kids encyclopedia robot

Zyklon-B facts for kids

Kids Encyclopedia Facts

Zyklon-B was the trade name of a chemical. It was invented to kill insects and other pests, but the Nazis used it to kill human beings during the Holocaust and captured people from Allied countries.

Invention

Fritz Haber a Polish-Jewish chemist who lived in Germany as an adult, invented Zyklon-B. Haber had won the Nobel Prize for inventing a way to make ammonia from nitrogen and hydrogen. People used the ammonia to make crop fertilizer and explosives and chemical weapons and pesticides. The Nazis later used one of these pesticides to kill their prisoners.

Images for kids

  • Fumigating and Disinfecting Team New Orleans 1939 a019946 Crop
    A fumigation team in New Orleans, 1939. Zyklon canisters are visible.
  • GiftgasAuschwitzMuseum

    Empty Zyklon B canisters found by the Allies at Auschwitz-Birkenau in 1945

  • Rudolf Höß

    Rudolf Höss at his trial in Poland, 1947

kids search engine
All content from Kiddle encyclopedia articles (including the article images and facts) can be freely used under Attribution-ShareAlike license, unless stated otherwise. Cite this article:
Zyklon-B Facts for Kids. Kiddle Encyclopedia.