Changes

A letter from Karl Bischoff, the head architect at Auschwitz, to the German Armament Works dated March 31, 1943 orders "three gas tight doors" for Crema 3 following “exactly the size and construction of those already delivered” for Crema 2. Bischoff reminded the manufacturer that the doors had to have a spy-hole of double 8-mm glass “with a rubber seal and metal fitting.” The order was characterized as “very urgent.”  

A letter from Karl Bischoff, the head architect at Auschwitz, to the German Armament Works dated March 31, 1943 orders "three gas tight doors" for Crema 3 following “exactly the size and construction of those already delivered” for Crema 2. Bischoff reminded the manufacturer that the doors had to have a spy-hole of double 8-mm glass “with a rubber seal and metal fitting.” The order was characterized as “very urgent.”  

There are also many photographs of actual gas-tight doors that were found all over Auschwitz immediately after the war. One, which had been used in either Crema 4 or 5, had a peep-hole covered with a heavy mesh screen and still had a gas-tight seal still around the edge, just as Bischoff’s letter requested. The blueprints for Crema 2 show ventilation ducts in the walls (labeled ‘Entlüftung’) and the remains of the ducts can still be seen in the ruins. In the archives, there is also a request for a “handle for the gastight door” and a request for “twenty-four-gastight anchoring screws for gas tight doors” for Cremas 4 and 5.  

There are also many photographs of actual gas-tight doors that were found all over Auschwitz immediately after the war. One, which had been used in either Crema 4 or 5, had a peep-hole covered with a heavy mesh screen and still had a gas-tight seal still around the edge, just as Bischoff's letter requested. The blueprints for Crema 2 show ventilation ducts in the walls (labeled ‘Entlüftung’) and the remains of the ducts can still be seen in the ruins. In the archives, there is also a request for a “handle for the gastight door” and a request for “twenty-four-gastight anchoring screws for gas tight doors” for Cremas 4 and 5.  

The walls and ceilings of the gas chambers were plastered and whitewashed as numerous eyewitnesses have testified. By the time Leuchter arrived at the camp to take his samples, the plaster was gone and the exposed brick had been exposed to 40 years of rain, sun and snow. As HCN leaves only a thin blue chemical residue on surfaces, any “Prussian Blue” residue from the HCN would have collected on the surface of the plaster and would not have left a substantial presence on the bricks and mortar or concrete underneath.

The walls and ceilings of the gas chambers were plastered and whitewashed as numerous eyewitnesses have testified. By the time Leuchter arrived at the camp to take his samples, the plaster was gone and the exposed brick had been exposed to 40 years of rain, sun and snow. As HCN leaves only a thin blue chemical residue on surfaces, any “Prussian Blue” residue from the HCN would have collected on the surface of the plaster and would not have left a substantial presence on the bricks and mortar or concrete underneath.