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AUSCHWITZ:
Technique
and Operation
of
the Gas Chambers © | |
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Page 386 |
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| The difficulties |
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Although the operating sequence looks simple enough,
it had become irrational and ridiculous. It was irrational to have
the victims going from the central room to the gas chambers then
being brought back, thus destroying the linear logic of the initial
design. It was ridiculous to have an SS man in a gasmask balancing
on his short ladder with a 1 kg can of Zyklon-B in his left hand
while he opened and then closed the 30 by 40 cm shutter through
which he introduced the pellets with his right hand. This
performance was to be repeated six times. If he was not capable of
such a balancing act, the SS had to climb his little ladder three
times for each opening: first to open the shutter (up and down),
second to introduce the Zyklon-B (up and down) and third to close
the shutter (up and down). Six openings, eighteen times up and down
the ladder wearing a gasmask. A simulation shows that this exercise
would take 10 minutes. A few steps installed beneath each opening
would have avoided all this performance.
The very first
gassings showed that ventilation of the premises was a serious
problem. The arrangement of the doors on drawing 2036, which had not
taken account of the prevailing north wind, meant that ventilation
was slow and inefficient, with the attendant risk of contaminating
the rooms giving onto the vestibule if there should be a sudden gust
of wind from the west [Photos 15 and 16 in annex].
At
the beginning of April, fissures (“Rissee” in the German) began to
appear in the 8-muffle furnace of Krematorium IV, WHICH HAD BEEN
WORKING FOR TEN DAYS, just as Krematorium V was being handed over to
the camp administration. The Bauleitung informed Topf.
Summarizing, after Krematorium IV had been in operation for
one or two weeks, representing two or three gassings, the Bauleitung
found that:
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| 1. |
The furnace was starting to
crack; |
| 2. |
The natural ventilation was
badly oriented and dangerous; |
| 3. |
Introducing the poison resembled
a circus act. |
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| The following action
was taken to deal with these problems: |
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| 1. |
Topf foreman Willi Koch filled
in the “Risse”, but nothing was done to rectify their cause. If the
Bauleitung and Topf had been willing and able to face up to the
situation, they would have demolished the furnaces and rebuilt them
using better quality materials, but this was an unrealistic solution
with the war nearing its fifth year. |
| 2. |
A door was made in the external
wall of the corridor serving the gas chambers (facing north in
Krematorium IV and south in Kr V). By keeping the door between the
corridor and the vestibule closed after a gassing, a north/south
draught was created between the new door and that of one of the gas
chambers (to the south in Krematorium IV and to the north in Kr V).
This made the natural ventilation more efficient and removed the
danger of accidental poisoning. Furthermore, in order to make the
ventilation more rapid and even safer, at a meeting on 18th May 1943
there was talk of installing an air extraction system capable of
rendering the toxic atmosphere of the gas chambers harmless in less
than five minutes. |
| 3. |
The Zyklon-B introduction
openings were enlarged from 30 x 40 cm to 40 x 50 cm and the system
for opening and closing them was simplified. The method of
introduction remained the same, however, the camp authorities
considering that a little physical exercise would do the medical
orderlies responsible for gassing a world of good.
The
victims were not consulted however. They were not asked whether
death was very rapid (as initially planned) or not. Through not
modifying the method of introducing the poison gas into Krematorien
IV and V, the SS made the agony of the “unfit for work” longer and
more painful, with internal panics (“Lebenskampf / Struggle for
life,”) even more savage and desperate than in the gas chambers of
the Krematorien II and III. |
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In May 1943, the SS had to face up to the evidence.
More “Risse” had appeared and the 9-muffle furnace of Krematorium IV
had become unusable. After inspecting the damage on 17th or 18th
May, Topf engineer Prüfer confirmed the unpalatable truth. The Topf
guarantee was to expire in a few days, on 22nd and Prüfer was unable
to accept that his firm should bear the cost of constantly repairing
a furnace operated under such conditions. Unfortunately, we have no
record of Prüfer’s meeting with the Bauleitung on 18th May, which
must have been difficult for both parties, each of them being
partly, but not fully, responsible. and each having arguments in
their favor. The true cause of the “Risse” was the poor quality of
the refractory materials used, but everybody knew that it had not
been possible to get anything better. Two hundred thousand
Reichsmark had been thrown out of the window thanks to Prüfer’s
sales talk, and for a pitiful return: 5,000 to 10,000 corpses
cremated at the excessively high unit cost of between 20 and 40 RM.
Krematorium IV had also brought something in the form of cash,
jewelry, wedding rings, watches, platinum or gold teeth, clothing,
etc., but all in all a poor return on the expenditure incurred. All
concerned must have thought of this, but without being able to
mention such a “sordid” calculation.
Both sides tried
to be positive and save what could still be saved. The life of the
Krematorium IV furnace was over, but the gas chambers could still be
used. The furnaces of Krematorium II were intact, but its chimney
lining was damaged and the installation was shut down awaiting
repairs. Krematorium III was still far from finished. The entire
cremation capacity of Birkenau for the moment depended on
Krematorium V, a fragile instrument with the same basic faults as
Krematorium IV. By using it in moderation, it was possible to make
Krematorium V tide over the period until Krematorium II was repaired
and III completed. Once the cremation capacity of the camp was
restored, the troubles would be over. While everything depended on
Krematorium V, its efficiency had to be improved, and in particular
that of the gas chambers. Prüfer, always with an eye to business,
offered Bischoff an air extraction system with a capacity of 8,000
m3 an hour, enough to “clean” the noxious air of the gas chambers in
less than 5 minutes. The gas chambers of Krematorium IV still being
operational, they could benefit from a similar system. A Topf letter
of 9th June 1943 [Documents 11 and 12], evaluated the cost of
this project, the responsibility of Prüfer’s assistant. Schul[t]ze,
at a modest 2,510 RM. |
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[ The author would point out that NOTHING in this
letter indicates that the air extraction systems proposed for
Krematorien IV and V were for the gas chambers, and they could on
the face of it be for the furnace rooms. However, the chronology
of the evolution of the two Krematorien and the problems inherent
in their gas chambers support the thesis that the extraction
systems were for them. Any attempt to deny that Krematorium II was
shut down for repair, Kr IV permanently out of service and Kr V
subsequently mothballed comes up against the problem of the coke
consumption for the four Krematorien, which is known up to the end
of October 1943 and which shows that the quantities delivered
covered the requirements of 14 muffles only.]
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| The testimonies we have are very evasive about the
state of furnace and about what happened to Krematorium V between
the middle of 1943 and the beginning of May 1944. Handed over to the
camp administration on 4th April 1943 and operational as from 18th
April, Krematorium V was no doubt the only one in service from
mid-May until 25th June, the date on which Krematorium III was
handed over. Krematorium II was not back in service until 12th July
1943. As Krematorium V had to handle all cremations for a period of
almost two months, its furnace must have suffered accordingly, with
the appearance of “Risse”, the same causes producing the same
effects. However, as it was used more moderately it was still
semi-operational when it was mothballed at the end of June or
beginning of July 1943. |
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| Document 7 |
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Document 7
[PMO file BW
30/30, page 5] |
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Huta letter to the Auschwitz Bauleitung, dated 7th April 1943,
concerning the erection of the barbed wire fences round Krematorien
IV and V. In his letter Huta states that for the moment they cannot
employ the additional 60 prisoners who were to join the 20 already
working on the job, because the work has had to he interrupted
because of obstacles (rails). |
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AUSCHWITZ:
Technique
and operation
of the gas chambers
Jean-Claude Pressac
© 1989, The
Beate Klarsfeld Foundation |
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