Archive-name: holocaust/leuchter/part02ăLast-modified: 1993/03/26ăă The Leuchter Report: A Layman's Guideă Holocaust Denial & The Big Lie (Part Two)ăă 2.06 Doors of Gas Chambers Too Weak to Prevent Escape..... 9ă 2.07 They Would Not Have Used Zyklon-B for Gassing........ 9ă 2.08 The gas chambers were never sealed, or...............10ă 2.09 The gas would have killed everyone outside whenă ventilated...........................................12ă 2.10 Where did all the ashes from the cremations go.......12ă 2.11 People who dropped the gas into the gas chamber wouldă have been killed by it...............................12ă 2.12 The Auschwitz death list doesn't show all thoseă people were killed...................................12ă 2.13 Why would there be a swimming pool at a death camp...13ă 2.14 The high water table made it impossible to burnă bodies in ditches....................................13ă 2.15 How did witnesses to the gassings survive............13ă 2.16 Toxicity of fumes from a diesel engine...............13ă 3.00 Leuchter's perjury in Canadian court...................15ă 4.00 Research Sources & Other Useful Appendices.............16ă 4.10 Recommended Reading..................................17ă 4.20 Abbreviations Used in Citations......................17ă 4.30 Glossary.............................................17ă 4.40 Works Cited..........................................17ăăă[Leuchter] [Page 9]ăă 2.06 Doors of Gas Chambers Too Weak to Prevent Escapeăă Holocaust denial asserts that the doors of the "alleged" gas chambersă were much too weak to withstand the pressure of people trying toă escape death from inside the chambers.ăă Since none of the Kremas remained in their original state (Bunker I &ă II and Kremas II,III,IV and V destroyed, and Krema I modified) thereă is no physical evidence as to how the doors of the extermination gasă chambers looked like. However, a door which probably belonged to ană extermination gas chamber was discovered in the camp's building yard;ă it is massive, and reinforced with iron bars. Furthermore, the smallă peephole is protected from the inside with a strong metal grid,ă probably installed so the victims would not break the glass in theă peephole.ăă Those making this claim present pictures of doors for the delousingă chambers, which were not fortified, presumably on the assumption thată viewers are too inept to notice the switch. For a photograph of aă door probably used in an extermination gas chamber, see Pressacă (486). ăă 2.07 They would not have used Zyklon-B for gassingăă Holocaust denial often claims that if the Nazis had intended to killă people by lethal gassing, they would have used something other thană Zyklon B.ăă Zyklon-B was in use at Auschwitz as a delousing agent, and was thusă readily available. The Nazis had experience in its safe use as well,ă which made it even more attractive.ăă In addition, Zyklon B was easy to ship and to store, which alsoă made it attractive to the SS, who ordered enough of it, as Ho"ssă pointed out in his testimony, to kill two million people.ă Yitzhak Arad mentions Christian Wirth's rejection of Zyklon-Bă for use in exterminations: Wirth developed his own ideas on theă basis of the experiences he had gained in the Euthanasiaă program. Thus, in Belzec he decided to supply the fixed gasă chamber with gas produced by the internal-combustion engine of aă motorcar. [He] rejected Cyanide B which was later used ată Auschwitz. This gas was produced by private firms and itsă extensive use in Belzec might have aroused suspicion and led toă problems of supply. He therefore preferred a system ofă extermination based on ordinary, universally available gasolineă and diesel fuel. (YVS XVI, 211)ăă In a letter requesting for a truck to bring Zyklon-B to Auschwitz,ă the standard camouflage term "resettlement of Jews" is used to referă to extermination. Another such document asks for "material foră special treatment" - another term used to disguise exterminationă (Pressac, 557. For more examples of the camouflage terms noted, see ă file of original Nazi documents).ăăă[Leuchter] [Page 10]ăă ----------------------------------------------------------------ă Radio message 13 SS Garrison Radio Station Auschwitz Origin WVHAă [SS economic administration head office]ăă Received 2nd October 1942 in the Kommandantur of Auschwitză Concentration campăă The movement authorization for one 5 Ton truck with trailer toă Dessau and back in order to pick up material for theă resettlement of the Jews, is hereby accorded.ăă The authorization is to be given to the driver.ăă Liebehenschelă SS Lieutenant Colonelă Permanent representative of the headă of the service with the rank of Waffen SSă Lieutenant Generalăă For fileăă Head of the radio stationă -----------------------------------------------------------ăă When camp adjutant R. Mulka was asked by Judge Hofmeyer whată "material for the resettlement of the Jews" meant, he answered "well,ă sure. Zyklon-B" (The Auschwitz trial in Frankfurt, 11 Sep. 1964).ăă 2.08 The gas chambers were never sealed... or there was no provisionă to exhaust the gas from them... or there was no way for theă guards to release the pellets into them, or....ăă As stated earlier, the extermination chambers were dynamited by theă SS when they deserted the camp. There is therefore no directă evidence of what they looked like when they were in operation otheră than a few photographs taken by the Allies and the SS during the wară (See Brugioni). The construction plans do include the air extractionă systems, as one readily sees and the air extraction system isă mentioned in many documents. Some of the ventilation openings areă still visible in the ruins of the gas chambers. The plans evenă include the shower heads that were placed in the gas chamber toă mislead the victims. (See Pressac)ăă It is a sad reflection on Leuchter's integrity and ability to useă logic to see that he admits the Kremas were demolished, yet continuesă to claim he can deduce from their current state how they looked ină 1944, before they were blown up! The following is a verbatim excerptă from his cross-examination by Mr. Pearson, in the Zundel trial:ăă Q. Crematoria III has been demolished.ăă A. Um, there are still parts of Crematoruim III there, but foră the most part, the roof of the alleged gas chamber has crumbledă and is all lying in bits and pieces in the basement of what wouldă have been the alleged gas chamber.ăăă[Leuchter] [Page 11]ăă Q. So, it's no longer subterranean?ăă A. That's correct. There's a hole in the ground.ăă Q. With respect to the gas chambers at Crematorium IV and V,ă those are totally demolished.ăă A. With the exception of the foundation, yes.ăă Q. So, all that was there for you to examine was the foundationă of the building. Is that right?ăă A. That is correct.ă ă Leuchter admits that the roof of the gas chamber of Krema III was allă blown up and collapsed, and that Krema IV and V are gone except foră the foundation! As for Krema II, his testimony is also intriguing:ăă Q. So, the gas chamber facility itself is presently underground?ăă A. Parts of it are and parts aren't.ăă Q. All right. And the parts that are underground, I take it thată the roof is no longer whole; is that right?ăă A. Um, one of the roofs is broken into several pieces but it'să essentially whole.ăă Q. It's broken in several pieces but it's essentially whole?ăă A. I mean it's not fragmented.ăă Q. How many pieces?ăă A. Three, I believe. I say that only to indicate that it's notă fragmented. There are large slabs left of the roof.ăă Q. Right. And it's collapsed.ăă A. It's dropped several feet. It's partially collapsed.ăă Q. Is there dirt over it? Is it subterranean?ăă A. In some places there are dirt over it and some places there'să no dirt.ăă Q. All right. And that's with respect to Crematorium II?ăă A. That's correct.ăă Even more incredible is to see what Leuchter writes in his report:ăă "Evidence as to Krema function is non-existent since Krema's Iă oven has been completely rebuilt, Kremas II and III are partiallyă destroyed with components missing, and Kremas IV and V are gone".ăă "Are gone"! Yet, he can still conjecture about how they functionedă before being destroyed...ăă[Leuchter] [Page 12]ăă The pictures of the gas chambers in their current state appear ină Pressac. They are totally demolished and there is no way aă reasonable person would claim to be able to conclude anything aboută how they functioned before they were destroyed.ăă 2.09 If the gas chambers were ventilated, the gas would kill peopleă outside.ăă Nonsense; it is all a question of concentration. Once the gas isă released into the atmosphere, its concentration drops and it is noă longer dangerous. Also, HCN dissipates quickly. The execution gasă chambers in US prisons are also ventilated directly into theă atmosphere. Furthermore, if this argument would hold for theă extermination chambers, it would hold for the delousing chambers asă well, and one would have to conclude that no delousing chambersă existed either.ăă 2.10 If so many people were actually killed and cremated, where isă all the ash?ăă After a person is cremated, quite a small amount of ash remains - ită fits in a small urn, or a box. This means that ashes of thousands ofă people fit into one truck. The ash was either scattered around ină fields, buried, or - in Auschwitz, for instance - dumped into aă river.ăă 2.11 The people who dropped the Zyklon-B into the chambers would haveă died from the gas themselves.ăă Utter nonsense. Like those who used the Zyklon-B in the delousingă chambers, the SS men who carried out the gassings utilized gas masks.ă (The mind with at the realization that a "gas chamber expert" couldă not figure this out.)ăă 2.12 The death lists from Auschwitz do not show that any people wereă gassed, and point to a smaller number of victims.ăă This is because those lists refer only to those who where assignedă serial numbers. The majority of people transferred to the camp wereă classified as "unfit for work" and gassed immediately. This fact isă noted, for instance, in a report written by top SS officeră Franke-Gricksch to Himmler. These people were not registeredă anywhere, and no one recorded their names. (Testimony of Polishă prisoner Aloiz Oskar Kleta, Shelly, p. 284; Fertig, 12; Fleming,ă 174. Also, see testimony of Henryk Tauber, Pressac, page 488, as toă how the SS routinely burned documents regarding the number ofă victims.ăăă[Leuchter] [Page 13]ăă 2.13 There was a swimming pool in Auschwitz, hence it could not haveă been an extermination camp.ăă Indeed, a water reservoir in Auschwitz I (the main camp) wasă converted to a swimming pool which was used by the camp's staff.ă Other means of entertainment for the SS personnel existed - a bandă composed of prisoners, and a brothel. How this "proves" thată Auschwitz was not an extermination center is beyond the author ofă this text.ăă 2.14 Much of the area of Auschwitz has a high water table, thereforeă corpses could not be burned in ditches.ăă There are pictures of these ditches with corpses burning in them.ă During the period in which Auschwitz was active, the SS had the areaă drained; as can be seen today, the drainage, which has not beenă maintained since 1945, has deteriorated and the water level hadă risen. Furthermore, the ditches were not used all the time, but onlyă when there were not enough furnaces to cremate the victims or duringă the extermination of the Hungarian Jews, when so many people wereă murdered daily that the furnaces could not handle the amount ofă corpses. The "incineration ditches" are known to have been active ină October-November 1942 and the summer of 1944, which do not coincideă with the period the snow melts and the water level rises.ăă 2.15: How come eye witnesses to the gassings survived? Why didn'tă the Nazis kill them?ăă The answer is rather simple - the SS did kill almost all of them.ă After the war, for instance, there were about 70 survivors fromă Treblinka (more than 700,000 victims, see our Operation Reinhardă FAQ's for details). These survivors escaped from the camp, mostlyă during the rebellion they carried out. Same for Auschwitz: nearlyă all the members of the "Special Commando" who saw the gassings andă had to carry out and cremate the victims, were killed by the SS, bută a small number of them escaped, mostly during the rebellion ofă October 1944. Another factor is the fact that in the end of the wară Auschwitz was in total chaos - the Soviets were approaching fast, andă they even bombed the camp. Thus there was no time to kill all theă occupants, and some were transferred to camps within Germany. Manyă of them died in those forced "death marches".ăă 2.16: Fumes from a diesel engine are not toxic enough to killă people. (This claim is made with regard to the death camp ofă Treblinka - see file with ruling of German courts on this. Ină other death camps, gasoline engines were used. The method ofă killing was simple - people were crammed into the gas chambers,ă and the exhaust of powerful engines was pumped into them).ăă Nonsense. In a closed chamber, of course diesel fumes will kill.ă There was actually a study on this, and its results are reported ină "The Toxicity of Fumes from a diesel Engine Under Four Differentă Running Conditions", by Pattle et al., British Journal of Industrială Medicine, 1957, Vol 14, p. 47-55. These researchers ran a fewă experiments in which various animals were exposed to diesel fumes,ă and studied the results.ăă[Leuchter] [Page 14]ăă In the experiments, the exhaust of a small diesel engine (568 cc, 6ă BHP) was connected to a chamber 10 cubic meters (340 cubic feet) ină volume, and the animals were put inside it. In all cases, theă animals died. Death was swifter when the intake of air to the engineă was restricted, as this causes a large increase in the amount ofă carbon monoxide (CO) that is emitted. (See, for instance, "dieselă Engine Reference Book", by Lilly, 1985, p. 18/8, where it is statedă that at a high air/fuel ratio the concentration of CO is only a fewă parts per million but for lower ratios (25:1) the concentration of COă can rise up to 3,000 ppm. It is very easy to restrict the air intakeă - the British researchers did so by partially covering the air intakeă opening with a piece of metal.)ăă Even in cases where the CO output was low, the animals still diedă from other toxic components - mainly irritants and nitrogen dioxide.ăă Now, the diesel engines used in Treblinka were much larger - theyă belonged to captured Soviet T-34 tanks. These tanks weighed 26-31ă tons (depending on the model) and had a 500 BHP engine (compared to aă mere 6 BHP in the British experiments). The volume of theă extermination chambers in Treblinka is, of course, a factor. But theă chambers' volume was about 60 cubic meters (2040 cubic feet); this isă 6 times more than those in the British experiments, but theă difference in the size of the engines is much larger than a factor ofă 6.ăă It should be remembered that what matters in CO poisoning is not theă concentration of CO, but the ratio of CO to oxygen. In a small,ă gas-tight room, crammed full of people, oxygen levels drop quickly,ă thus making death by CO poisoning faster. As noted, other toxică components in the fumes further accelerate mortality.ăă The SS was aware of the fact that cramming as many people as possibleă into the gas chamber, thus leaving no empty spaces, would accelerateă mortality. This is evident, for instance, from a letter regardingă "gassing vans" (used in the Chelmno extermination camp and otheră locations) sent to SS-Obersturmbannfuehrer Walter Rauff, 5 June 1942.ă The letter is quite long (more of it is reproduced in the file ofă original Nazi documents), but here is the relevant part (Nazism,ă document 913).ăă "2) The vans are normally loaded with 9-10 people per square meter.ă With the large Saurer special vans this is not possible becauseă although they do not become overloaded their maneuverability is muchă impaired. A reduction in the load area appears desirable. It can beă achieved by reducing the size of the van by c. 1 meter. Theă difficulty referred to cannot be overcome by reducing the size of theă load. For a reduction in the numbers will necessitate longer periodă of operation because the free spaces will have to be filled with CO.ă By contrast, a smaller load area which is completely full requires aă much shorter period of operation since there are no free spaces."ăă Another gruesome testimony to the "science of gassing" developed byă the SS is the letter from Dr August Becker to SS-Obersturmbannfuehreră Rauff, 16 May 1942 (Nazi Conspiracy, 418)ăăă[Leuchter] [Page 15]ăă The application of the gas is not undertaken correctly. Ină order to come to an end as fast as possible, the driver pressesă the accelerator to the fullest extent. By doing that theă persons to be executed suffer death from suffocation and notă death by dozing off as was planned. My directions have nowă proved that by correct adjustment of the levers death comesă faster and the prisoners fall asleep peacefully. Distortedă faces and excretions, such as could be seen before, are noă longer noticed.ăă 3.00 Leuchter's claims during his Zundel testimony, and the realityă of his perjury.ăă In his article of January 11, (Spotlight, "Major Historical Factă Uncovered," January 11, 1993), Foner discusses the Canadian trial ofă Ernst Zundel, and tells us...ăă "Zundel went looking for an expert on executions, particularlyă gassings. He found Leuchter, who specializes in the design andă fabrication of execution hardware used in prisons throughout theă United States." (Foner, 3)ăă Although Leuchter is touted by Neo-Nazi publications and Holocaustă deniers as an "expert," Mr. Leuchter's own testimony at the Zundelă trial made it clear that he was neither an expert nor a credibleă witness.ăă The following is taken from Leuchter's testimony at the Zundel trială (Douglas Christie, Zundel's attorney is the questioner) - followingă the testimony are verbatim quotes from two American prison officials,ă which were obtained after Leuchter's testimony at the trial. Weă believe you will have no difficulty in determining the value of Mr.ă Leuchter's credentials after considering both:ăă Q: And what is your relationship with the operation of thoseă facilities [i.e. gas chambers] in those two States [Californiaă and North Carolina]?ăă A: We consulted with both States, California primarily on a heartă monitoring system to replace the older type mechanical diagraphă stethoscope that's presently in use. We will be shipping to themă shortly and installing a new heart monitor for both chairs ină their gas chamber.ăă Q: You are consulted by the State, I understand?ăă A: Yes, Juan Vasquez.ăă Q: I see. And in North Carolina?ăă A: North Carolina. My discussions and work was with one Nathană Reise, and he had some work done by their maintenance personnel onă their gas chamber two years ago, and they had a problem with theă gasket on a door leaking. At which point, we discussed it withă him and recommended remedial procedures to change the gas chamber.ăăă[Leuchter] [Page 16]ăă Q: And he consults you in regard to those matters?ăă A: He does.ăă What do those two facilities have to say about the matter? First,ă the warden at San Quentin (California) responds:ăă "I can inform you, however, that San Quentin has not contractedă with Fred A. Leuchter, Jr. for the installation of a heartă monitoring system or for any other work." Signed: DANIEL B.ă Vasquez, Warden (California)ăă Next, we offer the comments from North Carolina prison officials:ăă "I discussed your request with Mr. Nathan A. RICE, Formeră Warden, and he stated that he vaguely recalled a telephoneă conversation between him and a gentleman professing to be ană expert on execution chambers. Mr. Rice further states that theă gentleman called him for the purpose of selling a lethal injectionă machine...ăă Also, our records do not support that Mr. Leuchter performedă either consulting or any service...I can attest that the planningă and work was performed by the Department of Correction Engineeringă Section and our institution maintenance department." Signed: Garyă T. Dixon, Warden (North Carolina)ăă We discover, then, that neither California nor North Carolina haveă consulted with Leuchter regarding their gas chambers. Leuchter wasă incapable of even getting the names of the wardens right, and clearlyă lying about his "professional" relationships with them.ăă The only other state with which Leuchter has alleged consultedă regarding gas chambers is Missouri. Yet, even thought Leuchter hasă allegedly "designed" a gas chamber for the state, we have to take hisă word for it since that gas chamber was never built nor installed and,ă in fact, Missouri does not have an operational gas chamber to thisă day even though Leuchter had allegedly designed one for them over 4ă years ago. We would like to hear from anyone who has contactedă authorities in the State of Missouri regarding this matter.ăă 4.0 Research Materials & Sourcesăă Vera Laska provided an extensive list of assets for those interestedă in Holocaust research, which was included in the Auschwitz FAQ. Iă recommend it as an excellent starting point for anyone wishing to doă serious research into the Reinhard camps. ăă In addition, you may obtain our 8-part Holocaust bibliography byă sending a message to kmcvay@oneb.almanac.bc.ca, and simply puttingă the word BIBLIO in the Subject: field of your message. All eightă parts will be mailed to you immediately.ăăă[Leuchter] [Page 17]ăă 4.1 Recommended Readingăă Truth Prevails: Demolishing Holocaust Denial, published by the Beateă Klarsfeld foundation and Holocaust Survivors and Friends. ISBNă 1-879437-00-7.ăă 4.2 Abbreviations Used in Citationsăă The following abbreviations may be used throughout this document:ăă IFZ.........Institut fu"r Zeitgeschichte, Munichă IRR.........Investigative Repository Recordsă NA..........United States National Archivesă RG 59.......NA Diplomatic Recordsă RG 84.......Washington National Records Center, Diplomatic Post Recordsă RG 153......Washington National Records Center, Records of theă Office of the (Army) Judge Advocateă RG 165......Records of the War Department General and Special Staffs,ă Washington National Records Centeră RG 208......Office of War Information Records, Washington Natională Records Centeră RG 226......Office of Strategic Services Recordsă RG 238......War Crimesă EC Seriesă NG........Microfilm T-1139ă NI........Microfilm T-301ă NO Seriesă NOKW Seriesă PS Seriesă RG 242......NA Record Group 242 - Captured German Recordsă RG 319......Records of the Army Staffă T...........NA Microfilm Seriesăă If you note any that are not explained above, please let me know,ă and I will try to run them down for you.ăă 4.3 Glossaryăă Krema: a unit containing a homicidal gas chamber and furnaces foră disposing of the bodies. Auschwitz had five such installations.ăă 4.4 Works Citedăă Brugioni, Dino A., and Robert G. Poirier. The Holocaust Revisited:ă A Retrospective Analysis of the Auschwitz-Birkenau Exterminationă Complex. (Central Intelligence Agency, Washington, D.C.) Februaryă 1979.ăă The paper includes aerial photographs of the Auschwitz-Birkenauă complex in operation during WWII. A summary of their analysis isă included in the paper. These photos corroborate eyewitnessă accounts/Nazi documentation on camp operations.ăă You can obtain a copy from the US gov't through the followingă sources:ăă National Technical Information Serviceă 5285 Port Royal Roadă Springfield, VA 22161ăă or:ăă Photoduplication Serviceă Library of Congressă Washington, D.C. 20540ăă Use the report number(#st 79-10001) and the document numberă (NTISUBE28002) to speed service along. The document # isă particularly important.ăă Feig, Konnilyn G. Hitler's Death Camps. LOC D810.J4 F36, 1981ăă Foner, Samuel P. "Major Historical Fact Uncovered" SPOTLIGHT Vol.ă XIX, Number 2, January 11, 1993)ăăă[Leuchter] [Page 18]ăă Hilberg, Raul. Commandant of Auschwitz (London: Weidenfeld andă Nicholson, 1959)ăă Klarsfeld, Serge. The Holocaust and Neo-Nazi Mythomania, as quotedă in Feig.ăă Shelly, "Secretaries of Death", Edited and Translated by Lore Shelly,ă Shengold Publishers INC., NY 1986ăă Fertig, Howard. The History of KL-Auschwitz. New York: 1982ăă Fleming, Gerald. Hitler and the Final Solution. University ofă California Press, 1984ăă Nazi Conspiracy and Aggression, Vol. III. Washington,ă D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1946ăă Nazism: A History in Documents and Eye Witness Accounts, Vol.2ăă Mu"ller, Filip. "Eyewitness Auschwitz: Three Years in the Gasă Chambers", as cited by both Feig and Hilberg. Museum w Oswiecimu.ă "KL Auschwitz seen by the SS Hoess, Broad, Kremer," 2nd. ed., 1978ăă Pressac, J.C. Auschwitz: Technique and Operation of the Gasă Chambers. New York: Beate Klarsfeld Foundation, 1989ăă YVS XVI. Yad Vashem Studies, XVI. "Operation Reinhard": ă Extermination Camps of Belzec, Sobibor and Treblinka. ă Jerusalem: Yad Vashem, 1984ă-- ă The Old Frog's Almanac ă Home of the Holocaust Research Mailing Listă Ladysmith, British Columbia, CANADAă