Gas vans are trucks equipped with a mobile gas chamber, most commonly used for murder. They are well-known for their well-documented usage by Nazi Germany during the Holocaust.
That said, there are allegations that the NKVD used gas vans during the Great Purge. Wikipedia claims:
During the Great Purge, Soviet NKVD used gas vans for killing prisoners.[1]
But is this actually true? Did the NKVD really use gas vans during the Great Purge? This post will be examining the claims of NKVD gas van usage.
Sources on gas vans
When it came to Berg's participation in a conspiratorial counter-revolutionary organization, I had my doubts. But at the same time from Berg's case files and from the talks among the UNKVD MO co-workers, as well as from Berg's confessions I formed an opinion that he was one of the organizers and practical performers of the grossest violations of the socialist law [...] With his participation certain vehicles were created, the so-called dushegubki [gas vans]. In these vehicles the prisoners, those sentenced to death penalty, were transported to the place of execution and on the way were poisoned with gas... I think Berg himself admitted it during the investigation.
Question to Kharitonov: What you have told about dushegubki cannot be seen in the case files. How can you explain this?
Answer: As far as I remember, in the interrogation protocols of Berg the facts of the violation of the socialist law were represented, also recorded was his testimony about asphyxiation with gas of those sentenced to death. I remember that during one interrogation Berg admitted to having implemented the executions with the help of a car (dushegubka), explaining that he was following the orders of the UNKVD MO leadership and that without this it was impossible to implement so many shootings of prisoners who had been sentenced by three troikas at once. From the stories [that came up] during Berg's interrogations and from the talks among the UNKVD MO co-workers it was known that the execution procedure organized by Berg was ghoulish: the prisoners sentenced to death were completely undressed, tied, gagged and thrown into the car. Their property was being stolen under Berg's guidance.[3]
The problem with Kharitonov's testimony is that it's hearsay; the protocols of Berg's interrogation in 1938 no longer exist, so there is no way of proving beyond this testimony that Berg actually admitted to using gas vans.
However, just because the testimony is hearsay doesn't mean it isn't historically valuable; while direct eyewitness testimonies are stronger than hearsay reports, hearsay reports are still not totally worthless in history. This is especially the case when Kharitonov had no reason to lie.
Furthermore, if Berg did confess to this, the fact of him being tortured during his interrogation does not mean that his testimony is false. This is for 2 reasons; first off, Berg was not sentenced for using gas vans, he was sentenced for alleged counter-revolutionary activities. Secondly, and most importantly, the Soviets never forced people to confess about using gas vans of all things. They forced people to confess about claims of things like sabotage, wrecking, Trotskyism, being a foreign agent, etc; never gas vans. So if Berg did confess to this as Kharitonov claimed, he was probably telling the truth.
Testimony of Fjodor Tchesnokov
Three members of Berg's execution team were interviewed on gas vans. Witnesses Viktorov and Shinin both denied the existence of gas vans. However, witness Fjodor Tchesnokov affirmed their existence.
I know that special cars were made in order to transport prisoners to the place of execution. These cars were fitted with special plugs with the help of which one could let the gas into the body of the car. It was done for safety reasons during the transportation of prisoners to the place of execution, that is, in case of a riot in the car. Whether this method was used for pacification of the prisoners is not known to me.[4]
The problem with Tchesnokov's testimony is that it's vague; it doesn't specifically state that gas vans were used for murder. Nevertheless, it agrees that there were gas vans at Butovo firing range. And the fact that Tchesnokov was both an eyewitness and had no reason to lie about gas vans shows that his testimony is historically trustworthy, though it cannot be used in support of MURDER by gas vans, only their existence.
Archaeology of Butovo
Tomas Kizny points to archaeological excavations at Butovo showing that, of 59 corpses exhumed, only 4 were shot in the head. He therefore concludes that at least some of these corpses were gassed.[5]
Conclusion
More than likely, the Soviet allegations of gas trucks are truly based on the Soviets' own mass murder technology to which they simply added Diesel engines to make them seem more sinister and, most of all, more German.[6]
This is just ridiculous. The evidence is completely insufficient to claim that use of gas vans was WIDESPREAD among the NKVD. There are no documents about gas vans, nor are there any direct eyewitness testimonies describing murder. The evidence barely exists to even declare Soviet gas vans a historical fact (but it nevertheless exists).
This is especially true in the fact that Fritz cited a TV documentary where a former KGB officer says that gas vans were used at Butovo by Isai Berg. To him, one statement by a guy in a TV documentary is enough evidence to prove that Soviet gas vans not only existed but were widespread. Yet he ignores the overwhelming evidence proving that Nazi gas vans were used during the Holocaust beyond any doubt. Sergey Romanov excellently exposed the ridiculous hypocrisy of deniers on gas vans in one of his blog posts.
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