The Holocaust Historiography Project
Auschwitz, by J.-C. Pressac
Document 81
[Photo by the author]
Document 81

Present state of the northern access stairway to the basement of Krematorium II (on the right). On the left are the three steps that led up to the ground floor of the Krematorium. It was between the moment when the victims emerged naked from the southern end of the undressing hut and when they disappeared down this stairway that they were briefly visible from B.IIf. The gas chamber was in the background on the right.
Document 82
[Photo by the author]
Document 82

Present state of the western access stairway to the underground undressing room (Leichenkeller 2) of Krematorium II, photographed from the watchtower next to enclosure 27 of the Krematorium. In the background on the left, at right-angles to the rest are the ruins of the underground gas chamber. It is possible that the trees belong to the old “ring of greenery”, which gives an idea of what their size must have been in 1944. The SS guards in this tower were in the box seat for seeing how “resettlement” operations proceeded.