AUSCHWITZ II: BIRKENAU

Some three kilometers distant from so-called Auschwitz I – main camp – the second camp, Auschwitz-Birkenau (in Polish: Brzezinka), is situated. It was built in 1941 in the city Brzezinka from which the name of the camp is derived and which was annexed by the Germans after they have occupied Poland. Before the camp was built, the inhabitants of the city had to leave their homes.

Outside the camp

The street next to the Entrance

After having had a guided tour in the first camp we took the bus to visit the second one. Honestly, I was already exhausted by the other tour, but still interested in visiting the often referred as death camp of the Nazis. In this camp, the majority of the people (900.000) were put into the gas chambers directly after their arrival. At all, 1,1 Million people were murdered here; 1 Million of them were Jews. The camp consisted of six gas chambers and four crematoriums.

Cattle Trucks that brought the prisoners into the camp

Barack on the Camp

Already at the famous outlook of the entrance gate, I felt glum. Here, exactly at this place, a SS-officer decided who was able to work and who was not. Old people, children and the majority of women were directly send into the gas chambers, without knowing what was happening. The doctor Eduard Wirths was the main actor in this selection process that took place after the prisoners traveled in cattle trucks to this ramp. Later, in spring 1944, they build rails directly into the camp.

Inside the Camp: After 1944 the Rails directly went into the camp

The place was full of visitors and it is not easy to imagine what happened here; that people were murdered because of racist and antisemitic attitudes, power was demonstrated and justified by an immoral ideology of the Nazis, medical experiments were executed and the people who were selected as being able to work, had to do inhuman work in industrial, agricultural and armament companies. People were not only dying because of the gas chambers, but also because of hunger and heavy illnesses.

Of course, the prisoners were kept under surveillance. But this was not only carried out by the SS; some prisoners, the so-called Capos, became part of the camp management system and had to watch their fellow prisoners. In exchange they got some privileges like access to camp bordells or alcohol. They, involuntarily, overtook a great part of the monitoring function.

Commemorative Plaque in Russian

Commemorative Plaque in German

Auschwitz-Birkenau (II) is belonging to the museum complex and holds some commemorative plaques and statues. In many languages you can read the following: This place shall always be an outcry of despair and warning to humankind. Here, the Nazis murdered more or less one and a half million men, women and children. Most of them were Jews from originating from different parts of Europe.

Even more shocking than already everything else was one story the guide told aus about the barrack where prisoners could wash themselves and go to the toilet. It is no wonder that the smell in those barracks were disgusting; everything was very simple and the conditions not dignified. But this fact made the SS-officers stay outside, so that many prisoners voluntarily took over the work of cleaning the toilets. What sounds normally absolutely as the least beloved activity, became the most attractive under these circumstances. This shows how cruel the system of the Nazis was to make people prefer such things instead of being surveilled or punished all the time. The sanitary barack also served as the black market and point of sharing secret information for plans of, for example, rebellions.

›Toilets‹

Recreated sleeping places

The macabre cruelty of the Nazis was also demonstrated by the fact that they let prisoners play in an orchestra at the entrance gate when fellow prisoners were walking to their labour place. They still were not valued by the Nazis, but were better off than prisoners that did not have the privilege to be able to play an instrument or becoming an Capo. So even among the prisoners there existed a hierarchy.

Entrance Gate

The visit of the two concentration camps is absolutely worth it. I recommend to do a guided tour with a group and maybe even with people that you know a bit. The given information is not only about listing facts; there are also told stories that really hit you emotionally. It is, indeed, a very tough experience and you might need someone afterwards to talk about your experience and feelings. I also recommend to visit the city of Krakau beforehand or afterwards. One and a half hour by bus and you reach the wonderful city next to Weichsel (in Polish: Wisła) which is the longest river of Poland.