What were the gas chambers like during the Holocaust?

Answer 1

The gas chambers were mostly large rooms, holding numerous people at once...The victims were forced to undress, men, women and child alike, and given the impression that they would be taking a shower to clean off after the long train ride to the "camp" (the Nazi's called it a "work camp"). There were no windows, just overhead showers in multitude. Once inside, instead of water coming out of the showerhead, a gas would be released, killing all those inside.

Initially, Carbon Monoxide (Exhaust Gas) was used, than later on, experiments were conducted with Hydrogen Cyanide (Called Zyclon B).

Carbon Monoxide was first used in the 1930's by the Nazis in their "Euthanasia Program" - to kill those people who were mentally and/or physically handicapped, as they did not believe that those whom were impaired had a right to live and cost the "state" money. It was less expensive to kill them than to house and treat the ill.

The Nazis first experiment with Zyclon B gas were done at the Buchenwald Concentration Camp in early 1940, and it was performed on 250 Gypsy children. The first test of Zyclon B gas at Auschwitz, was done on September 3, 1941, and 600 Soviet POW's were used as the guinea pigs.

The Nazis had gas chambers in mobile vans, and in some of the Concentration Camps (Extermination Camps) there were gas chambers large enough to hold and kill upwards of 2500 people at a time; it has been reported in a journal entry that there were claw and bite marks on people and walls, from those trying to keep away from the gas, clawing and biting one another in pain and Horror.

Nobody is truly able to say what is was like in the "Gas Chamber" there, as not a single person whom entered it survived; however, you may try to imagine being forced to strip down with people you both know and love, and, complete strangers; having to remove everything, including wedding bands, watches, etc...Than being led to a large dark room, on the way meeting up with others from the opposite sex who were made to also remove all articles on themselves; forced as a herd of cattle with very young, crying children; the elderly - listening to them wail and pray to G-d for help; and those in-between, begging for the door to be opened - than the hissing of the gas is heard followed by the screams of those inside, and than the mad rush of those strong enough to try to force themselves on top of you, and/or others so that they may live a few seconds more.

When you see photographs or old newsreels of the people being liberated from the Death Camps, many seem very old...This is a testament to the difficulties they endured, as all those over the age of 45 were put to death. So the woman whom may look like your 85 year old Grandmother, is not a day over 45 at most. The man who may look like a 75 year old, may only be 30. The cruelty is something to both think about and remember, so that nothing like this happens again to anyone, anywhere.

Gas Chambers were seen as the quickest, most efficient way of exterminating the Jews in Nazi Germany, But I am certain that 20 minutes of gassing was cruel

Answer 2

There were essentially two types of gas chamber in the Holocaust. They were developed independently from each other.

The first were the gas vans, originally created for the Euthanasia of the mentally ill. The gas vans would funnel the exhaust fumes from the vans into the closed chamber of the van.

The second were developed in the camps themselves, these became purpose built chambers which would have a delivery system from a hole in the roof. The chambers were mainly of concrete painted white, they were made to look like showers, this made it easy to wash away any remnants of previous victims before the next victims arrived.

Answer 3

The gas chambers used during the Holocaust were primarily designed to look like shower rooms in order to deceive victims. Once inside, toxic gas, such as Zyklon B, was released to kill large numbers of people at once. The process was carried out with brutal efficiency as part of the Nazi regime's systematic genocide.