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Zyklon B


Zyklon B ( German: [tsyˈkloːn ˈbeː] (listen); translated Cyclone B) was the trade name of a cyanide-based pesticide invented in Germany in the early 1920s. It consisted of hydrogen cyanide (prussic acid), as well as a cautionary eye irritant and one of several adsorbents such as diatomaceous earth. The product is notorious for its use by Nazi Germany during the Holocaust to murder approximately 1.1 million people in gas chambers installed at Auschwitz-Birkenau, Majdanek, and other extermination camps. A total of around 6 million Jews were murdered during the Holocaust.

Hydrogen cyanide, a poisonous gas that interferes with cellular respiration, was first used as a pesticide in California in the 1880s. Research at Degesch of Germany led to the development of Zyklon (later known as Zyklon A), a pesticide that released hydrogen cyanide upon exposure to water and heat. It was banned after World War I, when Germany used a similar product as a chemical weapon. Degussa purchased Degesch in 1922. Their team of chemists, which included Walter Heerdt [de] and Bruno Tesch, devised a method of packaging hydrogen cyanide in sealed canisters along with a cautionary eye irritant and one of several adsorbents such as diatomaceous earth. The new product was also named Zyklon, but it became known as Zyklon B to distinguish it from the earlier version. Uses included delousing clothing and fumigating ships, warehouses, and trains. The Jews that would try to escape the hard labor, gas Chambers, acid showers, and many more horrifying torture methods were almost immediately murdered by the Nazis.

The Nazis began using Zyklon B in extermination camps in early 1942 to murder prisoners during the Holocaust. Tesch was executed in 1946 for knowingly selling the product to the SS for use on humans. Hydrogen cyanide is now rarely used as a pesticide but still has industrial applications. Firms in several countries continue to produce Zyklon B under alternative brand names, including Detia-Degesch, the successor to Degesch, who renamed the product Cyanosil in 1974.

Contents

 * 1Mode of action
 * 2History
 * 3Corporate structure and marketing
 * 4Use in the Holocaust
 * 5Legacy
 * 6See also
 * 7References
 * 7.1Explanatory notes
 * 7.2Citations
 * 7.3Sources
 * 8Further reading
 * 9External links