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AUSCHWITZ:
Technique
and Operation
of
the Gas Chambers © | |
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Bauleitung drawing 2136
[PMO Archives, file BW 30a/15, neg. no.
20922/7] |
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Krematorium III
Ergänzunfsblatt /
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 Horczek’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 [Okregona Komisja Badania Zbrodni Niemieckich w
Krakowie], which is found on only two known drawings of the
Krematorien: 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 II of
22/2/43. |
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Translation of inscriptions:
(left to right and top to bottom) |
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| The inscriptions are the same as on drawing 933 (see
Sheet 51) except for the following additions: |
| · |
Vorderansicht / Front
[south] |
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Erdgeschossgrundriss / Ground
floor plan |
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Vorraum /
Antechamber |
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Labor / Laboratory |
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Seziertisch / Dissecting
table. |
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Kellereingang / Basement
entrance |
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Seitenansicht / Side elevation
[west] |
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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: |
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| 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 l2
meters in Krematorium II to 14 in Krematorium III. |
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The near ends of the roofs of Leichenkeller 1 and 2
are left out of the south and west elevations. Leichenkeller I
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 0/4/43, 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 is 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 grams (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. | |
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AUSCHWITZ:
Technique
and operation
of the gas chambers
Jean-Claude Pressac
© 1989, The
Beate Klarsfeld Foundation |
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