Folk gas mask
The people's gas mask was a principle developed in several countries during the Second World War , which provided for large parts of the civilian population to be supplied with gas masks . This should reduce the effects of the possible use of chemical weapons in the bombing of settlements. The people's gas masks were in most cases less effective than the military variants, but could be produced more quickly and more cheaply.
German Empire
The German “people's gas mask” from Drägerwerke , which also operated under this name, was a hood-like construction that encompassed most of the head. It had two separate sight glasses and a round, screw-on filter. The mask was issued to the population from July 1937. It was intended to be used for a maximum of 20 minutes ( five minutes against phosgene ), depending on the warfare agent , and was primarily intended to enable the porters to escape from the endangered area. Almost 45 million people's gas masks had been produced by the end of the war. In the enclosed instructions for use it said: "Take care of your people's gas mask even better than your clothing, because it should save your life if necessary!"
literature
- Christine Klusacek, Herbert Steiner, Kurt Stimmer: Documentation on Austrian Contemporary History, 1938–1945 , p. 68
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ German people's gas mask with filter and original packaging, around 1940 , Technisches Museum Wien , technischesmuseum.at. accessed on January 9, 2019