Sonderkommandos were prisoners, usually young Jewish men, selected from a transport and made to work in the crematorium. They were intimate with the act of killing. They observed the act of killing directly, closely, and over long periods of time. They were present with the condemned in their last moments when they entered the undressing room, when they lined up to go into the gas chamber, and they were with the corpses minutes after they were gassed when their bodies were removed from the chambers and were “processed”. Pulled teeth from the dead victims mouth, they searched hidden cavities for valuables, they removed rings from fingers, and clipped hair that was bundled and shipped. They burnt the corpse in open pits or in crematory ovens, they crushed the bones and disposed of the ashes.