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Eichmann Personally Responsible for Oas Chambers, Documents Reveal

October 12, 1960
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Adolf Eichmann was personally responsible for installation of the gas chambers in which millions of European Jews were slaughtered, according to two documents prepared by the Center of Contemporary Jewish Documentation published here today.

One of the documents revealed that an SS officer named Guentner, one of Eichmann’s personal assistants, ordered the start of experiments in June 1942, with prussic acid, to “liquidate” Jews.

Eichmarn personally proposed this system to his superiors, and designated camps in the Riga and Minsk areas for the initial experiments. The first one was performed in Chelmo, where ten gas chambers were set up in 1941, according to the documents.

The French newspaper, Figaro, began publication today of a series of articles on the background of the forthcoming trial of Eichmann in Israel, including the new documents. L’Aurore, a mass circulation newspaper, also began a similar series.

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