HansHill wrote: ↑Sat Jun 14, 2025 2:27 pm
1 - the LLM is equating execution time with exposure time. This absolutely is not the case. For a start, the ventilation shafts in the Kremas were low to the ground. This matters for two reasons: HcN is lighter than air, and the bodies would have collapsed against the shafts preventing an immediate evavuation of the gas. This all points to a far longer exposure time than merely the execution time.
Historical testimony and SS engineering records show forced ventilation was installed exactly to clear gas fast, because SS needed to enter and remove bodies quickly for the next transport. Krema II & III had forced draft fans pulling air through vents to clear Zyklon B gas in about 20–30 minutes total after killing.
The gas chamber walls were not exposed for hours at high HCN levels. The gas was forcibly evacuated soon after the victims died, within minutes, to keep the killing line moving. This is well supported by SS technical correspondence.
On this, Rudolf runs two simulations to calculate masonry exposure times, ie the direct exposure time for the walls to inferface with HcN, and the expected hydrogen cyanide concentrations. The two simulations are run at 14 minutes and 70 minutes respectively.
Rudolf ran two simulations at 14-min and 70-min exposure cases to compare. In his simulations, he used equilibrium values which assumed the walls had time to reach steady-state cyanide uptake.
But in the real world, walls do not absorb gas instantly. The Zyklon B outgassing + ventilation created highly non-steady conditions which would make Rudolf's use of equilibrium values improper.
The reaction to make stable iron cyanide (Prussian Blue) is slow, diffusion-limited, and depends on moisture and pH.
So even if local air had residual HCN, the time + surface area + cleaning mean only a fraction ever reacts. That’s why tests found trace cyanide but no deep pigment.
From Rudolf:
As a result of the high moisture content of these unheated underground
morgues, one can see that even with such short gassing times, the walls of a
homicidal gas chamber accumulate a hydrogen-cyanide content which would
be quite comparable to that of a disinfestation chamber. Much less hydrogen
cyanide in the quasi-stationary condition of the hypothetical homicidal “gas
chambers” could only be expected, if one were to assume absurdly short and
technically unfeasible gassing times, the application of very small amounts of
Zyklon B, or only very few gassings at all
Chemistry of Auschwitz: Section7.3.2.3. Simulation Calculations
2 - see above
3 - moisture accelerates the formation of PB not impedes it - Green concedes this point.
Moisture helps cyanide penetrate pores, but does not automatically mean high pigment formation. In order to form stable Prussian blue pigmentation, you also need enough free ferrous (Fe²⁺) iron ions exposed and enough time for the iron ion exchange. You also need an alkaline but not overly acidic environment. And the concrete and lime plaster walls do not have enough freely available Fe²⁺. They have some iron impurities but not like brick.
4 - Washing the walls will only be possible after the full evacuation of the room of a) all the HcN and b) all the bodies. Focusing on b) alone, this would be hours, given that the elevator lift could only support 6 bodies at a time. This time-delay betrays the point, that Prussian Blue was prevented from forming on the walls, and says nothing about the upper walls / ceiling, which as i mentioned before, is where the HcN would tend to accumulate as it is less dense than air.
Removal crews worked while the gas chamber was ventilated. The forced ventilation system was designed to flush out gas quickly enough for Sonderkommando to enter with only gas masks or none at all within ~30 minutes. Practically, the sequence involved gassing (~20–30 min), ventilation with fans on full which cleared the gas in ~20–30 min. The Sonderkommando entered, doors open, roof hatches open which allowed more airflow and the corpses were dragged out continuously. The actual toxic HCN concentration near the walls and ceiling dropped fast — because forced draft + multiple exit points. Ultimately, washing was minor compared to the more decisive chemical constraints: insufficient time, unsuitable substrate, and lower repeated dose.
