August Becker was during the Nazi regime in Germany an SS lieutenant and chemist in the Central Reich Security Office. He helped design the vans with a gas chamber built into the back compartment used in early Nazi mass murder of Jews, including Action T4 as well as the Einsatzgruppen in the Nazi-occupied portions of the Soviet Union. Generally his role was to provide important technical support, but on at least one occasion he personally gassed about 20 people