Auschwitz, the notorious concentration and extermination camp in Poland, stands as a haunting reminder of the atrocities committed during the Holocaust. Millions of people, mostly Jews, were systematically murdered at Auschwitz during World War II, making it one of the most devastating symbols of Nazi brutality. But beyond the grim statistics, numerous lesser-known facts about Auschwitz reveal the full horror of what took place there. So, let’s delve into the dark history of Auschwitz with 25 chilling facts that will leave you shaken and somber.
1-5 Shocking Facts About Auschwitz
1. Auschwitz was the largest Nazi concentration and extermination camp established during World War II.
2. More people died in Auschwitz than in the combined losses of the British and American forces during World War II.
3. Around one in six Jews killed in the Holocaust died at Auschwitz.
4. Over 1.1 million people lost their lives during Auschwitz’s existence of four and a half years.
5. Auschwitz was initially built to detain Polish political prisoners, who started arriving in May 1940.
6-10 Insane Facts About Auschwitz
6. In addition to Jews, Auschwitz also housed 150,000 Poles, 23,000 Romani and Sinti, 15,000 Soviet prisoners of war, and 400 Jehovah’s Witnesses.
7. Witold Pilecki, a Polish soldier, voluntarily entered Auschwitz to gather information and escape to inform the world about the Holocaust.
8. Slave labor at Auschwitz during the Holocaust generated about 60 million Reichmarks, equivalent to £125m today, for the Nazi state.
Read More: 20 Horrifying Holocaust Facts That Every Human Should Know
9. During the Holocaust, a Jewish woman betrayed up to 3,000 Jews in hiding to the Gestapo to save her own family. Even after the Nazis sent her parents and husband to Auschwitz in 1943, she continued to work for the Gestapo until 1945.
10. The Auschwitz concentration camp had a total staff of around 7,000 people, but only 750 of them were ever held accountable for their actions during the Holocaust.
11-15 Crazy Facts About Auschwitz
11. While the treatment of prisoners at concentration camps such as Auschwitz was horrific, it is interesting to note that rabbits were actually given a relatively luxurious existence in these places. Their wool was used to make warm clothes for the German military.
12. In a daring escape in 1942, four Auschwitz prisoners managed to steal SS officer uniforms and a Nazi car, driving it through the front gate to freedom.
13. The gas chamber and crematorium at Auschwitz-Birkenau were capable of killing and disposing of thousands of bodies in a single day.
14. Otto Frank, Anne Frank’s father, survived Auschwitz but tragically died of lung cancer in 1980.
15. Bayer, the pharmaceutical company known for producing aspirin, bought prisoners from Auschwitz to use as test subjects for new drugs during the Holocaust.
16-20 Unbelievable Facts About Auschwitz
16. Salamo Arouch, a Jewish boxer, was imprisoned at Auschwitz and forced to fight other prisoners; those who lost were sent to their deaths in the gas chambers or shot. Remarkably, Arouch survived over two years and more than 200 fights before the camp was liberated.
17. The company responsible for manufacturing Zyklon B, the gas used to kill millions of Jews during the Holocaust, still exists today as a pest control company.
18. The main Auschwitz concentration camp resembled a small town with facilities such as a canteen, cinema, theatre, and grocery store.
19. Twins at Auschwitz were subjected to horrific “medical experiments” conducted by infamous SS doctor Josef Mengele, who became known as the “Angel of Death.”
20. Josef Mengele, who conducted “scientific” experiments at Auschwitz, often performed autopsies on twins if one of them died, and killed the other to carry out comparative studies.
21-25 Surprising Facts About Auschwitz
21. Despite the risks to her own life, Polish midwife Stanisława Leszczyńska delivered almost 3,000 babies while imprisoned at Auschwitz and is now an official candidate for sainthood in the Catholic Church.
22. The concept of “selection” was used at Auschwitz to determine who would be sent to the gas chambers, with many deemed unfit for work being immediately killed.
23. Rudolf Höss, the commandant of Auschwitz concentration camp, during his trial, when accused of murdering three and a half million people, replied, “No. Only two and a half million—the rest died from disease and starvation.”
24. There were “Starvation Cells” in Auschwitz where prisoners were locked in empty cells until they starved to death.
25. The late US senator Prescott Bush, the grandfather of George Bush, was a shareholder and director of companies that profited from their connections to the financial backers of Nazi Germany. The family was later sued by Auschwitz survivors.
That’s it for this post guys, I hope you had Leaned something while reading 25 Interesting Auschwitz Facts.
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