located about 30 miles west of krakow is the infamous concentration camp auschwitz-birkenau. auschwitz-birkenau is a symbol of the horror of the holocaust. located near the town of oswiecim auschwitz-birkenau was the largest center of mass murder of jews during the 12 year history of the third reich. auschwitz has three sections. the oldest camp is auschwitz I that was created in 1940 in a polish army barracks. auschwitz II-birkenau was created in 1941 as an extermination camp. the third camp was auschwitz III-monowitz located near the I.G. farben industrial complex. along with the three major camps of auschwitz-birkenau there were 47 sub camps in the oswiecim area. during the period between 1940 and 1945 a million jews, 75,000 poles, 21,000 gypsies, 14,000 soviet POW's as well as a number of johovah's witnesses, criminals, and homosexuals were murdered at auschwitz-birkenau.
auschwitz-birkenau is a disturbing but historically significant place to visit when in the krakow area.
some suggested reading to understand the mind set of the people who created this horrific place are:
"the architect of genocide, himmler and the final solution" richard breitman, pub: alfred a. knopf
"reinhard heydrich" edovard calic, pub: william morrow
"death dealer, the memoirs of rudolph hoss" rudolph hoss, pub: da capo press
"mengele, the complete story" gerald posner and john ware, pub: cooper square press |
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