| Comments on Doctor Miklos Nyiszli's
account |
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| (1) |
Window: |
| Although from
Nyiszli’s book it is difficult to establish where he was housed, it
is certain that he slept in the “Aufenthaltsraum / [prisoners’ ]
rest room” on the ground floor of Krematorium II. From its double
window he would indeed have had a direct view of the “ramp”.
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| (2) |
Half an hour:
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| Often longer, an hour.
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| (3) |
Left-hand: |
| This does not
correspond to the position of the observer. These people were on the
“Hauptstrasse / main roads” leading to Krematorien II and III. To
see them “on the left” it was necessary to be in the middle of the
ramp and looking west. But they could also go “to the right” and
take the “Lagerstrasse A / camp road A” which led them via the
“Ringstrasse / ring road” to Krematorien IV and V.
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| (4) |
Fifteen Ventilators were
going simultaneously, one beside each oven: |
WRONG. There were in
fact five, one fan being mounted on the right hand side of each of
the five 3-muffle furnaces, which Nyiszli implicitly admits. [Ref BW
30/41, page 33. The five fans were installed by Messing, a civilian
employee of Messrs Topf & Sons, on Ist February 1943 ].
(multiplier to be applied to the facts to reach what is written:
3) |
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| (5) |
500 feet long:
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WRONG. Drawing 933,
confirmed by the ruins, indicates a length of 30 metres, or roughly
100 feet.
(Multiplier: 5) |
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| (6) |
Each of these fifteen ovens was
housed in a red brick structure: |
| Poorly observed. The
fifteen cremation ovens were in fact made up of five 3-muffle
furnaces. |
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| (7) |
swing-doors: |
| Perhaps not
swing-doors, but certainly double doors, still in place today.
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| (8) |
five abreast: |
| The photographs in the
“Album d’Auschwitz” confirm that they were in a column
five abreast, at least the men, as this rule did not apply to women
with children. |
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| (9) |
300 yards: |
| FAIRLY PRECISE. There
were 420 metres between Nyiszli’s window and the center of the ramp
where the selection was made. Taking into account that the head of
the “left hand” column advanced about a hundred metres down the main
road to make room for those following, before turning towards
Krematorien II and III, the distance is accurately
estimated. |
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| (10) |
Water faucets:
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| Confirmed by all the
overall plans of the Birkenau POW camp. There was a tap 10 meters to
the east of the waste incinerator wing. |
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| (11) |
100 yards: |
| CORRECT. The path from
the entrance to the Krematorium yard to the steps leading down to
the undressing room may vary a little, but it is almost exactly 100
meters. From the water tap to the undressing room steps is also a
little under 100 meters. |
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| (12) |
a cinder path edged with
green grass: |
| The aerial photographs
of Krematorium II taken by the Americans clearly show its
underground undressing room, bordered by a path — of cinders
according to Nyiszli — with a grass-covered space between it and the
northern barbed wire fence. |
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| (13) |
iron ramp: |
| Correct. These iron
railings were found in the “Bauhof” (yard for building materials)
when the camp was liberated [PMO neg. no. 897]. The holes
where they fitted on the right and left hand sides of the access
stairway are still visible in the ruins. |
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| (14) |
10 or 12 concrete steps:
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| Correct. Ten in
fact. |
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| (15) |
200 yards long:
|
WRONG. The length of
Leichenkeller 2 according to drawing 932 and the ruins is 50 meters.
(Multiplier: 4) |
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| (16) |
rows of
columns: |
| Wrong. ONE row of
eleven supporting pillars down the center of the room.
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| (17) |
3,000 people:
|
Exaggerated figure.
The true figure was certainly lower, probably 1000 to 1500 [see my
comments on Dr Bendel's testimony concerning this subject].
(Multiplier: 2.5) |
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| (18) |
within ten
minutes: |
| Much longer. During an
interview with David Olère, he told me that filling the gas chamber
[of Krematorium III], including the time taken to undress, “took
hours”. |
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| (19) |
swing doors of the large
oaken gate at the end of the room: |
| Perhaps not swing
doors, but broad double doors confirmed by the drawings.
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| (20) |
The crowd flowed through it,
into another: |
| Not directly. The
people passed through a “Vorraum / vestibule” before entering the
gas chamber. |
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| (21) |
This second room was the same
size as the first: |
WRONG. Drawing 932 and
the ruins prove that Leichenkeller 1, the gas chamber, was 30 metres
long.
(Multiplier: 6.7) |
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| (22) |
Thirty yard intervals /
supporting columns / square sheet-iron pipes: |
| This passage as Dr
Nyiszli SHOULD HAVE WRITTEN IT is as follows: |
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Down the center of the room,
about every 3 or 4 metres [distance between centers 3.80mn, space
between pillars 3.40m according to drawing 932] seven [central
]pillars rose from the concrete floor to the ceiling. These were the
supporting pillars. But on the left, between these pillars and the
east wall, four others could be seen, 7 or 8 meters apart, also of
square section, the corners being angle iron and the faces of wire
grid. |
| (Multiplier for
distance between gas introduction columns: 4. Furthermore, 4 pillars
separated by 30 metres gives a total length of 120 to 150 m, or 50
to 80 meters less than Nyiszli ’s earlier estimate)
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| (23) |
a deluxe model:
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| Subjective remark.
David Olère has drawn a Red Cross van bringing the
Zyklon-B. |
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| (24) |
SDG /
Sanitätsdienstgefreiter: |
| Incorrect. SDG is an
abbreviation for Sanitätsdienstgrade or SS medical orderly
NCO. Gefreiter was the equivalent of corporal in the
Wehrmacht, not in the SS where this rank was Sturmmann. Hoess
refers to these men as “trained disinfectors” [“Commandant of
Auschwitz”, page 211].
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