Gas chamber shown to tourists in Auschwitz camp
I took the photo above in October 2005 on my second visit to Auschwitz. Today, millions of tourists are shuffled through this room where they are told that this is a reconstruction of the gas chamber that was used in the main Auschwitz camp. On my first trip to Auschwitz in 1998, my tour guide told me that the gas chamber was original. Now, tourists are told that this room is a “reconstruction” of the original gas chamber.
On the left side of the photo, you can see one of the ovens where the bodies were burned. If this is a gas chamber, where were the bodies, of prisoners who had died from disease, kept until they could be burned? There is no morgue in the gas chamber building, other than this room, which is obviously a morgue.
In the background of the photo is a door that was added when the Nazis converted this room into an air raid shelter. For years, tourists were told that this door was the original door into the gas chamber.
If you don’t believe that this is a gas chamber, you could go to prison for up to 5 years in 19 difference countries. By the time that America has a Holocaust denial law, I’ll be dead, but just remember what I told you.
Scrapbookpages Blog 
I love the way the Germans ‘climbed a ladder’ on to the roof to administer the Zyklon B. Maybe that’s how an East European village idiot would have done it; I’m quite sure if the Germans were doing this every day they would have designed the building in a different way, or at least erected some scaffolding to make it easier. But then again I’m not an East European village idiot. I do however observe them every day and yes they do live up to their title….
Comment by DB — May 23, 2013 @ 1:59 pm
There was no need for a ladder to climb up on top of the roof of the gas chamber in the main camp. It was easy to climb up on the roof, as I did in 1998. You can see photos of the building where I climbed up on this page of my website: http://www.scrapbookpages.com/AuschwitzScrapbook/Tour/Auschwitz1/Auschwitz07.html
Comment by furtherglory — May 23, 2013 @ 2:43 pm
Here are some Quotes from those Nazis who witnessed these atrocities. Interesting now one was denying the Gas chambers, only that (in some cases) it was another Nazi, or in one testimony a camp commander stated that he was at the camp when the gas chambers were not in operation. Something tells me that if there were no gas chambers these individuals would not be testifying there were. Anyway pretty explicit stuff for the Nazi Stooges who want to deny the existance of the Holocaust:
From the statement of Hans Stark, registrar of new arrivals, Auschwitz.
Quoted in “‘The Good Old Days'” – E. Klee, W. Dressen, V. Riess, The Free Press, NY, 1988, p. 255:
At another, later gassing–also in autumn 1941–Grabner* ordered me to pour Zyklon B into the opening because only one medical orderly had shown up. During a gassing Zyklon B had to be poured through both openings of the gas-chamber room at the same time. This gassing was also a transport of 200-250 Jews, once again men, women and children. As the Zyklon B–as already mentioned–was in granular form, it trickled down over the people as it was being poured in. They then started to cry out terribly for they now knew what was happening to them. I did not look through the opening because it had to be closed as soon as the Zyklon B had been poured in. After a few minutes there was silence. After some time had passed, it may have been ten to fifteen minutes, the gas chamber was opened. The dead lay higgledy-piggedly all over the place. It was a dreadful sight.
* Maximillian Grabner, Head of Political Department, Auschwitz
Testimony of SS private Hoeblinger.
Extracted from “Der Auschwitz Prozess”, by Hermann Langbein, Vol. I, quoted in “Auschwitz: Technique and operation of the gas chambers – J.C Pressac, the Beate Klarsfeld Foundation, NY, 1989, p. 174:
I was detailed to the transport service and I drove the Sanka [abbreviation for Sanitatskraftwagon/medical truck] which was to carry the prisoners….
Then we drove to the gas chambers. The medical orderlies climbed a ladder, they had gas masks up there, and emptied the cans. I was able to observe the prisoners while they were undressing. It always proceeded quitely and without them suspecting anything. It happened very quickly.
Testimony of SS private Boeck.
Extracted from “Der Auschwitz Prozess”, by Hermann Langbein, Vol. I, quoted in “Auschwitz: Technique and operation of the gas chambers – J.C Pressac, the Beate Klarsfeld Foundation, NY, 1989, p. 181:
Q: were you present at a gassing operation one day?
A: Yes, it was one evening. I accompanied the driver Hoeblinger. A transport had arrived from Holland and the prisoners had to jump from the wagons. They were well-off Jews. There were women with Persian furs. They arrived by express train. The trucks were already there, with wooden steps before them, and the people climbed aboard. Then they all started off. In the place Birkenau once stood, there was only a long farmhouse (Bunker 2) and beside it four or five big huts. Inside, the people were standing on clothes which were building up on the floor. The block leader and the sergeant, carrying a cane, were there. Hoeblinger said to me ‘lets go over there now’. There was a sign ‘to disinfection’. He said ‘you see, they are bringing children now’. They opened the door, threw the children in and closed the door. There was a terrible cry. A member of the SS climbed on the roof. The people went on crying for about ten minutes. Then the prisoners opened the doors. Everything was in disorder and contorted. Heat was given off. The bodies were loaded on a rough wagon and taken to a ditch. The next batch were already undressing in the huts. After that I didn’t look at my wife for four weeks.
Testimony of SS-Unterscharfuehrer Pery Broad, describing gassing in Krema I in Auschwitz.
Quoted in “KL Auschwitz as Seen by the SS”, p. 176:
… The “disinfectors” were at work. One of them was SS-Unterscharf�hrer Teuer, decorated with the Cross of War Merit. With a chisel and a hammer they opened a few innocuously looking tins which bore the inscription “Cyclon, to be used against vermin. Attention, poison! to be opened by trained personnel only!”. The tins were filled to the brim with blue granules the size of peas. Immediately after opening the tins, their contents was thrown into the holes which were then quickly covered. Meanwhile Grabner gave a sign to the driver of a lorry, which had stopped close to the crematorium. The driver started the motor and its deafening noise was louder than the death cries of the hundreds of people inside, being gassed to death.
Testimony of SS-Unterscharf�hrer Schluch, In the Belzec-Oberhauser trial.
Quoted in “BELZEC, SOBIBOR, TREBLINKA – the Operation Reinhard Death Camps”, Indiana University Press – Yitzhak Arad, 1987, p. 70-71:
After leaving the undressing barracks, I had to show the Jews the way to the gas chambers. I believe that when I showed the Jews the way they were convinced that they were really going to the baths. After the Jews entered the gas chambers, the doors were closed by Hackenholt himself or by the Ukrainians subordinated to him. Then Hackenholt switched on the engine which supplied the gas…
I could see that the lips and tips of the noses were a bluish color. Some of them had their closed, other’s eyes rolled. The bodies were dragged out of the gas chambers and inspected by a dentist, who removed finger rings and gold teeth…
Testimony of SS-Oberscharf�hrer Kurt Bolender, In the Belzec-Oberhauser trial>
[Quoted in “BELZEC, SOBIBOR, TREBLINKA – the Operation Reinhard Death Camps”, Indiana University Press – Yitzhak Arad, 1987, p. 76:
Before the Jews undressed, Oberscharf�hrer Michel made a speech to them. On these occasions, he used to wear a white coat to give the impression that he was a physician. Michel announced to the Jews that they would be sent to work, but before this they would have to take baths and undergo disinfection so as to prevent the spread of diseases… After undressing, the Jews were taken through the so-called Schlauch. They were led to the gas chambers not by the Germans but by the Ukrainians…After the Jews entered the gas chambers, the Ukrainians closed the doors. The motor which supplied the gas was switched on by a Ukrainian named Emil and by a German driver called Erich Bauer from Berlin. After the gassing, the door were opened and the corpses removed….
SS-Untersturmf�hrer Oberhauser on the death camp at Belzec.
Quoted in ‘The Good Old Days’ – E. Klee, W. Dressen, V. Riess, The Free Press, NY, 1988., p. 228-230:
The camp of Belzec was situated north-east of the Tomaszo’w to Lemberg [Lvov] road beyond the village of Belzec. As the camp needed a siding for the arriving transports the camp was built about 400 meters from Belzec station. The camp itself was divided into two sections: section 1 and section 2. The siding led directly from Belzec station into section 2 of the camp, in which the undressing barracks as well as the gas installations and the burial field were situated…
The gassing of Jews which took place in Belzec camp up till 1 August 1942 can be divided into two phases. During the first series of experiments there were two to three transports consisting of four to six freight cars each holding twenty to forty persons. On the average 150 Jews were delivered and killed per transport. At that stage the gassings were not yet part of a systematic eradication action but were carried out to test and study closely the camp’s capacity and the technical problems involved in carrying out a gassing…
At the beginning of May 1942 SS-Oberf�hrer Brack from the F�hrer’s chancellery suddenly came to Lublin. With Globocnik he discussed resuming the extermination of the Jews. Globocnik said he had too few people to carry out this programme. Brack stated that the euthanasia programme had stopped and that the people from T4 would from now on be detailed to him on a regular basis so that the decisions taken at the Wannsee conference could be implemented. As it appeared that it would not be possible for the Einsatzgruppen to clear individual areas of Jews and the people in the large ghettos of Warsaw and Lemberg by shooting them, the decision had been taken to set up two further extermination camps which would be ready by 1 August 1942, namely Treblinka and Sobibor. The large-scale extermination programme [Vernichtungsaktion] was due to start on 1 August 1942.
About a week after Brack had come to Globocnik, Wirth and his staff returned to Belzec. The second series of experiments went on until 1 August 1942. During this period a total of five to six transports (as far as I am aware) consisting of five to seven freight cars containing thirty to forty people came to Belzec. The Jews from two of these transports were gassed in the small chamber, but then Wirth had the gas huts pulled down and built a massive new building with a much larger capacity. It was here that the Jews from the rest of the transport were gassed.
During the first experiments and the first set of transports in the second series of experiments bottled gas was still used for gassing; however, for the last transports of the second series of experiments the Jews were killed with the exhaust gases from a tank or lorry engine which was operated by Hackenholt.
Professor Wilhelm Pfannenstiel, Waffen-SS hygienist, on a gassing at Belzec.
Quoted in ‘The Good Old Days’ – E. Klee, W. Dressen, V. Riess, The Free Press, NY, 1988., p. 238-244:
When I am asked about executions of Jews I must confirm that on 19 August 1942 I witnessed an execution of Jews at Belzec extermination camp. I would like to describe how I came to be there. During my conversations with SS-Brigadefuehrer Globocnik, he told me about the large spinning-mills that he had set up in Belzec. He also mentioned that work at this camp would considerably outstrip German production. When I asked him where the spinning materials came from, he told me proudly that they had come from the Jews. At this point he also mentioned the extermination actions against the Jews, who for the most part were killed at the the camp at Belzec…
During this first visit I was taken around by a certain Polizieihauptmann named Wirth, who also showed and explained to me the extermination installations at the camp. He told me that the following morning a new transport of about 500 Jews would be arriving at the camp who would be channeled through these extermination chambers. He asked me whether I would like to watch one of these extermination actions, to which, after a great deal of reflection, I consented. I planned to submit a report to the Reichsarzt-SS about the extermination actions. In order to write a report I had, however, first to observe an action with my own eyes. I remained in the camp, spent the night there and was witness to the following events the next morning.
A goods train traveled directly into the camp of Belzec, the freight cars were opened and Jews whom I believe were from the area of Romania or Hungary were unloaded. The cars were crammed fairly full. There were men, women and children of every age. They were ordered to get into line and then had to proceed to an assembly area and take off their shoes…
After the Jews had removed their shoes they were separated by sex. The women went together with the children into a hut. There their hair was shorn and they had to get undressed… The men went into another hut, where they received the same treatment. I saw what happened in the women’s hut with my own eyes. After they had undressed, the whole procedure went fairly quickly. They ran naked from the hut through a hedge into the actual extermination centre. The whole extermination centre looked just like a normal delousing institution. In front of the building there were pots of geraniums and a sign saying “Hackenholt Foundation”, above which there was a star of David. The building was brightly and pleasantly painted so as not to suggest people would be killed here…
Inside the buildings, the Jews had to enter chambers into which was channeled the exhaust of a [100(?)]-HP engine, located in the same building. In it there were six such extermination chambers. They were windowless, had electric lights and two doors. One door led outside so that the bodies could be removed. People were led from a corridor into the chambers through an ordinary air-tight door with bolts. There was a glass peep-hole, as I recall, next to the door in the wall. Through this window one could watch what was happening inside the room but only when it was not too full of people. After a short time the glass became steamed up. When the people had been locked in the room the motor was switched on and then I suppose the stop-valves or vents to the chambers opened. Whether they were stop-valves or vents I would not like to say. It is possible that the pipe led directly to the chambers. Once the engine was running, the light in the chambers was switched off. This was followed by palpable disquiet in the chamber. In my view it was only then that the people sensed something else was in store for them. It seemed to me that behind the thick walls and door they were praying and shouting for help.
Testimony of Treblinka’s second commandant, Stangl.
Quoted in “BELZEC, SOBIBOR, TREBLINKA – the Operation Reinhard Death Camps”, Indiana University Press – Yitzhak Arad, 1987, p. 184:
Michel [the sergeant-major of the camp] told me later that Wirth suddenly appeared, looked around on the gas chambers on which they were still working, and said: ‘right, we’ll try it out right now with those twenty-five working Jews. Get them up here’. They marched our twenty-five Jews up there and just pushed them in and gassed them. Michel said Wirth behaved like a lunatic, hitting at his own staff with his whip to drive them on…
Willi Mentz testifies about his days in Treblinka.
Quoted in ‘The Good Old Days’ – E. Klee, W. Dressen, V. Riess, The Free Press, NY, 1988., p. 245-247:
When I came to Treblinka the camp commandant was a doctor named Dr. Eberl. He was very ambitious. It was said that he ordered more transports than could be “processed” in the camp. That meant that trains had to wait outside the camp because the occupants of the previous transport had not yet all been killed. At the time it was very hot and as a result of the long wait inside the transport trains in the intense heat many people died. At the time whole mountains of bodies lay on the platform. The Hauptsturmfuehrer Christian Wirth came to Treblinka and kicked up a terrific row. And then one day Dr. Eberl was no longer there…
For about two months I worked in the upper section of the camp and then after Eberl had gone everything in the camp was reorganized. The two parts of the camp were separated by barbed wire fences. Pine branches were used so that you could not see through the fences. The same thing was done along the route from the “transfer” area to the gas chambers…
Finally, new and larger gas chambers were built. I think that there were now five or six larger gas chambers. I cannot say exactly how many people these large gas chambers held. If the small gas chambers could hold 80-100 people, the large ones could probably hold twice that number…
Following the arrival of a transport, six to eight cars would be shunted into the camp, coming to a halt at the platform there. The commandant, his deputy Franz, Kuettner and Stadie or Maetzig would be here waiting as the transport came in. Further SS members were also present to supervise the unloading: for example, Genz and Belitz had to make absolutely sure that there was no one left in the car after the occupants had been ordered to get out.
When the Jews had got off, Stadie or Maetzig would have a short word with them. They were told something to the effect that they were a resettlement transport, that they would be given a bath and that they would receive new clothes. They were also instructed to maintain quiet and disciplined. They would continue their journey the following day.
Then the transports were taken off to the so-called “transfer” area. The women had to undress in huts and the men out in the open. The women were than led through a passageway, known as the “tube”, to the gas chambers. On the way they had to pass a hut where they had to hand in their jewelery and valuables.
Kurt Franz testifies on his days in Treblinka.
Quoted in ‘The Good Old Days’ – E. Klee, W. Dressen, V. Riess, The Free Press, NY, 1988., p. 247-249:
I cannot say how many Jews in total were gassed in Treblinka. On average each day a large train arrived. Sometimes there were even two. This however was not so common.
In Treblinka I was commander of the Ukrainian guard unit as I had been in Belzec. In Treblinka as in Belzec the unit consisted of sixty to eighty men. The Ukrainians’ main task was to man the guard posts around the camp perimeter. After the uprising in August 1943 I ran the camp more or less single-handedly for a month; however, during that period no gassings were undertaken.
It was during that period that the original camp was demolished. Everything was leveled off off and lupins were planted…
13
Testimony of SS Oberscharfuehrer Heinrich Matthes about Treblinka.
Quoted in “BELZEC, SOBIBOR, TREBLINKA – the Operation Reinhard Death Camps”, Indiana University Press – Yitzhak Arad, 1987, p. 121:
During the entire time I was in Treblinka, I served in the upper camp. The upper camp was that part of Treblinka with the gas chambers, where the Jews were killed and their corpses laid in large pits and later burned.
About fourteen Germans carried out services in the upper camp. There were two Ukrainians permanently in the upper camp. One of them was called Nikolai, the other was a short man, I don’t remember his name… These two Ukrainians who lived in the upper camp served in the gas chambers. They also took care of the engine room when Fritz Schmidt was absent. Usually this Schmidt was in charge of the engine room. In my opinion, as a civilian he was either a mechanic or a driver…
All together, six gas chambers were active. According to my estimate, about 300 people could enter each gas chamber. The people went into the gas chamber without resistance. Those who were at the end, the Ukrainian guards had to push inside. I personally saw how the Ukrainians pushed the people with their rifle butts…
The gas chambers were closed for about thirty minutes. Then Schmidt stopped the gassing, and the two Ukrainians who were in the engine room opened the gas chambers from the other side.
Testimony of SS Scharf�hrer Erich Fuchs, in the Sobibor-Bolender trial, Dusseldorf.
Quoted in “BELZEC, SOBIBOR, TREBLINKA – the Operation Reinhard Death Camps”, Indiana University Press – Yitzhak Arad, 1987, p. 31-32:
….We unloaded the motor. It was a heavy Russian benzine engine, at least 200 horsepower. we installed the engine on a concrete foundation and set up the connection between the exhaust and the tube.
I then tested the motor. It did not work. I was able to repair the ignition and the valves, and the motor finally started running. The chemist, who I knew from Belzec, entered the gas chamber with measuring instruments to test the concentration of the gas.
Following this, a gassing experiment was carried out. If my memory serves me right, about thirty to forty women were gassed in one gas chamber. The Jewish women were forced to undress in an open place close to the gas chamber, and were driven into the gas chamber by the above mentioned SS members and the Ukrainian auxiliaries. when the women were shut up in the gas chamber I and Bolender set the motor in motion. The motor functioned first in neutral. Both of us stood by the motor and switched from “Neutral” (Freiauspuff) to “Cell” (Zelle), so that the gas was conveyed to the chamber. At the suggestion of the chemist, I fixed the motor on a definite speed so that it was unnecessary henceforth to press on the gas. About ten minutes later the thirty to forty women were dead.
From the testimony of SS-Unterscharfuehrer Wilhelm Bahr in his trial at Hamburg.
Quoted in “Truth Prevails”, ISBN 1-879437-00-7, p. 99:
Q: Is it correct that you have gassed 200 Russian POW’s with Zyklon-B?
A: Yes, on orders.
Q: Where did you do that?
A: In Neuengamme [concentration camp].
Q: On whose order?
A: The local doctor, Dr. Von Bergmann.
Q: With what gas?
A: With Prussic acid [another name for Zyklon-B].
Q: How long did the Russians take to die?
A: I do not know. I only obeyed orders.
Q: How long did it take to gas the Russians?
A: I returned after two hours and they were all dead.
Q: For what purpose did you go away?
A: That was during lunch hour.
Q: You left for your lunch and came back afterwards?
A: Yes.
Q: Were they dead when you came back?
A: Yes.
Q: Did you look at their bodies?
A: Yes, because I had to load them.
Q: Why did you apply the gas to the Russians?
A: I only had orders to pour in the gas and I do not know anything about it.
SS-Doctor Kremer at a hearing on 18 July 1947.
Quoted in ‘The Good Old Days’ – E. Klee, W. Dressen, V. Riess, The Free Press, NY, 1988, p. 258:
I remember I once took part in the gassing of one of these groups of women [from the women’s camp in Auschwitz]. I cannot say how big the group was. when I got close to the bunker I saw them sitting on the ground. They were still clothed. As they were wearing worn-out camp clothing they were not left in the undressing hut but made to undress in the open air. I concluded from the behavior of these women that they had no doubt what fate awaited them, as they begged and sobbed to the SS men to spare them their lives. However, they were herded into the gas chambers and gassed. As an anatomist I have seen a lot of terrible things: I had had a lot of experience with dead bodies, and yet what I saw that day was like nothing I had ever seen before. Still completely shocked by what I had seen I wrote on my diary on 5 September 1942: “The most dreadful of horrors. Hauptscharf�hrer Thilo was right when he said to me today that this is the ‘anus mundi’, the anal orifice of the world”. I used this image because I could not imagine anything more disgusting and horrific.
Testimony of Magnus Wochner, SS guard at the Natzweiler Concentration Camp.
Quoted in “The Natzweiler Trial”, Edited by Anthony M. Webb, p. 89:
… I recall particularly one mass execution when about 90 prisoners (60 men and 30 women), all Jews, were killed by gassing. This took place, as far as I can remember, in spring 1944. In this case the corpses were sent to Professor Hirt of the department of Anatomy in Strasbourg.
Testimony of SS Oberscharf�hrer Erich Bauer Quoted in “BELZEC, SOBIBOR, TREBLINKA – the Operation Reinhard Death Camps”, Indiana University Press – Yitzhak Arad, 1987, p. 77;
Usually the undressing went smoothly. Subsequently, the Jews were taken through the “tube” to Camp III – the real extermination camp. The transfer through the “tube” proceeded as follows: one SS man was in the lead and five or six Ukrainian auxiliaries were at the back hastening the Jews along. The women were taken through a barracks where their hair was cut off. In Camp III the Jews were received by an SS man… As I already mentioned, the motor was then switched on by Gotringer and one of the auxiliaries whose name I don’t remember. Then the gassed Jews were taken out.
Letter from Dr. August Becker, SS Untersturmf�hrer to SS-Obersturmbannf�hrer Rauff, 16 May 1942.
Nazi Conspiracy and Aggression – Washington, U.S Govt. Print. Off., 1946, Vol I, p. 999-1000:
The overhauling of vans by groups D and C is finished. While the vans of the first series can also be put into action if the weather is not too bad, the vans of the second series (Saurer) stop completely in rainy weather. If it has rained for instance for only one half hour, the van cannot be used because it simply skids away. It can only be used in absolutely dry weather. It is only a question now whether the van can only be used standing at the place of execution. First the van has to be brought to that place, which is possible only in good weather. The place of execution is usually 10 to 15 km away from the highways and is difficult of access because of its location; in damp or wet weather it is not accessible at all. If persons to be executed are driven or led to that place, then they realize immediately what is going on and get restless, which is to be avoided as far as possible. There is only one way left; to load them at the collecting point and to drive them to the spot.
I ordered the vans of group D to be camouflaged as house-trailers by putting one set of window shutters on each side of the small van and two on each side of the larger vans, such as one often sees on farm houses in the country. The vans became so well-known, that not only the authorities but also the civilian population called the van ‘death van’, as soon as one of these vehicles appeared. It is my opinion the van cannot be kept secret for any length of time, not even camouflaged.
*******
Because of the rough terrain and the indescribable road and highway conditions the caulkings and rivets loosen in the course of time. I was asked if in such cases the vans should be brought to Berlin for repair. Transportation to Berlin would be much too expensive and would demand too much fuel. In order to save those expenses I ordered them to have smaller leaks soldered and if that should no longer be possible, to notify Berlin immediately by radio, that Pol.Nr. is out of order. Besides that I ordered that during application of gas all the men were to be kept as far away from the vans as possible, so they should not suffer damage to their health by the gas which eventually would escape. I should like to take this opportunity to bring the following to your attention: several commands have had the unloading after the application of gas done by their own men. I brought to the attention of the commanders of those S.K. concerned the immense psychological injuries and damages to their health which that work can have for those men, even if not immediately, at least later on. The men complained to me about headaches which appeared after each unloading. Nevertheless they don’t want to change the orders because they are afraid prisoners called for that work could use an opportune moment to flee. To protect the men from those damages, I request orders be issued accordingly.
The application of gas usually is not undertaken correctly. In order to come to an end as fast as possible, the driver presses the accelerator to the fullest extent. By doing that the persons to be executed suffer death from suffocation and not death by dozing off as was planned. My directions now have proved that by correct adjustment of the levers death comes faster and the prisoners fall asleep peacefully. Distorted faces and excretions, such as could be seen before, are no longer noticed.
Today I shall continue my journey to group B, where I can be reached with further news.
Signed: Dr. Becker, SS Untersturmf�hrer.
Letter from Willy Just to SS-Obersturmbannf�hrer Walter Rauff, 5 June 1942.
“Nazism: A History in Documents and Eyewitness Accounts, 1919-1945”, Volume II, J. Noakes and G. Pridham, editors. Schocken Books, New York, (c)1988 by the Dept. of History and Archeology, University of Exeter. ISBN 0-8053-0973-5 (vol. 1), 0-8052-0972-7 (vol. 2). Document #913:
RE: Technical alterations to the special vehicles already in operation and those in production.
Since December 1941, for example, 97,000 have been processed using three vans without any faults developing in the vehicles. The well-known explosion in Kulmhof (Chelmno) must be treated as a special case. It was caused by faulty practice. Special instructions have been given to the relevant offices in order to avoid such accidents. The instructions were such as to ensure a considerable increase in the degree of security.
Further operational experience hitherto indicates that the following technical alterations are appropriate….
2) The vans are normally loaded with 9-10 people per square meter. With the large Saurer special vans this is not possible because although they do not become overloaded their maneuverability is much impaired. A reduction in the load area appears desirable. It can be achieved by reducing the size of the van by c. 1 meter. The difficulty referred to cannot be overcome by reducing the size of the load. For a reduction in the numbers will necessitate a longer period of operation because the free spaces will have to be filled with CO. By contrast, a smaller load area which is completely full requires a much sorter period of operation since there are no free spaces….
3) The connecting hoses between the exhaust and the van frequently rust through because they are corroded inside by the liquids which fall on them. To prevent this the connecting piece must be moved so that the gas is fed from the top downwards. This will prevent liquids flowing in….
6) The lighting must be better protected against damage than hitherto….It has been suggested that lighting should be dispensed with since they are allegedly never used. However, experience shows that when the rear door is closed and therefore when it becomes dark, the cargo presses hard towards the door….It makes it difficult to latch the door. Furthermore, it has been observed that the noise always begins when the doors are shut presumably because of fear brought on by the darkness.
Letter from SS-Hauptsturmf�hrer Truehe to Reich security office, room 2D3A.
Nazi Conspiracy and Aggression – Washington, U.S Govt. Print. Off., 1946, Vol. I, p. 1001:
A transport of Jews, which has to be treated in a special way, arrives weekly at the office of the commandant of the Security Police and the Security Service of white Ruthenia. The three S-vans which are there are not sufficient for that purpose. I request assignment of another S-van (five tons). At the same time I request the shipment of twenty gas hoses for the three S-vans on hand since the ones on hand are leaky already.
Anton Lauer, Police Reserve Battalion 9.
Quoted in ‘The Good Old Days’ – E. Klee, W. Dressen, V. Riess, The Free Press, NY, 1988, p. 73:
There were two gas-vans in use. I saw them myself. They were driven into the prison yard and the Jews–men, women and children–had to get into the van directly from the cell. I also saw the inside of the gas-vans. They were lined with metal and there was a wooden grille on the floor. The exhaust gases were fed into the inside of the van. I can still today hear the Jews knocking and shouting ‘Dear Germans, let us out’.
SS-man Theodor Malzmueller on the Chelmno extermination camp.
Quoted in ‘The Good Old Days’ – E. Klee, W. Dressen, V. Riess, The Free Press, NY, 1988., p. 217-219:
When we arrived we had to report to the camp commandant, SS-Hauptsturmf�hrer Bothmann. The SS-Haupsturmf�hrer addressed us in his living quarters, in the presence of SS-Untersturmf�hrer Albert Plate. He explained that we had been dedicated to the Kulmhof [Chelmno] extermination camp as guards and added that in this camp the plague boils of humanity, the Jews, were exterminated. We were to keep quiet about everything we saw or heard, otherwise we would have to reckon with our families’ imprisonment and the death penalty…
The extermination camp was made up of the so-called “castle” and the camp in the woods. The castle was a fairly large stone building at the edge of the village of Kulmhof. It was there that the Jews who had been transported by lorry or railway were first brought…
When a lorry arrived the following members of the SS-Sonderkommando addressed the Jews: (1) camp commandant Bothmann, (2) Untersturmf�hrer Albert Plate from North Germany, (3) Polizei-Meister Willy Lenz from Silesia, (4) Polizei-Meister Alois Haeberle from Wuerttenberg. They explained to the Jews that they would first of all be given a bath and deloused in Kulmhof and then sent to Germany to work. The Jews then went inside the castle. There they had to get undressed. After this they were sent through a passage-way on to a ramp to the castle yard where the so-called “gas-van” was parked. The back door of the van would be open. The Jews were made to get inside the van. This job was done by three Poles, who I believe were sentenced to death. The Poles hit the Jews with whips if they did not get into the gas vans fast enough. When all the Jews were inside the door was bolted. The driver then switched on the engine, crawled under the van and connected a pipe from the exhaust to the inside of the van. The exhaust fumes now poured into the inside of the truck so that the people inside were suffocated….
Testimony of gas-van driver Walter Burmeister.
Quoted in ‘The Good Old Days’ – E. Klee, W. Dressen, V. Riess, The Free Press, NY, 1988., p. 219-220:
As soon as the ramp had been erected in the castle, people started arriving in Kulmhof from Lizmannstadt in lorries… The people were told that they had to take a bath, that their clothes had to be disinfected and that they could hand in any valuable items beforehand to be registered….
When they had undressed they were sent to the cellar of the castle and then along a passageway on to the ramp and from there into the gas-van. In the castle there were signs marked “to the baths”. The gas vans were large vans, about 4-5 meters long, 2.2 meter wide and 2 meter high. The interior walls were lined with sheet metal. On the floor there was a wooden grille. The floor of the van had an opening which could be connected to the exhaust by means of a removable metal pipe. When the lorries were full of people the double doors at the back were closed and the exhaust connected to the interior of the van….
The Kommando member detailed as driver would start the engine right away so that the people inside the lorry were suffocated by the exhaust gases. Once this had taken place, the union between the exhaust and the inside of the lorry was disconnected and the van was driven to the camp in the woods were the bodies were unloaded. In the early days they were initially burned in mass graves, later incinerated… I then drove the van back to the castle and parked it there. Here it would be cleaned of the excretions of the people that had died in it. Afterwards it would once again be used for gassing…. I can no longer say what I thought at the time or whether I thought of anything at all. I can also no longer say today whether I was too influenced by the propaganda of the time to have refused to have carried out the orders I had been given.
From the interrogation of Adolf Eichmann.
Quoted in ‘The Good Old Days’ – E. Klee, W. Dressen, V. Riess, The Free Press, NY, 1988., p. 221-222:
A. I just know the following, that I only saw the following: a room, if I still recall correctly, perhaps five times as big as this one, or it may have been four times as big. There were Jews inside it, they had to get undressed and then a van, completely sealed, drew up to the ramp in front of the entrance. The naked Jews then had to get inside. Then the lorry was closed and it drove off.
Q. How many people did the van hold?
A. I can’t say exactly. I couldn’t bring myself to look closely, even once. I didn’t look inside the entire time. I couldn’t, no, I couldn’t take any more. The screaming and, and, I was too upset and so on. I also said that to [SS-Obergruppenfuehrer] Mueller when I submitted my report. He did not get much from my report. I then followed the van – I must have been with some of the people from there who knew the way. Then I saw the most horrifying thing I have ever seen in my entire life.
The van drove up to a long trench, the door was opened and bodies thrown out. They still seemed alive, their limbs were so supple. They were thrown in, I can still remember a civilian pulling out teeth with some pliers and then I just got the hell out of there. I got into the car, went off and did not say anything else… I’d had more than I could take. I only know that a doctor there in a white coat said to me that I should look through a peep-hole at them in the lorry. I refused to do that. I could not, I could not say anything, I had to get away.
I went to Berlin, reported to Gruppenf�hrer Mueller. I told him exactly what I’ve just said, there wasn’t any more I could tell him… terrible…I’m telling you… the inferno, can’t, that is, I can’t take this, I said to him.
Comment by NeverAGAIN! — May 23, 2013 @ 1:24 pm
You quoted this statement from Hans Stark:
“At another, later gassing–also in autumn 1941–Grabner* ordered me to pour Zyklon B into the opening because only one medical orderly had shown up. During a gassing Zyklon B had to be poured through both openings of the gas-chamber room at the same time.”
According to Wikipedia, “Hans Stark was an SS-Untersturmführer and head of the admissions detail at Auschwitz-II Birkenau of Auschwitz concentration camp.” Grabner worked at the Auschwitz I camp, not Birkenau. He did not give orders for the Auschwitz II camp.
The gas chambers at Auschwitz II allegedly had metal columns into which the Zyklon-B was poured. Also, there were allegedly more than 2 openings. In any case, there was no reason why the Zyklon-B had to be poured into the openings at the same time.
I don’t have time to point out all the errors in the quotes that you gave. You quoted from Pressac’s book several times. Pressac eventually became a denier. You are quoting from old books that are outdated.
Comment by furtherglory — May 23, 2013 @ 3:03 pm
Even if you added thousands of Holocaust ‘confessions’, it wouldn’t change anything, Neveragain. Words are only words and they prove nothing. The Nazi Arno Diere also ‘confessed’ that he had perpetrated the massacre of Katyn. Are we supposed to doubt the Soviet late admission for that massacre only because some Soviet ‘interrogators’ succeeded in making Diere ‘confess’ that he was a perpetrator of the massacre of Katyn? Beria boasted that he could make anybody under interrogation ‘confess’ that he or she was related to the king or queen of England…
You could also post countless Witchcraft ‘confessions’. Are we supposed to believe in witchcraft only because hundreds of thousands (millions?) of women ‘confessed’ in the past that they were witches?
Comment by hermie — May 23, 2013 @ 7:20 pm
Neveragain wrote: “Quotes from those Nazis who witnessed these atrocities. Interesting now one was denying the Gas chambers”
Really?
“A Brief List of the Conveniently Deceased” by Thomas Kues: http://www.whale.to/b/kues1.html
Comment by hermie — May 23, 2013 @ 7:53 pm
http://fcit.usf.edu/holocaust/RESOURCE/GALLERY/MAJD3.HTM
And for those of you who are not far gone, here is a link to pictures of an actual gas chambers that was not destroyed. The Blue Residue is from the Zyklon-B gas…
Comment by NeverAGAIN! — May 23, 2013 @ 11:09 am
You’ve stepped on the proverbial rake there.
I spent 3 days at Majdanek in late-Oct early-Nov 2012. I take it you’ve never been there.
The largest of the “gas chambers” on your link, which is in Block 41, is not longer claimed to have been a homicidal gas chamber by the Majdanek museum. Here’s a photo of the sign in that room now, advising visitors that it was a “dressing room … also adapted to disinfect prisoners’ clothing”.
Majdanek has only two homicidal gas chambers now (both in the bunker behind Block 41), down from the original 6 (claimed immediately after liberation, Aug 1944) soon increased to 7 (following the reconstruction of the crematorium).
http://forum.codoh.com/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=7505
You’re going to have to try a lot harder.
Comment by The Black Rabbit of Inlé — May 23, 2013 @ 11:38 am
Thanks for your reply to NeverAGAIN! I have deduced that he or she is a newbie that has stumbled into a blog where people are more knowledgeable.
Comment by furtherglory — May 23, 2013 @ 12:02 pm
Thanks FG.
Comment by The Black Rabbit of Inlé — May 23, 2013 @ 12:24 pm
Congratulations, you have finally addressed an issue that has some connection to what I wrote.
Yes, the photos to which you linked, DO show an actual Gaskammer which used Zyklon-B to disinfect clothing.
These are excellent photos. I also like this explanation, given along with the photos:
“Inmates selected for gassing were given showers first. The Nazis discovered that Zyclon B gas, an insecticide, was more effective on warm, moist bodies.”
When I read that, on my visit to Majdanek, I burst out laughing, but quickly covered it by coughing. It seems that the people in charge of the Majdanek Memorial Site needed to explain why there was a shower room in a gas chamber building.
My explanation for the showers is that the prisoners came in, took off their clothes, which were then thrown into the Gaskammer to be disinfected with Zyklon-B. Then the prisoners took a shower. This was the efficient way to make sure that the prisoners were clean and free from lice and that their clothes were also free from lice.
But wait, there were “Concrete bath tubs where prisoners could quickly bathe.” Why did the prisoners need a bath after taking a shower? I saw only one bathtub while I was there. According to my tour guide, this tub was filled with disinfectant which the prisoners were dipped in before going into the gas chamber. By now, I was in control, and I managed not to laugh.
Then, we read this caption on one of the photos: “Interior of one of the gas chambers. Guards released Zyclon B pellets into the room through the openings in the ceiling.”
After the prisoners were gassed, the Zyklon-B pellets would have been soiled by bodily fluids that were released as the vicims died. The gas chambers would have been a complete and total mess, and the pellets could not have been retrieved so that they could be sent back to the Degesch company to be filled with Zyklon-B again.
No, no. The pellets would not have been just dropped into the gas chamber through a hole in the ceiling, unless there was nothing but clothing in the chamber, which could be picked up after it was disinfected. Then the pellets could be retrieved and returned to the manufacturer.
Comment by furtherglory — May 23, 2013 @ 11:48 am
Regarding the “concrete bathtubs” at Majdanek, there is a concrete bathtub in another location at Majdanek which is claimed to be a gas chamber that was reconstructed by the Soviet Union. I blogged about this bathtub and showed a photo of it on this blog post: https://furtherglory.wordpress.com/2011/05/09/the-concrete-bathtub-at-the-majdanek-death-camp/
Comment by furtherglory — May 23, 2013 @ 11:57 am
Nice delousing gas chamber, NeverAgain.
Let’s assume that was a homicidal gas chamber. In this case, shouldn’t we logically regard all the rooms with no blue stains on the walls as rooms that were not gas chambers? If we do that, there were no homicidal gas chambers at Auschwitz (no rooms with blue stains on the walls, except the delousing gas chambers). 😉
Comment by hermie — May 23, 2013 @ 7:28 pm
It seems that Holo-enforcement laws aren’t strong enough to deter the most pernicious of H. deniers .
Professor Deborah Lipstadt, in her aptly titled 1993 book Denying the Holocaust, denies that there were ever any homicidal gas chambers in concentration camps in Germany (pre-1938, or post-1945 borders)!
This means that Lipstadt denies that there was a homicidal gas chamber at the Sachsenhausen camp. But as you know FG, as you’ve been there, that there was indeed a homicidal gas chamber at Sachsenhausen.
http://www.scrapbookpages.com/Sachsenhausen/ConcentrationCamp/GasChamber.html
http://sachsenhausen2012.blogspot.co.uk/2012/06/liquid-cyclon-b-gas-chamber.html
Comment by The Black Rabbit of Inlé — May 23, 2013 @ 10:47 am
This is beyond idiotic. Its well known that the Nazis destroyed the Gas Chambers (some of the ovens survived). Yes there were blown up buildings, and the remains of the gas chambers existed. If you care to look you can see shots from the air which clearly show the gas chambers (including the necessary ventilation).
What you are using is a common, misguided argument. You create a straw person. In this case the “tour guide” who said it was real…when the chamber was obviously a reconstruction. Alas, THERE WERE NO GAS CHAMBERS!. Look the Nazis admitted there were gas chambers. I have read several of your arguments, you will pick at a detail from a survivor (speaking about his/her experience when she was 10) and if something doesn’t check out exactly….you GLEAM that its all a fake.
Look I challenged you a dozen times….Explain how a world population of 15.7 million Jews in 1937 equals a population of 14 million today. With modern medicine (much of it invented by those horrible Jews; which likely keep your pathetic self and family alive), life expectancy at almost 80 (from about 65 back in 1937), its simply impossible for such a decline without accounting for the Holocaust. The German ministry has estimated that at least 5.5 million Jews were killed. Even one of your own Hacks, David Irving, acknowledges that Jews were killed (his number is 4 million). The bottom line is that you can tie yourself in knots arguing in narrow places….but you can’t deny the obvious that if there were 15.8 million Jews in 1937 there would be 30 million Jews today, not 14-16 million, conversely if you reduce the population of European Jews by 6 million the 14-16 million numbers seems very likely. Contrary to your fantasy land assertions, 6 million would still be missing.
Comment by NeverAGAIN! — May 23, 2013 @ 10:44 am
Satan rose up against Israel and incited David to take a census of Israel. – 1 Chronicles 21:1
“It is forbidden to count Israel even for [the purpose of fulfilling] a commandment … Whosoever counts Israel, transgresses a [biblical] prohibition, as it is said: Yet the number of the children of Israel shall be as the sand of the sea, which cannot be measured.”
– Babylonian Talmud: Yoma 22b (Soncino edition)
Comment by The Black Rabbit of Inlé — May 23, 2013 @ 10:54 am
You wrote: “you can’t deny the obvious that if there were 15.8 million Jews in 1937 there would be 30 million Jews today, not 14-16 million, conversely if you reduce the population of European Jews by 6 million the 14-16 million numbers seems very likely. Contrary to your fantasy land assertions, 6 million would still be missing.”
I already answered that I asked a math major how many Jews there should be today, and he said 28 million.
Since you are so hung up on the world population of Jews, I did a search and found this at
http://www.jewwatch.com/jew-holocaust-lies-hoax-frauds-blackflagops-hoaxarchive.html
So it seems that, in 1948, three years after the gassing of the Jews stopped, there were 15,547 more Jews than in 1938.
How many Jews should there have been three years after the gassing stopped? It seems to me that there should have been only 9,763,638 Jews in 1948 because 6 million had been killed by the Nazis.
Total World Population of Jews 1938 & 1948
America Europe Asia Africa Oceania Total
1938 5,343,319 8,939,608 839,809 598,339 27,016 15,748,091
1948 5,198,219 9,372,666 572,930 542,869 26,954 15,763,638
Diff -145,100 +433,058 -266,879 -55,470 -9,938 +15,547
Comment by furtherglory — May 23, 2013 @ 12:30 pm
NeverAGAIN: Have you personally counted the 14 million jews you claim are in the world today?
Benjamin Freedman: “A former jew warns America” (youtube), said in a speech:”The vast majority of the 6 million are living very successful and comfortable lives in America,” (The United Soviet of America). NeverAGAIN: Was Benjamin a rabid anti Semite as well a a “former jew?” NeverAgain: Keep looking for the 6 million you claim would still be missing.
NeverAGAIN: the jew population figures you quote are pure commie propaganda. According to commie jew propaganda, the 5 million+ Palestinians in occupied Palestine do not exist and have never existed. NeverAGAIN: why don’t you emigrate to occupied Palestine, there are 5 million+ Palestinians waiting to be exterminated. (Jomi)
Comment by John-Joseph: Saintclair — May 23, 2013 @ 1:18 pm
Never AGAIN!, I’m sorry, I’ve had a few beers, so excuse my language, just bugger off with your stupid arguments and use your common sense.
Sorry FG, but this idiot is starting to annoy me
Comment by DB — May 23, 2013 @ 1:50 pm
No one knows for sure how many there really are, however in Brazil alone an estimated 10 to 25% of the total population are Crypto Jews, which translates to 15 to 40 million people.
NeverAGAIN!, you can rest reassured.
Comment by Eager For Answers — May 23, 2013 @ 5:17 pm
The number of Jews in America declined between 1945 and 1948. What happened?
Comment by furtherglory — May 23, 2013 @ 5:31 pm
NeverAgain wrote: “but you can’t deny the obvious that if there were 15.8 million Jews in 1937 there would be 30 million Jews today, not 14-16 million”
According to the French-speaking rabbi Rav Ron Chaya, 18 million jews (!) were lost after WW2 because of marriages with non-jews. That rabbi named that triple holocaust “Christine’s poison gas”. Hilarious.
As you can see, anybody can claim there were/are 14 million, 30 million or 70 billion jews in the world. That proves nothing. As the Black Rabbit of Inle explained, there are jewish laws forbidding to count jews. Moreover there are many countires where census based on religion/ethnicity are simply forbidden. Jewish censuses are a joke…
Comment by hermie — May 23, 2013 @ 7:39 pm
Tryagain wrote: “This is beyond idiotic. Its well known that the Nazis destroyed the Gas Chambers”
Too bad (for you) the Sachsenhausen gas chamber was destroyed by the communist authorities after WW2 (if I correctly remember).
Don’t you find it’s funny the Soviets destroyed the only (alleged) original gas chamber they had in their hands? It seems we’ll just have the Soviet ‘reconstructed’ gas chamber at Auschwitz and the laughable delousing gas chambers at Majdanek to prove there was a holocaust by gas during WW2.
Comment by hermie — May 23, 2013 @ 8:08 pm
In any case, nothing was easier than escaping the gas chamber execution.
Comment by Eager For Answers — May 23, 2013 @ 9:23 am
Thanks for the link. As far as I can tell, from reading the Wikipedia entry, this man was not Jewish. Yet, when he was captured, because he was working with the French Resistance, he was sent to Auschwitz. He was with one of the most famous French Resistance groups. Typically, the illegal combatants in the French Resistance were sent to Buchenwald or Natzweiler, the two most famous camps for French Resistance fighters.
In any case, why would he have been taken to the gas chamber? Was he Jewish?
Note that his final destination was Terezin where he was taken to the Small Fortress, which was a Gestapo prison for illegal fighters and war criminals, not a concentration camp for Jews.
He was arrested in February 1944. I am suspicious that his story of being taken to Auschwitz is not true.
Comment by furtherglory — May 23, 2013 @ 10:23 am
Furtherglory, your suspicion is justified; this story is related by one Susan Griffin, born in 1943, whose whole work appears to be based on fiction.
Comment by Eager For Answers — May 24, 2013 @ 12:32 am