The Holocaust began around 1935. During this time, thousands of people were sent to concentration camps because they were not members of Hitler’s master “Aryan Race.” Most of these people were Jews, homosexuals, blacks, and the disabled. Some people did not even survive the journey to the camps because they were not strong enough to endure the train ride. Others were immediately sentenced to death upon arrival at the camps. The largest and most notorious of all concentration camps was located in Poland and was (and is still today) known as Auschwitz. This camp was a critical component of the Final Solution and served to facilitate the carrying out of this goal. By examining the daily life, conditions, and methods of execution, one is able
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Prisoners were barely able to sleep at night. No matter which part of Auschwitz a prisoner was placed into, living conditions were tough. At Auschwitz I, prisoners were placed in old, brick barracks. There were so many people assigned to live in Auschwitz I that it caused prisoners to have to move into the basement and lofts, crowded and crammed together with little to no space available to them ("Auschwitz-Birkenau: Living Conditions, Labor & Executions"). According to, Auschwitz A History in Photograph, by Swiebocka, Webber, and Wilsack, “As many as 800 prisoners were sometimes crowded into a space designed for fifty-two horses.” Auschwitz II, Birkenau, was not any better. If anything, it was worse. Here, there were brick and wooden barracks, but the barracks did not have the proper insulation and were built on mushy ground. These facilities were not heated or sanitary, and just like at Auschwitz I, was overflowing with prisoners ("Auschwitz-Birkenau: Living Conditions, Labor & Executions"). These same horrendous conditions existed in Auschwitz III, Monowitz. In each of the three parts of the concentration camps, leaky roofs and dampness made these conditions worse. One website states, “The barracks swarmed with various sorts of vermin and rats.” ("Auschwitz-Birkenau: Living Conditions, Labor & …show more content…
Auschwitz A History in Photographs, by Świebocka, Webber, and Wilsack states the multiple ways on page 20, “Some were shot, some were hanged, some were condemned to die of starvation; many were gassed.”. Block 11 in Auschwitz I was located in the courtyard and was known as the “block of death”. This is where shootings, hangings, and starvations took place (Świebocka, Webber, and Wilsack). People who could be sentenced to these horrible punishments would be those who were suspected to have any part in resistance activities, or on prisoners who had tried to escape Auschwitz (Świebocka, Webber, and Wilsack). An indirect way that the Germans had killed prisoners was through carbon monoxide poisoning. This was executed by hooking the showers up to carbon monoxide tanks instead of water, and by leading prisoners into the back of trucks that were to be filled with exhaust fumes killing them known as “hell vans” (PBS). Gassing the prisoners became very popular and efficient in the concentration camp as stated on the website http://www.pbs.org/auschwitz/40-45/killing/ . “The most effective and efficient technique developed for killing at Auschwitz depended on the same pesticide that was used to kill the lice in prisoners ' clothing.” It was and is still known as Zyklon B, and once
Prisoners were barely able to sleep at night. No matter which part of Auschwitz a prisoner was placed into, living conditions were tough. At Auschwitz I, prisoners were placed in old, brick barracks. There were so many people assigned to live in Auschwitz I that it caused prisoners to have to move into the basement and lofts, crowded and crammed together with little to no space available to them ("Auschwitz-Birkenau: Living Conditions, Labor & Executions"). According to, Auschwitz A History in Photograph, by Swiebocka, Webber, and Wilsack, “As many as 800 prisoners were sometimes crowded into a space designed for fifty-two horses.” Auschwitz II, Birkenau, was not any better. If anything, it was worse. Here, there were brick and wooden barracks, but the barracks did not have the proper insulation and were built on mushy ground. These facilities were not heated or sanitary, and just like at Auschwitz I, was overflowing with prisoners ("Auschwitz-Birkenau: Living Conditions, Labor & Executions"). These same horrendous conditions existed in Auschwitz III, Monowitz. In each of the three parts of the concentration camps, leaky roofs and dampness made these conditions worse. One website states, “The barracks swarmed with various sorts of vermin and rats.” ("Auschwitz-Birkenau: Living Conditions, Labor & …show more content…
Auschwitz A History in Photographs, by Świebocka, Webber, and Wilsack states the multiple ways on page 20, “Some were shot, some were hanged, some were condemned to die of starvation; many were gassed.”. Block 11 in Auschwitz I was located in the courtyard and was known as the “block of death”. This is where shootings, hangings, and starvations took place (Świebocka, Webber, and Wilsack). People who could be sentenced to these horrible punishments would be those who were suspected to have any part in resistance activities, or on prisoners who had tried to escape Auschwitz (Świebocka, Webber, and Wilsack). An indirect way that the Germans had killed prisoners was through carbon monoxide poisoning. This was executed by hooking the showers up to carbon monoxide tanks instead of water, and by leading prisoners into the back of trucks that were to be filled with exhaust fumes killing them known as “hell vans” (PBS). Gassing the prisoners became very popular and efficient in the concentration camp as stated on the website http://www.pbs.org/auschwitz/40-45/killing/ . “The most effective and efficient technique developed for killing at Auschwitz depended on the same pesticide that was used to kill the lice in prisoners ' clothing.” It was and is still known as Zyklon B, and once