Written by:

John M

Horrors of the Holocaust

A man by the name of Rudolf Hess was the Commandant of Auschwitz. There was not only one Auschwitz. There were a total of three of them . Thousands of possessions were found. The possessions included suitcases, artificial limbs, and toothbrushes. One of the most disturbing materials found were mountains upon mountains of hair.

Auschwitz

View of a section of the barbed-wire fence and barracks at Auschwitz at the time of the liberation of the camp. Auschwitz, Poland, January 1945.

http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/article.php?ModuleId=10005189

The Jews were imprisoned in places called concentration camps while they worked and “rested”. They were given very little. Jews who were forced into labor lost all of their possessions. An effective way of exterminating the Jews was they would work them to death. When they worked, they would be tortured. Sometimes they would be kicked, struck with clubs, hit with the butt of rifles, and bitten by dogs. They way the Germans killed the Jews through work was they would work a Jew beyond human abilities.

Concentration Camps

View of the Mauthausen concentration camp. This photograph was taken after the liberation of the camp. Austria, May 5-30, 1945.

http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/media_ph.php?MediaId=862

The Gas chambers was the most efficient way of mass extermination the Jews. They had stationary and mobile gas chambers. The mobile gas chambers were known as gas vans. The gas chamber was used in Hitler’s Final Solution – Germany’s mass genocide of the Jewish people. 2000 prisoners could be sent to a gas at one time. The old, infirm, and very young were sent straight to death by the gas chambers. The gas that was used was Zyklon B .The gas could kill them in 20 to 30 minutes.

Gas Chamber

Interior view of a gas chamber the Mauthausen concentration camp.

http://digitalassets.ushmm.org/photoarchives/detail.aspx?id=1166529

Zyklon B’s scientific name is Hydrogen Cyanide (HCN). Zyklon B was extremely poisonous. It would be sealed in a tin can so it would not leak. The Zyklon B was a crystal until it had contact with hair. Hydrogen Cyanide was originally used as an insecticide. It was supplied by DEGESCH (German Corporation for Pest Control).

Zyklon B

Zyklon B pellets that entered the camp of Majdanek. After July 1944, Poland.

http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/tr/media_ph.php?MediaId=772

“Gas Chamber/Van”. Learning About the Holocaust. 2001. Print.

Gutman, Israel. “Zyclon B”. Encyclopedia of the Holocaust. 1995. Print.

Lawton, Clive A. “Auschwitz: The Story of a Nazi Death Camp.” London: Cadlewick Press. 2002. Print.

Saldinger, Anne. “Life in a Nazi Concentration Camp.” San Deigo: Lucent Books. 2001. Print.

The Southwestern Company. “Southwestern Advantage Topic Source.” Nashville: R.R. Donnelley, 2011. Print.

References