Research Paper On Auschwitz

Auschwitz
On the banks of the Visual and Sola river in Krakow, Poland (Byers 59) lays a gate that reads “Arbeit Macht Frei,” which translates to work will set you free (Shuter 4). These words are the first thing one sees as they enter what is known as Auschwitz. Auschwitz started out as a prison for political prisoners, but soon became the home of millions of injustices (5). Once the Nazis took power this once small industrial town became the center of the Nazis’ imprisonment and gassing. The first gassing occurred in the year of 1941, and it killed 600 Soviet prisoners and 250 prisoners sick with tuberculosis (Shuter 6). These numbers slowly kept rising and in July of 1942 mass extermination occurred (Byers 60) under the control of Nazis

Auschwitz was hidden and masked from most of society because it was surrounded by more than 400 industrial companies buildings (Byers 60). The camp itself was surrounded by two layers of barbed electrified wire to prevent runaways. As time went on, these fences became many prisoners way of suicide. These prisoners were not allowed near the electric fence and were being constantly watched by Nazis officers in the guardhouses. If they dared to come close to the fence they were often shot down before even reaching it (Shuter 5). Inside the fences were blocks of housing that started as one story brick buildings, but as more space was needed the Nazis’s added another story to hold more prisoners. These long buildings held 1000 prisoners, but often many more than that. Inside their sleeping corridors were rows of bunk beds that reached three stories, with two or even three to a bed. Many historians calculate that each person only had 88 square feet to themselves. Each bed was composed of a thin straw mattress (Shuter 12-15) and wreaked of bodily fluids because the prisoners were only allowed to use the restroom early in the morning and late at night. So people often relieved themselves in their beds because it was the only

When they arrived at the camps they were given a tattooed number on their arm to make sure they were always accounted for. Everyone’s hair was also shaved upon arrival, and the women’s hair was actually sold to stuff mattresses. For clothing, the women received work dresses and the men received striped pants and jackets (Bachrach 54). These clothes often got so dirty, that periodical they were dunked into huge pools of chlorine to kill of the germs. These waters were so strong that a lot of people passed out from the chlorine. The chlorine unfortunately did not kill everything because the camp was crawling with fleas and lice that infested everyone and everything (Shuter 22). The normal day of a prisoner started in the early morning with a form of breakfast where they were given two cups of coffee or tea (15). They then proceeded to go to their job which varied between Blocks, but their work was purchased by companies at a cheap cost. Hundreds of jobs such as coal mines, rock quarries, tunnel digging, construction, and the gun factories surrounded the camp. Those guns were often used in the camp to kill the hands that made them (Bachrach 56). They then went to lunch, which was a either three cups of thin turnip or potato soup (Shuter 15). The prisoners then went back to work until dinner. For dinner they received 10 ounces of bread, less than an ounce of sausage or cheese, one teaspoon of