The Gas Vans: A Critical Investigation - Holocaust Handbooks

SANTIAGO ALVAREZ, THE GAS VANS 49
troops in October 1941. They pushed farther east into Rostov-on-Don,
but could hold that city only for a week due to adverse weather conditions.
They were subsequently pushed back to Taganrog. During the
subsequent months the Germans had to struggle primarily with “General
Winter,” then during the spring thaw with extremely muddy roads
which grounded almost all of their motor pool. Up to late June 1942,
when the Germans renewed the offensive with “Fall Blau” (case blue),
Taganrog was the eastmost frontline town in German hands in the Russian
south. Being a frontline town, it was under direct control of the
German military front line units, who most certainly would not have
tolerated stirring up the civilian population by having gas vans driving
around killing civilians. It also seems inconceivable that under these
circumstances, with Red Army Units in immediate proximity, the
RSHA would have ordered a “gas van” to be sent to a location where
they were in danger of being captured by a sudden Soviet counterattack.
– 14th to 19th sentence: The word “Manchete,” plural “Mancheten”
(with ch and a single t) is not part of the German everyday language nor
of technical lingo. Dictionaries merely list the word with a “sch” and a
double t as “Manschette.” It has several meanings, of which only the
technical one is of relevance here, referring to a usually flexible, elastic
sheathing for protection, stabilization, or sealing/separation of an item:
cuff, sleeve, cast. This term, which appears misspelled seven times in
the Becker document, indicates that at least in this context the document
talks about real issues, which could corroborate its authenticity.
In order to find out what these items were, Pierre Marais inquired
with the Viennese company Steyr-Daimler-Puch (S.D.P.) which had absorbed
the Austrian part of the Saurer company in 1959. They proffered
the following information (see their letter to Marais on p. 376):
“The wartime Saurer vehicles were equipped with a vacuumsupported
hydraulic brake, as they are still being used in today’s
cars and small vans following the same principle.
The ‘Manchete’ mentioned was a rubber membrane of the vacuum
servo device which tore frequently, leading to the loss of the
power support so that the trucks could be braked only with the force
of the foot. Hence it is not a total loss, but a diminished efficacy of
the brakes.