The Holocaust: The Camp Commandant and the Camp Victims The systematic annihilation of millions of men, women, and children in extermination camps makes the Holocaust one of the most horrifying events in history. The first document is taken from an account by Rudolf Höss, commandant of the extermination camp at Auschwitz- Birkenau. In the second document, a French doctor explains what happened at one of the crematoria victims of the gassing were mainly burnt in pits behind crematorium IV. POLITICS & GOVERNMENT The largest number of people gassed and cremated within twenty-four hours was somewhat over 9,000. A French Doctor Describes the Victims It is mid-day, when a long line of women, children, and old people enter the yard. The senior official in charge climbs on a bench to tell them that they are going to have a bath and that afterward they will get a drink of hot coffee. They all undress in the yard. . . . The doors are opened and an indescribable jostling begins. The first people to enter the gas chamber begin to draw back. They sense the death which awaits them. The SS men ... described by Hoss. Commandant Höss Describes the Equipment The two large crematoria, Nos. I and II, were built during the winter of 1942–43. . . . Each...could cremate c. 2,000 corpses within twenty-four hours. .. Crematoria I and II both had underground undressing and gassing rooms which could be completely ventilated. The corpses were brought up to the ovens on the floor above by lift. The people. The firm of Topf had calculated that the two smaller crematoria, III and IV, would each be able to cremate put an end to this pushing and shoving with blows from their rifle butts beating the heads of the horrified women who are desperately hugging their children. The massive oak double doors are shut. For two endless minutes one gas chambers could hold c. 3,000 can hear banging on the walls and screams which are no 1,500 corpses within twenty-four hours. However, owing to the wartime shortage of materials, the builders were obliged to economize, and so the undressing rooms and gassing rooms were built above ground and the ovens were of a less solid construction. But it soon became longer human. And then-not a sound. Five minutes later the doors are opened. The corpses, squashed together and distorted, fall out like a waterfall. . . . The bodies, which are still warm, pass through the hands of the hairdresser, who cuts their hair, and the dentist, who pulls out their gold teeth. . .. One more transport has just been processed through No. IV crematorium. apparent that the flimsy construction of these two four- What "equipment" does Höss describe? What process does the French doctor describe? Is there any sympathy for the victims in either account? Why or why not? How could such a horrifying process have been allowed to occur? retort ovens was not up to the demands made on it. No. III ceased operating altogether after a short time and later was no longer used. No. IV had to be repeatedly shut down since after a short period in operation of 4-6 weeks, the ovens and chimneys had burnt out. The Sources: Commandant

The Holocaust: The Camp Commandant and the Camp Victims The systematic annihilation of millions of men, women, and children in extermination camps makes the Holocaust one of the most horrifying events in history. The first document is taken from an account by Rudolf Höss, commandant of the extermination camp at Auschwitz- Birkenau. In the second document, a French doctor explains what happened at one of the crematoria victims of the gassing were mainly burnt in pits behind crematorium IV. POLITICS & GOVERNMENT The largest number of people gassed and cremated within twenty-four hours was somewhat over 9,000. A French Doctor Describes the Victims It is mid-day, when a long line of women, children, and old people enter the yard. The senior official in charge climbs on a bench to tell them that they are going to have a bath and that afterward they will get a drink of hot coffee. They all undress in the yard. . . . The doors are opened and an indescribable jostling begins. The first people to enter the gas chamber begin to draw back. They sense the death which awaits them. The SS men ... described by Hoss. Commandant Höss Describes the Equipment The two large crematoria, Nos. I and II, were built during the winter of 1942–43. . . . Each...could cremate c. 2,000 corpses within twenty-four hours. .. Crematoria I and II both had underground undressing and gassing rooms which could be completely ventilated. The corpses were brought up to the ovens on the floor above by lift. The people. The firm of Topf had calculated that the two smaller crematoria, III and IV, would each be able to cremate put an end to this pushing and shoving with blows from their rifle butts beating the heads of the horrified women who are desperately hugging their children. The massive oak double doors are shut. For two endless minutes one gas chambers could hold c. 3,000 can hear banging on the walls and screams which are no 1,500 corpses within twenty-four hours. However, owing to the wartime shortage of materials, the builders were obliged to economize, and so the undressing rooms and gassing rooms were built above ground and the ovens were of a less solid construction. But it soon became longer human. And then-not a sound. Five minutes later the doors are opened. The corpses, squashed together and distorted, fall out like a waterfall. . . . The bodies, which are still warm, pass through the hands of the hairdresser, who cuts their hair, and the dentist, who pulls out their gold teeth. . .. One more transport has just been processed through No. IV crematorium. apparent that the flimsy construction of these two four- What "equipment" does Höss describe? What process does the French doctor describe? Is there any sympathy for the victims in either account? Why or why not? How could such a horrifying process have been allowed to occur? retort ovens was not up to the demands made on it. No. III ceased operating altogether after a short time and later was no longer used. No. IV had to be repeatedly shut down since after a short period in operation of 4-6 weeks, the ovens and chimneys had burnt out. The Sources: Commandant