This
file contains answers to some
common claims of those who deny the Holocaust. Comments can be sent to
Daniel Keren, dk@lems.brown.edu. Some of the images (GIF
files) in the images directory are referred to by their names.
1.00 Introduction
& Editorial Notes......................... 1.10 Copyright
Notice..................................... 1.20
Overview............................................. 2.00 Point, Counterpoint
- Denial Claims Addressed..........> 2.01 Disparities in
Hydrocyanic compound levels........... 2.02 Explosive property
of Zyklon B & furnace proximity... 2.03 Gas chambers could
not have been opened safely....... 2.04 The extermination
chambers were actually morgues..... 2.05 Impossible to kill
6 million people at Auschwitz..... 2.06 Doors of gas
chambers too weak to prevent escape..... 2.07 They would not have
used Zyklon-B for gassing........ 2.08 The gas chambers
were never sealed, or............... 2.09 The gas would have
killed everyone outside when ventilated 2.10 Where did all the
ashes from the cremations go....... 2.11 People who dropped
the gas into the gas chamber would have been killed by it
............................... 2.12 The Auschwitz death
list doesn't show all those people were killed 2.13 Why would there be
a swimming pool at a death camp... 2.14 The high water
table made it impossible to burn bodies in ditches 2.15 How did witnesses
to the gassings survive............ 2.16 Toxicity of fumes
from a diesel engine............... 2.17 The doors of the
gas chambers which used engine exhaust would not stand the pressure of
the gas accumulating inside and would burst................. 2.18 There were not
enough Jews in Europe to account for six million victims 2.19 There are no
documents about gas chambers or mass murder of Jews and others, and no
evidence there was a plan to carry out mass extermination. 2.20 The Anne Frank
diary is a hoax..................... 3.00 Leuchter's perjury
in Canadian court................... 4.00 Research Sources
& Other Useful Appendices............. 4.10 Recommended
Reading.................................. 4.20
Glossary............................................. 4.30 Works
Cited..........................................
1.00 Introduction
& Editorial Notes This document provides a
counterpoint to assertions commonly made by those who deny that anyone
was gassed at the Auschwitz-Birkenau and other death camps during World
War II; who, in fact, deny that the gas chambers even existed.
The most prestigious
source in Germany regarding the crimes of the Nazis during WW2, the
"Institute for Contemporary History" in Munich, sums up the facts in a
recent publication, mentioning 13 camps in which gassing took place;
here are the entries on Auschwitz and Treblinka.
Treblinka (district Warschau, general
government) from the end of July 1942 on had three gas chambers and
received at the start of
September 1942
furthermore ten larger gas chambers. Up to the dissolution of the camp
in November 1943 altogether 700,000 Jews were killed here by carbon
monoxide.
Auschwitz-Birkenau (in the formerly Polish, in 1939
adjoined to the "Reich" upper eastern Silesian area, south eastern of
Kattowitz): The extermination camp in Birkenau, established in the
second half of 1941, was joined to the concentration camp Auschwitz,
existing since May 1940. From January 1942 on in five gas chambers and
from the end of June 1943 in four additional large gassing-rooms
gassings with Zyklon B have been undertaken. Up until November 1944
more than one million Jews
and at least 4000 gypsies have been murdered
by gas.
(Note that these numbers
include only people gassed - many were murdered using more
"conventional" means. See picture EG1.gif, EG2.gif, EG3.gif, EG4.gif
and file of Nazi documents about mass shootings).
This is by no means a
replacement for serious research - just an expose of common frauds like
the "Leuchter report", and a guide to scholarly sources.
This document was
prepared by Daniel Keren and Jamie McCarthy, and edited to its present
form by Ken McVay. Comments, corrections, and additions are welcome.
The appearance of a
quotation mark within a proper name indicates that the previous letter
should be read as an umlaut, although some quoted material appends a
trailing `e' instead. (I.e. Hoess and Ho"ss reference the same name.)
1.10 Copyright This post, as a
collection of information, is Copyright 1993 Ken McVay and Daniel Keren
as a work of literature. Distribution by any electronic means is
granted with the understanding that the article not be altered in any
way. Permission to distribute in printed form must be obtained in
writing. The removal of this copyright notice is forbidden.
1.20 Overview Fred Leuchter is a man
with no formal training in either chemistry or toxicology (he obtained
a BA in history in 1964), and yet he claims to be a professional
engineer - an assertion that has landed him in hot water in his home
state. In 1988, at the request of Canada's Ernst Zundel, Mr. Leuchter
went to Poland and visited the site of the Auschwitz extermination
camp; (Mr. Zundel financed Leuchter's trip to Poland.) The result of
this journey was the "Leuchter Report." Here's what Mr. Leuchter had to
say about his "investigation:
The purpose [of the
investigation and subsequent report] does not include a determination
of any numbers of persons who died or were killed by means other than
gassing or as to whether an actual Holocaust occurred. It, further, is
not the intent of this author to redefine Holocaust in historical
terms, but simply to supply scientific evidence and information
obtained at the actual sites and to render an opinion based on all
available scientific, engineering and quantitative data as to the
purpose and usages of the alleged execution gas chambers and crematory
facilities at the investigated locations. (Foner)
You will note, as we
will demonstrate using Leuchter's own sworn testimony, that Mr.
Leuchter failed to demonstrate any concern for the truth, even while
under oath.
While testifying at Mr.
Zundel's trial in Canada, Leuchter gave false evidence concerning his
professional relationship with the administration of two American
prisons regarding gas chambers, and proved himself to be unfamiliar
with the most basic facts about the lethal gas Hydrogen Cyanide,
including its flammability and the concentrations and duration required
for delousing purposes.
The "Leuchter Report"
purports to "scientifically demonstrate" that people were not killed by
Zyklon-B at Auschwitz. It is composed of old claims made by the French
Holocaust denier Faurisson, as well as some new ones. Many of the
claims appear in the Institute for Historical Review's "66 Q&A
on the Holocaust" pamphlet, and also in arguments offered by others who
deny the Holocaust.
Zyklon-B
Zyklon-B is a
powerful
insecticide. It releases HCN, Hydrocyanic acid, a gas - Zyklon-B is the
carrier, a material soaked with the gas; usually it comes in the shape
of small pellets or disks. HCN is what causes death. While interacting
with iron and concrete, it creates compounds ("Hydrocyanic compounds").
Leuchter concedes that these compounds were found in the ruins of the
gas chambers in Auschwitz (as reaffirmed by the findings of the Polish
government institute, which completely rejects Leuchter's conclusions -
see Section 2.01).
HCN is extremely
poisonous to humans. It is used in execution gas chambers in the US;
the first such was built in Arizona in 1920. It is absurd to claim (as
the deniers do), that Germany in the 1940's could not handle "technical
difficulties" in using HCN for execution - "difficulties" that were
easily solved in 1920. Moreover, the Germans had a lot of experience
with HCN, as it was extensively used for delousing.
There were two types of
gas chambers in Auschwitz: those used for delousing clothes ("delousing
gas chambers") and those used for killing people on a massive scale
("extermination gas chambers"). The delousing gas chambers were a
standard feature, and were left intact by the SS (as opposed to the
extermination gas chambers, which were dynamited in an effort to
conceal criminal activity from the rapidly approaching Soviet Army).
The deniers try to confuse the issue by mixing the two types of
chambers. For instance, they show pictures of the doors for the
delousing chambers, and note that they are too weak to withstand the
pressure of people trying to escape. Of course, the doors for the
extermination chambers were completely different, but that fact is
quietly overlooked (see 2.06).
2.00 Point, Counterpoint Holocaust denial often
involves the same assertions, repeated endlessly, regardless of
response. We present many of them for consideration here, along with
our response.
The photographs we refer
to can be found in Pressac, and many are available from our
archives in GIF format.
2.01
Disparities in
Hydrocyanic Compound Levels Holocaust
deniers often
claim that since more hydrocyanic compounds were found in the delousing
chambers than in the ruins of the so-called "extermination" chambers at
Auschwitz, and the reverse would be true if people were actually gassed
there, it is clear that no mass gassings occurred.
But - HCN is far more
effective on warm-blooded animals (including humans) than on insects,
so the period of exposure to HCN is far longer for delousing clothes
than that required for homicidal gassings, and a much lower
concentration is necessary to kill people as compared to lice.
A concentration of up to
16,000 ppm (parts per million) is sometimes used, with exposure times
of up to 72 hours, to kill insects, but as little as 300 ppm will cause
death in humans within fifteen minutes or so.
Breitman
offers
background information about the development of Zyklon B as a killing
device, and provides clear evidence that the Nazis determined the
effective Zyklon B concentration through a process of trial and error.
When the difference in
the concentration of gas required to kill insects and humans was
mentioned in Leuchter's cross-examination in the Zundel trial, Leuchter
responded: "I've never killed beetles. I, you know, I don't know. I
haven't made computations for killing beetles" - Hardly the response
one would expect from an "expert" on the subject...
Because of the
relatively small concentrations required to exterminate humans as
opposed to lice, and because of the far shorter exposure time required,
the HCN in the gas chambers used to kill humans hardly had time to form
chemical compounds on the walls.
The gas chambers were
not very large (those in Kremas II and III were about 210 square
meters), and the Zyklon B was dropped through four openings in the
roof, spreading the gas very quickly. These openings are still visible
in the ruins of the gas chambers, and rare photographs of them, taken
while the camp was in operation, exist, and copies are readily
available (Brugioni et al) from the sources noted in Section 6.1,
below. Since the concentration used was higher than the lethal one,
death was swift. (See picture Krema4.gif Krema IV was above-ground, and
the Zyklon B was introduced through clearly visible slits in the walls.
See also picture Krema401.gif, which provides a close-up of the wall
openings.)
Leuchter's data is
further suspect because the delousing chambers where he obtained his
samples were left intact by the SS, while the extermination chambers
were destroyed. Clearly, their walls were exposed to the elements for
forty-five years, which would certainly influence the validity of the
samples taken. (The ruins of Krema II are covered with about three feet
of water during certain periods of the year, and HCN compounds would
eventually dissolve under such conditions. Nonetheless, so many
gassings occurred there that some of the compound did remain).
Summarizing, the walls
of the extermination gas chambers were in contact with HCN for a much
shorter time then those of the delousing chambers, and for the last 45
years were exposed to surroundings which dissolve the compounds, while
the delousing rooms were not. Therefore it is obvious that less traces
of compounds would remain in them. This debunks the major "amazing
discovery" in Leuchter's report, which, in retrospect, wasn't "amazing"
at all.
This fact - that all, or
most, of the compounds would vanish during 45 years of exposure - is
quite clearly stated in the report written by the experts at the Cracow
Institute of Forensic Research:
INSTITUTE OF FORENSIC
RESEARCH In the name of Prof. Dr.
Jan Sehn, Krakow Division of Forensic
Toxicology Krakow, 24 Sept. 1990
Westerplatte 9 / Code 31-033 Tel. 505-44, 592-24, 287-50 Telex 0325213
eksad ...
The hydrocyanic acid
(HCN) that is released from the Zyklon B preparation is a liquid with a
boiling point of about 27 degrees Celsius. It has an acidic character,
and therefore forms compounds with metallic salts, which are known as
cyanides. The salts of alkaline metals (such as sodium and potassium)
are water soluble.
Hydrocyanic acid is a
very weak acid, and accordingly its salts dissolve easily in stronger
acids. Even carbonic acid, which is formed as a reaction of carbon
dioxide with water, will dissolve ferro-cyanide.
Stronger acids, such as
sulfuric acids, easily dissolve the cyanides. The compounds of cyanide
ions with heavy metals are longer lasting. This includes the already
mentioned Prussian blue, although this will also slowly dissolve in an
acidic environment.
Therefore, one can
hardly assume that traces of cyanic compounds could still be detected
in construction materials (plaster, brick) after 45 years, after being
subjected to the weather and the elements (rain, acid oxides,
especially sulfuric and nitrogen oxides). More reliable would be the
analysis of wall plaster [samples] from closed rooms which were not
subject to weather and the elements (including acid rain).
The discovery of
hydrocyanic acid compounds in samples of material which had been
subject to the elements can only be accidental.
The deniers
often claim
that the gas chamber in Krema I was left intact, and therefore its
walls were not exposed to the elements. Curiously, they also make great
issue of the fact that Krema I was converted into an air-raid shelter,
and then rebuilt by the Soviet Army, after the liberation of the camp,
to reproduce its original shape, saying that it has been used to
mislead the public, who were told that people were gassed in the
building. (The logic of their holding both views when it seems
advantageous to do so will perhaps escape you, but then logic has not
been a demonstrated asset when it comes to Holocaust denial. See
Section 3.0.)
The modification
consisted of essentially removing some partitioning walls inside the
gas chamber, which were added as a common feature of bomb shelters.
Nonetheless, this is the room in which people were gassed; there are
still traces of cyanide on its walls, as Leuchter admits (he found
traces in 6 of 7 samples).
But
- the gas
chamber of
Krema I was used only for a short time, before the conversion. This,
and the fact that "only" about ten thousand people were murdered inside
it, compared to three-hundred-fifty-thousand and four-hundred-thousand
in Kremas II and III, explains why relatively small amounts of cyanide
compounds remain. The other Kremas were destroyed by the SS prior to
the Soviet liberation.
Finally, cyanide
compounds were found on the ventilation grills of the extermination
chambers, proving beyond doubt that gassing did take place within.
2.02 The
Explosive
Property of Zyklon B & Furnace Proximity Holocaust
denial often
asserts that Zyklon B could not have been used for killing in the gas
chambers, because it is explosive, and the furnaces were nearby.
They
overlook,
however
the fact that the concentration of HCN necessary to cause death is
nearly 200 times lower than that necessary to cause an explosion.
Although the SS used a concentration higher than the lethal one, it was
far less than what would be required to cause an explosion.
As a reference, one can
look at "The Merck Index" and the "CRC handbook of Chemistry and
Physics", or consult any manual dealing with toxicity and flammability
of chemicals. For HCN, a concentration of 300 ppm (parts per million)
kills humans within a
few minutes (Merck, 632,
entry 4688), while the minimal concentration that can result in an
explosion is 56,000 ppm.
2.03 Gas
Chambers Could
Not Have Been Opened Safely in 20-30 Minutes The claim is
often heard
that it takes 20 hours to air a room which was disinfected with
Zyklon-B, and therefore the eyewitness accounts giving a time of 20-30
minutes from when the gassing started to when the bodies where carried
out is impossible, because the people carrying out the bodies would
perish.
It is true that if one
disinfects a building in ordinary commercial use, it should not be
reentered within 20 hours. That figure, however, has no meaning
relative to the extermination chambers, which were forcibly ventilated.
Fifteen minutes was ample time to replace the air after a gassing. When
ventilation was not used, the Sonderkommando (prisoners used as forced
labor) who removed the bodies wore gas masks. The Germans had plenty of
experience with gas, especially HCN, which was widely used for
delousing. They knew how to work with it safely. It is absurd to use
the 20 hour figure in this context, as it does not assume forced
ventilation and takes a huge safety factor into account. The SS didn't
care much for the safety of the Sonderkommando who had to enter the gas
chambers to take the corpses out in any event. In some cases, these
people did suffer from the remaining gas (see, for instance, Pressac,
p. 473)
Furthermore, what makes
ventilation difficult and lengthy is the presence of rugs, furniture,
curtains, etc. Needless to say, these were not present in the gas
chambers - there was just bare concrete, making ventilation very fast
and efficient.
If the "20 hours
ventilation period" above was true, this would mean that the corpses of
people executed using cyanide gas in US prisons would remain tied to
the chair 20 hours after they were killed... clearly nonsense, as Fred
Leuchter, who claims expertise in gas chamber operation, would
hopefully know.
2.04 The
"Extermination"
Chambers Were Actually Morgues Holocaust
denial often
claims that the "alleged" extermination chambers were actually morgues,
and that Zyklon-B was used in them as a disinfectant.
This claim stems from
the fact that Hydrocyanic compounds were found on the ventilation
grills of the gas chambers in Krema II and III (the chemical analysis
was carried out by Dr. Jan Robel of the Cracow Forensic Institute in
December 1945, and was part of the evidence in the trial of Auschwitz
commander Ho"ss). This proves that gassing did take place in that
chamber - but since this runs contrary to the deniers claims that it
was an underground morgue, they claimed "a morgue is disinfected with
Zyklon-B."
Unfortunately for the
people offering this assertion as truth, Zyklon-B is useless for
disinfecting corpses, as it does not kill anaerobic bacteria - it kills
only aerobic organisms.
The absurdity, typical
in arguments Holocaust deniers make, is clear. They keep claiming using
Zyklon-B in the gas chambers of the Kremas would have been dangerous.
Then they say it was used in the very same chambers for delousing.
Finally, the "morgue" is
specifically referred to as a "gassing cellar" in a letter from the
Auschwitz construction department to SS General Kammler, January 29,
1943. Why call a morgue "gassing cellar?" And why is the other
underground room called "undressing cellar?" (see Pressac, p. 221; also
The Final Solution: The Attempt to Exterminate the Jews of Europe,
1939-1945 - G. Reitlinger, South Brunswick, T. Yosellof, 1968, p. 158.
The following
correspondence between an SS officer and the firm which manufactured
the crematoriums shows that the underground cellars in Kremas II and
III were to be preheated. Needless to say, this proves that they were
not designed to serve as morgues; it does not make much sense to heat a
morgue. It does make sense to heat a homicidal gas chamber, to
facilitate the evaporation of the Zyklon-B.
Letter from
SS-Sturmbannfuehrer Jahrling to Topf & Sons, March 6 1943
[Pressac, p. 221] Subject: KL Auschwitz
Krematorien II and III
In accordance with your
suggestion, the service agrees that cellar 1 should be preheated with
the air coming from the rooms of the 3 forced draught installations.
The supply and installation of the ductwork and blowers necessary to
this end are to be effected as soon as possible. As you point out in
your above-mentioned letter, execution should commence this week. We
would ask you to send in triplicate detailed quote for supply and
installation.
At the same time, we
would ask you to send an additional quotation for the modification of
the air-extraction installation in the undressing room.
2.05 It Was
Impossible
to Kill 6 Million People at Auschwitz "Judging by
the amount
and area of the gas chambers, and the number of the Kremas, it was
impossible to kill 6 million people in the time interval in which the
concentration camps existed."
No one claims
that 6
million people died at Auschwitz. Many died in other death camps, in
the ghettos and in occupied Soviet territory. Estimates of the number
of people who were gassed to death in Auschwitz vary, but the lowest is
900,000, and the highest about 1,600,000. It is obvious that the
extermination and cremation facilities in Auschwitz could take care of
such a number.
Just look at the
photographs of the furnaces of Krema II (Pressac, 367; see picture
Furnace.gif to view these installations). There were five Kremas in
Auschwitz. Number II, for instance, had 15 huge furnaces, especially
designed to burn efficiently and quickly. Each could consume 3 to 4
bodies at once (remember that many children were present, and many of
the people were emaciated), and do so in a maximum of 45 minutes. The
SS experimented with different combinations of corpse types and coke to
determine which would provide the most cost-efficient results! (Müller,
60-61; Klarsfeld, 99-100).
The figure Leuchter
gives as the maximum number of people that could be executed in a week
- 1693 - is absurd, as is demonstrated by the following calculation for
a single Krema, number II:
One gas chamber, about
210 square meters (2220 square feet) in area, easily accommodated a few
hundred people, who were crammed into it. Fifteen furnaces, each
capable of incinerating at least 3 bodies in 45 minutes, could dispose
of at least 720 bodies in a 12-hour day.
In a single year, Krema
II could incinerate over a quarter-million bodies. Add that to the
capabilities of Kremas III, IV, and V, and you begin to get the
picture. In addition, bodies were also burned in massive pits. Two
gruesome photographs of these "burning pits", taken in secrecy in
Auschwitz-Birkenau, have survived. They are of reasonable quality, and
show men standing inside a pile of naked bodies, with the smoking pit
in front of them. Some bodies are being dragged into the pit. The
photographs are reproduced in Pressac, (422), see picture Pit.gif.
As a reference, one can
look at a letter dated June 20 1943, sent to SS General Kammler in
Berlin, citing the number of bodies that can be disposed of in 24
working hours as 4,756. A photograph of the letter and its serial
number in German archives appears in Pressac (247). (This is lower than
5 x 1440 = 7,200 because some of the Kremas had fewer furnaces than II
and III. The exact breakdown, specified in the letter from Jahrling to
Kammler, is 340 corpses for Krema I, 768 for IV and V, 1440 for II and
III. See picture Furn_cap.gif).
It is naive at best, and
contemptuously dishonest, to claim that such a number of crematoriums
were provided for anything other than the disposal of bodies created by
the mass murder of helpless victims.
Leuchter arrives at his
figures assuming that the people could occupy the gas chambers at a
density of maximum 1 person per 9 square feet (!!) and that it would
take a week (!!) to ventilate the gas chambers before they could be
used for another mass execution. These assumptions are absurd.
Lastly, two other
gassing installation existed in Auschwitz - the so-called "Bunker I"
and "Bunker II". They were also demolished by the fleeing SS.
2.06 Doors of
Gas
Chambers Too Weak to Prevent Escape Holocaust
denial asserts
that the doors of the "alleged" gas chambers were much too weak to
withstand the pressure of people trying to escape death from inside the
chambers.
Since none of the Kremas
remained in their original state (Bunker I & II and Kremas
II,III,IV and V destroyed, and Krema I modified) there is no physical
evidence as to how the doors of the extermination gas chambers looked
like. However, a door which probably belonged to an extermination gas
chamber was discovered in the camp's building yard; it is massive, and
reinforced with iron bars. Furthermore, the small peephole is protected
from the inside with a strong metal grid, probably installed so the
victims would not break the glass in the peephole.
Those making this claim
present pictures of doors for the delousing chambers, which were not
fortified, presumably on the assumption that viewers are too inept to
notice the switch. For a photograph of a door probably used in an
extermination gas chamber, see Pressac (486). (See picture Door.gif).
Pressac also includes photographs of a door discovered in the ruins of
Krema IV.
2.07 They
would not have
used Zyklon-B for gassing Holocaust
denial often
claims that if the Nazis had intended to kill people by lethal gassing,
they would have used something other than Zyklon B.
Zyklon-B was in use at
Auschwitz as a delousing agent, and was thus readily available. The
Nazis had experience in its safe use as well, which made it even more
attractive. It is easy to transport, store and use.
In addition, Zyklon B
was easy to ship and to store, which also made it attractive to the SS,
who ordered enough of it, as Ho"ss pointed out in his testimony, to
kill two million people. Yitzhak Arad mentions Christian Wirth's
rejection of Zyklon-B for use in exterminations: Wirth developed his
own ideas on the basis of the experiences he had gained in the
Euthanasia program. Thus, in Belzec he decided to supply the fixed gas
chamber with gas produced by the internal-combustion engine of a
motorcar. [He] rejected Cyanide B which was later used at Auschwitz.
This gas was produced by private firms and its extensive use in Belzec
might have aroused suspicion and led to problems of supply. He
therefore preferred a system of extermination based on ordinary,
universally available gasoline and diesel fuel. (YVS XVI, 211)
In a letter requesting
for a truck to bring Zyklon-B to Auschwitz, the standard camouflage
term "resettlement of Jews" is used to refer to extermination. Another
such document asks for "material for special treatment" - another term
used to disguise extermination (See picture Resttl1.gif; also Pressac,
557. For more examples of the camouflage terms noted, see file of Nazi
documents).
Radio message 13 SS
Garrison Radio Station Auschwitz Origin WVHA [SS economic administration head
office] Received 2nd October
1942 in the Kommandantur of Auschwitz Concentration camp The movement
authorization for one 5 Ton truck with trailer to Dessau and back in
order to pick up material for the resettlement of the Jews, is hereby
accorded. The authorization is to
be given to the driver. Liebehenschel SS Lieutenant Colonel Permanent representative
of the head of the service with the rank of Waffen
SS Lieutenant General For file Head of the
radio station
When camp adjutant R.
Mulka was asked by Judge Hofmeyer what "material for the resettlement
of the Jews" meant, he answered "well, sure. Zyklon-B" (The Auschwitz
trial in Frankfurt, 11 Sep. 1964).
2.08 The gas
chambers
were never sealed... or there was no provision to exhaust the gas from
them... or there was no way for the guards to release the pellets into
them, or.... As stated
earlier, the
extermination chambers were dynamited by the SS when they deserted the
camp. There is therefore no direct evidence of what they looked like
when they were in operation other than a few photographs taken by the
Allies and the SS during the war (See Brugioni; see picture Krema3.gif
for view of Krema III taken during the war, from the air). The
construction plans do include the air extraction systems, as one
readily sees (picture Plan01.gif for example) and the air extraction
system is mentioned in many documents. Some of the ventilation openings
are still visible in the ruins of the gas chambers. The plans even
include the shower heads that were placed in the gas chamber to mislead
the victims (see picture Invntry.gif).
It is a sad reflection
on Leuchter's integrity and ability to use logic to see that he admits
the Kremas were demolished, yet continues to claim he can deduce from
their current state how they looked in 1944, before they were blown up!
The following is a verbatim excerpt from his cross-examination by Mr.
Pearson, in the Zundel trial:
Q. Crematoria III has been
demolished.
A. Um, there are still
parts of Crematorium III there, but for the most part, the roof of the
alleged gas chamber has crumbled and is all lying in bits and pieces in
the basement of what would have been the alleged gas chamber.
Q. So, it's no longer
subterranean?
A. That's correct.
There's a hole in the ground.
Q. With respect to the gas
chambers at Crematorium IV and V, those are totally demolished.
A. With the exception of
the foundation, yes.
Q. So, all that was there
for you to examine was the foundation of the building. Is that right?
A. That is correct. Leuchter admits that the
roof of the gas chamber of Krema III was all blown up and collapsed,
and that Krema IV and V are gone except for the foundation! As for
Krema II, his testimony is also intriguing:
Q. So, the gas chamber
facility itself is presently underground?
A. Parts of it are and
parts aren't.
Q. All right. And the parts
that are underground, I take it that the roof is no longer whole; is
that right?
A. Um, one of the roofs
is broken into several pieces but it's essentially whole.
Q. It's broken in several
pieces but it's essentially whole?
A. I mean it's not
fragmented.
Q. How many pieces?
A. Three, I believe. I
say that only to indicate that it's not fragmented. There are large
slabs left of the roof.
Q. Right. And it's
collapsed.
A. It's dropped several
feet. It's partially collapsed.
Q. Is there dirt over it?
Is it subterranean?
A. In some places there
are dirt over it and some places there's no dirt.
Q. All right.
And that's
with respect to Crematorium II?
A. That's correct.
Even more incredible is
to see what Leuchter writes in his report: "In Birkenau, Kremas
II,III,IV and V are collapsed, or razed to the ground. Bunker I (the
red house) is gone." "Evidence as to Krema
function is non-existent since Krema's I oven has been completely
rebuilt, Kremas II and III are partially destroyed with components
missing, and Kremas IV and V are gone". "Are gone"! Yet, he can
still conjecture about how they functioned before being destroyed...
The pictures of the gas
chambers in their current state appear in Pressac. They are totally
demolished and there is no way a reasonable person would claim to be
able to conclude anything about how they functioned before they were
destroyed. See picture Chambr01.gif and elsewhere in Pressac's book.
Leuchter further
ridicules himself by stating that the gas chambers were never sealed
and that using cyanide gas inside them would be dangerous. But, he
admits that the gas was used in them (for delousing purposes, as he
claims). This is absurd, of course; if they were not sealed,
introducing the gas into them would be dangerous no matter what the
purpose was. This obvious contradiction alone is reason enough to
discard the "Leuchter report".
2.09 If the
gas chambers
were ventilated, the gas would kill people outside.
Nonsense; it is all a
question of concentration. Once the gas is released into the
atmosphere, its concentration drops and it is no longer dangerous.
Also, HCN dissipates quickly. The execution gas chambers in US prisons
are also ventilated directly into the atmosphere. Furthermore, if this
argument would hold for the extermination chambers, it would hold for
the delousing chambers as well, and one would have to conclude that no
delousing chambers existed either.
2.10
If so
many people
were actually killed and cremated, where is all the ash?
After a person is
cremated, quite a small amount of ash remains - it fits in a small urn,
or a box. This means that ashes of thousands of people fit into one
truck. The ash was either scattered around in fields, buried, or - in
Auschwitz, for instance - dumped into a river. Also, piles of ash were
discovered at some camps (Maidanek, Sobibor).
2.11 The
people who
dropped the Zyklon-B into the chambers would have died from the gas
themselves.
Utter nonsense. Like
those who used the Zyklon-B in the delousing chambers, the SS men who
carried out the gassings utilized gas masks. (The mind boggles at the
realization that a "gas chamber expert" could not figure this out.)
2.12 The
death lists
from Auschwitz do not show that any people were gassed, and point to a
smaller number of victims.
This is because those
lists refer only to those who where assigned serial numbers. The
majority of people transferred to the camp were classified as "unfit
for work" and gassed immediately. This fact is noted, for instance, in
a report written by top SS officer Franke-Gricksch to Himmler (this
report is included in our file of Nazi documents, in this archive).
These people were not registered nywhere, and no one recorded their
names. (Testimony of Polish prisoner Aloiz Oskar Kleta, Shelly, p. 284;
Fertig, 12; Fleming, 174. Also, see testimony of Henryk Tauber,
Pressac, page 488, as to how the SS routinely burned documents
regarding the number of victims).
2.13
There
was a
swimming pool in Auschwitz, hence it could not have been an
extermination camp.
Indeed, a water
reservoir in Auschwitz I (the main camp) was converted to a swimming
pool which was used by the camp's staff. Other means of entertainment
for the SS personnel existed - a band composed of prisoners, and a
brothel. How this "proves" that Auschwitz was not an extermination
center is beyond the author of this text.
2.14 Much of
the area of
Auschwitz has a high water table, therefore corpses could not be burned
in ditches.
There are pictures of
these ditches with corpses burning in them (see picture Pit.gif) .
During the period in which Auschwitz was active, the SS had the area
drained; as can be seen today, the drainage, which has not been
maintained since 1945, has deteriorated and the water level had risen.
Furthermore, the ditches were not used all the time, but only when
there were not enough furnaces to cremate the victims or during the
extermination of the Hungarian Jews, when so many people were murdered
daily that the furnaces could not handle the amount of corpses. The
"incineration ditches" are known to have been active in
October-November 1942 and the summer of 1944, which do not coincide
with the period the snow melts and the water level rises.
2.15: How
come eye
witnesses to the gassings survived? Why didn't the Nazis kill them?
The answer is rather
simple - the SS did kill almost all of them. After the war, for
instance, there were about 70 survivors from Treblinka (more than
700,000 victims, see also file with excerpts from ruling of German
courts in this archive). These survivors escaped from the camp, mostly
during the rebellion they carried out. Same for Auschwitz: nearly all
the members of the "Special Commando" who saw the gassings and had to
carry out and cremate the victims, were killed by the SS, but a small
number of them escaped, mostly during the rebellion of October 1944.
Another factor is the fact that in the end of the war Auschwitz was in
total chaos - the Soviets were approaching fast, and they even bombed
the camp. Thus there was no time to kill all the occupants, and some
were transferred to camps within Germany. Many of them died in those
forced "death marches".
2.16: Fumes
from a
diesel engine are not toxic enough to kill people. (This claim
is made with
regard to the death camp of Treblinka - see file with ruling of German
courts on this. In other death camps, gasoline engines were used. The
method of killing was simple - people were crammed into the gas
chambers, and the exhaust of powerful engines was pumped into them).
Nonsense. In a closed
chamber, of course diesel fumes will kill. There was actually a study
on this, and its results are reported in "The Toxicity of Fumes from a
Diesel Engine Under Four Different Running Conditions", by Pattle et
al., British Journal of Industrial Medicine, 1957, Vol 14, p. 47-55.
These researchers ran a few experiments in which various animals were
exposed to diesel fumes, and studied the results.
In the experiments, the
exhaust of a small diesel engine (568 cc, 6 BHP) was connected to a
chamber 10 cubic meters (340 cubic feet) in volume, and the animals
were put inside it. In all cases, the animals died. Death was swifter
when the intake of air to the engine was restricted, as this causes a
large increase in the amount of carbon monoxide (CO) that is emitted.
(See, for instance, "diesel Engine Reference Book", by Lilly, 1985, p.
18/8, where it is stated that at a high air/fuel ratio the
concentration of CO is only a few parts per million but for lower
ratios (25:1) the concentration of CO can rise up to 3,000 ppm. It is
very easy to restrict the air intake; the British researchers did so by
partially covering the air intake opening with a piece of metal.)
Even in cases where the
CO output was low, the animals still died from other toxic components -
mainly irritants and nitrogen dioxide. Now, the diesel engines
used in Treblinka were much larger - they belonged to captured Soviet
T-34 tanks. These tanks weighed 26-31 tons (depending on the model) and
had a 500 BHP engine (compared to a mere 6 BHP in the British
experiments). The volume of the extermination chambers in Treblinka is,
of course, a factor. But the chambers' volume was about 60 cubic meters
(2040 cubic feet); this is 6 times more than those in the British
experiments, but the difference in the size of the engines is much
larger than a factor of 6.
It should be remembered
that what matters in CO poisoning is not the concentration of CO, but
the ratio of CO to oxygen. In a small room, crammed full of people,
oxygen levels drop quickly, thus making death by CO poisoning faster.
As noted, other toxic components in the fumes further accelerate
mortality.
The SS was aware of the
fact that cramming as many people as possible into the gas chamber,
thus leaving no empty spaces, would accelerate mortality. This is
evident, for instance, from a letter regarding "gassing vans" (used in
the Chelmno extermination camp and other locations) sent to
SS-Obersturmbannfuehrer Walter Rauff, 5 June 1942. The letter is quite
long (more of it is reproduced in the file of original Nazi documents),
but here is the relevant part (Nazism, document 913).
"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 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 shorter period of operation
since there are no free spaces."
Another gruesome
testimony to the "science of gassing" developed by the SS is the letter
from Dr August Becker to SS-Obersturmbannfuehrer Rauff, 16 May 1942
(Nazi Conspiracy, 418)
"The application of the
gas 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 have now 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".
2.17
The doors of the
gas chambers which used engine exhaust would not stand the pressure of
the gas accumulating inside and would burst.
Actually,
this might
have been a problem, as a letter about the "gassing vans" (from Willy
Just to SS-Obersturmbannfuehrer Walter Rauff, 5 June 1942; see Nazism:
A History in Documents and Eye Witness Accounts, 1941-1945" vol. 2,
document 913) contains the following excerpt:
"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". It might be that the
letter refers to an explosion caused by the buildup of gas; however, it
does note that technical alterations were made to take care of this
problem. A technological superpower that built submarines and rockets
could easily handle such a problem (for instance, by using valves to
release some of the gas if the pressure became too high).
2.18 There
were not
enough Jews in Europe to account for the number of 6 million victims.
This claim is
ridiculous, as attested to by all population statistics of that time,
including the numbers of Jews appearing in many original Nazi
documents... for instance:
Extracts from the
minutes of the Wannsee conference, January 20 1942, regarding the
"Final Solution of the Jewish Question" [Trials of War Criminals Before
the Nuremberg Military Tribunals - Washington, U.S Govt. Print. Off.,
1949-1953., Vol. XIII, p. 210]
II. At the beginning of
the meeting the Chief of the Security Police and the SD, SS Lieutenant
General Heydrich, reported his appointment by the Reich Marshal
[Goering] to service as Commissioner for the preparation of the Final
Solution of the European Jewish Problem.... In the course of this
final solution of the European Jewish Problem, approximately 11 million
Jews are involved. They are distributed among individual countries as
follows: A. Original Reich
Territory [Altreich] 131,800 Austria 43,700 Eastern territories
420,000 Government General [Nazi
occupied Poland] 2,284,000 The Netherlands 160,800 Rumania, including
Bessarabia 342,000 Hungary 742,800 USSR 5,000,000 White Russia, excluding
Bialystok 446,484 [Many countries deleted
for brevity] TOTAL over 11,000,000
Under proper direction
the Jews should now in the course of the Final Solution be brought to
the East in a suitable way for use as labor. In big labor gangs, with
separation of the sexes, the Jews capable of work are brought to these
areas and employed in road building, in which task undoubtedly a great
part will fall out through natural diminution.
The remnant
that finally
is able to survive all this - since this is undoubtedly the part with
the strongest resistance - must be treated accordingly since these
people, representing a natural selection, are to be regarded as the
germ cell of a new Jewish development. (See the experience of history).
In
the program
of the
practical execution of the Final Solution, Europe is combed through
from the West to the East.
The
claims
often made by
Holocaust deniers about emigration of Jews after the war are
preposterous. For instance, there were 370,000 Jews in Palestine in
1937, and 600,000 in 1948. The numbers arrived at by the Anglo-American
committee for studying the Holocaust are the following:
(Conclusions of the
Anglo-American committee for studying the Nazi genocide inflicted on
the Jews of Europe, with exact breakdown, country by country.)
Numbers of missing Jews
(post-war minus pre-war): Germany 195,000 Austria 53,000 Czechoslovakia 255,000 Denmark 1,500 France 140,000 Belgium 57,000 Luxembourg 3,000 Norway 1,000 Holland 120,000 Italy 20,000 Yugoslavia 64,000 Greece 64,000 Bulgaria 5,000 Rumania 530,000 Hungary 200,000 Poland 3,271,000 USSR 1,050,000 Less dispersed refugees
(308,000) Total number of Jews
that were exterminated 5,721,500
Some estimates are
lower, and some are higher, but these are the magnitudes in question.
Recent evidence shows that the number of ex-USSR victims was actually
underestimated.
About 6 million
non-Jewish civilians were killed by the Nazis - mostly in Poland and
Yugoslavia.
2.19 There
are no
documents about gas chambers or mass murder of Jews and others, and no
evidence there was a plan to carry out mass extermination.
This is the most absurd
claim Holocaust deniers make - there are numerous such documents. A
small sample is gathered in our file of "original Nazi documents".
2.20 The Anne
Frank
diary is a hoax which was written by someone else.
For an excellent
treatment of this subject, see "Denying the Holocaust: The Growing
Assault on Truth and Memory", by Deborah Lipstadt, published by the
Free Press, ISBN 0-02-919235-8.
In 1981, the Netherlands
State Institute for War Documentation submitted Anne Frank's
handwritten diaries to the Dutch State Forensic Science Laboratory of
the Ministry of Justice to determine their authenticity. The State
Forensic Science Laboratory examined the materials used-the ink, paper,
glue, etc.-and the handwriting and issued a report of some 270 pages.
"The report of the State
Forensic Science Laboratory has convincingly demonstrated that both
versions of the diary of Anne Frank were written by her in the years
1942 to 1944. The allegations that the diary was the work of someone
else (after the war or otherwise) are thus conclusively refuted."
Furthermore, that "despite corrections and omissions..
_The_Diary_of_Anne_Frank_ [i.e., the published version of the diaries]
does indeed contain `the essence' of Anne's writings, and that there
are no grounds on which the term `forgery' can be applied to the work
of the editors or publishers of the book." <1>
1. Anne Frank,
_The_Diary_of_Anne_Frank:_The_Critical_Edition_, Prepared by the
Netherlands State Institute for War Documentation, edited by David
Barnouw and Gerrold Van Der Stroom, (New York, Doubleday, 1989) p. 166.
3.00
Leuchter's claims
during his Zundel testimony, and the reality of his perjury.
In his article of
January 11, (Spotlight, "Major Historical Fact Uncovered," January 11,
1993), Foner discusses the Canadian trial of Ernst Zundel, and tells
us...
Zundel went looking for
an expert on executions, particularly gassings. He found Leuchter, who
specializes in the design and fabrication of execution hardware used in
prisons throughout the United States. (Foner, 3)
Although Leuchter is
touted by Neo-Nazi publications and Holocaust deniers as an "expert,"
Mr. Leuchter's own testimony at the Zundel trial made it clear that he
was neither an expert nor a credible witness.
The following is taken
from Leuchter's testimony at the Zundel trial (Douglas Christie,
Zundel's attorney is the questioner) - following the testimony are
verbatim quotes from two American prison officials,
which were obtained
after Leuchter's testimony at the trial. We believe you will have no
difficulty in determining the value of Mr. Leuchter's credentials after
considering both:
Q: And what is your
relationship with the operation of those facilities [i.e. gas chambers]
in those two States [California and North Carolina]?
A: We consulted with
both States, California primarily on a heart
monitoring system to
replace the older type mechanical diagraph stethoscope that's presently
in use. We will be shipping to them shortly and installing a new heart
monitor for both chairs in their gas chamber.
Q: You are consulted by the
State, I understand?
A: Yes, Juan Vasquez.
Q: I see. And in North
Carolina?
A: North Carolina. My
discussions and work was with one Nathan Reise, and he had some work
done by their maintenance personnel on their gas chamber two years ago,
and they had a problem with the gasket on a door leaking. At which
point, we discussed it with him and recommended remedial procedures to
change the gas chamber.
Q: And he consults you in
regard to those matters?
A: He does.
What do those two
facilities have to say about the matter? First, the warden at San
Quentin (California) responds: "I can inform you,
however, that San Quentin has not contracted with Fred A. Leuchter, Jr.
for the installation of a heart monitoring system or for any other
work." Signed: DANIEL B. Vasquez, Warden (California)
Next, we offer the
comments from North Carolina prison officials: "I discussed your
request with Mr. Nathan A. RICE, Former Warden, and he stated that he
vaguely recalled a telephone conversation between him and a gentleman
professing to be an expert on execution chambers. Mr. Rice further
states that the gentleman called him for the purpose of selling a
lethal injection machine...
Also, our records do not
support that Mr. Leuchter performed either consulting or any
service...I can attest that the planning and work was performed by the
Department of Correction Engineering Section and our institution
maintenance department." Signed: Gary T. Dixon, Warden (North Carolina)
We discover, then, that
neither California nor North Carolina have consulted with Leuchter
regarding their gas chambers. Leuchter was incapable of even getting
the names of the wardens right, and clearly lying about his
"professional" relationships with them. The only other state
with which Leuchter has alleged consulted regarding gas chambers is
Missouri. Yet, even thought Leuchter has allegedly "designed" a gas
chamber for the state, we have to take his word for it since that gas
chamber was never built nor installed and, in fact, Missouri does not
have an operational gas chamber to this day even though Leuchter had
allegedly designed one for them over 4 years ago. We would like to hear
from anyone who has contacted authorities in the State of Missouri
regarding this matter.
4.0 Research Materials
& Sources Vera Laska provided an
extensive list of assets for those interested in Holocaust research,
which was included in the Auschwitz FAQ. I recommend it as an excellent
starting point for anyone wishing to do serious research into the
Reinhard camps. In addition, you may
obtain our 8-part Holocaust bibliography by sending a message to
kmcvay@oneb.almanac.bc.ca, and simply putting the word BIBLIO in the
Subject: field of your message. All eight parts will be mailed to you
immediately.
4.1
Recommended Reading
Denying the Holocaust:
The Growing Assault on Truth and Memory, by Deborah Lipstadt, published
by the Free Press, ISBN 0-02-919235-8. Truth Prevails:
Demolishing Holocaust Denial, published by the Beate Klarsfeld
foundation and Holocaust Survivors and Friends. ISBN 1-879437-00-7. For a thorough survey of
the Holocaust, see Raul Hilberg's "Destruction of the European Jews". An excellent book about
Auschwitz is Pressac, J.C. Auschwitz: Technique and Operation of the Gas
Chambers. New York: Beate Klarsfeld Foundation, 1989
4.2 Glossary
Krema: a unit containing
a homicidal gas chamber and furnaces for disposing of the bodies.
Auschwitz had five such installations. (See pictures krema4.gif,
Krema3.gif, Furnace.gif.)
4.3 Works
Cited
Borkin, Joseph. The
Crime and Punishment of I.G. Farbin. London & New York: Collier
Macmillan Publishers (London) and The Free Press, a division of
Macmillan Publishing, 1978. Brugioni, Dino A., and
Robert G. Poirier. The Holocaust Revisited: A Retrospective Analysis of
the Auschwitz-Birkenau Extermination Complex. (Central Intelligence
Agency, Washington, D.C.) February 1979.
The paper includes
aerial photographs of the Auschwitz-Birkenau complex in operation
during WWII. A summary of their analysis is included in the paper.
These photos corroborate eyewitness accounts/Nazi documentation on camp
operations. You can obtain a copy
from the US gov't through the following sources: National Technical
Information Service 5285 Port Royal Road Springfield, VA 22161 or:
Photoduplication Service
Library of Congress Washington, D.C. 20540
Use the report
number(#st 79-10001) and the document number (NTISUBE28002) to speed
service along. The document # is particularly important.
Feig, Konnilyn G.
Hitler's Death Camps. LOC D810.J4 F36, 1981 Foner, Samuel P. "Major
Historical Fact Uncovered" SPOTLIGHT Vol. XIX, Number 2, January 11,
1993) Klarsfeld, Serge. The
Holocaust and Neo-Nazi Mythomania, as quoted in Feig.
Shelly, "Secretaries of
Death", Edited and Translated by Lore Shelly, Shengold Publishers INC.,
NY 1986
Fertig, Howard. The
History of KL-Auschwitz. New York: 1982 Fleming, Gerald. Hitler
and the Final Solution. University of California Press, 1984 Merck
Index. Ninth Edition, 1976.
Müller, Filip.
"Eyewitness Auschwitz: Three Years in the Gas Chambers", as cited by
both Feig and Hilberg. Museum w Oswiecimu. "KL Auschwitz seen by
the SS Hoess, Broad, Kremer," 2nd. ed., 1978 Nazi Conspiracy and
Aggression, Vol. III. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing
Office, 1946
Nazism: A History in
Documents and Eye Witness Accounts, Vol.2 Pressac, J.C. Auschwitz:
Technique and Operation of the Gas Chambers. New York: Beate Klarsfeld
Foundation, 1989 YVS XVI. Yad Vashem
Studies, XVI. "Operation Reinhard": Extermination Camps of Belzec,
Sobibor and Treblinka. Jerusalem: Yad Vashem, 1984
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