Auschwitz – Zyklon B tin

This Zyklon B tin was used in concentration camp Auschwitz and Majdanek which used to contain the poisonous gas Zyklon B that was used in the concentration camps to gas the prisoners.

This tin was produced by the producer Degesch and contained 1600 grams of Zyklon B.
Degesch (Deutsche Gesellschaft für Schädlingsbekämpfung) produced chemical pesticides against weeds and vermin and was originally founded in 1919.

Because IG-Farben owned part of the shares of Degesch, they obtained the patent on Zyklon B and during the war they supplied the Wehrmacht and the SS.
Initially the Zyklon B was used to delouse the clothes of prisoners and to combat typhoid fever, but from September 1941 experiments were carried out in concentration camp Auschwitz by gassing prisoners with Zyklon B.

The substance Zyklon B consisted of granules with hydrogen cyanide (prussic acid), a stabilizer and a warning fragrance ethyl bromoacetate.
The granules, as soon as they are exposed to the open air, give off the hydrocyanic acid as vapour.
Initially, the poison contained a warning substance, but the Germans ordered the company Degesch to remove it. 

The tins were delivered in wooden crates and transported to the gas chamber in a metal box with four locks.
What few people know is that the cans who were also used by the Wehrmacht for delousing or used in the civilian sector are identical.