The Gas Vans: A Critical Investigation - Holocaust Handbooks

152 SANTIAGO ALVAREZ, THE GAS VANS
Johann Haßler who stated that he had driven a “gas van” (Kohl 2003,
pp. 69f.):
“At the exhaust pipe, right after the engine, there was a short
connecting piece with a thread. Onto this thread a metal hose could
be screwed, which led into the interior of the box. Behind the connecting
piece was a slider, which closed the exhaust pipe opening to
the rear so that the gases were now piped into the interior of the
box. There two pipes branched off to both sides, and they ran along
the sides of the box floor. The box floor itself was covered by a
wooden grate so that the pipes could not been seen. The pipes had a
hole of some 1 cm diameter each 4 cm. Exhaust gas was flowing in
through these holes when the engine was running.
This vehicle was an American 3 ton truck of the make Diamond.
Only the chassis and the engine were from that company, though. It
had a wooden box-like coachwork measuring 3.5 × 2.5 × 2 m. On
the inside it was lined with metal sheets. The vehicle had a dark grey
color. It has no windows and had double doors at its back.
Unterscharführer Hans Meyerhoff was the co-driver. During the
latter deployments of the gas van he operated the gassing device
while I merely drove. Operating the gassing device was very easy: A
hose had to be connected to the connecting piece, and the slider at
the exhaust pipe had to be closed.
This was about the gassing of Jews in Minsk [...]. Each gas van
could accommodate some 25 persons. […] This way the gas vans
stood side by side some two meters away from the edge of the pit,
when the order was issued to let the engines run. Shortly before this
the co-driver had connected the metal hose and had closed the slider
behind the connecting piece. […] the engines ran for some ten
minutes. After waiting some more ten minutes, the co-driver had to
open the doors, and the captive Russians [POWs] had to pull the
dead Jews out of the vehicle and throw them into the pit.”
The exhaust system described here is completely different than what
Falborski has described. One may try to explain them away by saying
either that Falborski was obviously not inclined to tell the truth anyway
or that both witnesses simply had seen different vehicle types.
The problem is more profound, though. Exhaust pipes are not thick
pipes allowing the easy addition by welding of thick, threaded pipe
pieces forking off to allow a hose to be screwed onto it. The damage