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AUSCHWITZ:
Technique
and Operation
of
the Gas Chambers © | |
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Page 202 |
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| THE BUILDING OF KREMATORIEN II AND
III |
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On 8th August 1943, Huta, not being equipped to damp proof
the basements of Krematorien II and III, called in a special
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 “Tagesberichte / 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,
favorable 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 10th 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. |
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[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 not 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 oneor 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)]
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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 instant the chimney and
assess damage caused by repeated overheating.
The nest day,
20th August 1942, Ertl, SS Corporal Janisch, Koehler and Prüfer went
to Birkenau to visit worksite 30 [Documents 17 and 17a]. Then
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, these
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 nerveracking for Prüfer. It was be 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 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 l 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 installation"
[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 Veda,
was drawn up by Himmler's headquarters. |
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Document 15
[PMO file BW
2/10, neg no 21135/7]
LAGEPLAN DES
KRIEGSGEFANGENENLAGERS AUSCHWITZ OS
/ 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. |
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| Translations of new
inscriptions: |
| Bauabschnitt / Construction stage
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AUSCHWITZ:
Technique
and operation
of the gas chambers
Jean-Claude Pressac
© 1989, The
Beate Klarsfeld Foundation |
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