AUSCHWITZ

Auschwitz was the largest of the German Nazi's concentration and death camps. Over 1.1 million people died there. 90% of them were Jewish. There were 3 parts to Auschwitz. Auschwitz I was the main camp, Auschwitz II (Birkenau) was an extermination camp, and Auschwitz III was a work camp. On an average 12,000 Jews were kill upon arrival in the gas chambers. On an average day prisoners had to make their bed and if not made up to the standards of the SS guards there was punished, they had to stand in lines for roll call for up to 4 hours, and they worked 11-12 hours daily.

Auschwitz I

Auschwitz I the main camp, also knows as Stammlager only had 3 purposes: To jail eneimes and suspected eneimes of the Nazi's, to have an available supply of laborers for deployment, and to eliminate small targeted groups of the population. The entrance of the camp said "Arbeit Macht Frei" which means, "work makes you free."  The camp was originally built to imprison Polish political prisoners, some jews, and German common criminals. When people first arrived at Aushwitz they were taken to the main camp to be registered, tatooed, undressed, deloused, had their hair shaven off, and showered while the clothes were being disinfected with Zyklon B gas. Aushwitz I was not a camp to exterminate Jews until the Wannsee Conference, on January 20, 1942, when the plans to the "Final Solution to the Jewish Question" were made. The population grew from 18,000 in December 1942 to 30,000 in March 1943.

Auschwitz II (Birkenau)

Auschwitz II (Birkenau) was an extermination camp, where at least 1.1 million Jews, 75,000 Poles, and around 19,000 Gypsies were killed. It was established in October 1941. Alot of the people who entered the camp were unregistered Jews who normally died upon arrival. Women and children had the least chance of surviving. There were four gas chambers, (designed to look like showers), and four creamatoria's, (used to burn bodies.) More than 20,000 people could be gassed and creamated in a day.

Auschwitz III

Auschwitz II also known as Monowitz or Buna was the most important to the Nazi's because it was important to the German war effort. It was used to house prisoners assigned to work at the Buna Synthetic Rubber Works. The prisoners there died from difficult slave labor, starvation, mistreatment, and execution. If others were unable to work they were taken to Aushwitz II and were murdered.