"Zyklon B was used exclusively for disinfection"
One of the main arguments raised by Holocaust deniers is the use of hydrogen cyanide in Zyklon B to kill people in gas chambers. Most of them concede that the substance was used in concentration camps, including Auschwitz, but exclusively to disinfect clothes and living quarters, and not to kill people.
Facts:
Zyklon B was indeed used before the war to eradicate insects, e.g. in residential buildings, warehouses and ship holds. Already in 1926, press articles appeared concerning the effective disinfecting qualities of this product:
A textbook for sanitary services by Antony Gryziny-Laska entitled ‘Hydrogen Cyanide Disinfection and Practical Instructions for Its Implementation’, 1926, demonstrates the effectiveness of hydrogen cyanide. Source: Antoni Gryzina-Lasek, Dezynsekcja cyjanowodorowa oraz wskazówki praktyczne do jej wykonania, 1926.
TRANSCRIPTION:
‘For several years now the hydrogen cyanide method of disinfection has gained ground abroad (in Germany, Sweden, America, etc.) and in pest control, it has already done an exceptional service to humanity. Literature on the subject now numbers several dozen publications in various languages – albeit not yet in Polish. This state of affairs and the fact that hydrogen cyanide has already gained such fame as an outstanding agent of pest control, have prompted me to write the following comments in the hope that they will set the issue of eradicating bugs and flees, currently lying fallow, on the right track.'
A phragment of a Antoni Gryzina-Lasek, Dezynsekcja cyjanowodorowa oraz wskazówki praktyczne do jej wykonania, 1926.
TRANSCRIPTION:
‘The infestation of flour moths and worms constitutes a serious concern for millers and grain storekeepers. Among the many methods of combating and eradicating these pests’ prussic acid, i.e. hydrocyanic acid, has proved especially effective. Nevertheless, since prussic acid gas is one of the most powerful poisonous gases, it must be handled carefully. The first efforts to use prussic acid gas were conducted in Germany in 1917. The disinfection of grain mills and warehouses with prussic acid gas may be carried out only by certain disinfection companies using specialised, police-approved equipment. These restrictions, however, do not concern scientific research; indeed, assiduous research is currently being conducted by chemists. Recently, Prof. P. Buttenberg gave an extensive report on the subject at a public meeting.
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Where do flour moths come from? The commonly known white worm, i.e. the rye maggot gets into mills or the grain trade with the rye grains. In May and June, it turns into the flour moth. The best way to combat the flying flour moth is by eliminating its larvae. The grain has to be frequently well-turned and often milled – especially in spring and summer. Normally, empty grain husks, where the larvae are found, are lighter and come easily to the surface. However, a proper separation of the husks from the grain does not occur when lower-quality grain is thoroughly milled for animal feed. Moreover, the warehouses and granaries have to be well-aired and disinfected. This disinfection is carried out using prussic acid, which kills all the maggots and larvae but has no negative effect on the grain or flour. The German Society for Pest Control [Deutsche Gesellschaft fur Schädlingsbekämpfung m. b. H. Frankfurt n/M. Steinweg 9] uses a special tinned preparation of prussic acid called Zyklon B. All you have to do is pour the contents of this tin into an open vessel, and its effectiveness will become fully apparent within 10 minutes. The appropriate dosage and application of this preparation is provided in brochures which will be posted to those interested upon request.’
An excerpt from a 1926 article in Drogerzysta, a magazine for pharmacists. Regarding pest control, it informs the reader that Zyklon B has been used for this purpose in Germany. Source: Drogerzysta, R. 8, No. 31, p. 602, 1926.
From 1943, there were around ten disinfection chambers in the Auschwitz complex (operating in blocks 1, 3 and 26 in the main camp as well as a warehouse for confiscated Jewish victims’ property in so-called Canada I and the so-called ‘Sauna’ bathhouse of Birkenau) which used hot air or Zyklon B. However, these chambers were used exclusively to disinfect prisoners’ clothes. Analysis of the construction of surviving disinfection chambers shows that they did not require complicated technology to perform their function. The disinfection of living quarters and other warehouses with Zyklon B was also possible and widely applied in Auschwitz.
Disinfection chambers in the Birkenau sector BIIg bathhouse, the so-called Sauna. Late 1943 or early 1944. Source: Archives of the Auschwitz Museum
Account of Józef Odi, an Auschwitz survivor::
‘The second gate was by the road, on the other of the enclosed area to Birkenau. Prisoners from Birkenau entered through this gate to go to work as did a truck transporting belongings from the ramp and ambulances drove in and out with Zyklon B gas and SS men bound for the Birkenau gas chambers. In this area, there was a small house, whose owners had been evicted, and a gas chamber was added. Additionally, there were seven barracks, including a small one for the ‘Kommandoführer’s’ office and a long brick block which served as a warehouse. The remaining barracks were made of wood. …
The normal procedure was as follows: belongings – bundles and suitcases from the ramp, from Birkenau, were delivered in trucks and deposited in a square next to barrack 1. (Clothes from the crematorium undressing room were thrown from the trucks directly onto the yard in front of the gas chamber.) The suitcases left in the square were taken to barrack 1, where they were unpacked and any valuable items found were deposited in a special box. Next, clothing items from the suitcases and bundles were thrown onto a pile in the yard in front of the gas chamber.
Then, these clothes were taken to the gas chamber. The disinfecting prisoners hung them onto rows of clothes hangers inside the gas chamber. …
Flaps were placed on the external ventilators and bolted to the frames. On the floor [inside the gas chamber], we laid blankets in places where there were deliberately no clothes hangers, and on them, we poured out in four parts Zyklon gas [granules] from four small or two large tins. After leaving the gas chamber, we bolted shut the door and tightened the bolts to seal it. The gassing lasted about half an hour. After the disinfection, we unlocked the bolts and removed the flaps from the ventilators and then we switched them on before entering the gas chamber. If there was a need to hurry due to a high (workload) intensity, the flaps were not removed, but we entered the chamber wearing gas masks. First, we grabbed the blankets, lifted them holding their corners and tipped the remaining crystals back into the empty tins, which were next inserted into a box. (The tins were sent back to the factory).’
Source: Józef Odi, ASMA-B, Testimonies, vol. 41, p. 121.
All the collected documents show that Zyklon B was used in Auschwitz concentration camp both for disinfection as well as for mass extermination of people in gas chambers.
None of the negationists denying the genocide of Jews during the Second World War can logically explain why documents regarding Zyklon B deliveries KL Auschwitz used terms, such as ‘material for the resettlement of Jews’ (Material für Juden Umsiedlung) or ‘for [their] special treatment’ (für Sonderbehandlung). With such euphemisms the Nazi authorities concealed the real purpose of Zyklon B, that is to mass murder people.
Travel permit for a 5-ton truck to deliver disinfection materials from Dessau (where the factory producing Zyklon B was located) to KL Auschwitz. Source: Archives of the Auschwitz Museum
Confirmation of the departure of the 5-ton truck with trailer (mit Anhänger), delivering ‘material for the resettlement of Jews’ from a factory in Dessau. This euphemistic statement concealed the delivery of Zyklon B for the mass murder of Jews in the gas chambers. Source: Archives of the Auschwitz Museum
The use of Zyklon B to mass murder people is mentioned in the numerous accounts of surviving male and female Auschwitz prisoners as well as in court records:
Excerpt from the memoir of Jan Fischer:
‘… In the night, we were welcomed by flames. At the time, I did not know what it was. Crematorium chimneys. Auschwitz. It was already dark when we were led out, instead of floodlights, five-hundred-watt bulbs glowed. Strange figures in striped uniforms were lurking around us, they unloaded our belongings and would only whisper: “Alle gesund“ [Everybody is healthy]. I had no idea what they meant. Why should I be healthy? We were made to stand in a file and led to the unloading ramp. At the end of that ramp stood an exquisite man, wearing a leather coat with an upturned collar and holding a riding crop in his hand. A handsome man. […] Doctor Mengele. Everyone had to stop five paces before him, stand to attention, and wait for him to give a sign. Sometimes, not always, he would ask: “Gesund?” … And he would point to the left, or to the right. I did not know what to the left or the right meant. How was I supposed to know? On that ramp, everything became confusing, I lost contact with my friends from the wagon. On the way to the ramp, a red-haired boy walked in front of me. His name was Fricek Weiss. … Fricek approached Mengele, and Mengele directed him to the left. I was next and wanted to go the same way as Fricek, but Mengele said: ‘You should go there. ’ And he pointed to the right. That is why I am alive… it is hard to find an appropriate style for this account. One cannot poetise and make it romantic. Then again, using simple words does not reflect the horror. …’
Source: ASMA-B, Zespół Wspomnienia [Memoirs], vol. 233, pp. 94–95.
Excerpt from the memoir of SS man Perry Broad:
‘In front of the barrack, the motorcycle engines are started, and they set off into the night. Six trucks emerge from the large ambulance service garage and drive towards the Birkenau ramp. The medical personnel drive in the ambulance. The vehicle shakes on the rutted road. Every so often, several tin cans fall and roll on the floor. Printed on their labels is the word ‘Zyklon’.
Sleepy disinfectors crouch on the side benches. The round gas mask containers suspended above their heads knock against each other with a clanging noise. Seated at the front, next to the driver is SS-Oberscharführer Klehr. His permanent post in the handling of transports was given to him by the KVK. As the ambulance approaches the innocuous-looking peasant homes, the ‘bunkers’ as these gas chambers were commonly called, the trucks and motorcycles have already arrived at the ramp. A long row of closed freight cars stands at the railway siding. The sliding doors of the freight cars are tied shut with wire. Floodlights illuminate the ramp and train with a glaring brightness. Terrified faces peer out of the small freight car openings grated with barbed wire. The military emergency unit surrounds the train at the ramp. The unit commander reports to the SS-Führer in charge of the transport, stating that the guards have taken up their positions. The freight cars may now be unloaded. The commander of the transport journey escort, nearly always a police officer, hands the transport list to the SS reception department functionary. This list includes the names and dates of birth of all the Jews being deported to Auschwitz. Meanwhile, the camp command SS men start unloading the prisoners. Great chaos ensues on the ramp. Elegant French ladies in fur coats and silk stockings, the frail and the infirm, children with curly locks of hair, old grandmothers, men in the prime of life, some in elegant suits, others in workers' overalls. Mothers with babies leave the train, as do the sick, carried out by others, eager to help.’
Source: Auschwitz w oczach SS [Auschwitz in the eyes of the SS], Oświęcim, 2012, pp. 118-119.
Excerpt from the account of Hilde Denenberg:
‘…When we arrived in Auschwitz, we were immediately selected on the ramp. I noticed that a prisoner employed in one of the Kommandos kept whispering to the new arrivals: ’You’re young and healthy! You’re young and healthy! You’re young and healthy! ’ Initially, we did not know what he meant. But later we understood it. Whoever was old and sick went from the ramp to the gas. All the children, all the mothers with children, and all the pregnant women went down the ramp to the gas. Here, I also lost my friend. My friend – Susi Weiss – also lived in Vienna. We were together in Theresienstadt and we travelled together to Auschwitz. She had taken care of a six-year-old boy whose mother had died. On the ramp, this sealed her fate. Together with that boy, whom she loved very much, she went to the gas. Many people did not want to be separated from their loved ones and chose to go together with them to the gas …’
Source: ASMA-B, Zespół Oświadczenia [Testimonies], vol. 6, p. 921.
Excerpt from the memoir of Josef Jakobson:
‘… One day … we saw the transport and it has haunted me ever since. I saw my own mother with my sister’s child, no more than four or five years old. I cried out: ’Mama, mama! ’ I do not know whether she saw me or not. Naturally, the Germans immediately beat me. They drove them away in a truck. About a day later, some boys came… they worked with me. One of them was a Hassidic Jew, a pious man and he said: ’Come, let us stand and say the Kaddish. Your mother is dead. ’ I already knew because I knew where she had gone. I had no illusions that she was still alive. We stood and said the Kaddish and all of them helped me say the Kaddish…’
Source: ASMA-B, Zespół Wspomnienia [Memoirs], vol. 232, p. 169.
