Majdanek this and that

[Fred Ziffel]

very plausible,
I will look into it in a few days
may catch me on X in the next few days

[Fred Ziffel]

another video out from Majdanek Museum
not sure it will be super interesting to you all but any time this museum representee posts, I sit up and listen
Link:

[Fred Ziffel]

I tried to send a PM but failed
Wetzelrad, were you kicked off X?
I wanted to send you something

[Wetzelrad]

I am back on X.

I want to raise a hypothesis about the Majdanek bunker's pipe system. It remains an enigma, owing in large part to the lack of documentation and the totally unnecessary design of it. What was the perforated pipe actually for? I remain unpersuaded by any one explanation.

One possibility that occurs to me is that it was a heating pipe. We know the bunker was originally planned to have a central furnace (described in the cost estimates as a "disinfestation furnace" or "gas furnace", p.134) installed on its north exterior wall, but this was not actually built. In that same plan, there was no cell 14 on its south side, but that is what was built. From this it follows that the most likely purpose for cell 14 was to hold that furnace -- not gas bottles.

It is also true that a Klein air heater (p.131) was installed on the west wall, but since there is no photograph or document that demonstrates this object's presence until after liberation, it seems entirely possible that it was not part of the original build. I submit that the bunker was originally built to be heated from a central furnace in cell 14, with the western furnace being a later addition after a change of plans.

I am not an engineer, so perhaps there are physical reasons that this does not make sense. To my thinking, the long perforated pipes would not make sense for releasing gas, but perforated ducts are sometimes used in heating, so their use seems plausible here. If these pipes are simply too narrow to send hot air through under any circumstances, then I would posit that it was exactly this major design flaw that led to the installation of an alternative furnace system.

The closest comparable facility to the Majdanek bunker is Stutthof's delousing building. This included an exterior brick stove which blew hot air into a pipe which ran along the inside wall of the chamber. The bricks covering this pipe were perforated. See Concentration Camp Stutthof for details, especially the photo section. This particular design quirk is so similar that I am inclined to believe its purpose was exactly the same in both facilities.

[Fred Ziffel]

see attached

[Fred Ziffel]

I still say if the soviets back then were smart, they would have done something like this to sell the gas chamber Holobunga
Since the tanks are extreme high pressure, this would work and supposedly fake out inmates to be gassed

[Wetzelrad]

I definitely am not suggesting water circulation through the pipes. One way, air only.

Perhaps it's too impractical to send air through such a narrow pipe. Perhaps it would require a fan. We know there was an electric outlet on this wall (p.178), so whatever was installed there had power. Also bear in mind the original plan was for this one heater to heat all four chambers, presumably through four pipes.

I'm not sure about exhaust. The ceiling in cell 14 now is all new, isn't it? And as far as I can tell the room never had a door, so it was always exposed to fresh air.

I admit I overlooked the copper fittings. It's true that they look designed for a rubber pipe attachment, which would be totally extraneous for a stationary heating system. Those fittings, taken alone, make the most sense as part of an exchangeable gas tank system. Although I find it strange they are different sizes.

[Wetzelrad]

I came across a rare photo of what I think is one of the gates into the canopy bunker area. Its orientation is not clear to me, but the canopy and gate are recognizable. https://photo.rgakfd.ru/photo/1230186

Posing in it are two Jewish propagandists: Boris Yefimov and Vasily Grossman.

The most notable feature is the sign on the gate forbidding entry with a skull and crossbones. This would be a sensible sign to put outside of a fumigation gas chamber. It has no place outside of a homicidal gas chamber, where the victims were supposed to be fooled into entering.