Auschwitz

Imagine leaving your family, your house, your possessions, and your life behind. You do not know where you're going, or how long it will take to get there. You are cramped into a small space with around a hundred other people; some dead, some dying, some hoping for death to come. It's hard to stay positive in a situation like this. You are on your way to the most famous Ð'- and most deadly Ð'- Nazi concentration camp. Its name is Auschwitz, and you are a Jew in Nazi Germany during World War II. Your future is beginning to look bleak. The thought of ever leaving this place is the only hope that you and those around you really have, and the chance of that is slim. As you finally arrive at your destination after two full days of travelling without food or water, you and the other people in the car are herded into two lines. One line consists of women and children, while the other is for the men. Women and men cry and take their last embraces, never knowing when they will see one another again. Mothers clutch their children close to them, whispering to them to behave, and trying to no avail to shield them from this place. Everyone is thirsty, hungry and tired, but most of all, afraid. A deep seeded fear begins to plant itself inside of everyone present at the sight of tall smokestacks billowing a putrid, indescribable smoke that seems to hang over everything around you. Upon walking a short distance, you are confronted by a large iron gate, with the words "Arbeit macht frei" or "Work makes you free" on it. Little does anyone know, what awaits them here will do anything but that.

Auschwitz, or Auschwitz-Birkenau, is the best known of all Nazi death camps, though Auschwitz was just one of six extermination camps. It was also a labor camp, extracting prisoners' value from them in the form of hard labor. This camp was the end of the line for millions of Jews, gypsies, Jehovah's witnesses, homosexuals, and other innocents. Since I was young, World War II, and the stories surrounding it have fascinated me. I have read innumerable books on the subject, including fiction, non-fiction, and poetry. Although, throughout all my research and broad understanding I have gained from this reading, I am still interested to know more about Auschwitz and the people that were imprisoned there. For example, what was daily life like for the prisoners? How did people feel inside the camp, and how did they cope with the stress of imprisonment? What is the history of Auschwitz itself? What was life like for those who survived? What kinds of people were inside the camp? and, What exactly is "Zyklon B" and why was it used?

What was daily life like for the prisoners?

Each morning, before dawn, prisoners were rounded into what was called "roll call". Forming into groups and ordered by the SS guard, the prisoners were accounted for and checked off an attendance list. This procedure often took several hours in which the prisoners were forced to stand in the freezing cold, and the sweltering heat. After roll call was finally over, most prisoners were sent to work, an excursion that often took miles of marching to reach. For the rest of the day, until dusk, they were forced to labor on such projects as hole digging, rock breaking, and garden tending. Guards often took the opportunity during the workday to pick on the weaker workers, often using their guard dogs as a weapon (Delbo, 51). When the workday was finally over, another roll call was made and then began the march back to the barracks of the camp. Dinner, which usually consisted of mealy bread and watery soup followed. After dinner, the prisoners were forced to endure yet another roll call, and then sent to the barracks for the night. The barracks consisted of bunk-like wooden shelves, and usually had a "kapo" or a prisoner in charge of one group of barracks. They were held responsible to account for the prisoners in their group during the roll calls.

How did people feel inside the camp, and how did they cope with the stress of imprisonment?

People inside Auschwitz went through any emotion possible. Fear, anger, hopelessness, pain, frustration, yearning, and mourning were just a few of the things that plagued prisoners on a daily basis. Hope was what helped them cope. By sticking together and forming tight bonds with those around them, the prisoners of Auschwitz managed to keep hope alive among themselves and keep the thought of one day returning to their old lives in their minds.

Left alone at the bottom of the ditch, I am filled with despair. The others' presence, the things they said, made it possible to believe we might return. Now that they have left I am desperate. I cannot believe I will ever return when I am alone. With them near me, since they seem so certain of it, I believe it could happen. No sooner do they leave me than I am frightened. No one believes she will return when she is alone (Delbo, 103).

Coping with the stress of the conditions inside the camp was not the only worry of the prisoners, as I quickly learned. The camp doctor, who judged who was "fit" and who was ready to be exterminated performed weekly checks. Hitting, clubbing, dog attacks, and kicking were all part of daily life for prisoners as well, which added to their stresses increasingly.

By 1943, resistance organizations had formed within the camp. These organizations helped a few prisoners escape. In October 1944, these resistance organizations culminated what was later called the "Birkenau Sonderkommando Uprising". This event greatly helped moral amongst the prisoners, who were liberated just weeks later.

What is the history of Auschwitz itself?

The history of the camp began on April 27, 1940 when Heinrich Himmler, the head of the SS and Gestapo, ordered the construction of a camp in northeast Silesia, a region captured by the Nazis in 1939. Three hundred Jewish prisoners from the local town of Oswiecim and its surrounding area built the camp. Auschwitz became the largest concentration and extermination camp of the Third Reich, and was located 37 miles west of Krakow, Poland. In June of 1940 the camp opened for Polish political prisoners. By 1941, there were about 11,000 prisoners, most of whom were Polish. From May 1940 to the end of 1943, Rudolf HÐ"¶ss was head commander of Auschwitz. Under his leadership, Auschwitz quickly became known as the harshest prison camp in the Nazi regime. Following its first year of existence, Heinrich Himmler visited Auschwitz and told HÐ"¶ss that its labor