Euthanasia During The Holocaust

During the twentieth century, one of the most well-known and devastating events occurred in history. From 1933 to 1945, a mass genocide on the Jewish people took place. This historical event was known as the Holocaust. A group called the Nazis had a belief that the German people were perfect and almighty. They considered the Jewish people to be inferior and required them to be exterminated. Jews were imprisoned in concentration camps and were slaughtered in the gas chambers. What started it al1 was in late 1939, when the Nazis began experimenting with poison gas and mental patients were their lab rats. The success of their experiments led to them practicing “euthanasia”. “Euthanasia” referred to “the systematic killing of those Germans whom the Nazis deemed "unworthy of life" because of mental illness or physical disability.” (United States Holocaust Memorial Museum par.1). The first six gassing chambers were installed in different camps as part of their Euthanasia Program. From there, gassing operations took off. Millions of Jews fell victims to these chambers. The sole creation of the gas chambers during the Holocaust, served to commit a mass extermination of prisoners with little effort and organization. Also, these chambers were practical and beneficial to the many concentration camps. A typical gassing in the Holocaust was a disturbing sight to be seen. Filip Muller, a member of the Sonderkommando, described the process …show more content…
Some of the larger chambers can hold up to 2000 to 3000 people (more if necessary). The gas used in the chambers is known as Zyklon-B and is lethal. About five to six canisters of Zyklon-B crystal can eradicate around 2000 people. The prisoners that were gassed were usually, the sick, the cripple, mothers of children, children, and pregnant women. After a gassing, the doors of the chambers were not opened until 30 minutes after. Therefore, death was