Did Six Million Really Die?
Testimony of
Fred A. Leuchter, Jr.
Fred A. Leuchter, Jr. was the twenty-first witness in the great Zundel trial.BIRKENAU
In Birkenau, Leuchter examined four facilities, normally known as Krema II, Krema III, Krema IV and Krema V, each of which was alleged to have operated as a combination crematorium and gas chambers. His purpose was to determine whether the facilities could have been used in such a manner. (32-9079)
Krema II and Krema III
Leuchter examined plans of Krema II at Birkenau and had his own draftsman draw up a drawing of the site using his own on-site measurements and observations. (32 9079, 9080; Drawing of Krema II entered as Exhibit 136; Drawing of Krema III entered as Exhibit 137; Plan of Krema II entered as Exhibit 124) Leuchter obtained schematic floor plans of Kremas II and III (as well as Kremas IV and V) from the museum officials: these were not original plans. He assumed they were prepared from something, but was never told what the original material was. (32-9126)
Four dots on the drawing of Krema II (Exhibit 136) indicated where vents were supposedly located on the roof of the building wing normally designated as the gas chamber. After an examination of the roof, from both inside and outside, Leuchter found no holes in these locations. (32-9080, 9081)
For ventilation, the facility should have had some openings in the roof that could be closed during the operation and then opened after the gassing to allow the gas to ventilate. In this case, it would have taken more than a week to ventilate the area, since there was only normal convection, or air current, to bring the gas out of the building. (32-9081) This was the same thing that was done when a building was deloused. The buildings were sealed, and the chemicals placed on the floor. The windows were then opened and the facility was allowed to air for three to seven days, depending upon the size of the facility. This procedure was described in official German documents on the procedures to be followed for delousing buildings and materials. (32- 9082)
There was no ventilation capability for Krema II at all. Morgue no. 1 and morgue no. 2 where both underground and there were no structures above them. There was only one door going into the morgue. In Leuchter's opinion, there was no way of adequately venting the building. (32-9082, 9083)
Leuchter entered the alleged gas chamber at Krema II through a broken portion of the roof slab. Although there was not a lot of room below, he was able to walk amongst the piles of rubble and to make observations of the walls and roof area almost all the way around the facility. In particular, he was looking for anything which would indicate hydrogen cyanide use in the room. He saw no blue staining. He saw no evidence of any type of ventilation system. He removed samples from the walls, floor and roof. (32-9084; Photographs of roof slab and alleged gas chamber at Krema II entered as Exhibit 146)
Leuchter made computations of the amount of hydrogen cyanide it would have taken to use the facility as a gas chamber. The normal amount of gas that was required to kill one human being was a minimum of 300 parts per million. The normal amount of gas that was used by the Germans to delouse buildings and the amount of gas used to kill human beings in the United States was the same, namely, 3,600 parts per million. (32-9086)
Krema II and Krema III were the same size, each having an area of 2,500 square feet. If 2,000 people were squeezed into this area, there would not be enough room for the gas to circulate. In Leuchter's opinion, there had to be sufficient room around the people for air to circulate, even by convection, which was the simple draft in any room moving the air around and carrying the gas. To do this, a minimum of 9 square feet would be required for each person. Based on the 2,500 square feet area, the most people which could have been gassed in Kremas II and III was 278 persons, requiring 5 lb. of gas and an approximate ventilation time of more than a week. (32 9087, 9088) If 2,000 people had been crushed into the room, there would be no means of circulating the air or the hydrogen cyanide gas that was given off by the Zyklon B material. This would mean that it would take perhaps five to eight hours for the gas to totally permeate the chamber and kill the people therein. (32-9147)
There was no heating capability in any of the facilities which would have been required, firstly, to drive the gas from the Zyklon B and mix with the air, and secondly, to avoid condensation of the gas on the walls, floor and ceiling. When the hydrogen cyanide condensed into a liquid, it was absorbed by brick and by mortar. Condensation would have made the area very dangerous for anyone who came into the facility to remove corpses. (32-9088)
In proper gas chamber design, there must be intake air and exhaust air in an equal volume. The intake air was normally heated to an excess of 79 degrees Fahrenheit, being the minimum temperature required to prevent condensation and to make the chamber safe for those persons who had to enter and work in it. (32-9089)
During the time he had inspected the facility in February, 1988, the temperature in the room was 10 or 12 degrees Fahrenheit. In Leuchter's opinion, if Zyklon B pellets had been dropped into the chamber in such circumstances, with no heating capabilities, it would have taken more than several hours for the gas to leave the pellets and permeate the room. Holocaust literature alleged that gassings took place in winter. (32-9089, 9090)
Leuchter concluded that the facilities at Krema II could not have been used, then or now, as a gas chamber for executing human beings. (32-9085) The reasons for his opinion were essentially the same reasons that he concluded the mortuary at Krema I could not have been used as an execution gas chamber. The building was not sealed with tar or pitch in any manner. There was no ventilation system. There was no means at all for introducing the Zyklon B gas. There was no evidence of a hollow column which available Holocaust literature alleged was used to drop Zyklon B into the room. All of the columns were solid reinforced concrete. Anyone attempting to use the facility as a gas chamber for executing human beings would probably lose their life. (32- 9085)
Leuchter also inspected Krema III, a building which had been a mirror image of Krema II, located across the road from it. Samples were removed and drawings made of the facility. (32- 9091, 9092)
Leuchter was unable to determine whether there had been any roof vents in Krema III's alleged gas chamber, as the roof slab had been broken up and much of it removed. Information regarding the alleged vents came from copies of original German drawings received from Auschwitz Museum officials. (32-9092)
In Leuchter's opinion, the facility did not indicate even reasonable gas chamber design, it being identical to Krema II. It was not tarred or pitched. There was no ventilation. It was cold and damp. It had no means of introducing the Zyklon B material. (32-9093) Nowhere did he see any blue staining. (32-9195)
In his examination of Auschwitz-Birkenau, Leuchter obtained information from the Auschwitz Museum and the available Holocaust literature. The information in both appeared to be identical. (32-9093)
Krema IV and Krema V
Leuchter also examined Krema IV and Krema V, two additional facilities at Birkenau that were presumably mirror images of one another and were likewise considered to be combination gas chambers and crematories. Drawings were made based on floor plans provided by the Auschwitz Museum and on actual measurements made at the sites. (32-9094; Drawing of Krema IV entered as Exhibit 138; Drawing of Krema V entered as Exhibit 139)
He found that both buildings had been razed sometime earlier. Only the foundations were existing, and from these foundations, his team took measurements of the areas alleged to be gas chambers. He found no evidence of any tar or pitch sealant on either the inside or the outside of the facility. (32-9094)
It was alleged that in these facilities, there were slots in the wall where the Zyklon B was thrown. Leuchter stated that when such a material was introduced into a place, it should be dropped somewhere in the centre of the room so the gas, when it came out of the pellets, could travel throughout the room. If Zyklon B had been thrown in and fallen close to the wall, this would have certainly impeded circulation. (32-9095, 9096)
As the buildings were not there, however, Leuchter relied almost entirely on the plans provided by the museum in forming his opinion. These plans were floor plans and did not indicate location of electrical outlets or drainage. He found no evidence of any heating system in these buildings, no evidence of any ventilation system and no evidence of stacking. (32-9096, 9098)
He was able to determine from inspection of the sites that while Krema IV and Krema V were mirror images in that their outer shape and size were identical, the placement of the rooms internally was not the same. This was contrary to the plans, however, which indicated that the room placements were the same. Leuchter concluded that either the buildings had been remodelled before they were destroyed or were built differently from the original floor plans. (32- 9097)
In Leuchter's opinion, neither Krema IV nor Krema V was capable of being used as a gas chamber facility for executing human beings, for the same reasons given for Kremas I, II, and III. (32-9097; photograph of alleged gas chamber at Krema III entered as Exhibit 147; Plan of Krema III entered as Exhibit 125)
