Case of cyanide poisoning of student in suicide / properties of HCN

[Lamprecht]

According to various "eyewitness" testimonies of homicidal gas chambers using Zyklon-B at Auschwitz, after thousands of jews were gassed with this substance, the chambers were ventilated for just a few minutes and the "sonderkommando" went in and pulled out the bodies for cremation. In many cases they make no mention of wearing protective gloves or gear such as gas masks. What we know about hydrogen cyanide (HCN, the pesticide that slowly evaporates from Zyklon-B) is that it has an affinity to strongly adhere to surfaces, and is easily absorbed in the skin. Not only that, the cyanide gases slowly evaporate for hours or days from whatever object (or person, in this case) that they cling to. More can be read about this in Germar Rudolf's book "The Chemistry of Auschwitz" pages 23-27 in the recommended links below.

In 1998, the Los Angeles Times reported the following story about a student who committed suicide by orally ingesting potassium cyanide:

9 Hurt After Student’s Apparent Suicide by Cyanide

Toxic fumes produced when a college student from Orange County died of an apparent suicide Monday forced the evacuation of an Iowa dormitory and the hospitalization of nine people, authorities said.

Carl T. Grimm, 20, a sophomore from Placentia, ingested potassium cyanide about 7:30 a.m. in his dormitory room at Grinnell College, a private liberal arts school about 50 miles east of Des Moines, Iowa, Grinnell Fire Chief Jerry Barns said.

Four paramedics who responded to the call at Younkers Hall came in contact with fumes from the poison, as did two college staff members and three other students.

Grimm was taken to Grinnell Regional Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead.
...
The others who became ill on the Iowa campus were treated and released from the hospital.

“When potassium cyanide is mixed with water or mixed with acid, it creates hydrogen cyanide gas, which is quite toxic. Eighty percent of the body is made of water,” said Mickey Munley, the college’s director of public relations.

Potassium cyanide is a respiratory poison that prevents oxygen from reaching the cells. When ingested, it causes death almost immediately.

Firefighters sent to the dormitory evacuated the three-story structure until the Des Moines Hazardous Materials Unit arrived to ventilate the building.

https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm ... story.html or https://archive.is/aac7C

A gas mask alone is not necessarily even sufficient, as the poison can absorb into your skin especially if you are sweating. I don't think these "Sonderkommando" would have survived pulling out even one batch of gassed prisoners from the poorly ventilated "homicidal gas chamber" without gear covering all of their exposed skin.

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Recommended:

The Chemistry of Auschwitz
Book: https://holocausthandbooks.com/dl/02-tcoa.pdf
Video: https://codoh.com/library/document/4730/

Cyanide Chemistry at Auschwitz
viewtopic.php?f=2&t=4111

Pressac’s Solution – Gas Chamber Ventilation
viewtopic.php?t=5493#p92090

Auschwitz: Eyewitness Reports and Perpetrator Confessions of the Holocaust—30 Gas-Chamber Witnesses Scrutinized
viewtopic.php?t=12621

Infographic debunking the Auschwitz gassings
viewtopic.php?t=12736