Are you interested in learning more details concerning Auschwitz within Poland? Here are 15 interesting facts about Auschwitz that you may not even know about before reading this!
The events that transpired here are among the most brutal and horrific events in the history of humanity. It’s why it’s so important not to forget what took place in this place.
Facts About Auschwitz
1. The Nazis carried out cruel experiments.
Exposition of poisonous chemicals electroshocks, and hypothermia is only a few of the experiments conducted here.
Joseph Mengele was the main camp doctor. He was obsessed with the study of twins.
Also, read 10 Best Facts About Honey Badger
2. One-sixth of the Jews who were killed during the Holocaust passed away here.
The number of deaths at Auschwitz was higher than British or American deaths together. It is estimated that about 1.1 million people were killed in the camps for concentration in Auschwitz.
3. It was built initially for the political prisoner population of Poland.
First Polish political prisoners arrived at Auschwitz in the spring of 1940. That was the main reason for the camp’s construction; however, it soon expanded and turned into an extermination facility in line with the philosophy that Hitler promoted along with the “final solution.”
4. Auschwitz-Birkenau was a part of the gas chambers.
This image was captured following liberation. It’s taken inside the one gas chamber at Auschwitz-Birkenau. Many gas rooms were destroyed following an order from SS Chief Heinrich Himmler to destroy the evidence.
5. The slave labor of Auschwitz produced around 60 million Reichsmarks.
A lot of prisoners were used as labor as well as some of the largest corporations worldwide today employed enslaved people from German concentration camps.
The labor of enslaved people in Auschwitz alone produced 60 million Reichsmarks. This would amount to $163 million today.
6. Rudolf Hoss was the camp commandant of the camp.
Rudolf Hoss subordinated the camp between 1940 and 1943. He was later detained in 1946 and later convicted of murder.
Hoss admitted that 2.5 million people were killed and that half a million more were killed due to hunger and diseases when Hoss was the commandant of the Nazi army between June 14, 1940, and December 1, 1943.
Also, read 14 Interesting Facts About Arsenic
7. It wasn’t just Jews who were killed here.
According to reports, around 22 thousand Romani and 150 000 Polish people were killed along with the Jews. 15,000 Soviet prisoners of war and 400 Jehovah’s Witnesses were reported to have been killed.
8. Every prisoner was given an identification number from the camp.
Each person taken to Auschwitz or other camps for concentration was identified with a unique number.
9. The prisoners were served three meals during the day.
Each day, the prisoners were served half a liter of water with the coffee drink’s substitute. The prisoners were then given a Liter of soup. Then, for dinner, they were able to take 300 grams of bread, with a topping of 25 grams.
10. A SS guard was enamored by a Jewish prisoner and rescued her.
Franz Wunsch was a SS guard in love with Jewish prisoners Helena Citronova. He was the guard in charge of the prison gas rooms. She enthralled him after she was enlisted to perform birthday songs for him.
Helena could not reciprocate the feelings initially, but she developed feelings of mutual affection with time. Perhaps it was because Franz kept both her daughter and sister from getting sent to gas chambers many times.
She later revealed that they had slept together. Thirty years later, after their liberation, Franz was tried for his crimes. However, Helena, along with her mother, was able to defend his case in the trial.
11. There are still survivors in the present.
On January 27, 1945, around 7000 prisoners were released from Auschwitz’s concentration camp. Many of them have passed away due to age or food insecurity caused by the liberation. However, many survivors were young adults or children.
12. Tadeusz Wiejowski was the first person to escape.
In 1940 in 1940, the Polish Tadeusz Wiejowski became the first person to escape Auschwitz. His escape was stopped the following year and executed.
13. 4 Poles managed to escape in 1942.
Kazimierz Piechowski and Stanislaw Gustawjaster. Jozef Lempert and Eugeniusz Bender fled after entering the SS Magazine and stealing both guns and SS uniforms. They could escape with a stolen car and then flee the camp on June 20, 1942.
14. Her father, who was a member of Anne Frank’s family, was a survivor of the Death Camp
A father who was Anne Frank, survived Auschwitz and later passed away from lung cancer in the year 1980. Anne Franke, however, was not as fortunate, and she was diagnosed with typhus following her transfer to Bergen-Belsen.
Also, read 44 Lit Facts About Gucci | Explore The Royalty
15. Only 196 people managed to escape Auschwitz.
Nine hundred twenty-eight prisoners tried to escape. Of these, 50 were females, and 878 were men. Alongside the 196 prisoners who were able to escape successfully, there are also reports of another 25 prisoners who attempted to escape but were later caught and returned to the camps.
The majority of failed escape attempts ended with the prisoner being shot.
