Robert Curiel

HC 216 Hon History of the holocaust

Mrs. Zoe Weil

10/5/22

Auschwitz Birkenau

The total deaths in Auschwitz were larger than the American and British military deaths

combined. Around 1.1 million people were estimated to be murdered at the concentration camps

in Auschwitz. Auschwitz was one of the largest and most infamous concentration camps known

during World War II. The camp was created because Hitler became convinced that his problem

would be solved only with the elimination of every Jew in his domain. Many Jews experienced

brutal living conditions, many faced execution, and some were used for experiments.

Living conditions in the camps of Auschwitz were brutal, in the video One day in

Auschwitz, Kitty Hart-Moxon described some of the living conditions. She explained how at night

they all were put into their rooms where many slept in one little bunk, they would have to lay down

some facing one side of the other person’s feet to fit more people in the bunk. Many of them had to

use the restroom at night but were not allowed to come out so, they had a bucket they would use

and the last person to fill it up had to go and dump it. One reason that this was horrible was that not

only were some of the people naked in bunks, but many would die beside you at night from the

cold. Some could not hold in their bladder they would just do it on the spot which was bad in some

situations because they would kill you if you did. Many lived off the dead, they would take

anything they had which could help them stay warmer, have something to eat, and something to
wear. It was significant for the Germans because these conditions lead to just a portion of deaths in

the camps.

In Auschwitz, there were several types of execution that Jews and many others

experienced. In the book Am I murderer, one way of execution was gathering many of the people

into gas vans. The vans were not as effective as they wanted so they ended up implementing gas

chambers. Gas chambers were highly effective for the Germans but a terrible thing for the Jews.

Many could be picked during selection and sent to the chambers. Another form of execution used

to be mass shootings before all these camps started. Even after the camps were built many would

and could be murdered by weapons. These were just a couple of the ways Germans executed many

of the people in the camp. It was significant for the Germans again more than anything because

they indeed were accomplishing their plans of eliminating every jew out of existence.

Joseph Mengele was a doctor in Auschwitz who conducted awful experiments. He loved to

experiment on twins, dwarfs, children, pregnant women, and those who were not considered fit to

work. Mengele experimented with several things such as trying to change eye colors, removing

parts of the body without giving anesthesia, and gender-affirming procedures. With the twins, he

conducted experiments such as giving one twin a disease, stitching the twins together, and

autopsies after killing them. In the video survivors of Joseph Mengele’s twin experiments, the

survivors explain all the terror they had gone through, and the video, tells us how we know that all

this information is true. They said that Mengele’s lab partner Dr. Miklos Nyiszli tells all the stuff

that he was forced to do. All this information is significant because it relates to the types of

execution and brutal living conditions in Auschwitz.

Auschwitz accomplished an extreme variety of murders, caused lots of health-related

problems, and conducted horrifying tests. Without any survivors from this camp, it would be hard
to understand how one survived. Auschwitz was more effective, more organized, and had a greater

fatality. Auschwitz Birkenau will always be remembered as the hardest camp to survive in.