The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich: A History of Nazi Germany

by William L. Shirer

the gas vans, he went on to complain, was a “great ordeal” for the members of the Einsatzgruppen. This was confirmed by a certain Dr. Becker, whom Ohlendorf identified as the constructor of the vans, in a document produced at Nuremberg. In a letter to headquarters Dr. Becker objected to German S.D. men having to unload the corpses of the gassed women and children, calling attention to the immense psychological injuries and damage to their health which that work can have for these men. They complained to me about headaches which appeared after each unloading. Dr. Becker also pointed out to his superiors that the application of gas usually is not undertaken correctly. In order to come to an end as fast as possible, the driver presses the accelerator to the fullest extent. The persons to be executed suffer death from suffocation and not death by dozing off, as was planned. Dr. Becker was quite a humanitarian—in his own mind—and ordered a change in