How To Elie Wiesel's Unsanitary Conditions

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The living conditions in Auschwitz were very unsanitary for prisoners. Furthermore, prisoners usually slept in brick barracks that were located inside Auschwitz. In each old, brick barrack were several hundred three-tier wooden bunk beds that prisoners lived in (“Living Conditions, Labor & Executions”). Each bunk bed contained 5 or 6 inmates. The barracks also had thin walls with no windows. Meanwhile, with only a bucket for a bathroom and more than 500 prisoners in one building, diseases spread quickly in the camp (“Auschwitz was the largest camp”). There were also many vermin and rats living with the prisoners (“Living Conditions, Labor & Executions”). Therefore, prisoners struggled to survive in the unsanitary conditions (“Auschwitz was …show more content…
When the victims arrived, their hair was shaved off, and they received a tattoo of a registration number (“Auschwitz was the largest camp”). Elie Wiesel explained what happened when prisoners arrived at a camp in his book, Night. “Belt and shoes in hand, I let myself be dragged along to the barbers. Their clippers tore out our hair, shaved every hair on our bodies. My head was buzzing; the same thought surfacing over and over: not to be separated from my father” (Wiesel 35). In addition, Wiesel has arrived at a concentration camp and is getting sanitized and given clothing. Similarly, women received work dresses. For men, ragged, striped jackets and pants were given. Some of the clothes they received such as clogs or work shoes, may not have fit either. Also, when the prisoners worked or slept, they stayed in the same set of clothes. Food is another thing to consider for terrible living conditions (“Auschwitz was the largest camp”). Additionally, in the morning, noon, and evening, the prisoners ate (“Living Conditions, Labor & Executions”). The “Food consisted of watery soup made with rotten vegetables and meat, a few ounces of bread, a bit of margarine, tea, or a bitter drink resembling coffee” (“Auschwitz was the largest camp”). The prisoner’s food was even based off their labor. For example, if a prisoner had hard labor, they were given 1700 calories every day. Meanwhile, …show more content…
The Nazi’s sometimes used labor as a way to kill prisoners. Therefore, it was established that prisoners had to work at least eleven hours a day on March 31, 1942. Prisoners were even given work assignments. Building the camp was, in fact, their main assignment (“Living Conditions, Labor & Executions”). Moreover, women’s labor may have consisted of sorting prisoner belongings such as shoes and clothes (“Auschwitz was the largest camp”). Meanwhile, some prisoners may have had to do things that weren’t related to helping the camp such as, digging coal, producing chemicals, and helping industrial plants (“Living Conditions, Labor & Executions”). Additionally, labor prisoners may have worked for chemical or synthetic rubber works of IG Farben. With all things considered, if a prisoner who did labor became very ill or hurt, they were sent to the gas chambers in Birkenau (Berenbaum). With all things considered, “The pace of the work, starvation rations of food, and constant beatings and abuse exacerbated the death rate” (“Living Conditions, Labor &

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