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Gas
Chambers and the Zyklon alphabet
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Author:
Michael
Mills
December 1, 1999
On 26 November, I. Bokor wrote:
"Zyklon
gas was already in use. The batches intended for use in
the gas chambers had a different coding. If I recall
correctly, there were variants Zyklon-B and Zyklon-C, and
possibly even colour-coding of the tins containing
them".
These statements contain a number of errors. In the
first place, "Zyklon" is not the name of a gas. The gas
itself is Hydrocyanic gas, HCN. "Zyklon" is the name of a
commercial product, namely a preparation of HCN
specifically for delousing purposes.
The reference to variants and colour-coding of the
containers repeats the claim by [Raul]
Hilberg that a number of variants of Zyklon,
graded A to F, was produced, with the letters referring
to different strengths. According to Hilberg, the variant
Zyklon-B was designed specifically for killing human
beings.
However, Hilberg was in error. There were only two
variants of the commercial product Zyklon, A and B, and
the variation was in the method of delivery of the HCN
gas.
Zyklon-A consisted of HCN in liquid form, and was
designed for spraying onto fruit trees to kill insect
pests. For this purpose each tree was enclosed in a tent,
to maintain the concentration of HCN in the air
surrounding the tree for a sufficient time to kill the
pests.
Zyklon-B consisted of HCN adsorbed into a carrier,
typically a form of gravel, or a round piece of
cardboard, which released the gas when exposed to the
air. It was designed for delousing the inside of
buildings, and its main advantage was that it released
the HCN gradually, thereby reducing the risk to the
handlers.
So far as I know, there was no difference in strength
between the two variants.
Zyklon-B was the main delousing agent used by the
German armed forces, and was also employed extensively in
the concentration-camp system, where the prevalence of
lice created an enormous health risk.[1]
Only an infinitesimal proportion of the Zyklon-B produced
and delivered to the various German authorities was ever
used for homicidal purposes. Pressac for example has
estimated that only 5% of the Zyklon-B delivered to the
Auschwitz-Birkenau complex was used for killing humans;
his calculation is borne out by the fact that deliveries
to Auschwitz were not markedly different in quantity
from those to Sachsenhausen, where no mass-gassing
program was carried out.
[Rudolf] Hoess in various confessions
stated that the homicidal potential of Zyklon-B was
discovered by accident, when an incautious Desinfekteur
was overcome by a pocket of HCN gas that had remained in
a recently deloused building. It was then used in the
autumn of 1941 to kill "dangerous" Soviet POWs who had
been sent to Auschwitz for extermination, as an
alternative to shooting, the method employed until then.
The description by Hoess of the gassing of the POWs
indicates that the methodology used was the same as the
standard use of Zyklon-B for delousing buildings; the
pellets were poured onto the floor of the room where the
POWs were confined, the building was sealed and left for
24 hours or more, the doors were opened and the building
left to air. The bodies were removed once the HCN gas had
dissipated by natural ventilation.
The claim is sometimes made that a specific variant of
Zyklon-B was produced for homicidal purposes,
identifiable by the omission of the warning agent, an
irritant included to alert handlers to the presence of
HCN. However, the fact is that at a certain point in
1942, all Zyklon-B began to be produced without the
warning agent because of wartime shortages. This is
proved by the warning notices that were sent out to users
of the product for delousing, drawing their attention to
the fact that the warning agent was now present in
smaller doses or absent altogether, and a higher degree
of care in use was required due to the increased
risk.
The claim about this special variant was first made by
[Kurt]
Gerstein, who claimed to have ordered the
removal of the warning agent because it caused suffering
to the victims being gassed. However, his claim was
entirely specious.
The Zyklon-B used for killing humans did not differ in
any way from the standard product for delousing purposes.
it was not identified in any special way, and there is
logically no reason why it should have been.
Michael Mills
Canberra, Australia
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