RR track switch handle at entrance to unloading ramp at Birkenau. photo 1979
Ceiling opening in gas chamber at Krematorium I through which Zylon B crystals were thrown. Zyclon B is the trade name of a cyanide-based insecticide. It was stored in airtight containers; when exposed to air, the substrates evolved gaseous hydrogen cyanide (HCN). Two German firms, Tesch/Stabenow and Degesch, produced Cyclone B gas after they acquired the patent from Farben. Tesch supplied two tons a month, and Degesch three quarters of a ton. The firms that produced the gas already had extensive experience in fumigation. From the statement of Hans Stark registrar of new arrivals, Auschwitz: ".... They then started to cry out terribly for they now knew what was happening to them. I did not look through the opening because it had to be closed as soon as the Zyklon B had been poured in. After a few minutes there was silence. After some time had passed, it may have been ten to fifteen minutes, the gas chamber was opened. The dead lay higgledy-piggedly all over the place. It was a dreadful sight." See http://www.nizkor.org/faqs/auschwitz/auschwitz-faq-06.html
Ceiling of barrack in the women's camp , Bitkenau (BIb). See: http://www.remember.org/camps/birkenau/index.html and http://www.remember.org/camps/birkenau/bir-womens-barrack-01.html For interactive map of Birkenau go to http://www.remember.org/camps/birkenau/index.html
