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AUSCHWITZ:
Technique
and Operation
of
the Gas Chambers © | |
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| these convoys. Just before the arrival of the Hungarian
transports, he ordered pits to be dug alongside Krematorium V
[Document 39] and restarted the activity of Bunker 2, which
had been lying idle, and its pits. In the yard of the Krematorium,
there were notices on posts. with inscriptions telling the new
arrivals from the transports that they were to go to the camp where
work was waiting for them, but that first they had to take a bath
and undergo disinfestation. For that, it was necessary for them to
undress and put all their valuables in baskets specially placed for
this purpose in the yard. Moll repeated the same thing in his
speeches to the new arrivals. There were so many convoys that
sometimes it happened that the gas chambers were incapable of
containing all the new arrivals. The excess people were generally
shot, one at a time. On several occasions, Moll threw people into
the flaming pits alive. He also practised shooting people from a
distance [see David Olère’s sketch, Document 40, associating
these two practices]. He ill-treated and beat the Sonderkommando
prisoners, treating them like animals. Those who were in his
personal service told us that he used a piece of wire to fish out
gold objects from the box containing the jewels taken from new
arrivals, and took them off in a briefcase. Among the objects left
by the people who came to be gassed, he took furs and different
types of food, in particular fat. When he took food, he said
smilingly to the SS around him that one had to take advantage before
the lean years came. Under his direction, the Sonderkommando was
strengthened and increased to about 1000 prisoners. When I arrived
in the Sonderkommando, it comprised only about 400 men. a number
that was maintained until January or February 1944. It was at this
time that a convoy of about 300 of its members was sent to Lublin
[Maidanek]. Before I arrived in the Sonderkommando, about 50
prisoners a week were regularly added to it. Despite these constant
additions. many died and there were no more than 400 prisoners in it
when I started to work there. After the convoy departed for Lublin,
there were one hundred of us left. They then sent us 20 Russians and
a German, called Karol, as Capo. The Sonderkommando also received
several dozen prisoners, among others gold founders [Goldgiesser]
and the “stokers” of Auschwitz Krematorium I, so that in April 1944.
the Sonderkommando comprised about 160 prisoners. At the end of
the |
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Document 36:
[PMO neg. no. 859]
Ruins of the 8-muffle furnace
of Krematorium V, northwest corner, photographed in 1945-46, with, a
“Leichenbrett” (metal corpse-charging stretcher) resting on its
rollers. At ground level, two lower openings where the [human] ash
bins were placed. In the background, the debris of the building,
carefully heaped up. |
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| Document 37 |
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Document 37
[PMO
neg. no. 891] |
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Krematorium
equipment found in the Auschwitz Bauhof in 1945. |
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Center: Five fire irons
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Above: Three bins for receiving
human or coke ashes (neg. no. 892) |
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Upper left: Metal parts or fire
bars (neg. no. 890) from the four fire-boxes of the 8-muffle furnace
of Krematorium IV |
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Bottom right: Two pairs of
rollers for supporting the metal stretchers used to charge the
corpses |
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Document
38 |
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| Document 38: |
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| Sketch by David Olère, dating
from 1945, showing the furnace room of Krematorium III, with three
prisoners charging corpses loaded on a stretcher, using a technique
slightly different front that described by Henryk Tauber. The pair
of movable rollers visible on the end furnace is unused and replaced
by an iron bar or piece of wood to guide and take the weight of the
stretcher. Note the faithful representation of the fire irons used.
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AUSCHWITZ:
Technique
and operation
of the gas chambers
Jean-Claude Pressac
© 1989, The
Beate Klarsfeld Foundation |
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