History of Sorts

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The Nazis used forced labor to clean the Gas chambers. It was done by the so-called Sonderkommando, mostly made up of Jewish inmates who were selected because they were often young and still reasonably fit, fit enough to carry out physical labor.

Being forced to clean the gas chambers was actually one of the cruelest punishments, really, because often, those tasked with that awful job had to remove their own family members.

The hair of the victims was s shaven from the heads of corpses straight after their removal from the gas chambers. Human hair was often used in delayed action bombs, where its particular qualities made it highly useful for detonating purposes. Women’s hair was preferred over men’s and children’s; the Nazis running the camps even made a profit from this. After treatment, the hair was put into twenty-kilogram bales. The bales were sold to German companies at twenty pfennig per kilogram.

It is believed that some of the products manufactured from or containing hair in those companies may still be used in German homes today.

In camps like Auschwitz or Sobibor, It was the job of the Sonderkommanso to get the bodies from the gas chambers, remove the gold teeth from the jaws using large pliers, and then throw the bodies in the mass grave and cover them with chlorinated lime. At a later stage, the corpses from the gas chambers were immediately burned in crematoria or pyres. They also had to clean the gas chambers and remove the blood and excrement. This work was physically and mentally draining and would cause physical and mental exhaustion, so the work could only be done for a short time. When the brink of exhaustion was reached, the Sonderkomanndo would be gassed themselves. They would quickly be replaced by prisoners from yet another transport.

Below are testimonies from two who survived.

Henryk Mandelbaum, a member of the Sonderkommando in Auschwitz.
“I thought I was in hell. Fire and smoke were everywhere. I had to clean the gas chambers and put the bodies in the crematoria, or burn them outside when the extermination was in full swing and the crematoria were not enough,”

Daniel Bennahmias was also selected to be part of the Sonderkommando unit in Auschwitz.
“Once the gas chamber had been cleared, it must be hosed free of all traces of blood and excrement – but mainly blood—and then it must be whitewashed with a quick drying paint. This step is crucial, and it is done each time the gas chamber is emptied, for the dying have scratched and gouged the walls in their death throes. The walls are embedded with blood and bits of flesh, and none on the next transport must suspect that he is walking into anything other than a shower. This takes two or three hours.”

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