AUSCHWITZ: LANDSCAPE OF HELL

1
AUSCHWITZ LANDSCAPE OF HELL

• Liliane Kshensky Baxter, Ph.D.
• Director, Lillian AJ Weinberg Center for
  Holocaust Education
• The Breman Jewish Heritage Holocaust Museum
• Atlanta, Georgia
• NCSS Nov. 13, 2009

2
(No Transcript)
3
AUSCHWITZ

• Auschwitz complex 3 major camps and 40
  subcamps.
• Concentration camp, death camp, labor camp,
  transit camp.
• 37 miles west of Krakow, Germans renamed town of
  Oswiecim.
• 25 sq. miles, with plans for expansion.
• Nearly 1.3 million people murdered.
• 90 were European Jews.

4

• RR hub.
• Jews arrived from all over Europe France,
  Holland, Belgium, Norway, Yugoslavia, Poland, the
  Czech lands, Slovakia, Austria, Germany, and
  Greece.
• 70 90 murdered immediately upon arrival.
• The whole system was guarded by special SS
  Deaths Head Units, (2,500 to 6,000, at
  different times).

5
Oswiecim Polish town
6
(No Transcript)
7

• Jewish and non-Jewish children on a school outing
  in Oswiecim. The boys wearing round dark caps
  are from Orthodox Jewish homes the ones with
  flat caps are from less religious homes and the
  ones with the four-cornered caps and without head
  covering are not Jewish. The site of this outing
  was later Birkenau.

8
The 3 Camps of Auschwitz

• Auschwitz I. Main camp. Estab. May 1940. Block 10
  - medical experiments Block 11 interrogation
  punishment SS offices residence.
• Auschwitz-Birkenau (Auschwitz II). Oct. 1941.
• By 1943 - Four huge gas chambers crematoria
  able to kill up to 24,000 peo/day.
• Buna-Monowitz (Auschwitz III). 1941. Buna
  Synthetic Rubber Works. 40 sub-camps providing
  slave labor for German govt industry.

9
(No Transcript)
10
AUSCHWITZ CHRONOLOGY

• May 1940 Concentration camp established.
• October 1941 Auschwitz-Birkenau.
• January 1942 - First gas chamber in operation.
• 1942-1944 - Construction of over 40 sub-camps
  using slave labor for German industrial plants
  and farms.
• Oct. 7, 1944 Sonderkommando rebellion
  destruction of Crematorium IV. End use of all.
• January 27, 1945 Liberated by Russian army.

11
Auschwitz I 1940-1945
12
(No Transcript)
13

• Dedication ceremonies of the new SS hospital.
  L-R Richard Baer, Rudolf Hoess and Karl Hoecker.

14
(No Transcript)
15
(No Transcript)
16
(No Transcript)
17
Appell Platz Roll Call
18
Hanging Post Appell Platz
19
The Death Wall
20
The Black Wall Between Block 10 and Block 11
21
Block 10 Pseudo Experiments on Twins, Women,
Roma Others

• Mass Sterilization
• Freezing / Hypothermia /High Altitude
• Traumatic Injuries
• Infectious Diseases
• Pharmacological Experiments
• Surgery

22
Dr. Josef Mengele The Angel of Death
23
Mengeles Twins
24
Ovici Family of Dwarf Musicians

• Publicity photo which they brought with them to
  Auschwitz and gave to a guard upon their arrival.

25

• Gas Chamber and Crematorium I. Original German
  blueprint.

26
(No Transcript)
27
Gas Chamber Crematorium I

• In operation August 1940 - July 1943.
• Jan 1942, Polish political prisoners first to be
  gassed.
• Largest room was morgue.
• Prisoners killed in experiments, shot, who died
  of disease or starvation, were brought here.
• Closed upon completion of four gas chambers
  crematoria at Auschwitz-Birkenau.
• Then, used for storage SS air-raid shelter.

28
(No Transcript)
29
Zyklon B - cheap pesticide used to kill lice in
prisoners clothing .

• Made by I.G. Farben Industries (Auschwitz III).

30
Gas Chambers Crematoriums
31
Life Unworthy of Life

• Gas Chambers Gas cheaper than bullets.
  Psychologically distancing.
• March to June 1943 -- Auschwitz-Birkenau.
  Construction of installations II, III, IV, V
  four massive gas chambers and crematoria. 8 gas
  chambers, 46 ovens.
• Each had potential to kill 6,000 persons/day.
• 70-90 of all arrivals immediately sent to gas
  chambers.

32
Construction of Auschwitz- Birkenau
33
(No Transcript)
34
Auschwitz II - Birkenau
35
Gas Chamber and Crematorium II
36
Gas Chamber and Crematorium III
37
Gas Chamber and Crematorium IV

• October 7, 1944, burned down in the revolt of the
  Jewish Sonderkommando prisoners. Never used
  again.

38
Gas Chamber and Crematorium V
39

• Auschwitz gas chamber. Artists rendition from
  original documents.

40
(No Transcript)
41
(No Transcript)
42
(No Transcript)
43
(No Transcript)
44
(No Transcript)
45
THE AUSCHWITZ ALBUMLILI JACOBS May-June
1944
46
(No Transcript)
47
(No Transcript)
48
(No Transcript)
49
(No Transcript)
50
(No Transcript)
51
(No Transcript)
52
(No Transcript)
53
(No Transcript)
54
(No Transcript)
55
(No Transcript)
56

• Yisrael and Zelig Jacob, the younger brothers of
  Lili Jacob, from the Auschwitz Album.

57

• This photograph, part of the Auschwitz Album, was
  used as evidence in the Frankfurt trial. On the
  far right, you see Stefan Baretzki, a defendant
  in the trial, who was convicted partially because
  this photograph proves that he staffed the ramp.

58
(No Transcript)
59
(No Transcript)
60
(No Transcript)
61

• Josef Mengele, German physician and SS captain.
  In 1943, he was named SS garrison physician
  (Standortartz) of Auschwitz. In that capacity, he
  was responsible for the differentiation and
  selection of those fit to work and those destined
  for gassing. Mengele also carried out human
  experiments on camp inmates, especially twins.

62
(No Transcript)
63
(No Transcript)
64
THE DROWNED THE SAVED
65
PRIMO LEVI

• Italian Jew, from Turin
• Chemist
• 1944 arrived in Auschwitz
• Survival in Auschwitz -
• to furnish documentation for a quiet study
  of certain aspects of the human mind.
• The Drowned The Saved
• The gray zone

66

• THE DROWNED

67
(No Transcript)
68
(No Transcript)
69
(No Transcript)
70
(No Transcript)
71
(No Transcript)
72
(No Transcript)
73
(No Transcript)
74
(No Transcript)
75
(No Transcript)
76
(No Transcript)
77
(No Transcript)
78
(No Transcript)
79

• THE SAVED

80
(No Transcript)
81
(No Transcript)
82
(No Transcript)
83
(No Transcript)
84
(No Transcript)
85
(No Transcript)
86

• Barrack for storage of human hair. 1945

87
(No Transcript)
88
(No Transcript)
89
(No Transcript)
90
(No Transcript)
91
(No Transcript)
92
(No Transcript)
93
(No Transcript)
94
(No Transcript)
95
Resourcefulness Resilience

• Organizing mutual help
• Surrogate families - Lager Shvester
• Survival groups - hometowns, clubs, political
  organizations
• Religious services lunar calendar

96
(No Transcript)
97
(No Transcript)
98
(No Transcript)
99
(No Transcript)
100

• Jewish women from Subcarpathian Rus who have been
  selected for forced labor at Auschwitz-Birkenau,
  stand at a roll call in front of the kitchen.
  Lili Jacob is first row, second from the left.

101

• Children taken from eastern Europe during the SS
  "Heuaktion" (Hay Action), and temporarily
  imprisoned in Auschwitz awaiting their transfer
  to Germany, look out from behind the barbed wire
  fence.

102

• Prisoners at forced labor digging sewage trenches
  in subdivision B III of Birkenau, 1942 1943.
  View of mens camp.

103
(No Transcript)
104
(No Transcript)
105
(No Transcript)
106
(No Transcript)
107
(No Transcript)
108
Auschwitz III Buna-Monowitz

• Network of 40 subcamps which supplied forced
  (slave) labor to German govt and industry.
• Starvation, disease, beatings, terror.
• Buna was a factory for making synthetic rubber
  it was built in May 1942, six kilometers from the
  main Auschwitz camp, by the German company called
  I.G. Farben (Bayer a subsidiary).

109

• Auschwitz-Monowitz - Construction of Krupps
  factory by slave laborers, 1942-1943.

110
Himmler Tours Construction of Buna-Monowitz
111
Monowitz factories operated by the Germans
112
Sub-Camps of Auschwitz
113

• Entrance gate to the Trzebinia sub-camp of
  Auschwitz.

114

• View of Trzebinia sub-camp.

115

• View of the Bobrek labor camp.

116

• View of the formal garden in front of the main
  building at the Bobrek labor camp.

117

• Labor shortages in the German war economy became
  critical especially after German defeat in the
  battle of Stalingrad in 1942-1943.
• This led to the increased use of prisoners as
  forced laborers in German industries. Especially
  in 1943 and 1944, hundreds , if not thousands, of
  camps were established in or near industrial
  plants.

118
(No Transcript)
119

• Prisoners at forced labor building airplane parts
  at the Siemens factory at Bobrek.

120
(No Transcript)
121
(No Transcript)
122
(No Transcript)
123
(No Transcript)
124
Resistance

• Poles, Soviet POWs, Jews, Czech, French escaped.
  Smuggled out photos reports.
• Polish underground - Witold Pilecki smuggled in
  and out of Auschwitz.
• Escapes from work sites. Hunted down killed.
  10 for 1, including families.
• Edward Galinski Mala Zimetbaum.
• Sonderkommando uprising of Oct. 7, 1944. Rosa
  Robota women of munitions factory.

125
Camp Heirarchy

• Auschwitz I, II, and III and the 40 subcamps were
  overseen by SS staff residing at the main camp,
  Auschwitz I.
• Staff was aided by privileged prisoners
• Kapos. Prisoner orderlies.
• Blockalteste (block elders, resp. for barracks).
• Kommandoführer (leader of work unit).
• Vorarbeiter (foremen, resp. for group of prisoner
  workers).

126
KARL HOECKERS AUSCHWITZ ALBUM
June-July 1944
127
SS Officers Richard Baer Karl Hoecker

• With the Commandant SS Stubaf. Baer,
  Auschwitz 21.6.44

128
Solahuette - SS Retreat 30 KM South of Auschwitz
129

• SS officers socialize in their retreat at
  Solahuette outside of Auschwitz. Left to righ
  Richard Baer, Josef Mengele, Josef Kramer
  Rudolf Hoess.

130

• SS officer Karl Hoecker pets his dog Favorit,
  1944.

131

• SS officer Richard Baer, Commandant of Auschwitz,
  at the table of the hunting lodge.

132

• The original caption reads "Nach der Ausfahrt"
  (after the outing), probably to a coal mine.

133

• SS officer Karl Hoecker lights a candle on a
  Christmas tree.

134

• An accordionist leads a sing-along for SS
  officers at their retreat at Solahuette outside
  Auschwitz. Pictured in the front row are Karl
  Hoecker, Otto Moll, Rudolf Hoess, Richard Baer,
  Josef Kramer (standing slightly behind Hoessler
  and partially obscured), Franz Hoessler, Josef
  Mengele,and Walter Schmidetzki.

135

• Members of the SS Helferinnen (female
  auxiliaries) in Solahuette, the SS retreat near
  Auschwitz.

136
(No Transcript)
137
(No Transcript)
138

• Members of the SS Helferinnen (female
  auxiliaries) and SS officer Karl Hoecker invert
  their empty bowls to show they have eaten all
  their blueberries.

139
Death Marches

• Mid-January 1945 Nazis begin hasty withdrawal
  from Auschwitz.
• 58,000 prisoners are forced on death marches west
  in freezing conditions. Those who collapsed or
  fell behind were shot. In all, some 15,000 died
  on the death marches.
• 7,650 inmates stayed behind, emaciated,
  louse-infested and barely able to stand.
• January 27, 1945 -- Russian troops arrive.

140

• Original caption "The trail of evacuation,
  marked by bodies every few steps. Those who fell
  were killed on the spot."

141
LiberationJanuary 27, 1945, Red Army
142
Women left behind - too sick to move.

• Russian Army photo.

143

• View of burning Kanada barracks . Fire set by
  fleeing Germans. Photo taken by liberating
  Russians.

144

• One of the destroyed crematoria at
  Auschwitz-Birkenau immediately after the
  liberation.

145
(No Transcript)
146
(No Transcript)
147
(No Transcript)
148
Original caption "A group of Frenchwomen on
their way to freedom. They have already shed
their prison uniforms and put on clothes taken
from burning magazines. One of a set of 32
photos from motion picture film taken by Henryk
Makarewicz (Poland) a cameraman in the Polish
Army when it entered the liberated
Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp in
mid-January 1945.
149

• View of the abandoned train headed for Germany
  loaded with the personal effects of Auschwitz
  victims. Some of the freight lies scattered and
  partially buried in the snow outside the train.
  (Feb . 1945)

150

• When Auschwitz was liberated by the Soviets on
  January 27, 1945, approximately 7,650 people
  remained alive in the camp.
• - 1,200 in Auschwitz I
• - 5,800 in Auschwitz-Birkenau
• - 650 in Auschwitz-Monowitz

151
Gallery of Auschwitz Inmates
Elie Wiesel
152
Anne Frank
153
Primo Levi
154
Charlotte Delbo
155
Felix Nussbaum
156
Irene Nemirovsky
157
Victor Frankl
158
Simone Veil16th Pres. European Parliament
159
AUSCHWITZ

• Nearly 1.3 million people murdered.
• JEWS 1,100,000
• POLES 74,000
• ROMA (GYPSIES) 21,000
• SOVIET POWs 15,000
• OTHER NATIONALITIES 80,000

160

• My grandmother Laura, who went to the gas
  chambers of Auschwitz with her three little
  grandchildren
• Danush, age 3 ½ (my brother)
• Matshush, age 5 (my cousin)
• Ducia, age 8 (my cousin)
• May their memories be a blessing . . . .

161
(No Transcript)