The Gas Vans: A Critical Investigation - Holocaust Handbooks

SANTIAGO ALVAREZ, THE GAS VANS 193
suffocated due to the lack of oxygen without the need of conducting exhaust
gases into the interior.
“The interior [of the cargo box] was paneled with zinc-coated
iron sheets. Wooden grates lay on the floor, under which pipes were
located.” (Ibid.)
This description of the gas van’s nonsensical internal piping is probably
based on a testimony similar to that by Johann Haßler for the
Minsk gas vans and other such descriptions as discussed before (see pp.
118, 130, 153), to which I refer the reader.
The verdict continuous:
“To the openings of the pipes at the van’s floor hoses were connected
which had a conical tip.” (Ibid.)
This sentence makes no sense. How can hoses have conical tips?
And why would there have been several openings for connecting hoses?
This implies that there were several independent pipes inside the cargo
box, each with its own gas supply, which would have been a truly absurd
design. This sentence does also not explain how these hoses were
connected to these openings. Reason demands that the “pipes” (of the
pipework) ended in just one opening in the floor, which was equipped
with some (conical?) adapter, to which the hose could have been connected.
“The end of the hose could be inserted into the exhaust pipe and
screwed tight with a cap nut.” (Ibid.)
If the hose was inserted into the exhaust pipe, it could not be
screwed tight with a cap nut. Cap nuts press the end of a hose equipped
with an end piece (with or without sealing) against the edge of a pipe.
Exhaust hoses, on the other hand, are usually attached to pipes using
hose clamps, not cap nuts. 108 This statement shows once more that the
judges writing the verdict were not exactly familiar with technical issues
like this, so that the witnesses could – and did – tell them whatever
they liked.
Assuming that the hose was attached to the exhaust pipe with a cap
nut, then the exhaust pipe must have had an outer thread, which is quite
unusual, as exhaust pipes are usually too thin to allow for a thread to be
cut into them. Hence it must have been equipped with a special, thicker
end piece. It is also worth noting that the exhaust gases’ high tempera-
108 See www.esska.de/esska_de_s/schlaeuche-schellen.html.