Jack Burman n.d. Pond used for dumping ashes, near Krema IV, Birkenau [KZ]
Colour photograph Provided by the artist - Jack Burman Ashes and bones from the incinerated bodies were crushed with wooden mortars, then buried in pits or sunk in the Sola and Vistula rivers or in ponds at Birkenau. The ashes and bone fragments were also used as fill in the terrain and bogs and as fertilizer for fields belonging to the camp. Primo Levi adds that they were sometimes used instead of gravel to cover the paths of the SS village located near the camp, whether out of pure callousness or because, due to their origins, they were regarded as material to be trampled on, I couldn't say.
