Auschwitz - Birkenau Part II
I mentioned earlier that most Jewish women and children were sent directly to gas chambers at Birkenau. I forgot to mention the sick part of the selection process. Women strong enough to work and who did not have children were selected to live as prisoners. Pregnant women were killed in the beginning. Eventually Dr. Mengele wanted to use the newborns for medical experiments. Children over 13 were forced to work unless they were weak. Children younger than 13 may have been kept for medical experiments, especially if they were twins. Dr. Mengele was trying to figure out the genetics of twins, so then German women could have multiple children with blonde hair and blue eyes.
The living conditions were terrible. Most prisoners suffered from diarrhea because of malnutrition. Prisoners were only allowed to use the toilet at certain times, and were punished if they used it without permission. In order to contain their excrement many prisoners used the bowls or dishes they had for their food. Most bowls were shared by 10 people, they took turns eating.
Most "beds" held 8-10 people on a regular basis. Sometimes 12 people would sleep in one "bed". The prisoners tried to sleep with their heads on an incline, especially on the bottom bunks. The diarrhea problem also affected prisoners during the night, and if your head was on an incline the dirty and soil would roll away from your head. The other problems at night were the insects and the rats. Prisoners tried to hurry up and fall asleep so they didn't have to feel the rats crawling across them.
I think that covers about everything I learned. It was incredible to walk around a place where such terrible things happened. So many people died there. Over 1,100,000 with about 90% being innocent Jewish people. As the tour ends, the guides remind the visitors that this was an extreme case of bullying. And that it is up to the witnesses to stop it.
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