The Nizkor Project: Remembering the Holocaust (Shoah)

What kind of gas was used by the Nazis in concentration camps?


27. What kind of gas was used by the Nazis in concentration camps?

The IHR says (original):

Zyklon-B, a hydrocyanic gas.

Nizkor replies:

Amazingly, even this four-word answer contains two errors.

First, Zyklon-B is the carrier of the gas, not the gas itself. Zyklon-B is the trademarked name for a substance, usually wood chips or diatomaceous earth, which has been impregnated with both the liquid form of hydrogen cyanide, and an irritant.

Second, the gas in question is hydrogen cyanide (sometimes called prussic acid). "A hydrocyanic gas" is nonsensical, because there is only one gas which is hydrocyanic, and that is hydrogen cyanide gas.

The IHR says (revised):

Hydrocyanic gas from "Zyklon B," a commercial pesticide that was widely used throughout Europe.

Nizkor replies:

The answer as revised is correct.


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