Auschwitz: The Final Solution

Auschwitz was a concentration camp used in the final solution, a large genocide of almost all jews, gypsies, and disabled in Germany and some surrounding countries. The main way of killing in Auschwitz was a poison gas that was used in gas chambers.“The poison gas Zyklon B. was produced by the German company Denglisch”. There was one main gas chamber in Auschwitz. There were two smaller gas chambers in Auschwitz. Inmates at Auschwitz were also exposed to slave labor. The main gate at Auschwitz was inscribed with the quote, “Work makes you free. Inmates were robbed of their items to support the war effort. 836,525 articles of clothing was found in the Auschwitz camp. Over 43,000 shoes were found inside Auschwitz. These shoes are shown on exhibit …show more content…
Auschwitz was divided into three main camps, appropriately named Auschwitz 1, Auschwitz 2, and Auschwitz 3. Auschwitz 2 was commonly referred to as “Auschwitz-Birkenau”, and Auschwitz 2 was commonly referred to as “Monowitz”. Auschwitz 2 was the main extermination camp. More than 40 sub camps were established around Auschwitz to increase inmate capacity. Auschwitz-Birkenau alone could hold more than 150,000 inmates at one time once construction was completely finished. Inside Auschwitz, many inmates were killed in gas chambers or kept in cell blocks for forced slave labor. There was one main gas chamber, but there were also temporary gas chambers constructed from peasant huts. The most infamous of these cell blocks was cell block 11, this is where the main gas chamber was located. After inmates were gassed and killed, the bodies were burned in open pits that were dug in the Earth. When the camp was liberated the nazi soldiers forced the inmates to march across 60 kilometres to other Polish towns. This was known as “The Death March”. Auschwitz was originally built in 1940. Conditions in Auschwitz worsened massively over time due to the lack of sanitation and overall cleanliness throughout the camp. The constant spread of diseases such as typhus made conditions all the more terrible when in Auschwitz. The lack of medical attention also created a large threat to inmates in Auschwitz. …show more content…
Heinrich Himmler was another commander of Auschwitz, and also a large influence in the construction and modification of Auschwitz. He was also a large influence on the processes and mechanical ideas of how Auschwitz worked. Himmler was also the commander of the nazi police, also called the “Schutzstaffel”. The Schutzstaffel was the nazi police responsible for finding jews, gypsies, or handicapped people hiding in Germany or Poland. All jews who were found hiding were immediately dent to Auschwitz or one of the sub camps in Poland. After the inmates arrived at Auschwitz, they were completely separated by gender. The men were separated from the women and then were registered. Part of registration was being tattooed with a serial number that the inmates were identified as. After registration the inmates were completely shaved then undressed. 70% to 75% of inmates were killed immediately in Auschwitz’ gas chambers. After the inmates were undressed and shaved, some were subjected to genetic experiments conducted by Dr. Mengele. Most of these experiments were conducted in Auschwitz. Pregnant women and twins were often experimented on. Mengele’s experiments and the gas chambers were a large cause of death in Auschwitz. Another large cause of death was diseases such as typhus. Many people died in Auschwitz due to disease. Another large cause of death was also the “Death March”. During the Death March, almost 150,000 people