Globus
01-19-2007, 09:30 PM
Crematoria II and III were constructed according to nearly identical, symmetrically printed plans. They consisted of three principal parts, two of which were underground –the “dressing room”, with an area of 392.45 sq. m (49.49 x 7.93), and the gas chamber, 210 sq. m (30 x 7). The “dressing room” was 2.3 m high, the gas chamber 2.4 meter high. The third part, the furnace room, was 337.2 sq. m (30 x 11.24) and was on the ground floor.
The two underground rooms, designated on camp charts as mortuaries (Leichenkeller), were windowless and had to be lit artificially. The ceiling, which was made of reinforced concrete and covered with grass turf, was supported by concrete posts arrayed in a straight line and linked by a bearing beam. According to the original plan, the “undressing room” was to be nearly twice as large as the gas chamber to enable the victims to undress in relatively uncramped conditions. Both the gas chamber and the “dressing room” were mechanically ventilated. The power was supplied by generators in the attic of the crematorium. The outlet of the ventilation shafts was situated above the room of the crematorium.
Wooden benches were placed along the walls of the “dressing room.” Above them were numbered wooden clothes hooks. A narrow passage, about 5 m long, connected the “dressing room” with the gas chamber. The passage ended with a spacious anteroom with an entrance to the gas chamber. The entrance door, 1.92 m high and 1 m wide, was made of two layers of planks with a proofing sheet between them. The edges of the door and the door frame were padded with felt. A circular peephole, made of two glass plates 8 mm thick and air-proofed with rubber gaskets, was mounted in the door at eye level. After several incidents in which the victims trapped inside broke the glass, the peephole was covered with a semicircular grille on the gas chamber side. Later the hole was covered with a sheet of iron. The doors were shut by means of iron bolts, which also served as door handles, and secured with screws. The inside walls of the gas chamber were plastered and whitewashed. Electrical installations and lamps were located on both sides of the bearing beam, and perforated plates mounted on wooden blocks were installed beneath the ceiling in imitation of showers. Ventilation shafts were situated where the walls met the ceiling and the floor. The vent of the upper (intake) shaft was covered with perforated sheet iron, whereas the vent of the lower (extraction) shaft was covered with a metal grille.
Zyklon B was distributed in the gas chamber through four introduction columns custom-made in the metalwork shops of the camp. They were shaped like pillars and made of two wire grids with a movable core. Cross sections of the pillars, 3 m high, formed a square, each side measuring 70 cm. Fastened to the floor, they passed through openings in the ceiling, ending outside as little chimneys closed with a concrete cover equipped with two handles. The external grid (made of wire 3 mm thick) formed interstices measuring 45 mm x 45 mm, and was fastened to cube-shaped metal scantlings (cross section 50 mm x 10 mm). Interstices of the external grid --150mm apart from the internal grid and similarly fastened – were smaller (25 mm x 25 mm). The two grids served as a screen for the movable core that could be introduced through the opening in the ceiling. The core consisted of a tin prism measuring 150 mm x 150 mm at the cross section. The bottom of the core was flat, and the top was a cone. A wire mesh with interstices of one sq. mm extended from the base of the core to the base of the cone, and was fastened to a post 25 mm away. The entire length of the core was covered with tin. When Zyklon B pellets fell onto the cone, they spread uniformly throughout the core and stopped in its lower part. After the gas evaporated, the entire core was removed from the gas chamber and the used pellets of diatomite were poured out.
[…]
The extermination process and cremation of the corpses in crematoria II and III went as follows. After selection for death, the Jews who could walk were marched from the loading ramp to the crematorium. The weak, the invalid, and the sick were transported on trucks. In the crematorium yard, the SS men told the prisoners that they would undergo a disinfection that consisted of delousing and bathing. The victims were led down the staircase to the dressing room in the basement, where they could see the signs (in German) “To the Baths” and “To Disinfection.” Similar signs were posted on a portable board in the native language of the victims.
On the way to the gas chamber some victims were issued a piece of soap and a towel. As a rule, the women and children went in first, followed by the men. Each group was led inside the chamber behind a cordon of SS men that edged toward the door as the chamber filled. With the refractory ones spurred on by blows and dogs, about 2,000 persons on average were crammed inside.
When the chamber was full or the entire transport was inside and the personnel had left (two SS noncommissioned officers always stayed until the end), the doors were shut, the bolts were slid into place, and the screws were tightened. On order of the supervising SS doctor (the job was assigned to, among others, Josef Mengele, Hans Konig, and Hans Thilo), the SS disinfectors (Scheinmetz, among others) opened the Zyklon B cans and poured their contents into the vents down the induction shafts inside the chamber.
Within several minutes, 20 at most, all the victims were dead. The time required for the gas to take effect depended on various factors that affected the evaporation of the gas: temperature, humidity, the congestion inside the chamber. Whenever the outside air temperature was higher than the inside temperature, the cool air was extracted by ventilators from the chamber before the gas pellets were poured inside. To speed up the evaporation of the poison gas in winter, iron baskets filled with red-hot coke were brought inside. Some unsuccessful attempts were made to heat the chamber interior with heat from the chimney flues.
Hoess, who personally observed the killing in the gas chambers, described the process:
“It could be observed through the peephole in the door that those who were standing nearest to the induction vents were killed at once. It can be said that about one-third died straightaway. The remainder staggered about and began to scream and struggle for air. The screaming, however, soon changed to the death rattle and in a few minutes all lay still”
About a half hour after the induction of the gas, the ventilation was turned on, the door was opened, and Sonderkommando prisoners wearing gas masks began dragging the corpses out of the chamber. In cases of great congestion, many of the dead were found half-squatting, their skin colored pink with occasional red or green spots. Some foamed at the mouth, others bled from the ears.
In the gas chamber’s anteroom, the bodies were relieved of spectacles and artificial limbs, and the women’s hair was cut off. Thereupon the corpses were loaded on the elevator platform and lifted to the ground floor. Some of the corpses were dragged directly to the oven area. Others were moved to the corpse storage room opposite the elevator, which also served as a site of executions by shooting. Just before the incineration, Sonderkommando prisoners removed jewelry, which they tossed into a special numbered crate.
Teeth with metal fillings, crowns, and bridges made of gold or other precious metals were extracted from the mouths of the gassed victims and deposited in a crate marked “Zahnstation” (dental station). Sonderkommando prisoners who were dentists by occupation performed this task under SS supervision. The only ones whose mouths were not inspected were children. If in the course of the sporadic inspections it was established that not all gold teeth had been extracted, occasionally the Sonderkommando prisoner guilty of neglect was punished by being thrown alive into the furnace.
It took about four hours to empty the gas chamber. Initially the corpses were delivered to the furnaces on small trolleys that ran on rails, as was done in the main camp. The trolleys also served to load the corpses into the furnace retorts. This arrangement, however, did not last long. On the initiative of the Kapo August Bruck, special corpse stretchers, which could be rolled into the retorts, were introduced. To facilitate the loading, the corpse stretchers were lubricated with soapy water. Methods of loading the corpses varied; each team servicing the furnaces had its own technique. For example, H. Tauber’s team would put two corpses into one retort two times, then add as many children’s corpses as possible to the second load.
It took about 20 minutes to cremate three corpses in one retort. However, in their efforts to reduce the number of loadings, prisoners cremated four to five corpses at one time and extended the cremation time to about 25 to 30 minutes. When the time was up, the next load would be put into the retort, regardless of the degree of incineration of the preceding load. The incompletely incinerated bones fell through the grille into the ash pit, were ground with wooden mortars along with the ashes, then poured into pits near the crematorium. Next they were removed from the pits and poured into the Vistula River or nearby ponds. Sometimes they were used to prepare compost; other times they were used directly to fertilize the fields of the camp farms.
Anatomy of the Auschwitz Death Camp
Indiana University Press
1998
p. 166-167, 169-171
The two underground rooms, designated on camp charts as mortuaries (Leichenkeller), were windowless and had to be lit artificially. The ceiling, which was made of reinforced concrete and covered with grass turf, was supported by concrete posts arrayed in a straight line and linked by a bearing beam. According to the original plan, the “undressing room” was to be nearly twice as large as the gas chamber to enable the victims to undress in relatively uncramped conditions. Both the gas chamber and the “dressing room” were mechanically ventilated. The power was supplied by generators in the attic of the crematorium. The outlet of the ventilation shafts was situated above the room of the crematorium.
Wooden benches were placed along the walls of the “dressing room.” Above them were numbered wooden clothes hooks. A narrow passage, about 5 m long, connected the “dressing room” with the gas chamber. The passage ended with a spacious anteroom with an entrance to the gas chamber. The entrance door, 1.92 m high and 1 m wide, was made of two layers of planks with a proofing sheet between them. The edges of the door and the door frame were padded with felt. A circular peephole, made of two glass plates 8 mm thick and air-proofed with rubber gaskets, was mounted in the door at eye level. After several incidents in which the victims trapped inside broke the glass, the peephole was covered with a semicircular grille on the gas chamber side. Later the hole was covered with a sheet of iron. The doors were shut by means of iron bolts, which also served as door handles, and secured with screws. The inside walls of the gas chamber were plastered and whitewashed. Electrical installations and lamps were located on both sides of the bearing beam, and perforated plates mounted on wooden blocks were installed beneath the ceiling in imitation of showers. Ventilation shafts were situated where the walls met the ceiling and the floor. The vent of the upper (intake) shaft was covered with perforated sheet iron, whereas the vent of the lower (extraction) shaft was covered with a metal grille.
Zyklon B was distributed in the gas chamber through four introduction columns custom-made in the metalwork shops of the camp. They were shaped like pillars and made of two wire grids with a movable core. Cross sections of the pillars, 3 m high, formed a square, each side measuring 70 cm. Fastened to the floor, they passed through openings in the ceiling, ending outside as little chimneys closed with a concrete cover equipped with two handles. The external grid (made of wire 3 mm thick) formed interstices measuring 45 mm x 45 mm, and was fastened to cube-shaped metal scantlings (cross section 50 mm x 10 mm). Interstices of the external grid --150mm apart from the internal grid and similarly fastened – were smaller (25 mm x 25 mm). The two grids served as a screen for the movable core that could be introduced through the opening in the ceiling. The core consisted of a tin prism measuring 150 mm x 150 mm at the cross section. The bottom of the core was flat, and the top was a cone. A wire mesh with interstices of one sq. mm extended from the base of the core to the base of the cone, and was fastened to a post 25 mm away. The entire length of the core was covered with tin. When Zyklon B pellets fell onto the cone, they spread uniformly throughout the core and stopped in its lower part. After the gas evaporated, the entire core was removed from the gas chamber and the used pellets of diatomite were poured out.
[…]
The extermination process and cremation of the corpses in crematoria II and III went as follows. After selection for death, the Jews who could walk were marched from the loading ramp to the crematorium. The weak, the invalid, and the sick were transported on trucks. In the crematorium yard, the SS men told the prisoners that they would undergo a disinfection that consisted of delousing and bathing. The victims were led down the staircase to the dressing room in the basement, where they could see the signs (in German) “To the Baths” and “To Disinfection.” Similar signs were posted on a portable board in the native language of the victims.
On the way to the gas chamber some victims were issued a piece of soap and a towel. As a rule, the women and children went in first, followed by the men. Each group was led inside the chamber behind a cordon of SS men that edged toward the door as the chamber filled. With the refractory ones spurred on by blows and dogs, about 2,000 persons on average were crammed inside.
When the chamber was full or the entire transport was inside and the personnel had left (two SS noncommissioned officers always stayed until the end), the doors were shut, the bolts were slid into place, and the screws were tightened. On order of the supervising SS doctor (the job was assigned to, among others, Josef Mengele, Hans Konig, and Hans Thilo), the SS disinfectors (Scheinmetz, among others) opened the Zyklon B cans and poured their contents into the vents down the induction shafts inside the chamber.
Within several minutes, 20 at most, all the victims were dead. The time required for the gas to take effect depended on various factors that affected the evaporation of the gas: temperature, humidity, the congestion inside the chamber. Whenever the outside air temperature was higher than the inside temperature, the cool air was extracted by ventilators from the chamber before the gas pellets were poured inside. To speed up the evaporation of the poison gas in winter, iron baskets filled with red-hot coke were brought inside. Some unsuccessful attempts were made to heat the chamber interior with heat from the chimney flues.
Hoess, who personally observed the killing in the gas chambers, described the process:
“It could be observed through the peephole in the door that those who were standing nearest to the induction vents were killed at once. It can be said that about one-third died straightaway. The remainder staggered about and began to scream and struggle for air. The screaming, however, soon changed to the death rattle and in a few minutes all lay still”
About a half hour after the induction of the gas, the ventilation was turned on, the door was opened, and Sonderkommando prisoners wearing gas masks began dragging the corpses out of the chamber. In cases of great congestion, many of the dead were found half-squatting, their skin colored pink with occasional red or green spots. Some foamed at the mouth, others bled from the ears.
In the gas chamber’s anteroom, the bodies were relieved of spectacles and artificial limbs, and the women’s hair was cut off. Thereupon the corpses were loaded on the elevator platform and lifted to the ground floor. Some of the corpses were dragged directly to the oven area. Others were moved to the corpse storage room opposite the elevator, which also served as a site of executions by shooting. Just before the incineration, Sonderkommando prisoners removed jewelry, which they tossed into a special numbered crate.
Teeth with metal fillings, crowns, and bridges made of gold or other precious metals were extracted from the mouths of the gassed victims and deposited in a crate marked “Zahnstation” (dental station). Sonderkommando prisoners who were dentists by occupation performed this task under SS supervision. The only ones whose mouths were not inspected were children. If in the course of the sporadic inspections it was established that not all gold teeth had been extracted, occasionally the Sonderkommando prisoner guilty of neglect was punished by being thrown alive into the furnace.
It took about four hours to empty the gas chamber. Initially the corpses were delivered to the furnaces on small trolleys that ran on rails, as was done in the main camp. The trolleys also served to load the corpses into the furnace retorts. This arrangement, however, did not last long. On the initiative of the Kapo August Bruck, special corpse stretchers, which could be rolled into the retorts, were introduced. To facilitate the loading, the corpse stretchers were lubricated with soapy water. Methods of loading the corpses varied; each team servicing the furnaces had its own technique. For example, H. Tauber’s team would put two corpses into one retort two times, then add as many children’s corpses as possible to the second load.
It took about 20 minutes to cremate three corpses in one retort. However, in their efforts to reduce the number of loadings, prisoners cremated four to five corpses at one time and extended the cremation time to about 25 to 30 minutes. When the time was up, the next load would be put into the retort, regardless of the degree of incineration of the preceding load. The incompletely incinerated bones fell through the grille into the ash pit, were ground with wooden mortars along with the ashes, then poured into pits near the crematorium. Next they were removed from the pits and poured into the Vistula River or nearby ponds. Sometimes they were used to prepare compost; other times they were used directly to fertilize the fields of the camp farms.
Anatomy of the Auschwitz Death Camp
Indiana University Press
1998
p. 166-167, 169-171