.On the German side of this horror show stood Fritz Haber. Small, bald, and potbellied, he gazed across the battlefield through pince-nez glasses at his country’s enemies: the British, the French, and their dominion forces. Wrapped in a fur coat against the chill of the late April evening, the German-Jewish chemist prepared the signal. In front of him were 6,000 metal tanks containing his creation. At six in the evening, the wind was just right to put his plan into action. With his typical Virginian cigar hanging below his trimmed mustache, he gave the signal.