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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