News

Ruins of Gas Chamber II to Be Secured

At the behest of the International Auschwitz Council Preservation Commission, the third stage of work to secure the ruins of Gas Chamber II at the Birkenau site has begun in accordance with the plan developed last year.

The first stage concerned a photographic inventory carried out on the ground and from the air in order to determine the dimensions and arrangement of the individual elements. This will serve as a baseline for monitoring changes and as a reference point for future work.

The next stage was the analysis of the materials present in the ruins (concrete, bricks, stone, and ceramics) and the choice of the most appropriate preservation compounds for these elements. There was also a hydrological/geological study of the state of the ground water. A drainage system was designed.

The work now beginning is concerned specifically with the drainage of the gas chamber ruins. A specialist firm, on commission from the Chair of Architecture and the Protection of Landmark Buildings of the Faculty of Construction and Environmental Engineering of the Świętokrzyska Polytechnic in Kielce, Poland, which is carrying out the preservation work in the name of the Museum, is attempting to reach and clear the original German drainage system at the gas chamber. One of the walls, which is in danger of collapse, will also be reinforced and strengthened.

The cost of all this work, amounting to approximately 1.5 million złotych, will be underwritten by the Lauder Foundation of New York, which has been cooperating with the Museum on preservation projects at the Auschwitz site for years.