About Auschwitz and Birkenau

The town of Oswiecim is a small town close to the Polish/ Czech border, about 40 minutes drive from the major, historical city of Krakow. The Germanic form of Oswiecim, Auschwitz, is its more familiar name. Between the years of 1940 -1945 this was the largest German concentration camp, where over 1.5 million people, primarily Jewish, but of various nationalities and political or religious beliefs were murdered in the largest incidence of industrialized genocide in the history of mankind. Auschwitz actually consists of three main sites.

Auschwitz I, on the outskirts of Oswiecim was originally built as an army barracks, but was converted to a internment/concentration camp for Polish political dissidents in 1940, and eventually came to be the largest extermination camp for European Jewish citizens who were forcibly resettled there. The infamous gates stating "Arbeit Macht Frei" stand at the entrance to Auschwitz I.

Auschwitz II, known as Birkenau, was purpose built three kilometers outside the town as an extermination camp on the site of the village of Brzezinka, which no longer exists. This vast camp (over 300 prison barracks) was divided into two main sections for male and female prisoners, with a third, smaller sub-section being for Romany prisoners. There were 4 gas chambers capable of killing up to 2000 people at a time, and four crematoria to dispose of their bodies.

Auschwitz III - Monowice - is less well known and is currently being dismantled. Monowice was an industrial plant (known as Buna), exploiting prisoners resident in Auschwitz I & II as slave labour to produce materials for the German war effort. At time of writing it is not open to the public.

Auschwitz I & II today are State museums and are maintained by the Polish government and public donations as open-air memorials. Most of all they stand as a permanent reminder of the genocide that took place during the Second World War. On January 27th, 1945 the Russian army liberated the camp. Five years of unprecedented and chillingly efficient murder, and atrocities beyond imagination finally came to an end, but not without leaving a dark shadow remaining over history and the heart of Europe.

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