Shown above is a pile of suitcases that were taken from Jews arriving at Auschwitz-Birkenau death camp in Poland during World War II. The Nazis would tell the new arrivals as they disembarked from cattle cars, to leave their belongings; they would be delivered to them later. Forced laborers would then sort through the suitcases finding anything of value, which was then warehoused to be shipped to Berlin to fund  the German war machine. In addition to the huge display of suitcases at Auschwitz today, warehoused glasses, shoes, clothing, jewelry and even human hair to be used in making cloth can be seen. Prof. Weis took this photo because the most visible of the cases is that of a George Weiss, a variation on the name. Prof. Weis' grandfather was a George Weis.

This page provides background information to help put the content of the Germany, Poland 2011 and Dachau, Auschwitz pages of this website into better perspective. Prof. Weis visited Munich in Germany and Krakow in Poland and the World War II Nazi concentration camp, Dachau, near Munich and the Auschwitz I and Auschwitz II (Birkenau) death camps near Krakow this summer. The visits were part of a research project to determine the feasibility of putting a Mass Comm Media and Society--International course together to better familiarize our students with World War II, the National Socialist (Nazi) movement and the holocaust.

Below is summary information on the Nazi holocaust, which resulted in the murder and deaths of more than 6 million Jews. Also provided is a summary history of the Dachau concentration camp and the Auschwitz death camps. The information should serve as a lesson  of what can happen when evil is unimpeded and as a reminder to never allow this to happen again.

Click this button to go to the page dealing with Prof. Weis' visit to Auschwitz and Dachau this summer.

What Was the Holocaust?

The Holocaust was the systematic, state-sponsored persecution and murder of approximately six million Jews by the Nazis (national socialists) in Germany and their collaborators. "Holocaust" is a word of Greek origin meaning "sacrifice by fire." The Nazis, who came to power in Germany in January 1933, believed that Germans were "racially superior" and that the Jews, deemed "inferior," were an alien threat to the so-called German racial community.

During the era of the Holocaust, German authorities also targeted other groups because of their perceived "racial inferiority": Gypsies, the disabled and some of the Slavic peoples (Poles, Russians and others). Other groups were persecuted on political, ideological, and behavioral grounds, among them Communists, Jehovah's Witnesses and homosexuals.

In 1933, the Jewish population of Europe stood at over nine million. Most European Jews lived in countries that Nazi Germany would occupy or influence during World War II. By 1945, the Germans and their collaborators killed nearly two out of every three European Jews as part of the "Final Solution," the Nazi policy to murder the Jews of Europe.

In the early years of the Nazi regime, the National Socialist government established concentration camps to detain real and imagined political and ideological opponents. Increasingly in the years before the outbreak of war, SS and police officials incarcerated Jews, gypsies and other victims of ethnic and racial hatred in these camps. To concentrate and monitor the Jewish population as well as to facilitate later deportation of the Jews, the Germans and their collaborators created ghettos, transit camps, and forced-labor camps for Jews during the war years. The German authorities also established numerous forced-labor camps, both in the so-called Greater German Reich and in German-occupied territory, for non-Jews whose slave labor the Germans sought to exploit.

Shown above on the right are Jewish women and children arriving at Auschwitz-Birkenau after transport by cattle car to tNazi he death camp. Since they were determined to be unsuitable for forced (slave) labor, they were taken directly to the gas chambers and crematoria. On the left are Hungarian women prisoners at Auschwitz. They were considered fit enough to

Following the invasion of the Soviet Union in June 1941, Einsatzgruppen (mobile killing units) and, later, militarized battalions of Order Police officials, moved behind German lines to carry out mass-murder operations against Jews, gypsies and Soviet state and Communist Party officials. German SS and police units, supported by units of the Wehrmacht and the Waffen SS, murdered more than a million Jewish men, women, and children, and hundreds of thousands of others. Between 1941 and 1944, Nazi German authorities deported millions of Jews from Germany, from occupied territories, and from the countries of many of its Axis allies to ghettos and to killing centers, often called extermination camps, where they were murdered in specially developed gassing facilities.

In the final months of the war, SS guards moved camp inmates by train or on forced marches, often called “death marches,” in an attempt to prevent the Allied liberation of large numbers of prisoners. As Allied forces moved across Europe in a series of offensives against Germany, they began to encounter and liberate concentration camp prisoners, as well as prisoners en route by forced march from one camp to another.

In the aftermath of the Holocaust, many of the survivors found shelter in displaced persons (DP) camps administered by the Allied powers. Between 1948 and 1951, almost 700,000 Jews emigrated to Israel.

The crimes committed during the Holocaust devastated most European Jewish communities and eliminated hundreds of Jewish communities in occupied eastern Europe entirely. There were 3.3 million Jews in Poland before World War II. After the war and the holocaust there are only 369,000 Jews in Poland today.

What Were the Auschwitz Death Camps in Poland?

The Auschwitz concentration camp complex was the largest of its kind established by the Nazi regime. It included three main camps, all of which deployed incarcerated prisoners at slave labor. One of them also functioned for an extended period as a killing center. The camps were located approximately 37 miles west of Krakow. The SS authorities established three main camps near the Polish city of Oswiecim: Auschwitz I in May 1940; Auschwitz II (also called Auschwitz-Birkenau) in early 1942 after mass killing techniques had been proven at Auschwitz I; and Auschwitz III (also called Auschwitz-Monowitz) in October 1942.

In November 1943, the SS decreed that Auschwitz-Birkenau and Auschwitz-Monowitz would become independent concentration camps. The commandant of Auschwitz I remained the SS garrison commander of all SS units assigned to Auschwitz and was considered the senior officer of the three commandants. SS offices for maintaining prisoner records and managing prisoner labor deployment continued to be located and centrally run from Auschwitz I. In November 1944, Auschwitz II was reunified with Auschwitz I. Auschwitz III was renamed Monowitz concentration camp.

Auschwitz I, the main camp, was the first camp established near Oswiecim. Construction began in May 1940 in an abandoned Polish army artillery barracks, located in a suburb of the city. The SS authorities continuously deployed prisoners at forced labor to expand the camp. The first prisoners at Auschwitz included German prisoners transferred from Sachsenhausen concentration camp in Germany, where they had been incarcerated as repeat criminal offenders, and Polish political prisoners from Lodz via Dachau concentration camp and from Krakow.

Similar to most German concentration camps, Auschwitz I was constructed to serve three purposes: 1) to incarcerate real and perceived enemies of the Nazi regime and the German occupation authorities in Poland for an indefinite period of time; 2) to have available a supply of forced laborers for deployment in SS-owned, construction-related enterprises (and, later, armaments and other war-related production); and 3) to serve as a site to physically eliminate small, targeted groups of the population whose death was determined by the SS and police authorities to be essential to the security of Nazi Germany.

Like most other concentration camps, Auschwitz I had a gas chamber and crematorium. Initially, SS engineers constructed an improvised gas chamber in the basement of the prison block, Block 11. Later a larger, permanent gas chamber was constructed as part of the original crematorium in a separate building outside the prisoner compound.

Shown above on the right are political "criminal" forced laborers constructing Auschwitz I. At left above is a women's barracks at Auschwitz-Birkenau (Auschwitz II). At the right below is Barrack No. 10 at Auschwitz I. This is the building where terrifying and, almost always lethal, medical experiments were performed, many of them under the direction of the infamous Dr. Joseph Mengele. Below are some of the children upon whom so-called medical tests were conducted

At Auschwitz I, SS physicians carried out medical experiments in the hospital, Barrack (Block) 10. They conducted pseudoscientific research on infants, twins, and dwarfs, and performed forced sterilizations, castrations, and hypothermia experiments on adults. The best-known of these physicians was SS Captain Dr. Josef Mengele.

Between the crematorium and the medical-experiments barrack stood the "Black Wall," where SS guards executed thousands of prisoners.

Construction of Auschwitz II, or Auschwitz-Birkenau, began in the vicinity of Brzezinka in October 1941. Of the three camps established near Oswiecim, the Auschwitz-Birkenau camp had the largest total prisoner population and its function was primarily the killing of human beings.

It was divided into more than a dozen sections separated by electrified barbed-wire fences and, like Auschwitz I, was patrolled by SS guards, including -- after 1942 -- SS dog handlers. The camp included sections for women, men a family camp for Gypsies deported from Germany, Austria, Bohemia and Moravia, and a family camp for Jewish families deported from the Theresienstadt ghetto.

Auschwitz-Birkenau contained the huge, dedicated facilities for a killing center. It played a central role in the German plan to kill the Jews of Europe. During the summer and autumn of 1941, Zyklon B gas was introduced into the German concentration camp system as a means for murder.

At Auschwitz I, in September, the SS first tested Zyklon B as an instrument of mass murder. The "success" of these experiments led to the adoption of Zyklon B for all the gas chambers at the Auschwitz complex. Near Birkenau, the SS initially converted two farmhouses for use as gas chambers. “Provisional” gas chamber I went into operation in January 1942 and was later dismantled. Provisional gas chamber II operated from June 1942 through the fall of 1944. The SS judged these facilities to be inadequate for the scale of gassing they planned at Auschwitz-Birkenau. Four large crematorium buildings were constructed between March and June 1943. Each had three components: a disrobing area, a large gas chamber, and crematorium ovens.

Trains arrived at Auschwitz-Birkenau frequently with transports of Jews from virtually every country in Europe occupied by or allied to Germany.

Shown above are forced Jewish female laborers at Auschwitz-Birkenau sorting items taken from arriving "prisoners." Jews and others arriving on the cattle cars were told to leave their suitcases and other belongings and that they would be given back to them after they came out of the "shower" area. The "showers"  were where they were stripped (and those possessions also sorted later and warehoused) before going to the gas chamber and crematoria. Below on the left are bodies found by the Russians after they liberated Auschwitz-Birkenau in 1945. Most prisoners had been taken by the Nazi on a death march away from the camp before the Russians arrived. Below on the right are Heinrich Himmler, the Nazi head of the SS in charge of all of the concentration and camps and head of the "Final Solution" to eliminate all Jews from conquered territories. With him is one of the commandants of Auschwitz, Rudolph Hoess. The picture next to that shows Hoess on the gallows in 1947 at what had been Auschwitz I after being found guilty of crimes against humanity. Those gallows are still standing.

With the deportations from Hungary, the role of Auschwitz-Birkenau as an instrument in the German plan to murder the Jews of Europe achieved its highest effectiveness. Between late April and early July 1944, approximately 440,000 Hungarian Jews were deported, around 426,000 of them to Auschwitz. The SS sent approximately 320,000 of them directly to the gas chambers in Auschwitz-Birkenau and deployed approximately 110,000 at forced labor in the Auschwitz concentration camp complex.

In total, approximately 1.1 million Jews were deported to Auschwitz. New arrivals at Auschwitz-Birkenau underwent selection. The SS staff determined the majority to be unfit for forced labor and sent them immediately to the gas chambers, which were disguised as shower installations to mislead the victims. The belongings of those gassed were confiscated and sorted in the "Kanada" (Canada) warehouse for shipment back to Germany. Canada symbolized wealth to the prisoners.

At least 990,000 Jews were killed in Auschwitz. Other victims included approximately 74,000 Poles, 21,000 Roma (Gypsies), and 15,000 Soviet prisoners of war; and 10,000-15,000 members of other nationalities (Soviet civilians, Czechs, Yugoslavs, French, Germans, and Austrians).

Auschwitz III, also called Buna or Monowitz, was established in October 1942 to house prisoners assigned to work at the Buna synthetic rubber works, located on the outskirts of the Polish town of Monowice. In the spring of 1941, the German conglomerate I.G. Farben established a factory in which its executives intended to exploit concentration camp labor for their plans to manufacture synthetic rubber and fuels. I.G. Farben invested more than 700 million Reichsmarks (about 1.4 million U.S. dollars in 1942 terms) in Auschwitz III. Nothing of that camp remains today.

Between 1942 and 1944, the SS authorities at Auschwitz established 39 subcamps for slave laborers. It is estimated that the Nazis established a total of 15,000 concentration, death and subcamps, most of them in eastern Europe. No death camps were established in Germany.

In mid-January 1945, as Soviet forces approached the Auschwitz concentration camp complex, the SS began evacuating Auschwitz and its subcamps. SS units forced nearly 60,000 prisoners to march west from the Auschwitz camp system. Thousands had been killed in the camps in the days before these death marches began. Tens of thousands of prisoners, mostly Jews, were forced to march. SS guards shot anyone who fell behind or could not continue. Prisoners also suffered from the cold weather, starvation, and exposure on these marches.  

At least 15,000 prisoners died during the evacuation marches from Auschwitz and the subcamps. On January 27, 1945, the Soviet army entered Auschwitz, Birkenau, and Monowitz and liberated around 7,000 remaining prisoners, most of whom were ill and dying. It is estimated that the SS and police deported at a minimum 1.3 million people to Auschwitz complex between 1940 and 1945. Of these, the camp authorities murdered 1.1 million.

What Was the Dachau Concentration Camp in Germany?

Established in March 1933, the Dachau concentration camp was the first regular concentration camp established by the Nazis in Germany. The camp was located on the grounds of an abandoned munitions factory near the medieval town of Dachau, about 10 miles northwest of Munich in the state of Bavaria, which is located in southern Germany.

Dachau served as a prototype and model for other Nazi concentration camps that followed. Its basic organization, camp layout as well as the plan for the buildings were developed by Kommandant Theodor Eicke and were applied to all later camps. He had a separate secure camp near the command center, which consisted of living quarters, administration and army camps. Eicke himself became the chief inspector for all concentration camps, responsible for molding the others according to his model.

During the first year, the camp held about 4,800 prisoners and by 1937 the number had risen to 13,260. Initially the internees consisted primarily of German Communists and other political opponents of the Nazi regime. Over time, other groups were also interned at Dachau such as Jehovah’s Witnesses, Gypsies and homosexuals, as well as “asocials” and repeat criminals. During the early years relatively few Jews were interned in Dachau and usually because they belonged to one of the above groups or had completed prison sentences after being convicted for violating the Nuremberg Laws of 1935.

In early 1937, the SS, using prisoner labor, initiated construction of a large complex of buildings on the grounds of the original camp. Prisoners were forced to do this work under terrible conditions. The construction was officially completed in mid-August 1938 and the camp remained essentially unchanged until 1945. Dachau thus remained in operation for the entire period of the Third Reich.

The number of Jewish prisoners at Dachau rose with the increased persecution of Jews and on Nov. 10-11, 1938, in the aftermath of Kristallnacht, more than 10,000 Jewish men were interned there.

The Dachau camp was a training center for SS concentration camp guards, and the camp’s organization and routine became the model for all Nazi concentration camps. The camp was divided into two sections — the camp area and the crematoria area. The camp area consisted of 32 barracks, including one for clergy imprisoned for opposing the Nazi regime and one reserved for medical experiments. The camp administration was located in the gatehouse at the main entrance. The camp area had a group of support buildings, containing the kitchen, laundry, showers, and workshops, as well as a prison block.  The courtyard between the prison and the central kitchen was used for the summary execution of prisoners. An electrified barbed-wire fence, a ditch and a wall with seven guard towers surrounded the camp.

Shown on the right above is the main entrance in the Dachau concentration camp near Munich, Germany, after its liberation by the Americans in 1945. On the left above is the same entrance today. Again the entrance has written in iron "Arbeit Macht Frei,"  or "Work Will Make You Free" in English. Below on the right, Jews are crammed into a cattle car for transport to the Dachau Nazi concentration camp. Below left is the moat, barbed wire, electrified fences and guardhouses that  were used to prevent prisoner escapes.

In 1942, the crematorium area was constructed next to the main camp. It included the old crematorium and the new crematorium (Barrack 10) with a gas chamber. Further, the SS used the firing range and the gallows in the crematoria area as killing sites for prisoners.

In Dachau, as in other Nazi camps, German physicians performed medical experiments on prisoners.

Dachau prisoners were used as forced laborers. At first, they were employed in the operation of the camp, in various construction projects, and in small handicraft industries established in the camp. Prisoners built roads, worked in gravel pits, and drained marshes. During the war, slave labor utilizing concentration camp prisoners became increasingly important to German armaments production.

Dachau also served as the central camp for Christian religious prisoners. According to records, at least 3,000 Roman Catholic religious, deacons, priests and bishops were imprisoned there.

In August 1944 a women’s camp opened inside Dachau.

In the last months of the war, the conditions at Dachau became even worse. As Allied forces advanced toward Germany, the Germans began to move prisoners in concentration camps near the front to more centrally located camps. They hoped to prevent the liberation of large numbers of prisoners. Transports from the evacuated camps arrived continuously at Dachau. After days of travel with little or no food or water, the prisoners arrived weak and exhausted, often near death. Typhus epidemics became a serious problem as a result of overcrowding, poor sanitary conditions, insufficient provisions, and the weakened state of the prisoners.

Owing to continual new transportations from the front, the camp was constantly overcrowded and the hygiene conditions were beneath human dignity. Starting from the end of 1944 up to the day of liberation,15,000 people died, about half of all victims in KZ Dachau. Five hundred Soviet POWs were executed by firing squad.

On April 26, 1945, as American forces approached, there were 67,665 registered prisoners in Dachau and its subcamps. Of these, 43,350 were categorized as political prisoners, while 22,100 were Jews, with the remainder falling into various other categories. Starting that day, the Germans forced more than 7,000 prisoners, mostly Jews, on a death march from Dachau to Tegernsee far to the south. During the death march, the Germans shot anyone who could no longer continue; many also died of hunger, cold, or exhaustion.

The Americans found approximately 32,000 prisoners at Dachau, crammed 1,600 to each of 20 barracks, which had been designed to house 250 people each.

The number of prisoners incarcerated in Dachau between 1933 and 1945 exceeded 188,000. The number of prisoners who died in the camp and the subcamps between January 1940 and May 1945 was at least 28,000, to which must be added those who perished there between 1933 and the end of 1939. It is believed a total of 60,000 were murdered or died there.

It’s important to note that Dachau, probably because it was in Germany itself, was a concentration camp and not a death camp. Those “killing factories” were reserved for areas outside Germany. Compare the Dachau deaths to the more than 1 million murdered at Auschwitz in Poland.