The 28 two-story buildings which made up the camp were divided into three sections: Auschwitz I (the base camp and central office), Auschwitz II (Birkenau), and Auschwitz III,(Monoscwitz) with the sub-camp and buna).Auschwitz II, also known as Birkenau, was built in March 1942 to accommodate more prisoners, and, therefore, it was the largest section of Auschwitz. At its peak, up to 200,000 inmates were housed in the Auschwitz II barracks. The 250 barracks located throughout (Birkeneau) were modeled after horse stables that were meant to house 52 horses.Before dawn, the prisoners were roused from their overcrowded, unsanitary wooden beds for roll call. The inmates were required to make their beds, each of which consisted of a small thin blanket and a mattress of wooden boards. If the job was not done to the satisfaction of the SS guard, punishment followed.Just thinking of living like that is a tragesty.The workers labored about 11 or 12 hours daily. At noon, a soup was given to the prisoners that consisted of a quart of water with a few carrots and rutabagas. The inmates resumed working until dusk when they were escorted back to the camp for the four-hour evening roll call. The final meal was bread with rotten salami or margarine and jam. Sometimes a piece of rotten skim cheese was
The 28 two-story buildings which made up the camp were divided into three sections: Auschwitz I (the base camp and central office), Auschwitz II (Birkenau), and Auschwitz III,(Monoscwitz) with the sub-camp and buna).Auschwitz II, also known as Birkenau, was built in March 1942 to accommodate more prisoners, and, therefore, it was the largest section of Auschwitz. At its peak, up to 200,000 inmates were housed in the Auschwitz II barracks. The 250 barracks located throughout (Birkeneau) were modeled after horse stables that were meant to house 52 horses.Before dawn, the prisoners were roused from their overcrowded, unsanitary wooden beds for roll call. The inmates were required to make their beds, each of which consisted of a small thin blanket and a mattress of wooden boards. If the job was not done to the satisfaction of the SS guard, punishment followed.Just thinking of living like that is a tragesty.The workers labored about 11 or 12 hours daily. At noon, a soup was given to the prisoners that consisted of a quart of water with a few carrots and rutabagas. The inmates resumed working until dusk when they were escorted back to the camp for the four-hour evening roll call. The final meal was bread with rotten salami or margarine and jam. Sometimes a piece of rotten skim cheese was