Auschwitz 1

Running Head: AUSCHWITZ

Bridgette Anderson
Auschwitz
Mrs. Studley
March 10, 2014











Auschwitz 1

Auschwitz

Nazi Germany established nearly twenty thousand concentration camps between 1933 and
1945. Beginning in 1933, the Nazi regime started building multiple detention facilities that would hold
what they considered to be, enemies of the state. The prisoners of the early concentration camps
were German Communists, Socialists, Social Democrats, Gypsies, Jehovahs Witnesses, Homosexuals
and people accused of deviant behavior. These camps were considered to be concentration camps
because the prisoners were physically concentrated to one location. As time went on each camp that
was then created had a specific purpose, but one thing that was similar between all camps, was that
inside each one, millions of innocent victims were being tortured. The uses for each camp were
different. Some were meant for forced- labor, while other camps were transit camps which were
temporary way stations. There were also extermination camps which were built for one sole purpose;
mass murder. (United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, 2013, 1).
Established in the suburbs of Oswiecim, by the Germans in 1940, Auschwitz quickly became a
symbol of horror, genocide and the Holocaust. Due to the mass amount of Poles that were being
arrested, and the local prisons becoming overly crowded, Auschwitz was created and meant to be
another concentration camp. It was a place for slow killings, after creating inhuman conditions and
starving of the prisoners. During 1942 to October of 1944, the camp was still mainly a concentration
camp. Its prisoners consisted of mostly Jews, Poles and Gypsies. It was the largest place for immediate
mass killings of Jews. It was all in the campaign to destroy the entire Jewish population within Europe.
The camp first consisted of twenty two prewar brick barrack buildings. After some time had passed,
Auschwitz covered around forty sq. km. More than forty camps appeared within several hundred mile
radius. During this time there were nearly 135 thousand prisoners. Thirty thousand of those prisoners
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were not registered. (Piper, 2014, 1)
Running Auschwitz, such a large camp, soon became difficult. On November 22, 1943,
Auschwitz was divided into three camps. Birkenau became the largest out of all the camps and sub
camps that made up the Auschwitz complex. Around ninety percent of all the prisoners, died at
Birkenau. Every nine out of ten of those victims were Jewish. Along with the Jews, most of the Poles
and Gypsies also spent their last days at this camp. Birkenau was first constructed in 1941, to be a
camp for one hundred and twenty five thousand prisoners of war. In March of 1942, it became the
center for extermination of the Jewish prisoners. (Piper, 2014, 1). The showers at Birkenau that the
prisoners first went through when arriving to the camp, were proven to be gas chambers. Only ten
percent of all the Jewish transports at Birkenau were shaved, showered, disinfected, registered and
then put in barracks, instead of being sent straight to the gas chambers.
In August 1942, in Birkenau, four large gassing chambers were being constructed. The first two
chambers they had were used to be mortuaries with giant crematories connected to them. The first
gas chamber opened on March 31, 1943 and the last one opened April 4, 1943. Each chamber could
hold up to 4,420 people. The prisoners that were selected had to get undressed and were then forced
into the gas chambers. It took all of twenty minutes to kill everyone inside. Chambers one and two
had the killings take place underground. Five ovens would hold the corpses that had been
electronically lifted over. Before any killings took place, gold teeth, rings and other valuables were
removed. (American-Israeli Cooperative Enterprise, 2014, 5).
In late October of 1942, Buna/Monowitz camp was opened by I. G Farben. Because it was built
on the Polish village of Monowice, they had to force those who were living there to move. The first
prisoners arrived in October and November. They came from the concentration camps of Buchenwald,
Sachsenhausen and Dachau. Some even came from the Netherlands. The camp was opened to house
Auschwitz 1

Jewish prisoners who had to do forced labor. The SS selected ten thousand men for forced labor in
Buna/Monowitz camp. These men were picked from the loads of Jews deported to Auschwitz from all
over Europe. Shortly after the men had arrived to the camp, all relatives including parents, wives and
children, were murdered. SS physicians would decide whether or not prisoners were fit for work or
not, these were called selections. They would take place when there was an increase in the amount of
sick prisoners beyond the capacity of the infirmary, or with a complaint about the work deployment
by the foreman and Meister who were dissatisfied with the prisoners work. SS physicians would look
for fat in the tissue along the buttocks and see if the prisoner had any fractions or severe altercations.
The extent of this selection would depend on the amount of newcomers or sick prisoners there was at
the camp. It didnt happen often, but prisoners could be saved if they were selected as not fit for
work, if they had exceptional occupation skills. The Meister could claim him as a virtually needed skill
worker. Those that were not fit for work would be sent straight to the gas chambers. (Wollheim
memorial, 1,3).
The camp held around 25,000 to 30,000 prisoners, and almost every one either couldnt
handle the awful rations, inadequate clothing and harsh working conditions and so they died, or they
were a victim to a selection and were sent to the gas chambers. Those that did make it were a part of
the death march, which was their final day. In 1944, over 10,000 men were confined in
Buna/Monowitz until the Red Army came in January of 1945. The Auschwitz camp complex, including
the Buna/Monowitz camp, was evacuated by the SS on January 18
th
. The prisoners were forced to take
part in a death march. Nearly 850 ill prisoners were abandoned in the camps. Many others died in the
following days. Those that survived were liberated by the Red Army on January 27, 1945. (Wollheim
memorial, 1).
Today, Holocaust museums can be found all over within the United States and Germany.
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Artifacts and information on the different concentration camps, along with stories of families and
prisoners, are displayed inside each museum. Auschwitz quickly became a symbol of horror, death and
the Holocaust. It is a known name around the world because of its big role in the Holocaust and being
such a large camp, killing the majority of Jews. The Museums now help inform people of the tragedy
and horror that took place and make sure nothing like this happens again. The Holocaust is something
that people dont particularly enjoy talking about, but it will never be forgotten.

































Auschwitz 1

References

American-Israeli Cooperative Enterprise. (2014). Auschwitz-Birkenau History and Overview.
Jewishvirtuallibrary. Retrieved March 5, 2014. From
http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Holocaust/auschbirk.html

Encyclopedia. (June 10, 2013). Nazi Camps. Ushmm. Retrieved March 5, 2014. From
http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/article.php?ModuleId=10005144


(N.d) Buna/Monowitz Concentration Camp. Wollheim-memorial. Retrieved March 5, 2014. From
http://www.wollheim-memorial.de/en/kz_bunamonowitz_en

Piper, Franciszek. (2014). Memorial and Museum. Auschwitz. Retrieved March 5, 2014. From
http://en.auschwitz.org/h/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=6&Itemid=6