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AUSCHWITZ:
Technique
and Operation
of
the Gas Chambers © | |
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Document 23a
[PMO file BW 30/34, page
102] |
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| Translation: |
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| -2- |
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| 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. |
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Signed for J A Topf & Sons
Chief Engineer
Prüfer |
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For Archives
[signed] Pollok
SS Second Lieutenant
(S) |
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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), [NB: 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 slating: “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
fuel: 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
loss, 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 “Rutsche / [corpse] chute” makes
the drawing incomprehensible, unless one accepts that the plan was
for the corpses destined for incineration to enter the two mergers
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 dales 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 Kart 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 frost protection agent when pouring the
concrete roof of Leichenkeller 2, despite the cold weather.
Furthermore, the pit for the corpse lift (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.
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AUSCHWITZ:
Technique
and operation
of the gas chambers
Jean-Claude Pressac
© 1989, The
Beate Klarsfeld Foundation |
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