In this analysis I am going to inform you about Auschwitz, the Nazi death concentration camp and what it is. I will enlighten you on the methods used for the mass extermination of the Jewish culture. Finally, I will briefly inform you on how the camp was liberated.
The mention of Auschwitz sends chills to the bone of most people. Auschwitz, for most, symbolizes the pain and destruction inflicted by the Holocaust. It was the largest of the Nazi concentration death camps, exterminating the most Jews during the Holocaust by poison gas. This number is one that can only be estimated to this day.
There were three main parts to the camp: Auschwitz I, Auschwitz II Birkenau, and Auschwitz III Buna Monowitz. Auschwitz I Stammlager (the main camp) was ordered to be built on April 27, 1940 per the orders of Heinrich Himmler, who was head of the SS and the Gastapo. (Encyclopedia of the Holocaust pg. 107)
It was built in southern Poland, outside of a town called Oswiecism (which the Germans renamed Auschwitz), near the Wilsa River, and about 37 miles outside of Krakow. It consisted of 28, two-storied, brick buildings and wooden side-barracks. The average occupancy was 18,000 prisoners. The whole camp was surrounded by an electrically charged barbed wire fence. Above the entrance gate there was a phrase that stated “Arbreit macht frei” (“Work liberates”) (Holocaust Learning Center sec.5)
In October of 1941, the building of Auschwitz II Birkenau was taking place at the order of Heinrich Himmler as well. This camp was intended to be much larger than the first one. It included 250 wooden and stone barracks. It included nine sub-units which were isolated from one another with electrically charged barbed wire fencing. They were camps BIa, BIb, BIIa, BIIc, BIIc, BIId, BIIe, BIIf, and BIII. (Encyclopedia of the Holocaust pg.108) It was intended to have occupancy of 100,000. (Holocaust Learning Center sec.3) Birkenau was planned to be an extermination center and