Between Krematoria IV and the Little Wood is a Birkenau Ash pond, one that was used to dump the ashes of the murdered victims. The ash pond sits at the edge of Birkenau, between Krematorium IV, where victims were gassed and cremated, and the Little Wood, where those just off the trains were held before being led to their deaths.
“Into this pond were dumped the ashes of many tens of thousands of people, mostly Jews, who were gassed at Krematorium IV, just behind and to the left. The “little wood” can be seen behind the pond.
In those days, a fence of interwoven branches blocked the waiting victims’ view of what lay ahead.” From Birkenau Ash Pond photo by Alan Jacobs 1996 Birkenau Concentration Camp Photos and Map Series
On the other side of the road dividing Krematoria IV, and V (see Auschwitz Birkenau virtual tour map), was Krematorium IV, with an identical cremation rate as K-V, 768 corpses in a 24-hour period. Both K-IV and V had been built above ground for financial reasons.
Each gas chamber was divided into at first three, and later four, rooms with a total capacity of 2,000 victims. The holes for dropping the gas were in the walls.
