THE DARKEST DAYS IN HISTORY

Auschwitz- Birkeneau was the biggest and most infamous of all the other death camps. Over one million people were killed their. The camp has four huge gas chambers. This camp was clearly made to kill. If you were sent to the right, you were going to be in force slave labor. If you were sent left, you were going straight to death. They used horse stables as barracks for the prisoners. The prisoners got random beating and were made to stand for hours during role call. Finally the horror ended in 1945, when Russia liberated it.

Hasday, Judy. The Holocaust. Philadelphia: Chelsea House Publishers, 2002.

AUSCHWITZ- BIRKENEAU

This is the front gate to Auschwitz. It says “ Work Will Make You Free”

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Gas Chambers were the number one way to exterminate the Holocaust victims. About 2,000 to 2,500 people were crammed into a chamber. Before the got in, the were told to strip and that they were taking showers. The gas chambers were usually in cellars or underground. The rooms were tilled and had many shower heads. When the people were inside they would lock the door and instead of water coming out, pellet of zyklon b. would come out. After they all died, their bodies were sent to mass graves or the crematoria.

Lawton, Clive. Auschwitz. Massachusetts: Candlewick Press, 2002. Print

GAS CHAMBERS

What a common gas chamber looked like.

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On September 21,1939, thousands on Jewish people were deported to ghettos all around their country. In 1942, There was about 13,000 deaths reported in the first seven months of a ghetto. The conditions at the ghettos were horrid. Many people died each day of disease, others were would be killed on the side of the road by mobile killing squads. Over 2 million people were killed by the squads. The most common cause of death was starvation. Each day, they would get about two to three slices of bread and watery soup per person. They got 700 to 800 calories a day. There was seven to eight people per apartment that had no pluming or heating. Terms like “giving up your ration card” meant dying. On July 21, 1943, the ghettos were shut down. They lasted about four years. Sadly, there was worse to come for some.

Altman, Linda. The Holocaust Ghettos. New Jersey: Enslow Publishers Inc. , 1998. Print

GHETTOS

Two children eating in the Warsaw Ghetto.

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Dr. Josef Mengle was one of the leading doctors at Auschwitz. He is infamous for his cruel and unbelievable experiments on Jews. Dr. Mengle was born in March in Germany. In 1938, he received his medical license. Josef served in the SS from 1940 to 1942. In May of 1943, he was stationed in Auschwitz. He was fascinated with genetics and when he looked for his patients, he usually looked for twins. All his experiments were done to try to help the German soldiers at war. His experiments included cutting off limbs and seeing how long out would take for the blood to flow out, putting people in ice cold water and seeing how long it would take for the person to die. He also did research with the Aryan race by injecting blue dye in to eyes. Mostly twins survived the experiments. In 1949, he fled to South America. His bones were later found in June, 1985.

Cefrey, Holly. Dr. Josef Mengle. The Angel of Death. New York: The Rosen Publishing Group, Inc. 2001. Print

Lawton, Clive. Auschwitz. Massachusetts: Candlewick Press, 2002. Print

DR. JOSEF MENGLE

This is a picture of the infamous Dr. Mengle.

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Zyklon B was a pellet form gas that was used to kill millions of Jewish people. Before 1941, they used carbon monoxide but on September 3, 1941, they tested Zyklon B on a group of Russian was prisoners. When the pellet was exposed to air, it turned into a deadly gas. They used it in gas chambers or the mobile killing vans. SS men would wear gas masks and dump the canister into the chambers through a hole at the top of the celling. It would only take a few minutes to kill. It is commonly known as Zyklon b but it is also know as hydrogen cyanide.

“Zyklon B.” Learning About The Holocaust. 2001. Print

ZYKLON B

The horrible can of gas that killed millions.

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