- Polish:
- Oświęcim
- Also called:
- Auschwitz-Birkenau
- Date:
- 1940 - 1945
- Related Topics:
- Nazi Party
- genocide
- forced labour
- gas chamber
- SS
Auschwitz
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What was Auschwitz?
Auschwitz, located near Oświęcim in southern Poland, was Nazi Germany’s largest concentration and extermination camp. It was comprised of three camps: a prison camp, an extermination camp, and a slave-labor camp. Auschwitz has become the emblematic site of the "final solution," a synonym for the Holocaust.
Between 1.1 and 1.5 million people died there; 90 percent of them were Jews. The camp was equipped with gas chambers and cremating ovens. Auschwitz was also a nexus of 45 smaller subcamps, most of which housed slave laborers. Newly arrived prisoners underwent a process called Selektion; the young and able-bodied were sent to work, while young children and their mothers, and the old and infirm were sent directly to the gas chambers.
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Where was Auschwitz located?
Auschwitz, the largest Nazi German concentration and extermination camp, was located near the industrial town of Oświęcim in southern Poland, in a portion of the country annexed by Germany at the start of World War II. Auschwitz was not a single camp but a complex of three: a prison camp, an extermination camp, and a slave-labor camp. Auschwitz II, or Birkenau, was located outside the nearby village of Brzezinka. Another camp, Auschwitz III, was located near the village of Dwory. As the most lethal of the Nazi extermination camps, Auschwitz has become the emblematic site of the "final solution" and a synonym for the Holocaust.
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Why was Auschwitz created during World War II?
Auschwitz, the largest Nazi concentration and extermination camp, was created during World War II as part of the "final solution," the Nazi plan to eliminate Europe’s Jewish population. The camp complex, located near Oświęcim in southern Poland, was chosen due to its location at a railway junction, enabling the transport of Jews from across Europe.
Heinrich Himmler ordered the establishment of Auschwitz I in April 1940 for Polish and German political prisoners. In October 1941, work began on Auschwitz II (Birkenau), which became a huge extermination complex. Auschwitz III, a slave-labor camp, was established in May 1942. Auschwitz became the most lethal of the extermination camps, where Nazis murdered approximately 1.1 to 1.5 million people, 90 percent of whom were Jews.
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Who were imprisoned in Auschwitz?
Auschwitz, the largest Nazi concentration and extermination camp, imprisoned a diverse group of people. The primary victims were Jews, who comprised 90 percent of the 1.1 to 1.5 million deaths at Auschwitz.
Poles were the second largest group imprisoned at Auschwitz, with approximately 83,000 deaths or killings. The Nazis also gassed around 19,000 Roma.
Auschwitz I was established as a prison camp for political prisoners, mainly Poles and Germans. Other groups persecuted and imprisoned in Auschwitz included political dissidents, trade unionists, homosexuals, and Jehovah’s Witnesses.
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What happened to people who were sent to Auschwitz?
Auschwitz was Nazi Germany’s largest concentration and extermination camp, located in Poland. Between 1.1 and 1.5 million people died there; 90 percent of them were Jews.
New arrivals underwent a process called Selektion. The young and able-bodied were sent to work, while young children with their mothers, and the old and sick, were immediately gassed. Those who could no longer work were gassed.
As the Soviet army advanced in 1945, Auschwitz was evacuated. Around 60,000 prisoners were marched to other camps. Roughly one in four died en route due to cold, starvation, or exhaustion. Those who paused or fell behind were shot. When Soviet troops arrived on January 27, 1945, they found 7,650 sick and starving prisoners.
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Why is Auschwitz remembered today and what lessons can be learned from it?
Auschwitz, the largest Nazi concentration and extermination camp, is remembered as the emblematic site of the Holocaust, where between 1.1 and 1.5 million people, 90 percent of whom were Jews, were killed. It stands as a symbol of absolute evil, prompting ethical discourse across law, medicine, religion, government, and the military.
The lessons from Auschwitz emphasize the depths of human cruelty and the dangers of malevolent social and governmental structures. Survivors' pleas of "Remember! Do not let the world forget" and "Never again" highlight the responsibility to prevent any recurrence of such atrocities and promote tolerance, justice, and the protection of human rights for all people.
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News •
Auschwitz, Nazi Germany’s largest concentration camp and extermination camp. Located near the industrial town of Oświęcim in southern Poland (in a portion of the country that was annexed by Germany at the beginning of World War II), Auschwitz was actually three camps in one: a prison camp, an extermination camp, and a slave-labour camp. As the most lethal of the Nazi extermination camps, Auschwitz has become the emblematic site of the “final solution,” a virtual synonym for the Holocaust. Between 1.1 and 1.5 million people died at Auschwitz; 90 percent of them were Jews. Also among the dead were some 19,000 Roma who were held at the camp until the Nazis gassed them on July 31, 1944—the only other victim group gassed in family units alongside the Jews. The Poles constituted the second largest victim group at Auschwitz, where some 83,000 were killed or died.
Auschwitz I
Auschwitz was probably chosen to play a central role in the “final solution” because it was located at a railway junction with 44 parallel tracks—rail lines that were used to transport Jews from throughout Europe to their death. Heinrich Himmler, chief of the SS, the Nazi paramilitary corps, ordered the establishment of the first camp, the prison camp, on April 27, 1940, and the first transport of Polish political prisoners arrived on June 14. This small camp, Auschwitz I, was reserved throughout its history for political prisoners, mainly Poles and Germans.
Auschwitz II (Birkenau) and Auschwitz III
In October 1941, work began on Auschwitz II, or Birkenau, located outside the nearby village of Brzezinka. There the SS later developed a huge concentration camp and extermination complex that included some 300 prison barracks; four large so-called Badeanstalten (German: “bathhouses”), in which prisoners were gassed to death; Leichenkeller (“corpse cellars”), in which their bodies were stored; and Einäscherungsöfen (“cremating ovens”). Another camp (Buna-Monowitz), near the village of Dwory, later called Auschwitz III, became in May 1942 a slave-labour camp supplying workers for the nearby chemical and synthetic-rubber works of IG Farben. In addition, Auschwitz became the nexus of a complex of 45 smaller subcamps in the region, most of which housed slave labourers. During most of the period from 1940 to 1945, the commandant of the central Auschwitz camps was SS-Hauptsturmführer (Capt.) and ultimately SS-Obersturmbannführer (Lieut. Col.) Rudolf Franz Höss (Hoess).
The death camp and slave-labour camp were interrelated. Newly arrived prisoners at the death camp were divided in a process known as Selektion. The young and the able-bodied were sent to work. Young children and their mothers and the old and infirm were sent directly to the gas chambers. Thousands of prisoners were also selected by the camp doctor, Josef Mengele, for medical experiments. Auschwitz doctors tested methods of sterilization on the prisoners, using massive doses of radiation, uterine injections, and other barbaric procedures. Experiments involving the killing of twins, upon whom autopsies were performed, were meant to provide information that would supposedly lead to the rapid expansion of the “Aryan race.”
Subject to harsh conditions—including inadequate shelter and sanitation—given minimal food, and worked to exhaustion, those who could no longer work faced transport back to Birkenau for gassing. German corporations invested heavily in the slave-labour industries adjacent to Auschwitz. In 1942 IG Farben alone invested more than 700 million Reichsmarks in its facilities at Auschwitz III.
