Humanity vs. Zyklon B
Type de matériel :
68
While the concept of humanity was violently rejected by the Nazi theoreticians, there was a question of more humanity in the violence perpetrated, essentially for the torturers’ benefit. The issue of the suffering of the victims was broached concerning the killing of the Jews in the gas chambers in the choice between carbon monoxide and Zyklon B and between Zyklon B with or without an irritant. A study of the case of SS Lieutenant Kurt Gerstein, who witnessed the assassination by gas of convoys of Jews at the Belzec camp in August 1942, shows the ambiguity of a man’s choices faced with acts of negation of humanity. As one of the torturers, he was necessarily a party to it. However, horrified and determined to warn the religious authorities and allies of the crime of genocide, he showed himself possessed of humanity. The same ambiguity can be observed in the technical choice of trying to "humanize" the death of the victims in a context of absolute inhumanity by the change in Zyklon B’s composition for the Auschwitz and Maà¯danek camps. The question hovers around the actor’s choice when he is faced with an action in which he participates and has the power to influence it.
Réseaux sociaux