Chapter 7:
The strident whistle of a train was heard coming from the direction of the
unloading platform. It was still very early. I approached my window, from
which I had a direct view onto the tracks, and saw a very long train. A
few seconds later the doors slid open and the box cars spilled out
thousands upon thousands of the chosen people of Israel. Line up and
selection took scarcely half an hour. The left-hand column moved slowly
away.
...
They advanced with slow, weary steps. The children's eyes were heavy with
sleep and they clung to their mother's clothes. For the most part the
babies were carried in their fathers' arms, or else wheeled in their
carriages. The SS guards remained before the crematorium doors, where a
poster announced: "Entrance is Strictly Forbidden to All Who Have No
Business Here, Including SS."
...
Then they advanced for about 100 yards along a cinder path edged with green
grass to an iron ramp, from which 10 or 12 concrete steps led underground to
an enormous room dominated by a large sign in German, French, Greek and
Hungarian: "Baths and Disinfecting Room." The sign was reassuring, and
allayed the misgivings or fears of even the most suspicious among them. They
went down the stairs almost gaily.
The room into which the convoy proceeded was about 200 yards long: its walls
were whitewashed and it was brightly lit. In the middle of the room, rows of
columns. Around the columns, as well as along the wails, benches. Above the
benches, numbered coat hangers. Numerous signs in several languages drew
everyone's attention to the necessity of tying his clothes and shoes
together. Especially that he not forget the number of his coat hanger, in
order to avoid all useless confusion upon his return from the bath.
...
There were 3,000 people in the room: men, women and children. Some of the
soldiers arrived and announced that everyone must be completely undressed
within ten minutes. The aged, grandfathers and grandmothers; the children;
wives and husbands; all were struck dumb with surprise. Modest women and
girls looked at each other questioningly. Perhaps they had not exactly
understood the German words. They did not have long to think about it,
however, for the order resounded again, this time in a louder, more menacing
tone. They were uneasy; their dignity rebelled; but, with the resignation
peculiar to their race, having learned that anything went as far they were
concerned, they slowly began to undress. The aged, the paralyzed, the mad
were helped by a Sonderkommando squad sent for that purpose. In ten minutes
all were completely naked, their clothes hung on the pegs, their shoes
attached together by the laces. As for the number of each clothes hanger, it
had been carefully noted.
...
Making his way through the crowd, an SS opened the swing-doors of
the large oaken gate at the end of the room. The crowd flowed
through it into another, equally well-lighted room. This second
room was the same size as the first, but neither benches nor pegs
were to be seen. In the center of the rooms, at thirty-yard
intervals, columns rose from the concrete floor to the ceiling.
They were not supporting columns, but square sheet-iron pipes, the
sides of which contained numerous pe~orations, like a wire
lattice.
Everyone was inside. A hoarse command rang out: "SS and
Sonderkommando leave the room." They obeyed and counted off. The
doors swung shut and from without the lights were switched off.
At that very instant the sound of a car was heard: a deluxe model,
furnished by the International Red Cross. An SS officer and a SDG
(Deputy Health Service Officer) stepped out of the car. The Deputy Health Officer held four green sheet-iron canisters. He advanced across the grass, where, every thirty yards, short concrete pipes jutted up from the ground. Having donned his gas mask, he lifted the lid of the pipe, which was also
made of concrete. He opened one of the cans and poured the
contents --a mauve granulated material -- into the opening. The
granulated substance fell in a lump to the bottom. The gas it
produced escaped through the perforations, and within a few seconds
filled the room in which the deportees were stacked. Within five
minutes everybody was dead.
...
In order to be certain of their business the two gas-butchers
waited another five minutes. Then they lighted cigarettes and
drove off in their car. They had just killed 3,000 innocents.
...
The bodies were not lying here and there throughout the room, but
piled in a mass to the ceiling. The reason for this was that the
gas first inundated the lower layers of air and rose but slowly
towards the ceiling. This forced the victims to trample one
another in a frantic effort to escape the gas. Yet a few feet
higher up the gas reached them. What a struggle for life there
must have been! Nevertheless it was merely a matter of two or
three minutes' respite. If they had been able to think about what
they were doing, they would have realized they were trampling
their own children, their wives, their relatives. But they
couldn't think. Their gestures were no more than the reflexes of
the instinct of sell-preservation. I noticed that the bodies of
the women, the children, and the aged were at the bottom of the
pile; at the top, the strongest. Their bodies, which were covered
with scratches and bruises from the struggle which had set them
against each other, were often interlaced. Blood oozed from their
noses and mouths; their faces, bloated and blue, were so deformed
as to be almost unrecognizable. Nevertheless some of the
Sonderkommando often did recognize their kin. The encounter was
not easy, and I dreaded it for myself. I had no reason to be here,
and yet I had come down among the dead. I felt it my duty to my
people and to the entire world to be able to give an accurate
account of what I had seen if ever, by some miraculous whim of
fate, I should escape.
...
Then a new phase of the exploitation and utilization of Jewish
bodies took place. The Third Reich had already taken their clothes
and shoes. Hair was also a precious material, due to the fact that
it expands and contracts uniformly, no matter what the humidity of
the air. Human hair was often used in delayed action bombs, where
its particular qualities made it highly useful for detonating
purposes. So they shaved the dead.
But that was not all... the dead were next sent to the “tooth-
pulling" kommando, which was stationed in front of the ovens.
Consisting of eight men, this kommando equipped its members with
two tools, or, if you like, two instruments. In one hand a lever,
and in the other a pair of pliers for extracting the teeth. The dead
lay on their backs; the kommando pried open the contracted jaw with
his lever; then, with his pliers, he extracted, or broke off, all
gold teeth, as well as any gold bridgework and fillings. All members
of the kommando were fine stomatologists and dental surgeons. When
Dr. Mengele had called for candidates capable of performing the
delicate work of stomatology and dental surgery, they had
volunteered in good faith, firmly believing they would be allowed to
exercise their profession in the camp. Exactly as I had done.
...
When the last gold tooth had been removed, the bodies went to the
incineration kommando. There they were laid by threes on a kind of
pushcart made of sheet metal. The heavy doors of the ovens opened
automatically; the pushcart moved into a furnace heated to
incandescence.
The bodies were cremated in twenty minutes. Each crematorium worked
with fifteen ovens, and there were four crematoriums. This meant
that several thousand people could be cremated in a single day. Thus
for weeks and months---even years--several thousand people passed
each day through the gas chambers and from there to the incineration
ovens. Nothing but a pile of ashes remained in the crematory
ovens. Trucks took the ashes to the Vistula, a mile away, and dumped
them into the raging waters of the river.
That’s why Israel must be defended
Yesterday, I posted an article by Louis Rene Beres which dealt with the issue of what we can do to support Israel. Among his points, Prof Beres noted: "We must always recall that memory is the heart of redemption and that we are obligated - strongly obligated - never to forget, to honor the souls of the six million, of the KEDOSHIM. To do this we must never separate ourselves from the fate of our brothers and sisters in Israel. "
It is in this vein that I quote below from an eye witness to what transpired in Auschwitz. The citation is from Chapter 7 of Dr Miklos Nyiszli’s book, Dr Nyiszli being one of the rare Jews who witness the horror and lived to inform the world:
Nyiszli, Miklos. Auschwitz: An eye Witness Acount. New York: Seaver Books, 1960.
To the words of Prof Beres I would add the obvious: The only guarantee against Auschwitz being repeated is a strong Israel. That's why she must be defended by all of us.
Chapter 7:
The strident whistle of a train was heard coming from the direction of the
unloading platform. It was still very early. I approached my window, from
which I had a direct view onto the tracks, and saw a very long train. A
few seconds later the doors slid open and the box cars spilled out
thousands upon thousands of the chosen people of Israel. Line up and
selection took scarcely half an hour. The left-hand column moved slowly
away.
...
They advanced with slow, weary steps. The children's eyes were heavy with
sleep and they clung to their mother's clothes. For the most part the
babies were carried in their fathers' arms, or else wheeled in their
carriages. The SS guards remained before the crematorium doors, where a
poster announced: "Entrance is Strictly Forbidden to All Who Have No
Business Here, Including SS."
...
Then they advanced for about 100 yards along a cinder path edged with green
grass to an iron ramp, from which 10 or 12 concrete steps led underground to
an enormous room dominated by a large sign in German, French, Greek and
Hungarian: "Baths and Disinfecting Room." The sign was reassuring, and
allayed the misgivings or fears of even the most suspicious among them. They
went down the stairs almost gaily.
The room into which the convoy proceeded was about 200 yards long: its walls
were whitewashed and it was brightly lit. In the middle of the room, rows of
columns. Around the columns, as well as along the wails, benches. Above the
benches, numbered coat hangers. Numerous signs in several languages drew
everyone's attention to the necessity of tying his clothes and shoes
together. Especially that he not forget the number of his coat hanger, in
order to avoid all useless confusion upon his return from the bath.
...
There were 3,000 people in the room: men, women and children. Some of the
soldiers arrived and announced that everyone must be completely undressed
within ten minutes. The aged, grandfathers and grandmothers; the children;
wives and husbands; all were struck dumb with surprise. Modest women and
girls looked at each other questioningly. Perhaps they had not exactly
understood the German words. They did not have long to think about it,
however, for the order resounded again, this time in a louder, more menacing
tone. They were uneasy; their dignity rebelled; but, with the resignation
peculiar to their race, having learned that anything went as far they were
concerned, they slowly began to undress. The aged, the paralyzed, the mad
were helped by a Sonderkommando squad sent for that purpose. In ten minutes
all were completely naked, their clothes hung on the pegs, their shoes
attached together by the laces. As for the number of each clothes hanger, it
had been carefully noted.
...
Making his way through the crowd, an SS opened the swing-doors of
the large oaken gate at the end of the room. The crowd flowed
through it into another, equally well-lighted room. This second
room was the same size as the first, but neither benches nor pegs
were to be seen. In the center of the rooms, at thirty-yard
intervals, columns rose from the concrete floor to the ceiling.
They were not supporting columns, but square sheet-iron pipes, the
sides of which contained numerous pe~orations, like a wire
lattice.
Everyone was inside. A hoarse command rang out: "SS and
Sonderkommando leave the room." They obeyed and counted off. The
doors swung shut and from without the lights were switched off.
At that very instant the sound of a car was heard: a deluxe model,
furnished by the International Red Cross. An SS officer and a SDG
(Deputy Health Service Officer) stepped out of the car. The Deputy Health Officer held four green sheet-iron canisters. He advanced across the grass, where, every thirty yards, short concrete pipes jutted up from the ground. Having donned his gas mask, he lifted the lid of the pipe, which was also
made of concrete. He opened one of the cans and poured the
contents --a mauve granulated material -- into the opening. The
granulated substance fell in a lump to the bottom. The gas it
produced escaped through the perforations, and within a few seconds
filled the room in which the deportees were stacked. Within five
minutes everybody was dead.
...
In order to be certain of their business the two gas-butchers
waited another five minutes. Then they lighted cigarettes and
drove off in their car. They had just killed 3,000 innocents.
...
The bodies were not lying here and there throughout the room, but
piled in a mass to the ceiling. The reason for this was that the
gas first inundated the lower layers of air and rose but slowly
towards the ceiling. This forced the victims to trample one
another in a frantic effort to escape the gas. Yet a few feet
higher up the gas reached them. What a struggle for life there
must have been! Nevertheless it was merely a matter of two or
three minutes' respite. If they had been able to think about what
they were doing, they would have realized they were trampling
their own children, their wives, their relatives. But they
couldn't think. Their gestures were no more than the reflexes of
the instinct of sell-preservation. I noticed that the bodies of
the women, the children, and the aged were at the bottom of the
pile; at the top, the strongest. Their bodies, which were covered
with scratches and bruises from the struggle which had set them
against each other, were often interlaced. Blood oozed from their
noses and mouths; their faces, bloated and blue, were so deformed
as to be almost unrecognizable. Nevertheless some of the
Sonderkommando often did recognize their kin. The encounter was
not easy, and I dreaded it for myself. I had no reason to be here,
and yet I had come down among the dead. I felt it my duty to my
people and to the entire world to be able to give an accurate
account of what I had seen if ever, by some miraculous whim of
fate, I should escape.
...
Then a new phase of the exploitation and utilization of Jewish
bodies took place. The Third Reich had already taken their clothes
and shoes. Hair was also a precious material, due to the fact that
it expands and contracts uniformly, no matter what the humidity of
the air. Human hair was often used in delayed action bombs, where
its particular qualities made it highly useful for detonating
purposes. So they shaved the dead.
But that was not all... the dead were next sent to the “tooth-
pulling" kommando, which was stationed in front of the ovens.
Consisting of eight men, this kommando equipped its members with
two tools, or, if you like, two instruments. In one hand a lever,
and in the other a pair of pliers for extracting the teeth. The dead
lay on their backs; the kommando pried open the contracted jaw with
his lever; then, with his pliers, he extracted, or broke off, all
gold teeth, as well as any gold bridgework and fillings. All members
of the kommando were fine stomatologists and dental surgeons. When
Dr. Mengele had called for candidates capable of performing the
delicate work of stomatology and dental surgery, they had
volunteered in good faith, firmly believing they would be allowed to
exercise their profession in the camp. Exactly as I had done.
...
When the last gold tooth had been removed, the bodies went to the
incineration kommando. There they were laid by threes on a kind of
pushcart made of sheet metal. The heavy doors of the ovens opened
automatically; the pushcart moved into a furnace heated to
incandescence.
The bodies were cremated in twenty minutes. Each crematorium worked
with fifteen ovens, and there were four crematoriums. This meant
that several thousand people could be cremated in a single day. Thus
for weeks and months---even years--several thousand people passed
each day through the gas chambers and from there to the incineration
ovens. Nothing but a pile of ashes remained in the crematory
ovens. Trucks took the ashes to the Vistula, a mile away, and dumped
them into the raging waters of the river.
Posted by Joseph Alexander Norland at September 15, 2003 11:10 AM