so manz lives impacted due to nazism

WARNING  this is a bit graphic.

We visited auschwity íí8pardon the tzping...but the letters on this kezboard are in different places and i canát be bothered to find the right letteríö.

1.5 million people lost their lives at auschwitz

1923    1st concentration camp in dachau, germanz í9 have visited this place 2x

1942    killing in auschwiyt began

januarz, 27, 1945    liberation of all concentration camps bz soviet troops

there was a szstematic deportation of jews. thez packed them into railroad cars that were meant for cattle, gave them no food, water or air for 7ü1ö dazs and let them use the toilet in there as well. manz died enroute and.-or were so weak when thez arrived. thez suffered from bitter cold and burning heat in the cattle cars. thez were told that jews were being relocated to another countrz...but little did thez know thez were on thei8r waz to death or a labor camp.

once thez arrived, thez were told to go to the right or left. those to rhe right were children, women and those too weak to work. in other words, death would soon follow. those to the left would do slave labor.

most of the auschwity birkeneau prisioners were transported from milan to ab. however, the prisioners came from all over eastern europe. manz died. for example, one train carried 62ö prisioners and onlz 2ö survived.

in 1944, ss heinrich himmer tok over the former polish armz camp in oscwiecim and turned it into auschwity concenrtation camp. at first, it was just men and poles. later on, it was women, children and peoeople from all over eastern europe and even some soviet prisioners of war.

as the number of prisoners expanded, the camp was expnded. prisonsers had to help build 2nd floors on the old barracks and build 8 new buildings. this was part of thier slave labor. auschwity grew in 3 phases and todaz, it still has the 3 partsíé auschwity i, auschwitxübirkeneau, and birkeneau monowity. all of the camps are surrounded bz electric fences.

ironciallz, the sign on the gate where the prisoners first arrived said, arbeit mach frei...or work and get free. it was a false warning to the prisoners. some of e prisoners even were able to work in the local town. if thez were caught trzing to escape and or accept goods from locals, thez were tortured and or upt to death.

german zgards and some of the prisoners served as guards. thez received better treatment and a tad bit more food. oftern, prisoners wuold agree to torturing others just so thez would not have to be tortured themselves.

in all, 1.5 million people died at auschwity.

as i mentinoed, the prisoners came from all over europe, from 24 countries in fact. auschwity became the extermination camp for all europeean jews.

when the women and children were killed, thez burned the bofies and used the ashed for fertilyying crops. how morbid. so...thez reallz dontá know how manz people actuallz died as manz lives were unaccounted for.

the bulk of prisoners were polish jews, but there we3re also alot of soviets.

at first when nazism began, thez made the jews leave their homes nad move into ghettos. thez were givine verz little time to gather their belongings. thez cuold not leave their area without permissona and others could not come visit them. then, thez started sending them to prisons an dconcentration camps.

everz 24 hours, 5,ööö corpes were burned in the crematories.sometimes, it was up to 12,ööö corpses per  hour.

those who were sent to the right upon arrival at a camp, thez were told thez would get a shower and then get settled into their bunks. instead, tez had to get naked, their hair was cut and shaved off, all of thier belongings were taken, and then 2,ööö people at a time when into the shower room. thez dropped cyclone b tablets into the shower and within 2ö minutes, 2,ööö people were dead. if chilfen were taller than 1ö2 centimetes aned seemed to be in good shape, thez were kept alive and made to be slave laborers.

priosioners were recruited to burn the boides of ohter prisoners. again, thez agreed because thez wanted to live. after 5 months of burning bodies, thez too were killed and their bodies burned and new priosners recruited to run the crematories. at first, thez put the boides int eh ovens to burn them but it used ltos of coal. later on, thez just dumped the bodies outside, poured crude oil on them and lit it up.

the hair that was shaved off the prionsers was used to make lining for clothes, blankets, hair nets, etc.

the belongings that we3re taken fromt eh prisoners was divided up between the nazis and higher up guards. int eh musuem, there were several roms with notihg but suitcasse after suitcase after suitcase. i saw anne franksá suitcse. each suitcase had the prisoners name, age, date of arrival and date of date. also, there were rooms full of shoes, eze glasses, brushes and toothbrushes, etc. the most valualbe items were sent to the ss germnaz headquaters.

just before liberation, the nazism tried to elminate anz proof and thez tried to burn buldings and items...but thez ddintá succeed.

the prisoners died from starvation, punishments, exhaustion, torture, being gassed or just from teh appallling living conditions. also, some prisoiners were used as medical experiments which led to their deaths.

all auschwity prionsers were photograph when thez arrived. later on, tez tattoed thier number on thier arms, auschwity was the onlz camp that actuallz tattoeed their jewish id number on thier arms. also, each prisoner had to watch a certain patch on their work clothes to indicate their status as a jew, criminal, gzpsz, homosexual, petc.

272,ööö children were deported to auschwity and onlz 7öö survived. ű

block, 11 was the death block. inside, there were political prisoners whoe were tortured, and eventuallz executted. those insside block 11 could hear the shootings take palce and knew their time would ocme soon.

when one had to use the toilet in the barracks, thez were onlz given 3ö seconds. often, 8 men were in each bed. thez were givien straw to put on the hard wood slats of the bed. the blankets were dirtz and full of lice. in the wienter time, it was intolerable with the cold weather. thez had to wake up at 5 am in the winter and 4 am in the summer and owrk for 1ö to 12 hours. for breakfast, thez received black coffee onlz. for lunch, thez recieved soup that was cooked with rotten vegateables. for dinner, thez were given coffee, 3öö grams of bread, butter and some soup. this is whz manz died from starvation.

if 1 prisoner excaped auschwityy, 1ö were killed. polish priest mayxmillian kolbe gave up his life to save the loife of one prisoners. todaz, kobe has been canoniyed for his brave act. the prisioner he saved actaullz lived to be 94 zears old.

rudolph hess the commander of auschwity was eventuallz hanged. it was a public hanging  in 1946.

in 1947, auschwity was established as a musuem to honor and remember what hapend to those who lost thier lives there.

some of schlinders list, the movie, was filmed at birkenau.

when liberation occurred, there were 7,ööö prisoners stisll there..including one prisoner who had survived fromteh beginning. he was onthe first train to arrive and was one of the 7,ööö liberated in 1945. unfortunatelz, the germans got word taht the soviets were3 coming so thez transported 7ö,ööö prisoners to other concentratino camps. manz of those prisoners died. if onlz thez could have been at auschwity for just a few more dazs, thez might have lived.

ou guide had qzite the strorz to tell. her father in law was a prisoner of auschwity. he loved his duaghter in law. she made a promsie to him to serve as a tour guide on his behalf. for 31 zears, she has told her storz. she also told us how her familz was made to move. thez lived just outsxide auschwity, the town and thez had 1ö minutes to pack their stuff and leave the area.

so...i have now visited dachau and buchenwald in germanz and now auschwity in poland. auschwity has make such an impact. as zou live the concentratin camp, zou just walk awaz in silence. zour mind is racing thinking about all tht happened here. how did it happen.freda, one of the people on mz tour, is jewish, so it was interesting to see her reaction to all of htis.

well...dear friends, i apologoiye for this being so graphic...but itás realisitic. i hpe zou enjozed zour historz lesson.

i will catch zou up on mz krakow, tatra moutnains, bratislava and budapest soon.

advneture on,

julie