Testimony of Crematorium Engineers
All of the documents on this Web page were retrieved from the archives of Shamash: The Jewish Internet Consortium. The comments inside the square [ . . . ] brackets were written by Daniel Keren for the Shamash archives.
Testimony of SS-UnterscharfŸhrer Herman Lambert about Sobibor.
As I mentioned at the beginning, I was in the extermination camp of the Jews for about two to three weeks. It was sometime in autumn 1942, but I don't remember exactly when. At that time I was assigned by Wirth to enlarge the gassing structure according to the model of Treblinka. I went to Sobibor together with Lorenz Hackenholt, who was at that time in Treblinka...
We reported to the camp commander, Reichsleitner. He gave us exact directive for the construction of the gassing installations. The camp was already in operation, and there was a gassing installation. Probably the old installation was not big enough, and reconstruction was necessary.
Kurt Prufer, senior engineer of Topf and Sohne, testifying in Erfurt, Germany, March 5, 1946.
Q. Who apart from you participated in the construction of the furnaces?
A. From 1941-2, I constructed the furnaces. The technical drawings were
done by Mr. Keller. The ventilation systems of the "Kremas"
[crematoriums] were constructed by senior engineer Karl Schultze.
Q. How often and with what aim did you visit Auschwitz?
A. Five times. The first time at the beginning of 1943, to receive orders
of the SS Command where the Kremas were to be built. The second time in
spring 1943 to inspect the building site. The third time was in autumn
1943 to inspect a fault in the construction of a Krema chimney. The
forth time at the beginning of 1944, to inspect the repaired chimney. the
fifth time in September-October 1944, when I visited Auschwitz with the
intended relocation [from Auschwitz] of the crematoriums, since the
front was getting nearer. The crematoriums were not relocated, because
there were not enough workers.
Q. Were you the sole Topf engineer in Auschwitz in spring 1943?
A. No, [senior engineer Karl] Schultze was with me in Auschwitz at the time.
I saw personally about 60 corpses of women and men of different ages,
which were being prepared for incineration. That was at 10 in the
morning. I witnessed the incineration of six corpses and came to the
conclusion that the furnaces were working well.
Q. Did you see a gas chamber next to the crematoriums?
A. Yes, I did see one next to the crematorium. Between the gas chamber and
the crematorium there was a connecting structure.
Q. Did you know that in the gas chamber and in the crematoriums there took
place the liquidation of innocent human beings?
A. I have known since spring 1943 that innocent human beings were being
liquidated in Auschwitz gas chambers and that their corpses were
subsequently incinerated in the crematoriums.
Q. Who is the designer of the ventilation systems for the gas chambers?
A. Schultze was the designer of the ventilation systems in the gas chambers;
and he installed them.
Q. Why was the brick lining of the muffles so quickly damaged?
A. The bricks were damaged after six months because the strain on the
furnaces was colossal.
Engineer Fritz Sander testifying on March 7 1946.
I decided to design and build a crematorium with a higher capacity. I completed this project of a new crematorium in November 1942--a crematorium for mass incineration, and I submitted this project to a State Patent Commission in Berlin.
This "Krema" was to be built on the conveyor belt principle. That is to say, the corpses must be brought to the incineration furnaces without interruption. When the corpses are pushed into the furnaces, they fall onto a grate, and then slide into the furnace and are incinerated. The corpses serve at the same time as fuel for heating of the furnaces. This patent could not yet be approved by the Main Patent Office in Berlin, because of its classification (as a state secret).
Q. Although you knew about the mass liquidation of innocent human
beings in crematoriums, you devoted yourself to designing and
creating higher capacity incineration furnaces for crematoriums -
and on your own initiative.
A. I was a German engineer and key member of the Topf works and I saw
it as my duty to apply my specialist knowledge in this way to help
Germany win the war, just as an aircraft construction engineer builds
airplanes in wartime, which are also connected with the destruction
of human beings.
Testimony of Engineer Karl Schultze.
Q. What was your personal part in these "Krema" building operation and
what was Prufer's part?
A. Prufer was an expert. he designed and constructed these
crematoriums and led the building operations in the concentration
camps. I was responsible for the ventilation systems and for its air
injection into the muffles. In specific instances, I led the
installation operations personally. I personally led the installation
work in Auschwitz crematoriums and gas chambers. For this purpose, I
traveled to Auschwitz three times in 1943.
Q. Your views do not really differ from the views of a Nazi.
A. No, I was not a member of the NSDAP [National Socialist German
Workers Party]. I only respected and acted according to the laws of
my country.
A Teacher's Guide to the Holocaust
Quoted in "BELZEC, SOBIBOR, TREBLINKA - the Operation Reinhard Death Camps", Indiana University Press - Yitzhak Arad, 1987, p. 123:
Quoted from the interrogation transcripts by Prof. Gerald Fleming from the University of Surrey, in an NYT article, July 18 1993:
Quoted from the interrogation transcripts by Prof. Gerald Fleming from the University of Surrey, in an NYT article, July 18 1993:
Quoted from the interrogation transcripts by Prof. Gerald Fleming from the University of Surrey, in an NYT article, July 18 1993:
.
.
.
I did not know that in the crematoriums in Auschwitz-Birkenau
innocent human beings were being liquidated. I thought criminals were
being killed there who had partly been sentenced to death because
of the crimes they had committed against the German army in Poland and
other occupied territories. I am a German and supported and am
supporting the Government in Germany and the laws of our Government.
Whoever opposes our laws is an enemy of the State, because our laws
establish him a such. I did not act on personal initiative but as
directed by Ludwig Topf. I was afraid of losing my position and of
possible arrest.
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