|
Roughly 2 miles from the original Auschwitz camp sits Auschwitz II-Birkenau. As it became clear that the original facilities of Auschwitz could not keep pace with the ever increasing number of prisoners and the ever increasing number of Jews that were to be murdered in the gas chambers, Auschwitz II was constructed. Auschwitz II is an overwhelming site given its sheer size. The place is absolutely enormous, impressing upon you the true extent of these death camps. And while much of the camp was destroyed by the retreating Nazis in an effort to hide their crimes, plenty remains.
Trains filled to overflowing with innocent Jews and other prisoners would arrive most everyday through the main gate at Auschwitz II.
The area between the train tracks is the unloading platform, where the new arrivals would disembark and be sorted into two groups: fit to work, and unfit to work. Being unfit to work, of course, was an immediate death sentence. Those innocent people would be marched directly toward the trees in the background where the gas chambers and crematoriums were located--far away from the main camp in an effort to conceal what was happening from the inmates.
The barracks at Auschwitz II were, for the most part, made of wood. Borrowing from a design of stables used to house 52 horses, hundreds of prisoners would be housed in each of these barracks.
Inside, row upon row of stacked wooden beds. Given the overcrowding, the inmates would not sleep length wise but rather width wise--across the bed--typically sharing each bed with as many as 11 others. The barracks were extremely hot during the summer and unbearably cold during the winter. Rats were also a big problem in the barracks. The inmates at Birkenau worked at least 11 hours per day and were only given coffee for breakfast, meatless soup for lunch, and bread, margarine and sometimes a small piece of sausage for dinner each day--in any event, the caloric intake was only enough to sustain an average person for roughly 3 months, before they would die of starvation.
An infamous photo showing a Nazi shooting a Polish woman--most likely a Jew--clutching her child. It is impossible to comprehend the evil.
The remains of one of the gas chambers/crematoriums, all of which were blown up by the Nazis during their retreat. When it became clear that the end was near for the Nazis, the SS (Nazi Security Staff) were ordered to destroy the camps and to retreat. On January 26, 1945, the last Nazi soldiers left Birkenau, leaving behind them the smoldering buildings and the sick inmates who were too weak to walk. On January 27th, at 3:00 p.m. the first soldiers from the Red Army appeared at Birkenau. Those inmates who had survived were finally free.
International Monument to the Victims of Auschwitz.
Continue with us to modern day Germany (with a lot of history thrown in) -or- |
|
2 Go Maps / 2 Go Actual Itinerary / 2 Go Photos / 2 Go Home Page
PLEASE E-MAIL US. . . WE WOULD LOVE 2 HEAR FROM YOU!
©1999-2001 Kelly and Rich Willis. All rights reserved. |
