Those not selected for work, around 9 in 10, were immediately sent to the gas chambers, and their bodies were then destroyed in the crematoria – the Nazis wanted to ease the entirety of the Jewish population.
In Auschwitz I, tests had taken place, with the use of Zyklon B, to murder large numbers of people at once – mostly Soviet prisoners of war. Zyklon B pellets would be poured into the room, and upon meeting the warm air within it, the pellets would effervesce, and give off hydrogen cyanide, which would kill all of those in the room within 20-30 minutes. A gas chamber was built at Auschwitz I to use this technique, and operated from August 1940 onwards. Kitty Hart-Moxon spoke of those who were sent to the gas chambers in her testimony; they did not know they were going to die – the gas chambers were simply labelled “showers” – a lie meant to prevent panic, and maintain order. A particular group of prisoners, the “Sonderkommando”, were forced to undertake work beyond anything comprehendible; they were forced to accompany those sentenced to death via gassing, downstairs, towards the gas chambers, and assist them, as they were ordered to undress – these people were innocent and unassuming, simply thinking that they would be returning shortly. In fact, the Nazis even purported this lie further to them, by telling the prisoners to remember the number of the hook which they left their clothes hung upon, whilst the reality was much, much grimmer, and far more terrible.
Once everyone in the chamber had been murdered, the Nazis forced the Sonderkommando to clear the chamber and dispose of the bodies, which had to be burned in the crematoria. Frequently the crematoria were overloaded and failed to work, because the number of people that could be murdered, was greater than the speed at which bodies could be disposed of. As a result, pyres were built near the gas chambers, and bodies would be burned on open fires; the smell was putrid and would envelop the camp and its surrounding area. Kitty Hart-Moxon also spoke of first entering Auschwitz-Birkenau, and remembered her mother and herself wondering what the smell was – they initially thought the Nazis were “roasting meat”. Thus, this disproves another common misconception about the Holocaust – although it’s easy to think of it as an organised genocide which ran effortlessly without error – this makes it clear that there was chaos at every level.
Gas chambers at Birkenau had followed, and from 1942, two buildings outside the perimeter fence, known as the “Red House”, and the “White House”, were sealed, and used to murder Jews who were not selected for work. To increase the efficiency of the camp, four new gas chambers were built: operational from early 1943. By this time, the camp at Birkenau was populated mostly by Jews.Aside from Jews, there was a subcamp within Birkenau, for Roma and Sinti people (often referred to using the outdated and sometimes offensive term: Gypsies) – a group also considered sub-human by the Nazis, but for which no specific policy of systematic extermination existed. However, in the autumn of 1944, this group was also murdered. Additionally, some Polish and Soviet prisoners of war were held at Birkenau.
Today, all that’s left of the crematoria at Auschwitz-Birkenau, are ruins; all 4 of the crematoria at Birkenau were destroyed before the Soviets liberated the camp on January 27th 1945. The gas chambers were dismantled and destroyed over the winter of 1944 till 1945, with Crematoria II and III being blown up on January 20th 1945, and Crematorium V being destroyed on January 23rd. As we consider the destruction, we must also consider a speech, given by Heinrich Himmler in Poznan in 1943: he stated that the actions of the Holocaust were “never to be written”, but were a, “page of glory in our history”. Why, if this were such a glorious endeavour, would Himmler want the gas chambers destroyed? Firstly, when Himmler stated that this was to “never be written”, what he meant, was that murdering every Jew, in itself, was not enough – in fact, the aim was to wipe all trace of the Jews from history. Once the gas chambers and crematoria had served their murderous purpose, they should be destroyed because they provided evidence of Jewish existence. To truly erase the memory of the Jewish existence, the tools of murder must be destroyed, and nothing must ever be written that could lead back to Jewish existence; they hoped that people would never even know the Jews had existed. Secondly, by the end of 1944, the Nazis knew that defeat was inevitable, and the destruction of the gas chambers was a means of hiding a crime for which they did not wish to pay the price.
However, the way in which crematorium IV was destroyed was entirely different. On October 7th, the Sonderkommando – those prisoners tasked with burning the bodies in the crematoria – launched a violent uprising and escape attempt. The Crematorium IV building was set on fire and around 200 members of the Sonderkommando attempted escape into the surrounding area. The Sonderkommando workers knew the full extent of the Nazi’s crimes - and of course, as such, the Nazis did not want any of them to survive; periodically, members of the Sonderkommando would be gassed themselves and new workers brought in to carry on their work, ensuring the reality of what took place in the crematoria would never be found out.
On Saturday October 7th, 1944, the prisoners of the Sonderkommando were called to assemble in the square in front of crematorium IV. The SS began reading the prisoner numbers of those who were being selected for gassing. One of the prisoners, hearing his number, and knowing he had nothing to lose, attacked a guard with a hammer, and from this moment onwards, utter chaos ensued. Prisoners attacked guards, set the crematorium on fire, broke through the fence and attempted escape; the shocked SS began shooting into the Sonderkommando indiscriminately. The fire that raged through crematorium IV was intended to also act as a signal to members of the resistance at the other crematoria buildings. Chaos from crematorium IV, spilled into crematorium V, as the Sonderkommando ran towards it in panic. The Sonderkommando of crematorium II followed the lead of those at crematorium IV, and broke through the perimeter fence to escape to the south of the camp. At crematorium III, the decision was made not to join in the revolt, as it was considered impossible to succeed. Within a matter of a few hours, the revolt was over, as the SS scrambled the prisoners from their barracks, and rounded up the resistance fighters and escapees. After counting all the prisoners, the SS men concluded that of around 660 prisoners, 450 were killed during the revolt. Three SS guards were killed, and a dozen more injured in the Sonderkommando revolt.
The contrast between the Sonderkommando uprising, and the destruction of the remaining gas chambers by the Nazis couldn’t be greater. Whilst the Sonderkommando showed unimaginable courage to organise and attempt an uprising, albeit without success, the Nazis displayed their cowardice by destroying the evidence of their crimes before they left the camp.
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