Auschwitz Ted Wright Bartow High School Theodore.Wright@Polk-fl.net Notes about my trip to Auschwitz Background information: I always start out the discussion about the Holocaust with a real brief history of what led up to the Holocaust. I don’t even throw a lot of dates at them. The first person killed as part of the Nazi’s programs was a 5 year old deaf and blind boy whose father appealed to the Fuhrer to end his own son’s life. The next group were children (now in their late teens) of German women and US soldiers from World War I who were African American. Next group were anyone with disabilities (although some were only sterilized). The Holocaust was referred to by the Nazis as “The Final Solution to the Jewish Question” and was treated as a business. Costs and timetables were weighed. There was even a businesslike meeting held in the suburbs of Berlin in a town called Wannsee to determine how it was going to go down. Let the students know that it could have been them or their families. Numbers are hard to picture anyway (“one death is a murder, a million deaths is just a statistic” –Stalin). When you wrap things up you can ask them why no one stopped it and then point out Darfur is a modern Holocaust that no is stopping now. On my trip: I visited Auschwitz in 2005. Our tour actually went through Warsaw and four of us decided to ditch the tour for a day and visit Auschwitz (which is like going to Gainesville and wanting to visit Miami. Not really that close. We took a train to Krakow and then hired a driver to Auschwitz. It was a very quiet place (and very crowded). Three camps. One and two still exist, three is gone (it was a factory plant) Built in 1940 and 1941 in southern Poland Held up to 100,000 prisoners at any given time Could gas, burn, and bury 10,000 a day at its height. Estimated deaths at this place alone: 800,000 to 1,200,000 (no way to ever get an exact figure) Title slide: A view through the barb wire and the remains of barracks at Auschwitz-Birkenau (Auschwitz II) Ted Wright Bartow High School Theodore.Wright@Polk-fl.net

The gatehouse to Auschwitz I The gatehouse to Auschwitz I. Built to be a prisoner of war camp for Poles. The gate says “Work shall set you free” which was a lie. If you could work and they needed you you lived, if not you died. The “B” is upside down because it was built by prisoners. The prisoners probably did it on purpose as a small act of rebellion.

Down the main row of the camp

Brick buildings of Auschwitz I. Most of the rows were like this.

More buildings.

The gallows of Auschwitz The gallows of Auschwitz. Last person hung here was the Commandant of the Camp who was executed by the Allies after World War II was over.

Auschwitz II’s gatehouse. This was taken inside of the camp Auschwitz II’s gatehouse. This was taken inside of the camp. Trains were brought directly in to the camp where prisoners could have been on for days with no food or water. They would have had no room to sit and many died on the way.

Barracks for Men. Each row was fenced in from each other and the main camp. Prisoners were separated by nationality and sex. Most of these have been reconstructed and are not originals (except the foundations)

Inside the men’s barracks (each “bed” would be shared by more than one person). In the center was the heating system. In the back was buckets or holes for toilets. At night the doors were chained shut. Polish prisoner were used to watch the Jewish ones blurring the line between prisoner and guard.

Way in the back of the camp (it was quite a walk) there are two ponds where human ash was dumped in to. The stones are like gravestones to the hundred (thousands?) of people in those ponds. The ponds are located in the back of the camp next to the crematoriums and gas chambers.

Remains of Gas Chamber V Remains of Gas Chamber V. The Germans destroyed them as the Red Army approached. They were trying to hide what they were doing here.

From inside the Gas Chamber. I am standing where the “showers” were.

Remains of Gas Chamber II

Inside a Women’s barracks

a view towards the remains of several prisoners quarters a view towards the remains of several prisoners quarters. Groups were separated by sex, nationality, group (Jewish, Roma, etc.). Children had separate quarters. There were also “hospitals” where experiments were performed on men, women, and children

A view from within the Gatehouse A view from within the Gatehouse. The tree line in the back is actually separating the camp from the Crematoriums and Gas Chambers.

A view towards the male quarters from the Gatehouse A view towards the male quarters from the Gatehouse. The treeline is the edge of the existing camp, the Germans were actually expanding the camp out in that direction at the end of the war to make the camp bigger.

Another view towards the men’s side of camp.

Towards the female quarters Personal Note: Needless to say it was a very emotional day. It’s not one of those places you just brag about going to but it’s one of those places every needs to see to believe. I hope this help your students and if you need anything else for this or anywhere else I’ve been to I’d be more than happy to share. Ted Wright Bartow High School Theodore.Wright@Polk-fl.net