Arthur R. Butz – The Hoax Of The Twentieth Century

Arthur R. Butz, The Hoax of the Twentieth Century
gine at Belzec and of captured Russian tanks and trucks at Treblinka! 179
One must also agree that Cyclon (Zyklon) B was more efficient because it
consisted of crystals which, when exposed to air, sublimated into “Prussic acid”
(hydrogen cyanide gas). There was no deadlier gas and, in fact, Zyklon was a
well-known and widely used insecticide developed by the Deutsche Gesellschaft
für Schädlingsbekämpfung (DEGESCH), German Pest Control Co. It had been
marketed world-wide before the war as an insecticide; 180 the word Zyklon means
“cyclone,” i.e. the product was a “cyclone” for pests. It was used throughout the
German armed forces and camp system during the war, and it was thus used as an
insecticide at Auschwitz. The ordering and receiving of Zyklon at Auschwitz was
done by the so-called Referat für Schädlingsbekämpfung (Pest Control Office). 181
The constant menace of typhus as carried by lice has been noted, and the calamitous
results of a complete breakdown of disinfestation measures at Belsen
have been seen. In view of the particular hospitability of the Auschwitz-Kattowicz
operations to the typhus-bearing louse, in view of the fact of epidemics at Auschwitz
that actually forced work stoppages, and in view of the tremendous importance
of the Auschwitz industry to the German war effort, it is not surprising that
Zyklon was used in liberal quantities at Auschwitz, and in the surrounding regions,
for its intended purpose. It is this chemical product, known to be an insecticide
and known to be used at Auschwitz as an insecticide, which, in the WRB report
but starting even earlier, was claimed and continues to this day to be claimed
as the source of the gas used to exterminate Jews at Auschwitz.
It is not correct to say that the insecticide role of Zyklon has been concealed;
the WRB report mentions the anti-parasite role of Zyklon and a dual role for Zyklon
at Auschwitz is explicitly claimed in the IMT transcript. 182 We must be careful
at this point to note the significance of the legend’s Zyklon B allegation. Here we
have, on a major point, the main attribute of a hoax as we begin to examine the
details of the Auschwitz extermination claims: the fact requiring a dual interpretation.
This is not discussed or, apparently, even appreciated in the “final solution”
literature. Hilberg merely utters the completely irrelevant assertion that “very little
was used for fumigation” and then cites unconvincing authority. Reitlinger does
no better. 183
The most typical use of Zyklon was in disinfestation rooms and barracks. Everything
was sealed and then the necessary amount of Zyklon, which came in green
cans (Figs. 27, 28), was emptied in. After the proper time interval, it was assumed
that all the lice and other insects and pests were dead, and the enclosure was aired
out. Zyklon could be used for disinfesting clothing by employing an “extermination
chamber”; such were marketed by the German “extermination” industry, although
at that time steam baths were also used for the disinfesting of clothing, es-
179
180
181
182
183
136
Reitlinger, 147ff.
DuBois, 213. Some of the chemistry of Zyklon (“Cyclon”) is discussed in the article on CYA-
NIDE in the Encyclopedia Britannica for 1943.
Hilberg, 567-571.
IMT, vol. 6, 225-332.
Hilberg, 570 Reitlinger, 154-156.