Methods of Mass Destruction
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“Bread, soup – these were my whole life I was a body. Perhaps less than that even: a starved stomach. The stomach alone was aware of the passage of time.” Remarked by Elie Wiesel, in his novel Night (Good reads). The Holocaust is the term that describes the murder of six million Jews, put together by the Nazis, a party in Europe during World War II. The Holocaust was the exterminating people, not for who they were, but for what they were. Jews were the primary victims during this horrific time, but also five million others lost their lives during this time. During the period of 1941-1945 industrial plants were used to kill people (Holocaust Education). Extermination camps were established so Nazis could carry out their mass destruction of Jews. Inside and outside of these extermination camps thousands of Jews faced horrific deaths such as, mass shootings, gas chambers, starvation, gas trunks, and by a curious man named Dr. Josef Mengele.
The first method of murder was mass shootings, killing around one and a half million Jews. The Nazis were on a mission to prove an effective way of killing off all Jews. Their first solution was mass shootings. The Jews were captured or arrested and taken to the Krepieck forest. There the Nazis forced the Jews to dig their own grave. Digging graves was intensive work. They dug each grave for three days and nights in two shifts of one hundred and fifty people. Each grave was more than two meters deep, zigzag shaped, and about one hundred meters long (Krepieck Forest). After a torturing three days of hard work, Jews were lined around the graves and shot so that they would fall into the grave. Many of the people placed in charge of the shootings faced emotional issues. This then led to the discovery of more cruel methods of mass destruction. “Every Human being has his own fate.” Remarked by Moshe the beadle, in the novel Night (Yahoo answers).Moshe the beadle said this to show that not everyone was going to die the same way, but they all have a gate they will enter when they reach heaven.
The Nazis used the most horrific methods of murder on Jew, Gypsies, and other “undesirables.” Other deadly methods were gas chambers and gas trucks. This was by far the most effective killing method (Holocaust education). The procedure for these deadly methods was forcing Jews into a compact concrete room or an automobile. The Nazis then injected the air with deadly gases called, Zyklon B and Carbon Monoxide. Zyklon B, a poisonous gas, was poured through openings of the gas chambers, and trickled down over the people. Carbon Monoxide was injected into the chambers and trucks suffocating and smothering the people who inhaled the chemical.
Zyklon B is a powerful insecticide which serves as a carrier for Hydrocyanic acid, or HCN (The Nizkor Project). The chemical HCN comes in the shape of small pellets or disks (The Nizkor Project). This particular chemical in Zyklon B was the cause of death of many people placed in the gas chambers. The Germans were highly experienced with HCN, which made is easier for them to combine it with Zyklon B. When combined with Zyklon B death was swift (The Nizkor Project). The poisonous gas interferes with cellular respiration. It prevents the cell from producing ATP, which binds to one of the proteins involved in the electron transport chain (Science Daily). In simpler terms ATP is incorporated into nucleic acids, to help aid in DNA replication (Science Daily). Without DNA replication cells are not able to reproduce, eventually killing you.
When the Nazi placed people in gas chambers of gas tucks they breathed in a chemical called Carbon Monoxide. Carbon Monoxide is a colorless, odorless gas. It is produced by burning material containing carbon. Carbon Monoxide causes brain damage and death. Carbon Monoxide decreases the oxygen carrying capacity of the blood; therefore red blood cells are not able to transport oxygen (Carbon Monoxide). It binds to the hem protein myoglobin. When bound to this protein it impairs its ability to use oxygen, which then leads to less cardiac output and causes brain ischemia (JRSM).
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