Auschwitz-Birkenau: Concentration Camps During The Holocaust

“Between 1.1 and 1.5 million people died at Auschwitz; 90 percent of them were Jews” (“Auschwitz”). Concentration camps were large numbers of people; mostly Jews enduring forced labor and mass executions. One of the concentration camps during the Holocaust was Auschwitz. Auschwitz-Birkenau had a unique design, a horrible daily life for those in it, and is greatly remembered for what happened at these camps at the end of the war.
Nazi Germany set up camps with a specific design that would help them eliminate and torture those unlike them, mostly Jews, and one of these camps was called Auschwitz. The Auschwitz camps were located in Southern Germany and were the largest camps made by Nazi Germany. The camps were located near train tracks, so
the Nazi’s could easily transport Jews to where they wanted them to be. There were three camps; a prison camp, a labor/concentration camp, and an extermination camp. Auschwitz l was mostly a prison camp (made in 1940), Auschwitz ll was an extermination camp (started construction in 1941), and Auschwitz lll was used most often as a concentration camp (opened in 1942). Granted that the camp had a very thought out design, that helped the Nazis torture the Jews day in and day out.
During the Holocaust, each day was a struggle for everyone involved, but no one's daily life during this time can compare to how horrible a Jew’s was at these camps.
According to the article “Auschwitz: The Camp of Death,” the day at a camp as a Jew started before dusk at roll call where they had to stand for hours without proper protection against the weather. After the roll call was finished they received their ration of breakfast; 10 ounces of bread, a small piece of salami, or an ounce of margarine and brown, and tasteless coffee. Once breakfast was done, a siren would go off sounding another long dreadful roll call and then work until lunch hour. At noon they got their lunch which was always soup; a quart of water, little amounts of carrots, and rutabagas. Directly after eating they got back to the painful and horrendous work and they labored until the four-hour roll call at dusk. After roll call, they were served their last meal of the day; bread with an old piece of salami or margarine and some jam. When it was time to go to bed the SS officers made all of the Jews sleep in really small beds with 10 people in each one. If a Jew made a small mistake at any point in the day or was at the wrong place at the wrong time they suffered tremendously or were killed (“Auschwitz: The Camp of Death”). The daily life as a Jew during the Holocaust was torture day in and day out, and nothing can compare to the way they were
treated.
In addition to a horrible daily life in these camps, it is known that at the end of the war conditions for those in the camps became even worse. The end of the war was a relief for some, but just the opposite for most of those in the camps. The article “Auschwitz-Birkenau: History & Overview” notes that towards the end of World War ll in 1944, the Nazis held massive executives and then stopped all gassing and killing, so that they had no evidence held against them to what they had done over the years of war. In addition to stopping the killing at the camps, they ruined all documents and burned down most of the buildings. After they finished trying to destroy all evidence they evacuated the camps in January of 1945. They took approximately 58,000 people from theses camps and led them miles by foot, and left behind those unable and those that were very sick (“Auschwitz-Birkenau: History & Overview”). This is evacuation is known as the death march. The SS-led them by foot many miles with small amounts of food and water and little rest; if anyone fell behind they were shot. Thousands and thousands of people died on these death marches, and the few survivors were liberated on January 27, 1945 (“Death Marches”). Although some were saved, the end of the war for most Jews was an awful period of time.
The holocaust is known for its endless suffering, and Auschwitz is one of the places this torment took place. Theses camps had a very specific design, the Jews and others forced to be in the camps had a horrible daily life, and the end of the war was also known to be horrific for all of them that were involved because of the dreadful death marches. The camps and the torture happening during World War ll need to be remembered for both respect and honor for those associated with the Holocaust and to avoid history repeating itself. These Jews were stripped of everything they had ever known and torture, just because they were different. Don’t let history repeat itself; be kind and accepting of everyone.