Boca-based philanthropist Elliott Broidy purchased one of only two existing original architectural whiteprints of the Auschwitz-Birkenau crematoria for $1.5 million, a sum chosen to honor the 1.5 million Jewish children murdered during the Holocaust. Drawn in 1941 by SS architect Walter Dejaco under the direction of Rudolf Höss, this artifact marks the chilling start of the systematic, industrialized murder of Jews.
Authenticated by Auschwitz historian Robert Jan van Pelt, the whiteprint represents what would become Crematoria II and III, the main gas chambers of Birkenau — the massive camp adjacent to Auschwitz.
“This whiteprint is physical proof of humanity’s darkest capacity,” Broidy says. “To behold it is to confront the deliberate design of evil.”
The acquisition was facilitated by Rabbi David Baron of the Temple of the Arts in Beverly Hills, Calif., with proceeds funding a global early childhood curriculum promoting empathy, altruism and anti-extremism. Broidy plans to display the artifact at institutions dedicated to Holocaust education and combating antisemitism before donating it permanently.
Experts say the document is among the most significant visual records of the Holocaust’s intentionality.
“This first crematorium drawing captures the moment when Auschwitz entered the technological imagination,” van Pelt says. “An architecture … that was, through successive decisions, adapted into the machinery of destruction that resulted in the Holocaust.”
Michael Berenbaum, former project director at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, calls it “one of the most important visual documents showing how the crematoria were created.”
The announcement coincides with the 80th anniversary of the Nuremberg Trials, underscoring the enduring need to preserve historical truth amid rising antisemitism and Holocaust denial. Broidy’s efforts extend beyond this acquisition, including support for The Counter Extremism Project and the creation of ARCHER at House 88, a research center adjacent to Auschwitz focused on dismantling hate networks and extremist ideologies.
“The Nazis sought to erase the humanity of their victims,” Broidy says. “This artifact — and the education it will support — reasserts that humanity helps ensure the continuity of the Jewish people and works to build ways for all people to see the good in others.”
For more information, visit archer.counterextremism.com.
