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Who were the first prisoners sent to Auschwitz I in June 1940?
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Auschwitz
The entrance gates to the Auschwitz concentration camp, near Kraków, Poland; the sign reads “Arbeit Macht Frei” (“Work Liberates”).
The first prisoners sent to Auschwitz I were Polish political prisoners, who arrived in the first transport on June 14, 1940. Throughout its history, this initial camp was reserved primarily for political prisoners, consisting mainly of Poles and Germans.1