AUSCHWITZ:
THE CONCENTRATION AND EXTERMINATION
CAMP
.
|
After the
occupation of Poland by the Third Reich, the name of the
city of Oswiecim was changed to Auschwitz by the Germans,
and became the name of the camp as well.
Auschwitz
functioned throughout its existence as a concentration
camp, and over time became the largest such Nazi
camp.
In the first
period of the existence of the camp, it was primarily
Poles who were sent here by the German occupation
authorities.
These were
people regarded as particularly dangerous: the elite of
the Polish people, their political, civic, and spiritual
leaders, members of the intelligentsia, cultural and
scientific figures, and also members of the resistance
movement, officers, and so on.
Over time, the
Nazis also began to send groups of prisoners from other
occupied countries to Auschwitz.
Beginning in
1942, Jews whom the SS physicians classified as fit for
labor were also registered in the camp. From among all
the people deported to Auschwitz, approximately 400,000
people were registered and placed in the camp and its
sub-camps [200,000 Jews, more than 140,000 Poles,
about 20,000 Romanies ("Gypsies") from various countries,
more than 10,000 Soviet prisoners of war, and more than
10,000 prisoners of other
nationalities].
Over
50% of the registered prisoners died as a result of
starvation, labor that exceeded their physical capacity,
the terror that raged in the camp, executions, the
inhuman living conditions, disease and epidemics,
punishment, torture, and criminal medical
experiments.
Auschwitz has
become a symbol of terror, genocide, and the Holocaust.
It was established by the Nazis in 1940, in the suburbs
of the city of Oswiecim which, like other parts of
Poland, was occupied by the Germans during the Second
World War. The name of the city of Oswiecim was changed
to Auschwitz, which became the name of the camp as
well.
Over the years,
the camp was expanded and consisted of three main
parts:
|
Auschwitz I,
Auschwitz II-Birkenau, and
Auschwitz III-Monowitz. It also had over 40
sub-camps.
|
|
At
first, Poles were imprisoned and died in the
camp. Afterwards, Soviet prisoners of war,
Romanies ("Gypsies"), and people of other
nationalities were also incarcerated there.
Beginning in 1942, the camp became the site of
the greatest mass murder in the history of
humanity, which was committed against the
European Jews as part of Hitler's plan for the
complete destruction of that
people.
|
|
 "On
arrival at the "Cottage," they
were told to undress. At first
they went calmly into the
rooms where they were supposed
to be disinfected. But some of
them showed signs of alarm,
and spoke of death by
suffocation and of
annihilation. A sort of panic
set in at once. Immediately
all the Jews still outside
were pushed into the chambers,
and the doors were screwed
shut. With subsequent
transports the difficult
individuals were picked out
early on and most carefully
supervised. At the first signs
of unrest, those responsible
were unobtrusively led behind
the building and killed with a
small-calibre gun that was
inaudible to the others. "
|
|
(From
the testimony of
Rudolph Hoess,
Commandant of
Auschwitz)
|
|
|
|
The majority of the Jewish men, women and children
deported to Auschwitz were sent to their deaths in the
Birkenau gas chambers immediately after arrival. At the
end of the war, in an effort to remove the traces of the
crimes they had committed, the SS began dismantling and
razing the gas chambers, crematoria, and other buildings,
as well as burning documents.
Prisoners
capable of marching were evacuated into the depths of the
Reich. Those who remained behind in the camp were
liberated by Red Army soldiers on January 27, 1945.
|
Auschwitz
survivors at liberation.
January 27,
1945.
<schule-ratgeber.de/unterrichtsentwurfe/9_klasse/konzentrationslager_auschwitz.html>
|
A July 2, 1947
act of the Polish parliament established the
Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum on the grounds of the two
extant parts of the camp, Auschwitz I and
Auschwitz II-Birkenau.
