One such bunk measuring 80cm wide by 200cm long and 225cm high with three straw mattresses was theoretically intended for three prisoners. The first three-tiered wooden bunks were delivered to Auschwitz at the end of February 1941 and in the following months they were gradually installed in the blocks used by the prisoners as living quarters. The number of prisoners living in one block varied and depended on the overall number of prisoners in the camp, throughout the first year of the camps existence the inmates slept in rows on straw mattresses laid out in the various rooms. These buildings measuring 45.38 meters by 17.5 meters each. In the main camp Auschwitz l twenty brick buildings were set aside as prisoners quarters in 1940. The primitive facilities and overcrowding, the dirt and lack of personal hygiene opportunities, combined with rampant terror had a disastrous psychological effect on the prisoners, especially those held in Birkenau, in the shadow of the mass extermination facilities.
The rigorous daily regimen, beginning with a brutal awakening in the morning and the prisoners being driven from their straw pallets, and continuing with exercises lasting for hours on end, learning how to fall in on the Appellplatz, taking off and replacing caps at the word of command, learning how to sing various German songs and learning the correct pronunciation of a number of typical German phrases, filled the entire period spent in quarantine. The time spent in quarantine was a shattering experience for every prisoner, for it was then the new arrival first became acquainted with concentration life, and the rules governing the prison community.Īn SS man responsible for a block was called a Blockfuhrer, and he exercised unlimited authority, aided by trusties in the block, the block senior and their subordinates. New arrivals at the women’s camp were also kept in quarantine. There in sixteen stable huts several thousand prisoners were kept at a time. In 1943 one of the construction sectors in Birkenau – Blla was set aside for quarantine purposes. Newly arrived prisoners were isolated and kept in quarantine in order to prevent the spread of infectious diseases in the camp.ĭepending on current needs various places were set aside for keeping prisoners in quarantine: blocks, huts even tents holding several hundred persons apiece. These triangles were originally sewn on separately and later they were painted beside the number on the same square piece of canvas. The category a prisoner belonged to could be identified by the colour of the triangle on his camp uniform. In the Nazi concentration camp system there were various categories of prisoners.
Up to mid-May this series also included Jewish prisoners.
The first was the series of numbers issued to male prisoners from May 1940 and continued up to January 1945, reaching a total of 202,499 numbers. The number, stamped on a small strip of canvas, was sown onto the blouse at the level of the left breast and on the outer seam of the right trouser leg. Jewish prisoners, who from the spring of 1942 were brought in mass transports, were not photographed.Įvery prisoner registered in Auschwitz Concentration Camp received a camp number, which he had to wear on his striped uniform in a precisely defined place.
On the first shot, taken in profile, the prisoner’s camp number and letter symbol of his category and nationality were marked.
The registration process also included the tattooing of the prisoners camp number on their left forearm, and photographs were taken of the prisoners from three angles.
Thus registered, the prisoner received a camp serial number, which would serve instead of their name, for the duration of their stay in the camp.Īuschwitz Tattoo. These forms were kept in the camps Political Department. The registration of newly arrived prisoners took place after the issuing of clothing and consisted of filling out a personal form, including details of next of kin. The shaved parts were then rubbed by disinfectant.Īfter being undressed and shaven the prisoners were then driven to the showers, which was followed by the issuing of camp clothing.
Next the prisoner received a card with his camp number before being taken to the camp barber where all body hair was removed. The first thing new arrivals had to do was surrender all their clothing, including underwear, all valuables and proof of identity and virtually all other personal possessions. Auschwitz Protocol The Vrba-Wetzler Report