THE RUDOLF REPORT

5. AUSCHWITZFact 2: There is a document which mentions a “Vergasungskeller”(gassing cellar,) in crematorium II. 194Fact 3: There is a document which lists “14 Brausen” (14showers) for crematorium III. 195Fact 4: Pieces of wooden planking left in the underside of the ceilingof morgue 1 in crematorium II are visible even today. 196Incorrect conclusion: Morgue 1 of crematoria II & III was built ashomicidal ‘gas chamber’, equipped with “false” shower heads, whichwere fastened to the pieces of wood left in the concrete and used todeceive the victims; morgue 2 was used as the undressing room for thevictims. 197Correct conclusion: It is not known which room is being referredto by means of the term “Vergasungskeller” in the above mentioneddocument. Since there were still no proper means to drill holes in concreteceilings and no neat plastic rawl plugs in the 1940s, there wasonly one way to fasten installations to bare concrete walls: conicalpieces of wood were cast in the concrete onto which the electricallines, water pipes, and other installations were screwed tightly. Theexistence of such pieces of wood in the ceiling of morgue 1 does notprove that shower heads were fastened there. It is more probable thatlamps or electrical lines were fastened there. Nor is there any proofthat the “showers” mentioned in the document were “false”, as statedby Pressac. In actual fact, the Zentralbauleitung temporarilyconsidered expanding the Birkenau crematoria into hygiene centersequipped with disinfestation installations, inmate showers and undressingrooms but nevertheless later abandoned these plans. CarloMattogno has produced extensive documentation in support of thisargument: 198“Now in an ‘Aufstellung’ (itemization) by the Topf company dated13 April, 1943, concerning requested metals to be used in the constructionof certain machinery for crematorium II at Auschwitz, the following194 Ibid., p. 432.195 Ibid., p. 430.196 Ibid., p. 488.197 See also four Pressac footnotes above; see also Gray, judgment, op. cit. (note 66), §13.69,13.82.198 C. Mattogno, “Leichenkeller von Birkenau: Luftschutzräume oder Entwesungskammern?”VffG 4(2) (2000), pp. 152-158 (online: www.vho.org/VffG/2000/2/Mattogno152-158.html);Engl.: “Morgue Cellars of Birkenau: Gas Shelters or Disinfesting Chambers?” (online:http://www.codoh.com/granata/leichen.html).97