The transport arrived by rail at the unloading ramp near the camp, full of Jews. From there they were escorted by the SS to the courtyard of the crematorium. In the meantime, all approach and transit roads were cleared and closed.
After undressing, the victims were led into the chamber, where they were told they were going to have to wash themselves, after which they would receive a meal and be assigned to work.
The inside of the room was made of concrete and water taps came out of the wall. Did any of them suspect, while washing themselves after a long journey, what would happen to them after a few minutes? After the washing was over, they were asked to go into the next room. At this point, even the most unsuspecting would have started to wonder, for the ‘next room’ was a series of large square concrete structures, each about one quarter the size of the bath-house and unlike it, had no windows. The people were now forced into these concrete boxes and the door was closed behind them. It was completely dark there except from a small light in the ceiling and the spy-hole in the door. Then, with 200-250 people in a box, the process began. One could hear the distant sound of a motor outside, used for drowning out the screams and groans of the people. First, some hot air was pumped in from the ceiling and then the pretty-blue crystals of Zyklon B were showered on the people, and in the hot air they rapidly evaporated. In anything from two to ten minutes, the screams of the people inside were replaced by a deadly silence; the people were dead.
What cries, what curses, what prayers perhaps had been uttered inside those gas chambers only minutes before?...
“Monsters exist, but they are too few in number to be truly dangerous. More dangerous are the common men, the functionaries ready to believe and to act without asking questions.”
― Primo Levi