Holocaust: Facts + Figures

I'm just going to state what I remember from stories told to me by returning GI's that were among the first Americans to go into the Death Camps. Two of them being my uncles, who were young. My unclle Janick was 20 and my Uncle Vladimir was 22.


1. Aside from the shot-to-death, how many Jews were gassed?

My uncles did not see any evidence of any being shot. Yanick was under the impression that many of them were starved to death. Simply locked in the cells and left to die. That was what he saw the most of. Vladimir saw many examples of gassing. I believe it was Auswich that he was one of the first Americans to enter.

2. What kind of Gas was used?

the gas used was usualy cyanide. It was used in small gas grenades about the size of a cocal cola can. The detonator would be tripped and the chemicals in the can would burn releasing the cyanide. Them used gas containers became popular war trophies after WW2 and many American GI's brought them home as war trophies. Vladimir brought back quite a few. He gave me 5 or 6 as mementos of the war. He said they were on the prison barrack floors by the hundreds. At one of the camps the gassing was more sophisticated. The Barracks were made like dormitories, very nice looking and with large shower rooms, the prisoners would be told to take a shower and when they all entered the shower room, cyanide gas instead of water came out of the showers.

3. Were there gas-generating laboratories near the camps?

No, cyanide requires no lab to generate. The chemicals used to produce it are a very simple proces. You can drop one of the chemicals into sulfuric acid and generate a huge quantity. that is the process that was used here in the US when the gas chamber was the means of execution. The pan of acid was under the chair the person was strapped in and then when the chamber was sealed the capsules were dropped into the pan by a mechanical device.

4. How was the gas pumped into the camps? Through Pipes?

From what I know in most of the camps it was not pumped in, it was just detonating several cyanide grenades in the barracks, with the exception of the camp that had an elaborate shower system

5. How did the gassing take place?
See the remarks above

6. How many mass graves discovered so far?
The vast majority of bodies were cremated and the ashes dumped into huge ash pits. All of the camps had several cremation furnaces that were big. Some of the camps could cremate several hundred bodies at a time. I believe the largest pile of Human ashes is at Auswitz and weighs many tons.

7. How well Camps were sealed to prevent gas leak out?
Not very well, safety did not seem to be a concern. Cyanide dissipates quite rapidly in the air.
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7 Short+comprehensive answers are sought!
No more, No less + No link please.

On 2, 3, 4;

The gas used was hydrogen cyanide in the form of 'Zyclon B'. It was actually a commercial pesticide that had first been used at Auschwitz for vermin control. The Zyclon B used in the gas chambers was produced in the same factories as the commercial pesticide, essentially just the same stuff with the warning smell removed. It was in the form of solid crystals that reacted when exposed to air to produce the gas so was easy to transport and store in containers, and neither local manufacturing facilities, pipes or pumping were necessary other than ventilating the gas into the outside air. As Woodrow said, they weren't fussy, and outside of the closed chamber the dispersed gas was not hazardous.

Initially it was just a case of opening the canisters and sealing the doors. Later, when the large gas chambers were built, the Zyclon B was just poured into the chamber.

On 1.; there is no accurate figure for obvious reasons but the best estimate is around 3.5 to 4 million (gassed). An estimated 1.5 million were gassed at Auschwitz, as were another half million Romani, and both Polish and Soviet PoWs. On one occasion 9,000 were murdered in one day, according to the official Auschwitz records.

Thanks for the info Trumble. The depleted canisters I had as a kid looked a lot like CN/DM grenades. I just assumed they worked the same way by igniting the chemicals.

I just took a quick glance at ZyclonB, you are correct. Effective, cheap, easy to transport and store.

^^wow thats just...horrible...:X

format_quote Originally Posted by AzizMostafa

Three.5 Million Jews were gassed to death in 52 months (WWII: September 1939 - May 1945)
On the average = 3,000,000 / 52 / 31 / 24 = 77 per hour = 4 Jews were killed every 3 minutes.
Faster than making 3,000,000 passengers just get into + SAFELY out of a Virtual STNDING Train with that Capacity.
How Quick the 2Gs (Gas + German) were!

It wasn't that long, actually. It didn't start in numbers until 1941. As I said, the 'record' at Auschwitz was around 9,000 in a day. Auschwitz was one of six such camps. Hopefully maths teaching in Iran is better than the 'history' teaching.

What you need to understand is that, much as I am loathe to consider mass murder in such terms, as an 'industrial' process (which it became) death on that scale was relatively easy for the Germans. Real-estate and labour was, to all intents and purposes, free. Manufacturing of the 'facilities' involved was trivial compared with the levels of weapons production at the same time.

I have no Idea as to how many were killed and I doubt if anybody will know the exact number. But I am convinced that there were at least 2 camps that were extremely effective killing factories, Dachau and Auswitz. From the set up they were high speed high capacity facilities designed with the efficiency of any automobile factory in the world.

The simple fact that they were if designed as such, is a horror in itself even if they had not been used. It is a horror that we should never forget. History has a tendency to repeat itself if it is forgotten. Next time it can be you and me that are sent to a death camp, if we ever let our guard down and ignore the ease with which it happened.

format_quote Originally Posted by rav

Aziz, how are you from Iran and on this site when I believe I have read one of our members was in Iran and found out this site was banned. Just curious.

He's an Iraqi living in Iran, and had been teaching Arabic to Malaysian children years ago.... kay:

I've seen the Holocaust Museum in Washington D.C. featured in "5 Takes:USA" via Discovery Travel and Living channel...

I would like to go there... it's so touching...

Are there any Holocaust memorials or museums in Asia-Pacific region?