Tags
Auschwitz Birkenau Memorial & Museum, Crematorium, gypsies, history, Hitler, Holocaust, Jews, Nazi, non-Aryan, Poland, SS
As early as 1939, Nazis began arresting teachers, civil servants, artists, priests, politicians, representatives of the intellectual elite, and members of the numerous resistance organizations that were springing up in Germany and Poland. Sometimes these victims were simply shot on the spot. Others were arrested and sent to concentration camps for trivial offenses—like failing to sing the pledge of allegiance with enough enthusiasm.
Before Auschwitz was built, Poles were expelled from a large region west of Krakow. By 1941, all residents were gone and their homes had been demolished.
Auschwitz I, located near the former village of Oświęcim, was an SS garrison and the seat of the main offices of political and prison labor departments. The main military supply stores and workshops were located there. Political prisoners began arriving in 1940.
Auschwitz II-Birkenau, built in 1942 on the site of the former village of Brzenka, was originally intended to house Soviet POWs, and as a center for the Final Solution—extermination. It was the largest of the Auschwitz complex of 40 sub camps. Without the benefit of brick barracks buildings, Birkenau was a muddy hell hole. Wooden dorms were erected by incoming prisoners but never provided sufficient room for the population nor were they in any manner weather proof. Four large crematoria were built in each quadrant of the 40-square-kilometer site.
Auschwitz I and Auschwitz II were split into separate entities and run by different commanders in early 1944, at which time Auschwitz II was referred to simply as Birkenau. The two camps merged again on November 25, 1944. At its peak in 1944, Birkenau housed a fourth of the entire population of the Nazi concentration camp system. Ninety percent of all Auschwitz gas chamber victims perished in Birkenau.
Auschwitz III, or Monowitz, was built in 1942 to house camp labor for IG Farben plants that fabricated synthetic rubber and liquid fuels. This was the next largest sub camp built. Workers had to walk seven kilometers from the camp to the factory. A crematorium was erected at Monowitz to deal with the high turn over of overworked and underfed prisoners.
In October 1944, the encroaching Soviet army prompted the annihilation if the gas chambers and crematoria, along with the final liquidation and evacuation of the camps. Dead and dying prisoners were dispatched into gigantic pit graves which were sometimes barely covered with dirt. When the Soviet Army arrived at Auschwitz on January 27, 1945, they found 7,000 starving prisoners too sick to stand, many only minutes from their last breath. Newly discovered pit graves are still uncovered in forests and farmlands throughout Poland.
As early as 1946 and still in the throes of war shortages and devastation, the Polish government and citizenry began work to secure evidence of the Holocaust and to preserve and restore the historical site of Auschwitz-Birkenau. The Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial Museum is open all year, every day except January 1, December 25, and Easter Sunday. Admission is free, but hiring a licensed guide is highly recommended, as is reserving an appointment at least one month ahead of a visit. Guides accommodate 17 languages and are professional and knowledgeable.
Part Three of this series will explore the parallels that jumped out at me as I explored historic sites of Nazi-occupied Poland.
Sybil Nunn said:
My heart aches.
Reading the hate speech on the internet and hearing what #45 says about the “elites” shows that we learn nothing.
The rising tide of fear of “the other” is rising within Canada …
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rangewriter said:
Don’t tell me that, Sybil! Justin T is seems like Canada’s answer to BO. But I wouldn’t wish what followed BO to follow in Canada as well….
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Keith said:
Linda, great post about a very sad time. While we focus on the regal-like antics of our narcissistic President, across the globe a great example of what happened in Nazi Germany is occurring in Turkey. There are some who believe Erdogan staged his own coup attempt, so he could crack down on intellectuals, judges and adversaries. Now, he wants to consolidate even more power. This reminds me of Hitler having German soldiers dress in Polish uniforms and attack Germany, so he could invade Poland.
The US President takes many liberties with the truth and he has already shown a willingness to invent stories to distract people from what is happening. What his followers don’t realize yet, he has zero credibility around the globe and very few leaders trust him, if any. My guess is even the ones who agree with his politics would not trust him in pinch. He will give up Paul Ryan in a heartbeat to deflect blame, e.g.
Thanks for writing this, Keith
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rangewriter said:
Thanks for adding the timely point about Turkey. Feeling the horrid shame of being an American right now, its easy to focus inward too much, but the reality is that we are facing global threats to humanity and to our planet. You make a very good point about how fascist regimes throw anyone under the bus to get the results they want. We live in troubling times.
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Keith said:
Linda, I saw a report on PBS Newshour about Turkey’s economic woes since the Erdogan crack downs. Tourism makes up 10% of the economy and is way down. Keith
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brienbarnett said:
“As early as 1939, Nazis began arresting teachers, civil servants …”.
In Poland, yes, but in Germany, this process really began in 1933, so six years before the war began. It required the consolidation of political power, the mobilization of the masses, particularly youth, then the outright murder of political rivals (or even potential rivals) and instigation of acts against Jews, other races and ethnicities, minorities (Roma, LGBTQ), and “impure Germans”, to spark the fire that became WWII. There were people who saw it coming long before it arrived, but most ignored it, hoping for the best. The lesson I take away is not that everything could become a Nazi-scenario but not to look away at the start but to take it seriously and nip it in the bud if possible.
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rangewriter said:
You are absolutely correct, Brien. About the earlier history in Germany and your take-away…to take the misuse of power seriously asap. I know there are many Americans working hard to do that right now…I hope enough.
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Kathy Childers said:
Thank you for this. We are living in troubling times.
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rangewriter said:
Hah. We speak the same language. I used your very words in my reply to Keith… This stuff is very difficult and depressing to confront. Thanks for your support.
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Playamart - Zeebra Designs said:
Oh, it is hard to review the history of our species, yet I am grateful for people like you who remind us that this is real, and that bad things happen and we must look evil in the eye and not back down and allow it to ‘win.’
yes, you are right with the title to this post – ‘can we learn/what can we learn/why don’t we learn?’
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rangewriter said:
And yet, like climate-change deniers, there are deniers of this history too. I would like to take them, one by one, by the hand and walk them through the grounds, show them the evidence, the hand-written journals, the shoes, the hair, the eyeglasses…
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Playamart - Zeebra Designs said:
that would be the best teacher for them.. or take the climate deniers to the arctic and talk to the old timers.. or stand in the flood zones in peru…
to deny hard facts is like saying ‘ i choose NOT to use my intelligence.’
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rangewriter said:
And it is to choose to look the other way or close one’s eyes to the poor, the homeless, the sick, the victims of war and violence here and abroad.
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Playamart - Zeebra Designs said:
ps.. i really liked that top header image… nice perspective.
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rangewriter said:
Thanks, Lisa. It’s not perfect because there were pesky people around, but it’s the best I could pull off with an iPhone and limited time. 😉
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Playamart - Zeebra Designs said:
oh, but the iPhone captured what your eye hoped for!
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brienbarnett said:
One comment on the image: This gate meant death. There was no hope past it. It is almost literally the entrance to the afterlife. Those who “survived” Auschwitz mainly did so by being the last to arrive before liberation. All others did not. It’s powerful when you stand near it, now quiet but still beholding doom.
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rangewriter said:
Good point, Brien. There was a building in the Auschwitz tour with photographs of the victims plastered on the walls, women on 1 side, men on the other. With great German exactitude, each photograph contained the name, nationality, dob & dod for each face. Of course, all the faces were young and vital because the old and infirm were sent directly to the gas chambers. What stood out was that the women rarely survived longer than 3 months. Sometimes the men lived as long as two years, but that was often because they managed to find less risky but utterly gruesome positions as Sonderkommandos, or artists/painters, whose talents were put to use by their captors.
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Playamart - Zeebra Designs said:
‘still beholding doom.’ wow; your words make my heart hurt… there is history of so much evil…
thank you for clarifying those details. yes, there must be some heavy ‘carry over’ energy in that area..
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Jane's Heartsong said:
Speechless.I agree with a previous commenter, cannot and consciously choose not to press the “like” button.Expressing gratitude to you for this series as it is SO important
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rangewriter said:
Jane, thank you. Thanks for your affirmation and the honor of the reblog.
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Jane's Heartsong said:
Reblogged this on Jane's Heartsong and commented:
Something that I think bears repeating.
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denisebushphoto said:
Somber but important part of history that we must never forget. Wonderful photos and writing.
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rangewriter said:
Thank you Denise. I hope to do the dead justice in my humble way
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