Inside the Auschwitz 'Gas Chambers'
Introduction
1988 was a very informative and likewise disturbing year. I was
appalled to learn that much of what I was taught in school about
twentieth-century history and World War II was a myth, if not a
lie. I was first amazed; then annoyed; then aware: the myth of the
Holocaust was dead.
Like all American children born during and after World War II, I
was taught about the genocide perpetrated by the Nazis on the Jews.
By the time I had reached college, I had no reason to disbelieve
any of my education, except that I had some problems swallowing the
numbers of decedents, said to total some six million. But there it
stopped. I believed in the Nazi genocide. I had no reason to
disbelieve.
Some 24 years later, a very believing engineer sat at his desk
working one snowy January afternoon in 1988, when the telephone
rang. This very believing engineer was about to receive a very
shocking history lesson, one which would cause him to question that
50-year-old Holocaust lie and the application of that lie to
generations of children. "Hello, this is Robert Faurisson" - and
that very believing engineer would believe no more.
Background
I have for the past nine years worked with most, if not all, of
the states in the United States having capital punishment. I design
and manufacture execution equipment of all types, including
electrocution systems, lethal injection equipment, gallows and
gas-chamber hardware.
I have consulted for, or supplied equipment to, most of the
applicable states and the federal government.
Because of my association with the states in this capacity, I
was recommended to the Zündel defense as a consultant on gas
chambers by Warden Bill Armontrout of the Missouri State
Penitentiary.
After answering my telephone on that cold January afternoon, I
met with Dr. Robert Faurisson twice in Boston and, as a result of
these meetings, I was summoned to Toronto to meet with Ernst
Zündel, attorney Douglas Christie and the rest of Zündel's very
able staff.
Dr. Robert Faurisson had postulated 13 years ago that a
gas-chamber specialist should be sought who could evaluate the
alleged gas chambers in Poland and report on their efficacy for
execution purposes.
Valentine's Day weekend found me and Carolyn, my wife of two
weeks, in Toronto. Two days of lengthy meetings followed, during
which I was shown photos of the alleged German gas chambers in
Poland, German documents and Allied aerial photographs. My
examination of this material led me to question whether these
alleged gas chambers were, in fact, execution facilities. I was
asked if I would go to Poland and undertake a physical inspection
and forensic analysis resulting in a written evaluation of these
alleged execution gas chambers, some at places I had never even
heard of.
After due consideration, I agreed and made plans to leave for
Poland, awaiting a time of minimal snow covering. I also stated
that although the photos and documents seemed to support the view
that these places were, indeed, not execution facilities, I would
reserve final judgment until after my examination and, if I
determined that these facilities were, in fact, or could have been,
execution gas chambers, I would state this in my report. The final
report was to be utilized as evidence in Ernst Zündel's defense in
his pending criminal trial at Toronto, and I had to be prepared to
testify under oath.
Preparations for the trip required me to take sample bags,
documentation journals and tools. Because we were in a Communist
country, I would have to be careful with the tools. Very few
tourists carry hammers, chisels, star drills and tape measures
while travelling. I hid them in the lining of my valise and hoped
for the best. Further, I had maps of Poland, Czechoslovakia and
Austria, in the event that we might have to make a hasty and
unscheduled exit. And finally, I had gifts with which we bribed the
museum people to supply us with copies of documents from the Museum
Archives.
Our Staff
I was fortunate to have a competent and dependable party of
professionals: my wife Carolyn, my general assistant; Mr. Howard
Miller, draftsman; Mr. Jürgen Neumann, cinematographer; Mr. Tijudar
Rudolf, interpreter. All knew that, if caught, the Polish
government would take a dim view of our activities and purpose, let
alone my removal of forensic samples from national shrines and
monuments.
And the two ex officio members of our party, Mr. Ernst Zündel
and Dr. Robert Faurisson, who could not accompany us in person, but
who nevertheless were with us every step of the way in spirit.
The Trip
On February 25, 1988, we left for Poland. Neumann and Rudolf,
the Canadian contingent, joined me and the remainder of our team in
Frankfurt.
We arrived at Cracow in the late afternoon and spent our first
night at the Hotel Orbis. We consumed the first of our three decent
meals while in Poland. The following day we drove to Oswiecim
(Auschwitz). We arrived at the Auschwitz hotel and were greeted by
the smell of sulphur napthal disinfectant, a smell I had not
encountered for many years. The hotel is apparently the old
officers' quarters for the camp. We ate lunch at the hotel dining
room, a cafeteria style facility. This was our first unidentifiable
meal, starch soup and sundries.
We made a reconnaissance tour of the camp, lasting into the dim
light of the Polish afternoon and several snow squalls, a common
occurrence. We ate no supper, in that we found no place to eat in
Auschwitz after sundown our first evening.
Auschwitz and Birkenau
The following day we began our work in the alleged gas chamber
at the Auschwitz [camp] facility. Unfortunately, we were unable to
accomplish much due to constant interruptions by both official and
unofficial Sunday tours. Carolyn stood guard at one entrance and
Tijudar at the other, advising myself, Jürgen and Howard of their
arrival. It was too dangerous to take forensic samples and tape, so
we left for Birkenau [camp site] about noon.
At Birkenau we began a four-hour walk into the damp Polish cold
and through snow squalls so dense we could not see each other at a
distance of a few feet. Unfortunately, we did not expect to spend
that much time walking through the camp and, since vehicles are not
permitted within the camp, we left Carolyn behind in the car. Since
we forgot to leave her the keys, she nearly froze in the cold
Polish afternoon.
We visited the barracks, crematories II, III, IV and V, the
sauna and the alleged burning pits. We took samples, documented our
activities on video tape and in still photos, and made scale
drawings of these facilities, carefully documenting the removal
locations of all the forensic samples. We had to break into the
sauna building, since it was locked.
At crematory II, I descended into the depths of the alleged gas
chamber, a wet, dank subterranean place not visited by man in
almost 50 years, since the building had been reduced to rubble,
probably by a German military demolition team. Fortunately, there
were fewer guards and less pedestrian traffic, making working
conditions considerably better than they had been earlier at
Auschwitz.
Having been instructed by our empty stomachs of the evening
before, we found and ate at the restaurant at the bus station, the
only legitimate restaurant in Auschwitz. We returned to the
Auschwitz hotel for the night.
The following day, Monday, we again began our work at Auschwitz
[camp site], the Sunday tours having subsided. We were able to get
our samples, tapes and documentation. We had, by this time,
obtained blueprints of the alleged gas-chamber facility and were
able to follow the structural changes back to the dates in
question. We also verified the existence of the floor drain for the
periods of alleged gas chamber usage.
Upon completion at Auschwitz, we drove again to Birkenau to take
our control sample at delousing facility 1. Unfortunately, the
building was locked and again we had to break and enter in order to
access the delousing chamber. Again we ate at the bus station, and
retired early to the Auschwitz hotel.
Tuesday morning, while awaiting Tijudar's unsuccessful attempt
to obtain a can of Zyklon B, Jürgen and I made video tapes of
locations within the camp. We moved from the Auschwitz hotel to a
hostel nearby, obtaining newly vacated rooms. We ate at the bus
station and retired early.
On Wednesday morning [the 2nd] we ate a very enjoyable breakfast
of ham, cheese and bread (our second decent meal in Poland) and
began our trip to Lublin to see the Majdanek camp site. After one
final look in at Auschwitz, we set off by car for Majdanek.
Majdanek
Several hours later, we arrived at Majdanek (Lublin), and
visited the museum, the reconstructed alleged gas chamber and the
crematory. We finally arrived at disinfection [buildings] 1 and 2,
and examined the facilities. It was extremely difficult to work, in
that a guard made rounds every 10 or 15 minutes.
The alleged gas chambers were blocked by gates and not
accessible for a detailed inspection by the general public. It was
necessary for me to trespass beyond these gates in forbidden areas.
Again Carolyn and Tijudar stood watch while I made measurements and
did a detailed examination in these areas. Once we were caught
short: I was forced to hurdle the gate, and was still in the air
and in mid-jump when the guard entered. Fortunately, he was more
interested in Jürgen and his camera to see me before I touched
ground.
Return
The camp closed in early afternoon and the guard rather nastily
told us to leave. By three o'clock we were en route to Warsaw, a
trip that would take five hours through rain and snow. Our hotel
reservation had been fouled up but, fortunately, with the help of
an embassy attache, we were able to secure rooms at another
hotel.
We had our third edible meal in Poland that evening, and went to
bed in preparation for our trip home on Thursday. The following
morning [March 3] we had breakfast and proceeded to the airport for
our return trip.
We boarded the Polish airlines plane after clearing customs --
my suitcase containing twenty pounds of the forbidden samples,
fortunately none of which was found. I did not breathe easy until
we cleared the passport checkpoint at Frankfurt. Our team split at
Frankfurt for the return trips to the United States and Canada,
respectively. After our return, I delivered the forensic samples to
the test laboratory in Massachusetts. Upon receipt of the test
results, I prepared my report, combining my knowledge of gas
execution facilities and procedures with the research I had
completed at crematories and with retort manufacturers in the
United States. With the results of my research I believe you are
all familiar.
Upon completion of my report I testified at Toronto - but that
is another story.
The Findings
1. Gas Chambers
The results published in The Leuchter Report are the
important thing. Categorically, none of the facilities examined at
Auschwitz, Birkenau or Lublin (Majdanek) could have supported, or
in fact did support, multiple executions utilizing hydrogen
cyanide, carbon monoxide or any other allegedly or factually lethal
gas.
Based upon very generous maximum usage rates for all the alleged
gas chambers, totalling 1,693 persons per week, and assuming these
facilities could support gas executions, it would have required
sixty-eight (68) years to execute the alleged number of six
millions of persons. This must mean the Third Reich was in
existence for some seventy-five (75) years.
Promoting these facilities as being capable of effecting mass,
multiple or even singular executions is both ludicrous and
insulting to every individual on this planet. Further, those who do
promote this mistruth are negligent and irresponsible for not
investigating these facilities earlier and ascertaining the truth
before indoctrinating the world with what may have become the
greatest propaganda ploy in history.
2. Crematories
Of equal importance are Exterminationist errors relating to the
crematories. If these crematories, operated at a theoretical rate
of maximum output per day, without any down time and at a constant
pace (an impossible situation), and we accept the figure of at
least six million executed, the Third Reich lasted for at least
forty-two (42) years, since it would take thirty-five (35) years at
an impossible minimum to cremate these six million souls.
No one by any stretch of the imagination would allege (or even
believe) that the Third Reich ever lasted for seventy-five (75) or
even forty-two (42) years, yet they would have us believe that six
million souls were executed with equipment that could not possibly
have functioned, in less than one-seventh of the absolute minimum
time it could possibly have taken.
3. Forensics
Forensic samples were taken from the visited sites. A control
sample was removed from delousing facility 1 at Birkenau. It was
postulated that because of the high iron content of the building
materials at these camps the presence of hydrogen cyanide gas would
result in a ferric-ferro-cyanide compound being formed, as
evidenced by the Prussian blue staining on the walls in the
delousing facilities.
A detailed analysis of the 32 samples taken at the
Auschwitz-Birkenau complexes showed 1,050 mg/kg of cyanide and
6,170 mg/kg of iron. Higher iron results were found at all of the
alleged gas chambers but no significant cyanide traces. This would
be impossible if these sites were exposed to hydrogen cyanide gas,
because the alleged gas chambers supposedly were exposed to much
greater quantities of gas than the delousing facility. Thus,
chemical analysis supports the fact that these facilities were
never utilized as gas execution facilities.
4. Construction
Construction of these facilities shows that they were never used
as gas chambers.
None of these facilities were sealed or gasketed. No provision
was ever made to prevent condensation of gas on the walls, floor or
ceiling. No provision ever existed to exhaust the air-gas mixture
from these buildings. No provision ever existed to introduce or
distribute the gas throughout the chamber. No explosion-proof
lighting existed and no attempt was ever made to prevent gas from
entering the crematories, even though the gas is highly explosive.
No attempt was made to protect operating personnel from exposure to
the gas or to protect other non-participating persons from
exposure.
Specifically, at Auschwitz, a floor drain in the alleged gas
chamber was connected directly to the camp's storm drain system. At
Majdanek a depressed walkway around the alleged gas chambers would
have collected gas seepage and resulted in a death trap for camp
personnel.
No exhaust stacks ever existed. Hydrogen cyanide gas is an
extremely dangerous and lethal gas, and nowhere were there any
provisions to effect any amount of safe handling. The chambers were
too small to accommodate more than a small fraction of the alleged
numbers. Plain and simple, these facilities could not have operated
as execution gas chambers.
5. Conclusion
After a thorough examination of the alleged execution facilities
in Poland and their associated crematories, the only conclusion
that can be arrived at by a rational, responsible person is the
absurdity of the notion that any of these facilities were ever
capable of, or were utilized as, execution gas chambers.
About the Author
Fred A. Leuchter, Jr., has been widely acknowledged as America's
leading specialist on the design and fabrication of homicidal gas
chambers and other equipment used in execution of convicted
criminals. His expertise has been acknowledged by state governments
and in periodicals such as The Atlantic (Feb. 1990),
The New York Times (Oct. 13, 1990) and The New York
Times Book Review (Nov. 22, 1992), as well as on the "Phil
Donahue Show," where he appeared as a guest.
After receiving his Bachelor's degree from Boston University in
1964, he did postgraduate work at the Harvard Smithsonian
Astrophysical Observatory. Leuchter holds patents for numerous
highly sophisticated technical devices, including sextants,
surveying instruments and optical encoding equipment.
Leuchter spoke at length about his investigation at Auschwitz
and other camp sites in sworn courtroom testimony, April 20-21,
1988, in the Toronto "Holocaust" trial of German-Canadian publisher
Ernst Zündel. Leuchter's detailed Report on his investigation and
findings has been published in numerous editions in all major
languages.
Infuriated by his stunning court testimony and his Report,
powerful special interest groups responded with an intense
worldwide campaign against Leuchter. This vicious campaign of
slander and vilification ultimately succeeded in destroying his
career.
This paper was first presented at the Ninth IHR Conference
(1989), and was published in the summer 1989 issue of The
Journal of Historical Review.