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Gallery of Auschwitz
and Birkenau concentration camps
by James Mayfield (Chairman, European Heritage Library)
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this Article • About
the Author • Bibliography/Sources
Below is a photo gallery
of the famous concentration camps of Auschwitz and Birkenau
in Poland from my research trip, two of the most emotionally
and historically powerful phenomena one will ever experience.
The two camps are separated by about 15 minutes. Although
Auschwitz is far more famous, it is Birkenau that offers a
much more shocking, ominous, and frightening experience due
to its massive size that allows for a less crowded and more
eerie atmosphere, as well as its endless holding cells and
barracks. Far larger number of inmates were imprisoned and
killed in Birkenau as compared with Auschwitz. Also included
at the top are photos of the Kazimierz/Jewish Quarter of Krakow,
the main center of the ethnic Jewish minority before their
expulsion out of the city by German soldiers and Polish, Latvian,
Lithuanian, and Ukrainian volunteers.
My photo of the main synagogue of Kazimierz (the Old Jewish)
Quarter of Krakow, from which the large Jewish population
was evacuated to death camps (Click to enlarge)
A plaque within the main synagogue emphasizing that Jews also
played a role in assisting Poland against the Russian crackdown
on Poland's previous semi-autonomy within the Russian empire
(as the "Constitutional Kingdom" of Poland). The
sign above emphasizes the sad reality that Jews are universally
discriminated even when they do serve the nation (Click
to enlarge)
Although the Jewish Quarter of Krakow is now ethnically Polish
and not Jewish, many Poles found a business opportunity in
catering to tourists looking for "traditional Jewish
food." Most are not Jewish, but ethnically Polish. (Click
to enlarge)
An old synagogue of the Jewish Quarter of Krakow that was
destroyed during the evacuation (Click to enlarge)
A modern synagogue built for resettling Jews (Click
to enlarge)
The entrace of Auschwitz (Click to enlarge)
The main field of Auschwitz
with the fence for prisoners in the backdrop near the barracks.
Heinrich Himmler has been filmed in this spot giving inspections
(Click to enlarge)
The famous sign ,,Arbeit macht Frei" (work makes you
free/work will liberate you). (Click to enlarge)
The barracks (Click to enlarge)
The large red buildings are for housing, bathing, and in a
few buildings, for imprisonment and gassing (Click
to enlarge)
(Click to enlarge)
(Click to enlarge)
A re-enactment of the sleeping quarters for inmates (Click
to enlarge)
The communal washing basins all are decorated with similar
incredibly ominous drawings of positive and happy imagery,
including horses, dogs and cats, and children
Mutliple inmates would sleep in each bunk, as it was reported
(Click to enlarge)
The wall in the background with flower offerings was the firing
squad wall for the execution of recalcitrant prisoners (Click
to enlarge)
A collection of eyeglasses (Click to enlarge)
Prayer shawls of rabbis. It is unusual that these were allowed
into the camps.
A lynching post for the execution of recalcitrant prisoners
(Click to enlarge)
The gas chamber and crematoria of Auschwitz. It is surprisingly
small for all the inmates of Auschwitz. Photographs of the
interior are not allowed. A large empty room with an inspection
window in the distance was intended to hold inmates before
gas was pumped into the chamber. In the adjoining room, crematory
ovens were used to dispose of the corpses (Click to
enlarge)
The gas chamber (Click to enlarge)
_________________________________________________
BIRKENAU
(Click to enlarge)
The famous entrance of Birkenau. The train enters through
the office and observation tower in the distance, and unload
at approximately the point where I was standing with the camera.
Those deemed appropriate for immediate execution due to disease
or infirmity proceeded further down the tracks to the gas
chamber (Click to enlarge)
The site of the crematoria and gas chambers that were blown
up to cover up evidence for the Soviets and the Western Allies.
The destruction of the gas chambers is historically verified.
The rendition of "covering up evidence" seems rather
exaggerated and ridiculous considering the large number of
survivors' witness accounts and the fact that Hitler and Himmler
readily admitted their plans for extermination in public.
According to Military History's "Timewatch: Himmler,
Hitler, End of the Third Reich." even at the height of
the Holocaust in 1944, Himmler gave a speech at a public school
in which he emphasized that killing Jewish children and women
was necessary for the future of the Germans!
The destroyed gas chambers with the crematoria in the far
distance (Click to enlarge)
The main memorial steps for each flag adjacent to the gas
chambers (Click to enlarge)
________________________________________
ABOUT
THE AUTHOR:
James Mayfield is a historian
and the Chairman of the European Heritage Library. I have
a Cum Laude BA in History with a Minor in Germanic Studies
(language and history), am presently working for my Masters
in History, and plan to immediately progress to my PhD Doctorate.
I have a special academic interest in Europe's diverse ethnic
identities, languages, and cultures, and the political struggles
of native European and immigrant minority identities. See
my staff entry for more information.
BIBLIOGRAPHY/SOURCES
USED:
-my personal photos, observations,
and interviews
-official pamphlets from Auschwitz and Birkenau
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