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AUSCHWITZ:
Technique
and Operation
of
the Gas Chambers © | |
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Page 339 |
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| Photo 15: |
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Photo 15:
[PMO neg. no.
20995/494, Kamann series] |
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East/west view of the furnace
room ceiling of Krematorium III (BW 30a), taken as concreting was in
progress, probably between 9th and 11th February 1943.
On
the left is part of the wooden scaffolding for the chimney. In the
background the group of trees makes it possible to identify the
building as being definitely Krematorium III.
The scene is
the top of the furnace room ceiling, which was to become the floor
of the roof space, where about one hundred Sonderkommando men
working in Krematorium III were housed in the summer of 1944. In
front of the chimney there is a portable conveyor belt used to carry
materials up from the ground. It is also visible of Photo 16.
The concreting in progress is typical of the way work was
done on Krematorien II and III: first in the nature and composition
of the gang, a mixture of prisoners and civilian workers (probably
Huta employees) in the proportion of about two to one, and in the
allocation of the work, the prisoners being laborers while the
civilians are supervised to do the more skilled jobs. The prisoners
here seem relatively well-shod and dressed (wearing mittens and ear
coverings). No SS man is present, except for Kamann behind the
camera. |
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| Photo 16 |
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Photo 16
[PMO neg. no. 292,
Ludwik series] |
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Southwest/northeast view of the
west end and south side of Krematorium III, taken Before or just
after Photo 15, probably between 9th and 11th February 1943.
The chimney is completed. On the furnace room ceiling,
partly hidden by the chimney, The mixed group of prisoners and
civilians seen on Photo 15 is at work. Beyond the Chimney is
the mobile conveyor belt.
The poor quality of this print as
compared with Photo 15 is due to its being an enlargement of
one of the clandestine contact prints made by Ludwick.
David
Olère, a former Sonderkommando member, reproduced this stage of the
construction of Krematorium III very exactly from memory in 1945 or
1946, but looking southeast/northwest. |
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AUSCHWITZ:
Technique
and operation
of the gas chambers
Jean-Claude Pressac
© 1989, The
Beate Klarsfeld Foundation |
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