The Gas Vans: A Critical Investigation - Holocaust Handbooks

314 SANTIAGO ALVAREZ, THE GAS VANS
Translation & Remarks
(Stamps and handwritten notes outside of text omitted)
The Head of the Security Police Berlin, the 30th of April 1942
and the SD
II D 3 a (9) No. 668/42-121
1.) Letter:
To the
Gaubschat Company
Berlin-N e u k ö l l n
Willi Walter-Str.
Reg.: Delivered 10 Saurer Chassis
Ref.: Discussion with Herr Krieger of 23 and 24 Apr. [19]42
As already discussed, a change of the floor grate of the above
mentioned vehicles is to be implemented.
While producing selfsame, the following has to be considered
regarding the design:
The coachwork obtains a floor grate, which is to be made extractable
on small wheels or rollers. It is to be subdivided into 10 to 12
sections, hence permitting the individual sections to tip down when taken
out the grate. The wheels or rollers are to be guided in a U-shaped
iron rail. Furthermore the grate is to obtain a lateral U-shaped iron
guide. The grate sections are to be secured against canting by means of
diagonal braces.
In order to obtain as large a moveable floor surface as possible,
the grate is to be mounted sufficiently high to cover the wheel cases.
By so doing a maximum of only some 75 mm of interior headroom
may be lost. The grate is to be manufactured at the width of the door.
The narrow lateral ledges not covered by the grate (ca. 250 mm) are to
be filled up to the height of the grate and to be sloped toward the center
of the vehicle. Together with the walls, this wooden structure is to be
covered with smooth sheet metal. The protruding parts of the rear wall
are to be beveled with sheet metal from the door frame to the side walls.
For the extracting and retracting of the grate a cable winch (Spill) is to
be mounted underneath the rear end of the vehicle. The cable is to be attached
in a sheared way to the grate section located at the rear wall of
the driver’s cabin. The other end of the cable sports a ring and is to be
attached in a removable way on the [handwritten: vehicle’s interior] in-