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 Auschwitz II-Birkenau is the
largest labor and
extermination camp where it
initially housed four
crematoriums (the
crematoriums were destroyed
by the Germans when the camp
was liquidated to destroy
all evidences of their
horrendous acts of
inhumanity.
The ashes of prisoners who
were cremated were
eventually dumped in ponds
and rivers, and put on
fields as fertilizer. An
estimated 1.3 million people
were killed in this camp.
The picture above was
taken at the railway
track when I was walking
back after the memorial
ceremony. Some MRH
participants had placed
these photos of victims
who were murdered in
this camp.
Latrine barrack
These cement blocks were
built specifically for the
prisoners to be used as
toilets. All prisoners were
allowed to use the toilet
once a day, and sometimes
they had to fight to get
their turn. Everyone did it
at the same time, there was
no privacy and no toilet
paper. This was arranged on
purpose by the Nazis the
dehumanize the prisoners,
most of them Jews. We also
noticed the rings on the
barrack walls, which looked
like what you would find in
a horse barn. They were
another way the Nazis
dehumanized the prisoners
further, that they were to
be treated like animals,
like horses.
Dissection table
Like what they had in
Majdanek, there was a
dissection table used to
dissect and remove any
valuables from the bodies of
prisoners. If you've
watched
Schindler's List,
you may have noticed that in
a scene in the movie, the
whole Jewish family
swallowed their valuables
like gold ring, by first
wrapping them with bread.
The Nazi soldiers usually
dissect the bodies of the
prisoners before they were
sent to the crematoria.
How did the soldiers know if
someone had swallowed gold
or valuables? Well, they
just make a guess based on
the person’s looks or body
shape (if a person was
wealthy, he or she probably
ate better food, and thus,
looked better and not
deprived of food). Gold teeth
were extracted because they
can be sold for money.
One of the MRH 2006
participants, a graduate
student in University of
Kentucky expressed her
feelings about this place
through these 2 pictures:
(Photo courtesy of Karen
Clancy)
"These photographs
remind me to think about
what people must have
experienced when they
arrived at Birkenau.
Arriving via cramped
railcars, they were
probably hot, thirsty,
starving, and
exhausted. Most likely
they were terrified
about what would lie
ahead. Families were
separated when they got
off of the railcars.
Most were selected for
extermination and were
taken directly to the
gas chambers. Their
bodies were burned in
the furnaces. Women
with babies were
automatically selected
for extermination to
minimize the crying.
Some who were both
healthy and “lucky” were
chosen as laborers and
were sent to the
barracks. I can’t
imagine what it really
must have been like but
I think about it a lot."
- Karen Clancy, July
2006
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