German Footage of a Homicidal Gassing with Engine Exhaust. Part 7: Tactical Symbol & Homicidal Gas Van

 German Footage of a Homicidal Gassing with Engine Exhaust

Part 1: Provenance

Part 2: Location

Part 3: Responsibility (I)

Part 4: Responsibility (II)

Part 5: Responsibility (III)

Part 6: Forgery Allegation

Part 7: Tactical Symbol & Homicidal Gas Van 

 

 

If there were still anyone in the world who harbored even the slightest doubt about the authenticity of the film footage showing the Nazi gas killing operation at the psychiatric hospital in Mogilev, those doubts should now be dispelled.

 

Mogilev gassing footage

Never Change a Winning Method: How the Nazis Planned to Gas a French General with Carbon Monoxide

On October 28, 1944, the German General Fritz von Brodowski was shot in Allied captivity. Three months later, on 19 January 1945, the Nazis retaliated by shooting the French General Gustave Mesny in a staged escape attempt. 

Given the foreign policy implications, the German Foreign Office was involved in planning the killing and left behind a paper trail, see Kaltenbrunner’s Execution Proposal to Himmler: "Carbon Monoxide Introduced Via an Apparatus Operated From the Driver’s Seat". On December 30, 1944, RSHA chief Ernst Kaltenbrunner sent Himmler two murder options:

1) During the relocation of 5 individuals in 3 vehicles with Wehrmacht insignia, an escape scenario arises when the last vehicle breaks down, or

2) Carbon monoxide is introduced into the sealed rear compartment of the vehicle via an apparatus operated from the driver's seat. The device can be installed with the simplest means and removed immediately afterward. A suitable vehicle has now been obtained after significant difficulties.

The very next bright idea after shooting was gassing with carbon monoxide? It’s almost as if the Security Police had some prior experience with this method. Oh right - they had:

• Contemporary German Documents on Carbon Monoxide Gas and Bottles Employed for the Nazi Euthanasia
  
  
• Contemporary German Documents on Homicidal Gas Vans

Before deniers start questioning why a suitable vehicle was needed despite the existence of gas vans, let’s set the record straight: First, by this stage of the war, the gas vans employed for mass gassings may have already been dismantled. Secondly, the plan was to gas the French General in a car befitting his rank, not in the cargo compartment of a truck.

Sonderkommando Lange shown on footage in 1939/1940?

Recently, a documentary about the Nazi extermination camp Kulmhof was shared (Polish and English) on YouTube. In addition to current footage of the former Nazi extermination camp, the documentary also features contemporary photographs from a permanent exhibition. At minute 1:43, a German officer and three soldiers with a motorcycle sidecar can be seen in front of a building.

 

The English caption reads:

"Members of the Sonderkommando Lange in front of one of the buildings of the psychiatric hospital in Dziekanka in Gniezno, December 1939 - January 1940."

The photograph is thus a unique piece of contemporary history, depicting the mobile Sonderkommando Lange (i.e. before Kulmhof) during an operation.

If it shows what the caption suggests...

"Here They Go Again for Gassing" - Nazi Euthanasia in German Documents

On 16 May 1941, the Higher Regional Court President of Frankfurt, Arthur Ungewitter, reported to the Reichs Minister of Justice on what the population in the area talked about the "extermination of unworthy life":

The children are said to shout "here they go again for gassing" when they spot "the vehicles with which the sick are taken...to the liquidation institutes". It is also told that the victims are brought to a "gas room, where they would be liquidated with hydrogen cyanide and a numbing gas". Note that the actual killing agent was carbon monoxide gas, although hydrogen cyanide was another candidate considered for the Nazi Euthanasia and possibly tested earlier, in 1939, in Fort VII in Posen (see also Sonderkommando Lange in German Documents: Euthanasia 1940/41).

DOCUMENT

"Liquidation Institutes" for the "Extermination of Unworthy Life" - Nazi Euthanasia in German Documents

DOCUMENT

Mattogno, his Einsatzgruppen book and the Gas Vans. Part III: Genesis and Pictures That Say it All

 Mattogno, his Einsatzgruppen book and the Gas Vans

Part I: A Dilettante at Work

Part II:  Mental Degeneration or Dishonesty, Your Choice!

Part III: Genesis and Pictures That Say it All

Part IV: The "Enormous Contradiction" That Is None

 Part V: Nazi Foreign Office Documents vs. Holocaust Denial

Part VI: Gas Van Arithmetic

Part VII: Semantics

 Part VIII: Little More Than Hot Gas

The genesis of the Einsatzgruppen gas vans can be traced back to Fort VII in Posen. Here, the Nazis conducted mass gassing experiments for the Euthanasia action in Winter 1939/40. One branch developed to stationary gas chambers in the Altreich, the other developed to a gas van in the Warthegau, both types operating with carbon monoxide (CO) from gas cylinders. A killing commando of the Gestapo Posen, Sonderkommando (SK) Lange, employed the CO gas van. The war against the Soviet Union with its extermination policy pushed the development of a new mass killing technique since the mass shooting of people not fit for military service posed a considerable strain on the German paramilitary forces. The method had to fit the use in the wide Russian territory. The carbon monoxide gas cylinders already in use were considered not suitable for logistic reasons. In September 1941, gassing with engine exhaust was tried on a large scale in mental asylums in Minsk and Mogilev, followed by the testing of a prototype gas van with engine exhaust.

Sonderkommando Lange in German Documents: Euthanasia 1940/41

Mass Killing Unit of Warthegau

Sonderkommando Lange in German Documents:

 Euthanasia 1940/41

Sonderkommando Kulmhof in German Documents:

Part I: Origin and Foundation

Part II: The Extermination of 100,000 Jews

Part III: Body Disposal (Appendix)

Part IV: Pabianice Sorting Camp

Part V: Funding

Part VI: The Polish Working Detail

Part VII: Motor Pool and Fuel (Appendix)

Part VIII: Drinks and Tobacco (With Excursus on the Extermination of the Sinti and Roma)

Part IX: Farewell (1943)

Herbert Lange (source)

Herbert Lange, born 29 September 1909 in Menzlin in the Province of Pomerania, worked as criminal investigator at the Gestapo in Aachen before the war and took part in the Polish Campaign as member of Einsatzgruppe VI, which settled as Security Police headquarters in Poznan ^[1] (click or hover over footnotes to see references). For a short period of time until 16 October 1939, he was commandant of the Übergangslager (transition camp) Fort VII in Poznan ^[2]. Lange became the leader of a special detail (Sonderkommando) founded by and named after him, which specialized in the killing of mentally ill people with poison gas. In late 1941, he moved on to establish Chelmno (Kulmhof) extermination camp to wipe out the Jews of the Warthegau as well. He was replaced in Spring 1942 as commandant of the extermination camp by Hans Bothmann and employed as investigator in the RSHA. He supposedly died during the battle of Berlin at the end of the war.

Fort VII

Fort VII in Poznan; ref. 2, p. 13

The first Nazi gassings of people took place in Fort VII in Poznan in late 1939. Some experiments with the two most promising killing agents hydrogen cyanide and carbon monoxide may have been tried in casemates of the camp as early as October 1939. What seems like an experimental gassing with hydrogen cyanide soaked pellets (Degesch's "Zyklon") was mentioned en passant by the RSHA driver Wilhelm F. ^[3] :

"Right after the Polish Campaign I was sent with a group of officers to a town in Poland, I do not remember its name. There was a red haired Untersturmführer, who was called Becker as I now recall. This Becker made experiments with poison gas. A number of people were locked in a casemate and gas was introduced into the casemate through venting pipes. I remember exactly how Becker dropped something into the pipes."

"I have seen that Becker fetched a box with cans. He threw them [into the air shafts]."

From November 1939, mentally ill people were systematically killed with carbon monoxide gas in Fort VII ^[4]. Under the command of Lange the inmates of the asylums near Poznan were driven to the camp, locked in casemates and suffocated with carbon monoxide from pressurized steel bottles. The corpses were buried in mass graves in a forest near Oborniki, 30 km North of Poznan. The handling of the corpses was done by Polish prisoners of Fort VII assigned to Sonderkommando Lange, among those Henryk Mania and Henryk Maliczak, who testified on the killings after the war.

The Chelm T4 Deception

On September 4, 1940, a decision was taken to kill Jews who were in the care of German asylums. The decision is referenced here by Pfannmueller. This led to a transport on September 20, 1940, to a gassing site, camouflaged here. However, the Nazis did not wish the public to know that these Jews died on German soil, so they fabricated a story that these Jews died in an asylum in Chelm [also known as Cholm], Lublin, Poland, despite no such asylum existing there (see Henry Friedlander here, pp.17-20). Examples of such deceit are the cases of Hilda Sara Buchbinder (here) and Mirjam Sara P. (here, based on Tom Lampert's research using her German case file held at the Hessian State Archive, Darmstadt). Viktor Brack maintained this deception in his Nuremberg testimony as did Pfannmueller (see here) because they knew that the policy specifically targeted Jews, and they wished to maintain the fiction that Jews were never specifically murdered by T4 on racial grounds.

American Knowledge of Grafeneck in 1940

Back in 2009, I posted this New York Times article from 1999, which had explained how Vice Consul Paul H. Dutko in Leipzig had cabled the the American Embassy in Berlin and the State Department in Washington about killings in Grafeneck. The NYT article also cited a "Feb. 23, 1940, memorandum to Secretary of State Cordell Hull from Assistant Secretary Adolf A. Berle Jr." noting "reports from the embassy in Berlin that Jews were being sent to ''unnamed concentration camps'' in Poland." Below I post a highly relevant document, casting light on these matters, which I have scanned from the NARA collection, Records of the Intergovernmental Committee on Refugees, 1938-1947, which is available to me here via the Gale Digital Collections resource, Archives Unbound.

Mattogno's Falsehoods on the Rauff Letter to the Criminal Technical Institute

As shown in Rebuttal of Alvarez on Gas Vans Part V: The Rauff Letter to the Criminal Technical Institute (update) (2nd update) (3rd update), Alvarez has performed the fail to claim that "formally seen, almost everything about this letter is wrong" on a formally authentic document corroborating German homicidal gas vans. In his book Inside the Gas Chambers, Carlo Mattogno has hailed Alvarez' display of his complete ignorance and misunderstanding of RSHA documents as "critical analysis". He further did not want to miss the opportunity to contribute some of his own ignorance of the argument, so here we go.

Contemporary German Documents on Carbon Monoxide Gas and Bottles Employed for the Nazi Euthanasia

The following is a compilation of German documents on the existence, use, filling and delivery of carbon monoxide gas bottles in the context of the Nazi Euthanasia.

1.) Film script for an Euthanasia documentary of 29 October 1942 by Hermann Schwenninger on "[i]n a hermetically sealed room the patient is exposed to the effects of carbon monoxide gas".

2.) Letter from the IG Farbenindustrie to the Criminal Technical Institute of the Security Police of 17 December 1943 on returning "carbon monoxide steel bottles".

3.) Letter from the IG Farbenindustrie to the Criminal Technical Institute of the Security Police of 18 January 1944 on returning "carbon monoxide bottles".

4.) Letter from Albert Widmann of the Criminal Technical Institute of the Security Police to Werner Blankenburg of Hitler's Chancellery of 5 February 1944 on sending superfluous "steel bottles" to the IG Farbenindustrie.

5.) Letter from Albert Widmann of the Criminal Technical Institute to Werner Blankenburg of Hitler's Chancellery of 9 February 1944 on "bottles" from the IG Farbenindustrie.

6.) Letter from Friedrich Lorent to Albert Widmann of 19 April 1944 on "15 fillings of bottles with CO".

7.) Letter from Friedrich Lorent to Richard von Hegener of 19 April 1944 on "60 once-used seamless empty steel bottles for carbon monoxide".

8.) Letter from the IG Farbenindustrie to the Criminal Technical Institute of the Security Police of 26 April 1944 on shipping "60 carbon monoxide bottles (used once)".

9.) Telex from Albert Widmann to the Criminal Police Linz of 2? April 1944 informing Friedrich Lorent on "filling of 15 steel bottles in Ludwigshafen". 

10.) Letter from Helmut Kallmeyer of the Criminal Technical Institute to the IG Farbenindustrie of 2 May 1944 on "filling of 15 bottles with carbon monoxide".

11.) Letter from the IG Farbenindustrie to the Criminal Technical Institute of the Security Police of 20 May 1944 on "60 seamless steel bottles 40 liters content...for carbon monoxide".

12) Letter from Albert Widmann to Friedrich Lorent of 26 May 1944 on a letter from the IG Farbenindustrie on "60 used carbon monoxide steel bottles".

13.) Letter from Friedrich Lorent to Albert Widmann of 9 December 1944 on "51 steel bottles for CO".

14.) Letter from Friedrich Lorent to Albert Widmann of 11 December 1944 on "53 seamless steel bottles...for carbon monoxide".

15.) Letter from Albert Widmann to the IG Farbenindustrie of 18 December 1944 on "53 seamless steel bottles...for carbon monoxide".

16.) Letter from Albert Widmann to Friedrich Lorent of 3 January 1945 on "51 steel bottles for CO announced".

1.) Film script for an Euthanasia documentary of 29 October 1942 by Hermann Schwenninger on "[i]n a hermetically sealed room the patient is exposed to the effects of carbon monoxide gas".↩

DOCUMENT:

TRANSCRIPTION:

Gasraum (Als Zwischenschnitte Aufdrehen des Hahns, Gasometer, Beobachtung durch den Arzt.)

In einem hermetisch abgeschlossenen Raum wird dann der Patient der Einwirkung von Kohlenoxydgas ausgesetzt.

Das einströmende Gas ist völlig geruchlos und beraubt den Kranken zunächst des Beurteilungsvermögens und dann des Bewußtseins. Vom Patienten gänzlich unbemerkt, ohne Qual und ohne Kampf tritt der erlösende Tod ein.

TRANSLATION:

Gas room (cuts to turning on of the valve, gasometer and observation by the doctor)

In a hermetically sealed room the patient is exposed to the effects of carbon monoxide gas.

The incoming gas is completely odourless and initially robs the patient of their powers of judgement, and then their consciousness. Completely unknown by the patient, without pain and without struggle, the deliverance of death takes effect.

(NARA T-1021, Record Group 242/338, Roll 12, p. 127; my transcription; translation based on Belzec, Sobibor, Treblinka. Holocaust Denial and Operation Reinhard. A Critique of the Falsehoods of Mattogno, Graf and Kues, p. 276)

2.) Letter from the IG Farbenindustrie to the Criminal Technical Institute of the Security Police of 17 December 1943 on returning "carbon monoxide steel bottles".↩

TRANSCRIPTION

[...]

Verp. Abr. Chem /St./M. 17.12.1943

Betr. Leihbehälter/Kohlenoxyd-Stahlflaschen

Trotz wiederholter Mahnung sind sie immer noch im Besitz von vor/umstehenden Behältern. Um die vorliegenden Aufträge ordnungsgemäß ausführen zu können, benötigen wir dringend unsere Verpackungen. Wir bitten sie daher um sofortige Rücksendung der Behälter an das Lieferwerk.

[...]

Heil Hitler! IG Farbenindustrie Aktiengesellschaft Verpackungs-Abrechnungsstelle Chemikalien.

[signature]

Rest 7 Stück dv. Nr. vom 3.1.42

Kriminaltechnisches
Institut
der Sicherheitspolizei

Berlin C 2
Werdersche Markt  

TRANSLATION:

[...]
packaging invoicing chemicals  /St./M. 17.12.1943

Re: Loaned container/carbon monoxide steel bottles


Despite of repeated reminders, you are still in possession of the previously mentioned containers. In order to carry out the existing orders properly, we urgently need our packaging. We therefore ask you to return the containers immediately to the supplier.

[...]

Heil Hitler! IG Farbenindustrie Aktiengesellschaft packaging invoicing chemicals

[signature]

Remaining 7 pieces of various numbers of 3 January 1942

Criminal Technical Institute of the Security Police

Berlin C 2 Werdersche Markt  

(Bundesarchiv [hereafter BArch] B162/822, p. 21; my translation)


3.) Letter from the IG Farbenindustrie to the Criminal Technical Institute of the Security Police of 18 January 1944 on returning "carbon monoxide bottles".↩

TRANSCRIPTION:

[...]
Verp.-Abr.-Chem.    St./M.     18.1.1944

Kohlenoxyd-Flaschen

Nach unseren Aufzeichnungen stehen aus ihrem obigen  Verpackungskonto  noch

5 Stahlflaschen Nr. 133,231,314,334 u. 360 aus Lieferung vom 3.1.42
offen.

Wir bitten sie für baldige Rücksendung dieser Flaschen an das Lieferwerk Ludwigshafen bemüht zu sein oder aber uns mitzuteilen, worauf das lange Ausbleiben dieser Behälter zurückzuführen ist und wann wir mit deren Rückgabe nunmehr rechnen könnne.

Heil Hitler

[signature]

TRANSLATION:

[...]
packaging invoicing chemicals    St./M.     18.1.1944

Carbon monoxide bottles

According to our records 5 steel bottles No. 133,231,314,334 and 360 from the delivery of 3 January 1942 are still open on your above packaging account.

We kindly ask you to return these bottles to Ludwigshafen, or to inform us about the reason for the the long absence of these containers and when we can expect them to be returned.

Heil Hitler

[signature]

(BArch B162/822, p. 40; my translation)


4.) Letter from Albert Widmann of the Criminal Technical Institute of the Security Police to Werner Blankenburg of  Hitler's Chancellery of 5 February 1944 on sending superfluous "steel bottles" to the IG Farbenindustrie.↩

TRANSCRIPTION:

Berlin C 2, den 5.2.1944
Werderscher Markt, Tel 16 43 11

An
SA-Oberführer Blankenburg

Berlin W8 Vossstraße 5

Anbei übersende ich eine Mahnung der I.G.Farben Industrie und bitte dafür Sorge zutragen dass die Flaschen zurückgesandt werden. Vielleicht könnne unsere eigenen Stahlflaschen der I.G: angeboten werden, da sie jetzt überflüssig sind.

Heil Hitler !

W

 

TRANSLATION:

Berlin C 2, 5 February 1944
Werderscher Markt, Tel 16 43 11

To
SA-Oberführer Blankenburg

Berlin W8
Vossstraße 5

Attached I send a reminder of the I.G.Farben Industrie and ask you to make sure that the bottles are returned. Perhaps our own steel bottles can be offered to the I.G., since they are now superfluous.

Heil Hitler !

W

(BArch B162/822, p. 21; my translation)


5.) Letter from Albert Widmann of the Criminal Technical Institute to Werner Blankenburg of  Hitler's Chancellery of 9 February 1944 on "bottles" from the IG Farbenindustrie.↩

TRANSCRIPTION:

Berlin C 2, den 9.2.1944

An

SA-Oberführer
Blankenburg
Berlin W 8
Voss-Straße

Beiliegend übersenden wir ein Schreiben der IG-Farben Industrie mit der Bitte, das Weitere zu veranlassen und uns das Schreiben nach Möglichkeit wieder zurückzusenden. Existieren die Flaschen noch?

W

TRANSLATION:

Berlin C 2, 9 February 1944

To

SA-Oberführer
Blankenburg
Berlin W 8
Voss-Straße

Enclosed we send a letter from the IG-Farbenindustrie with the request to arrange the further proceeding and send the letter back to us if possible. Do the bottles still exist?

W

(BArch B162/822, p. 22; my translation)

6.) Letter from Friedrich Lorent to Albert Widmann of 19 April 1944 on "15 fillings of bottles with CO".↩

TRANSCRPTION:

Friedrich W. Lorent Berlin W 35, den 19 April 1944
                Tiergartenstr. 4
                Lt/He


An das
Kriminaltechnische Institut
z.H. von Herrn Dr. Wittmann

Sehr geehrter Herr Doktor!

Ich benötige

    15 Flaschenfüllungen CO.

Der Transport soll frühestens Ende nächste Woche erfolgen.

Heil Hitler!

[signature]

TRANSLATION:

Friedrich W. Lorent         Berlin W 35, 19 April 1944
                Tiergartenstr. 4
                Lt/He


To the Criminal Technical Institute for the attention of Mr. Dr. Wittmann

Dear Mr. Dr.!

I need

15 fillings of bottles with CO.

The transport shall be carried out next week at the earliest.

Heil Hitler!

[signature]

(BArch B162/822, p. 61; my translation)


7.) Letter from Friedrich Lorent to Richard von Hegener of 19 April 1944 on "60 once-used seamless empty steel bottles for carbon monoxide".↩

TRANSCRIPTION:

Friedrich W. Lorent              Berlin, den 19. April 1944
                    Lt/He

Herrn von Hegener

Ich bitte sie bei der IG-Farben folgendes anzustellen:

60 einmal gebrauchte nahtlose leere Stahlflaschen für Kohlenoxyd, von je cca 40 L Rauminhalt ca 6 cbm Gas, hergestellt nach der DGV v. 1.1.36 in handelsüblicher Ausführung, für 150 Atm. Füll und 225 Atm. Probedruck, mit normalem Vierkantfuß, Halsring unnd normaler Glockenkappe, mit rotem Farbanstrich, Ventil, abgenommen durch T.Ü.V Saarbrücken mit Sammelattest, Lieferwerk Mannesmannröhrenwerke, Werk Buss a.d. Saar, per Stück 49.8 RM.

Die I.G. Farben müssten sich sofort telegraphisch zu dem Problem äußern, da wir Anfang der nächsten Woche günstige Verlademöglichkeit haben nach Ludwigshafen durch eigenes Gerät.

Heil Hitler!

[signature]

TRANSLATION:

Friedrich W. Lorent              Berlin, 19. April 1944
                    Lt/He

Mr. von Hegener

I would like to ask you to offer IG-Farben the following:

60 once-used seamless empty steel bottles for carbon monoxide, each of approx. 40 L volume approx. 6 cbm of gas, manufactured according to the DGV of 1 January [19]36 in a commercial version, for 150 atm. fill pressure and 225 atm. test pressure, with normal square-cut bottom, neck ring and normal bell cap, with red paint coat, valve, approved by T.Ü.V Saarbrucken with summary certificate, supplier Mannesmannröhrenwerke, factory Buss at the Saar, per piece 49.8 RM. 

The I.G. Farben should immeadiately respond to the issue, since we have a good possibility to load them to Ludwigshafen with our own equipment next week.

Heil Hitler!

[signature]

(BArch B162/822, p. 61; my translation)

8.) Letter from the IG Farbenindustrie to the Criminal Technical Institute of the Security Police of 26 April 1944 on shipping "60 carbon monoxide bottles (used once)".↩

TRANSCRIPTION:

An das Kriminaltechnische Institut
der Sicherheitspolizei

Berlin C 2
Werdersche Markt     

Betreff: Kohlenoxyd            26.4.1944

Wir bestätigen das kürzlich mit ihrem sehr geehrten Herrn Dr. Widmann geführte Telefongespräch und danken ihnen für den uns erteilten Auftrag über 15 Flaschen Kohlenoxyd. Wir vereinbarten heute, das sie sich diese Flaschen von Ludwighafen abholen lasen und gleichzeitig 15 leere Flaschen zurückgeben.

Ferner danken wir ihnen für ihr Angebot uns 60 Kohlenoxydflaschen (einmal gebraucht) für 40 l Inhalt zu übersenden, die ihnen von der Firma Mannesmann nach Vorschrift DGV v. 1.1.36 in handelsüblicher Qualität für 150 atü und 225 atü Probedruck hergestellt sind. Sie nannten uns einen Preis von RM 49.80 je Flasche, abzüglich 10-15% Nachlass auf den vorgenannten ursprünglichen Bezugspreis. Wir baten sie heute telefonisch, diese 60 Flaschen gleichzeitig in Ludwigshafen mit auszuliefern und dass wir diese Flaschen zum Stückpreis von RM 49,80 abzüglich 15% Nachlass übernehmen wollen. Wir bitten sie uns das Ursprungsattest für diese Kohlenoxydflaschen noch zur Verfügung zu stellen.

Heil Hitler!<

I.G. FARBENINDUSTRIE AKTIENGESELLSCHAFT VERKAUFSKONTOR CHEMIKALIEN

[signature]

+ gaben Ihnen davon Kenntnis

[incoming stamp]

TRANSLATION:

To the Criminal Technical Institute of the Security Police 

Berlin C 2 Werdersche Markt     

Re: Carbon monoxide      26 April 1944

We confirm the recent telephone conversation with your dear Dr. Widmann and thank you for the order of 15 bottles of carbon monoxide given to us. We agreed today that you pick up these bottles from Ludwighafen and return 15 empty bottles at the same time. 

Furthermore, we would like to thank you for your offer to send us 60 carbon monoxide bottles (used once) for 40 liters of content produced by the company Mannesmann according to the regulation DGV of 1 January 36 in commercial quality for 150 atü and 225 atü test pressure. You gave us us a price of RM 49.80 per bottle, minus 10-15% discount on the aforementioned original reference price. We asked you today by phone to deliver these 60 bottles at the same time in Ludwigshafen and that we want to acquire these bottles at the unit price of RM 49.80 minus 15% discount. We ask you to provide the certificate of provenance for these carbon monoxide bottles.

Heil Hitler!

I.G. FARBENINDUSTRIE AKTIENGESELLSCHAFT SALES OFFICE CHEMICAL

[signature]

+ we informed you

[incoming stamp]

(BArch B162/822, p. 36; my translation)

9.) Telex from Albert Widmann to the Criminal Police Linz of 2? April 1944 informing Friedrich Lorent on "filling of 15 steel bottles in Ludwigshafen".↩

TRANSCRIPTION:

2?.4.44
FS Nr. 5042

Eilt sehr
An die Kripostelle Linz
zu Hd. des Herrn Leiters
o.V.i.A.

Wir bitten um Benachrichtigung von Gauinspektor Peterseil von der Gauleitung Linz, dass für Herrn Lorent nachstehendes FS zur Abholung bereitliege:

"15 Stahlflaschen können in Ludwigshafen gefüllt werden. Die IG-Farbenindustrie erwirbt die angebotenen Stahlflaschen käuflich gegen Vorlage des Ursprungsattestes zum abgenommenen Preis von 49,80 RM abzüglich 15%. Das Werk Ludwigshafen ist verständigt dass die Flaschen dort abgegeben werden."

Herr Lorent ist telefonisch zu erreichen unter Linz 24274

Kriminaltechnisches Institut

I.A.

W

Dr.Ing. Widmann

TRANSLATION:

2? April [19]44
Telex no. 5042

Very urgent

To to Criminal Police Office Linz 

for the attention of the chief 
o.V.i.A.

We ask you to notify the Gauinspektor Peterseil from the Gauleitung Linz that the following telex for Mr. Lorent is ready to pick up:

"15 steel bottles can be filled in Ludwigshafen. The IG Farbenindustrie acquires the offered steel bottles on presentation of the certificate of provenance at the accepted price of 49.80 RM minus 15%. The Ludwigshafen factory is informed that the bottles are delivered there."

Mr. Lorent can be reached by phone at Linz 24274

Criminal Technical Institute

By order

W

Dr.Ing. Widmann

(BArch B162/822, p. 37; my translation)


10.) Letter from Helmut Kallmeyer of the Criminal Technical Institute to the IG Farbenindustrie of 2 May 1944 on "filling of 15 bottles with carbon monoxide".↩

TRANSCRIPTION:

Chemie                         2.5.        4

An
 die IG-Farben



 Ludwighafen



        Wir bitten um die Füllung von 15 Flaschen mit Kohlenoxyd. Die Flaschen werden von uns gestellt.

                                        I.A.

                                        (Dr. Kallmeyer)        Js

TRANSLATION:

Chemistry            2 May [194]4

To the IG-Farben
Ludwighafen

We request the filling of 15 bottles with carbon monoxide. The bottles will be provided by us.

By order
(Dr. Kallmeyer)

Js

(BArch B162/822, p. 38; my translation)


11.) Letter from the IG Farbenindustrie to the Criminal Technical Institute of the Security Police of 20 May 1944 on "60 seamless steel bottles 40 liters content...for carbon monoxide".↩

TRANSCRIPTION:

[...]
60 Nahtlose Stahlflaschen 40 L Inhalt ...für Kohlenoyd, Probedruck 225 atü.

53 Flaschen sind bereits geliefert. Wir bitten noch um Lieferung der restlichen 7 Stück
[...] 

TRANSLATION:

[...]
60 seamless steel bottles 40 liters content...for carbon monoxide, test pressure 22 atü.

53 bottles have been already delivered. We ask for delivery of the remaining 7 pieces.
[...]

(BArch B162/822, p. 68; my translation)


12.) Letter from Albert Widmann to Friedrich Lorent of 26 May 1944 on a letter from the IG Farbenindustrie on "60 used carbon monoxide steel bottles".↩

TRANSCRIPTION:

            26. Mai   4

An
Herrn W. Lorent
Berlin
Tiergartenstr. 4

Anliegend übersenden wir ein Schreiben der IG Farbenindustrie zur weiteren Veranlassung

I.A.
W
(Dr. Ing. Widmann)

Betrifft: 60 gebr, Kohlenoxyd Stahlflaschen

[letter of IG Farbenindustrie of 20 May 1944]

TRANSLATION:

26 May [194]4

To
Mr. W. Lorent
Berlin
Tiergartenstr. 4

Enclosed we sent you a letter of the IG Farbenindustrie for further action.

By order
W
(Dr. Ing. Widmann)

Re: 60 used carbon monoxide steel bottles

[letter of IG Farbenindustrie of 20 May 1944]

(BArch B162/822, p. 63; my translation)


13.) Letter from Friedrich Lorent to Albert Widmann of 9 December 1944 on "51 steel bottles for CO".↩

TRANSCRIPTION:

Friedrich W. Lorent         Linz Donau, den 9.Dezember 1944
                Postfach 324/630

Herrn Dr. Widmann
Kriminaltechnisches Institut

Berlin C.2.
Werdersche Markt

Lieber Herr Doktor!

Mit Vermittlung der Kriminalpolizeistelle Linz bringe ich demnächst an die Adresse

Kriminaltechnisches Institut
zu Händen Herrn Dr. Widmann Berlin C2 Werder'sche Markt

51 Stahlflaschen für CO zum Versand.

Gleichzeitig teile ich ihnen mit, dass ich folgenden dringenden Bedarf habe:

500 A. M 0,02

Lieferung in Ampullen ist nicht erfoderlich, Lieferung kann in Substanz erfolgen.

Heil Hitler!

[signature]

[incoming stamp]

TRANSLATION:

Friedrich W. Lorent         Linz Donau, 9 December 1944
                Post office box 324/630

Mr. Dr. Widmann
Criminal Technical Institute
Berlin C2.
Werdersche Markt

Dear Mr. Doktor!

With the mediation of the Criminal Police Office Linz I will soon submit 51 steel bottles for CO for dispatch to the address Criminal Technical Institute to the attention of Mr. Dr. Widmann Berlin C2 Werder'sche Markt

At the same time I tell you that I have the following urgent need:

500 a[mpules] m[orphine) 0.02

Delivery in ampules is not necessary, delivery can take place as substance.

Heil Hitler!

[signature]

[incoming stamp]

(BArch B162/822, p. 71; my translation)


14.) Letter from Friedrich Lorent to Albert Widmann of 11 December 1944 on "53 seamless steel bottles...for carbon monoxide".↩

TRANSCRIPTION:

Friedrich W Lorent     z.Zt. Linz/Donau, den 11.12.44
                Postfach 324

Herrn
Dr. Widmann
Kriminaltechnisches Insitut

Berlin C.2.
Werder'sche Markt

Lieber Herr Doktor!

Ich bitte sie, an die IG Farbenindustrie einen Brief folgenden Inhalts zu richten:

Sie erhielten von uns 53 nahtlose Stahlflaschen 40 L gebraucht, mit Einprägung nach den Vorschriften des Technischen Überwachungsvereins für Kohlenoxyd, Probedruck 225 atü

Die Ursprungspapiere haben sie inzwischen auch erhalten. Der vereinabrte Stückpreis beträgt

RM 49.80 15 % Nachlass

Ihre ursprüngliche Bestellung war in Übereinstimmung mit unserem Angebot auf 60 Stahlflaschen ausgestellt. Wir sind jedoch infolge von Fremdeinwirkung nicht mehr in der Lage ihnen die restlichen 7 Flaschen anzubieten und berechnen ihnen daher heute

53 Stahlflaschen a RM 49.8 = RM 2639.40
15% = 395.91
RM 2.243.49

2.243.49 RM

Bitte überweisen sie diesen Betrag auf das Postcheckkonto Friedrich W. Lorent, Berlin Nr. 134708

Heil Hitler!

[signature]

TRANSLATION:

Friedrich W Lorent     currently Linz/Donau, 11 December [19]44
                Post office box 324

Mr.
Dr. Widmann
Criminal Technical Institute

Berlin C.2.
Werder'sche Markt

Dear Mr. Doktor!

I ask you to sent a letter with the following content to the IG Farbenindustrie:

You received from us 43 seamless steel bottles 40 liters used with imprinting according to the regulations of the Technical Inspection Agency for carbon monoxide test pressure 225 atü.

You have also received the certificates of provenance in the mean time. The agreed price per piece amounts to

RM 49.80 15 % discount

Your original order was issued for 60 steel bottles in agreement with our quote. However, we are not able to provide you the remaining 7 bottles due to circumstances beyond our control and we therefore charge you now with

53 steel bottles a RM 49.8 = RM 2639.40
15% = 395.91
RM 2.243.49

2.243.49 RM

Please transfer this amount to the postal cheque account Friedrich W. Lorent, Berlin Nr. 134708

Heil Hitler!

[signature]

(BArch B162/822, p. 69; my translation)


15.) Letter from Albert Widmann to the IG Farbenindustrie of 18 December 1944 on "53 seamless steel bottles...for carbon monoxide".↩

TRANSCRIPTION:

Chemie   4     18 Dez.

An die I.G. Farbenindustrie A.G.
Einkaufsabteilung
Ludwigshafen a. Rh

Ihre Bestellung 633089 Gr.6/Mü/Sch/Anorg. Abt./Dr.Re/20.5.44
Ffff.Lu 250.

Sie erhielten von uns 53 nahtlose Stahlflaschen 40 L gebraucht, mit Einprägung nach den Vorschriften des Technischen Überwachungsvereings für Kohlenoxyd, Probedruck 225 atü

Die Ursprungspapiere haben sie inzwischen auch erhalten. Der vereinabrte Stückpreis beträgt

RM 49.80 15 % Nachlass

Ihre ursprüngliche Bestellung war in Übereinstimmung mit unserem Angebot auf 60 Stahlflaschen ausgestellt. Wir sind jedoch infolge von Fremdeinwirkung nicht mehr in der Lage ihnen die restlichen 7 Flaschen anzubieten und berechnen ihnen daher heute

53 Stahlflaschen a RM 49.8 = RM 2639.40
15% = 395.91
RM 2.243.49

2.243.49 RM

Bitte überweisen sie diesen Betrag auf das Postcheckkonto Friedrich W. Lorent, Berlin Nr. 134708

W
(Dr. Ing. Widmann)

TRANSLATION:

Chemistry     4       18 December [1944]

To the I.G. Farbenindustrie A.G.
Purchase Department
Ludwigshafen a. Rh

Your order 633089 Gr.6/Mü/Sch/Anorg. Abt./Dr.Re/20.5.44
Ffff.Lu 250.

You received from us 43 seamless steel bottles 40 liters used with imprinting according to the regulations of the Technical Inspection Agency for carbon monoxide test pressure 225 atü.

You have also received the certificates of provenance in the mean time. The agreed price per piece amounts to

RM 49.80 15 % discount

Your original order was issued for 60 steel bottles in agreement with our quote. However, we are not able to provide you the remaining 7 bottles due to circumstances beyond our control and we therefore charge you now with

53 steel bottles a RM 49.8 = RM 2639.40
15% = 395.91
RM 2.243.49

2.243.49 RM

Please transfer this amount to the postal cheque account Friedrich W. Lorent, Berlin Nr. 134708

W
(Dr. Ing. Widmann)

(BArch B162/822, p. 67; my translation)


16.) Letter from Albert Widmann to Friedrich Lorent of 3 January 1945 on "51 steel bottles for CO announced".↩

TRANSCRIPTION:

Abt. Chemie u Physik
Chemie   5            3. Januar   5

Herrn Friedrich W. Lorent
Linz Donau
Postfach 324

Beiliegend 10 g Morphicum hydrochloricum, die Substanz muss gelöst werden in 500 ccm Wasser, man erhält dann die übliche 2%ige Lösung.

In getrennten Paketen senden wir ihnen 300 Ampullen Evipan-Natrium und 200 Ampullen Luminal. Die angekündigten 51 Stahlflaschen für CO sind bei uns noch nicht eingetroffen, wann kommen sie?

Zum neuen Jahr alles Gute!

Heil Hitler!
W

TRANSLATION:

Department Chemistry and Physics

Chemistry 5            3 January [194]5

Mr. Friedrich W. Lorent
Linz Donau
Post office account 324

Enclosed are 10 g Morphicum hydrochloricum, the substance has to be solved in 500 ccm water, one obtains the usual 2% solution.

In different packets, we sent you 300 ampules Evipan-Natrium und 200 ampules Luminal. The 51 steel bottles for CO announced have not yet arrived, when will they come?

A happy new year!

Heil Hitler!
W

(BArch B162/822, p. 70; my translation)

_____________
changelog:
27/12/2018: translations corrected

German Footage of a Homicidal Gassing with Engine Exhaust. Part 5: Responsibility (III).

German Footage of a Homicidal Gassing with Engine Exhaust

Part 1: Provenance

Part 2: Location

Part 3: Responsibility (I)

Part 4: Responsibility (II)

Part 5: Responsibility (III)

Part 6: Forgery Allegation

Part 7: Tactical Symbol & Homicidal Gas Van 

 

The previous part proposed that the Mogilev gassing footage displays the experimental gassing carried out by the Einsatzgruppe B leader Arthur Nebe, Einsatzkommando 8 and Albrecht Widmann of the Criminal Technical Institute of the Security Police in September 1941. The following part will outline some conflicting evidence and evaluate alternative interpretations.