Hey everyone! It's Gabby. ♥ So, because Elie Wiesel was forced to go to Auschwitz, I decided to do some research on that. So here we go;
Auschwitz was basically a network of concentration and extermination camps built in Poland by Nazi Germany during the World War II. It was the largest of the German concentration camps. In fact, it was so large that is had three parts; Auschwitz I (the Stammlager or main camp); Auschwitz II-Birkenau (the Vernichtungslager or extermination camp); Auschwitz III-Monowitz, also known as Buna, the labor camp. It is estimated that 1.1 million people were killed that this camp alone. I will now write about each part. :)
Auschwitz I (the main camp): The site for the camp included 16 one-story buildings, and had previously served as an army barracks. Over the main gate of Auschwitz I stood the sign "Arbeit Macht Frei" ("Work Makes One Free"). I think this is pretty ironic, seeing as how, once you were brought to Auschwitz you were never free. Auschwitz I camp received its first prisoners on June 14, 1940. In February 1942, the first known transport of prisoners which was composed entirely of Jews arrived at Auschwitz. Even though Auschwitz II was the main extermination camp, Auschwitz I still had killing centers, gassing chambers, and cremation ovens. There were very harsh working requirements, and because of this, many died. To punish those who broke rules, Auschwitx I included "standing cells," cells which were about 1.5 m2 (16 sq ft). Four men would be placed in them at once, and they could do nothing but stand during the night. During the day, they were forced to work with the other prisoners. Then there were "dark cells." These cells had only a very tiny window, and a solid door. Prisoners placed in these cells would gradually suffocate because eventually they would use up all of the oxygen in the cell. Sometimes the SS would light a candle in the cell to use up the oxygen more quickly. Many of the prisoners were subjected to hanging with their hands behind their backs, which dislocated their shoulder joints, for hours or even days. On September 3, 1941, deputy camp commandant, SS-Hauptsturmführer Fritzsch, experimented on 600 Russians and 250 Polish inmates in Auschwitz I by cramming them into the basement and gassing them with Zyklon B, which is a highly lethal cyanide-based pesticide. This led to the creation of gas chambers.
OK GUYS this entry is pretty long, so I'll make a seperate one for Auschwitz II and Auschwitz III. Please read those as well.
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wow that is a lot of info! I did not know that there were three different Auschwitz camps. It's terrible that four men had to share one small room and were forced to stand during the night since there was barely any room for any of them. I can only imagine how uncomfortable it was for the prisoners. These camps really did have harsh conditions that the prisoners had to face, including being put in dark cells and gas chambers.
ReplyDeleteSo the second camp was for extermination, the third was for mostly labor, and the first (the main camp) was both? Also, when you talk about the small cells that they were forced to stand in, it reminds me of the "Chokey", from Matilda...
ReplyDeleteAnd now it makes so much more sense, because I remember Eliezer moving around from camp to camp, but he was still in Auschwitz, and that was hard to understand, so thanks for clarifying Gabby :] I also remember Eliezer noticing the sign that said, "Arbeit Macht Frei", and I thought it was very misleading when I read it.
I always thought that they used gas chambers the whole time, I had no idea they found out you could kill the prisoners by putting them in gas chambers, by experimenting on the prisoners first.
I didn't know they had three camps either and they had a specific job for each, but 1.1 million dead!! Wow that is a large number. Were the camps far from each other because I remember when they were sent to go to another camp they had to walk/run for a long amount of time?
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