The Gas Vans: A Critical Investigation - Holocaust Handbooks

SANTIAGO ALVAREZ, THE GAS VANS 255
4.2.3. General Appearance
– large former refrigerator truck (Rosenberg 1985, p. 36; similar LG
Kiel, 26 Nov. 1965, p. 429); with a huge red cross (Sherman-Zander
1984, p. 49)
– all metal cargo box (Kogon et al. 1993, p. 60; LG Hannover, 7 June
1966, p. 623)
– camper van with windows, curtains and shutters painted on, including
a chimney (Loewenstein 1961, p. 51; cf. the Becker letter 501-
PS)
– black vans (Podchlebnik; Bednarz 1946c, p. 62; LG Stuttgart 15
Aug. 1950. p. 200f.; Smoliar 1966, p. 67; Falborski, Appendix 9)
– hermetically sealed yellow van (Kazimierz Czyzewski, Höß Trial,
vol. 35, p. 163)
– green truck, like those delivering cigarettes (Lanzmann 1985)
– grey-green vans (Kogon et al. 1993, pp. 57, 80)
– grey truck like a mail van (Kogon et al. 1993, p. 72)
– grey Saurer truck with ten benches for the inmates to sit on (Manoschek
1998, p. 230)
– very big armored vans (Lanzmann 1985)
– trailers attached to trucks (Johnson/Reuband 2005, p. 237)
– ordinary truck, like a box car, possible with windows (NMT, vol. 4,
p. 301)
– like a moving van, (dark) grey (Kogon et al., pp. 57, 61-63, 72; The
People’s Verdict 1944, p. 29; Lanzmann 1985; LG Hannover, 7 June
1966, p. 619: with a high vaulted roof; without color: LG Stuttgart, 8
Nov. 1949, pp. 200, 231, 239; LG Karlsruhe, 20 Dec. 1961, p. 100;
LG Koblenz, 21 May 1963, p. 194; LG Kiel, 26 Nov. 1965, p. 429;
LG Wuppertal, 30 Dec. 1965, p. 513; LG Frankfurt/M., 12 Mar.
1966, p. 344; and other verdicts)
– interior lined with sheet metal, wooden floor grate (The People’s
Verdict 1944, pp. 8, 16f., 49, 69, 85; Bednarz 1946c, pp. 25f.; LG
Bonn, 23 July 1965; Kogon et al. 1993, pp. 60, 86: 2 m high; Soviet
Government 1945, p. 227; similar: LG Koblenz, 21 May 1963, p.
194, and many other verdicts)
– cargo box of 7 to 8 m length, grey, lined with sheet metal, wooden
floor grate with two pipes beneath (LG Kiel, 28 Nov. 1969, p. 284)
– ditto, grey normal truck, like a bathroom, with straw mat (Sakowska
1993, pp. 162f.)