Archive-name: holocaust/leuchter/part01ăLast-modified: 1993/03/26ăăă[Leuchter] [Page i]ăă The Leuchter Report: A Layman's Guideă Holocaust Denial & The Big Lieăă 1.00 Introduction & Editorial Notes......................... 1ă 1.10 Copyright Notice..................................... 2ă 1.20 Overview............................................. 2ă 2.00 Point, Counterpoint - Denial Claims Addressed.......... 3ă 2.01 Disparities in Hydrocyanic Compound Levels........... 3ă 2.02 Explosive Property of Zyklon B & Furnace Proximity... 6ă 2.03 Gas Chambers Could Not Have Been Opened Safely....... 6ă 2.04 The Extermination Chambers Were Actually Morgues..... 7ă 2.05 Impossible to Kill 6 Million People at Auschwitz..... 7ăă 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....................................13ăă[Leuchter] [Page ii]ăă 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 1]ăă 1.00 Introduction & Editorial Notesăă This document provides a counterpoint to assertions commonly made byă those who deny that anyone was gassed at the Auschwitz-Birkenau andă Treblinka death camps during World War II; who, in fact, deny thată the gas chambers even existed. (At least a million people wereă ruthlessly exterminated at Auschwitz, and seven-hundred-thousand moreă at Treblinka - the worst of the Nazi extermination camps in terms ofă victims slaughtered.) ăă The most prestigious source in Germany regarding the crimes of theă Nazis during WW2, the "Institute for Contemporary History" in Munich,ă sums up the facts in a recent publication. ăă Treblinka (district Warschau, general government) from the end ofă July 1942 on had three gas chambers and received at the start ofă September 1942 furthermore ten larger gas chambers. Up to theă dissolution of the camp in November 1943 altogether 700,000 Jewsă were killed here by carbon monoxide.ăă Auschwitz-Birkenau (in the formerly Polish, in 1939 adjoined toă the "Reich" upper eastern Silesian area, south eastern ofă Kattowitz): The extermination camp in Birkenau, established in theă second half of 1941, was joined to the concentration campă Auschwitz, existing since May 1940. From January 1942 on in fiveă gas chambers and from the end of June 1943 in four additională large gassing-rooms gassings with Zyklon B have been undertaken.ă Up until November 1944 more than one million Jews and at leastă 4000 gypsies have been murdered by gas. ăă (Note that these numbers include only people gassed - many wereă murdered using more "conventional" means) ăă This is by no means a replacement for serious research - just ană expose of common frauds like the "Leuchter report", and a guide toă scholarly sources.ăă This document was prepared by Danny Keren and Jamie McCarthy, andă edited to its present form by Ken McVay. Comments, corrections, andă additions are welcome.ăă The appearance of a quotation mark within a proper name indicatesă that the previous letter should be read as an umlaut, although someă quoted material appends a trailing 'e' instead. (I.e. Hoess andă Ho"ss reference the same name.)ăă Documents cited in this work which were available from our list-serveră were noted in the form (Request ). Sadly, I haveă had to shut the server down, as it was creating an unacceptably heavyă load on my upstream feed site. The documents referenced here are ă available at several internet sites - I will update this section asă soon as I can compile a definative list. Please accept my apologies,ă as I can no longer offer this popular service.ăăă[Leuchter] [Page 2]ă 1.10 Copyrightăă This post, as a collection of information, is Copyright 1993 Kenă McVay and Danny Keren as a work of literature. Distribution by anyă electronic means is granted with the understanding that the articleă not be altered in any way. Permission to distribute in printed formă must be obtained in writing. The removal of this copyright notice isă forbidden.ăă 1.20 Overviewăă Fred Leuchter is a man with no formal training in either chemistry oră toxicology (he obtained a BA in history in 1964), and yet he claimsă to be a professional engineer - an assertion that has landed him ină hot water in his home state. In 1988, at the request of Canada'să Ernst Zundel, Mr. Leuchter went to Poland and visited the site ofă the Auschwitz concentration camp; (Mr. Zundel financed Leuchter'să trip to Poland.) The result of this journey was the "Leuchteră Report." Here's what Mr. Leuchter had to say about hisă "investigation:"ăă The purpose [of the investigation and subsequent report] doesă not include a determination of any numbers of persons who diedă or were killed by means other than gassing or as to whether ană actual Holocaust occurred. It, further, is not the intent ofă this author to redefine Holocaust in historical terms, bută simply to supply scientific evidence and information obtained ată the actual sites and to render an opinion based on all availableă scientific, engineering and quantitative data as to the purposeă and usages of the alleged execution gas chambers and crematoryă facilities at the investigated locations. (Foner)ăă You will note, as we will demonstrate using Leuchter's own swornă testimony, that Mr. Leuchter failed to demonstrate any concern foră the truth, even while under oath.ăă While testifying at Mr. Zundel's trial in Canada, Leuchter gaveă false evidence concerning his professional relationship with theă administration of two American prisons regarding gas chambers, andă proved himself to be unfamiliar with the most basic facts about theă lethal gas Hydrogen Cyanide, including its flammability and theă concentrations required for delousing purposes.ăă The "Leuchter Report" purports to "scientifically demonstrate" thată people were not killed by Zyklon-B at Auschwitz. It is composed ofă old claims made by the French Holocaust denier Faurisson, as well asă some new ones. Many of the claims appear in the Institute foră Historical Review's "66 Q&A on the Holocaust" pamphlet, and also ină arguments offered by others who deny the Holocaust.ăăă[Leuchter] [Page 3]ă Zyklon-Băă Zyklon-B is a powerful insecticide. It releases HCN, Hydrocyanică acid, a gas - Zyklon-B is the carrier, a material soaked with theă gas; usually it comes in the shape of small pellets or disks. HCN isă what causes death. While interacting with iron and concrete, ită creates compounds ("Hydrocyanic compounds"). Leuchter concedes thată these compounds were found in the ruins of the gas chambers ină Auschwitz (as reaffirmed by the findings of the Polish governmentă institute, which completely rejects Leuchter's conclusions - seeă Section 2.01).ăă HCN is extremely poisonous to humans. It is used in execution gasă chambers in the US; the first such was built in Arizona in 1920. Ită is absurd to claim (as the deniers do), that Germany in the 1940'să could not handle "technical difficulties" in using HCN for executionă - "difficulties" that were easily solved in 1920. Moreover, theă Germans had a lot of experience with HCN, as it was extensively usedă for delousing. ăă There were two types of gas chambers in Auschwitz: those used foră delousing clothes ("delousing gas chambers") and those used foră killing people on a massive scale ("extermination gas chambers").ă The delousing gas chambers were a standard feature, and were leftă intact by the SS (as opposed to the extermination gas chambers, whichă were dynamited in an effort to conceal criminal activity from theă rapidly approaching Soviet Army). The deniers try to confuse theă issue by mixing the two types of chambers. For instance, they showă pictures of the doors for the delousing chambers, and note that theyă are too weak to withstand the pressure of people trying to escape.ă Of course, the doors for the extermination chambers are completelyă different, but that fact is quietly overlooked (see 2.06).ăă 2.00 Point, Counterpointăă Holocaust denial often involves the same assertions, repeatedă endlessly, regardless of response. We present many of them foră consideration here, along with our response.ăă The photographs we refer to can be found in Pressac. ăă 2.01 Disparities in Hydrocyanic Compound Levelsăă Holocaust deniers often claim that since more hydrocyanic compoundsă were found in the delousing chambers than in the ruins of theă so-called "extermination" chambers at Auschwitz, and the reverseă would be true if people were actually gassed there, it is clear thată no gassings occurred.ăă But - HCN is far more effective on warm-blooded animals (includingă humans) than on insects, so the period of exposure to HCN is fară longer for delousing clothes than that required for homicidală gassings, and a much lower concentration is necessary to kill peopleă instead of insects.ăăă[Leuchter] [Page 4]ăă A concentration of up to 16,000 ppm (parts per million) is sometimesă used, with exposure times of up to 72 hours, to kill insects, but asă little as 300 ppm will cause death in humans within fifteen minutesă or so.ăă Breitman offers background information about the development ofă Zyklon B as a killing device, and provides clear evidence that theă Nazis determined the effective Zyklon B concentration through aă process of trial and error. ăă When the difference in the concentration of gas required to killă insects and humans was mentioned in Leuchter's cross-examination ină the Zundel trial, Leuchter responded: "I've never killed beetles. I,ă you know, I don't know. I haven't made computations for killingă beetles" - Hardly the response one would expect from an "expert" onă the subject...ăă Because of the relatively small concentrations required toă exterminate humans as opposed to lice, and because of the far shorteră exposure time required, the HCN in the gas chambers used to killă humans hardly had time to form chemical compounds on the walls.ăă The gas chambers were not very large (those in Kremas II and III wereă about 210 square meters), and the Zyklon B was dropped through foură openings in the roof, spreading the gas very quickly. These openingsă are still visible in the ruins of the gas chambers, and rareă photographs of them, taken while the camp was in operation, exist,ă and copies are readily available (Brugioni et al) from the sourcesă noted in Section 6.1, below. Since the concentration used was higheră than the lethal one, death was swift. ăă Leuchter's data is further suspect because the delousing chambersă where he obtained his samples were left intact by the SS, while theă extermination chambers were destroyed. Clearly, their walls wereă exposed to the elements for forty-five years, which would certainlyă effect the validity of the samples taken. (The ruins of Krema II areă covered with about three feet of water during certain periods of theă year, and HCN compounds would eventually dissolve under suchă conditions. Nonetheless, so many gassings occurred there that someă of the compound did remain).ăă Summarizing, the walls of the extermination gas chambers were ină contact with HCN for a much shorter time then those of the delousingă chambers, and for the last 45 years were exposed to surroundingsă which dissolve the compounds, while the delousing rooms were not.ă Therefore it is obvious that less traces of compounds would remain ină them. This debunks the major "amazing discovery" in Leuchter'să report, which, in retrospect, wasn't 'amazing' at all.ăă This fact - that all, or most, of the compounds would vanish duringă 45 years of exposure - is quite clearly stated in the report writtenă by the experts at the Cracow Institute of Forensic Research:ăăă[Leuchter] [Page 5]ăă --------------------------------------------------------------ă INSTITUTE OF FORENSIC RESEARCHă In the name of Prof. Dr. Jan Sehn, Krakowă Division of Forensic Toxicologyăă Krakow, 24 Sept. 1990ă Westerplatte 9 / Code 31-033ă Tel. 505-44, 592-24, 287-50ă Telex 0325213 eksad ...ăă The hydrocyanic acid (HCN) that is released from the Zyklon Bă preparation is a liquid with a boiling point of about 27 degreesă Celsius. It has an acidic character, and therefore formsă compounds with metallic salts, which are known as cyanides. Theă salts of alkaline metals (such as sodium and potassium) areă water soluble.ăă Hydrocyanic acid is a very weak acid, and accordingly its saltsă dissolve easily in stronger acids. Even carbonic acid, which isă formed as a reaction of carbon dioxide with water, will dissolveă ferro-cyanide.ăă Stronger acids, such as sulfuric acids, easily dissolve theă cyanides. The compounds of cyanide ions with heavy metals areă longer lasting. This includes the already mentioned Prussiană blue, although this will also slowly dissolve in an acidică environment.ăă Therefore, one can hardly assume that traces of cyanic compoundsă could still be detected in construction materials (plaster,ă brick) after 45 years, after being subjected to the weather andă the elements (rain, acid oxides, especially sulfuric andă nitrogen oxides). More reliable would be the analysis of wallă plaster [samples] from closed rooms which were not subject toă weather and the elements (including acid rain).ăă The discovery of hydrocyanic acid compounds in samples ofă material which had been subject to the elements can only beă accidental.ă --------------------------------------------------------------ăă The deniers often claim that the gas chamber in Krema I was leftă intact, and therefore its walls were not exposed to the elements.ă Curiously, they also make great issue of the fact that Krema I wasă converted into an air-raid shelter, and then rebuilt by the Sovietă Army, after the liberation of the camp, to reproduce its originală shape, saying that it has been used to mislead the public, who wereă told that people were gassed in the building. (The logic of theiră holding both views when it seems advantageous to do so will perhapsă escape you, but then logic has not been a demonstrated asset when ită comes to Holocaust denial. See Section 3.0.)ăă The modification consisted of essentially removing some partitioningă walls inside the gas chamber, which were added as a common feature ofă bomb shelters. Nontheless, this is the room in which people wereă gassed; there are still traces of cyanide on its walls, as Leuchteră admits (he found traces in 6 of 7 samples).ăăă[Leuchter] [Page 6]ăă But - the gas chamber of Krema I was used only for a short time,ă before the conversion. This, and the fact that "only" about tenă thousand people were murdered within it, compared toă three-hundred-fifty-thousand and four-hundred-thousand in Kremas IIă and III, explains why relatively small amounts of cyanide compoundsă remain. The other Kremas were destroyed by the SS prior to theă Soviet liberation.ăă Finally, cyanide compounds were found on the ventilation grills ofă the extermination chambers, proving beyond doubt that gassing didă take place within.ăă 2.02 The Explosive Property of Zyklon B & Furnace Proximityăă Holocaust denial often asserts that Zyklon B could not have been usedă for killing in the gas chambers, because it is explosive, and theă furnaces were nearby.ăă They overlook, however the fact that the concentration of HCNă necessary to cause death is nearly 200 times lower than thată necessary to cause an explosion. Although the SS used aă concentration higher than the lethal one, it was far less than whată would be required to cause an explosion.ăă As a reference, one can look at "The Merck Index" and the "CRCă handbook of Chemistry and Physics", or consult any manual dealingă with toxicity and flammability of chemicals. For HCN, aă concentration of 300 ppm (parts per million) kills humans within aă few minutes, while the minimal concentration that can result in ană explosion is 56,000 ppm.ăă 2.03 Gas Chambers Could Not Have Been Opened Safely in 20-30 Minutesăă The claim is often heard that it takes 20 hours to air a room whichă was disinfected with Zyklon-B, and therefore the eyewitness accountsă giving a time of 20-30 minutes from when the gassing started to whenă the bodies where carried out is impossible, because the peopleă carrying out the bodies would perish.ăă It is true that if one disinfects a building in ordinary commercială use, it should not be reentered within 20 hours. That figure,ă however, has no meaning relative to the extermination chambers, whichă were forcibly ventilated. Fifteen minutes was ample time to replaceă the air after a gassing. When ventilation was not used, theă Sonderkommando (prisoners used as forced labor) who removed theă bodies wore gas masks. The Germans had plenty of experience withă gas, especially HCN, which was widely used for delousing. They knewă how to work with it safely. It is absurd to use the 20 hour figureă in this context, as it does not assume forced ventilation and takes aă huge safety factor into account. The SS didn't care much for theă safety of the Sonderkommando who had to enter the gas chambers toă take the corpses out in any event. In some cases, these people didă suffer from the remaining gas (see, for instance, Pressac, p. 473)ăă Furthermore, what makes ventilation difficult and lengthy is theă presence of rugs, furniture, curtains, etc. Needless to say, theseă were not present in the gas chambers - there was just bare concrete,ă making ventilation very fast and efficient.ăă[Leuchter] [Page 7]ăă If the "20 hours ventilation period" above was true, this would meană that the corpses of people executed using cyanide gas in US prisonsă would remain tied to the chair 20 hours after they wereă killed...clearly nonsense, as Fred Leuchter, who claims expertise ină gas chamber operation, knows full well.ăă 2.04 The "Extermination" Chambers Were Actually Morguesăă Holocaust denial often claims that the "alleged" exterminationă chambers were actually morgues, and that Zyklon-B was used in them asă a disinfectant.ăă This claim stems from the fact that Hydrocyanic compounds were foundă on the ventilation grills of the gas chambers in Krema II and IIIă (the chemical analysis was carried out by Dr. Jan Robel of theă Cracow Forensic Institute in December 1945, and was part of theă evidence in the trial of Auschwitz commander Ho"ss). This provesă that gassing did take place in that chamber - but since this runsă contrary to the deniers claims that it was an underground morgue,ă they claimed "a morgue is disinfected with Zyklon-B."ăă Unfortunately for the people offering this assertion as truth,ă Zyklon-B is useless for disinfecting corpses, as it does not killă anaerobic bacteria - it kills only aerobic organisms.ăă Finally, the "morgue" is specifically referred to as a "gassingă cellar" in a letter from the Auschwitz construction department to SSă General Kammler, January 29, 1943. Why call a morgue "gassingă cellar?" And why is the other underground room called "undressingă cellar?" (see Pressac, p. 221; also The Final Solution: The Attemptă to Exterminate the Jews of Europe, 1939-1945 - G. Reitlinger, Southă Brunswick, T. Yosellof, 1968, p. 158. These documents areă reproduced in the "AUSCHWITZ" section of the file "Original Naziă Documents", together with other documents about the process ofă gassing in Auschwitz).ăă 2.05 It Was Impossible to Kill 6 Million People at Auschwitzăă "Judging by the amount and area of the gas chambers, and theă number of the Kremas, it was impossible to kill 6 million peopleă in the time interval in which the concentration camps existed."ăă No-one claims that 6 million people died at Auschwitz. Many died ină other death camps, in the ghettos and in occupied Soviet territory.ă Estimates of the number of people who were gassed to death ină Auschwitz vary, but the lowest is 900,000, and the highest aboută 1,600,000. It is obvious that the extermination and cremationă facilities in Auschwitz could take care of such a number.ăăă[Leuchter] [Page 8]ăă Just look at the photographs of the furnaces of Krema II (Pressac,ă 367). There were five Kremas in Auschwitz. Number II, for instance,ă had 15 huge furnaces, especially designed to burn efficiently andă quickly. Each could consume 3 to 4 bodies at once (remember thată many children were present, and many of the people were emaciated),ă and do so in a maximum of 45 minutes. The SS experimented withă different combinations of corpse types and coke to determine whichă would provide the most cost-efficient results! (Mu"ller, 60-61;ă Klarsfeld, 99-100) ăă The figure Leuchter gives as the maximum number of people that couldă be executed in a week - 1693 - is absurd, as is demonstrated by theă following calculation for a single Krema, number II:ăă One gas chamber, about 210 square meters (2220 square feet) in area,ă easily accommodated a few hundred people, who were crammed into it.ă (See Section 2.16)ăă Fifteen furnaces, each capable of incinerating at least 3 bodies ină 45 minutes, could dispose of at least 720 bodies in a 12-hour day.ăă In a single year, Krema II could incinerate over a quarter-millionă bodies. Add that to the capabilities of Kremas III, IV, and V, andă you begin to get the picture. In addition, bodies were also burnedă in massive pits. Two gruesome photographs of these "burning pits",ă taken in secrecy in Auschwitz-Birkenau, have survived. They are ofă reasonable quality, and show men standing inside a pile of nakedă bodies, with the smoking pit in front of them. Some bodies are beingă dragged into the pit. The photographs are reproduced in Pressac,ă (422) and are also available as GIF files. ăă As a reference, one can look at a letter dated June 20 1943, sent toă SS General Kammler in Berlin, citing the number of bodies that can beă disposed of in 24 working hours as 4,756. A photograph of the letteră and its serial number in German archives appears in Pressac (247).ă (This is lower than 5 x 1440 = 7,200 because some of the Kremas hadă fewer furnaces than II and III. The exact breakdown, specified ină the letter from Jahrling to Kammler, is 340 corpses for Krema I, 768ă for IV and V, 1440 for II and III. This letter is available in GIFă format. ăă It is naive at best, and contemptuously dishonest, to claim that suchă a number of crematoriums were provided for anything other than theă disposal of bodies created by the mass murder of helpless victims.ăă Leuchter arrives at his figures assuming that the people could occupyă the gas chambers at a density of maximum 1 person per 9 square feetă (!!) and that it would take a week (!!) to ventilate the gas chambersă before they could be used for another mass execution. Theseă assumptions are absurd.ăă Lastly, two other gassing installation existed in Auschwitz - theă so-called "Bunker I" and "Bunker II". They were also demolished byă the fleeing SS.ăă(Continued in Part Two)ăă-- ă The Old Frog's Almanac ă Home of the Holocaust Research Mailing Listă Ladysmith, British Columbia, CANADAă