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Tabun is the first of the three German "nerve gases." Dr. Gebhardt
Schraeder discovered the chemical ethyl dimethyl amido
phosphoro-cyanidate (or cyanodimethylaminethoxphophine
oxide) in 1936 while experimenting with organic phosphorus compounds
for weed-killers. Tabun was ten times more lethal than phosgene,
previously thought to be the deadliest of war poison gases. Most other
war gases at that time attack the respiratory system, leading to a
long, painful death. Tabun, on the other hand, attacks the central
nervous system so that the brain could no longer control the body's
functions. A few minutes after exposure to the gas means a quick
death. After much hardship, production of Tabun began at a special facility at Dyhernfurth on the Oder. The projected production was 1,000 tons per month after mid-1942. Difficulties hampered production and the total production was about 15,000 tons before the Red Army overran the factory. Nothing about the plant was heard of again and it was probably dismantled and moved to Russia in 1945. All the finished product in the factory was filled into different munitions and removed before the Russian arrival. However, at the war's end about half a million artillery shells and over 100,000 aircraft bombs filled with tabun were found in German arsenals. |