Oswiecim Things To Do

Gas Chamber No. 1

by Paul2001

This is Gas Chamber No. 1, the first gas chamber to be used by the SS to eliminate thousands of Jews, political dissedents and Soviet POWs. The SS used Zyklon B pellets dropped from above onto the unsuspecting prisoners who assumed that they had entered the chamber to shower. Although hundreds of prisoners could be killed this way in a day, the chamber proved to be too small. Therefore other gas chambers were built at Birkenau.
At the time I was rather numbed by the experience of visiting this horrifying room. This is probably because of the combination of being under the weather healthwise and for the fact that they tour of Auschwitz can involve being overloaded with information. After I had this photograph developed, I felt a chill down my spine upon first viewing it and have ever since when I show it to others.

Directions: Located on the western edge of Auschwitz I

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	The Gallows at Auschwitz Tip Rating:

By Paul2001 on March 11, 2004

Gallows

by Paul2001

Pictured here is the gallows from which the first commandant of Auschwitz, Rudolf Franz Hoss, was hung. Hoss was the commandant of Auschwitz from 1940 to 1945. He was promoted to the deputy inspector of all such concentration camps through the Nazi world before being captured by the Allies at the wars end. He was tried by the Polish Government in 1947 and taken to his old killing ground to executed. The gallows you see here is just a few feet from Auschwitz's only surviving gas chamber.

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	Block 4: What really happened on Auschwitz? Tip Rating:

By darthmilmo on March 14, 2004

Block 4: What really happened
on Auschwitz?

by darthmilmo

The second room has documents of historical detail that describe the deathly uses of Auschwitz. In 1941, SS Reichs Fuhrer Heinrich Himmler selected this camp as the sight for the proposed eradication of the Jewish population. In the exhibit you can read the journal of Rudolf Hoss himself testifying (in German) to this ugly facts. In an effort to mask their doings, the Nazi officials even gave false causes for the deaths of the captured POWS. Thus being a violation of several International laws of war. As I write this though, I wonder to myself, can there really be a law for War? Isn’t it an oxymoron of sorts?

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	What can I see today? Tip Rating:

By darthmilmo on March 14, 2004

What can I see today in
Oswiecim?

by darthmilmo

Today, you can visit KL Auschwitz I and KL Auschwitz II-Birkenau. Several interesting museums exhibitions provide an outlook into this tragic and deadly time/place in history. For the most part, the Polish museum curators have left the sights as they were after WWII. Only in rare cases have the exhibits and the buildings been restored. See, several buildings actually lie in ruins. As the Soviet army approached the region, the SS destroyed as much as they could so as to erase any records of their crimes.

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	Discarded Suitcases Tip Rating:

By Paul2001 on August 20, 2004

Discarded suitcases.

by Paul2001

Upon their arrival to Auschwitz, the prisoners were forced to give up there personal belongings. Pictured here is a pile of suitcases retrieved by the guards before the prisoners were lead into the showers. Of note, the prisoners, not realizing that the train ride to Auschwitz would ultimately end in their deaths, brought along all their worldly possessions. These now became the property of the Nazis.

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	The Furnaces Tip Rating:

By Paul2001 on June 18, 2004

The Furnaces

by Paul2001

The furnaces seen here are located just 10m from the showers where the Jews and others were disposed off. The creepy thing about the room other than the way the bodies were destroyed was how efficient it was to rid of them in this manner. It is why you can see Auschwitz as a killing factory. It functioned like a machine.

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	Cinema: Movie shot by the liberating Soviet Army Tip Rating:

By darthmilmo on March 14, 2004

Auschwitz

by darthmilmo

My first stop was at the cinema, where they air daily showings of a movie filmed by the liberating Soviet army (shown in English, German, and Polish several times a day). The movie was really dramatic. It depicts the last days of Auschwitz and so makes for a good intro to the camp.

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	Why Oswiecim/Auschwitz? Tip Rating:

By darthmilmo on March 14, 2004

Map of Europe and with
Auschwitz in the center

by darthmilmo

The Polish town of Oswiecim (better known by its German name, Auschwitz) lies strategically in place on several major train crossings. Yet, even to the time just before WWII, the small town was not one that would normally draw attention. In the mind of the Nazis, it was the perfect location to build a concentration camp with the initial intention of exterminating the Poles. Later, the Nazis began to deport people from all over Europe. Most of the prisoners here were Jews from different nationalities. However, the camp also housed Soviet Prisoners of War (POW), Gypsies, Czechs, Yugoslavs, French-men, Austrian prisoners, and even German prisoners.

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	Blue Print of Death! Tip Rating:

By darthmilmo on March 14, 2004

Auschwitz served as a Blue
Print of Death!

by darthmilmo

This original factory of death, known as KL Auschwitz I, became a blue-print for other concentration camps. In 1941, a new, bigger camp, known as KL Auschwitz II – Birkenau, was constructed near the village of Brzezinka, which lies a mere 3 km away. Then in 1942, another camp was built next to a German chemical plant. This was called KL Auschwitz III. This wasn’t the last camp built in the region. In fact, about 40 such camps were built at or near German factories, mines, and steelworks. These would fall under the jurisdiction of Auschwitz III. As its predecessors, it will serve as a camp to exploit cheap labor.

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	German occupation Tip Rating:

By darthmilmo on March 14, 2004

Auschwitz and the German
occupation

by darthmilmo

The town fell to the German hands in 1939. The actual site of Auschwitz I used to be a Polish Barracks prior to WWII. Rudolf Hoss was appointed as the first commander of the camp and by July 1940 the camp received its first prisoners: 728 Poles from Tarnow. Initially, the camp had 20 buildings (6 with a 2nd floor). After 1942, all of the original 20 buildings had been expanded to 2 stories. Eventually, 8 new buildings were constructed, thus bringing the tally of buildings to 28. The labor was provided by the poorly fed and poorly treated prisoners. At one point in 1940, the camp had a record of 20,000 prisoners.