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We had entered Poland from the Ukraine and Auschwitz was the only place we had planned to stop on our way back to Germany. |
Sept. 19, 2010. We entered AUSCHWITZ I (Stammlager) Concentration Camp through the famous Gate. Arbeit macht frei (Work brings freedom). |
The Camp original purpose was to house Polish Prisoners. |
The sign on the fence indicating "Vorsicht Hochspannung Lebensgefahr" means "Beware: High Voltage, Life in Danger"... |
... which meant that the entire fence surrounding the compound was electrified. |
A lonely leaf stuck to the barbed wire fence... |
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... somehow it makes you stop and think about the past of this place. |
Auschwitz I is now a Museum covering an area of 29 hectares. |
It features 57 original buildings and other facilities from 1940 to 1945. |
Each block (barrack house) comes with the original Street Light displaying a number. |
The now barren streets between the blocks. |
During 1942 these barracks housed a record 20,000 prisoners. |
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The Assembly Square. In this area the SS would count the prisoners everyday... |
...in addition executions would be carried out on portable gallows as seen here. |
Today these barracks house exhibitions documenting the mass killing of Jews - the Holocaust. |
An example of the sleeping quarters of this Camp. Deluxe compared to Auschwitz II. |
The walls of the corridors inside the barracks are lined with mostly Polish Inmate Pictures. |
Most inmates slept on this. |
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The bathrooms. |
Between Block 10 and 11 is the Execution Wall... |
...also called the "Wall of Death", where the SS shot thousands of prisoners. |
One of the bathrooms in Block 11 - also called the "Death Block". |
In the cellar of Block 11, a prisoner cell where the prisoner could only stand. |
This is the only air supply to Cell 20 located in the Cellar of Block 11. The room was completely sealed, and prisoners would suffocate. |
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Block 5 displays objects found after liberation. Thousands of spectacles... |
...blankets made out of human hair... |
...artificial limbs... |
...bowls... |
...suitcases with the names... |
...and addresses of the deported Jews... |
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...shoes... |
...and more shoes... |
...shaving-brushes. |
A model of the gas chamber and crematorium II. |
The substance Cyclon B, which was poured into the chambers killing everyone in 15-20 minutes. |
Between 1942 and 1943 almost 20 ton of Cyclon B was used at Auschwitz Concentration Camp. |
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Crematorium I in Auschwitz I. |
Furnaces where bodies were burnt in Crematorium 1. |
Our last glance of Auschwitz I. |
3km from the main Camp (Auschwitz I) is camp Auschwitz II - Birkenau. |
The Main Gate, also called the "Death Gate". Entrance to a 175 hectares camp. |
This is where the trains would arrive... |
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A lonely carriage left on the track. This is where Jews underwent selection. |
Section of the fence with a watchtower. |
Wooden barracks for inmates that did not go to the gas chambers. |
Inside the wooden barracks with bunks on three levels. |
A picture of the barracks during occupation. |
One wooden stove to heat the enormous building. |
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The mass toilets. |
The brick barracks. |
The sleeping quarters inside the brick barracks. |
Yet again only one stove to heat the entire brick building. |
It would have been bitterly cold to sleep here. |
The ruins of gas chambers and crematorium II. |
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This all that is left of two crematoria and gas chambers, blown up by the retreating SS men... |
...in an attempt to conceal their criminal activities. The underground changing room. |
The end of the unloading ramp. |
Forever let this place be a cry of despair and a warning to humanity where the Nazis murdered about one and a half million men, women, and children, mainly Jews from various Countries of Europe. |
Auschwitz - Birkenau 1940 to 1945. |
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