The Holocaust

The Holocaust: Camp Commandant and Extermination Camps

• The Holocaust is one of the most horrifying events in history, involving the systematic annihilation of millions of men, women, and children in extermination camps.
• Rudolf Höss, commandant of the extermination camp at Auschwitz-Birkenau, provides an account of the equipment and operations at the camp.
• Two large crematoria, Nos. I and II, were built in 1942-43 and could each cremate around 2,000 corpses within twenty-four hours.
• Crematoria I and II had underground undressing and gassing rooms that could be completely ventilated, with the corpses brought up to the ovens on the floor above by lift.
• The gas chambers in these crematoria could hold around 3,000 people.
• The firm of Topf had calculated that the two smaller crematoria, III and IV, would each be able to cremate 1,500 corpses within twenty-four hours.
• A French doctor provides an explanation of what happened to the victims at one of the crematoria described by Höss.
• The details include the capacity of the crematoria, the ventilation of the gassing rooms, and the calculated cremation capacity of the smaller crematoria.
• These facts shed light on the scale and efficiency of the mass murder operations at the extermination camps.
• The information provided by Höss and the French doctor offers a chilling glimpse into the machinery of the Holocaust and the horrors inflicted on the victims.
• These accounts serve as historical documentation of the atrocities committed during the Holocaust.
• The documents provide crucial evidence of the planning and implementation of the mass killings at Auschwitz-Birkenau and contribute to our understanding of this tragic period in history.