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AUSCHWITZ:
Technique
and Operation
of
the Gas Chambers © |
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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 5 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 reline 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 wasted 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. |
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Document 5
[Beriebsarchiv VEB
Erfurter Mälzerai, und Speicherbau. Erfurt]
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J A Topf & Sons, Erfurt
Engineering Works
Technical heating installation constructors
Established TOPF 1878
To the
Reich Patent Office
Berlin SW 61
26/10/1942
Gitschinerstraße 97/103
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 S a n d e r, 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[?] 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 acknowledgment of
receipt card.
True copies of this Application and all enclosures have
been retained.
H
e i l H i t l e r !
The
inventor
The firm
Erfurt,
Beaumontstraße 21, II.
Enclosures: As listed in 1 to 5. |
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AUSCHWITZ:
Technique and operation
of the gas
chambers
Jean-Claude Pressac
© 1989, The Beate Klarsfeld Foundation |
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