The Gas Vans: A Critical Investigation - Holocaust Handbooks

SANTIAGO ALVAREZ, THE GAS VANS 195
Pole and police guard. This guard was outside of the ramp next to
the gas van, where he was to prevent escape attempts.
After the victims had entered the gas van, a Polish worker closed
the door and usually also connected the hose stowed underneath the
van with the exhaust pipe. The latter activity was sometimes also
performed by the gas van’s driver himself, who subsequently started
the engine and gave a little gas.
The engine exhaust reached the van’s interior through the hose.
To those locked up inside, these exhaust gases consisting of carbon
monoxide mixed with smoke and irritants caused headache, temporal
pressure, nausea, vomiting and trembling. The victims realized
what was happening. They got scared and panicked. This manifested
itself in moanings and screams. They faced death and banged
against the van’s walls in desperation. After a suffering of several
minutes, 7 to 8 minutes after starting the engine they became unconscious,
and after another 2 minutes they were dead.
After starting the engine, the gas van’s driver waited for some 10
to 15 minutes. Then the hose was detached.” (pp. 231f., 279)
The latter is not easy at all! After ten minutes of operation an exhaust
pipe is very hot, and it is not advisable to touch it with one’s bare
hands. In addition, a spanner, a wrench or a pair of pliers would have
been needed to unscrew the cap nut from the exhaust pipe. The other
end of the hose had to be detached as well for cleaning purposes – although
it is not known how, as the type of connection is unknown.
“After the Jewish workers had unloaded the corpses, they superficially
cleaned the van’s interior, which was soiled by the victim’s
blood, urine, and excrements.” (pp. 232, 279)
During three later West German trials the expert “Prof. Dr. Joachim
Ger.[chow]” of the Institute for Forensic and Social Medicine in Frankfurt
testified about the effects of carbon monoxide poisonings, where he
confirmed that vomiting, defecation, and urination can be an effect of
such a death (Rüter et al. 1968ff., vol. 32, p. 99; vol. 37, p. 421; vol. 39,
p. 613). That claim was confirmed by another expert witness, “Prof. Dr.
Ste.,” who stated that these events usually occur after unconsciousness
has set in (ibid., vol. 39, p. 665). But it is unclear where the blood could
have come from.
The verdict also addresses an explosion which is said to have occurred
toward the end of May of 1942 in the basement of the Kulmhof