THE HOLOCAUST: OBJECTS AND PLACES By: C. Latchford 3A

Auschwitz Auschwitz was the Nazi death camp that had the largest death toll out of all the Nazi concentration and death camps. There were three different parts of Auschwitz: Auschwitz I, Auschwitz II (commonly known as Auschwitz-Birkenau), and Auschwitz III. I and II were mainly contained laborers, and II was the prisoner of war camp for Soviet prisoners. Halfway through WWII (1942), Jews all over Europe were being sent to Auschwitz to be murdered via gas chambers. In 1944, the railway which bought prisoners to Auschwitz was moved closer to the gas chambers in order to speed up the mass killings. Most of the prisoners were chosen to be killed, then other prisoners were employed to dispose of the deceased. All prisoners’ possessions were taken away from them as they arrived at Auschwitz. Their belongings were kept for the Nazi regime in a storage house called “Canada”. Nearing the end of WWII, Auschwitz II was specifically designed for kill as many Jews as possible in a short amount of time. Finally, in 1945, Soviet soldiers discovered and liberated Auschwitz, revealing the full horrors of the Nazi’s actions. A. Lawton, Clive Auschwitz Cambridge, Massachusetts Candlewick Press ©2001 Print

Auschwitz View of the main entrance to the Auschwitz camp: "Arbeit Macht Frei" (Work makes one free). Auschwitz, Poland, date uncertain.

Death Marches At the end of World War II, when the Nazis knew that they were defeated, they forced prisoners from death and concentration camps, such as Auschwitz, to “walk to their freedom”. However, instead of walking to freedom, they were walking to another camp. Auschwitz prisoners marched from Auschwitz to Belson-Bergen, another death camp. Many of the prisoners who survived the death march were killed at Belson- Bergen. Quite a few prisoners did not even survive the marches, with many dying because of exhaustion and disease. Every time a prisoner fell, they were never given a chance to get back up. The Nazi guards, without hesitation, would shoot he prison in the head, and then crush their skull, so that there would be no evidence of the cruelty inflicted to prisoners during the marches. Lace, William The Holocaust Library: The Death Camps Sa Diego, California ©1998 Print

Death Marches 28 A view of a death march from Dachau. German civilians secretly photographed several death marches from the Dachau concentration camp as the prisoners moved slowly through the Bavarian towns of Gruenwald, Wolfratshausen, and Herbertshausen. Few civilians gave aid to the prisoners on the death marches. Germany, April 29, 1945.

Gas Chambers Gas chambers were the main way of killing thousands at a time during the Holocaust. When prisoners came off of the trains, 80 percent of them were put in a line to the left- the line heading to the gas chambers. These prisoners were reassured by Nazi guards and soldiers, who told them that they were simply “taking a shower”. They were instructed to undress and leave their belongings. As they were walking into the chambers, prisoners would see signs saying these as “Cleanliness Brings You Freedom”. After all of the prisoners were crammed into the chamber, a guard shut the door and yelled, “Na gib ihnen schon zu fressen!” (“Let them have it!”), which was the signal to let the gas flow into the chambers. The Nazis drowned out the screams from the dying prisoners with music, so none of the other prisoners could know about what was happening in the chambers. The average time his process took to finish was 20 minutes, as the prisoners died slowly from inhalation of the poisonous gas. Lace, William The Holocaust Library: The Death Camps San Diego, California Lucent Books ©1998 Print

Gas Chambers Gas chamber in the main camp of Auschwitz immediately after liberation. Poland, January 1945.

Medical Experiments Medical experiments were performed in concentration camps on innocent prisoners by “doctors” employed by the Nazis. Some medical experiments included how long it took for a person to bleed to death, to die from a disease, or how an injection will affect the human body. Most experiments were inhumane and not for research as they should’ve been. The experiments were done only for torture of prisoners condemned to death in Nazi concentration and death camps. Barkai, A. Medical Experiments Learning about the Holocaust: A Student’s Guide ©2001 Print

Medical Experiments Soviet soldiers inspect a box containing poison used in medical experiments. Auschwitz, Poland, after January 27, 1945.

Mein Kampf The book Mein Kampf is translated to My Struggle from German to English. It was originally published in 1925 under the title The Reckoning. It was also the autobiography of Adolf Hitler, which he wrote while he was serving time in prison for treason in the mid-1920’s. This book was meant to be in volumes, with volume I as Hitler’s biography, and Volume II (The National Socialist Movement) to show how the Nazi Party was created. In 1930, all of the volumes were published as one book-Mein Kampf. By 1945, over 10 million copies had been sold all over Europe, and the book had been translated into 16 different languages! Even though Hitler’s book was a hit in Germany, it was nowhere near accurate. Hitler’s biography in Mein Kampf was mainly untrue and incomplete. The part about the history of the Nazi Party was tainted with Hitler’s ideological statements. Along with biased information, the book also spoke about Hitler’s foreign policy (alliances with Italy and Britain), and Hitler’s basic plans for the genocide of all Jews. Some scholars see the book as nothing but propaganda for the Nazi Party, but others see it as, “…clear evidence of Hitler’s goals and insanity”. Barkai, A. Mein Kampf Learning about the Holocaust: A Student’s Guide ©2001 Print

Mein Kampf Cover of Adolf Hitler’s biography Mein Kampf.

Zyklon B Zyklon B was the main gas used in gas chambers, along with carbon monoxide. Zyklon B is a greenish crystalline pellet, which’s original use was pesticide for buildings at Auschwitz for rats and lice. However, on September 3 rd, 1941, Zyklon B was used for the first time as an extermination tool. After the discovery of how effectively and quick it worked, Zyklon B was dispensed in gas chambers by the shower nozzles. The crystalline pellets released lethal hydrogen cyanide when it was exposed to the air, causing almost instantaneous death. However, since there were quite a few people at a time in the chambers, the average time it took for the Zyklon B to kill all of its victims was 20 minutes. Lace, William The Holocaust Library: The Death Camps San Diego, California Lucent Books ©2001 Print

Zyklon B Zyklon B pellets found at the liberation of the Majdanek camp. Poland, after July 1944.