Gas Mask – History of Sorts

Recently I heard this bizarre debate on how humane the killing with Zyklon B was. It was so much better then being executed. Fortunately the site where this was debated on was taken down ,unfortunately I didn’t take note of the names.

In case if any one is wondering if the killing with Zyklon B gas was humane, let me please destroy that notion. Firstly it wasn’t an instant death, there were some instance where it would take up to 30 minutes to die from it in a very painful way.

The picture above shows 2 soldiers demonstrating how to avoid the leaking of Zyklon B from the gas chambers by applying mud and loam soil to the chinks of the door.

You can also see they are wearing Gas masks. These are not German soldiers but Soviet soldiers after the liberation by the Soviet army in July 1944. Demonstrating how to avoid the leaking, the fact that they had to wear a gas mask while they were outside of the gas chambers says enough.

Donation

I am passionate about my site and I know you all like reading my blogs. I have been doing this at no cost and will continue to do so. All I ask is for a voluntary donation of $2, however if you are not in a position to do so I can fully understand, maybe next time then. Thank you. To donate click on the credit/debit card icon of the card you will use. If you want to donate more then $2 just add a higher number in the box left from the PayPal link. Many thanks.

$2.00

18ru5trl1dwkejpg

It was January 7,1942, just about a month after the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor. Fearing imminent chemical attack on American soil, the government issued thousands of gas mask to civilians. But the smallest citizens couldn’t fit into the regulation-sized masks. They were too heavy and too big. Plus, aren’t those things scary?

18ru65lrtrtgejpg

The production of the Disney gas masks began in 1942, a month after the Japan surprised Americans and attacked Pearl Harbor.

The Sun Rubber Company produced approximately 1,000 Mickey Mouse gas masks with the company’s designer Dietrich Rempel and Disney’s stamp of approval, Walk notes in his essay.

The Sun Rubber Company’s war efforts earned them an Army-Navy ‘E’ rating for excellence in wartime production in 1944.

The protection of children during WWII against chemical warfare produced efforts to make child-friendly gas masks in other countries as well.

18ru6byn7t1j3jpg

The United Kingdom also manufactured Mickey Mouse gas masks, although they were not designed to look like the popular cartoon character.

The British version is just a blue and red gas mask but, the name was retained for the product as part of the game designed to entice children to wear it.

2017-08-12 (1)

As no chemical warfare ever befell the United States, many of the gas masks were distributed to senior war officials at the end of the war as keepsakes or simply vanished over time, the gas masks were handed to senior officials and others as mere keepsakes.