Zyklon B

In frame 71.1, Vladek and Art Spiegelman make a specific point of mentioning Zyklon B as the gas that was used to kill Jewish people. Vladek describes it as a "pesticide" to say that the Nazis killed Jews the same way we spray Raid on an ant colony. The connection, however, extends even further than that. After its discovery as a commercial-grade toxin around the time of Napoleonic Wars, it had been suggested that it be used to kill enemy soldiers on the battlefield. It, however, was not yet possible to mass-produce Zyklon B, also known as prussic acid. It was first used by the French in WWI to make artillery fire even more deadly. Under Hitler's rule, it was quickly adopted, partially due to the efforts of Fritz Haber, as a pesticide. It was mainly used to kill insects and mice in large spaces, hence the connection to MAUS. It was even used in concentration camps such as Auschwitz to kill mice. After succeeding as a pesticide in the camps, the Nazis began tests on people. This historical fact is the reason why Vladek and Art Spiegelman make such a mention of it as a pesticide: it was used to kill mice. In turning the Jews into mice, Spiegelman makes it seem as though they have always been the targets of the gas and are being killed in the same way animals are.Even more ironically, prussic acid was also used as a disinfectant, and Spiegelman writes "disinfection"(70.3) on the sign leading to the gas rooms rather than "showers."

A Can of Zyklon B

Sources:

http://www.nizkor.org/faqs/auschwitz/auschwitz-faq-06.html

http://www.holocaust-history.org/auschwitz/pressac/technique-and-operation/pressac0015.shtml

http://www.holocaust-history.org/auschwitz/chemistry/iffr/report.shtml