Almost everyone knows what happened in Auschwitz and it is a fact that it is one of the most horrific places on earth. Hundreds of thousands of people died here. Auschwitz served as an extermination camp and consisted of several camps. One of the largest mass murders of the Second World War took place in this camp: 400,000 Jews were gassed in two days. Why do millions of people continue to visit this horrible place in Poland every year? And why did Auschwitz become Germany’s largest extermination camp in World War II?
image 1: map of Auschwitz / Source: Thomas Maierhofer, Wikimedia Commons (Public domain)
Auschwitz was a collection of three extermination camps. More than 1.3 million people have been held captive in these camps. Of these, more than 1.1 million died. This made Auschwitz Hitler’s largest and most important extermination camp. Figure 1 shows a map of the camp and its surroundings.
Auschwitz Stammlager
This camp was the first camp and was completed in 1940. On May 5, 1940, Rudol Hoss became camp commander. From that day on the camp started expanding. Watchtowers were built, barbed wire was laid, fences and trenches were built. The first shipment of political prisoners arrived on June 14, 1940, containing no fewer than 720 prisoners. Among this prisoner was Wieslaw Kielar. He is the only person known to have survived Auschwitz for five years. In December 1940 the number of 10,000 prisoners was too many. As a result, more than 3,000 prisoners were murdered within two days. After this murder attack, there was an expansion that allowed more than 30,000 prisoners to stay at the same time.
But at some point this number also became too small. In 1941, as the German Empire continued to grow, Karl Fritzch came up with a decisive idea: gas the prisoners instead of continuing to commit massacres. After a number of experiments with Zyklon B, the gas that is fatal when inhaled, were successful, gas chambers were built.
Medical experiments
Experiments were carried out in block 10, the most infamous block of this camp. It mainly involved deliberately injecting viruses or infections into the blood to see how long it would take before the virus would become fatal. But experiments such as comparing anesthetized and non-anesthetized surgery on the organs were also investigated. New drugs were also tested. These often resulted in death. The most gruesome experiment was testing how strong the current could be without killing a person.
Entrance gate
Of the three camps, Auschwitz I has the best-known entrance gate. Above the entrance hangs the saying Arbeit Macht Frei’. With this, the Germans made the Jews believe that hard work would be rewarded. The only reward they received was death.
About 70,000 people were murdered in Auschwitz I.
Visit
In this camp you can visit the following things:
- Blocks 1 to 4. Here the walls are full of all the deceased people.
- Blocks 5 to 9 and blocks 11 to 23. These are barracks that were first used as a place of residence for prisoners. Later these blocks became the administrative center of Auschwitz
- Block 10. Here you can read stories of victims who survived experiments by the SS. Photos of children who did not survive the experiments can also be seen.
- Gas chambers
- Incinerators
- Place of execution
- Watchtowers
- Exhibition. Here are bins full of glasses, hair, bones, suitcases, bags and valuables from deceased prisoners
image 2: Birkenau / Source: Dirgela, Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA-3.0)
Auschwitz Birkenau and Auschwitz III
Birkenau (image 2) is what most people, without knowing, think of when they hear Auschwitz. Birkenau was opened in 1942 and accommodated more than 120,000 Jews. The camp had a size of two by two and a half square kilometers. The purpose of this camp was to kill as many Jews as possible. This large-scale destruction began in the spring of 1942.
A month later than the opening of the camp, plans were made to build a railway line. This allowed the Jews to be taken immediately to Birkenau. This saved time and money. Four months later the railway was completed and more than 2,000 Jews could enter every day. After a few months, this number had increased to 30,000 per day.
These Jews were usually immediately taken to the gas chambers. The lifeless bodies were then taken to the incinerator. Jews who worked in the camp and were punished had to hang their heads above the furnace pipe. This produced considerable heat, but the air they breathed would also mean a slow death.
The largest mass murder in the camp took place on April 28 and 29, 1943. On these two days, no fewer than 151 trains arrived, which together accounted for more than 400,000 Hungarian Jews. As far as is known, not a single Jew from these trains survived . They were all immediately moved to the gas chamber.
In 1943 the camp was expanded. This part was mainly intended as a workshop.
Visit
- When visiting this park you can visit the following things:
- Gas chamber
- Burning place
- Bunkers
- Barracks
- Memorial site
- Entrance gate
- Wagon of train
- Workplace
- Exhibition that includes the story of Anne Frank and stories of escaped Jews
General information
- The opening hours are from 08:00 to 19:00
- It is mandatory to adhere to the rules. These rules can be found on the site and at the park itself
- Have respect and be really quiet in quiet rooms
- Pets are not allowed
- Taking photos and videos is only allowed when indicated
- You should allow at least one day to visit the camp
- Prices vary per season. Check the website for this
Think carefully about whether you are going to visit Auschwitz or not. It is an intense visit and does not fit in with a nice holiday feeling. Some people get nightmares or can’t forget the terrible stories. Auschwitz can easily be combined with a city trip to Warsaw.
We were told we would take a nice shower and we would see each other soon again. When I smelled the dead people I knew we would see each other again soon indeed – Unkown
read more
- Warsaw: growing Poland
- Adolf Hitler’s Eagle’s Nest in Germany