Monday, March 31, 2008

"Learn from the past, Look to the future, Live in the present"

The location for Auschwitz was very strategic. There were many sets of train tracks all over Europe that led to the area. As mentioned before, there was a very high Jewish population in Poland. Among other things, this made the location a strategic one for the Nazis.
My guide said 1.1 million Jews alone were deported to Auschwitz. One million of those died. A book I bought estimated 1.5 million Jews. The problem is that no one knows for sure. Read on to know why....
Nazis went to Jewish ghettos around Europe. They would sell tickets to the Jews to get out of the ghetto and "work in the East." The ticketscreated the illusion that people were paying for their way to "Work in the East." People were chosen for death right when they got off the train. They were lined up and about 25% actually passed the immediate selection. The remainder were told they were "going to take a bath for disinfection." This would make sense because sometimes the train rides would be two weeks! Cyclone B is an insecticide gas. It was used as the gas to kill the prisoners. Ten cans of Cyclone B killed about 2,000 prisoners. The gas chambers had faux shower heads installed to reassure and comfort those arriving to them. It took a minimum of 5 minutes to die, once the gas was released into the chamber. Usually, death came about ten to twenty minutes in. Corpses were transported to the crematorium. Golden teeth were melted and sold. As I said earlier, hair was sold to textile plants to make socks, blankets and clothes. Money was stolen out of the bags and suitcases the victims brought. Some prisoners had the job to go through the luggage and sort it. They were allowed to eat the food they found in the bags. This was to keep them healthier, stronger, and alive longer. This was a good job for a prisoner in the camp to have. It was named "Canada II" because, at the time, the country was known for its prosperity.
The crematorium furnace took two days to kill those who were gassed in one day. This was inefficient, so the SS resorted to a faster method of throwing the corpes in a pile outside and putting oil on it. They would set the pile on fire. This is another reason the entire camp is now a graveyard with no tombs. Terrible. The picture is of the window of the crematorium. The head of the camp lived right by the crematorium. His children played in the backyard....FEET away from this building. SICK... The head of the camp was tried and hung in the camp after the War. The place where he was hung is between his backyard and the crematorium.

1 comment:

kayla0637 said...

I'm glad you're posting this information to share Tiffany...wow..it's so sad...I just cannot imagine....