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02/26/1998

Oswenciem
Auschwitz
26-Jul-1975
A view through the main gate into the compound. Auschwitz - Osweciem This was one of the most notorious of the Nazi concentration camps, where millions of Poles and Jews were put to forced labour and eventually murdered, The Auschwitz group of camps included Birkenau (Brzezinka) where over 4 million people were murdered. It was also the site of some of the worst medical experiments on the prisoners. On reception at the camp, the prisoners were selected, those being unfit for work being killed by poison gas in the 'shower room'. The others were worked until they were unfit for further work and they then suffered the same fate. Later in the war millions were exterminated directly as soon as they arrived. The bodies were looted and anything that could possibly be of value or use was stripped off before cremation. The huts at the Auschwitz camp itself are quite substantial, those at the other camps in the area being much more of a temporary nature. Prisoners slept in three tier bunks made of bare brick, the only aid to comfort being hay. The camp at Auschwitz has been preserved as a museum, but some of the impact has been lost as it has become somewhat overgrown with grass and trees, thus softening its stark exteriors. The inside of the huts house a permanent exhibition of relics from the war period including huge piles of human hair. Unfortunately the Eastern bloc have used certain of the huts for propaganda purposes, the most notable being that of The German Democratic Republic. One striking feature is the number of photographs and films taken by the Germans of their 'achievements' at Auschwitz.