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AUSCHWITZ:
Technique
and Operation
of
the Gas Chambers © | |
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Page 333 |
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Photo 3:
[PMO neg. no. 286, Ludwik series] |
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Southeast/northwest view of Leichenkeller 2
of Krematorium III, Birkenau worksite “BW 30a”, probably taken on
the same day as Photos 1 and 2 in the second half of October 1942.
The bituminous damp-proofing is being applied as in the Krematorium
II Leichenkeller 2, but the south wall is not completed while the
north wall is. Visible in the bottom right of the picture are the
narrow gauge rails running from the future furnace room to the
bottom of the excavation, towards which an SS man is proceeding. No
western access stairway has been allowed for. It will not be built
until March/April 1943.
The trees in the background, still
there today, make it possible to identify this as being Krematorium
III The small hut under the trees is present on other photos and
enables them to be situated with certainty.
In the
publication “KL Auschwitz: Photographic documents”
(Warsaw 1980), this photo, no. 61 in the book, has a caption
that is wrong on two counts: “Birkenau. Prisoners working on the
construction of the gas chamber of Krematorium IV or V (Photo: SS
Kamann 1942)”. Any historical research based on such interpretation
is doubly useless. Furthermore, this kind of error can only confuse
the visitor who is trying to understand. |
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Photo 4:
[PMO
neg. no. 290, Ludwik series] |
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Southwest/northeast view of the almost
completed furnace room of Krematorium II in the first half of
January 1943. From left to right: furnaces 1, 2, 3 and 5 [the near
end of 5 is visible on an identical photograph held in the Archives
of the STATNI ZIDOVSKE MUSEUM PRAZE / State Jewish Museum of Prague,
Osvetim / Oswiecim Section, neg. no. 24, 754 (below]
It is
possible to distinguish between the furnace rooms of Krematorien II
and III, absolutely identical, but mirror images, thanks to the
position of the sun, which can shine into the furnace front (corpse
charging) side of the furnace room of Krematorium II only, through
the double windows of its southern façade.
A comparison of
the two prints shows that the PMO version has been retouched to
emphasize the bark (bluish) stripes on the “zebra” uniforms of the
prisoners on the left and, for some unknown reason, to streak the
pools of sunlight.
In the bottom right hand corner are
the rails laid temporarrily to facilitate the transport of materials
to Leichenkeller 2. They were removed shortly af ter the photograph
was taken. |
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Photo 4a
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AUSCHWITZ:
Technique
and operation
of the gas chambers
Jean-Claude Pressac
© 1989, The
Beate Klarsfeld Foundation |
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Page 333 |
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