Archie wrote: ↑Fri Aug 01, 2025 2:13 am
ConfusedJew wrote: ↑Fri Aug 01, 2025 1:12 am
You don't have to accept that homicidal gassings occurred, but
what I'm arguing is that IF they occurred, they would have obviously washed the chambers which would have prevented the Prussian Blue from forming.
Does anybody dispute that argument?
Yes, I dispute this. I do not think you have established the bolded part.
Thank you for actually answering my question.
1) LK1 would have been packed with bodies. I think it would have taken hours to ventilate the room and hours more to clear the bodies. The LK was in the basement whereas the ovens were on the floor above, connected only by a tiny manual corpse elevator. The process of clearing the room given this idiotic design would have been extremely slow. So there is no way you could have gotten to the walls very quickly.
I'm not sure what your argument is here. How does this relate to the formation of Prussian Blue?
2) If there were urine and feces, this would mostly be on the floor. I assume you would want to hose down the floor. And maybe the lower part of the walls. Maybe mop up. I do not think it is a given that you would thoroughly wash every square inch of surface in the whole cellar every single time, especially not the upper part of the wall or the ceiling.
OK, this is a fair point. Let's say that washing the walls didn't necessarily clear away 100% of the ferrocyanide ions. It is safe to say that they most likely would have washed the room somewhat and it would have reduced some of the ferrocyanide ions which would at least reduce the chance of Prussian Blue forming. Let's say that the washing argument does not prove the prevention of Prussian Blue but it definitely decreased the chances of it forming relative to the delousing chamber. Can we agree on that?
3) With porous surfaces like brick, mortar, or plaster, HCN can penetrate deeply. I do not think you would be able to prevent the reaction throughout the wall by washing the surface later.
Another fair point. HCN is a small, volatile molecule that readily diffuses into porous materials. Over time, repeated exposure increases the depth of penetration. Washing with water or even scrubbing with cleaning agents might remove surface residues but will not remove bound ferrocyanides inside the walls or reverse chemical reactions or extract deeply absorbed gas molecules.
While it is true that HCN can penetrate porous surfaces deeply, it would still be unlikely in the conditions of a homicidal gas chamber. Forensic research found significant cyanide residues (including Prussian blue) in delousing chamber walls, mostly in surface layers but in the alleged gas chambers, lower concentrations were found, limited mostly to outer millimeters.
To penetrate more deeply, more intense and frequent exposure is required. In a homicdal gas chamber, you would hypothetically expect there to be much less exposure than a delousing chamber. Especially if the gas chamber was rinsed off which would remove or at least reduce surface residues.
We can go deeper on this concept if you like.
4) Washing would add a lot of moisture to the walls and the room. Everything I have read says high moisture is more favorable for Prussian blue formation. Really you should be arguing the opposite, that they kept the cellars absolutely bone dry.
Chemically speaking, moisture (H₂O) does promote the formation of Prussian blue so it is fair to say that a humid or wet environment, including walls that are damp from washing, could theoretically enhance the reaction that forms Prussian blue.
But there were offsetting factors.
Homicidal gassings lasted only 20–30 minutes per cycle. Prussian blue formation is a slow process and generally requires prolonged exposure to both cyanide and iron ions. Delousing chambers, in contrast, had hours-long exposures and no washing, allowing buildup and slow formation over time.
Washing adds moisture, but if it's done soon after gassing, it could dilute and remove unreacted cyanide compounds and prevent localized accumulation of cyanide ions near surface iron sources which would hinder the formation of stable blue pigments. Washing won't reverse the reaction but it might prevent it from fully occurring.
I'm still not sure about this aspect, but not all concrete, plaster, or brick has sufficient free Fe³⁺ to participate in Prussian blue formation. I'm not sure whether or not the crematorium basement walls had as much free Fe³⁺ as the delousing chambers. We can come back to that one too but it also still doesn't matter if any one of the other necessary conditions wouldn't have existed.
5) If any Prussian blue does form, you generally cannot wash it off. You would need a very strong acid to dissolve it or something like that. Imo, it is highly unlikely that none ever formed despite many dozens or even hundreds of Zyklon gassings in these rooms.
This is right, Prussian Blue is an extremely stable compound. It also takes a long time for Prussian Blue to form so washing could have prevented that from happening, although it might not have been enough.
Anyway, is this theory about the washing the walls your final answer? I have lost track of how many arguments you have cycled through on this. A little while ago wasn't it something about how there wasn't any iron in the walls? You should argue that there was too much spaghetti for Prussian blue to form (since you have thrown so much at the wall to see what will stick).
No this isn't my final answer. We have to thoroughly examine all of the paths. I think we can agree that washing most likely would have occurred and it would have reduced the likelihood of the hydrogen gas from deeply penetrated the porous surfaces on the walls. But it is still theoretically *possible* to wash and still allow Prussian Blue to form. We have to look at the other factors and weigh those. Washing provides evidence against Prussian Blue formations but washing would not be fully conclusive.