THE RUDOLF REPORT

7. ZYKLON B FOR THE KILLING OF HUMAN BEINGSwhich has a similar composition to coke gas or city gas. TheI.G. Farbenindustrie AG factory had a concentration camp in itsimmediate vicinity by the name of Monowitz, which was connectedto the extensive system of more than 30 differentAuschwitz concentration camps more than 30 kilometers in UpperSilesia and Western Poland. If the SS had looked for a simplerway to kill millions of Jews, the center of exterminationcertainly would have been built in the vicinity of Monowitz,with a direct process gas pipeline from the I.G. FarbenindustrieAG factory.2. It would not have been necessary to order and store CO and payattention to the use-by date, as was necessary in the case of ZyklonB; carbon monoxide would have been available at all times, assoon as the economical installations were completed.3. The handling of CO would have been considerably simpler for theexecutioners. Almost the only thing to pay attention to would havebeen the opening and closing of the CO valve. The handling ofZyklon B, on the other hand, would have demanded a remarkablenumber of safety precautions on the part of the executioners. Thewearing of gas masks, and, when possible, additional protectiveclothing (gloves), the careful opening of the cans with a suitabletool, the careful introduction of the carrier through the openings,the careful disposal of the Zyklon B residues.4. CO can be introduced simply and quickly through pressure pipesor through a blower, while Zyklon B, on the other hand, releasesits toxic fumes only slowly.5. In the case of CO, there would not have been so many problemswith ventilating the air in the mass execution areas as with hydrogencyanide/Zyklon B, since the introduction of CO could bestopped simply by closing a valve, and because CO does not adhereto surfaces and is almost insoluble in water—in extreme contrastto hydrogen cyanide.6. Zyklon B was scarce and expensive, and was needed everywhereto combat epidemics such as typhus, including in the army andGerman-allied armed forces, so that any avoidable squandering ofit for other purposes would have been avoided—even, and especially,at Auschwitz, where typhus threatened not only the lives ofthe inmates, but also the guards and civilians entering the camp orwho lived in the vicinity. In plain English, this means that the typhusepidemic in Auschwitz concentration camp threatened theextremely important production of the war industries located in243