THE RUDOLF REPORT

8.4. Discussion of the Analysis Results8.4.1. Blue Wall Paint?8. EVALUATION OF CHEMICAL ANALYSESThe hypothesis expressed by J. Bailer, 52,54 that blue paint could beresponsible for the high cyanide values in the disinfestation chambers,does not correspond to the facts:1. Iron Blue is not sold as wall paint at all, since it lacks sufficientlyhigh lime fastness (see chapter 6.6.1.).2. If this argument were correct, it would be remarkable that theSS, of all the rooms in the Third Reich, would apply blue paint only totheir disinfestation chambers where no one could admire it; and,strangely, always the same blue. All other rooms were whitewashed.Were the SS practitioners of ‘blue magic’?3. The disinfestation chambers themselves already had a coat oflime paint. Why would they cover this coat of lime paint with anotherpaint which, in addition, is not even lime fast? They would thereforehave had to wait until the lime paint and plaster had set before onecould paint the walls. And then it would have been by no means certainthat the paint would not furthermore have become stained as a result ofchemical reactions.4. A coat of paint on the interior of the room would not explain thepatchy pattern of the blue stains on the interior of the exterior walls ofthe disinfestation wing of Building 5a.5. Neither would a coat of paint on the interior of the room explainthe absence of blue coloration on the interior walls added to the disinfestationwing at a later time. Or are the SS supposed to have paintedonly certain walls, and then, not evenly, with paint brushes, but, perhaps,soiling the wall statistically by throwing and spattering?6. Bailer’s argument is refuted by the fact that none of the coloredwalls shows any pattern of brush marks, and no identifiable coat ofpaint, since wall paint consists not only of pigment, but also of a notinconsiderable proportion of binding agents and other chemicals. Theblue pigment is, however, simply one component of the lime paint andplaster.7. Bailer’s argument furthermore fails to explain how the artisticskills of the painters could have succeeded in imitating the brick structurelying beneath the plaster. Or did they not only practice ‘bluemagic,’ but were equipped with X-ray eyes as well?269