Auschwitz
By Kyra Smith
The Camp
Auschwitz is a death camp located in Poland that ran during the Holocaust. It consisted of three parts: a prison camp, an extermination camp, and a labor camp. The entire compound was run by SS Captain Rudolf Hoess and his personal police. The soldiers that ran the camp put numbers on the arms of the prisoners to sort them, and they were either put to work as slave labor, imprisoned in Auschwitz 1, or put to death at Dachau. The camp used pesticides to kill them in gas chambers, and burned the bodies to get rid of them.. In all, 1.1 million people were killed in Auschwitz. Other than Jews that were killed, many other groups were targeted and killed in Auschwitz. These include Homosexuals, Gypsies, and the mentally and physically handicapped.
Opening Gate to Auschwitz
These gates were the first thing prisoners saw when arriving at the camp, and for many of them, it was the last time they stepped foot outside the camp. After entering these gates, people were subject to a new, horrible lifestyle.
Numbers
In Auschwitz, prisoners were given numbers, and no longer had their names. This number belongs to one of the survivors of the death camp. Numbers were a way for the Germans to further the dehumanization of the Jews, and give them more justification for killing them. In the end. most people were killed in gas chambers, using a pesticide called Zyklon B. All of these measures contribute to the dehumanization of the Jews, and making them seem like rats and lab animals.
A View of Auschwitz
This video shows the expanse of Auschwitz. It shows the complete vastness of the compound, and how everything is set up by using drones to film it.
Works Cited
"Auschwitz." World History: The Modern Era. ABC-CLIO, 2015. Web. 10 Dec. 2015.
"Auschwitz." Photos/Illustrations. Corel. World History: The Modern Era. ABC-CLIO, 2015. Web. 10 Dec. 2015.
"Auschwitz survivor displays number tattooed on forearm." Photos/Illustrations. Main Commission for the Prosecution of the Crimes against the Polish Nation, courtesy of USHMM Photo Archives. World History: The Modern Era. ABC-CLIO,2015. Web. 10 Dec. 2015.
"Zyklon B." World History: The Modern Era. ABC-CLIO, 2015. Web. 10 Dec. 2015.
"Holocaust." World History: The Modern Era. ABC-CLIO, 2015. Web. 10 Dec. 2015.
"Rudolf Hoess." Photos/Illustrations. Library of Congress. World History: The Modern Era. ABC-CLIO, 2015. Web. 10 Dec. 2015.