Content created by Professor Deborah Lipstadt in conjunction with Maureen MacLaughlin and Dan Leshem. CLAIM: The crematory ovens at Auschwitz-Birkenau were inoperable for long periods of time due to maintenance and breakdown, thereby reducing the number of bodies that could be burned in total.

RESPONSE: the ovens did suffer breakdowns and they did need maintenance. The use of some ovens was discontinued by German decision and others were destroyed in a prisoner uprising. However, when there were more bodies than could be burned in the crematoria, the Germans used open air pits which could burn thousands of bodies at once.