| Drawing 2197(p)II |
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| Drawing 2197 (p)/II Bauleitung drawing 2197 of 19/3/43 |
The first drawing, 2l97(p) [Polish] comes from the PMO Archives. file BW 30/14, neg no. 20946/1
The second 2197[a](r) [Russian] and third 2197(b](r) drawings come from the “October Revolution” Central State Archives in Moscow.
Drawing 2l97 held by the PMO is not the original, but a pale pink copy, faded and scarcely legible, made for the Polish Commission from the originals collected al the beginning of 1945 by the Soviet Commission. The Museum also has a second copy of 2197 in the BW 34/34A file (No. 8) on a bluish background, which is easier to read than the pink one. There is also a tracing, which was probably used to produce the copies, classified under number 19949,. 2197[a] (r) and 2197[b] (r) were given by the Moscow Prosecutor to the Warsaw Central Commission for research into Hitlerian crimes in Poland as exhibits in the Dejaco/Ertl trial in 1972. However, they were not transmitted as complete sheets, but each was divided into six photographs. Since the two drawings are virtually identical, an employee of the Central Commission thought there were two copies of the same drawing and sent only one set of six photos to the trial, keeping the other in the research section of the Commission. Unfortunately during the handling of these photographs, the two sets got mixed up, and two photos of one replaced two of the other. This carelessness meant that of the six photos remaining in Warsaw, two belonged to the drawing sent to Vienna, and the Vienna set contained two incorrect photos. Nobody seems to have noticed this substitution, and it was quite by chance that the author stumbled on is by comparing the Warsaw and Vienna copies of 2197. Despite the very poor quality of the copies, 2197[b] is a vital drawing, for it shows the location of lights and water taps in Krematorium II, which is important for an understanding of the instruments of extermination and for exploiting other relevant documents.
Seven parts of the 2197(p) presented here have been highlighted in black by the author to make them easily legible.
Bestandaufnahme des Krematoriums II KGL Auschwitz / Inventory drawing of Krematorium II, Auschwitz POW camp
M./ Scale 1:200
Drawn on 19/3/43 by prisoner 71134 |
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