Exterior of New Crematorium
The first photograph below shows the exterior of Baracke X,
the new crematorium building which houses four crematory ovens,
a homicidal gas chamber disguised as a shower room, and four
disinfection gas chambers used for delousing clothing. In the
photograph below, the outside wall of the gas chamber is in the
section of the building directly behind the recently added round
white table, which has a commemorative plaque on the top of it.
The gas chamber is the only room in the building which has no
windows. To the right of the gas chamber is a mortuary room where
bodies were customarily stored, awaiting cremation. The single
door to the left of the mortuary room leads to a small vestibule
between the mortuary and the crematorium. The wheel chair ramp
in front of this door was added recently. The double doors open
into the crematory room where there are four ovens for burning
corpses. The windows on either side of the double doors are the
windows of the crematory room.
At the south end of this building, which is to the left but
not shown, are the four disinfection gas chambers. Notice the
two large vents on the roof and the tall chimney over the crematory
room. In the center of the building are two small vent pipes
near the peak of the roof. The pipe on the roof at the left is
over the gas chamber disguised as a shower room and the one on
the right is over the vestibule between the mortuary room and
the crematory room.
Baracke X, the crematorium and gas chamber building
The photograph below shows the south end of the crematorium
building which is the area to the left that is not shown in the
photograph above. On the far left of the photograph below is
the open-air hallway where the second set of doors to the disinfection
chambers are located. The double doors shown in the center of
the picture open into a small vestibule between the disinfection
gas chambers and a room on the south side of the undressing room
next to the gas chamber disguised as a shower room. This room
contains a display of photographs about the gas chamber, including
a photograph of the original blueprints for the building and
a copy of the letter
from Dr. Sigmund Rascher to Heinrich Himmler which refers to
a gas chamber that was being planned for this building. There
is also a US Army photograph of the fully-clothed corpses, found
in the room, which were spilling over into this vestibule. The
soldiers made the obvious assumption that these dead prisoners
had recently been killed in the disinfection gas chambers next
door.
Double doors lead into a room next to the undressing
room
The photograph below shows the outside wall of the gas chamber
disguised as a shower room. On the wall are two bins which have
hinges on the bottom so that they can be opened and closed. The
hinges appear to be rusted permanently in the open position.
These bins were used as chutes to pour Zyklon B pellets onto
the floor of the gas chamber. The wall behind the bins has an
opening with a grate over it on the inside wall of the building
where the gas pellets came through the chute and fell onto the
floor. The mysterious rectangular opening in the center between
the bins could be a fresh air inlet or a peephole to observe
the victims inside the gas chamber. There is no corresponding
opening on the inside of the gas chamber. Between the rectangular
opening and the bin on the right is a drain pipe to drain water
off the roof.
The Baracke X building was outside the prison compound and
separated from the concentration camp by the Würm river.
The outside wall of the gas chamber was hidden from the view
of the inmates by a ten-foot wall with a screen of poplar trees
in front of it. The first photograph of the building taken by
the American Army shows a wooden screen that had been placed
by the Nazis in front of the bins in order to hide the activity
of the SS in pouring the Zyklon B onto the floor of the gas chamber.
In the Museum, there are no photographs of this building taken
by the Nazis during construction or just after it was finished.
The only photograph
on display is the one taken by the US Army shortly after the
liberation which shows this section of the wall hidden by a wooden screen.
Two small bins used to pour Zyklon B into the gas
chamber
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