A large historical event in history was the Holocaust during World War II. Nazi Germany, along with the allies associated with the Nazis, created approximately forty thousand camps between 1933 and 1945. The largest, and possibly the most infamous camp made by the Nazi government was the Auschwitz concentration camp complex. Located approximately thirty-seven miles west of Krakow, Germany, the complex was composed of three main camps: Auschwitz I, Auschwitz II, and Auschwitz III, and the camps were constructed for three main purposes. Firstly, the Nazis needed a place to imprison perceived enemies of the regime for unlimited amounts of time. Secondly, the regime needed a position to place forced laborers. These forced laborers helped in Schutzstaffelor …show more content…
Private diaries of Goebbels and Himmler stated that secret Soviet archives showed that, in a meeting of Nazi German governors, Adolf Hitler ordered the mass extermination of the Jews. The Nazis used Auschwitz, and other concentration camps to house detainees because these camps were a place where any individual could be confined without a trial of any kind. Nazis kept prisoners in extreme, harsh conditions to remain in control.
Auschwitz was first built to house Polish political prisoners, but overtime, this quickly changed because by mid 1942, more than half of the people sent to Auschwitz were Jews. Also, mass gassings of Jews using Zyklon-B began at Auschwitz during this time.
Once arrived at the Auschwitz camp, people were met with an arched sign that read, “Arbeit Macht Frei”, which ironically meant, “Work Sets You Free”. Immediately, the newly announced prisoners were examined by Nazi “doctors” that were located at the camp. If pronounced not suitable to work (the elderly, pregnant women, and disabled people), the detainees were instantly ordered to “take showers”, but the bathhouses were disguised gas chambers. Upon arrival inside the bathhouses, the detainees were exposed to the poisonous Zyklon-B gas. The dead bodies were then burned in crematory ovens. Young children brought to Auschwitz were often killed upon arrival. The children born inside of the camp possessed the same fate. To cut