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AUSCHWITZ:
Technique
and Operation
of
the Gas Chambers © | |
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Page 494 |
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from Wolbrom called Lejb. This Jew, aged about twenty, was dark
and had a number of one hundred thousand and something. All the
Sonderkommando working in the crematorium [Kr V] were assembled, and
before their eyes he was hung, with his hands tied behind his back,
from an iron bar above the firing hearths. He remained in this
position for about ane hour, then after untying his hands and feet,
they threw him in a cold crematorium furnace. Gasoline was poured
into the lower ash bin [that of the firebox at the back of the
furnace] and lit. The flames reached the muffle where this Lejb was
imprisoned. A few minutes later. they opened the door and the
condemned man emerged and ran off, covered in bums. He was ordered
to run round the yard shouting that he was a thief. Finally, he had
to climb the barbed wire, which was not electrified during the day.
and when he was at the top, the head of the crematoriums, Moll,
first name Otto [Hauptscharführer / Master sergeant], killed him
with a shot. Another time, the SS chased a prisoner who was not
working fast enough into a pit near the crematorium [V] that was
full of boiling human fat. At that time [summer 1944]. the corpses
were incinerated in open air pits, from which the fat flowed in to a
separate reservoir, dug in the ground. This fat was poured over the
corpses to accelerate their combustion. This poor devil was pulled
out of the fat still alive and then shot. To satisfy the
formalities, his body was carried to the block where the death
certificates (“Totenchein”) were issued. The next day. the corpse
was brought back to the crematorium [Kr V],where it was incinerated
in a pit [!].
During the cremation of this first
transport in mid-March 1943, we worked without interruption for 48
hours, but did not succeed in burning all the bodies, because in the
meantime a Greek convoy that had just arrived was also gassed. |
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[On 20th March, an RSHA convoy of 2800 Jews from
Salonika (Greece) arrived. At the selection, 609 were picked out
to work in the camp and the others were killed in the gas
chambers. However, the interval of 48 hours between the two
convoys indicated by Henryk Tauber is surely a mistake.
Admittedly, there was also on 16th March, a convoy of Jews from
the Cracow ghetto, some of whom were gassed, but the number of
arrivals is not known, but as we know that about forty were
registered in the camp, the total cannot have been more than about
200. Taking account of these imprecisions, it would appear that it
took 4 to 6 days to incinerate about 1500 corpses in the five
three-muflle furnaces of Krematorium II, which is very much at
odds with the throughput figures previously put forward by Henryk
Tauber and even by the SS OFFICIALLY (i.e. increased by one third)
estimating it at 1440 per 24 hours in a letter of 28th June 1943
(PMO file BW 30/43, page 2). It is reasonable to consider that the
initial throughput of Krematorium II reached a ceiling at 700
to750 incinerations a day. Then, with experience, this was raised
to about 1000 Any higher figure is unrealistic, and in certain
cases a downright lie.] |
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| We were overworked and completely exhausted. We were then taken
back to the block and the work continued, thanks to a relief
Sonderkommando that also worked at the two Bunkers and comprised
about 400 prisoners. I worked in Krematorium II until about
mid-April. During my stay, convoys arrived from Greece, France and
Holland. In addition, we also burned the corpses of people
designated for gassing at selections within the camp. I cannot say
how many people were gassed during this period. We worked in two
shifts. a day shift and a night shift. On average, we incinerated
2500 corpses a day. |
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[This figure is unrealistic (and is connected with the
propaganda of the immediate post-war period), taking into account
the previous declarations of Tauber himself. It would imply that
between 14th March and 15th April 1943, 70,000 to 75,000 victims
could have been reduced to ashes in Krematorium II. According by
Danuta Czech’s calendar of events in the camp, which despite its
imperfections is an essential research tool, about 20,000 people
were gassed during this period. Here we find almost the famous
multiplication factor of four, of which Dr Miklos Nyiszli made
such abundant and lamentable use in his book that his credibility
was long contested. Henryk Tauber is far from being the only
witness to say in substance “I don't know the number of dead” or
”I think it was so many” and then coolly say one or two sentences
later, that after due consideration, we do arrive at the
(standard) figure of 4 million victims in all. This type of
imposed falsehood has to he excused, I would stress. because of
the political climate of the period
1945-50]. |
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| At this time I was never able to see how the people were herded
into the undressing room, then from there into the gas chamber, for
when the convoys arrived we were locked up in the coke store. Only
the two members of the Sonderkommando who were required to keep the
fires going were allowed to remain in the “boiler room”. I came to
be detailed to this job myself. Through the window of the "boiler
room", I observed how the “Cyklon” [Zyklon-B] was poured into the
gas chamber. Each transport was followed by a vehicle with Red Cross
markings which entered the yard of the crematorium. carrying the
camp doctor, Mengele, accompanied by Rottenführer [corporal]
Scheimetz. They took the cans of “Cyklon” [Zyklon-B] from the car
and put them beside the small chimneys used to introduce the
“Cyklon”[Zyklon-B] into the gas chamber. There, Scheimetz opened
them with a special cold chisel (with a ring of teeth at its head)
and a hammer, then poured the contents into the gas chamber. Then he
closed the orifice with a concrete [or wooden] cover. As there were
four similar chimneys, Scheimetz poured into each the contents of
one of the smallest cans of “Cyklon” [Zyklon-B] , which had yellow
labels pasted right round them [see Docunents 32, 33 and 34].
Before opening the cans, Scheimetz put on a gas mask [see
Document 35] which he wore while opening the cans and pouring
in the product. There were also other SS who performed this
operation, but I have forgotten their names. They were specially
designated for it and belonged to the “Gesundheitswesen” [health
service]. A camp doctor [SS] was present at each gassing. If I have
mentioned Mengele, that is because I met him very often during my
work. In addition to him, there were other doctors present during
the gassings, like König, Thilo, and a young, tall, slight doctor
whose name I do not recall. During the selections, this last one
sent everybody to be gassed. I remember that on one occasion,
Mengele told Scheimetz to hurry up and “feed” the victims in the gas
chamber. His actual words were: “Scheimetz, gib ihnen das Fressen,
sie [?] sollen direkt nach Kattowitz fahren”. That meant that
Scheimetz was to get a move on with throwing in the "Cyklon" [Zyklon
B] . I also noticed during my work that the SS who escorted the
convoys and came into the crematorium yards were accompanied by dogs
and held truncheons in their hands. |
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| Documents 32 and 33: |
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| Two photographs of the same can of
Zyklon-B, kept in the PMO "Reserve stocks" in block 25, with a
content of 1600 g. corrected to 1500 g of hydrocyanic acid,
delivered by Tesch & Stalabenow, main distributor for the East
Reich. Four of these cans or 6 kilograms of HCN, were used to kill
1000 to 1500 people in the Leichenkeller 1 / gas chambers of
Krematorien II and III. |
| (Photos by the author) |
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Document
34: |
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Photograph of two Zyklon-B can
labels, kept in the PMO “Reserve stocks” in block 25. Above: 1200
gram can supplied by the distributor for the East Reich,Tesch &
Stabenow. Below: 1600 grams corrected to 1500 grams supplied by the
manufacturer, Degesch. |
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(Photo by the author)
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AUSCHWITZ:
Technique
and operation
of the gas chambers
Jean-Claude Pressac
© 1989, The
Beate Klarsfeld Foundation |
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