Crematoria & Gas Chambers
Crematorium I
Crematorium I operated [at Auschwitz]
from August 15, 1940 until July 1943. According to calculations by
the German authorities, 340 corpses could be burned every 24 hours
after the installation of the three furnaces.
The
largest room in this building was designated as a morgue. It was
adapted as the first provisional gas chamber in the autumn of 1941.
The SS used Zyklon B to
kill thousands of Jews upon arrival, as well as several groups of Soviet
prisoners of war.
Prisoners selected in the hospital as unlikely to
recover their health quickly were also killed in the gas chamber. Poles sentenced to death
by the German summary court.
After the establishment in Auschwitz II-Birkenau
of two more provisional gas chambers, Bunkers No.
1 and 2 (the so-called "little
red house" and "little white house"), the camp
authorities shifted the mass murder of the Jews there and gradually
stopped using the first gas chamber.
After the completion of four crematoria with gas
chambers in Auschwitz II-Birkenau, the burning of corpses in
Crematorium I was halted. The building was used for storage, and then
designated as an SS air-raid shelter. The furnaces, chimney, and some
of the walls were demolished, and the openings in the roof through
which the SS poured Zyklon B were plastered.
After the war, the Museum carried out a partial
reconstruction. The chimney and two incinerators were rebuilt using
original components, as were and several of the openings in the gas
chamber roof.
When larger Jewish transports were sent to Auschwitz concentration camp in the first half of 1942, the Nazis began using -
in addition to the first operational gas chamber - two provisional
gas chambers set up in farmhouses whose owners had been evicted from
the village of Brzezinka.
Jewish men, women, and children, as well as Polish
political prisoners selected by physicians in the camp hospital, were
killed with poison gas in Bunker No. 1, which was also known as
"the little red house" (because of its brick walls). The
bunker contained two provisional gas chambers. It operated from the
early months of 1942 until the spring and summer of 1943, when four
new buildings with gas chambers and crematorium furnaces came into
use in Birkenau concentration camp. At that time, Bunker No. 1 was
demolished and the adjacent burning pits were filled in and
landscaped.
When larger Jewish transports were sent to Auschwitz concentration camp in the first part of 1942, the Nazis began using -
in addition to the first operational gas chamber - two provisional
gas chambers set up in farmhouses belonging to people who had been
expelled from the village of Brzezinka.
Jewish men, women, and children, as well as Polish political prisoners selected by physicians in the camp hospital, were
killed with poison gas in Bunker No. 2, which was also known as
"the little white house" (because of the color of the
plaster covering its walls). The bunker contained four provisional
gas chambers, which operated from 1942 four new buildings with gas
chambers and crematorium furnaces came into use in Birkenau concentration camp in the spring and summer of 1943. In the period
when the Germans needed additional gas chambers for the destruction
of the Jews deported from Hungary in 1944, they temporarily put Bunker No. 2 back into operation.
The Crematorium II building, which contained a gas chamber and
furnaces for burning corpses. Several hundred thousand Jewish men,
women and children were murdered here with poison gas, and their
bodies burned. The bodies of Jewish and non-Jewish prisoners who died
in the concentration camp were also burned here. According to
calculations by the German authorities, 1,440 corpses could be burned
in this crematorium every 24 hours. According to the testimony of
former prisoners, the figure was higher.
The gas chamber and Crematorium II functioned from
March 1943 through November 1944.
At the end of the war, in connection with the
operation intended to remove the evidence of their crimes, the camp
authorities ordered the demolition of the furnaces and crematorium
building in November 1944. On January 20, 1945, the SS blew up
whatever had not been removed.
The Crematorium III building, which contained a gas chamber and
furnaces for burning corpses. Several hundred thousand Jewish men,
women and children were murdered here with poison gas, and their
bodies burned. The bodies of Jewish and non-Jewish prisoners who died
in the concentration camp were also burned here. According to
calculations by the German authorities, 1,440 corpses could be burned
in this crematorium every 24 hours. According to the testimony of
former prisoners, the figure was higher.
The gas chamber and Crematorium III functioned
from June 1943 through November 1944.
At the end of the war, in connection with the
operation intended to remove the evidence of their crimes, the camp
authorities ordered the demolition of the furnaces and crematorium
building in November 1944. On January 20, 1945, the SS blew up
whatever had not been removed.
The Crematorium IV building, which contained a gas chamber and
furnaces for burning corpses.
Thousands of Jewish men, women and children were
murdered here with poison gas, and their bodies burned.
The bodies of Jewish and non-Jewish prisoners who
died in the concentration camp were also burned here. According to
calculations by the German authorities, 768 corpses could be burned
in this crematorium every 24 hours. According to the testimony of
former prisoners, the figure was higher.
The apparatus of mass murder in this building
functioned, with interruptions, from March 1943 until October 7,
1944. The building was burned down on the day of the mutiny of the
Jewish prisoners from the Sonderkommando.
The Crematorium V building contained a gas chamber and furnaces for
burning corpses. Thousands of Jewish men, women and children were
murdered here with poison gas, and their bodies burned.
The
bodies of Jewish and non-Jewish prisoners who died in the
concentration camp were also burned here. According to calculations
by the German authorities, 768 corpses could be burned in this
crematorium every 24 hours. According to the testimony of former
prisoners, the figure was higher.
At times, the bodies of the people who had been
murdered were also burned on pyres in pits located near Crematorium V
and the so-called bunkers.
The apparatus of mass murder in this building
functioned, with interruptions, from April 1943 until January 1945.
In connection with the operation intended to remove the evidence of
their crimes, the SS blew up the building on January 26, 1945.
Sources: The
State Museum of Auschwitz-Birkenau. Reprinted with permission.
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