Children…

from bullets to gas
After Germany’s attack on the Soviet Union, information
on the radicalisation of Germany’s “Jewish policy”
leaked out. Quickly, British intelligence intercepted
radio messages from German troops regarding mass
shootings, while Italy, Germany’s ally, also knew what
was happening. Such information also reached neutral
Sweden. The organisers of the mass murder realised
that mass shootings attracted too much attention, were
too time-consuming and negatively affected soldiers’
morale.Therefore, by autumn 1941, more efficient, less
conspicuous ways of killing large numbers of people
were sought. After some experimentation, a solution
was found: gas. In the T4 programme, carbon monoxide
contained in steel cylinders was used in “euthanasia
centres”. However, this was not an option for the
large-scale murder planned. One suggestion was to use
engine exhaust gases, and on 8 December 1941, specially
designed gassing vans were utilised for the first
time at the Chelmno death camp. On 17 March 1942,
the gas chambers at Belzec were ready to receive Jews
deported from Lublin’s ghetto. At the Belzec, Sobibor
and Treblinka death camps, exhaust fumes from large
Soviet tank engines were used. These camps were run
by some one hundred men who previously served in
the T4 programme.
At Auschwitz in the autumn of 1941, experiments
were conducted with the insecticide Zyklon B, used for
delousing clothes and barracks. It proved very effective,
as the Prussic acid gas led to rapid suffocation. Soon,
regular mass gassings using Zyklon B were carried out
at Auschwitz, at the Majdanek camp located on Lublin’s
outskirts, and at some concentration camps in Germany.
With these industrial methods, a relatively small
number of SS men, aided by auxiliaries, murdered close
to three million people in the gas chambers of various
camps between December 1941 and November 1944.
Health risks for gas van staff
The excerpt is from a report dated 16 May 1942, written by SS Lieutenant,
Dr. August Becker. It concerns the specially built gassing
vans employed in Ukraine, Serbia and the Chelmno death camp.
“The overhaul of the vans of Einsatzgruppen D and C has been
completed…
I have had the vans of [Einsatz] Gruppe D disguised as housetrailers,
by having a single window shutter fixed to each side of
the small vans, and on the larger ones, two shutters, such as one
often sees on farm houses in the country. The vans had become so
well known that not only the authorities but the civilian population
referred to them as the ’Death Vans’ as soon as one appeared. In my
opinion, the vans cannot be kept secret for any length of time even
if they are camouflaged. (...)
I pointed out to the commanders of the Sonderkommando (Special
Unit) concerned the enormous psychological and physical harm
this may cause the men, possibly later even if not immediately. The
men complained to me of headaches that recur after each such
unloading. Nevertheless there is reluctance to change the orders
because it is feared that if prisoners were used for this work they
might make use of a favourable moment to escape. I request appropriate
instructions in order to save the men from suffering harm.
The gassing is generally not being carried out correctly. In order
to get the Aktion finished as quickly as possible the driver presses
down on the accelerator as far as it will go. As a result the persons to
be executed die of suffocation and do not doze off as was planned.
It has proved that if my instructions are followed and the levers are
properly adjusted death comes faster and the prisoners fall asleep
peacefully. Distorted faces and excretions, such as were observed
before, no longer occur.
Today I shall continue my journey to [Einsatz] Gruppe B, where
I may be reached for further instructions.”
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