Auschwitz - Birkenau: case study Flashcards
Ellie weisel testimony
“Never shall I forget that night, the first night in camp, which has turned my life into one long night, seven times cursed and seven times sealed….Never shall I forget those moments which murdered my God and my soul and turned my dreams to dust. Never shall I forget these things, even if I am condemned to live as long as God Himself. Never.”
describe the selection process
On arrival the prisoners would be sorted into two groups. Those who looked over 15 years old and were strong and healthy (around 10% of people) were sent to the left. Those who were sick, pregnant, old or young were sent to the right. Those on the right had been selected to die. To prevent panic they would be sent to have a shower and were given soap and towels as they marched into big chambers disguised as showers.
Dr Mengele
Joined Nazi Party in 1937.
Known as the Angel of Death.
Mengele firmly endorsed Nazi racial theory
physician at CC camp
- expirements on twins, children adored him called him uncle pepi
- if one twin died, other would be murdered/
- he made mass murders such as gassing 750 women cuz they had lice
- While fleeing west Mengele was arrested by the US Army. But he had no SS blood group tattooed on his arm so he was released by a unit that was unaware that his name was on a list of major war criminals.
- death from drowning following a stroke at a holiday resort in Brazil in 1979.
Auschwitz and Birkenau
- Built in May 1940 and was open until January 27th 1945
- Located in Southern Poland
Auschwitz:
the largest Nazi concentration camp complex, located near Kraków, Poland
Birkenau:
- Also known as Auschwitz II.
- At least 1.1 million people were killed at -Auschwitz(children and jews)
-There was also a Auschwitz III subcamp for forced labor. (Monowitz)
Auschwitz-Birkenau stats
Auschwitz-Birkenau was liberated by Soviet troops on Jan 1945.
almost 60k sent to death marches and more than 15k died
Approx 7,000 people found at auchwitz when liberated
sources info
-selection
People were experimented on without anesthetic
-dead people in chambers dont fall over, they are all standing while dead because there is no space to fall over!! (around 2k people per chamber) (dentist use this opportunity to look for golden teeth)
Why was Dr. Mengele interested in studying the twins
He wanted to know how to make every birth twins to increase the aryan population
What were these experiments like? How did these experiments impact the people he experimented on?(What impact did these experiments continue to have on Eva and her sister Miriam after they survived the Holocaust?)
They were brutal and it showed Dr. Mangele had no care for jewish people. He did these awful experiments before anesthesia so the patient had to sit through all the pain. Eva and Miriam had suffered the effect of his experiments for the rest of their life. Miriam almost died every time she gave birth and eventually died from kidney failures caused by Dr. Magele.
What were the death marches like?
The death marches were long, tiresome hikes. The prisoners got little to no food and were forced to walk for hours a day. Thousands of people died on marches. They did them when they knew the Allies were coming to liberate the camp. They left the sick at the camp to die and made the healthy walk
What did you learn about Auschwitz from the various first hand accounts that you watched in class?
- Lots of medical experiments happened that were unprofessional and risky
- there were a lot of injections
- survivors had trauma
- Jewish and others questioned if other countries new what was going on
- if they stopped they would be shot to death and if one person escaped every other person would be shot as a scare tactic
