...The Auschwitz concentration camp was the largest complex made up of three main camps (Museum, 2013). It was established in a suburb of the city Oswiecim, Poland by the Nazi regime. Auschwitz was created in May 1940 on the site of a deserted Polish army barracks. The first transport of Polish political prisoners arrived by railroad on June 14, 1940 (BBC, 2013). All three camps, Auschwitz I, II, and III had different methods. However, their purpose was the same and that was to kill as many as possible. Auschwitz I, was the first and main camp. It was constructed to incarcerate real and perceived enemies of the Nazi regime. It was also constructed to have an available supply of forced laborers and to physically eliminate targeted groups of the population. Auschwitz I was a death camp that had a gas chamber and crematorium (Museum, 2013). Medical experiments were also carried out in the hospital by SS Captain Dr. Josef Mengele. There was the “Black Wall” where SS guards executed thousands of prisoners. The shooting of women and children here began to cause troops psychological damage. As a result a larger permanent gas chamber was constructed to make the killings more systematic and impersonal. A Star of David was placed above the entrance to the gas chamber. A sign painted in Hebrew said “This is the Gateway to God. Righteous men will pass through” was placed on a curtain covering the chamber’s entrance (BBC, Auschwitz- facts: BBC, 2013). The main camp’s population grew from...
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...When Adolf Hitler became the Chancellor of Germany in 1933, no one was certain exactly what he had in mind to do not even the German people. If Hitler would have got into that art school that he got denied twice for many people say that all of this would have not even went on. Then again, who knows if Hitler was the only one with these intensions? I see the Nazis as one of the worst group of people in the entire history. The Nazi’s were downright brutal by making Jews be their slaves and when their time came, they conducted experiments on the Jews to try to figure out medical breakthroughs, and the most brutal of them all…mass murdering all the Jews that they possibly could. The Nazi’s were storming through every piece of land in and around the German area looking for Jews to take hostage of. They liked to refer to this as the “Resettlement Action” which involved the idea of separating the Jews on to the trains that are driven on special tracks to areas of the camp specifically set aside for this purpose. There the Jews are unloaded and tested for their level of fitness that the doctors determined. At this point anyone who can somehow be incorporated into the work program is put in a special camp. The curably ill are sent to a medical camp and are restored to health with a special diet treatment. The main plan was to get all the work power that they possibly could. Sure this sounds like the slaves of Africa but they are not telling everything. In documenting what they do they...
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...Survival in Auschwitz In the book Survival in Auschwitz, the author Primo Levi illustrates the hardships himself and others endured during the capture of Jews in 1943. Originally titled If This Is a Man, Levi expresses captivating images and vivid emotions of his experience of inhumane treatment. The memories indicate the intense and extreme situations all Jews suffered in the totalitarian state of Nazi control. Levi learns an immense amount of survival tactics in order to breathe every waking day of his new life. The weak were tested physically and emotionally as the path of death was effortless, while the road to survival seemed impossible and unachievable. Throughout the narrative, Primo transforms from an apathetic victim to a progressive survivor in the German concentration camp at Auschwitz. The concept of black marketing, knowledge in chemistry and his spirituality all contributed toward the survival of Primo Levi and others in Auschwitz. According to Primo Levi, illegality, deceit, infidelity and sin were all relevant in the concentration camp. These characteristics made up Auschwitz and were used as necessities in order to survive such horrid conditions. Those who were captured and sent to German camps quickly noticed that this was a place where happiness was extinct. Little pieces of bread, shoes or soup bowls were perceived as rather large when consumed and used by other prisoners. The smallest amount of food attracted any inmates, creating trust issues...
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...several months later, and explained the brutal treatment that they encountered, but most people did not believe him. 1944 the Nazis gained power in Hungry, and all Jews were crowded into a small ghetto. After a while the Nazis started to deport all the Jews in the ghetto to Auschwitz. On the train the Jews were packed in, with almost no air to breathe, everyone was thirsty and hungry. After some days of traveling the Jews arrived in Czech, and a German officer takes over the train. The officer warned everyone that to give of their valuables or get shot. The train doors were then nailed to prevent people from escaping. Madame Schächter, was the first person to go crazy on the train, she starts to yell about a fire, which is not there. After some time a few boys beat her to silent as her son watches in fear, but the next night she started to yell once again. The Jews arrive in Auschwitz, but it was not as they have been told. They were told although it is a labor camp; the families will be kept as one. As the train traveled through the barb wire they see chimneys of smoke, and there is terrible smell, which they later find out that it is human flesh. The camp that they arrived in is the processing camp for Auschwitz. At Birkenau the Nazis make a selection form those who will live and those who will die. Some of the elders in the camp convince Ellie and his father to lie about their age, in order to stay alive. Ellie and his father were able to stay together, in the work camp. Seeing...
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...Over 60 years ago in Poland, there was a large work camp. A lot of people lost their lives because of a horrible event. Today this concentration camp is fading away, caused by the yearly visitors and its natural surroundings. This concentration camp is specifically called Auschwitz. Auschwitz should not be saved. The concentration camp could be preserved as an interesting piece of history. It could be kept open to represent all of the people who had suffered and died in Auschwitz. They could make it into a memorial so no one would ever forget what had happened in that exact place. Some people that survived the concentration camp might want it to be saved. Then they could share their journey with people who want to learn more about Auschwitz. A lot of people are very interested in learning about the concentration camp. According to the article “Can Auschwitz Be Saved?” by Andrew Curry, public interest in the camp has never been higher. Visits have doubled this decade, from 492,500 to more than $1 million in 2009. Some people say Auschwitz shouldn’t be saved. Well there are some valid reasons for that. They should tear down Auschwitz for people who do not want to remember all the horrible things that took place there, and also for people who get emotional when they see it. A lot of people might get scared when they see the concentration camp. They could have lost someone in the camp that meant a lot to them. If someone that survived the concentration camp would want it tore...
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...EN130 English Composition Auschwitz Auschwitz began as a barracks camp in the town of Oswiecim for the polish army in the early 1930's. Germany then captured Poland and needed another location for Polish political prisoners. In 1940, the German SS (Schutz Staffel) sent a commission to Oswiecim to see if the barracks there could be used. The first inspection reported that it could not be used; however, a later inspection stated that after a few minor changes it would be useable. On May 4, 1940 Rudolf Hoss officially established it as a German concentration camp. Auschwitz was originally intended for Polish political prisoners and other Poles. In June of 1940, the first load of prisoners arrived. Included were 728 Poles and a handful of Jews. Soon, though, it became a melting pot of prisoners. Czechs, Soviets, Yugoslavs, Jews, and Gypsies; but only men were housed there. Not until 1942 did women arrive. In January of 1942 it was decided that Auschwitz would become the main Jewish extermination camp. Thereafter cattle cars brought in ship loads of Jews monthly. They were brought from all over in these filthy cars, going for days without food, water, or washing facilities. During the first few months of operation, Auschwitz simply housed the Jews because an effective method for mass extermination had not yet been found. They performed many experiments on the prisoners to find a gas that was cheap and quickly effective. Also, they had not yet begun cremating the bodies so they...
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...What Was Auschwitz? Built by the Nazis as both a concentration and death camp, Auschwitz was the largest of the Nazi's camps and the most streamlined mass killing center ever created. It was at Auschwitz that 1.1 million people were murdered, mostly Jews. Auschwitz has become a symbol of death, the Holocaust, and the destruction of European Jewry. Dates: May 1940 -- January 27, 1945 Camp Commandants: Rudolf Höss, Arthur Liebehenschel, Richard Baer Auschwitz Established On April 27, 1940, Heinrich Himmler ordered the construction of a new camp near Oswiecim, Poland (about 37 miles or 60 km west of Krakow). The Auschwitz Concentration Camp ("Auschwitz" is the German spelling of "Oswiecim") quickly became the largest Nazi concentration and death camp. By the time of its liberation, Auschwitz had grown to include three large camps and 45 sub-camps. Auschwitz I (or "the Main Camp") was the original camp. This camp housed prisoners, was the location of medical experiments, and the site of Block 11 (a place of severe torture) and the Black Wall (a place of execution). At the entrance of Auschwitz I stood the infamous sign that stated "Arbeit Macht Frei" ("work makes one free"). Auschwitz I also housed the Nazi staff that ran the entire camp complex. Auschwitz II (or "Birkenau") was completed in early 1942. Birkenau was built approximately 1.9 miles (3 km) away from Auschwitz I and was the real killing center of the Auschwitz death camp. It was in Birkenau where the dreaded selections...
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...Mike Pistic Professor G. Smith English 111 10 May 2016 Welcome to Auschwitz: The Dark Side of Self-Preservation The story “This Way for the Gas, Ladies and Gentlemen” by Tadeusz Borowski recreates the brutal image of a Nazi concentration camp through astonishing details and the kind of narrative that spreads chills in every scene. With the narrative’s direct approach, the author wants us to take the facts “as is”. Even when the story becomes a fiction, he doesn’t feel the need of editing the gruesome events that led to one of the biggest tragedies in humankind’s history. But was the narrator just a simple senseless and “privileged” prisoner, with immoral ambitions towards survival, or he did care about the Jews where the “naked” truth becomes the only obstacle between the train ramp and the gas chamber? Waiting for the trains to arrive, and witnessing the prisoners’ manifestation, we can certainly point out the psychological damage that the camp life inflicted upon him, and the occasional outburst of emotions in the process of self-preservation. One of the most tragic and feared element in WWII was the Nazi concentration camp. Officially presented as a labor camp, it came to be known as the final destination for the Jews, one that ended up with death or in this case with mass killing. The German ideology of Aryan race superiority was in high contrast with the Bible and the Jews. Because the Jews are called the chosen people, and being viewed as society’s “parasites” by...
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...During the Holocaust, millions of people died- but that does not tell the full story. The conditions which the prisoners of the concentration camps were forced to live through are inconceivable. Surviving prisoners have since expressed their experiences in different ways. There have also been later generations who have attempted to recapture this tragic time period; however, it is highly unlikely that they have experienced anything like the camps in their lives, which is detrimental in terms of building a believable story. Primo Levi, author and victim of Auschwitz, wrote Survival in Auschwitz to inform others of the horrific events and conditions that he was forced to live through in his journey to survival. Conversely, Roberto Benigni, Italian...
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...Auschwitz Auschwitz Birkenau was established in Poland. Auschwitz Birkenau was established in October,1941. In Auschwitz the Nazi,marked all Jew living in Europe to exterminate all the Jews. Auschwitz Birkenau keep killed many Jewish prisoners. The camp was responsible for most of the death Jewish people during the holocaust. The was very strict and tortured or killed prisoners if disobeyed the guards Auschwitz was built by a town somewhere in Poland. The camp was near a town called oswiecim in southern Poland. The people in oswiecim stayed quiet about the camp because they feared that they would be sent to a camp there self. The SS was order to disabled the gas chambers because of the Soviets approaching. Auschwitz killed 1,095,000 Jews...
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...The Auschwitz camp plays a special role in the resolution of the Jewish question. the most advanced methods permit the execution of the Fuher order in the shortest possible time and without arousing much attention. The so-called resettlement action run the following course: the Jews arrive in special trains, toward evening and are driven on special tracks to areas of the camp specifically set aside for this purpose. There the Jews are unloaded and examined for their fitness to work by a team of doctors, in the presence of the camp commandant and several SS officers. At this point anyone who can somehow be incorporated into the work program is put in a special camp. The ill are sent straight to a medical camp and are restored to health through a special diet. the basic principle beind everything is: conserve all manpower for work. the previous type of resettlement action has been thoroughly rejected, since it is too costly to destroy precious work energy on a continual basis. In the cellars of the large houses, that are located outside, and entered from outside go down five or six steps into a fairly long, well constructed and well ventilated cellar area, which is lined with benches to the left and right, it is brightly lit, and the benches are numbered, the prisoners are told that they are to be cleansed and disinfected for their new assignments. they must therefore completely undress to be bathed, to avoid panic and to prevent disturbances of any kind, they are instructed...
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...The novel, Survival in Auschwitz, explains Primo Levi's experiences and thoughts during his time in the concentration camp. Levi expresses his sufferings to explain how the prisoners were not treated like people by the Germans. They were de-humanized by stamping each individual with numbers, had harsh living conditions and forcing them away from their families. The actions taken place on each individual were not how people should be treated. The German's goal was to deprive any positive human qualities that the Jews consisted. The easiest way to do so, was to strip them away from their family. "In an instant, our [their] women, parents, and children disappeared. We [They] saw them for a short while as an obscure mass at the other end of...
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...“Justice and Liberty”. They were sent to Auschwitz Buna, a factory that created synthetic rubber and latex. After eleven astonishing months surviving as a laborer and a chemist inside Auschwitz, Primo Levi and the whole camp was saved by the Russian Army. Once Levi entered the camp his personal background and physical capabilities influenced the nature of his life in Auschwitz, as it did too for many other prisoners. Before World War II began Levi had just gotten a degree in chemistry in the University of Turin. In Auschwitz the Nazis opened a chemistry unit and with his professional background as chemist, Levi was sent to work there. This meant superior living conditions thereby increasing his chances of survival especially during the harsh winter. It is clear from Levis account that a prisoner’s physical condition, mental capacities and skill set were determining factors in...
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...Auschwitz was built by Oswiecim, Poland (The Auschwitz Album: The Story of a Death Factory). It was 37 miles west of Krakow and one of 4 concentration camps in Poland (Auschwitz: United States Holocaust Memorial Museum). Many Jews were transported to Auschwitz by trains (Auschwitz: Gale Student Resources in Context). Auschwitz would become a death machine killing more than 1 million people. Auschwitz was a concentration camp, built by the Nazis in April of 1940 (Wigoder, Abwehr to Extermination Camps). Most prisoners did not survive Auschwitz. It was liberated on January 27, 1945 (Wigoder, Abwehr to Extermination Camps). The fact that most prisoners did not survive Auschwitz means that Auschwitz was a key component of the Holocuast. Auschwitz was founded to be the answer to the Jewish question (Wigoder, Abwehr to Extermination Camps). It was the largest concentration camp (Wigoder, Abwehr to Extermination Camps), being 15.44 square miles (Auschwitz: United States Holocaust Memorial Museum). Auschwitz also had 3 main camps and over 40 sub camps (The Auschwitz Album: The Story of a Death Factory). Auschwitz was the worst concentration camp of all. The Nazis killed 1.1 to 1.5 million people at Auschwitz (The Auschwitz Album: The Story of a Death Factory). Only 20% were selected to work (The Auschwitz Album:...
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...“I died in Auschwitz, but no one knows it”. These are the words of Charlotte Delbo, a survivor of Auschwitz. For many men and women Auschwitz was a time of great fear, death and despair. The Auschwitz concentration camp was a network of concentration and extermination camps built and operated by Nazi Germany in occupied Poland during World War II, and commanded by Rudolf Hoss (1900-1947). It included three main camps. All three camps used prisoners for forced labor. One of them also functioned for an extended period as a killing center. These concentration camps were made up of mainly Jewish people. An estimated 1.3 million people were sent to the camp, and at least 1.1 million died. Around 90 percent of those were Jews. As a matter of fact,...
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