|
 |
Scroll down for translation
Letter from SS-Sturmbannfuehrer Bischoff, of the Auschwitz construction
department, to SS General Kammler, January 29, 1943, which mentions a
gassing cellar ("Vergasungkeller") in an Auschwitz-Birkenau crematorium.
Translation:Copy29th January 1943 reference identification number 22250/43/Bi/L. Subject: Krematorium II. State of construction Reference: SS-WVHA 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 Under 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 Prufer 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. 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 Distribution: 1 SS Second Lieutenants Janisch and Kirschneck For Archives [signed] Pollok SS Second Lieutenant Document source: Auschwitz Museum, see also "Auschwitz: Technique and Operation of the Gas Chambers", J.C. Pressac, The Beate Klarsfeld Foundation, New York, 1989. p. 211. | |||
|
|||||
Last modified: November 11, 2002
|
