GAS CHAMBER

method of executing condemned prisoners by lethal gas. It was first used in the U.S. state of Nevada in 1924 in an effort to provide a more humane form of capital punishment. The prisoner is strapped in a chair in a sealed chamber in which poisonous fumes, such as cyanide, are released. If the prisoner breathes deeply, death is almost instantaneous and painless. By the second half of the 20th century, 11 U.S. states had adopted the gas chamber as the method of execution. During the Holocaust (q.v.) in Nazi Germany during World War II, gas chambers were employed for the purpose of killing Jews and other unwanted minorities. They were established at concentration camps and usually disguised as bathhouses. Men, women, and children were herded naked into the chambers after being told that they were going to take showers. The doors were closed, and poison gas was injected.