The Gas Vans: A Critical Investigation - Holocaust Handbooks

94 SANTIAGO ALVAREZ, THE GAS VANS
SK 7a/b are not included as such in any of the lists of vehicles assigned
to the various groups. It may therefore be inferred that they are part of
EK 8’s three trucks, but if that is so, this means that these “gas vans”
were listed as normal trucks after all, not as “special vehicles.”
Hence it is possible, but not imperative, that these vehicles were
somehow special. Not having been suitable for homicidal purposes with
their inferred design, there seem to be three options left: a) these vans
were equipped with wood gas generators; b) they were disinfestation
vans; c) the document’s authenticity is questionable.
A fourth option would be that these vehicles were homicidal vans after
all, but must have used some other setup than attested to by witnesses
and the Gaubschat correspondence.
In this context it should be noted that, during a 1966 West-German
trial, the Germans deployed at Einsatzkommando 8 claimed to have no
knowledge at all about homicidal gas vans in their former unit (see
chapter 3.7.4.4.), which is in stark contrast to most other such trials,
were at least some of the German defendants and witnesses frequently
confessed to their existence and use. Interestingly, in later West-German
trials the gas vans of Einsatzkommando 8, which in 1966 had been
unknown to the Germans alleged to have used them, became more and
more established “facts,” with the memories of those involved slowly
“refreshing” (see chapters 3.7.4.9. and 3.7.4.11.). The more those Germans
were interrogated and had to testify or stand trial, the more their
“knowledge” seems to have grown.
2.2.9. Remarks about Document NO-365
I haven’t dealt with the Nuremberg document NO-365 yet, which is
occasionally mentioned in connection with gas vans. This document is
said to have been compiled by Dr. Erhard Wetzel of the German Imperial
Office for the Occupied Eastern Territories. It is dated 25 October
1941 and directed to the Reich Commissar for the Eastern Territories,
Heinrich Lohse in Riga. The letter mentions the names [Adolf] Eichmann,
[Viktor] Brack, and [Helmut] Kallmeyer. Although gas vans are
not mentioned in it, it refers to “gassing apparatus” (Vergasungsapparate)
without giving any details. On occasion it is claimed that an illegible
signature can be found at the end of this letter, but this is incorrect,
as this letter (or this draft) isn’t signed at all, hence it is unlikely that it
was ever sent. The allegedly incriminating passage reads as follows
(NMT, vol. 1, p. 870):