Auschwitz

"Center of Death"

           Auschwitz became the largest extermination camp for the Jewish citizens. That was one way the train that took the people in got its name "Hell train" (or train to hell). But that wasn't the worst part of the ride the worst was the wagon they came in to the train. it didn't have a bathroom except for a bucket. The only things to sit on were dead people or the floor. But you wouldn't want to do that cause it was covered with blood from the bodies but most of the children were burned in the burning pits to conserve fuel.

 At the camp the bunks were shared by four people at a time all bunks were made of wood. one other harsh condition the electrified fence that kept them in the camp. They never let anyone out except for the officers and nazi.

            The gas chamber was destroyed by the nazi to cover up their crimes against the Jews. The only reason they destroyed it was to cover the evidence of the thousands murdered. one other way of death was a shoot straight though the heart with an injection of 10ccm of "abspitzen" (the Jewish word for death) normally made by the first aid men. About 30-60 people were killed each day.  Over 1.5 million people were killed between 1940-1945.  The reason for the deaths was to maintain the "pureness of the German race". the Germans thought the Jews were the "inferior race".

            There were some important people in this camp like Elie Wiesel who wrote about every one reciting the poem kaddish (the prayer for the dead).  This prayer is in the book "night".  Also Albert Einstein made this quote in the camp. "The world is too dangerous to live in-not because people who do evil, but people who sit and let it happened".  Claude G. Bowers wrote this in the camp. "History is the truth that is illuminated the past to guard us against the repetition of our mistakes  of the other days. We can't join in the rewriting of history to make it. To conform too and convince."

Some of the experiments that were done in this camp were blood transplants, (like twin to twin) removing and reattaching limbs, and sex transplants. Plus it was the only (at the time) one that had gas chambers, burning pit, and a train to bring prisoners in to Auschwitz.  This was one of the most important camp (Auschwitz). but there wasn't just one Auschwitz there were three of them. each were bigger and better than the one before. but the Auschwitz one was the most important of them all. And Auschwitz one always stayed the biggest extermination camp in history but only Auschwitz 2+3 had male and female camps (out of these three camps).

        Still today one person lives from the invasion on Auschwitz 1 he said "ill never tell my whole story cause it is to painful to remember" but he did say "that he had to watch many of his friends die before his eyes. yet he still struggled to win the fight but they still didn't win the battle.  Auschwitz one's original name was Oswiecim witch got its name from a near by town till it got destroyed then it got the name Auschwitz. Plus by 1940 it had 40 sub camps. but in 1935 it only had 21 sub camps. the only things these sub camps held were extra prisoners or science labs for experiments or weapons.  Some times the prisoner got restless. then made revolutions against the nazi. Some of them were planned and some just wild breakouts thought out Auschwitz.

Kenny Applebee

7th Grade Social Studies

Rossville Jr. High

Spring 2001   

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