Pictures of Auschwitz

Auschwitz 1

Photos and descriptions by Mrs. Gracey.

Photos taken during the summer of 2018.

The camp was a former Polish Army barracks located in Oświęcim, Poland. The Germans took over the military barracks and renamed the area Auschwitz (a more Germanic sounding name).

"Albeit Macht Frei"

Work sets you free...

Buildings that housed prisoners

Ashes

In this urn are ashes brought from Birkenau (Auschwitz 2)

Musicians of Auschwitz

The musicians were prisoners of the camp that were required to play at the gates of the camp for the prisoners to walk past as they left to perform their slave labor. The music was meant to keep the prisoners in step and make it easier for the SS to count them.

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Zyklon B used to kill victims in the gas chambers.

Because so few records were kept on victims at the camps, most of the lists of victims were taken from the names written on luggage and personal belongings left behind.

These are some of the few prisoner files that were kept. One of these people was sent to the camp for reading illegal leaflets, another "absence of work," and another hostility towards a German.

Telegram about transport of prisoners on its way.

"A typical interior of a prisoners' room during the first few weeks of the camp's existence."

"A typical interior of a room for prisoners until Spring 1941. Prisoners slept crowded together (they had to sleep on their sides) on straw mattresses. In the morning they had to gather up the mattresses and arrange them in the corner of the room."

After the Spring of 1941, the prisoners slept in bunk beds. Two people slept on each of the 3 levels of beds.

Lavatory

Before 1941, the prisoners' had to use "provisional field latrines." The plumbed bathrooms were not adequate enough for all of the prisoners and led to unsanitary conditions.

Washroom

At first all they had were wells outside. Notice the art of children on the wall. It was a cruel form of sarcasm.

Block Elders Room

Block elders were prisoners appointed by camp administration to oversee their fellow prisoners. At first only German prisoners could be block elders.

Summary Court

There was no due process of law in the camps. Many Polish resistance fighters were sentenced to death by summary court.

Strip before Execution

Those sentenced to death would strip down in this room before going outside and standing against the execution wall and die by firing squad.

Prisoner Photos

A hallway in one of the buildings held the photos and names of some of the prisoners.

Death of Höss

The longest serving commandant of Auschwitz, Rudolf Höss was hung here on gallows set up specifically for that purpose. It was close to the crematorium and on the site of the camp's Gestapo.

"This is where the camp Gestapo was located. Prisoners suspected of involvement in the camp's underground resistance movement or of preparing to escape were interrogated here. Many prisoners died as a result of being beaten or tortured. The first commandant of Auschwitz, SS-Obersturmbannführer Rudolf Höss, who was tried and sentenced to death after the war by the Polish Supreme National Tribunal, was hanged here on 16 April 1947."

Auschwitz 2 - Birkenau Camp

Birkenau camp was built because Auschwitz was becoming too crowded. It was originally built to house POWs but instead was used as an extermination camp.

Gas Chambers and Crematoria

The gas chambers and crematoria sit at the other end of the camp from the entrance at the end of the train line. Originally, there was only a train line into Auschwitz so prisoners were forced to walk about a mile and half to Birkenau where they were either forced to work or taken to the gas chamber.

A train line was built to Birkenau near the end of the war that took those in the train cars directly to the gas chamber. The trains would pull in and unload its passengers to be sorted into lines of soon-to-be-dead and laborers.

The victims would often have to wait in line for their death. Once at the front of the line, they walked down a short set of steps, were told to undress, and then led into a "shower room." Zyklon B would be dropped from above, killing all inside and their bodies dragged into the furnace. There were four of these on site. The ashes were dumped and buried in large pits behind the crematoria.

When the Soviets started to approach, the Nazis destroyed the these buildings in hopes of hiding their crimes.

Barracks

Most of what is left are the brick chimneys of the barracks that housed those imprisoned at Birkenau. The barracks were made of wood and had small heaters that were extremely inadequate.

After the war, residents of the area and displaced Jews dismantled many of the barracks to use the wood to rebuild/build their homes.

Some of the former prisoners stayed at the camp because they wanted to make sure that it was preserved so that the crimes would not be forgotten. The site became a museum a few years after the war.

You did not want to be on the bottom bunk because that meant that you slept on the floor. Many prisoners suffered from diarrhea and unfortunately, the diarrhea would seep down through the bunks. The barracks were infested with rodents, bugs, and lice.

Photos and descriptions by Mrs. Gracey. Photos taken during the summer of 2018.

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