An Annotated Bibliography: Auschwitz

Andrea Bean

Miss Schmidt

Honors English

February 27, 2018

Andrea Bean

Miss Schmidt

Honors English

February 27, 2018

An Annotated Bibliography: Auschwitz

Berenbaum, Michael. “Auschwitz.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, inc., 1

Feb. 2018, www.britannica.com/place/Auschwitz.

Auschwitz was not just a concentration camp. There were different parts of Auschwitz

that had different types of camps. Auschwitz was the largest concentration camp and

extermination camp that Nazi Germany had. Auschwitz was located in Poland and was

actually three camps in one. It was a prison camp, an extermination camp, and a slave-

labor camp. The people that were killed at Auschwitz numerates from 1.1 to 1.5 million.

Ninety percent of the people killed there were Jews. Auschwitz played a large role in the

Holocaust and was one of the main sites for Jews to be taken. Auschwitz was located

near many railways which made it much easier to bring Jews there. The prison camp was

first created on April 27, 1940 and the first people transported arrived on June 14. In

October of 1941 Auschwitz II was beginning to be built. This was the concentration

camp and extermination camp which had about 300 prison barracks. In May of 1942, the

slave-labor camp became equipped to use. Once people were in the camps they were

tortured and were even used to test medical procedures. Those imprisoned were treated

very badly in terrible conditions and had little food. In 1944, there were 147 trains that

shipped Jews to Auschwitz which increased the number of murders. Due to there being
 so many people they had to use different areas to kill them since the crematoriums were

to packed.

History.com Staff. “Auschwitz.” History.com, A&E Television Networks, 2009,

www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/auschwitz.

During the Holocaust Auschwitz had an expansion of their death camps. Auschwitz was

originally created as a detention center for political prisoners. Over time it turned into a

camp where the Nazi enemies, such as the Jews, were exterminated. Instead of only

having concentration camps Hitler ordered to have death camps. This would take care of

killing the Jews and those unwanted. Auschwitz was the largest death camp and it

officially opened in 1940. Auschwitz was located on a former military base which was a

town in Southern Poland. While Auschwitz was constructed those who lived in the area

were forced out of their homes. Originally, Auschwitz was built as a concentration center

to be like a prison for people arrested. Hitler’s final solution was for Auschwitz to

become a death camp. It was located in the perfect area to have thousands of people

imported there to be killed. Although Auschwitz was a death camp not everyone was

killed right away. Those that were able to work were forced into labor by the Nazis. They

were used to make products and do different tasks. Those that were unable to work were

killed immediately.

“Introduction to the Holocaust.” United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, United States

Holocaust Memorial Museum,

www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/article.php?ModuleId=10005143.
 Auschwitz runs their camps in a certain way to use the prisoners for the Germans benefit.

All three of the main camps of Auschwitz used prisoners for forced labor. It is estimated

that about 1.3 million people were sent to Auschwitz between 1940 and 1945. Out of all

these people it is estimated that about 1.1 million of them were killed at the concentration

camps. In 1943 the camps were declared ready to become independent. The camps of

Auschwitz-Birkenau and Auschwitz-Monowitz were ready to become Auschwitz I and

Auschwitz II. Auschwitz I continued to remain as the main camp. Auschwitz II became

the camp that held the most prisoners. There were also many trains that frequently arrived

with transports of Jews. These trains would arrive at Auschwitz II where all of the new

people arrived. The majority of the Jews that arrived for selection were sent to be killed.

Many of them would be selected as unfit for labor and would be sent right to the

crematorium. On October 7, 1944 there was a prisoner revolt. When the prisoners learned

they were going to be killed they decided to rebel. The prisoners killed their guards and

blew up the gas chambers. The Germans ended the revolt and killed most of the prisoners

involved.

Wiesel, Elie, and Marion Wiesel. Night. Hill and Wang, a division of Farrar, Straus and Giroux,

2017.

Auschwitz had many different events that happened while it existed. The Jewish people

are sent to Auschwitz, and first arrive there at Birkenau. This is where the Jews are

separated from their families and are taken to different parts of the concentration camp.

Some of the Jews are taken to die, and others are taken to work. The Jews that are weaker

or to young to work are taken to be killed, and the stronger older Jews of the group are

taken to work as slaves. At Auschwitz they get their clothes taken from them and are put
 into prison uniforms. One of the first things that the Jews encounter at Auschwitz is the

smell of burning flesh. They witness helpless children and babies being killed because

they cannot work. While at Auschwitz they are also required to have medical inspections,

which include dental searches for golden crowns. The Jews at Auschwitz were tortured

and caused to do terrible things to fight for their lives. Eventually the Jews were driven to

a point where they started to doubt the goodness of God. They were only given small

rations of food and were drove to the point of starvation. They were not treated when

they were sick and were killed if they were not up to certain standards. Those that were

strong were chosen to work in the crematorium and take care of the dead bodies once

they were killed in the gas chambers. They were expected to work with the dead bodies

of loved ones and were forced to do things that would scar someone for their entire life.

The Jews were tortured, treated badly, and they were expected to do things that seem

nearly impossible in cold weather and bad conditions. They lived in small areas and

witnessed many people die.

www.auschwitz.org. “AUSCHWITZ-BIRKENAU.” Polski, auschwitz.org/en/.

Auschwitz was divided into different parts as it kept growing in size. Since Auschwitz

was such a large camp, there had to be a division so it was easier to run. On November

22, 1943, Auschwitz was officially divided into three separate camps. The camps were

separated into Auschwitz I, Auschwitz II, and Auschwitz III. Auschwitz I was the main

camp and held about 16,000 prisoners in August of 1944, and about 10,000 of the

prisoners were Jews. This area was the main labor assignment for the prisoners in this

camp. Auschwitz II was the largest of the camps in Auschwitz. This was a place for the

prisoners to be sent and processed before being taken to another camp. This was also the
part of Auschwitz where the Jews were exterminated. About 90 percent of the Jews that

were at Auschwitz died in this area. This means about a million-people died in this area

alone. Auschwitz III was the largest of the sub-camps at Auschwitz, and it was also one

of the first sub-camps. Auschwitz also had tested many medical experiments on the Jews

there. Some of the Nazi doctors experimented on prisoners for medical institutes.

Prisoners were also experimented on just for the doctors own personal interests or

medical careers. These prisoners were used by many of the doctors to benefit their own

knowledge.