Auschwitz

Category: Genocide

Auschwitz is the name given to a complex of camps in Oswiecim Poland, Auschwitz 1 an administrative center, Auschwitz 2 (Birkenau) a death camp, and Auschwitz III (Monowitz) a forced labor camp. Roughly 1.1 million persons were killed during the period in which the camp operated. The camps were run by the SS, and Rudolf Höß was the commanding officer. Birkenau contained gas chambers that used Zyklon B gas with the specific intention of eliminating the prisoners of the camps.
Ann Frank and the rest of the Achterhuis group were deported to Auschiwitz on the last transport train from Westerbork. The group was separated. Otto Frank ended up in a men's sick barracks, where he remained for the remainder of the war until being liberated by the Soviets. Anne Frank, her Sister, and her mother, Edith Frank, were chosen for work duty in the women's camp. During the day they hauled rocks and preformed other menial labor. On October 28th, 1944, the girls were chosen for deportation to Bergen-Belsen, but Edith was left behind where she starved to death.