Krakow's Auschwitz Site Part 1

In Krakow, Poland, two of Hitler's death camp is located here. On our visit last September 2011, we got the chance to do a tour at Auschwitz Camp. I was a bit excited to go in and learn so much history about the place. It is a sad and solemn place at the same time because so many people have lost their lives here. It was like unraveling everything about what Hitler had made to the country and how much hatred he had on such innocent ones.

entering the Auschwitz Gate Camp

Auschwitz concentration camp was a network of concentration and extermination camps built and operated by the Third Reich in Polish areas annexed bu Nazi Germany during World War II. This camp at Poland was the largest of the German concentration camps.

The entrance to the camp might seem small or just a little sad town. But, really, this place is REALLY big!

Prisoners of the camp are categorized by camp badges, primarily triangles. They were used to identify the reason the prisoners had been placed there. These mandatory badges of shame had specific meanings indicated by their color and shape.

Single Triangles
* Red triangle - political prisoners
* Green triangle - professional criminals
* Blue triangle - emigrants
* Pink triangle - mostly homosexual
* Purple triangle - Bible Students, primarily Jehovah's Witnesses
* Black triangle - associal elements

Double Triangles pertain to all Jews of the same above color badges.

Everyday, prisoners inside the camp had to participate for roll-call. All the prisoners should come out to the square (middle photo below) - standing in thin clothing at all seasons, waiting for as long as 19 hours until the list was verified. When the weather is bad, the SS guards would conduct the roll-calling inside the mini guard house as shown in the third photo below.

  

As the opening words at the entrance of the camp, Arbeit Macht Frei, meaning 'work will set you free' so as each morning, prisoners would walked through this gate on their way to work with a matching band wagon behind them. Newly arrived prisoners would pass through here and greeted by an orchestra music.

hard labor was enforced for other prisoners awaiting their sentences

 The tour allowed us to take a peak of one of the apartment blocks. Each apartment number was filled with so much history and memories.

Block 7 was one of the barracks for women. Currently, it is converted into museum of archives. This showcases the sleeping quarters, wash area and some photos of the many men and women that lived only for a day upon arriving at this camp.

The photo to shown here on my right, are the many men and women who never saw the night on their arrival to Auschwitz Camp 1. Many of them were forcibly push to marched inside to one of the gas chambers situated in the camp. Zyklon B was used to gas the newly arrived prisoners. The chemical pellets were dropped down from two roof openings of the gas chambers. The human heat of the bodies activated the chemical pellets which turned the pellets to gas.

 The photos below are the exact living quarters in the barracks blocked apartments.

In cold weather, the prisoners weren't provided with any heating equipment nor extra blankets. Some of the beds were placed together onto the cold floorings. Bathroom usage were even timed to certain minutes. They don't wait for anyone. When your time is up, that's it and the next latrine time would be the following day.





Photo on the left shows the single furnace situation per room to provide heat during winter season

Moving on to another apartment is Block 10.

This is the lair of Dr. Jekyll and Dr. Hyde. Kidding! But this the block where evil doctors and scientists make their experiments - live human experiments! Yes, evil German doctors would conduct experiments where men and women were used. Their experiments would ranged from skin testing for reaction relatively gentle substances to giving phenol injections to the heart for immediate dissection. 

Although men were also used for the experiments, it was mainly used for women. Such medical experiments primarily focused on sterilization of Jewish women - mass-sterilizing women, experimented on twins and disabled people, skin transplants, testing skin transplants by rubbing toxic substances into their skin. 

After these evil doctors are finished with the tests, they would often kill them by lethal injection.

  

 The left photo is Block 10 where medical experiments were done. The windows were covered with black-painted wood boards so that no one could see what was going on outside. The boards are angled out a few inches to let in a little light through the crack at the top.

The square ground in between Block 10 and Block 11 is the wall known as "Black Death Wall". This is one of the execution grounds where prisoners facing the wall will be shot down with a single shot in the head. Many pay homage to this site, leaving flowers and paying respects to the many men and women killed on the spot.

 

Block 11 is where they keep prisoners who tried to escape and awaiting their execution days. The rooms were very small and cramped. The objective was that the prisoners die out of exhaustion and starvation. All in all the place was horrific! Just imagine yourself in the same place back then.

This really was a death camp. :(

I have the rest of the photos and story to come in the sequel of this blog.


Quote for the day: "my life is shaped by the urgent need to wander and observe, and my camera is my passport." - Steve McCurry