Auschwitz the concentration camp - Poland (Oswiecim)

The Complex of Concentration Camps in Oswiecim, Poland, became a symbol of terror, the crime of genocide and Shoah. The concentration Camps, Auschwitz I and Auschwitz II (Birkenau) were created by the Germans in 1940 in Oswiecim, an area of Poland which at this time was occupied by the Third Reich. A growing number of prisoners, mostly Polish people were overcrowding the current prisons and were one of the reasons for creating yet another concentration camp, which were being established on mass by the Nazi’s in the1930’s. However, from 1942 Auschwitz became one of the centers of “Endlösung der Judenfrage” (the final solution of the Jewish issue) – the Nazi plan and execution of eradicating all the Jewish people who lived in terrain occupied by the Third Reich. Auschwitz was the first extermination camp where Nazi’s started systematically slaughtering prisoners and transports of Jews in a  purpose built gas chamber with a deadly gas called Zyklon B. It was also the place where Nazis began pseudo medical experiments on prisoners, especially children and executions by firing squad. What is more, Auschwitz became the major headquarters of the Camp, where the Nazi’s decided about further expansion of the concentration camps.

Over 1.3 million people were deported to Auschwitz-Birkenau Concentration Camp. Over 1.1 million of people were killed, 90% of them were of Jewish descent from different parts of Europe, but also there were Polish, Romani people and Soviet prisoners of war from various countries. Among the deported and killed people there were approximately 232 thousand children and young people less than 18 years of age, 216 thousand of these children were of Jewish descent.

Museum Auschwitz-Birkenau is visited every year by a several hundred thousands of tourists from around the world. The visit begins walking through the infamous gate with the inscription “Arbet macht frei” (work will set you free). In the museum visitors can see not only the living conditions of the camp but view belongings that were stolen from the prisoners and deceased, hair, shoes, suitcases and personal belongs are displayed behind glass. In Birkenau, visitors can see the device of mass murderer, the remnants of the gas chamber and the wooden barracks where prisoners were housed. One particular building, Block 11 was the “prison within the prison”, where prisoners were submitted to various punishments, standing cells where 4 were crowded into an area smaller than 16 square feet, starvation cells, dark cells without oxygen, flogging, or “the post” a type of hanging torture that dislocated bones.

The purpose of the museum is not to recreate the camp but to preserve the structures for the education of future generations and to honor the victims of the holocaust.

Gallery - Auschwitz - Birkenau

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