stained with Prussian blue, especially in the area of the stoves inside that were used to bring the room up to the evaporation temperature of hydrocyanic acid. On the outside there are two holes where the extractor fans were fitted. There are two protective air locks for access. On two Auschwitz Bauleitung plans, 801 of 8th November 1941 and 1715 of 25th September 1942, this wing is labelled »GASKAMMER«. It is a gas chamber, but for delousing [Entlausung]. What is more, the gas-tight door of a Kanada I delousing gas chamber had an inspection peep-hole - a photograph in the »Album d'Auschwitz« taken in May or June 1944 proves it. But how can we be certain that the indications on the drawings corresponded to the real use made of it? According to the technical manuals and the accounts of former prisoners, the contact time with hydrocyanic acid for effects to be deloused varied from several hours to a whole day, depending on the quantity of the product used, and this explains the impregnation of the walls. By contrast, in homicide gassings, the quantity of Zyclon-B used was smaller, man being more sensitive than lice or bugs to hydrocyanic acid. A little of the poison injected was inhaled by the victims and the rest was removed by the extractor fans, so that the contact time was brief and the walls did not have the time to become impregnated. In fact, in the ruins of the Krematorium II gas chamber, it is not possible to see any blue-stained bricks in its walls. It was the role of the officials of the Maidanek Museum to explain all this to Maître Jouanneau. Furthermore, this Museum gave him part of a plan [the left side of that presented as photocopy 31] showing »Gaskammer« für Cyclon-Blausäure« as evidence of the existence of homicidal gas chambers, which is a false interpretation of this plan. This exhibit [No 80] appears in the file of evidence against Faurisson. It is simply a project, never implemented, for a mixed delousing installation using Ventres [acrylonitrile] and Zyclon-B. Any Degesch technician would confirm this. At the CDIC in Paris I became acquainted with the documents and photographs given to Maître Jouanneau by this Museum. I am sorry to say, and I am not the only one in the West, that the Maidanek homicidal and/or delousing gas chambers are still waiting for a true historian, which is mildly upsetting in view of the fact that the camp fell into the hands of the Russians intact in 1944. Faurisson called the mass of documents that Maître Jouanneau had brought back from Poland a »shameful hotchpotch«. In this he himself showed shameful duplicity, for the »revisionist cell« had been delighted to receive such good historical material on Auschwitz, and translated into the bargain. These involuntary »gifts« enabled us to advance more rapidly than our adversaries. It is not enough to possess a piece of evidence, it is also necessary to be able to exploit it fully. Maître Jouanneau's exploitation of the BW 30231 file, known as the »Metalworking shop« file, was disastrous. He cited Order No 71 of 8th March 1943 requesting the: 555 ===== PDF PAGE 0545 | page-545.md ===== Production for Krematorium [IV], BW 30b.c of 2 fork-type anchors and 8 Schaurohre/inspection tubes, the shortening of 4 anchors and the modification of 12 pulleys according to the instructions of foreman Koch, employed by Topf & Sons of Erfurt. and he presented these 8 inspection tubes as being peep-holes for 5 [!] gas-tight doors, whereas in fact they were for the 8 guillotine doors of the big eight-muffle furnace of Kr IV. From another file, known as «Metalworking shop WL», of which annex 15 of volume 11 of the Hoess trial contains certain passages and the original of which is lost, he extracted Order No 459 of 28th May 1943 for the fabrication of «fittings for 1 door with frame, air-tight, with peep-hole for gas chambers», actually for a disinfestation installation in the Auschwitz main camp, and stated that the peep-hole was watching Jews die, not lice. This order is in fact the only one with no criminal connection and was for a real delousing gas chamber, probably that of «Stammlager» Block 1. Maître Jouanneau did not have the time to do the work of a true historian. Responsibility for his errors lies with the traditional historians, who did not appreciate the value of the documents found. These historians caused Maître Jouanneau and his translator, to go astray many times due to the famous «coding» and «camouflage». I have to admit that there was a certain coding involved with the word «Sonderbehandlung/special treatment», but the term is unambiguously «decoded» in several documents conserved in the CDJC. However, the stubborn desire to interpret exclusively in terms of coding, to replace one word by another, has led to aberrations. To say that «Leichenkeller 1» is the codeword for the Krematorium II gas chamber is absurd. To affirm, like the translator, that: «Leichenkeller» is a term unknown to the German language. [that] had a fleeting existence between 1941 and 1944 in the very closed circle of the SS. smacks of dangerous bias. Declaring the movement authorization issued on 22nd July 1942 for a 5 tonne truck to go from Auschwitz to Dessau: to pick up gas [Zyclon-B] for gassing in the camp, to combat the epidemic that has broken out. to be coded is quite wrong. A typhus epidemic was in fact raging in the camp, as confirmed by Dr Johann Paul Kremer, an SS reservist, in his «Diary» on his arrival in Auschwitz on 30th August 1942. The authorization of 29th July 1942 is even more urgent, still for disinfestation purposes. By contrast, that of 26th August 1942 requesting «material for the special treatment» and that of 2nd October 1942 [Photo 32] for «material for the resettlement of the Jews», where is the «coding» when the Zyclon-B brought back will be used to supply Birkenau Bunkers 1 and 2. There is no coding: a spade is called a spade. No doubt some of the disinfestation gas was used as homicidal gas, and vice-versa. If the SS had wanted to use code, ALL the movement authorizations, without exception, would have mentioned gas for disinfestation purposes. In all the files and on all the drawings that I have consulted at the PMO archives, I have never encountered a «coded» document or word [except on one occasion, on a drawing of June 1944], otherwise, how would I have been able to find «criminal traces»? The myth of «camouflage» is based on a letter of 6th November 1943 (Annex 7 of Volume 11 of the Hoess trial, or file BW 30/34, page 14], in which Bischoff, head of the Bauleitung, after a conversation with Hoess, ordered from SS Major Caesar, head of Agricultural Service, a number of shrubs and young trees in order to form a ring of greenery around Krematorien II and III. At the time of the Liberation, the trunks of the trees actually planted were as thick as my thumb. What camouflage [Tarnung]? The traditional historians, thanks to this letter which does not even contain the word «Tarnung», introduced the idea of camouflage of the Krematorien, then extended it to documents because it fitted with the fable of «coding». «Camouflage» makes it possible to claim that any quite ordinary document is highly «criminal». It is thus possible to produce the incriminating evidence and build fictions starting with nothing. Krematorien II and III were never hidden by any sort of fence. Why would the cremation installations have been transformed into instruments suitable for the «special actions» if it were not so that the action could take place inside these buildings, whose walls totally hid the operations. Krematorien IV and V were «camouflaged» by hedges 3 meters high as from July 1944 because the big furnace of Krematorium V was out of service and open-air cremation pits were dug near the building. The SS wanted to avoid the uncontrollable panic that would ensue if the arriving victims should see such pyres. A certain amount of discretion was in fact used. The SS certainly did not broadcast the fact that they were gassing Jews at Birkenau. But the whole of Upper Silesia knew, more or less precisely, what was going on in KL Auschwitz. Walter Kempowski gives an example in his book «Allemands, le saviez-vous?» [«Germans, did you know?»], translated from the German and published by Encre in 1980. A SINGLE German (a writer, born in 1910) among those questioned BECAUSE he was stationed in the region, states: «I knew exactly what was happening. I was guarding the frontier in Poland. It was in August 1942. I had a place at Zakopane [a good hundred kilometres from Auschwitz] and we were courting two pretty Jewesses: nothing very wrong... And then the shootings started. It had to be kept secret at all costs. On my return from a patrol, some soldiers came to say: «You know, they've shot quite a few. The two pretty girls were in the group...»...Later on [1943], I saw trains at Cracow, and it was whispered that there were Krematorium furnaces that worked with gas. I said: «There are children there.» They were crying in the wagons and calling for water. A woman next to me said: «They asked for it.» Her daughter retorted: «But it's terrible!» But the mother repeated: «They asked for it.» A little later, I left for Berlin, and there nobody would believe me! «Hans, you're starting to imagine things!» They were all antifascists. They just could not understand the business of the gas furnaces.» I should like to explain the incident in the hearing concerned with the photograph album of Struthof. The album retained as an exhibit in the Struthof trial had three pages ripped out. That held by Maître Kormann was complete. On both copies [which I have studied] the photograph of the plan of the gas chamber, drawn by the French Military Justice in 1945, has something scratched out on the original tracing, namely the protective casing on the outside, around the funnel where the water was poured in, no doubt to protect it. Since the original tracing had disappeared from the files of the trial, Faurisson, furious at not being able to find the proof of this «falsification» [faced with the evidence, he tried to turn everything he possibly could to his account] had this pointed out by his counsel, Maître Delcroix. Nobody accused Maître Jouanneau of having «fiddled with the documents». The amusing thing about this incident is that Maître Delcroix thought that only ONE copy had been tampered with, whereas in fact BOTH were identical. It may appear that I praise Maître Jouanneau to the skies while at the same time criticizing his pleading. The fact is that the case dates from 1981 and it is thanks to advances in research into the history of Auschwitz since then that it is now possible to criticize what he had to say. Be that as it may, nobody can attack his masterly synthesis of the history of the genesis of the gassings. Nobody can deny that he found irrefutable proof of how the victims were crushed together in the gas chambers, and this from a German source. In the gassing trucks, the SS crammed 9 or 10 units [Jews] per square metre. He demonstrated in masterly fashion to the «professor» that it was possible to get at least 2000 people into the 210 m² of the Leichenkeller 1 of Krematorien II and III. This seems to be very much the limiting case, but Maître Jouanneau's demonstration was superb. I have emphasized Maître Jouanneau's pleading so much because in my estimation it constitutes the turning point between the earlier «traditional» history and the «precisionist» history now being developed. This comprises two methods of working: the one based on testimonies, and the other based on documents that make it possible to assess the value of the witnesses' testimony. In 1980-81 I disapproved of the actions brought against Faurisson by the LICRA and other associations, considering [as Raymond Aron said at the Sorbonne Colloquium in July 1982] that they smacked of witchhunting. Now, I believe that there was no other defensive option open to the people who felt they were being «attacked» by Faurisson's thesis. The main positive spinoff from the trial was the strong boost it gave to historical research into all the gas chambers. There was a real need for such research, for since the end of the Hoess trial, for which the investigation was led by Judge Jan Sehn, a Doctor of Law, the question of how the homicidal gas chambers actually worked had gradually fallen into oblivion. Jan Sehn had first published the findings of his investigations in Bulletin 1 of the Central Commission for the Investigation of Hitlerite Crimes in Poland in Warsaw in 1946, then in 1955 in a special publication of the «Wydawnictwo Prawnicze» (Legal Press) and lastly in 1957, in a new edition, revised and completed, the English version being entitled simply «Auschwitz-Birkenau». The Poles did not pursue Jan Sehn's work any further after his death, because nobody in Poland - except for rare exceptions and for political reasons - doubted the obvious facts. The staff of the Auschwitz State Museum had other more urgent tasks, such as preparing documents for the numerous trials and studying in detail the many subcamps round Auschwitz. They were more than a little surprised that in the West a debate should arise over the very existence of the gas chambers. This seemed utterly futile to them, since the facts were patently obvious and at Oswiecim, for example, grandparent witnesses told the story to their children and grandchildren. Who can doubt the word of his grandparents and parents? In defence of those who brought the actions against Faurisson, it must be said that the question was of a complexity that they had not foreseen, and nor indeed had Faurisson. And neither was it suspected that the real confrontation between the «exterminationists» and the «revisionists» did not take place in the Palais de Justice in Paris, during interminable hearings, marked by boredom and suppressed tensions, but rather 1700 kilometers away, on the first floor of Block 24 of the former KL Auschwitz, between the Polish keeper of the PMO Archives and a French pharmacist passionately interested in history. Faurisson had already lost in August 1980, but in the Museum, the match between the two sides [who were never real enemies] was only just beginning. After the judgement condemning Faurisson, pronounced by the First Section of the First Chamber of the High Court of Paris on 8th July 1981 [announced on 3rd], I continued with my research, for the trial documentation had still not answered all my questions. Since I was alone, Mr Zylbermine introduced me to Georges Wellers, the man he thought most likely to be able to help me. Wellers asked me to provide him with some proof of my «knowledge». I wrote a short paper of about 20 pages, backed up by about 30 photographs, entitled «Realisation and study of Birkenau Krematorium IV and V». I had chosen IV and V because the volume of documentation concerning them was less than for II and III, hence easier to handle [this is at the same time both true and untrue]. I gave him this study at the end of July 1981, and then waited. In the meantime, I learned from a television programme that I watched quite by chance that a former Auschwitz deportee had painted canvases on which I was able to recognize features that I had already seen on photographs of the Krematorien. The picture that impressed me the most was of a face watching a gassing [photo 34]. I noted the name of the artist, David Olère, and rushed to telephone Mr Zylbermine. After some inquiries, we presented ourselves at the home of Mr Olère [photo 33], former member of the Sonderkommando of Krematorium III, prisoner 106144. It was a revelation. In a reaction typical of all those who had been direct participants in the extermination [both Jews and SS], he immediately thrust before us the most horrible things he had painted. His accompanying account was in the same vein. We were adrift in the midst of a kind of Krematorium delirium. But the canvases, and the preparatory sketches he gaily shoved under our noses for the pleasure of seeing us grimace in disgust, spoke quite a different language. That of truth and almost photographic precision. He was a crotchety old man, ceaselessly complaining - as well he might after all he had seen and experienced. But his pictorial testimony on the Krematorien and the extermination of the Jews in Birkenau is the best we know. Following his return from deportation he began to draw what he had seen and experienced, and between 1945 and 1947 he produced about one hundred sketches and that formed the basis of his work. From these, he painted about thirty canvases of the Birkenau universe. As his sight deteriorated with advancing age, so the size of his canvases grew. In 1945 he had recreated from memory the plan of Krematorium III (BW 30a, not B-360-H) [photo 35] and drawn a cross-section. He presented scenes of the living death of this Krematorium. David Olère's drawings are not perfect, but bear witness to accurate observation and contain details otherwise unknown. To appreciate the veracity of his work, it suffices to compare the sketch [photo 36] of the construction of Krematorium III as he saw it on his arrival at Birkenau on 4th March 1943 [49th RSHA convoy of 993 Jews from Drancy] and a Bauleitung photograph [photo 37] taken in March 1943 during the pouring of the concrete roof of the furnace room, where David Olère often worked as from June 1943. At present it is not possible to show the whole collection of his initial sketches, the most valuable part of his work from the historical standpoint, because fifty of them were lent in January 1976 to Myriam Novitch for an exhibition in the «Ghetto fighters' house» in Israel and were never returned to Mr Olère, who was understandably most upset. He used to say that he had been deprived of half his memory. 556 ===== PDF PAGE 0546 | page-546.md ===== ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) Photo 30: (Photograph by Maître Bernard Jouanneau) Photocopy of a photograph taken at the Maidanek concentration camp in June 1979, showing one of the disinfestation gas chambers thought to be a homicidal gas chamberas chamber. Between the two doors with their inspection people holes, the darker bricks are of Prussian blue colour, a sign of prolonged use of «Blauekerbluse acid», in other words hydrocyanic or prussic acid sold as a cleansing agent under the name of «Zyclon-B». ![img-1.jpeg](img-1.jpeg) Photo 32: (PMO microfilm 1061, p. 16) # Translation: Radio message 13 SS Garrison Radio Station Auschwitz. Origin: WVHA [SS Economic Administration Head Office] Received 2nd October 1942 in the Kommandantur of Auschwitz concentration camp. Subject: Movement authorization Ref. Request of 2/10/42 The movement authorization for one 5 ton truck with trailer to Dessau and return in order to pick up material for the resettlement of the Jews, is hereby accorded. This authorization is to be given to the driver. Liebehenschel SS Lieutenant-Colonel permanent representative of the head of the service with the rank of Waffen SS Lieutenant-General For file [Initialed] Head of the radio station ![img-2.jpeg](img-2.jpeg) Marrionik plan nowych konar masnych na Majdanku. Budynik mist nowymi 4 widkich konar przedstawionych na cyrku gani VENTOL i 12 najchwych konar przedstawionych do utrata gani CYCLON. Projekt zasad obozowy przez Marosów jako gani najchwych nowych, dla mied na jak zrealizowany. Plan dydansowy przez Marosów na Majdanku. Plan allemand des neuvollen chambers à gaz à Maidanck. Le bâtiment renfermant 6 grandes chambers adoptées à l'emploi du gaz VENTOL et 12 [8 en réalité] plus petites adoptées à l'emploi du gaz CYCLON. Le projet est désigné par les allemands comme plan d'installation d'ego. Il n'a pas été déjà[?] réalisé. Plan fourni par le Musée de Maidanck. Erledigung Verwendung Verpackung Verpackung von Abssichung etc. | Datum | Datum | Datum | Datum | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1. April | 1. April | 1. April | 1. April | | Projekt der Be-Verwässerung-v. Hydroparatologie in dem Gebäude der Gasanlage in Lublin | | | | | Nr 404 | | | | # Photocopy 31: # Translation of the Polish text: German drawing of the new gas chambers at Maidanek. The building contained 6 large gas chambers suitable for use with the gas VENTOX and 12 [8 in reality] smaller chambers suitable for use with the gas CYCLON. The drawing is designated by the Germans as being for the installation of the water system. The project was not realized. Drawing supplied by the Maidanck Museum. 557 ===== PDF PAGE 0547 | page-547.md ===== ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) Photo 33: (Photo by the author) David Olère in 1982 in the kitchen of his house in Noisy-le-Grand, working on one of his last carvasses entitled: «My way of the Zjelem-B gas chamber to the Nazi commutation between, Rabbis and Priests too». This painting is 131 by 162 cm. In the centre an a table and a priest being beaten by an SS man. Upper left, Moll is firing on raised women on the edge of the inclination pin near Krematorien V. Upper right is Krematorien III in operation, with four prisoners passing in front of it carrying the soap. The curator of the PMO, K. Smolen, confirmed to me that he had personally seen a similar episode, where rabbis and priests were ill treated by the SS. The catalog of David Olère's sketches and paintings was published in 1989 by the Beate Klarsfeld Foundation, edited by Serge Klarsfeld. My own relations with David Olère were somewhat difficult, but as time went on, he began to realize that I had a very good knowledge of «his» universe. We were able to talk about it, and I took every ![img-1.jpeg](img-1.jpeg) Photo 34: (Donated by D Olère to the author) «Gassings». A canvas of 125 by 190 cm composed of three scenes. Upper left is Bunker 2/V in winter; upper right Krematorium III under construction; in the centre [according to David Olère] is the face of SS Georges, delimited by the porphole as he watches a gassing. opportunity to do so. But it was not without difficulty. Whenever I pointed out that what he was telling me was inexact, he would get angry and accuse me of calling him a «hair». He had a cynical and acid humour, which was part of his defence against the memories that obsessed him. Through his works, he unwittingly helped me to understand the arrangement of the Krematorien and of Bunker 2/V. Having no news from Georges Wellers, I expanded my paper, which grew to 80 pages and received a different title: «Auschwitz, peaceful architecture...» and became the first volume of a complete study of the Auschwitz Krematorien. On 15th March 1982, out of bravado and because I had cited him in my dedications, I telephoned Faurisson to announce the completion of my work on Krematorien IV and V. I was shocked and disgusted to find he had reached rock bottom, dragging his family down with him. A human wreck, hysterical, short of breath, panting, gasping out his reproaches, describing his «martyrdom». But it has to be said that he had asked for it and well deserved it. Having sown the wind he had reaped a real whirlwind. What disgusted me was that he used his suffering to try to justify himself to me: «You can see that I was right, for the Jews are persecuting me!» Trying to pass off his false coin wrapped in pity was the last trick of Herr Professor Doktor Robert Faurisson. Heavens, how the mighty are fallen! His last attempt to stop me from continuing my research was in vain. I gave the new manuscript to Georges Wellers, and again waited. No reaction. He was sitting on my work, and it remained unexploited. While the traditional historians had no documents on Krematorien IV and V, I had brought him bucket loads. It was too novel. While they spoke of camouflage, I said there had been none, and had photographs to prove it. My work was too heretical. While they had only two documents indicating the probability of gas chambers in Krematorien II and III, I was giving them two documents from a civilian source proving their existence in Krematorien IV. It was all too revolutionary. While official history had established that the Krematorien had been specially designed as extermination instruments, I stated that they had been converted to this end. It was too revisionist. As time passed, the criticisms rained down. I lost patience. I contacted Professor Pierre Vidal-Naquet and said to him: «You wanted a second memory of Auschwitz. Well, I've written the first part». At first he thought I was mad, then when I gave him the manuscript he saw that my proposal was serious. When he had read it, he considered that my demonstrations were valid and soundly-based, but that the text was poorly organized and not publishable in its present form. Which was quite true. But the documents that I presented were too important to remain unknown. He found a solution by arranging for me to take part in a Colloquium organized by the Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales on the topic «Nazi Germany and the extermination of the Jews», held at the Sorbonne from 29th June to 2nd July 1982 and chaired by Raymond Aron and François Farel. I was accepted as an «intervenant» rather than as a «participant» because of my very late candidature. Only a week earlier, I had known absolutely nothing about the venue or the people I was to speak before. Vidal-Naquet succeeded in launching me. I went to the Sorbonne early in the afternoon of 30th June. The speakers were respectively: Raul Hilberg on «The bureaucracy of annihilation», Prof Dr Wolfgang Scheffler of Berlin on «Die Gaskammern» and Georges Wellers on the number of Jewish victims of the «Final Solution». W Scheffler's communication, from which the Colloquium expected much, was not greatly appreciated by specialists on the topic, and they even regretted having brought him from Berlin because of the small amount of new information he provided. He had not succeeded in properly exploiting the documents he had obtained in Moscow. Appearing just after Scheffler, I commented the projection of 36 slides showing the genesis and evolution of Krematorien IV and V at Birkenau, speaking for exactly eighteen minutes. I was the only speaker at the Colloquium to present good contemporary photographs. They came from the photograph album of the Auschwitz Bauleitung [Construction Management] that I had consulted at the PMO in April 1982. A copy of this album had just arrived at the Museum, sent by the Yad Vashem in Jerusalem, who had bought it from a German from Berlin, who in turn had obtained it shortly after the war from a Russian officer who had spent some time at Auschwitz. I had had the great pleasure, the album in my hands, of dictating to Tadeusz Iwaszko the captions of the photographs for the part concerned with the Birkenau Krematorien [photo 34 is one example]. These unpublished photographs ensured the success of my intervention. Pierre Vidal-Naquet was delighted and called my exposé «clear and remarkable». After the Colloquium, Georges Wellers considered that what had remained unused for a year now absolutely must be published after the summer holidays in the review of the CDIC «Le Monde Juif». But since he was not in agreement with my theories and as I challenged some of his, it was not easy to find common ground. At the end of August 1982, I went to the Struthof camp whose gas chamber had caused much ink to flow. I was not an ordinary tourist, having already studied the crematorium and the gas chamber thanks to the documents in the French legal archives. After visiting the crematorium and listening to the guide's commentary, I emerged furious, resolved to stop all my research and stop my publication for «Le Monde Juif». There I was, preening myself about putting some order into Poland's «crematorium» affairs, but before going to make a clean sweep over there, it was necessary to put our own little house in order. I was beside myself with rage when I got to the gas chamber. We were hardly inside the building, when I attacked the guide, telling him a few facts about the gas chamber. Then he took the group round, keeping his eyes on me. Once his long-winded putter was over and the visitors had gone out, he closed the door and we remained alone. I then told him the whole history of the complex. The poor man, whose parents had been indirect witnesses of the gassings, did not know what to say, and concluded as I left that «Nobody has ever explained all that to me the way you have». 558 ===== PDF PAGE 0548 | page-548.md ===== What had I heard and discovered in the crematorium [Photo 39]? That the shower room [Photo 40] was regularly presented in publications as a homicidal gas chamber, which did not prevent the guide from declaring that they were real showers, reserved for the SS who washed themselves with water heated by the incineration of the prisoners. That the urns had been transported to the room occupied by the prisoners [internees] responsible for the running of the crematorium. The urn room had become that where human guinea pigs were shut up waiting for [vivisection] in the dissecting room [1]. The door of their [prison] had been fitted with two heavy bolts and the window in the upper part had been replaced by a wooden panel after the war. The prisoners' room had a wash basin, which is normal. The urn room did not. It is now the other way round, and one wonders why the urns need a wash basin and why the room where the prisoners lived does not have one. Proof of this [switch] is to be found on the plan of the premises drawn on 29th May 1945 by the French commandant of the camp for the French Military Justice. [The camp, which was intact at the time of the Liberation, was repopulated with imprisoned or condemned collaborators.] As for the gas chamber, the 86 unfortunate Jews and Jewesses gassed there to satisfy the impulses of a collector of skeletons. Professor Hirt, had multiplied to the point of reaching 10,000 to 20,000 victims. These errors have still not been rectified. I suggest the following modifications to the management of the Struthof Museum: A - in the crematorium: 1) Return to the configuration of May 1945, i.e. return the urns to their initial room and return the banks in the «guinea-pigs» room to the prisoners' room, removing the inscription «vivisection»; 2) Open to the public the morgue of the crematorium, where executions took place [bullets were found in the filter trap under drain grid]; 3) Open to the public the shower/disinfestation section, indicating the circuit followed and explaining the operation of the disinfestation chamber (which has never been studied) to differentiate it completely from the homicidal gas chamber. B - in the gas chamber: 1) Retrieve from the Musée de la Résistance et de la Déportation at the Besançon Citadelle the funnel with its tap that enabled the camp commandant, Josef Kramer, to carry out homicidal gassings [this item belongs to the Struthof camp]; 2) Reconstitute the original installation used for gassing, protecting it by a glass or plastic case and formally indicating the reconstituted parts [these would be the metal tube for pouring the liquid into the gas chamber, three white tiles and 122 kg cement for fixing the tube]; 3) Have the complete chronology and history of the gas chamber established by competent historians: a) Origin of the building and state of premises before the war; b) Use of a cold room as a gas chamber for training SS recruits in the use of gasmasks in chemical warfare; c) Installation of the device for pouring in a liquid, completed on 3rd August 1943; d) The gassing «for the purposes of medical science» by hydrocyanic acid of 86 Jews and Jewesses between 7th and 21st August 1943; e) The first eleven experiments concerning the use of uretropine as a protection against phosgene, carried out without any deaths in the autumn of 1943 under the direction of Father Bickenbach; f) The four terminal experiments of 15th June 1944 carried out by Hirt, assisted by Bickenbach for the technical aspects, which caused four deaths due to acute oedema of the lung. The commentary should condemn Hirt, a Nazi doctor who abused his position of power, and exculpate Bickenbach, who experimented on his own person in the early stages of the phosgene experiment. The photographs exhibited should be related to these events and not refer simply to any camp where gassings were carried out. 4) Abandon the designation «formalin tanks» for the three white tiled baths with wooden covers. This designation is not based on any document and is a legend by assimilation with the synthetic alcohol tanks in the Institute of Anatomy at Strasbourg University in which the 86 corpses of the unrealized «Hirt collection» were preserved. C - Produce of a detailed photographic brochure on the camp, with archive documents and photographs from the French Military Justice, bearing in mind that visitors want to have precise, verifiable and irrefutable information. Photo 35: (Personal archives) Plan drawing of KREMATORIUM III [BW 30a] located in Auschwitz II [Birkenau], drawn by David Olère and published in «LE DROIT DE VIVRE». [The right to live], journal of the LICA [LICA], 15th February 1964, 31st year, No 316, page 3. # Translation of the key: 0 - The five 3-muffle furnaces 1 - Undressing room 2 - Vestibule where the SS controlled the victims' entry to the gas chamber 3 - Gas chamber 4 - Goods lift for the corpses 5 - Furnace room 6 - Incinerator for identity papers 7 - Collective chimney 8 - Store for documents to be burnt 9 - SS guard room 10 - Zyclon-B introduction opening 11 - Coke store 12 - Coke wagon on rails 13 - SS entrance to the basement ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) ![img-1.jpeg](img-1.jpeg) Photo 36: (Property of the Olère family) The construction of Krematorium III in early March 1943, as seen by David Olère. The chimney is not yet finished. There is no photographic evidence to confirm that women prisoners transported the bricks required for its construction, but this is not unlikely. Although dated 1943, the concentrated SS man shows that the church was actually drawn some time in the 50s. 559 ===== PDF PAGE 0549 | page-549.md ===== In September 1982, my paper was published under the title «BIRKENAU KREMATORIEN IV and V and their gas chambers» in the journal of the Centre de Documentation Juive Contemporaine, «Le Monde Juif», No 107. The differences in interpretation between Georges Wellers and myself were clearly stated in his preface. He did not agree with my theory, i.e. that «the decision to build Krematorien IV and V (as well as II and III) was taken by the SS free of any criminal context, the latter having appeared later», but was incapable of disproving it, due to a lack of documents. His refutation was based only on counter-hypotheses. However, it was I who was mistaken about the genesis of Krematorien IV and V, which were directly planned for criminal purposes. This is because when I wrote that paper in 1982 I had not taken into account certain unexplained «details» [but my theory remains entirely valid for Krematorien I, II, and III]. At the time, Georges Weller was no more able than I was to coordinate these «details» with the whole. The documents proving the existence of a gas chamber in Krematorium IV were what counted above all for him. Since the CDIC journal does not reach a large public, he presented the «Gaskammer» it in a chapter on Auschwitz in the book «Les chambres à gaz, secret d'Etat» [Editions de Minuit 1984, and 1983 for the original German edition]. After this article, I continued with my research. I had to go all the way. One day in the PMO, while the Museum librarian was finding some newspaper articles on the trial of the «Krematorium architects», Dejaco and Ertl, for me, she brought me «The Auschwitz Album» published by Serge Klarsfeld to help me while away the time. I noticed two photographs, that I had probably seen before, but to which I had not paid particular attention. The first showed women and children, with in the background the underground undressing room of Krematorium III, quietly waiting, as can be deduced, before the wire-meshed entrance gate to the yard of Krematorium II. The second, a group of three men and a woman, with behind them Krematorium IV, walking towards the photographer, ready to enter, as can be deduced, Krematorium V. Serge Klarsfeld had found the «human element» that was lacking from my own «architectural» explanations. Back in France, I contacted him and he gave me a copy of his Album. Once I had looked through it, my mania for putting things in order took over, and I sensed that there were «series» of photographs, for example that the shots of the «selection» process showed several different ones. I wanted to find the different sequences recorded by the SS photographer and determine his exact position for each shot. I studied the photographs in the Album, and since the quality of reproduction was less than perfect I again turned to Serge Klarsfeld and asked him if I could consult the originals. He allowed me to do so, and in February 1983, with Seuil about to publish a French version of the American edition of the Album, Serge Klarsfeld had the publication held up while I put all the photographs in order and took responsibility for the French edition, with the help of Anne Freyer who was in charge of the project for Seuil. The manuscript was completed in June and the book came out in November 1983. At the end of 1983, while visiting the stacks of the PMO archives, I discovered files BW 30/32 to 30/42, whose existence I had not been aware of. They contained in particular the «diary» of Messing, a Topf & Sons employee who fitted the ventilation systems in the furnace rooms, undressing rooms and gas chambers of Krematorien II and III between January and June 1943; a notebook with entries written in green ink, relating in similar terms the work of Riedel & Son on Krematorien IV and V; and a file of documents concerning the Krematorien obtained from a Soviet source. These hitherto unknown documents provided another barrowload of «slips or criminal traces». For me, the whole question of the Krematorien and gas chambers of all sorts in the former Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp was resolved beyond all shadow of a doubt by April 1984. Files BW 30/32 to 30/42 confirmed virtually all my theories. A further piece of evidence found at the Central Commission for the Investigation of Hitlerite Crimes in Poland, in Warsaw, proved «by a + b» that Faurisson's thesis was simply nonsense, to use the politest term possible. The «works» of the revisionists were no longer worth anything more than an ironic smile. I had at last reached the end of the tunnel and established a truth, my own, not taken from other people, and as close as humanly possible to the absolute truth that can never be grasped. Serge Klarsfeld then quite simply [!] asked me to put in black and white all that I had learned. So I went back to work. In April 1984, the Belgian memorial was completed [Photo 41]. It was designed by the Belgian artist, Serge Creuz, of the Maison de la Bellone in Bruxelles. His work is strictly apolitical and antitotalitarian. I was extremely moved by it, as I have always worked in the same spirit. The visitor arrives to find a traditional dining room of comfortable city-dwellers, furnished in the pre-war style. On the wall is a 1942 calendar. The room oozes quiet and peaceful family life, despite the war. There is then a dark entrance, the arrest, the journey in cattle trucks, and then the memorial proper [Photo 41]. The family from the empty dining room was made up of five people: father, mother, a son and two younger daughters. They are on the left, dressed like you and me, and are looking at the visitor. They are ordinary decent people. Their shoes have left footprints on the yellow paving leading into the room, then they become the prints of bare feet disappearing towards the eyes at the end of the room. What remains of this fine family? The result is on the right: the man, his head shaved [a preventive measure against licef], in the zebra prison uniform, and the empty silhouettes with carbonized edges of the woman and the three children. This is the tragic condensation of the awful truth, the brutal reality of the expression «Auschwitz-Birkenau». A negation of humanity. Right at the beginning of my «training course» in Oswiecim, the Poles had told me that the former prisoner 16670, a Pole wearing the red triangle of the «politicals», Father O. Maksymilian Kolbe, had died in the odour of sanctity because he had given his life to save that of a fellow prisoner. I listened with only half an ear to this story, which left me indifferent. If Kolbe had the qualities required to be canonized, then so did the MAJORITY of prisoners, if only because of the suffering they endured in this «accursed land» [as Hermann Chaim, member of the Sonderkommando of Krematorien II or III, wrote of Birkenau in a letter of 6th November 1944, found after the Liberation]. When Kolbe was officially declared «Saint» I was pleased about it for the sake of the Poles, but saw this story as just one banal episode among many others in the Hell of Auschwitz. Then, at the end of 1985, came the installation of a Carmelite cloister in the former «Theatergebäude», to provide a place of prayer close to Block 11 [the «Death Block»] where Kolbe had died. Part of the camp enclosure was to be removed to provide a direct path between the cloister and Block 11. With that, the affair became quite shocking: the sorrow of Auschwitz was being recuperated for the exclusive benefit of the Catholic Church. The matter should have Photo 37: (PMO neg No 292) Construction of Krematorium III by the HUTA firm in March 1943. The collective chimney is completed. Behind the chimney a mixed gang of prisoners and civilian workers can be seen pouring the concrete ceiling of the furnace room. ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) ![img-1.jpeg](img-1.jpeg) Photo 38: (Yad Vashem and PMO neg. no. 20905/409) View of the east side and south end of Krematorium IV in April 1943, taken from the «Bauleitung Album» and used in the annexes on the Krematorien to «L'Album d'Auschwitz» published by Seuil in November 1983. Inceptions by the author. # Translation of inscriptions: Krematorium IV or BW 30b East and south sides, April 1943 [handed over by the Bauleitung in working order on 22nd March 1943] - Chambres à gaz/Gas chambers - Porte étanche au gaz/Gas-tight door - Pièce du «médecin»/«Doctor's» room - Lucarnes éclairant le vestiaire/morgue - Windows illuminating the morgue/undressing room - Sas/Air lock - Cokeries/Coke store - Salle du four à 8 creusets d'incinération/ - Furnace room with eight cremation muffles - WC et lavabos/WC and washroom - Pièce des SS/SS room 560 ===== PDF PAGE 0550 | page-550.md ===== rested at the stage of «Saint Kolbe». For the Catholic Church has a shameful anti-semitic past that excludes it from any rights over the former camp. I shall give but one example among so many others, this one found by chance in a book published in 1898 that was distributed widely among our «dear little blond children» sitting well-behavedly on the school benches. This is the work by Charles Hermeline, «A travers l'Europe». I have taken a passage (pages 301 to 303) concerning his visit to Cracow (Photo 42, 43 and 44). Read it carefully, bearing in mind that Hermeline was a French priest, and a schoolteacher to boot. You will say that it is very old, and that mentalities have changed since then. I don't deny it, but out of curiosity I calculated the age an adolescent of 15, open and receptive in 1898, hence born in 1883, would have had in 1940. He would have been 57, a man at the summit of his life, in all the power of his maturity. I looked [it must be admitted with an idea at the back of my mind] in the encyclopedia... «Laval (Pierre), French politician, born at Châtillon, Puy-de-Dôme, in 1883». No comment. The Catholic Church has no business to be in Auschwitz, a place of international and atheistic sorrow par excellence. Dozens of different nationalities were represented there. A little over one million people of the Jewish faith, the great majority of them women and children, were exterminated there(1). And this because of texts such as that written by the «good priest» Hermeline. The Jewish predominance in Auschwitz-Birkenau should therefore be absolute, though without neglecting the others, simply because of the weight of their number of dead. Canonizing Kolbe is almost an insult to the million Jewish victims, even if it has a beneficial effect on the Polish people. What would practising Christians say if the title of «Saint» were to be accorded to all the direct participants in the extermination, they who reached the absolute limits of horror? The extra-temporal planet of Auschwitz-Birkenau can but be a place for profound reflection on the essence of man, untrammeled by absurd religious beliefs. In 1979 I had gone to Auschwitz to try to find the executioners' motivations, their attitudes, their thoughts when confronted with the machinery of death that they had organized «on orders from above» [I was continuing the experiment begun by Robert Merle in his «Death is my trade»]. Trained as an officer, I was supposed to know the limits of «orders». Technically, I wanted to know exactly how the «mills» of Auschwitz were organized and the details of their inner workings. I must admit that I scarcely gave a thought to the victims, not even knowing that the majority of them were women and children. Jews, apparently. What did it matter, I knew none and a good deal of the literature available up to 1945 stated in all manner of ways that they should be thrown out because they «the «cosmopolitan», were destroying our «old France» that belonged to us, Chauvinist French patriots. As I was working on Birkenau, I was obliged to meet these famous Jews. In the end, it was not the Hoess autobiography or the archive documents, the drawings, the original photographs or the ruins of the Krematorien that turned my initial ideas inside out, but the modest and simple testimony of Mr Zylbermine, as he told me his story in detail during a whole afternoon. For him, it was very painful. As for me, I could never be the same again. He succeeded in injecting his memories, which I now carry in myself. I had the impression of lifting the lid of the cauldron of Hell, a thing I am in no hurry to do again. Everything was recorded on tape at the wish of Tadeusz Iwaszko, but unfortunately this tape, with its so moving contents, went astray in Poland during a baggage transfer between airports. I shall never write about Mr Zylbermine's concentration camp experience. Although I accepted the truth of his account from the outset and with no discussion except to ask him for more detail on certain points, I nevertheless found confirmation of an episode where his life hung by a thread in the Gleiwitz camp thanks to the account by Father Robert Waitz on the evacuations of January 1945 in «De l'Université aux Camps de Concentration». Just as I was completely open to the memories of Mr Zylbermine, so I doubted the verbal declarations of David Olère, though I totally accepted his pictorial testimony. The monstrosity of Olère's life in Krematorium III was simply not transmissible. It was neither his fault nor mine. A profound and confident communication such as I enjoyed with Mr Zylbermine, was impossible with David Olère, because although I could precisely materialize the physical environment of his life, I was incapable, through fear, of intellectually concretizing the demential life itself. Completed in August 1986 (1) 1,352,980 for G.Wellers : between 1,050,000 and 1,100,000 for R.Hilberg. ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) Photo 39: STRUTHOF CAMP: Crematorium Scale:1:100 # **Translation of inscriptions;** # **FACADE SUD/SOUTH ELEVATION** # **COUPE AB/SECTION A-B** - Consigne/Store - Salle d'habillement/Dressing room - Garderobe Sortie/Exit cloakroom - Entrée/Entrance - Chaufferie/Boiler room - Désinfection/Disinfestation - Salle de déshabillement/Undressing room - Garderobe Entrée/Entrance cloakroom - Consigne/Store - Salle de douche/Shower room - Crématoire/Cremation furnace - Douche/Shower - Médecin/Doctor - Salle d'autopsie/Dissecting room - Couloir/Corridor - Charbon/Coal - Interné/Internee - Bureau/Office - Urnes/Urns # **COUPE C-D/SECTION C-D** STRUTHOF, 29th MAY 1945 CAMP COMMANDANT 561 ===== PDF PAGE 0551 | page-551.md ===== ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) Photo 40: (Personal archives) Photograph on page 70 of the commemorative album «C'était il y a 20 ans la libération des camps de la mort» (Supplement to «Patriote Résistant» No 303), January 1965. The caption was «Towards the gas chambers» and the inscription top left reads: «The SS shouted «Move along to the showers» and the deadly gas did its work...» ![img-1.jpeg](img-1.jpeg) Photo 41: («PHOTO NEWS» photo by Yves Smuts) The Belgian memorial designed by Serge Creuz. 562 ===== PDF PAGE 0552 | page-552.md ===== Photocopy 42, 43, 44 Charles HERMELINE # A TRAVERS L'EUROPE NOTES DE VOYAGE Samard et Derangeau. 174, Rue Saint-Jacques PARIS 1898 Les femmes sont des non-en-ciel ambulants. Le rouge, le bleu, le vert chatoient sur leurs vêtements. Avec un rayon de soleil sur ces costumes éclatants, la grande place offre aux regards une vraie déhumée de couleurs vives. Tout autour de Saksamies, sorte de musée-arconel-bazar qui en occupe le centre, c'est un fourmillement maltitolien qui fait songer à une de nos prairies en fleurs agilée par le vent. Seulement, ici, les fleurs sont vivantes; elles se déminent, vont et viennent, et, au milieu d'elles, presque immobiles, se lessent, comme ces époux entails qu'on dresse dans les champs, les noires figures des juifs. C'est une population bien curieuse que ces juifs de Cracovie. Assurément, tous les juifs polonais valent la peine d'être vus. Mais en Russie, on les réglemente davantage. C'est en Galicia qu'on voit le juif polonais dans toute sa odette native, et aussi dans tout son pittoresque. On le reconnaît à son costume, qu'il garde aussi éduindement que les pratiques de sa religion. Vitru d'une longue louppelande noire qui lui descend jusqu'aux talons, eniffé d'un chapeau de velours ou d'une large moquette, habité naturellement, les cheveux longs et frisés sur les tempes comme ceux de nos vieilles domandres, le juif attend non-tadom- 30 A TRAVERS L'EUROPE ment à la porte de sa petite boutique, où les marchandises, entassées en un désordre malpeupre, laissent à peine un passage pour l'acheteur. Hien ne semble la presse ; immobile comme l'araignée qui guette les mouches, il sait bien que les chrétiens seront forcés de venir à lui, car il les tient par l'argent. S'il marche dans la rue, c'est d'un air dolent, gossque cruisif. Sa figure bien semble sortir des entresels obscurs qui ne voient guère le soleil. Il sent peut-être combien il est méprisé des passants qui le frôlent, mais il n'en continue pas moins sa route d'un air morne et tranquille, sûr, qu'à la fin, il saura bien retrouver son compte. Les petits juifs ont déjà ce bruit blaford et cet air triste; eux aussi portent la longue louppelande, les bottes et les cheveux frisés sur les tempes; et c'est chose fort curieuse que ces bombins ainsi rencontrés qui s'emmènent d'un air grave dans la rue. Mais les plus curieux de tous, ce sont les vieux, qu'on voit trottoir sans bruit dans Kazimierz, le quartier juif, où le nom des rues est inscrit en halcru; ils vont courbant vers la terre une figure ![img-0.jpeg](img-0.jpeg) Rue de Cracovie. CRAOVIE 30 rédatante, d'où se détache en saillie un nez soudan, et d'où perd une longue herbe grise. Leur louppelande n'est souvent plus qu'une salle pareille servile et désolée par le temps. Assurément, ce ne sont pas des figures banales, et un peintre, ami des types pittoresques, serait à la flée ici et trouverait ample matière à enrouer son crayon. Toute cette population a un air si misérable, si souffrieux, qu'on se sent de prime abord envahi par une profonde pâine, et qui nul ne semble plus à plaindre qu'eux. Mais, en réalité, ce sont les vrais maîtres de la ville. Un âge malheureux de la Pologne, ça été de ne pas posséder cette classe moyenne qui donne tant de solidité à une nation. Tout le monde était noble ou paysan, et le vide laissent entre les deux ordres extrêmes fut rempli par les juifs; tout le commerce passe entre leurs mains, et il y est resté. Dieu sait s'ils en profitent ! Je garde donc ma piété pour les paysans polonais qui sont entre leurs griffes, en peuvent rien faire sans eux, et sont obligés d'en passer par les conditions que leur dicte lacué. # Translation: Charles HERMELINE # ACROSS EUROPE TRAVEL NOTES Samard & Derangeau 174, rue Saint Jacques PARIS 1898 The women are walking rainbows. Red, blue, green shimmer in their clothing. With a ray of sunshine on these sparkling clothes the main square offers the spectator a veritable orgy of bright colours. All around Saksamies, a sort of museum-traumatic-house-bazar that occupies the centre, there is a multicoloured teeming that recalls one of our flowering meadows agitated by the wind. But here the flowers are alive; they rush about, they come and go, and in the middle of them, almost immobile, like the scarecrows that stand in our fields, the black figures of the Jews. They form a very curious population; these Cracow Jews. Without doubt, all the Polish Jews are worth seeing. But in Russia they are subject to more control. It is in Galicia that the Polish Jew is seen in all his native filth, and also at his most picturesque. He can be recognized by his dress, to which he clings as obstinately as to the practices of his religion. Wearing a long, black coat, reaching to his feet, a full hat or a large cap, boots of course, his hair long and curled over the temples like that of our old dowagers, the Jew waits nonchalantly at the door of his little shop, where the goods, heaped up in slovenly disorder, hardly leave room for the customer to move. Nothing seems able to make him hurry; immobile as the spider waiting for a fly, he knows that the Christians will be forced to come to him, for he holds them through money. If he walks in the street, it is with a mournful, almost fearful air. His was face seems to have emerged from a dark basement, that scarcely sees the sun. He perhaps feels how much he is despised by those who brush by him, but he nevertheless continues on his way with a mournful, quiet air, certain that in the end he will do well out of it. Jewish children already have this pale complexion and mournful air; they too wear the long coat and boots and have their hair curled over the temples. And it is a very curious thing that youngsters so united plus gravely in the street. The most curious of all, however, are the old men who can be seen scurrying silently about in Kazimierz, the Jewish quarter, where the names of the roads are inscribed in Hebrew; they turn towards the ground a wizened face, from which jars a hooked nose and hangs a long, grey beard. Their coat is often no longer anything but a dirty greenish rag, faded by age. They are certainly no ordinary figures, and a painter, fond of picturesque types, would be in his element here and find ample material to exercise his pencil. All this population has such a miserable air, so sickly, that at first one is overcome by a feeling of deep pity, and none seem more deserving of sympathy than they. But in reality they are the true masters of the town. One of Poland's misfortunes has been not to have the middle class that gives so much solidity to a nation. Everybody was either a noble or a peasant, and the space between these two extremes was filled by the Jews. All trade passed into their hands, and has remained there. God knows that they take advantage of it! I therefore save my pity for the Polish peasants who are in their clutches and can do nothing without them, and are obliged to accept the conditions dictated to them by Israel. Illustration caption: «A Cracow Jew» 563 ===== PDF PAGE 0553 | page-553.md ===== # **Principal studies establishing that the gas chambers at Auschwitz-Birkenau were used for homicidal purposes :** 1946: - **BIULETYN GLOWNEJ KOMISJI BADANIA ZBRODNI NIEMIECKICH W POLSCE** - Wydawnictwo Glownej Komisji - Badania Zbrodni Niemieckich w Polsce, - **OBOZY KONCENTRACYJNE I ZAGLADY OSWIECIM** [66 pages]. 1955: - **CAMP DE CONCENTRATION OSWIECIM** (Auschwitz-Birkenau) by Janusz GUMKOWSKI - Wydawnictwo Prawnicze - Warszawa. 1957: - **LE CAMP DE CONCENTRATION D'OSWIECIM-BRZEZINKA** (Auschwitz-Birkenau) by Jan SEHN - Wydawnictwo Prawnicze - Warszawa. 1961: - **THE DESTRUCTION OF THE EUROPEAN JEWS** by Raul HILBERG, (p. 563 to 571, 624 to 635) - Quadrangle Book 1964: - **AUSCHWITZ** présenté par Léon POLIAKOV - Julliard. 1972: - **HANDSCHRIFTEN VON MITGLIEDERN DES SONDERKOMMANDOS** - Musée d'Etat d'Auschwitz. 1977: - **LES CHAMBRES A GAZ A AUSCHWITZ** par Georges WELLERS in Le Monde Juif, n° 86. 1978: - **AUSCHWITZ Camp hôtérien d'extermination** - Interpress Varsovie. - **THE EXISTENCE OF THE GAS CHAMBERS** by Georges WELLERS in - **THE HOLOCAUST AND THE NEO-NAZI MYTHOMANIA** (p. 107 to 119) - The Beate Klarsfeld Foundation. 1980: - **KL AUSCHWITZ**, Documentary photographs - Krajowa Agencja Wydawnicza Warszawa. 1981: - **LES CHAMBRES A GAZ ONT EXISTE, Des documents, des témoignages, des chiffres** par Georges WELLERS - Gallimard. 1982: - **LES «KREMATORIEN» IV ET V DE BIRKENAU ET LEURS CHAMBRES A GAZ**, Construction et fonctionnement [Article, 39 pages] par Jean-Claude PRESSAC in «Le Monde Juif», N° 107. 1983: - **NATIONALSOZIALISTISCHE MASSENTÖTUNGEN DURCH GIFTGAS**, Herausgegeben von Eugen KOGON, Hermann LANGBEIN, Adalbert RÜCKERL u.a. - S. Fischer Verlag. 1983: - **L'ALBUM D'AUSCHWITZ** par Peter HELLMAN, Jean-Claude PRESSAC - Le Seuil. 1985: - **THE DESTRUCTION OF THE EUROPEAN JEWS** by Raul HILBERG (p. 880 to 916, 976 to 984) - Holmes & Meier. - Dans **L'ALLEMAGNE NAZIE ET LE GENOCIDE JUIF**, Colloque de l'École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales (juin 1982) - Gallimard et Le Seuil : - **LES CHAMBRES A GAZ** [Article, 26 pages] by Uwe Dietrich ADAM - **ÉTUDE ET RÉALISATION DES KREMATORIEN IV ET V D'AUSCHWITZ-BIRKENAU** [Article, 46 pages] by Jean-Claude PRESSAC. 1988: - **LES CARENCES ET INCOHÉRENCES DU «RAPPORT LEUCHTER»** [Article, 11 pages] par Jean-Claude PRESSAC in «Jour J» (December 12). # **Principal studies claiming that the gas chambers at Auschwitz-Birkenau were not used for homicidal purposes :** 1962: - **LE VÉRITABLE PROCÈS EICHMANN** by Paul RASSINIER Les Sept Couleurs. 1964: - **LE DRAME DES JUIFS EUROPÉENS** by Paul RASSINIER Les Sept Couleurs. 1973: - **DIE AUSCHWITZ-LÜGE** by Thies CHRISTOPHERSEN Kritik Verlag, Mörkrich. 1977: - **THE HOAX OF THE TWENTIETH CENTURY** by A.R. BÜTZ Noontide Press, Los Angeles. 1979: - **DER AUSCHWITZ-MYTHOS** by Wilhelm STÄGLICH Grabert-Verlag, Tübingen. 1980: - **VÉRITÉ HISTORIQUE OU VÉRITÉ POLITIQUE ?**, Le dossier de l'affaire Faurisson - La question des chambres à gaz by Serge THION - La Vieille Taupe. - **MÉMOIRE EN DÉFENSE** Contre ceux qui m'accentent de falsifier l'Histoire - La question des chambres à gaz by Robert FAURISSON Deuxième édition augmentée, La Vieille Taupe. 1982: - **RÉPONSE À PIERRE VIDAL-NAQUET** by Robert FAURISSON Deuxième édition augmentée, La Vieille Taupe. 1985: - **IL MITO DELLO STERMINIO EBRAICO** by Carlo MATTOGNO Sentinella d'Italia, Montefalcone. 1986: - **AUSCHWITZ : DUE FALSE TESTIMONIANZE**. - **AUSCHWITZ : UN CASO DI PLAGIO**. - **COME SI FALSIFICA LA STORIA : GEORGES WELLERS E I «GASATI» DI AUSCHWITZ**. 1987: - **AUSCHWITZ : LE FALSE CONFESSION DI RUDOLF HÖSS** by Carlo MATTOGNO La Sfinge, Parme. 1988: - **AN ENGINEERING REPORT ON THE ALLEGED EXECUTION GAS CHAMBERS AT AUSCHWITZ, BIRKENAU AND MAJDANEK - POLAND** by Fred A. Leuchter, Jr. - Fred A. Leuchter, Associates, Boston. 564