[WW2] - Auschwitz

"(Fråga) 30. Hur lång tid tar det att helt ventilera ett område som gasats med Zyklon-B?

IHR skriver:
Normalt ungefär 20 timmar. Hela proceduren är extremt komplicerad och teknisk. Gasmasker måste användas och endast välutbildade tekniker arbetar.

Nizkor svarar:
Nej så är det inte. Siffran "20 timmar" är irrelevant av en mängd olika skäl.

"---The following shall help explain a somewhat complex mathematical concept. Imagine, if you will, that someone is given a bucket containing 100 blue balls. Each time he reaches into the bucket, he puts in one red ball, briefly mixes the contents and, without looking, takes out one randomly selected ball. How often will he have to do this until only 50 blue balls are left in the bucket and all the others are red? Clue: assuming that he has already replaced half of all the blue balls with red ones, what is the chance that in blindly taking out another ball he will take out a red one instead of a blue one, thus defeating his purpose, i.e., the intended exchange? This is the sort of problem that arises in ventilating a room, when stale and fresh air mix. It means that it takes considerably longer to successfully ventilate a room than is generally assumed. In the case described above, it takes an average of 70 exchanges before half the blue balls have been replaced by red ones.[136]

Calculations have shown that the ventilation facilities in the alleged 'gas chambers' of crematoria II and III in Birkenau - facilities designed only for ventilation of ordinary mortuaries - could have performed at most 6 to 8 air exchanges per hour.[137] Due to the poor system configuration (inlet right above outlet) and the alleged overcrowding of the room with bodies, half an hour would never have sufficed to achieve harmless levels of hydrogen cyanide following a gassing, even if there had been no Zyklon B still releasing gas for hours on end. The eyewitness testimony claiming adequate ventilation after 20 to 30 minutes in mortuaries 1 of crematoria II and III are thus not credible.[138]

This pertains all the more for crematoria IV and V as well as for the sinister Farm Houses (Bunkers) which could have been aired out only via one or two doors. Since they are said to have been equally crammed full of bodies, with the Zyklon B scattered among them, the ventilation time would have been at least one day, the same as was required for ordinary room disinfestations.[139] What is more, ordinary rooms would allow for the removal of the Zyklon B, and generally have windows to facilitate ventilation and are not packed with bodies. Eyewitness testimony telling of work performed without the benefit of gas masks in these 'gas chambers' immediately or shortly after the gassing is thus utterly unbelievable. And even if the workers had worn gas masks - carrying the corpses would have been hard work (causing perspiration! cf. Section 3.1.), and in these rooms high in hydrogen cyanide any such work would have been extremely risky due to the potential for poisoning via the skin.---"

"Om uttalandet om "20 timmars ventilation" ovan var sant, skulle det betyda att liken efter folk som avrättats med cyanidgas i de amerikanska gaskamrarna skulle vara tvungna att sitta kvar fastspända i stolen 20 timmar efter sin avrättning.---"

"The method used in American execution gas chambers was introduced in 1924, and has since been improved to technical perfection. The expense to kill just one single person is tremendously high, since neither the witnesses, nor the prison personnel or the environment may be endangered by the poison gas released for such an execution. Re-inforced-glass windows, massive, heavy, hermetically-sealed steel doors, powerful ventilation systems with a device to burn the evacuated poisonous gases, and a chemical treatment of the chamber interior to neutralize all remaining traces of the poison make this execution method the most a cumbersome of all.[8]"

"Det var viktigt att ventilera gaskamrarna fort för att snabbt kunna börja ta ut kropparna och kremera dem -- det var det som tog mycket tid. Själva ihjälgasningen tog bara några få minuter.---"

(Förresten, 8-10 gram per kubikmeter avser koncentrationen för att utrota löss och andra insekter, inte människor. Däggdjur dör av en mycket lägre koncentration och mycket kortare exponeringstid).

"---The development of the Zyklon B fumigation chamber spanned the two World Wars, and depended almost entirely upon the danger of epidemics from lice-carried spotted typhus. These chambers were therefore known and referred to as "hydrogen cyanide delousing chambers" ("Blausaeure-Entlausungs-kammer"). Faced with the absolute necessity of such chambers and a lethal fumigating agent (always in short supply) in wartime, the DEGESCH delousing chamber was designed. It provided for the safe introduction of the sealed Zyklon B can of the required size for the volume of the fumigating chamber. The entry port was sealed airtight and the can opened by an externally-operated screw which pierced the soldered can inside the sealed chamber, allowing the Zyklon B granules to fall onto a heated surface (the "Vergasergeraet" ["Gasifier"] or "stove," in the jargon of the "Holocaust" disciples), assuring the evaporation of the liquid hydrogen cyanide from the granules. A circulatory fan circulated the air / Zyklon B mixture within the chamber to mix the gases. This prevented gas stratification, since Zyklon B gas is lighter than air (not heavier, as so often erroneously stated or implied by the "Holocaust" propagandists), and made certain that the required mixture of 20g. of Zyklon B per cubic meter of air penetrated throughout the entire fumigation chamber, including the clothing articles to be deloused. With the circulation fan, the fumigation could be completed in one hour. Without such a system, the entire procedure required at least 16 hours -- preferably 24 hours. After fumigation, the circulation system exhausted the poisonous mixture up a stack and aired the fumigated clothing before the airtight doors to the chamber were opened and the deloused, fumigated clothing removed to be reclaimed by its owners. The advantages of such chambers were obvious and substantial. By the Summer of 1943, 552 Zyklon B fumigation or delousing chambers with circulation systems had been constructed at 226 different sites. One hundred more had been constructed without circulation systems and were being used despite the longer fumigation time. Almost half these delousing chambers were constructed between January 1942 and April 1943. The munitions industry had 249 such chambers either in regular operation or under construction, since in the Summer of 1943 it became obligatory to inspect foreign workers regularly for the duration of the war to insure that they were and remained free from vermin. (Emil Wuestinger, "Vermehrter Einsatz von Blausaeure-Entlausungskammern," ["Increased Usage of Hydrogen Cyanide Delousing Chambers"], Gesundheits-Ingenieur, Jahrgang 67, Heft 7, pp. 179-80.)---"

IHR skriver: I vilket fall som helst skulle gasen ha varit explosiv tio minuter efter att ventileringen påbörjats, när tillräckligt av den hade sugits ut för att göra rummet ofarligt? Knappast. Om Sonderkommandosoldaterna rökte cigaretter så hade de uppenbarligen inte gasmasker på sig så de skulle varit döda om inte koncentrationen hade varit mycket lägre än 100 miljontedelar!

Nizkor svarar: Varför besvärar sig IHR med att ens försöka hävda att det fanns risk för explosion? Hade koncentrationen av HCN varit tillräckligt stor för att kunna orsaka en explosion så hade en eventuell rökare ändå sedan länge varit död av förgiftning!"

"---Van Pelt is correct when stating that the danger of explosion of HCN released from Zyklon B during gassings/fumigations has often been exaggerated [pp. 289f., 332, 340], but he should be aware that even if the danger is lower than frequently assumed, it is still existent. An accident in the United States in 1947 demonstrates this: During a delousing procedure of a normal house with Zyklon B, the explosive mixture of hydrogen cyanide and air exploded and flattened the whole premise.[33] The question is, which concentration of hydrogen cyanide is required to conduct a mass gassing as described by the alleged eye witnesses.

Prof. van Pelt does not make any efforts to establish this concentration. He simply refers to the concentration that is lethal for humans as mentioned in a DEGESCH manual and quoted during the cross examination of Fred Leuchter in Toronto in 1988, and later claims without proof [p. 298]:

First of all, the delousing chambers were designed to operate with very high concentrations of hydrogen cyanide—between 40 and 70 times the concentration the Germans used to kill humans in Birkenau—[…]

To establish the amount of Zyklon B and thus the resulting concentration of hydrogen cyanide in the alleged 'gas chambers', we have several sources.

1. Eye Witness Accounts of the Amount of Zyklon B Applied
There are not too many eye witness accounts regarding the amount of Zyklon B known, but according to a Polish source they generally refer to the application of 6 to 12 kg of hydrogen cyanide.[34]

2. Eye Witness Accounts about the Time Required to Kill all Humans in the Alleged 'Gas Chamber'
An indirect way to calculate the amount of Zyklon B that would have been required to kill all humans in a 'gas chamber' is the time that was allegedly needed to kill them. According to nearly all 'eye witnesses' it took between only a few seconds and up to ten minutes to kill in the alleged 'gas chambers' of crematorium II and III.[35] This can be used to make rough calculations of the amount actually required to achieve such a short killing time.

3. The Time Required to Kill Prisoners in U.S. Execution Gas Chambers
Several hundreds of executions in the U.S.A. conducted with hydrogen cyanide have shown that a quick and painless execution by gas requires the co-operation of the intended victim. Prisoners about to be gassed were usually encouraged to inhale deeply as soon as the cyanide was released in order to make their deaths come easily. However, if an intended victim was uncooperative, the execution could easily become a fiasco. By simply refusing to take the deep breaths needed to quickly take in a lethal dose of cyanide, the agony – even under the most ideal conditions – could last for more than eighteen minutes. But even under normal circumstances, executions in U.S. execution gas chambers take in average some 10 to 14 Minutes.[36] The hydrogen cyanide concentration applied during these executions is usually similar to those applied during normal delousing procedures (0,3%-1%).[37] The victim is immediately exposed to very high concentration of the poison gas as it develops underneath him, rising right into his face.

4. Subsequent Calculations
It is obvious that the killing times reported by the alleged eye witnesses of mass gassings with Zyklon B in Auschwitz and elsewhere, which are similar or shorter than those in U.S. executions, would have required similar concentrations as applied in the U.S. executions (0,3%-1%). As a matter of fact, Zyklon B releases its hydrogen cyanide only very slowly, about 10% in the first 10 min.[38] Furthermore, since there was obviously no appliance to distribute the poison gas quickly all over the entire room, more minutes would have passed before all victims would have been surrounded by high concentration of hydrogen cyanide (even those standing in the corners of the room). We must therefore assume that the minimum amount of Zyklon B to be introduced in these rooms would have been in the order of magnitude of ten times the amount normally used for delousing procedures, in order to reach a similar concentration already in the first 5 to 10 minutes of the execution even in the hindmost corner of that room.[39] This would have been the only way to make sure that all victims in such a room would have been killed in the first 10 minutes after the Zyklon B had started releasing its poison.

The difference between the concentration of hydrogen cyanide required to kill humans as given by toxicological handbooks and referred to by Prof. van Pelt (0,03%) and those concentration established here (1%) can be explained easily.

The toxicological literature gives mainly two threshold values of poisonous substances:

The lethal dose 100%, LD100, which gives the concentration or quantity of poison required to kill all (100%) individuals of an observed species. This value is used to make sure that all individuals are successfully killed.
The lethal dose 1%, LD1, which gives the concentration or quantity of poison required to kill 1% of all individuals of an observed species. This value is used to mark a threshold beyond which an exposition to that poison is definitively dangerous.
Obviously, both values differ enormously, i.e. the LD100 value is frequently much higher than the LD1 value. When talking about the quantity necessary to kill lice, the literature uses the LD100 value, because we want to make sure to kill all of them, whereas when dealing with security risks of humans, the LD1 or even lower values are used to make sure that no human is being killed. Therefore, it does not make sense to compare both values with each other: A louse in bad shape can be killed by only 0,03% hydrogen cyanide, as it is very well possible that a smart and healthy human can survive a 5 minute exposure to 1% of hydrogen cyanide. Finally, it is quite a difference if one has inhaled an amount of poison that is lethal, or if one has already died. Though the threshold value of some 100 mg of a soluble cyanide salt (or 300 ppm of HCN in the air) may most likely kill most people, it can actually take very long until one is dead. On the other hand, if one wants to kill or die quickly, one has to apply a big overdose to achieve that with certainty.---"

"Men det är faktiskt lättare och naturligare för en lekman, som revisionisterna också rider på i sin argumentation, att överskatta cyanvätets giftighet och explosionsrisk, så mot bakgrunden av detta är det litet förvånande att man inte lyckats "tortera" Höss till att stödja dessa påståenden!!!!"

"---What mere common sense suggested is now confirmed by the technical documents concerning Zyklon B and its usage.[11] In order to fumigate a barrack, the Germans were constrained by numerous precautionary measures: specially trained teams which were licensed only after an internship at a Zyklon B manufacturing plant; special materials including especially the "J" filters which when used in gas masks were capable of protecting an individual under the most rigorous toxic conditions; evacuations of all surrounding barracks; warnings posted in several languages and bearing a skull and cross-bones; a meticulous examination of the site to be fumigated in order to locate and seal any fissures or openings; the sealing of any chimneys or airshafts and the removal of keys from doors. The cans of Zyklon B were opened at the site itself. After the gas had apparently killed all the vermin, the most critical operation would begin: this was the ventilation of the site. Sentries were to be stationed at a certain distance from all doors and windows, their backs to the wind, in order to prevent the approach of all persons. The specially trained crew equipped with gas masks would then enter the building and unclog the chimneys and cracks, and open the windows. This operation completed, they had to go outside again, remove their masks and breathe freely for ten minutes. They had to put their masks on again to re-enter the building and perform the next step. Once all of this work was completed, it was still necessary to wait TWENTY hours. Actually, because Zyklon B was "difficult to ventilate, since it adheres strongly to surfaces," the dispersion of the gas required a long natural ventilation. This was especially important when great volumes of the gas were employed as in the case of a barrack containing more than one floor. (When Zyklon B was used in an autoclave with a total volume of only 10 cubic meters, ventilation (forced or artificially) was still necessary.) After twenty hours had elapsed, the crew would return with their masks on. They would then verify by means of a paper test (the paper would turn blue in the presence of hydrocyanic acid) as to whether or not the site was indeed again fit for human habitation. And so we see that a site which had been gassed was not safely accessible until a minimum of 21 hours had elapsed. As far as French legislation is concerned, the minimum is set at 24 hours.[12]

It becomes, therefore, apparent that in the absence of a magical fan capable of instantly expelling a gas that is "difficult to ventilate, since it adheres strongly to surfaces," the "human slaughterhouse" called a "gas chamber" would have been inaccessible for nearly a full day. its walls, floors, ceiling would have retained portions of a gas which was highly poisonous to man. And what about the bodies? These cadavers could have been nothing less than saturated with the gas, just as the cushions, mattresses and blankets discussed in the same technical document on the use of Zyklon B would have been saturated also. These mattresses, etc., had to be taken out of doors to be aired and beaten for an hour under dry atmospheric conditions and for two hours when the weather was humid. When this was accomplished, these items were then heaped together and beaten again if the paper test revealed any further presence of hydrocyanic acid.---

For the various trials generally called "Nürnberg Trials" the Americans have perused many technical documents concerning Zyklon B. If they had read these documents carefully, and if they had-as I did myself- continued further research in certain technical tomes in the Library of Congress, Washington, DC, they would have become aware of the incredible number of technical impossibilities contained in the German "gas chamber" evidence. One day I will devote a study to four specific documents which, in my opinion, completely destroy the legend of the "gas chambers." Those four documents are: first, two documents recorded by the Americans for the Nürnberg Trials, and then, two technical studies signed by Gerhard Peters; all of which one may consult at the Washington Library of Congress. I recall that Gerhard Peters was, during the war, the temporary director of the firm DEGESCH (Deutsche Gesellschaft fur Schädlingsbekämpfung: German Company for Pest Control) which controlled in particular the distribution of Zyklon B. After the war, Gerhard Peters was to be brought before the courts many times by his own compatriots. He said he had never heard during the war about any homicidal use of Zyklon B.
Nürnberg documents (documents with the prefix NI, which means Nuremberg, Industrialists):
NI-9098, recorded only on 25 July 1947: a brochure entitled Acht Vorträge aus dem Arbeitgebiet der DEGESCH (Eight lectures on aspects of DEGESCH's Field of Operation) and printed in 1942 for private usage. At the end of this brochure, page 47, there appears a descriptive table on each of the eight gases distributed by the firm. At point number 7 of the description one reads for Zyklon B: "Lüftbarkeit: wegen starken Haftvermögens des Gases an Oberflächen erschwert und langwierig." ("Ventilation Properties: complicated and long to ventilate since the gas adheres strongly to surfaces.")
NI-9912, recorded only on 21 August 1947: a public notice entitled Richtlinien fur die Anwendung von Blausäure (Zyklon) zur Ungeziefervertilgung (Entwesung) (Directives for the use of Prussic Acid (Zyklon) for the Destruction of Vermin (Disinfestation).). This document is of capital importance. Better than any other it shows at what point the handling of Zyklon B can only be done by trained personnel. The time required for the product to destroy vermin ranges from 6 hours in hot times, to 32 hours during cold periods. The normal duration is 16 hours. This long duration is explained undoubtedly by the composition of Zyklon. Zyklon is prussic acid, or hydrocyanic acid, absorbed by a support of diatomite. The gas is released slowly because of the nature of its support. This slowness is such that one cannot understand how on earth the Germans could have chosen a gas such as Zyklon in order to liquidate masses of human beings. It would have been easier for them to have utilized hydrocyanic acid in its liquid form. They had at their disposal significant quantities of this acid in the laboratories of the IG-Farben plant at Auschwitz, where they tried to make synthetic rubber. It is from document NI-9912 that I draw the information concerning the employment of Zyklon B for the fumigation of a barracks, the duration of aeration (at least 21 hours), et cetera.
Documents at the Library of Congress. These concern two technical studies written by Gerhard Peters and both were published in Sammlung Chemischer & Chemisch-technischer Vorträge, the first in 1933 in Neue Folge, Heft 20, and the other in Neue Folge, Heft 47a in 1942, (review edited by Ferdinand Enke at Stuttgart). Here are the titles, followed by the Library of Congress reference:
"Blausäure zur Schädlingsbekämpfung" (QD1, S2, n.f., hft.20, 1933), 75pp.
"Die hochwirksamen Gase und Dämpfe in der Schädlingsbekämpfung" (QD1, S2, n.f., hft.47a, 1942), 143pp. It should be said in passing that it is admirable that this review which was published during the war in Germany should have arrived safely also during the war at the Library of Congress in Washington! The 1942 issue bears the Washington registration date of ... 1 April 1944!
"

"---Annex: Document NI-9912
Document NI-9912: it demolishes without exception any so-called "eye-witness testimony" on the use of Zyklon B to kill humans. [27]

The reader will note that document NI-9912 mentions in six places the use of an apparatus for the detection of traces of hydrocyanic acid (cf. the terms "Gasrestnachweisgerät" or "Gasrestnachweis") [28]. Without this apparatus, disinfestation with Zyklon B would have been impossible. It is therefore incomprehensible that Pressac could have the effrontery to offer as a definitive proof of the existence of homicidal (!) gas chambers the mention in a purely commercial letter of an order for ten units of this type which were widely used with disinfestation gassings. At the beginning of 1943, the central construction office of Auschwitz (Zentral-Bauleitung) had trouble procuring these units from the usual distributor. At that time it was more and more difficult to obtain delivery of almost any product. Therefore, there is nothing strange in the fact that the construction office turned to the firm Topf and Sons. Even in times of peace and prosperity it happens that a firm orders a product from a third party that it can not obtain from the manufacturer. This applies even more in times of war and rationing. Moreover, in his book Pressac mentions other orders addressed to third parties (on page 57, there is an order for bitumen, and on page 70, we see that the Zentral-Bauleitung turned to the same firm Topf and Sons to order ... lifts!).

Document NI-9912 comes from the archives of the Nuremberg Trials. It was registered by the Americans at a late date, 21 August 1947, with the reference code NI (Nuremberg Industrialists). It comes from the archives of Degesch [29] and is listed in four catalogs, including one called "Atrocities" [sic].

The original is in the form of four large pages which can be posted on walls. It is essentially a bulletin which was meant to be distributed in many copies — in the present case in the midst of war by the Health Authority in Prague. Its contents consist of directives for the use of Zyklon (prussic acid or hydrocyanic acid) to exterminate vermin in buildings, which could be either civilian or military buildings (apartment buildings, barracks, and so forth). This document reminds us opportunely of a truth won from hard experience: of all deadly weapons, gas will undoubtedly remain the one most difficult to handle. When it kills, it kills so thoroughly that it can easily be fatal to the one who applies it.

As easy as it is to kill oneself with prussic acid, it is correspondingly difficult to kill one's neighbor without running great risks.

The document at hand describes the characteristics of Zyklon B, including its explosive danger and toxicity. Only a person possessing a certificate given at the completion of a special training course could use the product. The planning and preparation for a gassing operation involves measures and labor that may require many hours, if not days. Then the operation happens. Among the numerous details one will notice that Zyklon B pellets are not simply dumped in a heap or thrown carelessly. For the best effect, it must be spread in a thin layer on paper sheets, none of it should be allowed to wander unnoticed into a corner and all of it should be collected at the proper time. It takes 6 to 32 hours to kill vermin (21 hours on average). Then the most critical phase occurs, the aeration. The text states: "Aeration presents a great danger for both participants and non-participants. Therefore it should be carried out carefully and gas masks should always be worn." The aeration should last "at least 20 hours". The building must be closely guarded during the whole period, and also afterwards. To be certain that no trace of gas remains, the specialists, always wearing gas masks, enter the site with paper strips used as trace gas indicators. Twenty hours before, simply opening doors and windows and other sealed or closed off openings (this work is nothing in comparison to the work of dragging away thousands of bodies!) presented sufficient danger that after aerating each floor they had to come out into the fresh air, remove their masks and breathe fresh air for at least ten minutes. Everything here speaks to the danger of the gas. I leave it to the reader to discover from every line of this document, how in comparison the stories of the witnesses of the "homicidal gassings" offend the laws of physics and chemistry.



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Document NI-9912

Guidelines for the Use of Prussic Acid (Zyklon)
For Destruction of Vermin (Disinfestation).



I. Properties of Prussic acid:
Prussic acid is a gas that is released by evaporation.

Boiling point: 26° C.
Freezing point: -15° C.
Specific weight: 0.69.
Vapor density: 0.97 (Air = 1.0).
Liquid form evaporates easily.

Liquid form: clear and colorless as water.
Smell: unique, bitter-sweet.
Powerful ability to penetrate.
Prussic acid is water-soluble.

Danger of explosion:

75 g. Prussic acid in 1 cbm. air. (Normal application is ca. 8 - 10 g. per cbm., so not explosive). Prussic acid should not be brought into contact with open fire, glowing metal wire, and so forth. It burns slowly and loses its potency completely. (It produces carbonic acid, water and azote.)

Toxicity to warm-blooded animals:

Prussic acid acts without notice, therefore it should be considered highly poisonous and highly dangerous. Prussic acid is one of the most powerful poisons. 1 mg. per kg. - body weight is enough to kill a man. Children and women are usually more sensitive than men. A very small quantity of Prussic acid does not harm men, even with constant breathing. Birds and fish are very sensitive to Prussic acid.

Toxicity to insects:

The effect of Prussic acid on insects depends less on temperature than is the case with other gases; that is, it even works at cold temperatures (even down to -5° C). For many species, particularly bedbugs and lice, the eggs are more sensitive than the imagos.

Toxicity to plants:

The degree of toxicity depends on the the amount of vegetation on the plant. Plants with hard leaves are less sensitive than those with soft leaves. Mold and dry rot are not killed by Prussic acid.

Prussic acid does not kill bacteria.

II. Forms in which Prussic acid is used:
Zyklon is a mixture of Prussic acid and an irritating agent absorbed in a substrate. The substrate may be wood disks, a granular red-brown material ("Diagriess") or small blue cubes ("Erco").

The irritating agent is used as a warning method, and has the additional advantage that it stimulates the breathing of insects. Release of Prussic acid and the irritating agent by simple evaporation. Zyklon will keep for 3 months. Use damaged cans first. Always use up the contents of a can completely. Liquid Prussic acid harms polish, varnish, paints, and so on - gaseous Prussic acid will not. The toxicity of Prussic acid is not affected by the irritating agent, but the danger is reduced.

Zyklon can be made harmless by burning.

III. Symptoms when poisoned:
1. Slight poisoning:

Dizziness, headache, vomiting, discomfort, and so on. These symptoms will disappear if one quickly goes out into fresh air. Alcohol reduces the resistance to Prussic acid gassing - do not drink alcoholic drinks before gassing.

Administer: 1 tablet Cardiazol or Veriazol to prevent heart trouble, another tablet 2 to 3 hours later if need be.

2. Severe poisoning:

The victim collapses suddenly and is unconscious. First aid: fresh air, remove gas mask, loosen clothing, assist breathing.
Lobelin intramuscular 0.01 g.
Camphor injections are forbidden.

3. Poisoning through the skin:

Symptoms as for 1. Treatment also the same.

4. Stomach poisoning:

Treat with:
Lobelin 0.01 g. intramuscular
iron sulfate vitriol
calcinated magnesia.

IV. Protection against gas:
When gassing with Zyklon use only special filters, such as filter insert "J" (blue-brown) made by the Auergesellschaft, Berlin, or the Drägerwerke, Lübeck.

If gas gets into the mask, leave the building immediately and change filters, then test the mask and mask seating for tightness. The filter insert is exhausted when gas can get into the mask. With filter "J", first go into the open air for about 2 minutes, so that moisture from the breath can build up in the filter insert.

The filter should never be changed in a gas-filled room.

V. Personnel:
For every disinfestation, a disinfestation team will be used, consisting of at least 2 men. The gassing leader is responsible for the gassing. His duties include particularly inspection, aeration, giving the all-clear and safety measures. The gassing leader should appoint a deputy in case he is absent. The orders of the gassing leader should be obeyed without hesitation.

Untrained personnel or trained personnel without a certificate should not be used for gassing operations. Such persons also should not be allowed to enter a room filled with gas. The gassing leader should know where his personnel are at all times. All personnel should be able to prove at all times that they possess official authorization to use Prussic acid for disinfestation of pests.

These guidelines should be followed exactly in all cases.
---"

"---VI. Equipment:
Every man should have with him at all times:

1. His own gas mask.

2. At least 2 special packets for use against Zyklon Prussic acid.

3. The manual "First Aid for Prussic Acid Victims".

4. A copy of the work order.

5. Authorization certificate.

Every disinfestation team should have with it at all times:

1. At least 3 additional special packets.

2. 1 Trace gas detector.

3. 1 Lobelin injection device.

4. Lobelin, 0.01 g. ampules.

5. (Cardiazol), Veriazol tablets.

6. 1 prybar or spike-hammer to open Zyklon cans.

7. Warning posters of the prescribed kind.

8. Sealing material.

9. Paper sheets on which to lay out Zyklon.

10. A flashlight.

All equipment should be kept clean and in working condition. Damage to equipment should be repaired immediately.

VII. Planning a gassing:
1. Will the gassing work?

a) Type and situation of the building.

b) Nature and condition of the roof.

c) Nature and condition of windows.

d) Presence of heating shafts, air shafts, holes in the wall, and so on.

2. Determine the kind of pests to be exterminated.

3. Calculate the volume of the space. (Do not rely on plans, make your own measurements. Only measure exteriors, include masonry in the calculations.)

4. Prepare the occupants (Remove house animals, plants, food, undeveloped photographic plates, drinks and tobacco, gas mask filters).

5. Determine openings difficult to seal. (Air shafts, drains, large openings with wooden planking, roofs).

6. Determine necessary safety measures. (Guards, work gangs for sealing).

7. Set the date for the operation and the time needed for evacuation.

8. Make plans for the safety of the neighborhood, if necessary.

9. Notify the authorities.

VIII. Preparation for a gassing:
1. Sealing.

2. Open all doors, wardrobes, drawers, and so on.

3. Spread bedding out.

4. Remove open liquids (left-over coffee, wash-water, and so on).

5. Remove food.

6. Remove plants and house animals (aquariums, and so forth).

7. Remove undeveloped photographic plates and film.

8. Remove dressings for wounds, medications whether open or in packages (especially charcoal).

9. Remove gas mask filters.

10. Prepare to inspect the result.

11. Evacuate the occupants.

12. Collect keys. (All entry door keys.)

IX. Gas concentration and treatment period
depend on
- the type of pest,
- the temperature,
- the degree to which the space is filled,
- the air-tightness of the building.

For inside temperatures of over + 5° C one should ordinarily use 8 g./cbm. Prussic acid.

Treatment period: 16 hours, when no other conditions, such as a closed-in method of construction, permit a shorter period. In warm weather one may reduce the period to 6 hours. When the temperature is under + 5° C the period should be extended to at least 32 hours.

The strengths and treatment periods given above apply to: bedbugs, lice, fleas and so forth, and to eggs, larvae and pupae.

For clothes moths when the temperature is over 10° C, 16 g./cbm. and 21 hours application time.

Flour moths, as for bedbugs.

X. Gassing a building:
1. Check to make sure all persons have left the building.

2. Unpack the Zyklon cases. For each floor, prepare the necessary quantity.

3. Distribute the cans. One man goes into the building, receives and distributes the cans brought to him by the work gang (He puts them by the sheets of paper.)

4. Dismiss the work gang.

5. Deploy the guard; the leader of the gassing team gives them his orders.

6. Check that the sealing and evacuation are complete .

7. Put on all gas protection gear.

8. Open the cans and pour out the contents. Spread the contents out thinly, so that the Zyklon evaporates quickly and the required concentration of gas is reached as soon as possible. The treatment should begin on the highest floor, the cellar should be treated before the first floor if the former has no exit. Rooms already treated should not be entered again, if possible. The treatment should be carried out slowly and methodically. Go slowly on stairways especially. The treatment should be interrupted only in case of emergency.

9. Lock and seal the entry doors (Do n't forget the keyholes) and give the keys to the gassing team leader.

10. On every outside door put up a placard with the inscription: "WARNING: Poison gas — deadly danger — entry forbidden." If necessary, the warning placard should be multilingual. It should show at least 1 clearly visible death's head.

11. All gas protection gear, resuscitation equipment and trace gas detectors should be handy. Every member of the gassing team should know where these items can be found.

12. At least 1 member of the gassing team should remain near the building being gassed. The guard should be notified of his position.

XI. Aeration:
Aeration presents a great danger for both participants and non-participants. Therefore it should be carried out carefully and gas masks should always be worn. Aeration should be done in such a way that 1) gas-free air can be reached in the shortest possible time, 2) gas flows off to one side, where there is no danger to non-participants. When the aeration is difficult, one man with special training should remain with the building to observe the flow of gas.

1. Make sure that no persons not involved with the gassing remain in the vicinity of the building.

2. Post the guards such that they can observe the entrances to the building without being in the way of the flowing gas.

3. Put on gas masks.

4. Enter the building, shut the doors but do n't lock them.

5. First open the windows on the side of the building away from the wind. Aerate one floor at a time. Begin with the first floor and allow a rest of at least 10 minutes after each floor.

6. In each room of the building the hallway doors, connecting doors and windows should be opened. If any windows are difficult to open, wait to open them until after most of the gas has blown away.

7. Planking and other seals that cannot be easily handled should only be removed after most of the gas has blown off.

8. When there is freezing or danger of freezing, be sure that heating systems and water lines do not freeze.

9. Rooms with valuable contents such as clothes storage may be closed as soon as the windows are opened.

10. Make sure that open doors and windows do not close on their own.

11. Seals on chimneys should be removed after the provisional all-clear.

12. Aeration should last at least 20 hours.

13. The guard should remain near the building throughout the aeration.

XII. Provisional all-clear:
A gassed room can be provisionally opened to access as soon as the paper strips used as trace gas detectors show a lighter blue than the middle of the reference color scale — windows and doors being kept open. Only aeration and clean-up work can be carried on in provisionally opened rooms. Under no circumstances should anyone rest or sleep in a provisionally opened room. The windows and doors of such rooms should be kept open.

XIII. Clean-up after the provisional all-clear:
1. Removal of remnants of Zyklon from the gassed rooms. Usually they should be sent back to the manufacturer along with cans and cases. The inscription "Poison" should be removed from the cases before they are sent. Moist, wet or dirty remnants, and damaged cans should never be returned. They can be thrown in the trash or on the cinder heap, but should never be dumped into drains.

2. Mattresses, straw mattresses, pillows, upholstered furniture and other such objects should be shaken or beaten in the open for at least one hour under the supervision of the gassing team leader or his deputy (in rainy weather at least two hours in the hallway).

3. The stuffing of straw mattresses should be replaced, if possible. The old stuffing need not be burned - it can be reused after further aeration.

4. If chimney upper openings were covered, the seals should be removed carefully, otherwise there is danger that the fires in ovens and fireplaces will not have enough draft and that carbon monoxide poisoning could result.

5. After the final all-clear a gassing report in the prescribed form should be completed, in two copies. In particular, it should include:

a) Volume of space gassed,

b) Quantity of Zyklon used,

c) Name of the gassing team leader,

d) Names of the other personnel involved,

e) Duration of treatment,

f) The date and hour of the final all-clear for the disinfested rooms.

XIV. Final all-clear:
1. Never before 21 hours after aeration was begun.

2. All objects removed for shaking out should be brought back.

3. Windows and doors should be closed for one hour.

4. Heated rooms should have their temperature restored to at least 15° C.

5. Trace gas detection. The paper strips should not be a brighter blue than the bright end of the reference color scale even between sheets or mattresses laid together, and in places difficult of access or difficult to aerate. If this is not the case, the aeration should be continued and trace gas detection should be repeated after a few hours.

6. In buildings in which people will soon sleep trace gas detection should be done in every room separately. People should never sleep in a room that has been gassed the night following the gassing. The windows should remain open the first night the room is in use again.

7. The leader of the gassing team or his deputy should not leave the building until the final all-clear has been given for the last room.

Published by the Health Authority
of the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia in Prague"

De nazistiska gaskamrarna var tomma rum bestående av nakna betongväggar med riktig ventilation, något som gjorde att till och med en så kort period som fem minuter räckte för att byta ut all giftig luft mot frisk. (Se Gutman Anatomy of the Auschwitz Death Camp).

"Några av gaskamrarna hade inte riktiga ventilationssystem; i dessa användes gasmask av dem som släpade ut kropparna."

""d) Sonderkommandos working without gas masks in clouds of cyanide gas
We have just seen that Dr. Bendel's Sonderkommando wore no breathing equipment. This same radical impossibility is also described by other witnesses. Filip Mueller, Hilberb's star witness, describes in his first job in the main gas chamber as follows (42):
My glance fell on a half opened suitcase, in which I saw food, which was probably intended as food for they journey. With one hand, I pretended to be busy undressing a dead body; with the other, I searched through the suitcase. As I grasped a triangular cheese and a poppyseed cake out of the suitcase, I watched out in order not to be surprised by Stark. With blood-smeared and filthy hands, I tore the cake apart and crammed it down like a greedy animal of prey."

Mueller cannot possibly have crammed anything down like a "greedy animal of prey" while wearing a gas mask. According to most other witnesses, the victims had to undress themselves before the gassing. This would have been more logical, since the Zyklon clinging to the clothing would have represented an additional source of danger for the Sonderkommandos.

To be honest, we must admit that there are other witnesses who claim that the Sonderkommandos worked with gas masks on (for example, Szlama Dragon). But gas masks would have been insufficient to provide complete protection; they would have needed complete protective clothing, because the Sonderkommandos would have sweated during their work, and sweating increases the danger of absorption through the skin. But not a single witness speaks of protective clothing."

"---SS-Hauptscharführer Moll vergnügte sich laut Müller wie folgt:
Eine ungewöhnliche Belustigung bereitete ihm das sogenannte Froschschwimmen, das er ab und zu, wenn er Laune hatte, in einem der beiden Löschteiche beim Krematorium IV oder beim Bunker V veranstaltete. Er jagte dann die von ihm ausgesuchten Opfer ins Wasser und liess sie unter ständigem Quaken so lange schwimmen, bis ihre Kräfte erlahmt waren und sie vor Erschöpfung ertranken (Müller, S. 228).

Ja, das ist Filip Müller, Raul Hilbergs zwanzigmal zitierter jüdischer Lieblingszeuge! - Vielleicht hat Hilberg freilich folgendes, auf S. 271 des Müllerschen Meisterwerkes stehendes Eingeständnis übersehen:

... und ich war mir nicht sicher, ob ich ich das alles vielleicht nur träumte."

"---- En 1980, on a mené grand bruit autour du livre de Filip Müller, Trois ans dans une chambre à gaz d'Auschwitz, préface de Claude Lanzmann, Ed. Pygmalion-G. Watelet. Le livre obtenait de Jean Pierre-Bloch le prix de la LICRA. Filip Müller fut l'un des témoins vedettes du procès d'Auschwitz (1963-1965) et du film Shoah. En réalité, Filip Müller est un mythomane et même Pressac s'en rend compte, qui écrit :

[dans son livre] il a accumulé les erreurs, rendant ainsi son compte rendu douteux sur le plan historique. La meilleure façon de l'aborder est de lire [ce livre] comme un roman fondé sur une histoire vraie (p. 181).---"

Nizkor: "Dessutom använde SS Sonderkommando, fångar som utnyttjades som tvångsarbetskraft, för att släpa ut liken ur gaskamrarna och sedan kremera dem. Det är självklart att nazisterna inte kände någon jättepress på sig att försäkra sig om att ingen ur Sonderkommandot skadades av kvarvarande gasrester. Dessa var dödsdömda ändå -- det första varje nytt Sonderkommando gjorde var att bränna kropparna efter sina föregångare."

"---If we compare this book to the mass of already published texts, it is hard to understand Lanzmann's elation, for Muller's book contributes no new information (except, maybe, that prior to dying, gypsies screwed, while Jews didn't, p. 206). It is clear, even though not explicitly, that there were no systematic liquidations of the Sonderkommandos, unlike what is written everywhere. (The critic at l'Humanite has even seen in his crystal ball what the book never said, namely, that Muller had escaped "five selections.") Muller, who was part of a Sonderkommando for three years, did not have to escape liquidation because, to his surprise, nobody tried to liquidate him. He survived because he was young, strong and lucky to work at the crematoria, which allowed him to be properly fed. He was also lucky not to have participated in the Sonderkommando revolt at the end of 1944.---"