Methods to Kill

Page history last edited by Ronald McDonald 14 years, 8 months ago

Joseph Mengele would decide who lived and who died as prisoners in Auschwitz got off the trains. The main gas chemical used to annihilate the prisoners was Zyklon-B Gas. After they were all dead, they would be burned in a barn or a cremation room. Sometimes, Nazi soldiers would throw many into a big ditch, then they would pour lime juice over them to kill any disease and eliminate the odor. If camps were about to be breached, the soldiers would take as many prisoners as they could and burn them in a barn. They did this in attempt to keep their horrible deeds secret. In each camp, close to 250,000 prisoners died of starvation. The methods used by the Nazis to kill and dispose of the prisoners' bodies were starvation, killing massive amounts of inmates by gas, and burning or burying them to get rid of all of the bodies.

In all concentration camps, every camp has some type of gas chamber. When the prisoners got off the train, Joseph Mengele would decide who went into the gas chamber and who did not (Brown).“When we got off the train, there was a man there that would examine us. Then, he would separate us into two groups” (United Streaming Interviewee). To avoid panic, the Nazi soldiers would tell them they are getting a shower. Once all prisoners were in the air tight room, Zyklon-B gas would be ejected out of the “shower heads”. (The Holocaust) When all the prisoners were dead, the Nazi soldiers would burn from 200-2000 bodies at a time. (Saldings) Gas chambers played a huge role in the Holocaust.

Where prisoners were killed by Zyklon-B gas.

Once the prisoners were killed, the Nazi soldiers needed to find ways to get rid of the bodies without much evidence. They would either be burned or buried. The Nazis would have cremation rooms to burn them in. (Brown) The people burning the bodies were Jews themselves (The Holocaust). "The whole room smelled of dead, burning bodies." (United Streaming Interviewee). At the end of their station time, the Nazis would kill the cremators in effort to keep their horrible deeds secret. When the bodies would be buried, Nazis would pour lime juice over top of all of them. (Saldings) This would kill most of the disease and decrease the smell of the terrible odor. (Death in Concentration Camps) When German camps were soon to be taken over by the Allies, the Nazis would gather up all of the prisoners still alive and burn them alive in nearby barns. The methods the Nazis used to dispose of the dead bodies were horrific. The pain they caused the Jews, Gypsies, and other prisoners will never be forgotten.

Where thousands of prisoners were burned.

Through the times of the Holocaust, not everyone was murdered. Due to the lack of the amount of food the prisoners received, over 250,000 people died of starvation in each concentration camp. ("The Holocaust") As punishment, Nazis would purposely starve the prisoners if they misbehaved. (Saldings) People who starved and were dying were left on the ground to rot and die a slow painful death. Most prisoners were extremely skinny because of the low food intake. (Death in Concentration Camps) The average food amount per day was a piece of bread, some potato skin soup, and a cup of coffee. (Brown) A prisoner who misbehaved and survived to tell his tale said, "In order to stay alive, my friends would sneak bowls of soup to me every night." (United Streaming Interviewee). Prisoners ran into situations where they had to eat disgusting food in order to live. The information above proves that an immense amount of deaths were caused by the lack of food.

High Fences surrounded the living grounds.

References

Works Cited

?, ? ? Death in Concentration Camps. Discovery Education streaming. N.p., 1999. Web. 5 May 2010. <http://player.discoveryeducation.com>. 4

Aloriel. Auschwitz. April 6, 2007. Creative Commons. Web. 10 May 2010. <http://flickr.com>. PICTURE 2

Brown, Bryan. “Freeing The Death Camps.” Ebscohost. N.p., 2001. Web. 3 May 2010. <http://web.ebscohost.com/‌ehost/‌detail?vid=10&hid=14&sid=8552088>. 1

“The Holocaust.” Google. United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, 21 Apr. 2010. Web. 3 May 2010. <http://www.ushmm.org>. 2

Ryarwood. Auschwitz. July 6, 2005. Creative Commons. Web. 10 May 2010. <http://.flickr.com>. PICTURE 1

- - -. Auschwitz. July 26, 2005. Creative Commons. Web. 10 May 2010. <http://flickr.com>. PICTURE 3

Saldings, Anne Grenn. Typical Conditions in the Camps . San Diego : Lucent Books Inc., 2001. Print. 3

Ronald McDonald