1. Auschwitz Origins and Function Created in 1940
Initially a Polish POW camp.
By the end of 1941 it had expanded into an enormous labour camp, mainly for Soviet POWs.
Run by Rudolph Hoess (worked his way up at Dachua and Sachsenhausen)
Given order to become death camp in Summer 1941.
Gassing Developments
Hoess discovered Zyklon B as an alternative to Carbon Monoxide.
Extremely poisonous Prussic Acid pellets.
Tested on Soviet POWs.
Halved the killing time.
Auschwitz led the way on revolutionary killing.
Set-Up of Camps
3 main camps:
Auschwitz I, original camp.
Auschwitz II, (Birkenau), extermination camp, much more secluded.
Auschwitz III, industrial centre at Monowitz.
Surrounded by dozens of satellite camps.
Other Prisoners at Auschwitz
Dec 1942 – Himmler orders all German gypsies to be sent to Auschwitz.
Gypsies had own camp, containing over 10,000.
Initially they received much better treatment than Jews – families stayed together and few gassed. But in 1944 most are sent to labour camps and the remaining 3000 are gassed.
6000 Jehovah’s witnesses killed.
Approx 40,000 ‘criminals’ killed.
3.3 million Soviet POWs killed.
Auschwitz
Extermination Process
Very similar to Reinhard:
Prisoners station halfway between Auschwitz I and II.
SS doctors decide in seconds who is fit to work. (fluctuated due to labour needs but usually around 30% of each intake)
The fit are sent to Auschwitz I or III for labour; the unfit are sent to immediate death at Birkenau.
Greeted nicely on Birkenau and told to undress for a shower.
Herded into the gas chambers and pellets dropped in.
Young and old die first (nearest to the floor).
Some of the stronger try to climb up the piles of bodies to get to the good air but all die within 20 mins.
SS doctor watched whole event: gives sonderkommando the signal to clear bodies when it’s over.
Labour Camps
Contained mainly non-Jews, but a significant % were Jews.
1944 approx 40 branches.
Supplied labour for famous German firms e.g. Krupp and Siemens–Schuckert.
Prisoners wore different colour markings on uniform to denote reason for detainment.
Fed on watery soup and 1 or 2 oz of bread; no medicines; primitive sanitary conditions.
Continuous hard manual labour from dusk till dawn, with brutal punishments.
Few prisoners survived more than a few months.
Experimentation
Many prisoners used as human guinea pigs.
Dr Clauberg: Directed by Himmler to find a method of mass sterilisation. Injected chemicals into women’s ovaries.
Several doctors used intense radiation. This caused severe burns and effective sterilisation.
Dr. Josef Mengele: ‘Angel of Death’, most famous. Volunteered for Auschwitz in 1943, aged 32. Obsessed with twins - out of over 1500 he used, only 200 sets survived.
Similar experiments took place at other camps (dumping victims into ice cold water and then testing revival Dachau)