Arizona Plans to Use Auschwitz-Era Poison Gas in ‘Refurbished’ Execution Chamber: Report

Courtesy ABC15 Arizona/via YouTube

The state of Arizona is planning to use hydrogen cyanide, a lethal gas known as Zyklon B used by the Nazis at Auschwitz, in its own executions, according to a report in The Guardian.

“Documents obtained by The Guardian reveal that Arizona’s department of corrections has spent more than $2,000 in procuring the ingredients to make cyanide gas,” the Guardian reported Tuesday.

“It also purchased sodium hydroxide pellets and sulfuric acid which are intended to be used to generate the deadly gas,” the Guardian added.

Hydrogen cyanide gas, also known as Zyklon B, was used by Nazis in the gas chambers at Auschwitz and other Nazi concentration camps.

The use of the Nazi-era chemical gas is notable, as Arizona has recently ramped up efforts to restart executions, which have been suspended since 2014, when the botched execution of Joseph Wood by lethal injection took two hours.

The last time Arizona used the gas chamber to execute someone was in 1999. It reportedly lasted 18 minutes.

According to the Guardian, Arizona has spent $1.5 million on pentobarbital, a sedative which the state hopes to use for lethal injections. The Guardian also reported that “the gas chamber itself, built in 1949 and disused for 22 years, has been dusted off and, according to the department, ‘refurbished.’”