The Bunkers Auschwitz - aaargh

6. Literary Variations on the Propaganda 113
was an existing building, in which the old ceiling was replaced by a concrete
slab.
Until 1970 Gulba did not even know the official term ‘Bunker.’ He only
learned it at the end of 1974, when the International Auschwitz Committee
sent him their “Biuletyn Informacyjny” (Information Bulletin) no. 9, which
contained an article speaking of ‘Bunkers.’ 382 From the same source he also
learned of the (alleged) existence of ‘Bunker 1’! The story of the building of
the access road to ‘Bunker 2’ by order of the Auschwitz Construction Office is
simply a literary trick to justify his self-styled ‘eyewitness’ testimony: as we
have already seen, no report about the construction of the camp in 1942 mentions
that job.
6.3.3. Filip Müller
This witness was deported to Auschwitz from Slovakia on April 13, 1942,
and registered under the ID no. 29136. A month after his arrival, he was transferred
to the special unit of crematorium I and later to the crematoria at Birkenau,
where he stayed until January 1945, when he was moved to Mauthausen
and later to Melk. His testimony of 1979 refers to 1944: 384
“There was great activity also in the whitewashed farmhouse, separated
from the camp of Birkenau by a wooded area which was now bunker
5.”
“In addition, the farmhouse, which had served as a place of extermination
in 1942, was put in running order. Its four rooms served as gas chambers
while an additional four cremation pits were dug outside. The changing
rooms were located in three wooden barracks, and the whole complex
was known as bunker 5.” 385
“[…] while on the site of bunker 5 with its four gas chambers corpses
were burnt in four pits.” 386
“[…]; mass extermination in bunker 5 had ceased altogether. For some
time now no corpses had been burnt in the pits behind crematorium 5. But
the ovens in this crematorium were operating again. As we had feared
there was another selection. It came on 7 October.” 387
“The hot summer had ended and now it was autumn. For some time
now pits had not been used for burning corpses, […]” 388
Even as late as 1979, Filip Müller had only a very superficial and incoherent
knowledge of the propaganda story of the ‘Bunkers.’ His summary account
adds nothing new: he has taken over the designation “Bunker V” from
Paisikovic, whereas the number of rooms in the house (four) and the number
384 F. Müller, Eyewitness Auschwitz. Three Years in the Gas Chambers, Stein and Day, New York
1979, here quoted from the 1999 reprint by Ivan R. Dee, Chicago, p. 124.
385 Ibidem, p. 133.
386 Ibidem, p. 143.
387 Ibidem, p. 153.
388 Ibidem, p. 160.