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Wayman 1

Michael Wayman

Mr. Neuburger

English Comp 101

29 March 2011

Annotated Bibliography

Auschwitz

"Auschwitz, Nazi Death Camp." The Holocaust, Crimes, Heroes and Villains. Web. 25 Apr.

2011. Auschwitz-Birkenau became one of the biggest killing centers, where the largest
European Jews were killed during the Holocaust. After people were gassed in September
1941 of 850 malnourished and ill prisoners, were all killed and killing was a daily routine. By
mid, 1942 mass gassing began at Auschwitz, where extermination was conducted on an
industrial scale where over three million persons were killed through gassing, disease,
shooting, and burning of people. While the jewish people were here, twins were experimented
on and studied by German soldiers Mengele was one of the soldiers that did this. In some of
his experiments he would draw blood from each twin then kill them. After they were dead he
would then go in and dissect, and meticulously noting each and every piece of the twins'
bodies. Most of the twins that were in the camp did not survive. Infants’ were killed in the
camps if they were born there they were quickly killed. If any children arrived off the train
they were automatically taken and gassed or eliminated. Auschwitz was one of three killing
camps the difference from Auschwitz was that most of the killing was done here.

This is a great view of how the camps were in Auschwitz. It shows how terrible the Jews had
it there.

"Belzec-the Worst Death Camp by A. Kimel." Holocaust Understanding and Prevention by

Alexander Kimel. Web. 29 Apr. 2011. In the summer of 1942, at the height of the
extermination, the Germans had the following Death Camps operating in Poland. Belzec in
Galicia, had a capacity of fifteen thousand per day. The next improvement that the nazi camps
came to was in Belzec. They constructed static gas chambers, masqueraded as bath houses,
with flower pots, and even a Star of David painted on the roof. The exhaust from a diesel
engine was piped into the gas chamber. There were many survivors of Auschwitz, but only
one known survivor from Belzec. Kurt Gerstein a German chemical engineered an anti-nazi
joined the SS in hope of sabotaging the Nazi operations. He sent several letters to Swedish
Government and other places but no one wanted to get involved here is his eye witness
account. In January 1942 I was named chief of the Waffen -SS technical disinfection services,
including section for the extremely toxic gases. On June 8, 1942, SS Sturmfuhrer Gunther of
the RSHA came to see me. He was dresses in civilian clothing. I had never met him before.
He ordered me to get him prussic acid and to bring for him immediately 100 kilograms of
prussic acid and to bring it to a place known only to the truck driver. He said he needed the
acid for a top secret mission . . . As soon as the truck was loaded we left for Lublin. There, SS
Gruppenfuhrer (Globocnik) was waiting for us . . . "This is one of the top secret matters there
are, even the most secret. Anyone who talks will be shot immediately. The next day we left
for Belzec. Globocnik introduced me to the SS man who took me around the plant. We saw
no dead bodies that day, but a pestilential odor hung over the whole area. Alongside the
station there was a "dressing hut" with window for "valuables." Further on, a room with a
hundred chairs- the Barber room. Then a corridor 150 meter long in the open air, barbed wire
on both sides, with signs: "To the baths and inhalants." In front of us was a building like a
bath house; to the left and right, large concrete pots of geraniums or other flowers. On the
roof, was the Star of David. On the building a sign: "Heckenholts Foundation." The following
morning, a little before seven there was announcement: "The first train will arrive in ten
minutes!" A few minutes later a train arrived from Lemberg (Lwow): 45 cars with more than
6,000 people. Two hundred Ukrainians assigned to this work flung open the doors and drove
the Jews out of the cars with leather whips. A loud speaker gave instructions: Strip, even
artificial limbs and glasses. Hand all money and valuables in at the 'valuables window'.
Women and young girls are to have their hair cut in the `barbers hut'. Then the march began.
There was Barbed wire on both sides, in the rear two dozen Ukrainians with riffles. They
drew near, Wirth and I found each other in front of the death chambers. Stark naked men,
women, children, and cripples passed by. A tall SS man in the corner called to the
unfortunates in a loud minister's voice: "Nothing is going to hurt you! Just breathe deep and it
will strengthen your lungs. It's a way to prevent contagious diseases. It's a good disinfectant!
"They asked him what was going to happen and he answered": The men will have to work,
build houses and streets, women will not have to do that, they will be busy with the
housework and the kitchen. " This was the last hope for some of these poor people, enough to
make them march toward the death chambers without resistance. The majority knew
everything; the smell betrayed it! They climbed the little wooden stairs and entered the gas
chambers, most of them silently, pushed by those behind them. A Jewess of about forty with
eyes like fire cursed the murderer's; she disappeared into the gas chamber after being struck
several times by Captain Wirth's whip. Many prayed . . . SS men pushed the men into the
chambers. "Fill it up," Wirth ordered; 700-800 people in 93 square meters. The door closed.
Then I understood the reason for the "Heckenholt" sign. Heckenholt was the driver of the
Diesel, whose exhaust was to kill these poor unfortunates. SS Undersharfuhrer Heckenholt
tried to start the motor. It wouldn't start! ...My stopwatch clocked it all: 50 minutes, 70
minutes and the Diesel still would not start. The men were waiting in the gas chambers. You
could hear them weeping "as though in a synagogue" said Professor Pfannenstiel, his eyes
glued to the window in the wooden door. Captain Whirt was furious, and struck with his whip
the Ukrainian who helped Heckenholt. The Diesel started after two hours and 49 minutes, by
my stopwatch. Twenty minutes later passed. You could see through the window that many
were already dead after thirty minutes! Jewish workers on the other side opened the wooden
doors. They had been promised their lives in return for doing this horrible job, plus as small
percentage of the money and valuables collected. The men were still standing, like columns of
stones, with no room to fall or to lean. Even in the death you could tell the families, all
holding hands. It was difficult to separate them while emptying the rooms for the next batch.
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The bodies were tossed out, bluer, wet with sweat and urine, the legs smeared with excrement
and menstrual blood. Two dozen workers were busy checking mouths which they opened
with iron hooks. "Gold he left, no gold to the right." Others checked anus and genitals,
looking for money, diamonds, gold, etc. Dentists knocked out gold teeth, bridges, and crowns,
with hammers. The bodies were thrown into big ditches near the gas chamber, about 100 by
20 by 12 meters. After a few days the bodies swelled and the whole mass rose up 2-3 yards
because of the gas in the bodies. When the swelling went down several days later, the bodies
matted down again. They told me that later they poured Diesel oil over the bodies and burned
them on railroad ties to make them disappear.

This was a very tragic place for the jewish people. So many lost lives here even with someone
trying to help them they still were being killed by the thousands every day.

"JEWISH GOMBIN (GABIN, POLAND, JEWISH GENEALOGY): CHELMNO. 29 Apr.


2011. The Extermination camp at Chelmo was a typical death camp, a place designed for
killing all who were sent there. The only people who were saved were a small group of
workers selected by the Germans for work connected with their criminal activities. This camp
at Chelmo held special attention, because during the German occupation only a very few
people in Poland knew it existed and the hundreds of thousands of its victims. The park was
enclosed by a high wooden fence which concealed everything that went on behind it. The
local inhabitants were expelled from the village, only a few workers being left to do the
necessary jobs. Inside the enclosure were two buildings, the small country house and an old
granary, besides which the Germans constructed two wooden hutments. The whole enclosure
where hundreds of thousands of people were done to death measured only 5 acres. For those
who were brought here they were told all the way up till the last second before entering that
they were coming here for work. When they arrived they were told that they would have to
take a bath and that all clothes would be disinfected. They were taken to the large hall of the
house, where they were told to undress, and then they were driven along a corridor to the front
door, where a large lorry, fitted up as a gas-chamber, was standing. This, they were told, was
to take them to the bath-house. When the lorry was full, the door was locked, the engine
started, and carbon monoxide was introduced into the interior through a specially constructed
exhaust pipe. After 4-5 minutes, when the cries and struggles of the suffocating victims were
heard no more, the lorry was driven to the wood, two in a half miles away, which was
enclosed with a high fence and surrounded with outposts. Here the corpses were unloaded and
buried, and after wards burnt in one of the clearings. The camp was established in November
1941. The extermination process began on December 8, with the ghetto population of the
cities and towns of the Warthegau, first from the neighboring Kolo, Dabie, Sompolno,
Klodawa and many other places, and later from Lodz itself. The first Jews arrived at Chelmno
from Lodz in the middle of January 1942. From that time onwards an average of 1000 a day
was maintained, with short intermissions, till April 1943. In 1943, four buildings filled with
children aged from 12-14 without Jewish emblems were brought. The witnesses took the
impression that they were "Aryans". It was just at this time that the Nazis were expelling the
Polish population from the neighborhood of Zamosc, and as a rule separating children from
their parents.

I think that this is a very important piece to the camps not very many people knew about this
place yet so many people died here

"Women & The Holocaust - Personal Reflections." Sympatico. Web. 29 Apr. 2011. Bronia

Berker story is very interesting she was born in a small town called Kosowa, in eastern
Poland. She lived in Kozowa a little quiet town. There was not much excitement there until
September 1, 1939, the Nazis invaded Poland and the war was on. In the beginning she said
she was excited she said that she had never been in war and had no idea what it was all about.
In two weeks’ time the Nazis had taken over. Germany and the Soviets made a pact and
divided the country. The Soviets got the eastern part where we lived and the Germans got the
western part of Poland. She said that "Our life under the communists wasn't too bad even
though they took away our store because one was not permitted to own any business or
property. The authorities gave us jobs and we all had to go to work. For a while I worked in a
teahouse. Later on an opportunity presented itself to be sent to take certain courses in Lvov
(Lemberg) which was a large city. I volunteered to go because I wanted to get away from my
job in the teahouse. In Lvov I enjoyed the school and my studies very much. Then in June
1941 war broke out between the Germans and the Russians. The Nazis broke the pact. They
started to bomb the city and I had to leave Lvov. My roommate and I were 100 km from
Kosowa and we had no other choice but to walk home. From time to time peasants gave us
lifts on their wagons, let us sleep in their barns and somehow we arrived. I was glad to be at
home and thought my troubles were over. Just the contrary, our real troubles had just begun.
The Russians retreated and the Germans took over". "Soon after this horrible event our ghetto
was established. Since my parents had a big house, all of us, ten people, moved in, to be
together. By this time the Nazis started their random killings. Every time they entered our
town, whenever they caught any Jews on the streets, they just killed them on the spot. So we
started to build bunkers and other hiding places in our homes. In our own home, with the help
of a few remaining strong men, we dug a very big cave in the ground, about 12 x 6 feet. It was
just deep enough so an adult could stand up. Was covered it on top with some kind of a trap
door and two pipes were installed in one corner, for air circulation. Frequently, all ten of us,
had to spend hours there. Sometimes we stood in there a whole day, when the Nazis came and
were looking for people to kill. We heard them walking around upstairs and only when we
were sure they left would we come out of the cave". The next day she said that the German
soldiers came to her house in the ghetto and looked for the family she said that they were still
in the cave the soldiers did not know the entrance to the cave, but they did see two pipes that
looked like they were used for air so they plugged them up. She said that she was the first to
faint, she was already weak from typhus of which her dear mother died from it. When the
Germans finally left her mother had a sister that the girl did not know about and she lived
around the corner had come to see what had happened to them. She called out and heard no
answer so she went to the cave opening and opened it up. When she looked inside everyone
had died except Bronia. Her eyes were fluttering and they woman threw water on her and she
came to. When Bronia woke she asked where her family was she was told what had happened
and she asked why she was woken up, she said that now she was alone. She did have a friend
by the name of Joseph who came to her side and promised to hide and protect her. She later
became married to him and his family still lived in the Ghetto took her to his home. He was
convinced that he'll be the only one to give an eyewitness account of what the Nazis were
doing. Joseph's family went into hiding at another farm. On his farm, in a big barn, he built a
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partition wall of hay. Behind it we could sleep during the night. We also dug a large cave in
the ground and during the day we just sat there doing nothing. At night we could come out a
little before we went to sleep. A bottle of kerosene with a wick gave us a little light. Our host
was a very, very nice man. He brought me a pencil and paper and urged me to record my
thoughts and feelings. They had stayed in the hiding place for ten months he brought them
food and supplies. His neighbor knew what was going on and told the man that if he helped
them anymore that he would let someone know and have them killed. On March 17,
according to mans’ wife that helped us he was killed that night. So again they had nowhere to
go and nothing to eat so they fled. Joseph remembered a young Gentile man, with whom he
went to school. We went to his farm and asked him for help. He got really scared seeing us
alive. He was incredulous that we escaped death. He agreed to hide us in his barn but his wife
was not to know about it. Everybody knew us in that town so we really had to be hidden well.
We climbed into the attic of the barn, covered ourselves with lots of straw and just sat there.
We were there for two days and he fed us, pretending he was feeding the pigs. But hiding
there was the worst because the Germans came to his farm, set up an army field kitchen and
some of them stayed in his house. He had difficulty looking after us. One day the Nazis threw
out some sour, spoiled, rotten cabbage soup, he grabbed it and brought it to us to eat. It was
awful but we ate it and got very sick from it. Imagine, the two of us hiding in that tiny place.
Vomiting and with diarrhea. It was plainly: horrible. We stayed there for two weeks, when
one day we had to leave again because the soldiers wanted to put their horses in there. Since
the Germans didn't know who was who at the farm we just walked away unnoticed. The next
day we went there at six o'clock in the morning. The family had six children and when the
mother saw me she kissed me and was truly glad to see me and was willing to hide me. But I
told her that I am not alone. She gave me food, bread and lard and told me to come back in the
evening. At night when it was dark we came back but by now she seemed afraid and wanted
to change her mind but Joseph talked her into hiding us. We went to her potato cellar, dug it
even bigger than it was and we crawled into it. The front was, by now, very close. We
expected the Soviets' arrival any day. But 30 km from the town they stopped. Then one day,
the mother came and told us that she saw a Russian soldier. In no time they came to her farm
and as they were standing there and talking I just couldn't stand hiding any more, crawled out
of the cellar and told her something like "Mama I couldn't find it" like I was there to look for
something and she told the soldier that I was one her children. After that I just walked right
back to my original home which wasn't very far. Joseph left the dugout later, after the Russian
soldiers left. So we were liberated by the Russians in July 1944. This was just one of several
accounts where people survived in the Ghetto the soldiers did not know who was who unless
someone pointed a finger so as long as you did not get told on and hid you might of had a
chance.

I thought that this story was a great example of how bad it was for the jewish people and how
they had to live to survive.

"Women & The Holocaust - Personal Reflections." Sympatico. Web. 29 Apr. 2011. Sally
Eisner she had been sent to the Ghetto and lost her parents in July 1943. She said that she was
in the field and herd shots and soldiers yelling for the people to dig a graves their own. Then
they were to strip naked and line up. Then they were shot, one by one. She said her husband
ran back when the soldiers left to see what had happened and saw their parents in the ditch
with all the others. He ran back to the field and they hid in the dark. She said they lived
through several more events till the day they were liberated from the labor camps by Russian
Army in March 1944.

This was a very tragic story of how a family was torn apart by Nazi soldiers and the family’s
shot for no reason, just because they were jewish.

"Janina's Story : The Survivor of Auschwitz." Learning To Stay Alive Web. 29 Apr 2011

Jana Parafjanowicz was taken to Auschwitz in 1942 where she was a doctor and could help
people that were there. Germans at first told her to take care of the sick. There was a lot of
typhus and cholera going around so most people that were there died either from that or
starvation, or working to death. While she was there she was only allowed to bath once a
month and she had to wear camp clothes. She said she had seen all kinds of death and that
they worked her until she had almost died several times. She was split up from her family, her
son was hidden and the rest she never seen them again. She survived there for four years till
they received help and were saved.

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