1988 was a very informative and likewise disturbing year. I was appalled
to learn that much of what I was taught in school about twentieth-century
history and World War II was a myth, if not a lie. I was first amazed;
then annoyed; then aware: the myth of the Holocaust was dead.
Like all American children born during and after World War II, I was taught
about the genocide perpetrated by the Nazis on the Jews. By the time I
had reached college, I had no reason to disbelieve any of my education,
except that I had some problems swallowing the numbers of decen-dents,
said to total better than six million persons. But there it stopped. I
believed in the Nazi genocide. I had no reason to disbelieve.
Some twenty-four years later, a very believing engineer sat at his desk
working one snowy January afternoon in 1988, when the telephone rang. This
very believing engineer was about to receive a very shocking history lesson,
one which would cause him to question that fifty-year-old Holocaust lie
and the application of that lie to generations of children. "Hello,
this is Robert Faurisson" -- and that very believing engineer would
believe no more.
I have for the past nine years worked with most, if not all of the states
in the United States having capital punishment. I design and manufacture
execution equipment of all types, including electrocution systems, lethal
injection equipment, gallows and gas-chamber hardware.
I have consulted for, or supplied equipment to, most of the applicable
states and the federal government.
Because of my association with the states in this capacity, I was recommended
to the Zündel defense as a consultant on gas chambers by Warden Bill
Armontrout of the Missouri State Penitentiary.
After answering my telephone on that cold January afternoon, I met with
Dr. Robert Faurisson twice in Boston and, as a result of these meetings,
I was summoned to Toronto to meet with Ernst Zündel, attorney Douglas
Christie and the rest of Zündel's very able staff.
Dr. Robert Faurisson had postulated thirteen years ago that a gas-chamber
specialist should be sought who could evaluate the alleged gas chambers
in Poland and report on their efficacy for execution purposes.
Valentine's Day weekend found myself and Carolyn, my wife of two weeks,
in Toronto. Two days of lengthy meetings followed, during which I was shown
photos of the alleged German gas chambers in Poland, German documents and
Allied aerial photographs. My examination of this material led me to question
whether these alleged gas chambers were, in fact, execution facilities.
I was asked if I would go to Poland and undertake a physical inspection
and forensic analysis resulting in a written evaluation of these alleged
execution gas chambers, some at places I had never even heard of.
After due consideration, I agreed and made plans to leave for Poland, awaiting
a time of minimal snow covering. I also stated that although the photos
and documents seemed to support the view that these places were, indeed,
not execution facilities, I would reserve final judgement until after my
examination and, if I determined that these facilities were, in fact, or
could have been, execution gas chambers, I would state this in my report.
The final report was to be utilized as evidence in Ernst Zündel's
defense in his pending criminal trial at Toronto, and I had to be prepared
to testify under oath.
Preparations for the trip required me to take sample bags, documentation
journals and tools. Because we were in a Communist country I would have
to be careful with the tools. Very few tourists carry hammers, chisels,
star drills and tape measures while travelling. I hid them in the lining
of my valise and hoped for the best. Further, I had maps of Poland, Czechoslovakia
and Austria, in the event that we might have to make a hasty and unscheduled
exit. And finally, the gifts with which we bribed the museum people to
supply us with copies of documents from the Museum Archives.
I was fortunate to have a competent and dependable party of professionals:
my wife Carolyn, my general assistant; Mr. Howard Miller, draftsman; Mr.
Juergen Neumann, cinematographer; Mr. Tijudar Rudolf, interpreter. All
knew that, if caught, the Polish government would take a dim view of our
activities and purpose, let alone my removal of forensic samples from national
shrines and monuments.
And the two ex officio members of our party, Mr. Ernst Zündel
and Dr. Robert Faurisson, who for obvious reasons could not accompany us
in person, but who nevertheless were with us every step of the way in spirit.
On February 25, 1988, we left for Poland. Neumann and Rudolf, the Canadian
contingent, joined me and the remainder of our team in Frankfurt.
We arrived at Cracow in the late afternoon and spent our first night at
the Hotel Orbis. We consumed the first of our three decent meals while
in Poland. The following day we drove to Auschwitz. We arrived at the Auschwitz
Hotel and were greeted by the smell of sulphur napthal disinfectant, a
smell I had not encountered for many years. The hotel is apparently the
old officers' quarters for the camp. We ate lunch at the Hotel dining room,
a cafeteria style facility. This was our first unidentifiable meal, starch
soup and sundries.
We made a reconnaissance tour of the camp, lasting into the dim light of
the Polish afternoon and several snow squalls, a common occurrence. We
ate no supper, in that we found no place to eat in Auschwitz after sundown
our first evening.
The following day we began our work in the alleged gas chamber at the
Auschwitz facility. Unfortunately, we were unable to accomplish much due
to constant interruptions by both official and unofficial Sunday tours.
Carolyn stood guard at one entrance and Tijudar at the other, advising
myself, Jurgen and Howard of their arrival. It was too dangerous to take
forensic samples and tape, so we left for Birkenau about noon.
At Birkenau we began a four-hour walk into the damp Polish cold and through
snow squalls so dense we could not see each other at a distance of a few
feet. Unfortunately, we did not expect to spend that much time walking
through the camp and, since vehicles are not permitted within the camp,
we left Carolyn behind in the car. Since we forgot to leave her the keys,
she nearly froze in the cold Polish afternoon. We visited the barracks,
Krematorien II, III, IV and V, the sauna and the alleged burning pits.
We took samples, documented our activities on video tape and in still photos,
and made scale drawings of these facilities, carefully documenting the
removal locations of all the forensic samples. We had to break into the
sauna building, since it was locked.
At Krema II, I descended into the depths of the alleged gas chamber, a
wet, dank subter-ranean place not visited by man in almost fifty years,
since the building had been reduced to rubble, probably by a German military
demolition team. Fortunately, there were fewer guards and less pedestrian
traffic, making working conditions considerably better than they had been
earlier, at Auschwitz.
Having been instructed by our empty stomachs of the evening before, we
found and ate at the restaurant at the bus station, the only legitimate
restaurant in Auschwitz. We returned to the Auschwitz Hotel for the night.
The following day, Monday, we again began our work at Auschwitz, the Sunday
tours having subsided. We were able to get our samples, tapes and documentation.
We had, by this time, obtained blueprints of the alleged gas-chamber facility
and were able to follow the structural changes back to the dates in question.
We also verified the existence of the floor drain for the periods of alleged
gas chamber usage. Upon completion at Auschwitz, we drove again to Birkenau
to take our control sample at delousing facility 1. Unfortunately, the
building was locked and again we had to break and enter in order to access
the delousing chamber. Again we ate at the bus station, and retired early
to the Auschwitz Hotel.
Tuesday morning, while awaiting Tijudar's unsuccessful attempt to obtain
a can of Zyklon B, Jurgen and I made video tapes of locations within the
camp. We moved from the Auschwitz Hotel to a hostel nearby, obtaining newly
vacated rooms. We ate at the bus station and retired early.
On Wednesday morning we ate a very enjoyable breakfast of ham, cheese and
bread (our second decent meal in Poland) and began our trip to Lublin to
see Majdanek. After one final look in at Auschwitz, we set off by car for
Majdanek.
Several hours later, we arrived at Majdanek, and visited the museum, the reconstructed alleged gas chamber and crematory. We finally arrived at disinfection 1 and 2 and examined the facilities. It was extremely difficult to work, in that a guard made rounds every ten or fifteen minutes. The alleged gas chambers were blocked by gates and not accessible for a detailed inspection by the general public. It was necessary for me to trespass beyond these gates in forbidden areas. Again Carolyn and Tijudar stood watch while I made measurements and did a detailed examination in these areas. Once we were caught short: I was forced to hurdle the gate, and was still in the air and in mid-jump when the guard entered. Fortunately, he was more interested in Jurgen and his camera to see me before I touched ground.
The camp closed in early afternoon and the guard rather nastily told
us to leave. By three o'clock we were en route to Warsaw, a trip which
would take five hours through rain and snow. Our hotel reservation had
been fouled up but fortunately, with the help of an embassy attache, we
were able to secure rooms at another hotel.
We had our third edible meal in Poland that evening and went to bed in
preparation for our trip home on Thursday. The following morning we had
breakfast and proceeded to the airport for our return trip.
We boarded the Polish airlines plane after clearing customs -- my suitcase
containing twenty pounds of the forbidden samples, fortunately none of
which were found. I did not breathe easy until we cleared the passport
checkpoint at Frankfurt. Our team split at Frankfurt, for the return trips
to the United States and Canada, respectively. After our return [on March
3], I delivered the forensic samples to the test laboratory in Massachusetts.
Upon receipt of the test results, I prepared my report, combining my knowledge
of gas execution facilities and procedures with the research I had completed
at crematories and with retort manu-facturers in the United States. With
the results of my research I believe you are all familiar.
Upon completion of my report I testified at Toronto -- but that is another
story, for another time.