Zyklon B....Smells Like Almonds?

[Robert Barrett]

This is my first post here. I have been reading this forum for months. I have read many times that people said that the smell of the killing gas (Zyklon B) smelled like almonds. I know that cyanide gas kills "people" almost instantly. How could they really know what it smelt like? I know they did smell it. Did it make some people sick? Did some people die from over exposier to this almond smell?

[Scott Smith]

This is my first post here. I have been reading this forum for months. I have read many times that people said that the smell of the killing gas (Zyklon B) smelled like almonds. I know that cyanide gas kills "people" almost instantly. How could they really know what it smelt like? I know they did smell it. Did it make some people sick? Did some people die from over exposier to this almond smell?

If the person was a Survivor then I would question the story. Everybody knows that cyanide smells like bitter almonds, so this is an "observation" easy to invent.

I have made HCN vapor by mixing sodium cyanide with sulphuric acid, and I can confirm that it smells kind of like musty straw and maybe a little like fresh peach pits broken open rather than almonds, at least to me. I paid for this adventure with some nausea and a headache but I slept it off later with no problem. This was in the days when precocious schoolkids were allowed unsupervised access to the chemistry lab. I've also made chlorine gas and a lot of other fun things. The 8th Grade Rocket Club was especially fun, as our "rocket motors" were homemade and seldom did anything but blow-up.

[Hans]

Robert Barrett,

I've deleted your double posting and your apology for it.

[Hans]

If the person was a Survivor then I would question the story.
....
I have made HCN vapor by mixing sodium cyanide with sulphuric acid, and I can confirm that it smells kind of like musty straw and maybe a little like fresh peach pits broken open rather than almonds, at least to me.

So you are actually a Surviver of HCN treatment. Then I should question your story!

[Roberto]

If the person was a Survivor then I would question the story. Everybody knows that cyanide smells like bitter almonds, so this is an "observation" easy to invent.

Whoever on this forum knew what "everybody knows" before reading it in the above quoted passage, please raise your hand.

[Scott Smith]

If the person was a Survivor then I would question the story.
....
I have made HCN vapor by mixing sodium cyanide with sulphuric acid, and I can confirm that it smells kind of like musty straw and maybe a little like fresh peach pits broken open rather than almonds, at least to me.

So you are actually a Surviver of HCN treatment. Then I should question your story!

I'm a survivor of HCN-sniffing but not a Survivor (as in Holo-Survivor, professional or otherwise).

[Scott Smith]

If the person was a Survivor then I would question the story. Everybody knows that cyanide smells like bitter almonds, so this is an "observation" easy to invent.

Whoever on this forum knew what "everybody knows" before reading it in the above quoted passage, please raise your hand.

Everybody but you, it seems! Just crank open an encyclopedia and look it up.

[Roberto]

If the person was a Survivor then I would question the story. Everybody knows that cyanide smells like bitter almonds, so this is an "observation" easy to invent.

Whoever on this forum knew what "everybody knows" before reading it in the above quoted passage, please raise your hand.

Everybody but you, it seems!

Whence does Smith draw a conclusion that none of our fellow posters has so far stepped forward to confirm?

Just crank open an encyclopedia and look it up.

And what makes him think that witnesses to the smell in the 1940s necessarily had encyclopedic knowledge?

[Scott Smith]

Just crank open an encyclopedia and look it up.

And what makes him think that witnesses to the smell in the 1940s necessarily had encyclopedic knowledge?

They don't need it. That's what encyclopedias are for.

Furthermore, it was widely-known that the common insecticide Zyklon-B was cyanide-based. Some 25 million were deloused with it alone who rode the rails during the war. What Zyklon-B smelled like is not so uncommon.

It was also commonly known that executions of death sentences carried out in American prisons used cyanide gas, and the proverbial "smell of bitter almonds" is a staple cliche.

[Roberto]

Just crank open an encyclopedia and look it up.

And what makes him think that witnesses to the smell in the 1940s necessarily had encyclopedic knowledge?

They don't need it. That's what encyclopedias are for.

Another of Smith's meaningless platitudes.

What exactly is the poet trying to tell us?

[Furthermore, it was widely-known that the common insecticide Zyklon-B was cyanide-based. Some 25 million were deloused with it alone who rode the rails during the war. what Zyklon-B smelled like is not so uncommon.

To those who underwent a delousing procedure - mainly German military personnel, IIRC.

It was also commonly known that executions of death sentences carried out in American prisons used cyanide gas, and the proverbial "smell of bitter almonds" is a staple cliche.

Again, whoever among our audience has been previously familiar with that "staple cliche" is invited to step forward.

Smith's objections are moot anyway for a very simple reason: the fact that a given detail in a given deposition could have been made up does not mean that it was made up.

For the latter the "skeptic" will have to provide stronger indications than "they could have known it from this and that other source" - a meaningless contention that can be applied to most statements in most depositions about most events.

[Scott Smith]

Furthermore, it was widely-known that the common insecticide Zyklon-B was cyanide-based. Some 25 million were deloused with it alone who rode the rails during the war. what Zyklon-B smelled like is not so uncommon.

To those who underwent a delousing procedure - mainly German military personnel, IIRC.

No, everybody who rode the trains to Germany from Eastern Europe.

Again, whoever among our audience has been previously familiar with that "staple cliche" is invited to step forward.

Ever read an American detective novel or watched much Perry Mason, counsellor?

Smith's objections are moot anyway for a very simple reason: the fact that a given detail in a given deposition could have been made up does not mean that it was made up.

For the latter the "skeptic" will have to provide stronger indications than "they could have known it from this and that other source" - a meaningless contention that can be applied to most statements in most depositions about most events.

Anytime cliches are used in testimony the possibility that this is not an original source is there.

For example, I didn't describe it as "bitter almonds" exactly. Perhaps I don't have any experience with "bitter almonds" just holiday nuts. It smelled more like "musty straw" to me with a little "green peach"scent. Also, I did not see any discernable color in the mist.

Of course, I could be lying.

[Roberto]

Furthermore, it was widely-known that the common insecticide Zyklon-B was cyanide-based. Some 25 million were deloused with it alone who rode the rails during the war. what Zyklon-B smelled like is not so uncommon.

To those who underwent a delousing procedure - mainly German military personnel, IIRC.

No, everybody who rode the trains to Germany from Eastern Europe.

And so?

Again, whoever among our audience has been previously familiar with that "staple cliche" is invited to step forward.

Ever read an American detective novel or watched much Perry Mason, counsellor?

Trying to substitute arguments with bullshit, Smith?

Smith's objections are moot anyway for a very simple reason: the fact that a given detail in a given deposition could have been made up does not mean that it was made up.

For the latter the "skeptic" will have to provide stronger indications than "they could have known it from this and that other source" - a meaningless contention that can be applied to most statements in most depositions about most events.

Anytime cliches are used in testimony the possibility that this is not an original source is there.

Lots of things in this world are theoretically possible, my dear boy.

Which is why a mere theoretical possibility not supported by concrete indications is meaningless.

[Robert Barrett]

"Everybody knows that cyanide smells like bitter almonds"



Everyboby knows? I may be wrong but the only time I have ever heard or read about cyanide gas smelling like almonds is when reading about the holocaust. I'm not saying it doesn't smell like almonds. I'm just wondering how a survivor could consistantly smell this almond odor and still survive. Maybe the odor is not the actual gas itself?



Rob

[Dan]

Robert, since Scott is more well-read than average, he can perhaps be excused this time. Anyone who reads mystery novels or who is forced to watch mystery shows on TV by his wife and mother, as was the case with me, knows that cyanide is immediately suspect when the smell of bitter almonds is detected. To devotees of this and other related genres, including WW2 spy stories, this is indeed common knowledge.

Regards.

[Hans]

Rob,

can you quote from these surviver testimonies or do you remember their names?