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Lately there has been much ado about the incineration capacities of the Kremas, especially Kremas II-V at Auscwitch II-Birkenau. It has been the contention of some Holocaust deniers that these Kremas were simply needed to handle the number of "natural" deaths that happened at Auschwitz. One number that has been tossed around is 70,000 people dying of "natural causes" at Auschwitz. Another is 45,575 for the year 1942. At the height of the typhus epidemic in July of 1942, the death toll was 4,000 per month [1] Now, assuming for argument's sake, that the death toll from such "natural causes" was constant for 1942 (and I'm NOT saying it was, as the typhus epidemic was brought under control by October 1942), that would mean 48,000 "natural" deaths. Now, assuming, again for argument's sake, a similar death toll from "natural causes" from March through December 1943 of 48,000, how does this compare to the incineration capacity of the Kremas for this period?
Well, the daily estimated rates of the Kremas, based on the letter from the Zentralbauleitung to group C of June 28, 1943, indicated capacities based on 2 bodies per muffle every 30 min. [2]
However, according to SonderKommando Feinsilber, the camp authorities reccomended that the incineration time be reduced to 20 minutes and the number of bodies, depending on size, increased to three. [3] Tauber said that the incineration time was 30 minutes and 3 bodies. Ho"ss contended that the incineration time was 20 minutes with alternating loads of 3 then 2 bodies. This would give a total capacities of 6,624 (Tauber), 8,280 (Ho"ss), and 9,936 (Feinsilber) for Kremas II-V. Ho"ss, however, also wrote that a total of 7,000 bodies were cremated every 24 hours.[4]
Using estimates for an incineration time of 20 minutes and alternating loads of 3 then 2 bodies in the muffle (excepting Krema 1, which is calculated at the Zentralbauleitung estimate, as it is unclear if the loads for Krema I were increased or not), and allowing 4 hours downtime per every 24 hours (though Topf's estimate was 3 for every 24 [5]), this should give a capacity of 150 bodies per muffle per 24 hours for Kremas II-V. (Krema I's capacity was left at the Zentralbauleitung's estimate of 340 bodies per 24 hours.)
Pressac states that Krema I was "neutralized at the request of the Political Department" at the end of July, 1943, and that "Krema V would not be used after September because crematorium II (repaired) and III would thereafter suffice to 'treat' the daily flow of Jews." [6] That is, until May of 1944, when the extermination of the Hungarian Jews began. [7]
According to Piper, however, "[w]ith the launching of large new crematoria in Birkenau (March-June 1943), incineration of bodies in the old crematorium was discontinued, and the bodies of the prisoners who died in the main camp and satellite camps were shipped to Birkenau for cremation." [8] Erring on the side of conservatism, then, I will assume cremations at Krema I were discontinued when Krema II became operational on March 31, 1943, as it was the first of the largest capacity Kremas to become operational.
Given all this, we can make an educated guess as to the monthly incineration capacity of the Kremas. This by no means is a definitive estimate, but simply an educated guess based on a middle-of-the-road estimate of muffler load and "burn" time, with a generous downtime factored in. What I have also tried to factor in is the actual up-time of the Kremas, as they became operational and went down (or were retired or damaged) at various times during the period in question.
So below you will find my "best guess" for the incineration capacities for Kremas I-V, broken down by month and summerized for the period betweem March and December 1943:
Krema - Crematorium number (I, II, III, IV, V).
Status - Status of Krema (up, up at date, not ready,
stop at date, damaged, idle , retired).
Days - "Krema" days (24 hour period Krema is operational,
including 4 hours downtime per 24 hours).
Muffles - Number of muffles operational at month's end.
bod/24hr. - Incineration capacity (bodies) of Krema at month's end.
bodies - Number of bodies Krema could have incinerated that month.
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Krema Status Days Muffles bod/24hr. bodies
I up 30 6 340 10,200
II up Mar. 31. 1 15 2,250 2,250
III not ready - - - -
IV up Mar. 22. 10 8 1,200 12,000
V not ready - - - -
March 31 ............... 41 29 3,790 24,450
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Krema Status Days Muffles bod/24hr. bodies
I retired - - - -
II up 30 15 2,250 67,500
III not ready - - - -
IV up 30 8 1,200 36,000
V not ready - - - -
April 30 ............... 60 23 3,450 103,500
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Krema Status Days Muffles bod/24hr. bodies
I retired - - - -
II stop May 22 21 0 0 47,250
III not ready - - - -
IV down mid-May 15 0 0 18,000
V not ready - - - -
May 31 ................. 36 0 0 65,250
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Krema Status Days Muffles bod/24hr. bodies
I retired - - - -
II stopped 0 0 0 0
III up June 25 5 15 2,250 11,250
IV damaged - - - -
V up June 26 4 8 1,200 4,800
June 30 ................. 9 23 3,450 16,050
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Krema Status Days Muffles bod/24hr. bodies
I retired - - - -
II stopped 0 0 0 0
III up 31 15 2,250 69,750
IV damaged - - - -
V up 31 8 1,200 37,200
July 31 ................ 62 23 3,450 106,950
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Krema Status Days Muffles bod/24hr. bodies
I retired - - - -
II stopped 0 0 0 0
III up 31 15 2,250 69,750
IV damaged - - - -
V up 31 8 1,200 37,200
August 31 .............. 62 23 3,450 106,950
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Krema Status Days Muffles bod/24hr. bodies
I retired - - - -
II up 31 15 2,250 69,750
III up 31 15 2,250 69,750
IV damaged - - - -
V up 31 8 1,200 37,200
September 31 ........... 93 38 5,700. 176,700
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Krema Status Days Muffles bod/24hr. bodies
I retired - - - -
II up 31 15 2,250 69,750
III up 31 15 2,250 69,750
IV damaged - - - -
V idle 0 8 1,200 0
October 31 ............. 62 38 5,700 139,500
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Krema Status Days Muffles bod/24hr. bodies
I retired - - - -
II up 31 15 2,250 69,750
III up 31 15 2,250 69,750
IV damaged - - - -
V idle 0 8 1,200 0
November 31 ............ 62 38 5,700 139,500
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Krema Status Days Muffles bod/24hr. bodies
I retired - - - -
II up 31 15 2,250 69,750
III up 31 15 2,250 69,750
IV damaged - - - -
V idle 0 8 1,200 0
December 31 ............ 62 38 5,700 139,500
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Summary of cremation capacities for Kremas I-V
(March through December 1943):
Month End Days Muffles bod/24hr. bodies
March ........ 41 29 4,500 24,450
April ........ 60 23 3,750 103,500
May .......... 36 0 0 65,250
June ......... 9 23 4,500 16,050
July ......... 62 23 4,500 106,950
August ....... 62 23 4,160 106,950
September .... 93 38 5,700 176,700
October ...... 62 38 5,700 139,500
November ..... 62 38 5,700 139,500
December ..... 62 38 5,700 139,500
Total Days ... 549
Total Capacity (bodies) ................ 1,018,350
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Clearly, as we can see, the incineration capacity of the Kremas was enourmous. Far in excess for incinerating 48,000- or even 480,000 -people. In fact, using the 48,000 number of "natural deaths" and the incineration capacity of 1,018,350 bodies for this period we see that the Kremas had a capacity of just over 21 times the "natural" death rate! Such "overkill" simply boggles the mind. There is no rational reason why such a incineration capacity is required. A _single_ crematorium such as Krema V (with lesser capacity than Kremas II or III) had a monthly capacity of 37,000 bodies per month and was excessive. If simply handling the bodies from "natural causes" was all that was _really_ intended, even the old crematorium, Krema I, would have easily sufficed with its cpacity of about 10,000 bodies a month! (Even then it would _still_ have had twice the required capacity!)
As has been pointed out by many "tradionalists" here in alt. revisionism, there can be only one rational explination for such an enourmous incineration capacity: The Nazis intended to kill far more than 48,000 (or 70,000) or even 480,000 people! (And they could do so pretty fast too, as we can see from the September number of 176,700.) With Kremas II, III, and V running at capacity the Nazis could theoretically have incinerated 2 million people a year!
It is a chilling thing, given such numbers, to realize that even when Kremas II, III, and V were used during the extermination of the Hungarian Jews, in the summer of 1944, that they were overwhelmed by the bodies of those they murdered, requiring the use of the incineration pits to augment the Kremas. It seems that the bloodlust of the Nazis knew no limit....
...Just as the deniers here, in trying to rationalize the Kremas as being used just for "natural" deaths, know no shame.
Mark
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