In the mid 1940s, almost 85% of those deported and killed at Auschwitz were Jews; small numbers of Poles, Gypsies and Soviet prisoners of war also perished there.
Auschwitz can mean many different things; it refers to both a concentration and extermination camp as well as an important museum site located near its town of origin in south-west Poland, making it a tourist “must see”. Furthermore, Auschwitz serves as the focal point of complex negotiations regarding Europe’s moral identity.
The camp’s origins
Auschwitz concentration camp, located in German-occupied Poland (and later annexed by Germany), played an essential part of Adolf Hitler’s plan to exterminate all Jews and “degenerates” across Europe. The complex comprised more than 40 camps – Auschwitz I & II at Oswiecim; Birkenau gas chambers; Auschwitz III in Monowitz; an IG Farben labor camp as well as many subcamps.
These camps were not only places of extermination but also slave labor camps and sources of valuables to be sent back to Germany. When prisoners arrived at these camps they would be registered, registered, shaved, stripped of clothing and given a uniform striped with horizontal lines as part of a process intended to erase any trace of identity and dehumanize victims.
Once prisoners were dressed in uniform they were assigned specific tasks that often varied by camp. Most commonly they worked for the SS in barracks or factories nearby, including menial tasks like sweeping floors and digging ditches – those who performed well received rewards; others were selected for gas chambers where they would be murdered by lethal Zyklon B gas.
On the other hand, some inmates were not assigned labor, but were instead killed immediately upon arriving at a camp. Once trains reached a camp, SS physicians would assess passengers; those deemed healthy enough were selected for labor while those considered sick or elderly were directed directly into gas chambers.
The construction of the camp
At the entrance to the camp stood a gateway bearing an inscription proclaiming, “Arbeit Macht Frei” (“Labor Will Set You Free”). When arriving prisoners were quickly registered and tattooed with serial numbers. After delousing them and shaving their beards they were stripped naked, deloused, deloused again, deloused again before having their regular clothing replaced by an indecent stripe uniform and forced to stand naked before hundreds of other prisoners and SS guards in public.
Auschwitz needed a large area to house its vast population of prisoners. Barracks, sewage and water facilities, roads and barbed wire fences were constructed – along with hospital, gas chambers and crematoria – using slave labor from German factories such as IG Farben’s local workers who invested over 700 Million Reichsmarks into Auschwitz construction.
At Auschwitz, SS doctors were responsible for making most decisions regarding which prisoners would be suitable for labor and which should be immediately gassed upon arriving at Auschwitz. By early 1942, those selected for work made up only 11% of transports arriving. Himmler ordered expansion and building of Birkenau as an extermination center that could accommodate 100,000 prisoners.
Auschwitz generated an extraordinary amount of paperwork during its SS administration, much of which the Soviets found when they occupied the camp in 1945 but not all, including detailed construction blueprints for gas chambers and crematoria. Discovering this extensive paper trail gives unique insight into how this camp functioned both as an extermination site and massive slave labor factory; documents include plans, budgets, letters and telegrams from camp officials as well as contractors bids and financial negotiations between contractors as well as minutes from meetings among architects, camp officials as well as high ranking dignaries from Berlin.
The first prisoners
Heinrich Himmler ordered the establishment of Auschwitz concentration camp and extermination center in April 1940, close to Oswiecim in Poland. At first intended as a prison camp for political prisoners – mostly Poles and Germans – who would serve as slave labor, once at Auschwitz prisoners were immediately registered, tattooed with serial numbers, undressed, deloused, had body hair shaved off, showered and entered through its notorious gateway bearing the inscription: ‘rbeit macht frei’ (“Labor makes you free”).
Once inside, prisoners were forced to work. Work types varied depending on which camp was visited; at Auschwitz for instance, prisoners primarily engaged in sewing clothing for Nazi leaders and any who failed to complete their shift were punished with beatings or worse. Many died of malnourishment, starvation or exhaustion as a result.
Every evening, prisoners were forced to march back to their place of work – often quite distant from the main complex – via forced marches that could last hours on foot. The SS monitored every movement and punished those unable to keep up. Those unable to keep pace were either killed off or punished severely.
Some prisoners managed to escape, particularly during spring and summer, with some making an attempt on their own and others with help from former prisoners who helped them, while others were captured and shot. On 7 October 1944, two Sonderkommando units responsible for operating gas chambers and crematoria launched an uprising which was quickly suppressed; those not shot or killed (mainly women and girls) were executed by the SS.
The extermination process
As a result of Nazi military successes in 1941, Nazi policy changed from starvation in ghettos to mass murder on an industrial scale. Victims included Jews and Roma. Gas chambers became the preferred method for killing them rather than execution or forced labor.
The first extermination camps were established in Poland after the Third Reich had established control or its allies had taken control. Later, these were expanded to include Auschwitz I and Birkenau (Auschwitz II). Each of these camps served a single purpose – murdering people on an industrial scale.
On average, only 20-30% of those deported to these camps would be selected for labor work, while 70-75% would go directly to death without registration or serial numbers being assigned. Criteria used for selecting victims included age and physical condition of victims.
Each camp included several gas chambers and crematoria for use against prisoners who entered. As soon as prisoners arrived at camp they were required to give up all personal possessions before being forced to strip naked – with some cases even going so far as shaving their heads to rid themselves of hair altogether.
In October 1944, Sonderkommandos working at crematoria revolted and destroyed one chamber, prompting Himmler to suspend gassings and order a “cleanup” operation to cover up murderous activity by German forces. German agents promptly destroyed or removed nearly all evidence related to extermination; only technical elements from gas chambers and crematoria remained, while remaining parts of buildings were disassembled and taken back to Germany for dismantling or disassembly.
The liberation
On January 27, 1945, Soviet soldiers discovered an extraordinary complex of concentration camps, forced labor sites, and killing centers abandoned by Nazi Germany. On arrival, the soldiers found thousands of sick, dying, and dead prisoners; also witnessing shocking medical experiments such as castration and sterilization as well as testing resistance to contagious diseases – experiments performed by physicians such as SS Captain Josef Mengele who would become known as the Angel of Death.”
Liberators took steps to assist those in need. Some prisoners in relatively good health left the camp on their own or as part of evacuation columns headed west (by train to Odessa or, for many Jewish ex-prisoners, via Marseille via USSR). Others, mostly children, were brought directly to nearby hospitals where doctors and nurses attempted to restore both body and soul.
Many survivors hurried to locate family members lost during the Holocaust, sending out thousands of telegrams and letters in search of loved ones who had vanished during World War II. Many survivors, particularly children, were malnourished, very weak, vitamin deficient and suffering from tuberculosis.
Surviving Auschwitz and other massacres left survivors feeling obliged to remember. Paula Lebovics recalls an incident when she was 11 when she received an unexpected hug and kiss from a Russian soldier, giving her hope that someone loved them after such horrific experiences had transpired. Others remained behind to ensure the camps never became places of torture and murder again.