Auschwitz Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Auschwitz - Research Paper Example Auschwitz is enough reputable for its concentration camps and gas chambers used to kill people, however, the number of people murdered at this location is still unknown. Auschwitz contained gas chambers and prison cells that were used for discharging gas and confining prisoners and were made the prison house of Jews as well as non-Jews (Gutman and Berenbaum 119). This paper analyzes the place as an extermination place and evaluates the information given for Auschwitz. Auschwitz as an extermination place was constructed especially for prisoners and gas chambers were there for exterminating the prisoners. The gas discharged inside the gas chambers due to which, the people held as prisoners inside the gas chambers got suffocated and poisoned because of the discharged gas (Cesarani and Kavanaugh 67). As discussed in the introduction that Auschwitz was divided into three sections, out of which, Auschwitz I was the main camp and the remaining two were its extensions. Auschwitz I was used a s administration camp and all the actions related to prisoners were controlled from this place. The prisoners were made to work without giving any heed to their physical condition. Not only Jews but also non-Jews were exterminated in these camps (Cole and Smith 1992). In my opinion, the camps that were constructed were made for punishing prisoners and this punishment was very severe as prisoners were not only enforced to do hard jobs but also murdered during their confinement. There were no rules or regulations regarding the prisoners and they were deprived of their due rights. The people who say that all these extermination stories are wrong are not right as there were many proofs for massive extermination of people. The main camp, Auschwitz I was already present in the area before World War II and was used as barracks for Polish army (Gutman and Berenbaum 136). The people who were kept in prison were required to do rigid jobs with no hygienic care due to which, death rate of priso ners started to augment. According to Wittmann (2003), the most awful attitude was kept with prisoners who were Jews or Soviets and special marks were also printed on their clothes to categorize them separate from others (82). Some special blocks were assigned for prisoners with more severe crimes and the prisoners were not allowed to sit, as they were to stand all nights and work all days. Prisoners were also deprived of any food or water until they got dead because of unavailability of food and water. Along with these kinds of ill-treatment with the prisoners, the prisoners were also gathered and gassed by discharging Zyklon B from the ceiling (Cesarani and Kavanaugh 141). Therefore, not only gas chambers but also other ways of killing people were utilized. Like the first main camp, the extended camp, Auschwitz II or Auschwitz-Birkenau was also used for holding prisoners captive and for murdering them. Auschwitz-Birkenau was constructed larger than the main camp and was mainly use d for gassings as gas chambers were created there for prisoners and the gas that was used was Zyklon B (Rees 49). According to Rees (2005), the gas chambers were constructed with bricks and were named on the basis of the color of bricks used for constructing the chambers such as there were ‘Little Red House’ containing red bricks and ‘Little White House’ containing white bricks (54). The chambers were locked with air tight doors and any opening was ensured to