Remembering the Horrors of Auschwitz

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Remembering the Horrors of Auschwitz
"It's here, where absolute evil was perpetrated, that the will must resurface for a fraternal world, a world based on respect of man and his dignity."
Simone Veil, Auschwitz survivor and former French Health Minister (2005)
The Second World War was a time which changed the entire map of the world. The Holocaust led to the deaths of millions, with no one to stop the damage that was inflicted on innocent lives. The Auschwitz camp was amongst the numerous labor camps that were set by the Nazi government to imprison different groups of Germany: these included the Jews, gypsies, homosexuals and any other individual who failed to fit into the set definition of German value. The Auschwitz camp has converted into an area representing grief, fear and the genocide. This camp played an integral role in adding to the millions of lives lost in the Holocaust. The activities in this camp were not limited to imprisonment, labor and torture alone; instead more terrifying human experiments were conducted in the recesses of this camp.
The Auschwitz camp was set on the suburbs of a Polish city known as Oswiecim. This Polish region was annexed by the Nazis and the camp was set here in the 1940s. The camp was initially set to keep the increasing number of Poles that were being arrested by the German government. These Poles were adding to the number of arrests being made, that were causing in overrun in the prisons which held the local German prisoners. However, as the capacity of the Auschwitz camp increased it began to hold not only Poles but the various arrests made across Germany.
Renowned as one of the largest death camps, Auschwitz became the first and soon the oldest camp of its kind. As Polish war barracks, the camp was perfect for housing the fifteen to twenty thousand prisoners. There were several other camps located a few kilometers away from the main Auschwitz building. An example of this was a second camp known as Birkenau, also as Auschwitz II, that was built in 1941. The local Polish village of the area was forcefully removed to make space for the new camp. The equipment used for the mass exterminations and the larger number of murders were committed in this camp. There were other camps located near central Auschwitz. Most of these concentrated on exploiting labor. The largest of this was called Buna which later changed under the commandment and became Auschwitz III. Thus, Auschwitz was divided into sub-camps, each imprisoning thousands of prisoners and exterminations.
The camp was built in blocks to ensure that the maximum number of prisoners could live in them. Without any kind of furniture, the greater number of them slept on straw in a very confined space. The camps were so over-crowded that the most place there was for each prisoner was enough to turn to one side. Each block had a few stools, tables and wardrobes for the use of hundreds of prisoners encamped in them. There were outdoor latrines to be used by the thousands of prisoners living in the camps. Apart from this, stoves were provided with coal to keep the prisoners warm. However, these stoves were generally in such few quantity that they were unable to keep the tremendous number of prisoners warm. In the first years, parts of the barracks received no water which forced many prisoners to survive in unsanitary conditions. Lice, rats and contagious diseases were a norm and resulted in numerous deaths. The prisoners received scarce food rations which included coffee substitutes, potatoes and black bread. Many were unable to digest these meals. Therefore, in 1942, prisoners were allowed food parcels inside the camps. However, this liberty was denied to Jew and Soviet prisoners. These prisoners were forced to carry out labor within and outside the camp. On their return at nightfall they would carry back the corpses of prisoners who had died or been shot while working. Thus, the lives in the labor camps were long and difficult, making chances of survival slim for the weak and old.
The camps were constructed in a fashion that kept them removed from the outside world. The entire camp was surrounded by barbed wire followed by strict patrols from the SS which prevent any prisoners from escaping the camps. The area that lay between Auschwitz I and Auschwitz II was known as the interest zone. Most of the Auschwitz land was home to numerous Jews and Poles. However, once the decision to make these camps was made the homes were emptied and demolished. In some areas, the buildings were given to commissioned or non-commissioned SS officers. Any other industries in this region suffered two fates: expansion or demolition. The army was swift in the work it did. Not o...