-This picture was taken of Auschwitz camp in January 1945. This picture was taken immediately after it was liberated. This picture is a view of the camp's double, electrified, barbed wire fence and barracks.Which killed a lot of people who tried to escape from Auschwitz. A quote was said by Witold Pilecki about Auschwitz was "During the first 3 years at Auschwitz, 2 million people died; over the next 2 years - 3 million." Which just shows how many people died at Auschwitz alone in a 5 year timeline. This picture is in the Philip Vock Collection.
The Auschwitz camp was built near Oswiecim, Poland on April 27, 1940. Auschwitz camp included three large camps and 45 sub-camps. Auschwitz I was the original camp that housed prisoners, was the location of medical experiments, and the house of Block 11 and the Black wall. The Nazi staff stayed at this camp. Auschwitz II (or "Birkenau") was the real killing center of the Auschwitz death camp. It was located 1.9 miles from Auschwitz I. This is where the people were lined up on the ramp into two separate lines. One line usually consisted of women, children, older men, and those that looked unfit or unhealthy. These people were often taken to the gas chambers. The other line consisted of mostly of the young men and others that looked strong enough to work. These people would become prisoners of the camp. It was much larger than Auschwitz I. This is where most of the prisoners where housed including the women and gypsies. Auschwitz III was the last camp built to house the forced laborers at the Buna synthetic rubber factory in Monowitz. The other 45 sub-camps also housed prisoners. These prisoner also were used for forced labor.
The prisoners in the Auschwitz camp consisted of Jews, Gypsies (Roma), homosexuals, criminals, and prisoners of war. The living quarters were horrible. The prisoners were required to sleep three people per wooden bunk. They toilets were just buckets that were often overflowing by the morning. Every morning, rain or shine, hot or cold, their was a role call. Sometimes they would stand there for hours. After roll call, they would have to march to the place they would work at that day. Some prisoners worked hard labor and others worked at factories. After a hard day at work, they would march back to the camp for another roll call. The prisoners were not given much food. They were given a bowl of soup and some bread. They would intentionally work and starve the people to death.
In late 1944, when the Nazis realized the Russians were getting closer they started to destroy evidence of the horrible events that took place at the Auschwitz camp. Himmler actually ordered the destruction of the crematoria. The human ashes were buried in huge pits and covered with grass and the warehouses were emptied and their contents were shipped back to Germany. In the middle of January 1945, the Nazis moved over 58,000 prisoners from Auschwitz and sent them on death marches hoping that they would get them closer to camps within Germany. Many prisoners died during the march. On January 27, 1945, the Russians reached Auschwitz and found 7,650 prisoners who had been left behind. The camp was liberated and the prisoners were set free.
Approximately 1.1 million people were killed at this death camp.
Sites:
"Auschwitz Camp." Auschwitz Camp. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 Oct. 2012. <http://history1900s.about.com/library/holocaust/blauschwitz.htm>.
"Auschwitz Concentration and Death Camp." About.com 20th Century History. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 Oct. 2012. <http://history1900s.about.com/od/holocaust/a/auschwitz.htm>.
"Holocaust History." Auschwitz. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 Oct. 2012. <http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/article.php?ModuleId=10005189>.
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