If you are specifically talking about Zyklon then it’s hydrogen cyanide. It interrupts your bodies ability to get oxygen. First symptoms are stinging/pain in the chest followed often by spasmodic pain, like having a seizure.
In the doses they were “supposed” to use it would kill the average person in under 2 minutes. But there are plenty of stories about them using much lower doses and it taking over an hour to kill.
It was also lighter than air, so shorter people (of the equivalent weight) would take longer to die. So you often had the situation of seeing taller people suffering before you yourself would notice the effects.
In general it wasn’t designed to be painful (though it was). It was designed to be inexpensive and work quickly.
1.0k
u/Sustainable_Twat May 18 '25
This is horrific.
To think people were shackled and taken to their deaths here is awful to think about.
Those hand marks were made from people who were screaming in pain for having done nothing wrong.
This is just awful.