Crematoriums
[back] Holocaust revisionism

[With the crematories at Birkenau (Auschwitz II) it would only have been possible to cremate a maximum of 184 bodies a day (see: Ivan Lagace) which is the designed number to account for a typhus epidemic (Hilberg claimed the daily capacity was 4,400).  In the typhus epidemic in the summer of 1942, which caused decimation in the Auschwitz-Birkenau camp from 1 to 19 August, 4,113 deaths were registered, on the average 216 per day.¹  Also aerial shots show no coal transportation system of any kind and not enough coke to cremate more than 100 corpses a day ¹. ]

See: Typhus  Ivan Lagace  Olga Lengyel

Photographs

[Comparison between Monowitz and Birkenau]. Compared to industrial coke piles, cremation buildings held only 6 tons to cremate 100 corpses a day.

Book
[1994] Auschwitz: The End of a Legend by Carlo Mattogno. Technology reveals the material impossibility of mass extermination at Auschwitz-Birkenau.

Quotes
Auschwitz-Birkenau: 40 tons of coal/day, at 30 kg (66 lbs) of coal/body, would have been needed to cremate 1,400 bodies a day. Had no coal piles or storage yards next to the rail lines (1) or in yards (2) next to cremation buildings. Had no coal transportation system of any kind.--11 'Eye-Witness' Stories Contradicted by Air Photos

....Burg testified that he spoke to hundreds of people who serviced and operated the crematoria but the people who operated gas chambers were impossible to find. Nobody had published anything in which it was claimed that he worked in a gassing institution for human beings. There was literature about gassing that was completely contradictory. Why? Because it was all made up. These opinions were published in his books. (25-6840)
....In every camp there were crematoria. It was a practical issue. People died. When the Germans occupied the eastern territories, the huge camps were established and there were larger and more crematoria as the war progressed. Epidemics broke out causing an increased number of deaths. The question of crematoria was one of hygiene: the process was more hygienic than burial and took less space. (26-6897, 6898)
....Like all other activities in the camp, the inmates looked after the crematoria. It was the most difficult work because of the heat and the lifting of corpses into the ovens. The inmates worked very often in three shifts around the clock. (26-6998) These workers did it voluntarily. They were asked by the Jewish council or the Jewish police. It was important to ask how the Jewish council or police co-operated with the German SS. (26-6900) [Joseph G. Burg] The 'False News' Trial of Ernst Zündel -- 1988 

Rudolph told Zündel that to cremate anyone took two hours. Thus, to cremate 6 million people in 16 ovens working 12 hours a day would take 171 years. No crematory could work 24 hours a day for even three months. After three months they would collapse because of the internal temperature of 1,200 degrees Celsius required to burn the human body. Rudolph told Zündel that the extermination allegation was technically impossible. At first, Zündel was skeptical. He attempted to find out if Rudolph had made any errors but there were none. [Tijudar Rudolph] The 'False News' Trial of Ernst Zündel -- 1988

Lagacé was asked to comment on the claims made by Raul Hilberg in The Destruction of the European Jews (2nd ed., page 978) with respect to the capacities of the 46 retorts in the four crematories at Birkenau. Hilberg claimed: "The theoretical daily capacity of the four Birkenau crematoria was somewhat over 4,400, but, with breakdowns and slowdowns, the practical limit was almost always lower."
    Lagacé stated that this claim was "preposterous" and "beyond the realm of reality." To claim that 46 retorts could cremate over 4,400 bodies in a day was "ludicrous." Based on his own experience, Lagacé testified that it would only have been possible to cremate a maximum of 184 bodies a day at Birkenau. [Ivan Lagacé] The 'False News' Trial of Ernst Zündel -- 1988

The average life expectancy of floor refractory was 1,500 cremations. The bricks of the retort's walls and ceilings were rated for 3,000 cremations while the bricks of the afterburn chamber were rated for roughly 2,000 cremations. (27-7411)
    The time to cremate a human being (the cremation cycle) took an average of two hours. After the first cremation of the day was completed, the operator must let the retort cool-down for a minimum of one hour before beginning the second case. After the second cremation, a cool- down period of at least two hours was required. Even with cool-down times, Lagacé testified that cremations could not be done "24 hours a day, round the clock, day after day...the refractory will not tolerate it." Factory recommendation for normal operation was a maximum of three cases per day in a normal eight hour work day. No more than 50 - 60 cases should be processed in any month so that the refractory life was prolonged. That was an average of 2 cases a day.
    There was no way to speed up this process, Lagacé testified, without effecting the refractory brick and endangering the life of the operator. If no cool-down period was allowed between cremations, the temperature would go out of control and probably exceed the 2,200 degrees Fahrenheit rated for the bricks. [Ivan Lagacé] The 'False News' Trial of Ernst Zündel -- 1988

Lagacé testified that the plans for the Birkenau crematory indicated that it had been built to almost the exact specifications of the Bow Valley Crematorium. Using an overhead of the Birkenau plan, Lagacé pointed out the crematory's cremation chamber, the flame port, the smoke channel and settling chamber and the afterburner. He testified that it was obvious that the Germans were concerned with environmental effects. (27-7430)
    Lagacé found the most amazing and unique part of the Birkenau crematory to be the stack, calculated to be 45 feet high, and therefore very similar to Bow Valley Crematorium's stack. In Lagacé's opinion, the rate of burn of the Birkenau unit would be as efficient but not more than his own unit in Calgary. (27-7432)
    The only technology difference that Lagacé could see between his own crematory and those of Birkenau was the burner section. Lagacé's crematory used a natural gas burner while Birkenau used a stoking system with coal or something of a similar nature. The technology of Lagacé's crematory allowed him to shut the gas off for cooling. Coal was very cumbersome in that regard and this would affect the time limit since the operator could not go through a cooling cycle as quickly. (27-7450)
    Lagacé was shown a photograph of one of the Birkenau crematories taken during the war and asked if the units looked familiar to his own crematory. Lagacé agreed that they were. He indicated, however, that the Birkenau retorts had been built in units of three with common walls between them. This would have eliminated the need for extra bricks and been much easier and quicker to construct. However, he noted, "should one of these need to be maintained or need any repairs, it would necessitate the shutdown of the other two [retorts]...attached to it, because you can't have temperatures of 2,000 degrees radiating into an area where you're working on another retort."
    Lagacé believed that this design would never be used in a modern crematory simply because, as a business, it could not afford to have a shutdown of three units if one broke down. [Ivan Lagacé] The 'False News' Trial of Ernst Zündel -- 1988

Decomposition of Corpses and Handling of Typhus Infected Corpses:
Lagacé testified that there would be a problem with decomposition if bodies were left for a period of one to two days. Upon death, the body's defence systems shut down, leaving any bacteria or viruses in the body "a free rein to wreak their havoc." There was a rise in the body temperature and gasses began to be produced. Within hours to a day, bloating caused by tissue gas would cause, for example, a leg to quadruple in its size. It would be an extremely unpleasant and dangerous situation if contagious diseases were involved. Tissue gas was highly contagious and adhered to any equipment such as the floor, the tables, any instruments used on the bodies. (27-7443, 7444)
    Lagacé described the procedures enforced by the Alberta government in the case of corpses infected with typhus. At his discretion, the medical officer of health may step in before the body is even removed from the hospital and specify and order the funeral home to follow certain procedures in dealing with the body. These included the wearing of protective clothing when handling the remains, the destruction of that clothing and the containers that the body was placed in. In a case of typhus, the medical officer would likely order a direct cremation as this was the most effective way of dealing with something that volatile. If the body was buried, it had to be encased in a hermetically sealed container which would last over a prolonged period of time and only when the soil conditions allowed this, in order to avoid contamination of the water-table or underground streams. (27-7444, 7445) [Ivan Lagacé] The 'False News' Trial of Ernst Zündel -- 1988

In this private collection, Felderer was astonished to discover that the cremations carried out at Auschwitz were done in a manner no different than was done in Sweden today. The body to be cremated was identified by a numbered tag placed on the body before cremation. After cremation, the ashes were placed in a plastic bag and the tag tied to the bag. The bag was then placed in an urn and either placed in a wooden casket or mailed to next-of-kin. Felderer showed slides of the bags, urns and tags held in the private collection. These were shown to Felderer and the procedure explained to him by Dr. Szymanski. (18-4318, 4319) [Ditlieb Felderer] The 'False News' Trial of Ernst Zündel -- 1988 

"In order to put a stop to the epidemics, we were forced to burn the bodies of incalculable numbers of people who been destroyed by disease. We were therefore forced to build crematoria, and on this account they are knotting a noose for us."
- Reichsführer-SS Heinrich Himmler quoted in: Arthur Butz, The Hoax of the Twentieth Century (California: Institute for Historical Review, 1985), p.240. See also: Gerald Reitlinger, The Final Solution (London: Jason Aronson, 1987), p.480. Nazi Testimony

Lagacé was referred to page 17 of Did Six Million Really Die? where Harwood stated:
"Although Reitlinger's 6,000 a day would mean a total by October 1944 of over 5 million, all such estimates pale before the wild fantasies of Olga Lengyel in her book Five Chimneys (London, 1959). Claiming to be a former inmate of Auschwitz, she asserts that the camp cremated no less than "720 per hour, or 17,280 corpses per twenty-four hour shift." She also alleges that, in addition, 8,000 people were burned every day in the "death-pits", and that therefore "In round numbers, about 24,000 corpses were handled every day" (p. 80- 1). This, of course, would mean a yearly rate of over 8-1/2 million. Thus between March 1942 and October 1944 Auschwitz would finally have disposed of over 21 million people, six million more than the entire world Jewish population. Comment is superfluous."
    Lagacé testified that from his own experience in cremating approximately 1,000 bodies, the figures cited by Reitlinger and Lengyel were not realistic. The person citing such figures, he said, was, "irresponsible... with his facts because this doesn't even begin to enter reality at all. It's just physically unrealistic." Lagacé said that even with present disaster plans, which provide for massive mobilization and the handling of large numbers of human remains, it would be "unimaginable" to cremate such numbers. (27-7447) 
    Lagacé referred to the 1985 issue of a statistical sheet compiled yearly by the Cremation Association of North America, showing the numbers of retorts located on the continent and the number of cremations done annually. The statistics indicated that in 1985, there were a total of 338,370 bodies cremated in 931 crematories in North America. In Canada alone, a total of 49,216 cremations were performed in 94 crematories. (27-7432, 7433, 7434) [Ivan Lagacé] The 'False News' Trial of Ernst Zündel -- 1988

Cremation Expert

Crematoriums and delousing chamber at Ellis Island

The above images are all from Ellis Island as it can be seen today, albeit only with special permission since what actually occurred in the southern part of the island, the quarantine area, is generally taboo. Ordinary tourists are NOT allowed to see these areas yet, and may never see them. Although tens of millions of dollars have been raised and spent for Ellis Island's restoration generally, the money to “restore” these areas of Ellis Island seems unavailable. The images are from the “laundry building” which also had a huge brick chimney (far larger than needed for any laundry). The images appear on the “Save Ellis Island” website. Although there are no identifying captions for these images, the image on the extreme left looks like a large crematory oven to perform at least two cremations at a time. The middle image shows what also looks like a crematory oven (on the left) for two cremations at a time. The image on the right is a typical autoclave for sanitizing laundry just as at Birkenau's “sauna” and elsewhere. If one had mislabeled these images as “images of Auschwitz,” few people would have any doubt that the images represented something “horrific” or “evil.” http://www.nazigassings.com/