Auschwitz

Arbeit macht frei

It is a German phrase that can be translated as Work liberatos or work makes one free.
The slogan is well-known for being displayed at the entrances to a number of Nazi
concentration camps, including the most famous Auschwitz, where it was made into
metalwork by prisoners. skills and erected by order of the Nazis in June 1940.

The next photo is a gate to the Auschwitz I concentration camp complex in

the town of Auschwitz, Poland. (Auschwitz means Auschwitz in German). The inscription
Auschwitz is means "Work brings freedom" and was installed above the entrance by
Rudolf Hess, the first commandant and chief architect of the camp. This is actually a smaller
part of the overall complex, the larger one is Birkenau, which is not far away. The camp
operated from 1940 to 1945, when it was abandoned with the approach of the Soviet army.
Through this gate thousands of prisoners passed daily, going to slave labor and death

What does Auschwitz mean? This is the German name for the Polish city of Auschwitz near
Krakow, where the camp was located. The initial reason for the creation of the camp was
the mass arrests of Poles following the seizure of their country, which became uncontrolled
by ordinary prisons. In 1942, it became one of the largest death camps as part of Hitler's
"Final Solution"
All over the world, Auschwitz has become a symbol of terror, genocide, and the Holocaust. It was
established by Germans in 1940, in the suburbs of Oswiecim, a Polish city that was annexed to the
Third Reich by the Nazis.

What exactly was Auschwitz? Auschwitz was the largest concentration camp established by
the Germans during World War II. More than a million people, the vast majority of them
Jews, died there between 1940, when it was built, and 1945, when it was liberated

How did they die? When the war began, Hitler's Nazi regime intended to exterminate all
Jews in Europe, some nine million people. After experimenting with different methods, they
settled on gas chambers as the most effective. Auschwitz had four large gas chambers in
which people were poisoned with a gas called Zyklon-B. When the prisoners arrived at
Auschwitz, the guards selected those who looked fit for work, and the rest - children, the
elderly, anyone who looked weak - were sent straight to the gas chambers. MAC ER Those
who passed the selection had their heads shaved and their arm numbers tattooed. They
were given striped prison clothes and set to work. Prisoners also died of malnutrition and
disease due to the brutal conditions in the camp, and were shot by guards for any or no
reason. The average life expectancy of those who survived the selection was several
months. The Nazis also conducted quasi-medical "experiments" on prisoners, including
children. Many died as a result of inhumane tests of their endurance, exposure to heat or
cold, and forced sterilization
Auschwitz Today Select each of the images above and read the story behind them.
Auschwitz-Birkenau is now a museum of the Polish Ministry of Culture and a UNESCO World
Heritage Site. Auschwitz, or Oświęcim, is a small town, Birkenau or Brzezinka, a large village.
Outside the gates of the camp, life continues as usual. Inside, the museum is taking steps to
preserve what it controls - to keep the crematoria from completely falling apart, and to stop
the rotting of thousands of victims' shoes and piles of hair

How did they die? When the war began, Hitler's Nazi regime intended to exterminate all
Jews in Europe, some nine million people. After experimenting with different methods, they
settled on gas chambers as the most effective. Auschwitz had four large gas chambers in
which people were poisoned with a gas called Zyklon-B. When the prisoners arrived at
Auschwitz, the guards selected those who looked fit for work, and the rest - children, the
elderly, anyone who looked weak - were sent straight to the gas chambers. MAC ER Those
who passed the selection had their heads shaved and their arm numbers tattooed. They
were given striped prison clothes and set to work. Prisoners also died of malnutrition and
disease due to the brutal conditions in the camp, and were shot by guards for any or no
reason. The average life expectancy of those who survived the selection was several
months. The Nazis also conducted quasi-medical "experiments" on prisoners, including
children. Many died as a result of inhumane tests of their endurance, exposure to heat or
cold, and forced sterilization

What does Auschwitz mean? This is the German name for the Polish city of Auschwitz near
Krakow, where the camp was located. The initial reason for the creation of the camp was
the mass arrests of Poles following the seizure of their country, which became uncontrolled
by ordinary prisons. In 1942, it became one of the largest death camps as part of Hitler's
"Final Solution"
14:10
Auschwitz Today Select each of the images above and read the story behind them.
Auschwitz-Birkenau is now a museum of the Polish Ministry of Culture and a UNESCO World
Heritage Site. Auschwitz, or Oświęcim, is a small town, Birkenau or Brzezinka, a large village.
Outside the gates of the camp, life continues as usual. Inside, the museum is taking steps to
preserve what it controls - to keep the crematoria from completely falling apart, and to stop
the rotting of thousands of victims' shoes and piles of hair
14:11
Possession Little was spent in Auschwitz. Victims' possessions were confiscated and
efficiently sorted for recycling. Gold teeth were especially highly valued. Human hair was
cut and used to stuff mattresses. Glasses, shoes, clothes, suitcases and even artificial limbs
accumulated in large quantities
14:16
trial Two commanders of Auschwitz were tried and executed in Poland in 1947. Another was
arrested near Hamburg in 1960 and died in prison three years later. The trial in this photo
took place between December 1963 and August 1965. The testimony of the accused, mostly
lower-level assistants to the camp chiefs, and survivors provided a detailed and horrific
picture of the daily routine of Auschwitz and the mechanism of the genocide
14:18
barracks
Living conditions in the camp were extremely difficult. Prisoners slept several to a bed - and
the beds were solid wooden bunks. Prisoners huddled together to keep warm in the winter
and withstand the heat in the summer
The barracks of Auschwitz II were originally designed to serve as stables for horses.
It wasn’t a problem for the camp authorities.
Aimed to accommodate for 400 prisoners, they were reported to house as many as 2,000 per
a barrack at the end of 1944.
In the Auschwitz photos we can see the horrific conditions inside their cramped
interiors. The presence of lice and illnesses, hunger and mental breakdowns all around the
place.

14:21
The next photo is a gate to the Auschwitz I concentration camp complex in the town of
Auschwitz, Poland. (Auschwitz means Auschwitz in German). The inscription means "Work
brings freedom" and was installed above the entrance by Rudolf Hess, the first commandant
and chief architect of the camp. This is actually a smaller part of the overall complex, the
larger one is Birkenau, which is not far away. The camp operated from 1940 to 1945, when
it was abandoned with the approach of the Soviet army. Through this gate thousands of
prisoners passed daily, going to slave labor and death
14:25
In the next photo, the entrance to the crematorium of the Auschwitz I concentration camp
complex. This building was a former bunker of the Polish army, which the Germans turned
into a crematorium. The interior of the building was destroyed by the Nazis before
evacuating the camp as the Soviet army approached
14:29
The next photo shows a collection of glasses confiscated from prisoners upon their arrival at
the Auschwitz concentration camp complex. These glasses were modified for use by the
Germans during World War II

The piles of shoes, glasses, toys, false teeth and luggages – all of these
remains on display within Auschwitz exhibitions up to this date.

14:31
The next photo shows a pile of empty Zyklon B gas cylinders that were found when the camp
was liberated by the Soviet Army in 1945. According to the commandant of the camp,
Rudolf Hess, five or six cylinders of gas could kill 1,500 people. Zyklon B is an insecticide that
was first tested on 900 Soviet prisoners of war. Hess wanted to find a method of mass
murder that would not cause psychological damage to the SS. The use of machine guns led
to suicides and drunkenness among the SS, so according to Hess, killing prisoners with the
"Zyklon B" was an impersonal and easier way to kill
14:32
The following photo shows the mountain of shoes that were confiscated from children when
they arrived at the Auschwitz concentration camp complex. Children under the age of 16
were immediately sent to death in the gas chambers by the SS upon arrival at the camp.
These shoes remained when the camp was liberated by the Soviet army in 1945
14:33