All over the world, Auschwitz has become a symbol of terror, genocide, and the Holocaust
It was established by the Germans in 1940 in the suburbs of Auschwitz
a Polish city that was annexed to the Third Reich by the Nazis, who changed its name to Auschwitz
Auschwitz-Birkenau, monument to the martyrdom and resistance of millions of men, women, and children
is not a historical museum in the usual sense of the word
It bears irrefutable and concrete witness to one of the greatest crimes ever perpetuated against humanity
a testimonial that undeniably elucidates an essential aspect of that historical phenomenon which was Hitlerism
Auschwitz-Birkenau was the largest of the concentration camp complexes created by the Nazi German regime
and was the one that combined extermination with forced labor. The camps provide a vivid testimony to the murderous nature of the anti-Semitic and racist Nazi policy
that brought about the annihilation of more than 1.2 million people in the camp's crematoria
90% of whom were Jews. The first and oldest was a so-called main camp, later also known as Auschwitz I
which was established on the grounds and in the buildings of pre-war Polish barracks
Twenty brick buildings were adapted, of which six were two-story and fourteen were single-story
At the end of 1940, prisoners began adding second stories to the single-story blocks
The following spring, they started erecting eight new blocks. The result was a complex of 28 two-story blocks
the overwhelming majority of which were used to house prisoners. The blocks were designed to hold about 700 prisoners each after the second stories were added, but in practice they housed up to 1,200 individuals
The system of classifying prisoners who arrived in the camp through the use of triangles originated before the war in the concentration camps in Germany
Red triangles marked political prisoners. Green triangles indicated criminal prisoners. Black triangles designated asocial prisoners
imprisoned in theory for vagrancy or prostitution. Purple triangles marked prisoners imprisoned for belonging to the Jehovah's Witnesses
while pink triangles designated homosexual prisoners. In practice, Jews made up a separate prisoner category in Auschwitz
They were usually registered as politicals, and camp records contain extremely rare instances of Jews in other categories
The direct reason for the establishment of the camp was the fact that mass arrest of Poles was increasing beyond the capacity of existing local prisons
local prisons. Initially, Auschwitz was to be one more concentration camp of the type that the Nazis had been setting up since the early 1930s
Afterwards the camp became the largest Nazi concentration camp a place for the gradual annihilation of prisoners and at the same time the largest center for the immediate direct extermination of Jews
Mass transports of Jews to Auschwitz began in 1942. The operational use of the gas chambers in Auschwitz was preceded by experiments intended
to find the most effective chemical agent and to work out the proper method for its use
The first crematorium was constructed in Auschwitz I. The door below the chimney is the entrance to the gas chamber
In the first crematorium are two sets of furnaces where bodies were burned
The device at the oven mouth is mounted on rails and was used to push the bodies into
the flames. This is an instance of an early version of industrial mass production methods put to demonic purposes, the mass murder of innocent people
Auschwitz was surrounded by high electric barbed wire fences, which were guarded by SS soldiers armed with machine guns and rifles
Regulation punishment was applied in Auschwitz on the basis of written orders from the commandant or camp director, as well as reports from SS men and prisoner functionaries
The most frequently punished infractions included all attempts at acquiring additional food
various forms of shirking work, or working in an unsatisfactory way, doing things such as smoking or relieving oneself at the improper time
wearing non-regulation clothing, or attempting to commit suicide. The punishments were completely arbitrary
Prisoners received different penalties for the same offenses, Preserved in the condition in which they existed in 1947
At the time of the founding of the museum The fortified walls, barbed wire, platforms, barracks, gallows, gas chambers, and the cremation ovens
All bear witness to the conditions within which the Hitlerian genocide took place
At the former concentration and extermination camp The most extensive of the Third Reich
The Auschwitz Memorial is more than extensive grounds and original camp blocks, barracks, and guard towers
It also includes tens of thousands of objects of a special nature, special meaning, and special symbolism
The Museum Preservation Department is responsible for protecting everything that remains at the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration campsite
It has one of the most advanced conservation workshops in the world at its disposal
and employs a staff of highly qualified specialists in landmark preservation, as well as specialists in various technical fields
It monitors the condition of the objects at the site and carries out essential conservation work
The department devotes a large part of its efforts to the conservation of movable objects from the museum collections
These include more than 80 shoes some 3 suitcases 12 pots and pans 40 kilograms of eyeglasses 460 protheses 570 items of camp clothing as well as 6 works of art The museum archives hold documents that fill almost 250 meters of shelf space
The expositions amply illustrate the methods used by the SS, as well as their terrifying efficiency
An exhibition shows living conditions inside the camp. A presentation of the treatment of people in prison in Auschwitz from the moment of admission
includes procedures for registration, assignment and marking of a camp number, classification in the appropriate prisoner category, prisoner garments and footwear
Original camp interiors contain reconstructions of the appearance of residential rooms in the main camp
and a reconstruction of part of the interior of a brick barracks
The second part of the camp was the Birkenau camp, also known as Auschwitz II
This was the largest part of the Auschwitz complex. The Polish civilian population was evicted and their houses confiscated and demolished
The greater part of the apparatus of mass extermination was built in Birkenau
and the majority of the victims were murdered here. The first plans for the camp envisioned an initial capacity of 100 to 125,000 prisoners
This concept underwent changes several times in 1942. The camp would be divided into four parts, often referred to as construction segments
which were designated by Roman numerals. Guard towers surrounded the entire camp
A three-track railroad spur and unloading ramp went into operation in May 1944
The first segment was planned for 20,000 prisoners, and the other three for 60,000 each
The whole camp would cover an area of 175 acres. These buildings are not the original buildings, which were destroyed
but were reconstructed after the war as exact copies, using the wood from the original sheds
The prisoners lived in appalling conditions. The first prisoners at Birkenau slept on straw on the floor Later straw mattresses and wooden bunks where prisoners slept five to a bed were introduced
Each tier was to have three straw mattresses, one for each prisoner. In reality, two or
more slept on each mattress, six to nine prisoners on each tier. To sleep, to sit, and keep his few
personal belongings, each prisoner was now provided with private space that amounted to
the surface dimensions of a large coffin or the volume of a shallow grave
In 1944, when the Red Army reached the line of the Vistula Vistlokheim
less than 200 kilometers from the camp, the German leadership considered two options for the future of the camp
either to liquidate it if the Red Army continued to advance, or continue to operate the camp if circumstances proved favorable
The Germans therefore initiated a series of evacuation-liquidation steps that lasted through the middle of January 1945
but they refrained from doing anything that would make it impossible for the camp to continue functioning
As part of the overall liquidation of the evidence of crime, Crematorium 1 and 2, together with their gas chambers
were partially dismantled in late 1944 and blown up in January 1945
Crematorium 4 was partially burned during the Sonderkommando mutiny in 1944 and later dismantled
Crematorium 5 functioned until the very end of the war and was blown up in 1945, the day before the liberation of the camp
Soldiers of the 60th Army of the 1st Ukrainian Front opened the gates of Auschwitz concentration camp on January 27, 1945
and were greeted by the prisoners as their liberators. Auschwitz-Birkenau, monument to the deliberate genocide of the Jews by the Nazi regime
and to the deaths of countless others bears irrefutable evidence of one of the greatest crimes
ever perpetuated against humanity. It is also a monument to the strength of the human spirit
which in appalling conditions of adversity resisted the efforts of the German Nazi regime
to suppress freedom and free thought and to wipe out entire peoples
The site is a central place for all of humanity to remember the crimes of the Holocaust
Nazi racist policies and the barbarism born of hate It is the place of collective memory
of this dark chapter in human history to be transmitted to future generations
so that it may never be forgotten or repeated