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The Crematory at Ellis Island--America's Auschwitz by F. Berg Presented Here Courtesy of AHRS
America’s Dirty Little Secret
The struggles of immigrants to America have become a popular subject. The focus of some attention is Ellis Island which was the entry point for millions of those immigrants. There, the new arrivals were forced to endure medical exams, interrogations and procedures which today would be intolerable. If their states of health were questionable, or if there were actual signs of contagious disease--the immigrants had to also endure quarantines and medical treatments lasting six weeks or longer.
Most new arrivals at Ellis Island passed through the intense screenings without delays of more than a few hours and were then released to the mainland or New York City. But many had to endure confinement on the attached island known as either "Island No. 2" or as Hoffman Island. That attached island contained several hospital and quarantine wards. It also contained a modern laundry with steam autoclaves to sterilize the clothing of immigrants and hospital personnel. Pictures of the autoclaves are easy enough to find and even appeared on a recent TV special about Ellis Island.
But, another feature of "Island No. 2" was a crematory. The chimney and the crematory building structure are major architectural features that are still there. Actual pictures of the crematory ovens, however, seem impossible to find. The following link shows the chimney from the distance (in the bottom picture of the triptych) and at least establishes the fact that Ellis Island had a crematory.
The above picture shows bath rooms where people washed and autoclaves where clothing was "disinfected" on a ship. Elsewhere one can find pictures of autoclaves on Ellis Island which are still there today. Was Zyklon-B used there as well? This author does not know -- but it certainly was used by the US Public Health Service to fumigate ships in New York Harbour.
When I actually visited Ellis Island more than ten years ago, the attached "island no. 2" (Hoffman Island) was off-limits--and, as far as I know, it still is except possibly for specially-approved visitors. When I was there, the best book I was able to purchase was a large, 239-page, picture book entitled: "Ellis Island" by Wilton S. Tifft with an introduction by Lee Iacocca who had become famous for his leadership of Chrysler Corporation. Iacocca had become a nationally-recognized public figure by that time and had been instrumental in renovating the dilapidated remains of the island complex. But, nowhere in that entire book is the crematory, or cremation even mentioned. None of the more than 100 pictures show so much as the crematory chimney. There are many pictures of the deteriorating laundry with one of the morgue as well--but no crematory. Page 68 of Ellis Island shows a diagram with an outline of the crematory building but without any caption to identify that important structure. The caption "crematory" and the coloring has been added by this author. The only prominent chimney shown for "island no. 2" seems, be elimination, to be the best candidate for the crematory.
The following is just part of a news story I picked up on the Internet. One instance of smallpox led to the quarantining of 300 others. Sounds like Auschwitz, doesn't it? Were the authorities paranoid about disease, as the SS and Nazis supposedly were--or, were the US health authorities simply doing their jobs and saving lives?
The steamboat Sirius headed the welcoming delegation with the Irish-American Athletic Club on board. On the forward deck a band blared "See the Conquering Hero Comes," while Martin SHERIDAN leaned over the forward rail of the Republic and bowed his acknowledgments to the cheers. The Thirteenth Regiment had out a boat with a committee to welcome back its members. A fleet of private yachts represented the New York Athletic Club's welcoming contingent for the winged foot victors. All manner of craft joined the welcoming fleet. From the hurricane deck of the Sirius a display of day fireworks was set off, cannons boomed, tugs shrieked, the bands played and the hills of Staten Island echoed. The welcoming fleet stood by until the steamer was released and accompanied her up the harbor to the pier, where an enormous crowd was waiting. To-day's welcome is only the first of a series of entertainments in honor of the American victors. To-morrow night the Irish-American Athletic Club will give a banquet in the Hotel Astor in honor of SHERIDAN, FRANK, PRINSTEIN, ROBERTSON and other members of the team. On June 2 Capt. BRENNAN and the police of the Tremont station, to which Martin SHERIDAN is attached, will give a banquet in the prize winner's honor.
No doubt, the crematory and its ovens are an unattractive feature that the Ellis Island museum wants to keep secret for as long as possible. If some pictures could be pried loose from somewhere, they would help discredit the German concentration camp horror image. Pictures looking into an actual oven opening with an old rib-bone or two in a corner somewhere, or a human pelvis fragment would all do nicely.
The Crematory building is, most likely, the building on the extreme left (above) which corresponds to the south-west corner of Ellis Island. The actual chimney appears to be in good condition. But, it is the interior of the building with its ovens which would be most revealing. There is no reason to believe anything sinister had ever occurred there. So, why is this all kept secret from the public? Well, pictures of crematory ovens where corpses were consumed (God and the US Public Health Service knows how many) might tarnish the unpleasant memories people have of Ellis Island even more. But, the obvious comparison to Auschwitz and other German concentration camps would not sit well either. People might actually begin to see that what happened in German concentration camps was not all that different from what had happened in America just a few years earlier. The main differences between Auschwitz and Ellis Island are that Auschwitz handled people arriving by train whereas Ellis Island handled people arriving by ship. Neither facility was involved in mass extermination although rumors, in both cases, portrayed such places as sites of great horror.
Perhaps someone in the NYC area can visit Ellis Island and ask for permission to visit and photograph the interior of the suspect Crematory.
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