Auschwitz: a Prisoner Camp, an Industrial Camp, and a Death Camp

The words inscribed above the Auschwitz concentration camp read; "Arbeit Macht Frei,” meaning, “work brings freedom.” These deceiving words gave unsuspecting prisoners hope that they could get out of the most destructive concentration camp during the entire Holocaust. This concentration camp would kill over one million people. Auschwitz will be fully analyzed, starting with the early stages of Auschwitz, then the Jews and the horrors of Auschwitz, and finally the final days of Auschwitz. The events that took place at Auschwitz concentration camp were horrifying and led to the death of millions.

In 1940 Auschwitz was established in the suburbs of Oswiecim. Oswiecim is a Polish city that was annexed to the Third Reich by the Nazis. Auschwitz was established because there were too many Polish people in the local prisons. In 1942 Auschwitz became a death camp and it was the largest known. (http://auschwitz.org/, n.d.) The camp was expanded throughout its existence, this resulted in Auschwitz consisting of three camps. The three camps were Main Camp, Birkenau, and Monowitz. Main Camp was known as Auschwitz I, Birkenau was known as Auschwitz II, and Monowitz was known as Auschwitz III. (Preisler, n.d.) Auschwitz was liberated in 1945. “Historians and analysts estimate the number of people murdered at Auschwitz somewhere between 2.1 million

Being a prisoner of war can change a person, dramastically. World war two, one of the most devastating wars; over fifty million people died, and yet this number is just a roundabout. One main factor, called the Holocaust, the extermination of six million Jews, gays, and anything German’s deemed unfit. Based on a true story, we venture through the mind of a young Jewish boy named Elie. Elie one day was taken from his home, and sent to a German concentration camp known as Auschwitz. Elie is soon to realize that this place is no joking matter. Through the process of selection, the disassemblement from his loved ones, and the deportation of saved ones to specialized camps, Elie questions his faith in God, himself, and his welfare of family members.

The Holocaust is one of the darkest and most saddening events in European history. The concentration camps in Europe, like Auschwitz, were places of torture and murder where millions of Jews were exterminated. As a Polish citizen myself, I have heard stories of the Holocaust that were passed down from my great grandmother who lived in Krakow, which is a small town close to where Auschwitz was located. My great grandmother and many high school history classes only ever mentioned the horrific treatment and extermination of Jews in Auschwitz. However, in 1944 Elie Wiesel’s account of Auschwitz in his memoir, Night, describes being transported from Auschwitz I, which was SS headquarters, to Auschwitz II, which was a killing centre, and then finally to Auschwitz III, which was a slave labour camp. My interest of Auschwitz’s three camps from reading Elie Wiesel’s memoir has led me to research and write about the different concentration camps, Auschwitz I, Auschwitz II (Birkenau), and Auschwitz III (Buna), that Elie Wiesel was taken to and discuss their purposes.

Auschwitz is considered by the most the most inhumane concentration camp in world war two. At the beginning of 1940, Auschwitz was created, and it was under the rules of the SS (Concentration Camp). Auschwitz was the largest concentration camp during World War II, where over a million people died. Jews were treated horribly, and many were gassed. Auschwitz was called a death camp, for many reasons which included the deportation and selection process, medical experiments, and gas chambers.

My camp is Auschwitz - Birkenau one of the largest concentration camps where Jews were held captured. Inside the camp were four gas chambers. Each gas chamber used Zyklon B gas. Most people brought to this camp were Jews. Before entering the chamber they were ordered to undress. Once they finished the Nazis locked the doors and dropped in the gas. Also, when they died they burned the Jews. The bones were disintegrated and their ashes were spread out on the fields.

85 years ago, over a 12 year period, nearly six million Jews were killed in a genocide called The Holocaust. The Holocaust was led by the Nazi Party and Adolf Hitler was their leader. The mass murders took place at concentration camps throughout Europe. The majority of concentration camps resided in Poland and Germany. Many people believe there were only a few concentration camps. “However, researchers found that the Nazis had actually established 20,000 camps between 1933 and 1945” (“How Many Camps,” n.d.). In this paper I will be discussing the largest concentration camp, Auschwitz-Birkenau.

The Auschwitz-Birkenau camp began construction in October 1941. The camp was originally meant to house 50,000 prisoners of war, but the camp was expanded to house as many as 200,000 inmates.

The Auschwitz-Birkneau concentration camp was established I 1940 by the Germans. It's located just outside Oswiecim, Poland. The original reason of establishment was that the mass arrests of Poles were too much for the capacity of local prisons. Eventually, it became the largest death camp of the Holocaust.

During World War II, there were many horrific reports of cruelty and torture towards people of Jewish descent in a camp known as Auschwitz. In the article “Auschwitz: The Camp of Death”, the main topic that is addressed in the article is the basic layout and cruelty that took place in this camp of cruelty. In the article, the author mentions that the camp in Auschwitz was “[d]ivided into three sections, Auschwitz I . . . Auschwitz II . . . and Auschwitz III” (“ Auschwitz: The Camp of Death”). What this helps the reader understand about Auschwitz is that it was separated into three sections, one of which being Auschwitz I, which was the base camp and the central office. The second section was known as Auschwitz II, which is also known as Birkenau. The third section, known as Auschwitz III, was known as Monoscwitz with the sub-camp and buna. These three sections were all part of the cruelty that took place in Auschwitz. Another piece of information mentioned in the article is that when the prisoners entered Auschwitz I, they saw the words “ [A]rbeit Macht Frei” (“Auschwitz: The Camp of Death”). What is so important as well as interesting about this phrase is that it translates to “ work will set you free” in English. This gave the prisoners of Auschwitz the false hope that if they worked hard enough, they would earn their freedom, which was not true. In the article, the author also states that Auschwitz II contained the gas chambers and crematoriums, which was a constant reminder that at any given moment they could be “[s]ent to the showers to be gassed and cremated” (“Auschwitz: The Camp of Death”). The importance behind this statement is that this idea of having the gas chamber and crematorium in that camp was to ignite fear into the prisoners to work their hardest to avoid that punishment, which was another sign of false hope. This fits into the larger idea that Auschwitz a very horrific example of human indecency. This idea is not only in the article “Auschwitz: The Camp of Death,” but in Elie Wiesel’s nonfiction book, Night, that shares his experience in Auschwitz.

147,000 Poles were deported, and 74,000 died. Jews and Poles were the most common to be deported to Birkenau. 23,000 Roma’s were deported and 21,000 of them died. There were 15,000 Soviet Prisoners at the camp and all 15,000 of them were killed. 25,000 other nationalities were brought to the camp and 12,000 died. All of them suffered in their own way. They were starved, tortured, and worked dusk till dawn in terrible conditions. Many died from overwork, disease, malnutrition, and the daily struggle of brutile living. Retribution happen daily and also happened in front of others around the camp. More people died in Auschwitz than the people of the British and American war losses of WWII combined (26

Dear friend i wanted to tell you about the Auschwitz and somethings about them some things about them is that the Auschwitz was the largest camp established by the Germans. It was a complex of camps, including a concentration, extermination, and forced-labor camp.Some more facts that i found out was that A sign over the entrance to the camp read ARBEIT MACHT FREI, which means "work makes one free." In actuality, the opposite was true. Labor became another form of genocide that the Nazis called "extermination through work."Victims who were spared immediate death by being selected for labor were systematically stripped of their individual identities. They had their hair shaved off and a registration number tattooed on their left forearm. Men

There were thousands and thousands of people being brought into the concentration camps. There had to be a way for them to keep everything organized. The people in command would register every single Jew before they were put to work or sent to the buildings. After the prisoners were unloaded from the truck or train, they were stripped of their personal belongings and clothes, and then they were given a new uniform. Most of the time they were also shaved. The prisoners were then taken to be inscribed with their number stamp and were also demanded to stand still while taking their picture from three sides (Camp System). That was the painless part. Now came the beatings, demands, torture, and starvation.

Imagine living in a wood hut, each 100 feet by 30 feet for 5 years (Sheehan 17), with people all around getting sick and dying. Auschwitz is the most known concentration camp from the holocaust. “It was originally made for a prison work camp for a variety of inmates, especially jews and political prisoners” (Sheehan 16). From 1940’s to 1945 Auschwitz expanded, they made 2 other camps called Auschwitz- Birkenau and Auschwitz- Monowitz. Over 960,000 people have died in these camps.

Punishment was a regular thing in auschwitz. Most people who resisted the nazis did not live tell about it; they were usually shot on spot.The other most common punishments are flogging, confinement in block 11 and assignment to the penal company(punishments).