SOBIBÓR - Holocaust Handbooks

J. GRAF, T. KUES, C. MATTOGNO, SOBIBÓR 71
Chaim Engel, too, as reported by Jules Schelvis, declared in 1946
“that trap doors were located in the gas chambers through which the
corpses would fall.” 125 Another witness, Leon Feldhendler, stated: 126
“The bath was arranged as if it were really a place to wash (faucets
for the shower, a pleasant environment). The baths were places
for gassing. [127] Five hundred persons were gassed simultaneously.
Sometimes, a stream of chlorine would be released, [128] they were
always trying out other gases.”
The literary elements of chlorine and the collapsible floor were then
fused into a new version by the witness Zelda Metz, who asserted: 129
“[The victims] went to the counter naked. There they deposited
money, jewelry and valuables. The Germans gave them brass tokens
or gave them numbers orally, so that, when they returned, they could
claim the money and their affairs. Then they entered the barrack
where the women’s hair would be cut, and then into the ‘bath,’ i.e.
the gas chamber. They were asphyxiated with chlorine. [130] After 15
minutes they were all asphyxiated. Through a little window, [the
Germans] checked to see if they were all dead. Then the floor
opened up automatically. The corpses fell into the car of a railway
which traversed the gas chamber and transported the corpses to the
oven. Before they were burned, their gold teeth were pulled out. The
oven was an enormous hearth with an open-air grate.”
Murder by means of chlorine was also asserted by Salomea Hanel,
who declared: 131
“Out of the 3,000 persons, 7 women and 18 youths were selected
for work, the others were sent to their death. There were barracks,
one of them had ‘cashier’ written on it. The women were pushed to
the ‘cashier,’ their heads were shaved, and then they were given
tickets for the bath. Gestapo people told them that they all had to
take a bath because they were full of lice. They were to put their
shoes and clothes together and get a receipt in return. One time
there was an incident because something had broken in the cham-
125 J. Schelvis, op. cit. (note 70), p. 82.
126 N. Blumental (ed.), op. cit. (note 22), p. 204. The deposition dates from 1945.
127 gazowniami
128 czasem puszczano pr�d chlorku
129 Ibid., p. 211. This deposition as well dates from 1944 or 1945.
130 dusili chlorem
131 Jewish Historical Commission, Cracow, Dokumenty zbrodni i m�cze�stwa. Cracow
1945, p. 64.